Screen Wrap · Tuesday 20 October 2026
The BBC is switching off BBC Three as a TV channel for the second time, along with BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra. Tonight’s Screen Wrap also has a third series for This City Is Ours, a “one final game” poster for Jumanji: Open World, a release date for Benny Safdie’s Lizard Music and a best picture push for You Can See Everything.
The News That Matters
BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra to close as broadcast channels
- What’s changing: BBC Three and BBC Scotland stop broadcasting as TV channels; Radio 4 Extra closes as a radio station
- When: Spring 2027 (April 2027, according to Equity)
- Where the shows go: BBC Three programmes to BBC iPlayer and other platforms, including YouTube; BBC Scotland continues on iPlayer, with Scottish programming on BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland; Radio 4 Extra programmes to BBC Sounds
- Also ending: Reporting Scotland: News at Seven, when the BBC Scotland channel closes
- Why: Part of the BBC’s drive to save £500 million; around 100 jobs are also going at BBC News
- UK availability: All three services stay on air until spring 2027, then move to BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds
BBC Three is being taken off air for the second time in a decade. The corporation will close it as a broadcast channel in spring 2027, along with the BBC Scotland channel and the archive speech station Radio 4 Extra, as it hunts for £500 million of savings. The BBC Three brand carries on online, with its commissions on BBC iPlayer and other platforms, including YouTube, while Radio 4 Extra programmes will live on BBC Sounds.
BBC Three, home to Gavin & Stacey, Fleabag and Normal People, first went online-only in 2016 before returning as a TV channel in 2022. In Scotland, the BBC Scotland channel becomes an iPlayer service, BBC Two in Scotland is reconfigured to carry Scotland-only programming, and the nightly Reporting Scotland: News at Seven ends when the channel closes. Director-general Matt Brittin told staff the savings mean “tough choices”, adding that much of the content “will still be found where audiences already enjoy them on iPlayer and Sounds”.
This City Is Ours gets a third series before series two even airs
- Series: This City Is Ours, created and written by Stephen Butchard; produced by Left Bank Pictures
- Ratings: Series one has averaged 6.3 million viewers, with episode one passing 8.4 million
- Series two cast: James Nelson-Joyce and Hannah Onslow return; Shaun Evans (Endeavour) joins as former gangster Ozzie Thompson and Álvaro Morte (Money Heist) as Felipe
- Series three: Filming mainly in Liverpool in 2027
- UK availability: Series two is on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 25 October, and on BBC One on Sundays and Mondays at 9pm from the same night. Series three date not yet confirmed
The BBC has ordered a third series of Stephen Butchard’s Liverpool gangland drama days before series two arrives. Series one picked up BAFTA TV nominations for best drama and for lead actor James Nelson-Joyce, and its first episode grew from 1.9 million overnight viewers to more than 8.4 million.
Series two picks up with Nelson-Joyce’s Michael Kavanagh and Hannah Onslow’s Diana barely settled in Spain before they are dragged back to answer questions about Ricardo’s death, while an old-school gangster from Ronnie’s era, fresh out of prison, wants compensation from the firm. Butchard says he hopes the early recommission “is an indication” that the team has delivered an even better second run.
Jumanji: Open World poster promises “one final game”
- Film: Jumanji: Open World, billed as the final film in the trilogy
- Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan, with Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman and Danny DeVito
- Director: Jake Kasdan, who co-wrote the script with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg
- Studio: Sony Pictures; US release on Christmas Day
- UK availability: In UK cinemas this Christmas, released by Sony Pictures. Exact UK date not yet confirmed
Sony has unveiled the poster for Jumanji: Open World, stacking the faces of Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan on top of each other. Johnson shared it with the line “Two worlds collide. One final game.”, and the studio is selling it as the last game for this cast.
This time Jumanji breaks out of its console and unleashes its chaos on the real world, with the heroes’ video game avatars loose in our world. Jake Kasdan, who directed Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level, returns for a finale to a run that took more than $1.7 billion around the world.
Update: Benny Safdie’s Lizard Music sets a Christmas Day 2027 release
- New development: Amazon MGM Studios has dated the film for US cinemas on 25 December 2027
- Film: Live-action and CGI adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s novel, written and directed by Benny Safdie
- Cast: Dwayne Johnson as the Chicken Man, with Theo Clark Leber, Alicia Silverstone, Regina Hall, Tim Heidecker, Andrew Dice Clay, Colman Domingo, Jeff Goldblum and Rachel McAdams
- Competition: Shares Christmas Day 2027 with Nancy Meyers’ Paris Paramount and Ron Howard’s Alone at Dawn
- UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed
Benny Safdie’s family fantasy now has a date. Last week we reported that Colman Domingo, Jeff Goldblum and Rachel McAdams had joined Lizard Music, and Amazon MGM Studios has now set it for US cinemas on Christmas Day 2027.
The story follows a boy who stumbles on a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing music. Looking for the truth, he meets the eccentric Chicken Man, played by Dwayne Johnson, and his chicken friend Claudia, and they set out to find a hidden society. It reunites Johnson and Safdie after The Smashing Machine.
Update: You Can See Everything will campaign for best picture at the Oscars
- New development: A24 is submitting the film for best picture as well as best documentary feature at the 99th Academy Awards
- Other categories: Director, cinematography, film editing, production design, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, sound and original score
- Acting push: Amanda Seyfried, who appears as herself and revisits her role as Elizabeth Holmes from The Dropout, for best supporting actress (Variety)
- Box office: $15 million US opening, the second-biggest ever for a documentary after Fahrenheit 9/11
- UK availability: In UK cinemas from 20 November
Fresh from the $15 million US opening we reported at the weekend, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Elizabeth Holmes film is going after the biggest prize of all. A24’s awards site lists You Can See Everything for best picture and best director, plus eight craft categories, alongside best documentary feature. No documentary has ever been nominated for best picture.
Variety reports that Amanda Seyfried will be campaigned for best supporting actress, which would be her second nomination after Mank. The three-hour film follows Holmes in the 34 days before she is sent to prison. Read our Super Review before it opens in UK cinemas next month.
Sentimental Value wins the Nordic Council Film Prize
- Prize: 2026 Nordic Council Film Prize, worth DKK 300,000
- Shared by: Director and co-writer Joachim Trier, co-writer Eskil Vogt and producers Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
- Jury: Called it “an instant classic of Nordic cinema” and Trier’s “most mature work to date”
- Ceremony: 27 October, hosted by the Nordic Council
- UK availability: Sentimental Value streams on MUBI in the UK
Joachim Trier’s family drama has added another big prize. Sentimental Value has won the 2026 Nordic Council Film Prize, and Norway has taken all five Nordic Council prizes for the first time. Trier and Eskil Vogt first won the film prize in 2016 with Louder Than Bombs.
The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2025, then the BAFTA for film not in the English language and the Oscar for best international feature, the first for Norway. It is also the highest-grossing Norwegian film of all time internationally.
Jon Stewart will host The Daily Show through 2028
- Deal: A two-year extension, taking Stewart through the next US presidential election
- Role: Stays in the rotating line-up with Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta and Desi Lydic, and remains an executive producer
- Context: Comes weeks after Skydance closed its merger of Paramount and Warner Bros.
- UK availability: The Daily Show is available in the UK on Comedy Central via Sky
Jon Stewart is staying behind the desk. His contract with Comedy Central’s satirical news show had been due to end with 2026, and he has now signed a two-year extension that keeps him on through 2028. Stewart first hosted the show from 1999 to 2015 and returned in February 2024.
According to Paramount, The Daily Show is the most-viewed cable programme on social media in 2026. Skydance TV’s George Cheeks called Stewart “a generational talent”.
Christiane Amanpour to leave CNN after 43 years
- Exit: Leaves CNN in June 2027
- Her shows: Her CNN International programme goes weekly in January and ends in May; Amanpour & Company on PBS ends in December
- CNN’s response: Chairman Mark Thompson: “the right time for her, both personally and professionally”
- UK availability: Her programme is seen in the UK on CNN International until May 2027
Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN after 43 years. “After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN,” the chief international anchor said. She will keep reporting for the network until June.
Her news comes weeks after Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros. brought CNN into the same group as CBS News. Amanpour said she would “always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism”, signing off with her motto: “always be truthful, not neutral.”
Searchlight’s Katie Goodson-Thomas to run film at LuckyChap International
- New role: President of film at LuckyChap International, the London-based joint venture between LuckyChap and Mediawan
- Starts: In the new year
- At Searchlight: Executive vice president and co-head of production and development; worked on The Favourite, Poor Things, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Banshees of Inisherin, All of Us Strangers and the upcoming Wild Horse Nine
- UK availability: UK dates for the new film slate not yet confirmed
Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley’s LuckyChap is making a big hire in London. Katie Goodson-Thomas, who helped build Searchlight Pictures’ UK presence over more than a decade, will lead the film slate at LuckyChap International alongside co-managing directors Mona and Tanya Qureshi.
“The U.K. and Europe are full of remarkable talent, and I’m hugely ambitious about what we can find, back and get made together,” Goodson-Thomas said. LuckyChap’s credits include Barbie and Saltburn.
Ann Hornaday, longtime Washington Post film critic, dies at 66
- Career: Film critic at The Washington Post from 2002 to 2025, after the Baltimore Sun and the Austin American-Statesman
- Honours: Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism in 2008
- Books: Talking Pictures, a guide to how to watch films
- UK availability: No UK release involved
Ann Hornaday, one of America’s best-known film critics, has died at her home in Baltimore after a battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. She was 66. Her 2008 Pulitzer finalist package included her review of There Will Be Blood.
The Post’s executive editor Matt Murray said reading her work “was like talking with a close – if much more knowledgeable – friend”.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
The BBC’s cuts tell you where British television is heading: fewer channels, more iPlayer, and BBC Three’s young audience increasingly met on YouTube. Yet the same day the corporation backs a proven hit like This City Is Ours for a third run before series two has even aired. Big, reliable drama is safe; the channels around it are not.
BBC Three is leaving the TV guide again: does a channel still matter if the shows are on iPlayer and YouTube?