British TV Premieres
Doctor battles Jinkx Monsoon in new Doctor Who teaser pics
But we certainly get a sense of what's on the cards for Jinkx Monsoon's musical villain, Maestro, in newly released images – and they even tease a couple of pretty…
Film
Love Lies Bleeding director nearly made the ending completely different
The film, which landed in UK cinemas today (3rd May), follows lovers Lou (Kristen Stewart) and Jackie (Katy O’Brian) as they embark on a wild journey brimming with death and gore as they make their way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas.
The film builds to a big visual twist in the final act as Jackie undergoes a huge (and we mean monster-sized huge) transformation, saves the day, and runs off into the sunset with Lou.
And while this epic visual flourish might be one of Love Lies Bleeding‘s talking points, director Glass has revealed that she nearly kept the final act “very grounded and in reality”.
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“I think, similarly to St Maud, I had the ending quite early on and then a lot of it’s kind of finding your way to it,” she exclusively told RadioTimes.com.
“So we had a version where that happened really on. Because I think for me and Veronica my co-writer, what happened felt to us like a very natural progression of the story that comes before.”
She continued: “It felt very natural, and then at some point we did get cold feet. So we did write versions where we kept it very grounded and in the real world, and essentially the same kind of dynamics played out, but just in a very literal way, and it just always felt like a bit of a cop out, and kind of unsatisfying.”
O’Brian added that she couldn’t believe it when she first read the scene.
“Yeah when I was reading the script, after I threw up Kristen, I thought nothing would surprise me, and then I read that I become 50 feet, or whatever, and I was like, ‘what is this?’” she said.
“It took me a while to sit down and really think it through and I think with discussions with Rose she was like ‘see what you want into it but also have fun with it’.”
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Speaking about her interpretation of the scene, she added: “And I think it was this self-actualisation in a weird way. Originally I was supposed to be naked and, fortunately, they decided to put me in a bikini and make me look like I wanted to look on stage, as if I had won. So that informed it – I’d achieved what I’d wanted to achieve and it wasn’t getting mild fame through bodybuilding, it was saving the love of my life essentially.”
The actor also recalled initially finding the scene “silly and awkward” to film, explaining: “It was super fun. The annoying part is that it was fake, so I couldn’t actually pick Ed up.
“That would be really great, if I could actually have grown 50 feet. It was kind of weird to film, but fun to watch. Filming, I’m like alone and there’s just like blank behind me and a bunch of backdrops that they’ve kind of shaped to look like, height-wise, where I’m supposed to be, and then I’m playing with dolls and picking them up and putting them down.
“So it felt very silly and awkward to film. But watching it, it was a blast.”
Love Lies Bleeding will arrive in UK cinemas on Friday 3rd May 2024.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Film And TV
Doctor battles Jinkx Monsoon in new Doctor Who teaser pics
But we certainly get a sense of what’s on the cards for Jinkx Monsoon‘s musical villain, Maestro, in newly released images – and they even tease a couple of pretty stellar outfit changes for the Doctor’s new enemy in the second episode of the new season, titled The Devil’s Chord.
In the slew of first look images, we see the Doctor shocked to see Maestro while strumming a guitar in the middle of the iconic Abbey Road Studios. But who exactly is he looking at? Well, it’s Monsoon’s character now wearing a rather regal looking blue outfit (above) that has considerable undertones of The Beatles‘s Sergeant Pepper era.
Similarly, Maestro has another costume change in another picture that shows her on top of a white grand piano in a purple dress but she appears to be sticking her finger out at something with an angry look on her face. Could she be confronting the Doctor?
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While we’re not yet sure what kind of musical adventure the Doctor and Ruby are set to go on, another image shows the pair running down a London street looking worried.
Aside from all of the action, we also get our first glimpse of The Beatles in action in the episode and the actors who play the well-known musicians.
In a fairly joyous image of the band (below), we see George Caple as Paul McCartney, Philip Davies as George Harrison and Chris Mason as John Lennon as they practice in the middle of Abbey Road Studios.
Rumours have recently continued to swirl about how Maestro fits into the Whoniverse, especially seeing as Russell T Davies has previously referred to the character as “the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet”.
After the character’s name was revealed, plenty have been left to ponder the possibility that Maestro could have some kind of connection to one of the Doctor’s major foes, the Master. Previously played by Sacha Dhawan, fans have thought that the two villains could perhaps be connected but Davies has since quashed those rumours.
Exclusively chatting to RadioTimes.com at the London premiere for Gatwa’s first full season, Davies revealed: “No, it’s nothing to do with the Master… it’s completely different, a pantheon of gods that we’ve introduced.
“I did think when I named them Maestro that there was a chance that that might overlap. It causes speculation, which is fun, but the Master is kind of parked for the moment. There’s been a lot of the Master recently, so it’s time to start again and have a fresh start to the show.”
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And there are plenty more villains to come aside from Maestro in the new series as well, with Davies saying: “[There are] lots of great villains – episode 4 has got possibly the strangest villain you’ll ever see. You have to come and watch – even in an interview like this, it’s hard to describe. You’ve got to come and watch episode 4 to understand what’s going on.
“And then episode 5 has great big ugly monsters, which are fantastic, so good old Doctor Who territory.”
Doctor Who returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 11th May 2024.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.