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Courtney Lawes, the 37‑year‑old former England captain, is slated to return to the English Premiership after completing two seasons with French club Brive. His departure will be announced at the close of the 2025‑26 season.Lawes, who retired from international rugby following the 2023 Rugby World Cup, moved to France after helping Northampton Saints clinch the 2023‑24 Premiership title. During his 17‑year tenure at Saints, he secured two Premiership championships and two European Challenge Cup trophies.While the specific English club he will join remains undisclosed, the move would render him eligible once again for England selection. Brive’s management expressed support for his decision, noting the club’s appreciation for his contributions.Brive president Thierry Blandinières praised Lawes, stating: “We are very proud to say that Courtney Lawes will have been a Brive player for two seasons. He arrived here with humility and ambition and has shown the full extent of his talent since his first day in Brive.” The club added that Lawes is “one of the legends of world rugby and one of the best back‑row forwards of his generation.”Lawes’ international résumé includes 105 caps, three Six Nations titles, and participation in four Rugby World Cups. He was part of the England side that finished runner‑up in 2019 and secured third place in 2023.Reflecting on his time in Corrèze, Lawes said: “I’m having an experience in Brive that I’ll never forget, both on and off the pitch. I’m going to give it my all until the end of the season to finish this adventure with CAB in the best possible way. My family and I have been very warmly welcomed in Corrèze and we will always have Brive at heart.”

The unexpected return of two William Hartnell episodes to the BBC archive has sent shockwaves of excitement through the Whovian community. For the first time since 1965, fans can now enjoy the first quarter of the 12-part adventure 'The Daleks' Master Plan.'The surviving five episodes are now on iPlayer, and the first three make for a stirring introduction to the adventure, with large impressive sets for the Earth control centre and the Dalek ship, contrasting with the dense forbidding foliage of the planet Kembel. Frequent tight closeup shots from director Douglas Camfield on the faces of the cast add to a claustrophobic feel in the jungle sequences.At the time, Hartnell was not to know that within a year he would be 'renewed' as the lead of the show by Patrick Troughton. Hartnell's health problems, reputation for being difficult on set and frequent flubbing of lines during a production schedule that allowed little leeway for second takes has tainted his tenure in the role.Here, especially in the opener, we get to see him in some of his strongest moments as the Doctor. With Stephen (Peter Purves) incapacitated by the poison he picked up in Troy, and Katarina (Adrienne Hill) little more than a hollow vessel of a character, Hartnell has much more to do than usual. The actor gets to show the gleeful side of his nature as he delights at his own invention of the magnetic chair and his ingenuity at repelling – at least initially – boarders to the spaceship.Rediscovering episode one also means we can enjoy beloved children's television presenter Brian Cant flexing his acting chops in something other than Playschool, and all three episodes prominently feature Nicholas Courtney, who would go on to play Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart for 40 years, as Bret Vyon. A highlight is the Addams family-esque kookiness of the aliens making up the Dalek council, which is certainly preferable to the somewhat cliched prison planet savages set-up of part three.The biggest mystery, of course, is how these episodes have ended up surviving. Film is Fabulous, the people who secured them, have said they are respecting the wishes of the estate of the person who was holding and keeping them anonymous. Perhaps the most intriguing thing is that, given it was never sold overseas, the missing episodes of the Daleks' Master Plan were among the least likely to ever be found, but two episodes were sitting in those film cans all along. Who knows what else might still be out there?

Two long-lost episodes of Doctor Who from the William Hartnell era, which had not been seen since 1965, have been released after being discovered in a private film collection. The episodes, 'The Nightmare Begins' and 'Devil’s Planet', are parts one and three of a mostly lost 12-part adventure called The Daleks’ Master Plan, written by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks, and broadcast as part of the third series of Doctor Who in November 1965.The episodes feature Peter Purves as the Doctor’s companion, Stephen. They were recovered by Film is Fabulous, a charitable trust dedicated to securing and preserving private film collections. The original 16mm telerecordings of the two Dalek episodes have been restored and made available on iPlayer in the UK.This discovery marks a significant milestone for fans, as it includes the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in the show, playing Bret Vyon. Courtney later became a regular character, playing Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, known as the Brigadier of Unit. 95 episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s remain missing from the archives, having been wiped or junked by the BBC during the 1970s.

Johannes Radebe, also known as Jojo from Strictly, is a natural performer who shines brightly as Lola in the musical Kinky Boots. His stage presence is magnetic, and his dancing is mesmerizing. Radebe's portrayal of the drag queen Lola is captivating, with impressive entrances and a strong performance.The musical, based on the 2005 film, tells the story of a Northampton shoe factory that switches to making boots for drag queens. The show features a riot of colors and sparkle, with impressive costumes designed by Robert Jones and Tom Rogers. The story follows Charlie Price, who returns to his hometown to take over the family business and, along with Lola and her friends, devises a plan to save the factory.Radebe's performance is supported by a talented cast, including Courtney Bowman as Lauren and Scott Paige as George. While Radebe's singing voice may not be as strong as his dancing, he brings a unique energy to the role. The show's direction by Nikolai Foster ensures that the cast delivers the right tone, but the musical may lack depth in its storytelling.Overall, Kinky Boots offers an enjoyable night out, with a blend of music, dance, and comedy. The show runs at the London Coliseum until July 11.

Recent headlines suggesting a Christian revival in Britain, based on a YouGov survey claiming increasing church attendance, have been dramatically undermined by the revelation that the data was fraudulent and subsequently withdrawn. This incident has sparked serious concerns about the integrity of polling data in an era of advancing artificial intelligence.The Bible Society's 2024 report, which claimed church attendance was rising particularly among young people, has become a case study in how AI-generated bogus responses are infesting online surveys. Researchers warn that this vulnerability extends beyond religious statistics to potentially distort our understanding of broader social trends.David Voas, a quantitative social scientist at University College London, emphasized the difficulty of correcting such misinformation once it spreads. "The amount of effort required to correct it is an order of magnitude higher than the effort needed to disseminate it in the first place," he stated, noting that this problem affects polling companies beyond just YouGov.The growth of AI has exacerbated this issue, according to Sean Westwood, an associate professor at Dartmouth College. "The assumption with survey research – that someone gives coherent, logical answers, they're a real person – that assumption is now broken," he explained. Westwood warned that AI models pose an existential threat to our understanding of society.Westwood detailed how AI can be weaponized: "A single sentence of instruction is enough to systematically bias its answers on political polls or geopolitical questions, while keeping its demographic profile intact so the manipulation is invisible to standard screening." Even without explicit instructions to cheat, AI can identify what a researcher is testing and produce data that confirms the hypothesis.The problem is particularly acute with surveys targeting younger demographics. Courtney Kennedy, vice-president of methods and innovation at Pew Research Center, noted that "bogus respondents tend to respond in the affirmative, no matter what is asked" – a positivity bias that inflates estimates. Younger respondents are also more likely to be misrepresented by fraudulent participants.As AI technology rapidly evolves, researchers face a constant challenge. "A researcher might design a clever new trap that catches today's models, but model development moves so fast that the fix is likely obsolete within months," Westwood cautioned.In response, YouGov has implemented detection methods including identity checks, device fingerprinting, and real-time threat scoring. However, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in modern polling systems as AI continues to advance.