From Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall to Adriana in The Sopranos, we meet the actors who had to bump off TV legends … and then face the wrath of the public

Talk about being a pantomime villain. It’s unpopular enough playing the antagonist who murders a long-running TV character. When your victim is a fan favourite, though, you risk being vilified even more. So what’s it like being the ultimate baddy and breaking viewers’ hearts? Do they get booed in the street or trolled online? We asked five actors who killed off beloved characters – from Spooks to The Sopranos, Wolf Hall to Westeros – about their experiences …

Wyndham’s theatre, London
Bryan Cranston, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Paapa Essiedu and Hayley Squires achieve theatrical alchemy in Ivo van Hove’s superb production

In 2014 Ivo van Hove’s Young Vic staging of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge drew comparisons to monumental Greek drama. Lightning has struck twice with this magnificent, shuddering production of Miller’s 1946 play – it perfects the art of doing less for more effect and is performed at the same West End venue where its predecessor transferred.

Van Hove, known for giving the classics his own stamp, steps back here, it seems, letting the cast (and what a cast this is) not just inhabit their parts but somehow become them as if by magic. They articulate the devastating truths in this play about the corruptions of the American dream and the toxic inheritance handed down from fathers to sons. How relevant these truths seem today: it is as if Miller were speaking directly about now. A line can be drawn from the play’s themes of selling faulty equipment to government and the unaccountability of corrupt capitalist patriarchs to Trumpian facts and delusions, Grenfell and the Covid-era PPE scandal.

To prevent a future pandemic we’d need agile leadership, smart decision-making, humility and trustworthiness. How does one build those into a political system?

It feels as though a collective amnesia has set in around Covid-19. We all just want to move forward and pretend it didn’t happen. But, as the saying goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

On 20 April 2020 I tweeted, “At what point will the British public realise what has happened over the past 9 weeks?” On Thursday, the Covid inquiry published its module 2 report on the political response to the pandemic. The answer finally to my tweet, more than five years later.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

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People love to complain about small talk – but it’s a great way to build rapport and dip your toe into deeper topics

• Tell us: what are the best and worst gifts you’ve ever received?

The holidays are around the corner. As we get ready to mix, mingle and carouse, I think it’s important to set the record straight on something: small talk is great!

People love to complain about small talk. On Reddit, people say it’s “painful”, “dishonest” and “a chore”. Some of my own friends have called it “boring” and “exhausting”. A 2016 Wired article titled “Small talk should be banned” argued that idle chit-chat “does not build relationships and does not make us happier”, but persists because “we actively seek the lowest common denominator”. Instead, the authors suggest deeper conversation topics, such as: “What is your relationship with God?” or What is something you fear in life?”

Ukraine could be forced into an agreement but plan as it stands seems too bizarre for Zelenskyy to sell to his public

We’ve been here before: the Trump administration announces a roadmap towards peace in Ukraine that seems to be dramatically skewed towards Moscow’s demands; Volodymyr Zelenskyy gets on the phone to alarmed European allies; they quickly call Trump to message him that the whole idea is unworkable; the plan quietly dies. Rinse and repeat.

This time it feels a bit different, however. Reports on Friday suggested the US has threatened that if Ukraine does not sign a hastily concocted peace plan, Washington could withdraw intelligence-sharing and other support critical to the Ukrainian war effort.

Test your knowledge in eight questions to prove you know your onions from your emulsifiers

A major global report released this week linked ultra-processed foods to harm in every major human organ. For people in the US, the UK and Australia, these foods make up more than half the calories they consume each day.

But it’s not always easy to tell which foods are ultra-processed.

Group one: unprocessed or minimally processed foods including whole fruits and vegetables, milk, oats and rice.

Group two: processed basic ingredients used in cooking including salt, sugar and vegetable oils.

Group three: processed foods made by adding items from groups one and two. Includes canned legumes, bread and cheese.

Group four: ultra-processed foods which are commercial products made from extracts of foods, often with added chemicals, flavours and other ingredients you wouldn’t find in a home kitchen.

With thanks to Dr Priscila Machado from the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University for checking this quiz for accuracy

Simon Case says voters will look elsewhere if chancellor cannot find solutions to tax, spending and debt problems

Voters will look elsewhere if Rachel Reeves does not use next week’s pivotal budget to show that “centre-ground” politicians can fix the UK’s entrenched economic problems, the former head of the civil service, Simon Case, has said.

Case told the Guardian that at the time of last year’s general election, when he was still cabinet secretary, he believed Labour would be forced to break its manifesto promise to not raise taxes because of the state of the public finances.

Decision by Georgia Republican and leading Maga figure to give up House seat comes after dramatic break with Trump

• Reaction: Trump calls resignation ‘great news for the country’

• From staunch Trump ally to ‘traitor’: key takeaways of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s career

Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Friday evening she will be resigning from office effective 5 January 2026.

In a four-page statement, the Georgia congresswoman said the legislative branch has been “sidelined” and accused Republican leaders of refusing to advance conservative priorities such as border security or “America First” policies.

Tourists take 40-run lead into second innings in Perth
Day one report | Ashes top 100 | Series omens | Mail Geoff

43rd over: Australia 131-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 6) And on it goes for Doggett. Another clunky drive, this time through mid on, gets him back for a second run. Fourth ball of the over he finally gets a reprieve, a single to cover. Atkinson bumps Lyon but the ball sails way over his head.

42nd over: Australia 128-9 (Lyon 4, Doggett 3) Lyon single first ball puts Doggett back on strike. Ohh, dropped catch! In at short leg, Pope under the mitre, and the ball reaches his fingertips but goes down rather than up. Mark Wood keeps peppering Doggett, who by the end of the over has faced every delivery so far today but two. The sixth ball he decides he’s had enough and aims a big drive, inside edges it, gets a run to fine leg, and keeps the strike.

Mohamed says decision to leave was after ‘many false allegations and smears’ against him and others

A second MP within a week has quit Your Party in acrimonious circumstances, throwing yet more doubt on the viability of the leftwing group co-led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

In a statement on X, Iqbal Mohamed, who was elected as the independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley last year, said his decision to leave was after “many false allegations and smears” against him and others, which he did not explain.