Queenie, D-Day and Live England International Football: TV highlights this week
Jon Bon Jovi: Reel Stories (Saturday 01/06/24, BBC Two, 9.30pm)
Words by Rachael Popow
Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has been in a reflective mood lately.


In April, the four-part documentary Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story came to Disney+, charting his band’s rise to fame and the pressures that came with it.
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Hide AdNow, he’s joining Dermot O’Leary for the latest episode in the occasional series Reel Stories, in which musicians sit down with the Radio 2 DJ in a London cinema to look back at some of the pivotal moments in their lives.
At least Jon is in good company though as he takes stock of his career – on the same day he turned up, Shania Twain was also there to record her Reel Story.
Jon says: “Dermot was a great conversation and he took me on a trip through some very special memories. It was incredible to see the band’s 40-year journey on the screen in a theatre. And what a wonderful coincidence that my sister Shania was there filming on the same day, and I look forward to seeing her journey on what will be a great episode. Thanks Dermot!!”


Shania adds: “Neat that Jon was going in to do the same thing with Dermot on the same day. I can’t wait to see his episode. We are such great friends, and he is so talented as an artist.”
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Hide AdLuckily, Shania doesn’t have to wait long to see the results of her mate’s trip down memory lane, as his episode airs tonight.
It begins not with a clip of the man himself, but Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes performing on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977. Along with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, they were a huge influence on a teenage John Bongiovi (he’d later change the spelling) while he was growing up in New Jersey.
In the early 1980s, Jon got to play some of the clubs where his heroes got their big break, initially with his cover band, Atlantic City Expressway, but he eventually began writing his own songs.
The band Bon Jovi formed in 1983, and would have their international breakthrough with their third album, 1986’s Slippery When Wet – aka the one with Livin’ on a Prayer, You Give Love a Bad Name and Wanted Dead or Alive.
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Hide AdJon talks to Dermot about the high and lows of worldwide superstardom, and the toll that intense years of touring took on the band – and his mental health.
As we move into the 1990s and the Keep the Faith era, Jon speaks about how the band took control of their own career and faced the challenge of keeping their musical identity as rock fans moved away from the big-haired sound of the 1980s.
He also opens up about his relationship with his UK fans, losing his musical partner, Richie Sambora, who left the band in 2013, and the vocal issues he experienced in 2015.
If that wasn’t enough Bon Jovi for one night, the show is preceded by Bon Jovi at the BBC and then, after a break for Later… with Jools Holland, BBC2 brings us Bon Jovi in Concert.
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Hide AdBritain’s Got Talent: The Final (Sunday 02/06/24, ITV1, 7.30pm)
Words by Rob Lavender
The race to see who will follow in the (suitably large) footsteps of Norwegian clown Viggo Venn and be crowned this year’s winner reaches the finish line tonight.
It’s been an eventful run so far, from the auditions – which, if anything, have been even more chaotic than usual (and that’s saying something) – to the five semi-finals which aired last week. There were even reports of police being called out to one of the auditions due to an intruder backstage at the Alexandra Palace, although thankfully that was resolved with little incident.
Also in the auditions, Bruno Tonioli – who already tore up the rule-book last year by overusing the golden buzzer – actually broke it this time after smacking it so enthusiastically over young dance troupe Phoenix Boys.
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Hide AdThe rule-breaking by the judges, which began last year when Bruno joined the panel, seems to have spread this time around.
Fellow judge Amanda Holden feels like Simon Cowell is partly to blame, however, saying: “I think Simon’s got that twinkle in his eye where he just winks at Bruno to say, ‘Go on, go on. I dare you. I dare you. I don’t care if you break the rules’.
“I feel like Bruno’s brought the same infectious energy that he always brings. Auditions were slightly chaotic this year but that’s down to Simon, it’s not really to do with Bruno”.
Mind you, Amanda has been in on the act, too, breaking out her golden buzzer twice this time (they are supposed to only have one use each per series). She explains: “So, the first was for a singer [Sydnie Christmas], and she’s got the perfect showbiz name if ever I’ve heard one!
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Hide Ad“I was blown away by her and I really hope this is going to give her a kickstart to a career that she’s destined to have.
“And then on the other end of the spectrum was my second golden buzzer [comedian Nabe]. He had me howling with laughter. I’ve never seen anything like it ever, ever, ever! There’s no one else doing it. He deserves the golden buzzer just for thinking up that act.”
Meanwhile there was controversy when one of the acts – K-pop band Blitzers, who earned a yes from each of the four judges – was revealed to already be famous in their native South Korea.
We find out tonight who will win the huge cash prize and a coveted slot at the Royal Variety Performance. At the time of writing, the finalists have yet to be confirmed, but the prize would arguably mean different things to different artists.
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Hide AdFor example, Amanda thought Sydnie was so un-showbiz, when she walked on stage the judge thought she was going to do stand-up (“…she was a little diamond, a little bit rough around the edges”). But an already big K-pop band would see this as their entry into the Western mainstream. The next BTS? That all depends on tonight…
Lost Boys & Fairies (Monday 03/06/24, BBC One, 9pm)
Words by Rachael Popow
As suggested by the title, BBC1’s new drama Lost Boys & Fairies is whisking viewers off to Neverland – only in this case, Neverland is a queer club-space in Cardiff.
One of the regular performers there is singer Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young of Slow Horses and Deceit), who wants to adopt a child with his partner, Andy (theatre and Hawkeye star Fra Fee).
However, Gabriel is dealing with his own childhood trauma, which re-emerges during the process. It seems that before he can begin to truly parent a seven-year-old boy, he’s going to have to confront his relationship with his own father.
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Hide AdThe drama comes from writer Daf James, who developed the project with Duck Soup Films as part of BBC Writersroom’s TV Drama Writers’ Programme in 2019.
The programme gives emerging screenwriters the opportunity to write the first episode of a new original series or serial in partnership with an indie, and the results were so impressive, the BBC ordered a full, three-part run.
Daf says: “It means the world to me that this queer, Welsh, adoption story has found its home on BBC One. It’s a story I’m deeply passionate about and I can’t overstate how indebted I am to Duck Soup Films and the BBC for empowering me to tell it authentically and without compromise.”
It’s all the more meaningful because the drama is close to Daf’s heart. Although it’s not strictly autobiographical, it does partly draw on his own experiences of adopting three children.
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Hide AdDaf told The Guardian: “Everything I write is personally inspired, but I’ve learned how to adapt my lived experience into fiction. Andy is a fictitious character; the father is a fictitious character; the children are fictitious characters.”
He added: “You do see adoption on screen but it wasn’t the experience I recognised. The highs and the lows. My worldview exploded. Their stories become your stories so it all expands. That year was the most challenging of my life, and often very dark – not because of the kids.”
Daf has also got an impressive cast to bring his story to life. In addition to Young and Fee, there are supporting roles Elizabeth Berrington (Stella, The Pact), Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke (Holby City, Doctor Who) and Maria Doyle Kennedy (Kin, Outlander).
And it seems Daf might not be the only one to be feeling a bit emotional when it makes its debut tonight. Director James Kent was also deeply moved by the story, and is expecting that viewers will be too.
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Hide AdHe says: “Lost Boys and Fairies is the most beautiful love story I’ve read. Daf’s scripts are heart wrenching, very funny and powerful advocates for the right of gay men and women to parent a child. They left me in floods of tears and as a gay director I’m so excited and honoured to be bringing this story to the general public.”
Queenie (Tuesday 04/06/24, Channel 4, 10pm & 10.35pm)
Words by Sarah Morgan
Many writers dream of success, but for many, it never comes.
That certainly has not been the case for Candice Carty-Williams, despite the fact she once stated in The Lewisham Ledger that “writing is something I came to really late… because I never thought it was an attainable career.”
How wrong she was!
Last year, Champion, a drama series she created about a pair of South London siblings whose musical dreams threatened to drive them apart, aired. Now she’s heading back to the small screen, this time with an eight-part adaptation of Queenie, her award-winning debut novel, which has been likened to Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary.
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Hide Ad“I read the book when I was too young probably, I stole it from my aunt’s book shelf,” she smiles now. “I just thought it was really funny; I grew up around a lot of funny women and so it really chimed with me.
“And I got older and watched the films, I thought they were amazing, really fun. I think deep down I always wanted to make something like that.”
The central character is Queenie Jenkins (played by Dionne Brown), a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman who doesn’t feel quite at home in either culture. When we first meet her during the drama’s opening double-bill, she’s also having a very bad time – her long-term boyfriend Tom (Big Boys’ Jon Pointing) has announced he thinks it’s time they took a break.
As a result, Queenie seeks solace in the wrong places and with the wrong people, something that makes her realise that if she’s going to move forward, she must first confront her past.
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Hide AdSally Phillips, Samuel Adewumni, rising R&B singer Bellah and Joseph Marcell who, to some will always be Geoffrey, the butler in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, are also set to appear.
“I can’t imagine bringing Queenie to life without each member of this exciting and enviable cast,” says Carty-Williams. “Each of these actors has brought their own essence to each role, breathing new life into this adaptation, and revitalising my own relationships with characters who have lived in my head for almost a decade.
“I can’t wait for viewers to see the chemistry, the talent and the brilliance of Queenie, her family and her friends, her lovers and her frenemies.”
She also claims that bringing the show to the screen was “a very long process,” adding: “We were on set for 48 days and we were in post-production for 200 days and so I did not realise I would have to give so much of my life to television, but it’s all worth it.”
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Hide AdCarty-Williams also received support from one of the biggest names in TV at the moment: “The person who helped me navigate this was Jesse Armstrong, because he is my agent’s friend. He sat me down and said ‘make sure you write what you want to write’. I took on of that what I could; he’s been an incredible mentor.”
And if Queenie turns out to be as good as Armstrong’s mega-hit Succession, we’re all in for a massive treat.
D-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen (Wednesday 05/06/24, BBC One, 8.30pm)
Words by Richard Jones
Eighty years ago, tens of thousands of Allied troops were preparing to set off from Portsmouth and the south coast of England to take part in an operation that would change the course of history.
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Hide AdOn June 6, 1944, which became known as D-Day, Operation Overlord brought together unprecedented land, air, and sea forces in northwestern France.
In total, three million soldiers and hundreds of thousands of ships, planes and armoured vehicles were involved over the preceding weeks, and although the Allies actually failed to accomplish their objectives during the first day, they did gain a tenuous foothold in France.
That gradually expanded before the Liberation of Paris on August 25, the retreat of German forces east across the Seine five days later, and their eventual surrender in 1945.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a tribute is taking place to the fallen in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy and Southsea Common in Portsmouth.
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Hide AdThe event, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Southsea Common, will involve more than 500 military personnel, a 79-piece orchestra and powerful testimonies from veterans, as well as stunning lighting displays, readings, music and a Red Arrows flyover.
As darkness falls, each of the 4,600 headstones of those that fell will be individually illuminated across Bayeux War Cemetery, creating a poignant modern act of commemoration.
Kirsty Young anchors the 90-minute live broadcast from Bayeux Cemetery, where she is joined by special guests, guiding viewers through this remarkable story of our nation.
Petroc Trelawny provides accessible commentary for the blind and partially sighted.
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Hide AdD-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen is one of a raft of programmes being broadcast on the BBC this week to mark the great historical turning point.
As well as three-part series D-Day: The Unheard Tapes and special editions of The Antiques Roadshow, Bargain Hunt, Countryfile and Newsround, tonight’s hour-long episode of The One Show (7pm) features one of the few remaining D-Day veterans as he’s reunited with an original Dakota that’s been painstakingly restored.
The presenters will also be bringing together some of the last surviving women of the Royal Navy (WRNS) who played key roles in the operation.
There’s also a poignant performance from The D-Day Darlings as we meet the younger generation of singers they’ve inspired, and with the help of Katherine Jenkins, The One Show gives a very emotional One Big Thank You to a dedicated volunteer who gives up her time to help veterans.
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Hide AdThen, tomorrow morning, the nation will come together to pay tribute in D-Day 80: We Will Remember Them (BBC One, 8.30am).
Set overlooking Gold Beach at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, the event, organised by the Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence, will be the first-ever National Commemoration at this location, with surviving D-Day veterans in attendance.
Within the event, contributions will be grounded in living testimony, gathered through special conversations curated exclusively for this anniversary, allowing us to hear the last remaining stories first-hand before we enter a post-witness era.
The event will conclude with a traditional act of remembrance, accompanied by a special tribute from the Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, flying over Normandy to salute this remarkable generation and our nation’s heroes.
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Hide AdPaddy O’Connell, whose father proudly served during D-Day, will provide commentary, while Sophie Raworth is joined by special guests at the British Normandy Memorial.
Taskmasterclass (Thursday 06/06/24, Channel 4, 9pm)
Words by Rachael Popow
If you listen to former Taskmaster contestant Richard Osman’s podcast, The Rest is Entertainment, then you will already know the answer to one pressing question about the show – the winner of each episode doesn’t really take the prize task entries home with them. (And seemingly neither does Greg Davies, as Alex Horne was very keen to correct the most recent batch of contestants when they started referring to them as presents for him.)
But if you’ve got any more questions about the hit series, in which comedians take part in a variety of bizarre or deceptively simple tasks, you’re in luck, as Greg and Alex are here to answer them in this brand-new(ish) show, Taskmasterclass.
They begin by asking if there is any point to the tasks, and to find out, they dip into archives, bringing us clips featuring Guz Khan, Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Paul Chowdhry and Morgana Robinson.
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Hide AdIf your question is related to how Taskmaster originally started, that’s something the pair have already addressed. Speaking in a 2020 interview, Alex explained that the idea for the format was rooted in his fear of missing out.
He says: “Eleven years ago, my wife and I had had a baby, so I didn’t go to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in years. Tim Key won the comedy award and I was sat at home with the baby feeling very jealous, genuinely.
“So, I set up a show for the following year and I invited 20 comics. I sent them all emails secretly, and said, ‘I’m starting a new competition which you can enter, I’m going to set you a different task every month.’”
The show became a minor sensation. “It was on at midnight and only 150 people watched it, but it got more word of mouth than it probably merited. It was one of those quirky Edinburgh things. So, we did it again the following year, then Avalon said, ‘There’s something in this’, and we started pitching it as a TV show with Greg hosting.”
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Hide AdYou might be asking why, given that it was his idea, Alex decided to be the sidekick rather than the Taskmaster. It seems he simply thought the role was a better fit for Greg, who as a six-foot-eight former teacher possesses a certain natural authority.
Alex says: “I would challenge you to name anyone else who could do that job. He had all the elements that role needed, as well as being very funny and good off the cuff. I’d say his physical attributes lend itself to the role, but also the headmasterly qualities.”
However, if your question relates to the scoring system, you might be in for a long wait for a satisfying answer, as Greg admits that some of his decisions are completely arbitrary.
He says: “People get absolutely infuriated by that, and all power to them. We live in a country where there is free speech, and I welcome it. I’ll ignore it, but I welcome it.”
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Hide AdSee, that’s the no-nonsense approach which made him the perfect Taskmaster.
Live England International Football (Friday 07/06/24, Channel 4, 7pm) and Live International Football (BBC Three, 7.30pm)
Words by Richard Jones
Although it’s only been a few short weeks since the conclusion of the domestic season, the country is about to be gripped by football fever again.
Euro 2024 kicks off a week today, and the two Home Nations who have made it to the finals in Germany both play their final warm-up matches tonight.
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Hide AdEngland are aiming to go one better in Germany having finished as runners up in the delayed Euro 2020 in 2021, agonisingly losing to Italy on penalties at Wembley Stadium.
Following their friendly game against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Newcastle’s St James’ Park on Monday, Gareth Southgate’s side’s opponents tonight are Iceland.
The Three Lions suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in their history after the Viking Clap came from behind to beat Roy Hodgson’s side 2-1 and knock them out of Euro 2016.
However, in the two nations’ previous meeting in November 2020, it was a different story, as Declan Rice and Mason Mount scored first-half goals before Phil Foden’s late brace secured a 4-0 win for Southgate’s men.
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Hide AdWhile the manager will be expecting a decent test against the Icelanders, he is also looking forward to the Wembley crowd giving his side a boost ahead of the tournament, which for them, kicks off against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16 .
He says: “It will be another special occasion at Wembley allowing our fans the opportunity to give us a final send-off before we head to Germany for another exciting summer.
“Both opponents in June are sure to provide stiff competition and play an important part in our preparation for the tournament.”
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford was left out of provisional 33-man squad, along with former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
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Hide AdHowever, uncapped quintet Jarrad Branthwaite, Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah, Adam Wharton and James Trafford did make it and they will be hoping to get some minutes tonight to convince the boss to take them on the plane to Germany.
Presenter Jules Breach is joined by Joe Cole, Jill Scott and Wayne Rooney at Wembley Stadium to present live coverage of the match.
Meanwhile, over on BBC Three (7.30pm), Scotland follow up their game in Gibraltar on Monday with a friendly against Finland at Hampden Park.
Steve Clarke’s side face a daunting task in the Euro 2024 opener next Friday when they take on hosts and three-time European Champions Germany in Munich.
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Hide AdClarke sprung a few surprises when he announced his provisional squad last month.
Uncapped Liverpool teenager Ben Doak was a shock inclusion, while Celtic winger James Forrest was recalled nearly three years since his last international appearance and there was also a place for uncapped Bristol City defender Ross McCrorie.
Their opponents, the Finns, failed to qualify for the European Championships this time around, but they did reach a major tournament for the first time in their history when they were eliminated in the group stage of Euro 2020.
The Uefa deadline for submitting Euro 2024 squads is tomorrow (June 8), so tonight’s friendlies will be the very last chance for England and Scotland’s players to impress ahead of next week’s big kick off.
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