Wogan still top morning radio DJ

BBC Radio 2's Wake up to Wogan remains the most popular breakfast radio show in the country, according to the latest figures from radio industry body Rajar.

The show had 7.75m listeners tuning in each week, which was down slightly from last quarter's record 8.1m.

Radio 2 also remains the UK's most popular station, with 13m listeners.

Rajar also revealed radio listening via mobile phone among people aged 15 and over continued to rise to 12.2% from 8.9% this time last year.

The figures, covering the period from 24 March to 22 June 2008, showed Radio 3 attracted more listeners for longer with 1.91m people tuning in every week, up from 1.8m last quarter.

AUDIENCE FIGURES JAN-MAR 2008 Radio 1 - 10.68m (10.87m) Radio 2 - 13m (13.1m) Radio 3 - 1.91m (1.78m) Radio 4 - 9.53m (9.49m) 5 Live - 6m (5.89m) 6 Music - 551,000 (471,000) Source: Rajar Figures in brackets are for the same period in 2007

"It is encouraging to see that listeners are staying with us for longer, giving us our highest average weekly listening for a couple of years," said Roger Wright, controller of Radio 3.

BBC 6 Music also posted its fourth consecutive record reach, with 551,000 listeners.

Radio 1 attracted 10.68m listeners per week in the quarter, down from 10.87m last year and 11.07m last quarter.

The Chris Moyles Show also saw a drop in its figures with 7.21m listeners - down from 7.26m last year and a record 7.72m last quarter.

BY-BBC NEWS

Why is John Barrowman gay?

Torchwood star John Barrowman has known he was gay since he was nine. But was he born that way or did his upbringing have something to do with it? Here, he explains why he set out to try to solve this mystery, for the BBC One show The Making of Me.

I was in the closet for three hours once in 1972. It was dark, uncomfortable, and really cramped. Plus, I was convinced I wasn't alone (a crumpled jacket lurking in the corner looked pretty dangerous). I was five and my brother, Andrew, then 10, and my sister, Carole, 13, had shoved me into the coat closet because, well, really for absolutely no good reason. I mean what baby brother has ever annoyed his siblings to the point of needing to be locked up or tied down?

This story still gets a laugh from my nieces and nephews. Depending on who's doing the telling, Uncle John was either locked up for 30 fleeting minutes or for three long, tortuous, oxygen-starved hours. As simple as the story is I think it's an apt metaphor for the way I've chosen to live my life - openly, honestly, with no regrets. And, whenever I can, I try to confront the monsters in the dark. As my favourite Jerry Herman song proclaims: "There's no return and no deposit. One life. So open up your closet."

BY-BBC NEWS

Talking Shop: Rupert Penry-Jones

Spooks star Rupert Penry-Jones talks about his latest BBC drama Burn Up, a two-part thriller centred around climate change.

Penry-Jones plays oil executive Tom McConnell in the BBC's Burn Up

Fans of BBC One's spy drama Spooks are used to seeing Rupert Penry-Jones risking life and limb for queen and country.

But in two-part thriller Burn Up the 37-year-old actor takes on a more cerebral role as an oil executive caught up in a global conspiracy.

Written by Simon Beaufoy, who was Oscar-nominated for his work on hit comedy The Full Monty, the drama takes a topical look at the dangers of climate change.

The son of To the Manor Born star Angela Thorne, Penry-Jones - who has two young children with actress wife Dervla Kirwan - will also be seen soon in ITV crime drama Whitechapel.

BY-BBC NEWS

'Mad Men' remains a show full of secrets

NEW YORK (AP) -- Let's twist again like we did last summer!

Jon Hamm stars as ad exec Don Draper in "Mad Men."

"Mad Men" fans remember how things were really hummin' last summer, the first for that glorious drama series set in the Manhattan advertising world of 1960. There were lots of twists at the Sterling Cooper agency: Peggy's unsuspected pregnancy, Roger's heart attack, the double life of the man we thought we knew as Don Draper.

"Mad Men" returns Sunday on cable's AMC. Now it's February 1962, and as the season premiere gets going, Chubby Checker proclaims "twistin' time is here."

Here's an interesting twist: "Mad Men" is being welcomed back with a whirlwind of attention, accelerating what had been a steady build. Critics' raves and the small but ecstatic audience a year ago were followed by a pair of Golden Globes and then a Peabody.

In recent weeks the show scored cover stories in Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times Magazine, while popping up in GQ and Vanity Fair.

The attention was crowned last week, when the show received 16 Emmy nominations, including a nod for best drama.

It's a saga unfolding nearly a half-century ago, with a genre-busting absence of doctors, lawyers, cops or superheroes. And yet "Mad Men" -- as contemporary and relatable as anything on TV -- seems game to become a mainstream hit.

Dissatisfied actors challenge SAG president

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- More than 30 actors dissatisfied with stalled contract talks said Wednesday they have joined to campaign for seats on the Screen Actors Guild's board of directors, a move that could eventually break the stalemate with Hollywood studios.

"Private Practice" stars Kate Walsh and Amy Brenneman are part of the slate of challengers.

The 31 actors running under the name Unite for Strength are challenging the leadership of guild president Alan Rosenberg and the faction that supports him, Membership First.

"We can no longer afford leaders who sow division," Unite for Strength leader Ned Vaughn said in a statement that singled out the gap that opened between SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists during the talks.

In response, SAG said only that it planned to release the official list of candidates on August 5 after the nominating period has closed and candidate eligibility has been confirmed.

Ballots will go out to members on August 19 and are due back to the union by September 18, with results expected to be announced that evening. About a third of the board's 71 seats are at stake.

It's unlikely there will be any movement in the negotiations until after the election, said entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel, a former associate counsel for the Writers Guild of America.

If the current leaders remain in control, it could be seen as an endorsement of their position on the contract. But a ballot result favoring Unite for Strength could prove to be a game-changer.

Bale asks for privacy over 'personal matter'

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Batman star Christian Bale asked for privacy Thursday in his first comments since allegations he assaulted his mother and sister at a London hotel, saying the incident was a "deeply personal matter."

Christian Bale attends the Barcelona premiere of "The Dark Knight" with his wife, Sibi.

The Welsh-born actor brushed off questions about the alleged family dispute, saying he preferred to focus on the blockbuster movie "The Dark Knight," which opened in Spain on Wednesday.

"It's a deeply personal matter," Bale told a press conference at a luxury hotel in this northern Spanish city. "I would ask you to respect my privacy in the matter."

The 34-year-old actor spent four hours talking to British police Tuesday following allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters in his suite at London's Dorchester Hotel two days earlier. He was released on bail, but not charged.

Bale has said through his lawyers that the assault allegations were false.

British media reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the hotel a day before attending the European premiere of "The Dark Knight." The Sun newspaper said the complaint was filed by sister Sharon Bale and mother Jenny Bale.

Smith tops Hollywood earner list

Will Smith was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood last year, according to US business magazine Forbes.

The I Am Legend star earned $80m (£40m) - but Dodgeball star Vince Vaughn proved the best value for money, raking in $14.73 for every dollar he was paid.

Cameron Diaz led the ladies' charge by topping the highest-grossing actress table with takings of $50m (£25m).

The magazine pulled together lists of Hollywood's big earners for its special Entertainment All Stars issue.

Smith, Johnny Depp and Eddie Murphy were the best paid Hollywood actors in the past year, according to the magazine.

TOP FIVE ACTORS Will Smith - $80m (£40m) Johnny Depp - $72m (£36m) Eddie Murphy - $55m (£27.5m) Mike Myers - $55m (£27.5m) Leonardo DiCaprio - $45m (£22.5m)

Smith, 39, made $80m (£40m) between 1 June 2007 and 1 June 2008, thanks to films like I Am Legend, Hancock and The Pursuit of Happyness, for which he was nominated for best actor in the 2007 Oscars.

Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp, 45, earned $72m (£36m) in same period.

But Smith only ranked 21st on the value-for-money list, with a gross income return of $5.64 for every dollar spent on the big-budget superstar.

BY-BBC NEWS

Review: Batman's limelight tussle

By Lizo Mzimba
Entertainment correspondent, BBC News

First things first. There has been a lot of talk about whether the late Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight deserves an Oscar.

Ledger's exuberant performance is of the kind loved by the Academy

Well, there is an outstanding performance in the film, but it actually comes not from Ledger, but from Christian Bale.

That is not to say Ledger is not impressive. He is.

But his is a one-note performance - a pretty good note, it must be said - but one note nonetheless.

Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman has layers of subtlety to it, and his portrayal of the superhero is so grounded in reality that you almost take it for granted, especially if you are being distracted by the sinister pyrotechnics of his nemesis.

That said, Ledger will still probably win, and Bale will not even be nominated.

Ledger's Joker is one of those performances that the Academy loves to reward, and the public loves to applaud, because it screams "look at me I'm acting".

It is a similar situation to the film Rain Man. There, everyone heaped praise on Dustin Hoffman's Raymond, while ignoring the much more subtle portrayal of his brother by Tom Cruise - the performance that grounds the film and makes it work.

The Dark Knight picks up soon after the events of Batman Begins, developing many of the themes of the first film.

There is a power struggle between the organised crime bosses of the city and the Joker.

BY-BBC NEWS

New X-Files film has its premiere

The new X-Files film has had its world premiere in Hollywood six years after the TV series finished.

The storyline surrounding I Want to Believe has been a closely guarded secret since filming finished in March.

David Duchovny, who plays Fox Mulder, says fans will find the plot familiar: "It concentrates more on Mulder and Scully's relationship."

The X-Files series ran between 1993 and 2002, with the first feature film, Fight The Future, released in 1998.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson filmed I Want To Believe in Vancouver, Canada, last Christmas.

A trailer for the movie shows their two characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, looking for a body frozen in a lake with dozens of other FBI agents.

Duchovny, 47, says the relationship between the pair remains tense sexually.

"The relationship of the love story between Mulder and Scully is interwoven with this thriller," he said.

"It ties into the characters as part of the mythology and my character as a believer and Gillian's character as a sceptic and we butt heads in the way we always have."

BY-BBC NEWS

Batman star appeals for privacy

Batman star Christian Bale has asked for privacy after being questioned over allegations he assaulted his mother and sister in a London hotel.

Speaking for the first time on the subject, the Welsh-born actor said it was a "deeply personal matter."

He was speaking at a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, during a tour to promote Batman movie The Dark Knight.

The 34-year-old was arrested and bailed by police in London on Tuesday over the allegations which he denies.

"I would ask you to respect my privacy in the matter," he said in Thursday's press conference.

He had greeted fans at The Dark Knight's Spanish premiere on Wednesday night but had refused to comment on the assault claims.

He spent half an hour signing autographs at the gala but only spoke to the press about the film.

The actor smiled and looked relaxed before the movie was screened.

BY-BBC NEWS