Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and the Vanishing of Its Own Canon

By Jon Donnis

In the original Star Trek episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, the message is blunt and intentionally grim. Cheron is dead. Its civilisation has burned itself out through hatred, and what remains are two men, Lokai and Bele, locked in a feud that has outlived everything else. They are presented as the final survivors of their people, both male, both utterly incapable of change.

The episode goes out of its way to show there is nothing left to save. The planet is lifeless. The cities are silent. Kirk leaves them behind not out of cruelty, but because their conflict has already run its course. The ending lands because it refuses hope. Lokai and Bele are condemned to pursue one another until death on an empty world, a closed loop of hatred with no future.

At no point is there any hint of a surviving population elsewhere. There is no suggestion of a child, a legacy, or some biological loophole waiting to be exploited later. The story works precisely because it is final. Their species ends with them, not with a sequel hook.

That is why the sudden appearance of a member of that same race in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy feels so jarring. There is no groundwork laid for it in the original episode. No canon explanation is offered. It simply happens, as if the bleak conclusion of one of Star Trek's most pointed morality tales can be brushed aside without consequence.

This is not clever reinterpretation or hidden depth finally uncovered. It is a straight contradiction. A story that once meant something very specific is quietly hollowed out so a new series can have another familiar alien face on screen. In doing so, Star Trek undermines its own history and signals that even its most deliberate endings are now disposable.

Ted Season Two Heads Back to the Nineties on Sky

Image: Sky TV Press

By Jon Donnis

All episodes of the live action comedy prequel Ted return to Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK and Ireland on 6 March 2026, with the full second season dropping at once.

The series, which acts as a prequel to the Ted films, stays rooted firmly in the 1990s. Ted the bear, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, has already had his brush with fame and is now back where he started in Framingham, Massachusetts. He lives with his best friend, 17 year old John Bennett, played by Max Burkholder, alongside John's parents Matty and Susan, portrayed by Scott Grimes and Alanna Ubach, and cousin Blaire, played by Giorgia Whigham.

Ted remains a terrible role model and an even worse house guest. Still, beneath the bad habits and loud opinions, he is fiercely loyal. When it comes to friendship, he is always willing to stick his neck out, even if it causes chaos for everyone else in the house.

Seth MacFarlane, who serves as executive producer, writer, director, co showrunner and the voice of Ted, shared a message alongside fellow executive producers, writers and co showrunners Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh. They describe the second season as the result of a huge collaborative effort, praising the writers, cast, crew and visual effects team who continue to bring Ted convincingly to life.

The team promises eight episodes that are deliberately filthy, hopefully funny and unexpectedly heartfelt. At its centre is the story of a young man, his talking teddy bear and a deeply dysfunctional family. They also jokingly suggest that, should the series not appeal, viewers could always leave all episodes playing to completion on multiple devices around the house.

Alongside MacFarlane, the series regular cast includes Max Burkholder, Alanna Ubach, Scott Grimes and Giorgia Whigham. Executive producers also include Erica Huggins, Alana Kleiman, Jason Clark and Aimee Carlson under the Fuzzy Door banner.

Ted is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, alongside Fuzzy Door and MRC, and is distributed by NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution. The series was acquired for Sky by Katie Keenan and Lucy Criddle.

Ted season two returns to Sky and streaming service NOW on 6 March 2026.

Catch up on Ted Season One at https://amzn.to/4b2SVdk

Sky Brings FIFA Women’s Champions Cup to UK Screens

Image: Sky TV Press

By Jon Donnis

Sky and FIFA have confirmed a new exclusive partnership that will bring the Final Stage of the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup live to Sky Sports viewers in the UK and Ireland. Coverage will air across two matchdays on 28 January and 1 February.

The tournament brings together the six continental champions and is staged in seasons when the FIFA Women's Club World Cup is not held. After two opening round fixtures, four teams remain and will contest the final phase of the competition in London.

Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast every match from the Final Stage. Action begins on Wednesday 28 January at the Brentford Stadium, with Gotham FC facing SC Corinthians at 12.30, followed by Arsenal Women FC against ASFAR at 18.00. Both matches serve as the tournament's semi-finals.

Four days later, the competition moves to the Arsenal Stadium. The third place play-off will kick off at 14.45, before the final takes place at 18.00 to decide the first winners of the FIFA Women's Champions Cup.

Sky's on-air coverage will feature Izzy Christiansen, Caroline Barker, Natalie Gedra, Ellen Ellard and Courtney Sweetman-Kirk across the broadcasts.

The competing clubs represent all six continental confederations, with ASFAR from CAF, Arsenal Women FC from UEFA, Auckland United FC from OFC, Gotham FC from CONCACAF, SC Corinthians from CONMEBOL and Wuhan Jiangda WFC from the AFC.

Sky Sports continues to position itself as the UK's leading investor in women's sports rights. In 2025, the broadcaster aired more than 75 percent of all televised women's sport, delivering year-round coverage across football, golf, cricket, netball, tennis, motorsport and rugby league.

Cathy Newman Joins Sky News as Political Coverage Steps Up

Image: Sky TV Press

By Jon Donnis

Sky News has confirmed that award winning journalist and broadcaster Cathy Newman will join the newsroom in the coming months, taking on a prominent role across its political output. Newman will front the 7pm flagship daily politics programme, launch a new podcast and work on long form investigations and documentaries, marking a significant addition to the broadcaster's editorial line up.

One of the UK's most recognisable broadcasters, Newman arrives with nearly two decades of experience in political and investigative journalism. She first built her reputation at the Financial Times before moving to Channel 4 News, where she later became the programme's first female main presenter. Across that period, her work became closely associated with tough questioning and a refusal to settle for easy gotcha moments, even when interviews became tense or widely shared.

Her reporting has covered some of the most high profile political and legal stories of recent years. These include an eight year investigation that exposed Church of England abuser John Smyth, coverage of sexual harassment allegations involving Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard, and an investigation into British sex offender Simon Harris that ultimately led to a 17 year prison sentence. In each case, Newman focused on sustained investigation rather than quick fire gotcha exchanges.

The appointment comes as Sky News continues to expand its political journalism under its 2030 strategy, with politics positioned as central to its ambition to be a premium, video first newsroom. Newman's role will be fully cross platform, spanning television, podcasting, online and social output, with the 7pm slot evolving to include deeper reporting alongside daily political analysis.

Newman will also continue to produce original investigative journalism, which is expected to play a key role in the future shape of the evening programme. That work will sit alongside Sky News' long form ambitions, including Full Story Films, the documentary production unit launched last year. For a newsroom often associated with sharp questioning, the message is clear. This is about substance over surface, and moving beyond the easy gotcha.

And while we are talking about Gotcha moments, here is our favourite Cathy Clip.

Enjoy.

River City: Our Story Brings Shieldinch’s Journey to a Close

Image BBC Press

By Jon Donnis

BBC Scotland is preparing to mark the end of River City with a special one-off documentary that looks back on the drama's long and influential run. River City: Our Story will celebrate the series as it bows out in Autumn 2026, closing the door on more than two decades spent in the fictional community of Shieldinch.

The hour-long documentary is being made by Solus Productions and directed by Tony Kearney, a familiar face to viewers who played Scott Wallace for almost ten years after the show launched in September 2002. For Kearney, the project carries a personal weight, returning him to the programme he helped shape from its earliest days.

River City: Our Story will revisit some of the most defining moments from the show's 24 years on screen. Members of the current cast will come together in their on-screen family groups to rewatch key scenes, share memories, and reflect on what it was like filming moments that became part of the show's history. The documentary will also feature behind-the-scenes footage captured as cast and crew prepare to shoot the final episodes at Dumbarton Studios, filmed earlier this year.

The programme will widen its focus beyond the studio gates by including contributions from the audience. Long-time fans will talk about the unexpected impact River City has had on their lives, as well as their memories drawn from more than 1,500 episodes filled with love, murder and humour on Montego Street. Details on how viewers can submit their stories are expected to be announced soon.

Gavin Smith, Commissioning Editor for Drama at BBC Scotland, described the documentary as a key part of the show's farewell. He said the team was delighted to be working with Solus on a celebration that offers a warm look back at Shieldinch, packed with memorable clips and stories.

Tony Kearney, who also serves as executive producer, reflected on the significance of the moment. Having appeared in the very first scene filmed for River City, he said being present to observe the final scene being shot would feel like a full circle moment and a genuine privilege.

A Solus Production for BBC Scotland, River City: Our Story is executive produced by Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland, Martin McCardie for BBC Studios and Jim Webster for Solus Productions. The documentary will air in Autumn 2026 on BBC iPlayer and BBC Scotland.

COMPETITION: Win Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale Season 1 on DVD

Spellbinding new crime drama series, Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale, based on the Sunday Times bestselling novel Sanctuary by V.V. James and starring Elaine Cassidy (A Discovery of Witches, The Wonder, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die), is coming to UK screens this festive season, with a murder mystery set to cast a spell on you. 

And to celebrate we have a copy on DVD to give away!

Synopsis:

This enchanting mystery thriller centres Elaine Cassidy’s Sarah Fenn alongside other powerful female characters with Hazel Doupe (Smother, Into the Badlands) as Harper Fenn, Amy De Bhrún (Line of Duty, Vikings) as Abigail Whithall and Stephanie Levi-John (The Spanish Princess) as DCI Maggie Knight. 

 

When local teen rugby star and town golden boy, Dan Whithall dies in a sudden and unexplained accident, the tight-knit community turns to Sarah (Cassidy) for answers. Though witches are welcome to live openly in Sanctuary, the weight of Dan’s death brings to light how deep old prejudices can run and just how quickly suspicions can turn deadly. In the wake of a police investigation and as rumours spiral, grief soon curdles into blame and Abigail (De Bhrún) – Dan’s devastated mother and once Sarah’s closest friend – begins to stoke the pyre on a modern-day witch hunt.  

 

As suspicion grips the town, Sarah and her teenage daughter Harper (Doupe) find themselves in the middle of a mounting storm: a community unravelling; an investigation steeped in bias and a deadly force of paranoia determined to destroy them.  

 

Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale is a spellbinding murder mystery drenched in magic and moral complexity – with a second season on the horizon, now is the perfect time to dive into the beguiling new crime series filled with endless twists and turns.  

Pre-Order from https://amzn.to/4qldHcS

Enter now for a chance to win.

Who plays Harper Fenn in Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale?

Send your name, address and of course the answer to competition365@outlook.com

Quick Terms and conditions

1. Closing date 26-01-26

2. No alternative prize is available

3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.

4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

Assume Nothing: The Stormont Spy Ring and a Murder That Still Haunts Northern Ireland

Image: BBC Press

By Jon Donnis

Assume Nothing: The Stormont Spy Ring is a new eight-part documentary series for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster that revisits one of the most unsettling stories to emerge from the post-conflict years in Northern Ireland.

At its centre is Denis Donaldson, a long-standing Sinn Féin figure who was exposed in 2005 as having worked as an informer for the police and MI5 for two decades. The revelation sent shockwaves through politics and republicanism alike. Months later, in 2006, Donaldson was found shot dead at a remote cottage in Donegal.

The series is narrated by actor Martin McCann, known for his role in Blue Lights, and begins not with the murder but with events leading up to it. It opens months earlier, when a break-in at the Belfast headquarters of Special Branch triggered a major criminal investigation. At the time, suspicion quickly fell on the IRA.

Police inquiries eventually led officers to Denis Donaldson's home, where they recovered material believed to have been taken from government offices. Some documents were missing or incomplete. Attempts by police to trace and recover them transformed what had been a covert inquiry into a full political crisis, one that threatened the stability of Stormont's power-sharing government.

Donaldson was arrested along with three others, accused of operating a republican spy ring at the heart of government. What followed was a complex and drawn-out legal process that ended in a way few expected. Prosecutors dropped all charges.

Soon after, Denis Donaldson publicly admitted that he had been passing information to the police and MI5. He then vanished from public life. He resurfaced months later living alone in a whitewashed stone cottage in rural Donegal. It was there that he was murdered.

In 2009, the Real IRA claimed responsibility for killing him, yet no one has ever been convicted. Two decades on, the case remains unresolved and surrounded by unanswered questions.

One possible piece of evidence continues to cast a long shadow. A journal Donaldson was believed to be writing around the time of his death is held by Irish police. His family has repeatedly sought its return, but without success.

The series draws on voices from journalists, members of the security services, and people with close knowledge of the events, piecing together a story that remains deeply contested and politically sensitive.

Assume Nothing: The Stormont Spy Ring is available now on BBC Sounds.