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Nadya Tolokonnikova, co-founder of the feminist protest art collective Pussy Riot, was in Berlin when news broke on February 16 of the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony.

Two days later, she was protesting in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin alongside Pussy Riot co-member Lucy Shtein, his lawyer Lyubov Sobol and former Russian state TV employee and 2022 Deadline Disruptor Marina Ovsyannikova.

Like most Navalny allies, Tolokonnikova believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has blood on his hands.

The activist, artist and performer fronted another Navalny commemoration at the Wende Museum in Los Angeles on March 2.

“They opened their doors for us to make a pop-up exhibit and just let people come together. It’s very important for me that we don’t close in on our little selves and grieve alone,” Tolokonnikova says via Zoom.

Tolokonnikova says Navalny was instrumental in...

Is it any wonder that Bass Reeves was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger?

We meet Bass in the middle of an ongoing battle Civil War, where he’s fighting side-by-side with his “owner,” Confederate Army Commander George Reeves.

Bass promises George he will follow him into battle and fire when necessary, and he does just that, shooting with laser-sharp precision, never missing his mark.

Like all wars, it’s a disgusting scene, and this one culminates in white men masquerading as Native Americans, scalping their opponents after their victory.

On Lawmen: Bass Reeves Season 1 Episode 1, we learn quickly that the brightest, most well-adjusted man in any room is Bass himself. Despite his circumstances, he’s a moral man who is fearless in the face of moral ambiguity or outright absence.

A story of a man this good might not work if not for David Oyelowo’s portrayal. He plays...

Unlike other anthology series, Inside No. 9 not only reinvents itself with each episode, its multi-genre approach gives the showrunners plenty of chances to experiment. One episode could be science fiction, and then the next is a comedy. There is really no telling what’s in store for viewers as they tune in. Now, the show’s masterminds and stars, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, tend to offer a variety of odd tales every season, but this installment has, for the most part, thrills and suspense on the brain.

Not since 2018 has Inside No. 9 produced a holiday special. “Dead Line” delivered an immersive Halloween experience born out of faux technical difficulties, and before that, “The Devil of Christmas” shocked viewers in 2016 with an unforgettable twist in the tail. Meanwhile, Season 8’s “The Bones of St Nicholas” channels the British tradition of ghost stories told at Christmas. George Kane, who...

All through the run-up to series eight of Inside No. 9, audiences were told to expect an episode called ‘Hold on Tight!’, set on a No.9 bus. Inside No. 9 is an anthology show, in which writer-actors Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith take on different roles in each self-contained episode, alongside an impressive array of guest stars. ‘Hold on Tight!’, press were told, would be an homage to 1970s comedy On the Buses, and would feature guest star Robin Askwith, who is best known for his ‘cheeky’ 1970s sex comedy roles. Photos were released of Askwith, Pemberton and Shearsmith in costume next to a red London bus, and a movie-style poster was made. Clips of Pemberton and Shearsmith in their bus conductor costumes were included in the series eight trailer.

On the night the episode was due to be transmitted, at the last minute the continuity announcer told viewers that...

Warning: contains spoilers for series 8 episode 4

In 2017, Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi told a credulous tabloid that he hoped his next project after the Tardis would be a Steven Moffat-written revival of 1970s sitcom On the Buses. “I have got a Blakey in me,” Capaldi assured The Sun, referring to Stephen Lewis’ dyspeptic bus inspector character. Moffat ran with the joke, agreeing whole-heartedly that after Sherlock, bringing back On the Buses would be his natural next move.

Five years later, when Inside No. 9 creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton wanted to pull their audience’s leg, On the Buses once again served as a punch line. Among the first look images of series eight was one of the creators and cheeky 1970s sex comedy star Robin Askwith in full On the Buses costume. Finally! Shearsmith and Pemberton had taken up the much-repeated fan suggestion that they set one of...