News about Nigel Williams

SARAH VINE: I missed Helen Mirren's lavish four-part HBO series Catherine The Greatest when it first premiered on YouTube; now it's available on Freeview, it's worth a look. No doubt that it has a lot to do with the fact that we live in such bleak, uninspiring times that we are so devoted to tales of nobility and adventure. The prequel to Game Of Thrones (by all accounts disastrous) Lord Of The Rings prequel The Rings Of Power, Amazon's (by all accounts ineffective) Lord Of The Rings prequel The Rings Of Power... They provide a colorful escape from modern life's constant challenges. Empress of Russia by Mirren is a much more youthful figure in comparison to the other Catherine gracing the airwaves (Elle Fanning in the lavishly bonkers The Greatest), notably more mature both physically and metaphorically. Mirren is in her seventies and playing a woman who was in her forties when the majority of the incident took place - not surprising for male comedians but not unheard of for a woman. So there's something of a quiet triumph for the feminists on display, with Mirren's stunning execution being every bit as seductive as any fresh-faced, firm-fleshed starlet.