NowMyNews

A screenwriter says TV has ‘failed’ disabled people ‘utterly and totally’, describing disability as ‘the forgotten diversity’. Jack Thorne, who has won five Baftas, said the disabled were likely to be seen as ‘inspirational crips’ and portrayed as either ‘heroes or victims’. The 42-year-old, who wrote hit play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, added: ‘Sometimes they’re funny, an acerbic best friend, mostly they’re just sorrowful.’ The screenwriter criticised the way disabled actors were overlooked for parts even when the role was a character with a disability Giving the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival, he said the ‘TV world is stacked against the telling of disabled stories with disabled talent’ and that this had to change. Mr Thorne, who adapted His Dark Materials for TV, was disabled for about 15 years after being diagnosed at the age of 20 with cholinergic urticarial, which makes sufferers allergic to their own body heat. The screenwriter crit

Contestants  can win £100,000 on a new game show – just by answering a single question correctly. Channel 4 is offering the huge prize on its latest prime-time quiz One Question. A pair of hopefuls sit on a sofa and are given the conundrum along with the right answer.  The catch is that they also get 49 wrong responses and must use their powers of deduction to weed these out to reach the only correct solution.  The quiz was described by executive producer Mike Benson as a ‘seemingly easy but actually devilishly difficult game’.  It will be hosted by Claudia Winkleman, who is already the face of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 and the sound of Saturday mornings on BBC Radio 2.  It will be hosted by Claudia Winkleman , who is already the face of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 and the sound of Saturday mornings on BBC Radio 2 The 49-year-old presenter said: ‘I am ridiculously excited about One Question. There’s no time limit, no buzzers, no complicated rules. ‘A sofa, a chat, just one questi

The NRL bad boy kicked out of a Gold Coast restaurant on Sunday after he was caught with a woman in the men's bathroom was looking for a place to be 'intimate'. Canterbury Bulldogs star Adam Elliott, 27, who is no stranger to off-field controversy, could have his playing contract torn up following his brief dalliance with Brisbane Broncos NRLW player Millie Boyle. It has since emerged the pair were kissing in the bathroom because they did not want to be seen by wives and partners of other Bulldogs players at the restaurant. The pair, who are both single, knew one another after both growing up near Bega, on the NSW south coast. 'Look, all we did was have a kiss in the bathroom. It's been taken way out of context. It's a big kerfuffle about nothing,' Ms Boyle told the Daily Telegraph. NRL star Adam Elliott (pictured left) could have his contract torn up by the Bulldogs after another off-field discretion marred by alcohol  Elliott was asked to leave a Gold Coas

It may have delighted generations of children, but The Tiger Who Came To Tea reinforces gender inequality which causes violence against women and girls, a campaigner said yesterday. Rachel Adamson, of Zero Tolerance, a charity working to end men's violence against women, said Judith Kerr's 1968 classic was 'problematic' because of its 'old fashioned' portrayal of women and family dynamics. The book sees an uninvited tiger join a young girl and her mother for tea before eating all the food in the house, drinking everything, running the taps dry and leaving.  The girl's father then comes home and takes her and her mother to a cafe. Miss Adamson did not call for the book to be banned but said it could be used to 'raise a conversation' in nurseries.  She told BBC Radio Scotland: 'We know that gender stereotypes are harmful and they reinforce gender inequality, and that gender inequality is the cause of violence against women and girls, such as domest

Three people have died and two drivers have been arrested after a horror crash on the M25 involving a Mondeo, a minibus and a lorry.  A fourth person is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after the crash, which occurred near Waltham Abbey around 6.15pm on Monday and caused lengthy traffic delays. Nine ambulances, two air ambulances, several police vehicles plus fire engines were called to the scene.  Essex Police said the collision occurred between junctions 27 and 26 of the anti-clockwise carriageway, with two drivers arrested on suspicion of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. The M25 remains closed between those two junctions, with Highways England hoping to have it reopened before 2am on Tuesday. Nine ambulances, two air ambulances, several police vehicles plus fire engines were called to the scene on the M25 near Waltham Abbey around 6.15pm Police said they were eager to trace the movements of all three vehicles - a Ford Mondeo, a minibus and a lorry - l

Dominic Cummings engaged in a three-hour political debate with unhappy restaurant staff while on a Scottish getaway with his family, it has been claimed. The former Downing Street aide is said to have entered into a lively back-and-forth with waiters at The Celidh Place in Ullapool, Scotland, after they told bosses they were not keen on serving the Vote Leave maestro.   In order to placate staff, restaurant owner Jock Urquhart is said to have taken it upon himself to serve the Prime Minister's former chief advisor. But when he spilled the beans about his staff's displeasure, Mr Cummings is said to have offered a private debate. According to the Inverness Courier, the strategist, who was holidaying in the Scottish Highlands with his family at the time, returned to the restaurant alone the next day. Dominic Cummings (pictured during his interview with Laura Kuenssberg last month) engaged in a three hour political debate with unhappy restaurant staff while on a Scottish getaway wi

A British man stuck in Afghanistan has today been filmed waving a UK passport while pleading with Boris Johnson: 'Get me and my kids out of here'.  Speaking with a strong northern accent, the man is seen telling ITV film crews outside a temporary British embassy in Kabul that the army is refusing to let him into the capital's airport for evacuation. After the short interview, the footage then then cuts to two children who the broadcaster reports have allegedly been left behind in the streets after their parents were allowed into the embassy 'without them'. Flashing a British passport as he made his desperate plea, the man told ITV: 'I'm a British citizen, my kids are British and we're stuck here, they closed the door on us and they're shooting at us. 'My message for the prime minister is, just get us out of here otherwise my kids are struggling and we're all in a big mess here. The British Army is right behind these fences, they've closed