THE Diamond Jubilee Concert will be a star-studded event with the biggest names in music performing including Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones.
For some of these more seasoned artists this is by no means the first time they have met, or indeed performed for, the monarch.
Take, for instance, Sir Paul McCartney who was awarded an MBE along with his Beatles bandmates in 1965. At the press conference following the ceremony, he recalled his impression of the Queen and Buckingham Palace.
“She’s lovely, very friendly,” he said. “She’s got a keen pad and I liked the staff. I thought they’d be like dukes and things but they were just fellas.”
Over the years, Sir Paul has met the Queen independent of the Beatles. In 1996 she opened the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, which he founded, and the pair were photographed laughing and joking.
The next year his huge musical output saw him receive a knighthood. “I’m proud to be British, it’s a wonderful day and it’s a long way from a little terrace in Liverpool,” he said at the time.
In July 2002, he and his then-wife Heather Mills chatted with the Queen when she came to see his paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Sir Paul performed at the Golden Jubilee in 2002 and last month he met the monarch at A Celebration of the Arts in London’s Royal Academy Of Arts.
Rocker Charlie Watts is disappointed the Rolling Stones weren't invited to perform at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee concert, insisting he would have been honoured to join the line-up.
The drummer admits he would have loved for the Brown Sugar hitmakers to be included in the special gig being held in the summer (12) to mark the monarch's 60-year reign.
Beatles legend Sir Paul MCCartney, Sir Elton John and Sir Cliff Richard are among the headlining acts, but Watts reveals he and his bandmates are too busy to play the show.
TV's top secret agents have always charmed viewers but who's your favourite when it comes to spy v spy?
Darren Boyd (left) and Robert Lindsay in Sky1 comedy Spy. Photograph: Sky
Darren Boyd takes to satellite-beamed screens tonight in Sky1's new action comedy Spy. A sort of a Johnny English 2.0, the show follows a loveable loser who accidentally gets a job at MI5. You know the schtick: hilarity ensues as a bumbling idiot who can't even muster the dexterity to tie his own shoes inadvertently saves the day with his hapless heroics. It's a role that seems tailor-made for the former Green Wing actor, but a quick glance into the dusty tomes of television history shows us that he's not the first to have been tapped on the shoulder.
In fact, since the first cathode ray tubes began to hum, episodic espionage has become something of a fixture on the small screen. But who's done it best? Here's our pick of the six best spy series. Let us know what you think below
Mission: Impossible (1967-73 and 1988-90)
With one of the most iconic intros in TV history, Mission: Impossible exploded onto screens in the late 1960s and became one of the most successful spy show to have snuck its way onto the schedules. After a hugely popular original run, the show returned to screens in the late 80s, before Tom Cruise went and ruined it all with a glitzy Hollywood remake in which the star poses meditatively in the foreground while something explodes in slow motion behind him.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
John le Carre's engrossing tale of cold-war espionage is currently garnering much acclaim on the silver screen, but for many it will be most fondly remembered in the form of this superb miniseries starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley. Along with the equally impressive (some would argue even better) Smiley's People, it made it into the Guardian list of the Top 50 TV shows of all time.
Spooks (2002-2011)
The quality has ebbed and flowed since a stunning debut series but Spooks has remained one of the best spy shows on the box, with a willingness to push boundaries that other shows shy from. Across 10 seasons (Spooks will shortly be retired from service) it has attracted an enviable cast including Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Penry-Jones and Hermione Norris – all of whom fans constantly feared would be dispatched with the flick of a deep-fat fryer.
The Saint (1962-1969)
What is it about spy shows and top-notch theme tunes? The Saint, which proved a training ground for Roger Moore's later work on Her Majesty's secret service, is up there with Mission: Impossible in terms of memorable music. But it's not only the catchy title sequence that sticks in the mind's eye, Moore too was excellent as Simon Templar, the Robin Hood of small screen spies; a free spirit who'd work on both sides of the law so long as it followed his strict moral compass.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E (1964-1968)
U.N.C.L.E employees Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin – played brilliantly by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum respectively – were the heart and soul of a show that followed the duo's attempts to thwart the amusingly acronymic THRUSH and its designs on world domination. Counting Bond supremo Ian Fleming among its creative team it's perhaps no surprise that U.N.C.L.E was an astronomic success.
Danger Man (1960-1968)
Patrick McGoohan's titular secret agent provided some welcome relief from the increasingly outlandish exploits of his conniving contemporaries in the 1960s. While others revelled in intricate plots and cutting-edge gadgetry, Danger Man offered a more realistic take on the spy drama format, with hard work rather than laser beam-spouting timepieces saving the day and the shades of grey implicit in intelligence work put front and centre.
Honourable mentions
The Avengers (1961-1969)
The Avengers evolved into one of the first examples of TV spy-fi, a sub-genre that concerned itself with pantomime-esque super-villainy and outlandish adventure over espionage and intrigue. Get Smart (1965-1970)
Mel Brooks lampoons the hell out of James Bond and co. Alias (2001 – 2006)
Perhaps the best-in-show for modern stateside spy series, Alias provided television whizz JJ Abrams with his first real hit.
Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt in 'Downton Abbey'
The great British period drama has been many things, haughty, educational, dignified, but it’s never been particularly explicit, has it? Colin Firth might have smouldered around in his wet shirt for Pride and Prejudice, but he didn’t then whip off his breeches and startle the maid.
Well, it looks like that’s all about to change, with the arrival of a steamy moment for one (or two) of the characters in the nation’s favorite olden days drama, Downton Abbey. Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, has given the Mirror a few clues as to how the rest of the current series will pan out, and who it could be in the sack. She said: “There’s a wedding, a funeral and a sex scene. I’m in one of those.”
There again, Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna Smith, and Brendan Coyle, who plays John Bates, have both suggested it’s their relationship which will be illustrated in greater detail.
Joanne told BANG Showbiz: “Shooting love scenes is much easier now in the second series that it would have been in the first because we know each other so well now. We know what the other is thinking, we’re on the same page when it comes to the scenes.”
Brendan added: “We do see more passionate scenes between Anna and Bates this year, viewers will even get to see Anna with her hairdown. I’m blessed to work with Joanne and do these scenes with her and it has developed almost chronologically the relationship and our friendship. It’s a great storyline.” (via The List)
Let’s hope they keep it classy though, eh? That’s part of the point.
Here’s the other stuff people are talking about right now:
• Sir Elton John’s Million Dollar Piano shows kicked off in Las Vegas last night. By all accounts it was a very sedade, conservative affair… ish. (via Musicrooms)
• Joe Thomas of The Inbetweeners won’t be taking his clothes off in his new Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat, about a bunch of freshers, settling into college life, because his character, Kingsley, isn’t as immature as Simon, his old character. (via Wigan Today )
• Cheryl Cole’s been tweeting about her next solo album, on which she is working with producer Alex Da Kid: “I’m gonna have to get some patience.. This is hard.. I’m too frustrated with excitement for you to hear my new music.. I could pop!!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!”
That’s probably not what it sounds like, mind you. • Girls Aloud don’t just have one rising star, by the way, Nicola Roberts of the band has just released her debut solo album, to a fairly gushing critical reception. But it took her a while to get started, if only because she was spoiled from her experiences of working with songwriting company Xenomania. (via Digital Spy)
• Sir Cliff Richard, the British Elvis, has admitted to feeling frustration at the lack of airplay his more recent work has been getting. He may have the distinction of achieving a No.1 single in every decade from the ’50s to the ’90s, and can still boast a fairly rabid fanbase, but his new songs aren’t getting the exposure he believes they deserve: “Singers can’t tell stations what to play, but when you’re left out for no apparent reason, there’s a frustration. I’ve kind of got over that now, and I’ve had my grumble, and I was right to have my grumble too, but life goes on.” (via Press Association) • Steve Jones, the tall handsome Welsh man on the US X Factor who the critics don’t seem to have taken much of a shine to, has stormed off Piers Morgan’s chat show. Or did Piers insist he leave, as he claims on Twitter? No he probably did storm off. (via Coventry Telegraph)
• Method acting is all very well, Sam Worthington, but when you’re playing an arrogant jerk in a film like Last Night, try not to get on your co-star’s nerves, eh? Especially when she’s Keira Knightley, and clearly can hold a grudge. (via Belfast Telegraph)
• There’s no space to fully explain the full extent of why this is bad news, but Harry Hill is leaving ITV’s surreal Saturday night favorite, TV Burp, which means there will be no more tellymocking delights such as these:
