A Quiet Place, Film 4, 9pm One of the most inventive horror films for many a moon was directed and co-written by John Krasinski, star of the US version of The Office and the TV take on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Krasinksi also appears in one of the lead roles here, alongside his real-life wife Emily Blunt. They play Lee and Evelyn Abbott who are battling to keep themselves and their children alive in terrifying circumstances: most of the world’s population has been wiped out by carnivorous blind creatures that are hypersensitive to noise, a trait which allows them to hone in on potential victims at super-fast speed. Matters come to a head for the Abbotts when pregnant Evelyn goes into labour while alone at the deserted house they now call home. Noah Jupe, the young British star who recently appeared in The Undoing, also stars. A sequel is set to be released later this year.
George Orwell is out of copyright - now the fun begins
For 70 years the famous author s literary estate has kept control of the way his work is adapted for the screen. That s about to change.
Scene from a 1956 film adaptation of George Orwell s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Jake Kerridge
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George Orwell died from tuberculosis in January 1950, aged 46. Writers who can combine such originality of thought with such clarity of expression are rare enough that even now it s difficult not to be grief-struck by his lamentably premature demise.
But taking consolation where we can, we can celebrate the fact that in the month of the anniversary of his death comes the expiry of the copyright on his books – something that won t happen for decades with the work of such longer-lived contemporaries as Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene.
The works of George Orwell enter the public domain this month
Credit: Getty
George Orwell died from tuberculosis in January 1950, aged 46. Writers who can combine such originality of thought with such clarity of expression are rare enough that even now it’s difficult not to be grief-struck by his lamentably premature demise.
But taking consolation where we can, we can celebrate the fact that in the month of the anniversary of his death comes the expiry of the copyright on his books – something that won’t happen for decades with the work of such longer-lived contemporaries as Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene. It is to be hoped that interest in Orwell will receive a boost – and as we live in a world that sometimes seems to be heading increasingly close to the nightmarish vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four, it couldn’t be timelier.
Last modified on Fri 1 Jan 2021 13.00 EST
The actor Mark Eden, who has died aged 92, brought high drama to Coronation Street when he played Alan Bradley, who defrauded the singer-turned-newsagent Rita Fairclough, then terrorised her – before meeting his death under a Blackpool tram.
Eden joined the TV soap in 1986, when Alan visited his estranged daughter, Jenny, while she was being fostered by Rita, following his ex-wife’s death. Alan dated Rita, played by Barbara Knox, but two-timed her with the barmaid Gloria Todd. He was eventually dumped by Gloria and set up Weatherfield Security Systems – funded by stealing the deeds to Rita’s house and posing as her late husband Len to remortgage it – and tried to rape his receptionist, Dawn Prescott. When Rita found out, he tried to suffocate her, was interrupted by Jenny, then fled. Although sentenced to two years in prison, he was freed immediately after six months on remand.
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