The people, places and events who will be making the headlines in the next seven days
Critical condition
The row between junior doctors and the Government looks set to intensify with another 48 hour strike due to start on Wednesday. Last time more than 5,000 operations and treatments had to be cancelled, bringing the total cancelled during the dispute to 19,000.
Emergency cover will be provided this time, but if the stalemate over the new contract, which the British Medical Association says will lead to unsafe shift patterns, harm morale and worsen recruitment and retention of staff, continues a further two day strike towards the end of the month will include Accident and Emergency staff.
Unsung hero
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Hide AdA film which is essentially about maths doesn’t sound like it will trouble the Academy Award panel, but much is expected about The Man Who Knew Infinity. The British biographical drama film is based on the 1991 book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. The film stars Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionare) as the real-life Srinivasa Ramanujan, a mathematician who after growing up poor in Madras, India, earned a place at Cambridge University during the First World War, where he became a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor, GH Hardy (played by Jeremy Irons).
Ramanujan died when he was just 33 years old, but while his life was short his legacy was immense.
Silence is golden
Glenn Close will face the critics on Monday in her West End debut. Starring in a revival of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, Close is reprising her Broadway role, which won her a clutch of awards. The Hollywood A-lister plays Norma Desmond in the adaptation of Billy Wilder’s classic film. The former silent screen goddess has faded into obscurity, but sees an opportunity to make a comeback when the impoverished screenwriter Joe Gillis stumbles into her reclusive world.
Hall of Fame
The Rolling Stones take over two floors of the Saatchi Gallery this week. Exhibitionism features more than 500 items charting the band’s 50 year history, from never before seen dressing room and backstage paraphernalia to rare instruments, iconic costumes and personal diaries.
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Hide AdWhile some have unkindly suggested that Mick Jagger is something of a museum piece, he and the rest of the band will be at the official opening of the exhibition, which charts how they transformed from a London blues band in the early 1960s to cultural icons.
Points of view
There has already been much talk about the future of the BBC ahead of the renewal of its Royal Charter which will set out its aims and ambitions for the next 10 years.
The debate will continue next week when the film producer and Labour peer, David Puttnam, talks to the Beeb’s director general Tony Hall about his vision for the organisation and the future of public service television, which many fear is on the brink of privatisation.
Runners and riders
It’s April so that must mean it’s the Grand National. The meeting starts on Thursday, but for most of us it’s Saturday’s main event that we’re waiting for. Early favourites are Many Clouds, Silviniaco Conti and The Last Samuri. Sadly no Yorkshire horses in the race, but Middleham jockey Henry Brooke, Saltburn’s James Reveley and North Yorkshire-based Brian Hughes are all hoping for rides.
Whodunits
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Hide AdThe bidding is likely to be fierce when the handwritten draft of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories goes up for auction. The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter is one of 56 short stories written about the famous detective and is best known for the first appearance of Holmes’ older brother Mycroft. It is estimated that the manuscript, which dates from 1893, will fetch up to £300,000 when it goes up for sale. The lot is part of a fine literature auction in New York where several other Sherlock Holmes manuscripts will also go under the hammer.