Beamish’s streets, trams and shops double as Edwardian London in the new film, and these three are among the best‑known actors to have walked its cobbles for the production.

Director Tina Gharavi (right) and Haley Bennett who stars in the film. (Image: BRIDGE & TUNNEL PRODUCTIONS)

Here’s a look at what they’re famous for, and who they play in Night and Day:

Lily Allen – pop star turned actor

Lily Allen is still best known to most people as a chart‑topping singer, breaking through in the mid‑2000s with hits like Smile and The Fear and becoming one of the defining British pop voices of that era.

She has since built a parallel career as a writer and performer, publishing a memoir, working in television and moving into acting on stage and screen.

Her recent work in theatre has been widely praised, marking her shift from pop star to serious actor in the last few years.

In Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, Allen appears in a supporting role within the film’s Edwardian social world, trading the stage and studio for the period streets of Beamish.

Her character moves through the salons and drawing rooms that are recreated in and around the museum, helping to bring to life the gossip, wit and social pressures that surround the film’s central love story and its questions about women’s choices and independence.

Timothy Spall – one of Britain’s most recognisable character actors

Timothy Spall is one of Britain’s most familiar screen actors, known for his work in everything from Mike Leigh dramas to big‑budget franchises.

Many viewers will recognise him from films such as Secrets & Lies, Mr Turner and his long‑running role as Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter series, as well as numerous television appearances over several decades.

His ability to shift between quiet, character‑driven dramas and larger‑scale productions has made him a stalwart of British film.

In Night and Day, Spall brings that experience to an Edwardian setting, playing an older figure within the story’s network of families and institutions.

On the recreated London streets at Beamish, his character embodies the weight of tradition and expectation that younger characters have to push against, adding depth and gravitas to scenes that balance romance with questions of class, duty and change.

Timothy Spall was one of the stars who descended on Beamish Museum to film Night and Day. (Image: BEAMISH MUSEUM)

Haley Bennett – Hollywood lead bringing Woolf’s heroine to life

American actor Haley Bennett is best known for her leading and supporting roles in major films on both sides of the Atlantic.

Audiences may know her from projects ranging from music‑driven drama and psychological thrillers to high‑profile period pieces, where she has often played complex, emotionally rich characters.

That mix of screen presence and nuance has made her a popular choice for literary and period adaptations.

(Image: BEAMISH MUSEUM)

In Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day, Bennett takes on the central role inspired by Woolf’s heroine: a young woman whose keen intelligence and passion for astronomy sit uneasily alongside the expectations of Edwardian society.

She is at the heart of the scenes filmed at Beamish Museum, moving through the “London” streets, shops and trams as she navigates family demands, suitors and the pull of scientific work.

Her performance anchors the film’s blend of humour, social observation and quiet rebellion, helping turn a North East museum into the backdrop for a classic story.

Here are the seven roads set to be closed in and around the town on June 20 and 21.

Faverdale

Faverdale will see a road closure due to ongoing highway improvement works.

The restrictions are expected to remain in place until September 7.

This closure affects both the footway and carriageway as part of the S278 works for a new development on the southern side.

Bull Wynd

Bull Wynd will also be closed as part of necessary works. The restrictions are scheduled to remain in place until July 3.

This closure will impact the carriageway, affecting local traffic flow.

Chesnut Street

Chesnut Street is set for a road closure due to improvement works.

Restrictions are expected to remain in place until June 23. This closure will affect the carriageway, causing diversions for motorists.

Harrowgate Village

Harrowgate Village will experience a road closure for highway improvement works.

Restrictions are scheduled to remain in place until July 31.

This closure impacts the footway, carriageway, and verge, from Dewberry Lane to Village Hall.

Beaumont Hill

Beaumont Hill will also be closed for ongoing highway improvement works until July 31.

This closure affects the footway, carriageway, and verge from Dewberry Lane to number 25 Beaumont Hill.

Elstob Lane

Elstob Lane will face a road closure for highway improvement works. The restrictions are expected to remain in place until June 26.

This closure impacts the carriageway at the ‘S’ Bends, involving concrete haunching and resurfacing works.

Walworth Road, Heighington

Walworth Road in Heighington will be closed for essential highway improvement works.

Restrictions are set to remain in place until June 26.

This closure affects the footway, carriageway, and verge, involving various improvements including resurfacing and drainage works.

Former transport secretary Louise Haigh, one of his supporters, said after his by-election victory: “We really hope that this can be a managed and orderly transition and Keir Starmer will reflect on the results, and Andy and Keir can meet in the coming days, and over the next week, and agree a path forward.”

Sherry and garlic are the smells of Spain, of course, but not just because you smell them when you’re there. Sherry smells of warmth, and of complexity – it’s not a one-note ingredient – which backs up what I have felt about Spain as a country. If it’s not a dry one, it can be quite buttery with hints of caramel, especially once you reduce it. Here the sherry vinegar undercuts the sweetness while adding more depth and ‘woodiness’.

This makes an excellent quick dinner. Serve with olive-oil roast potatoes (cooked with either rosemary or thyme), or good bread and a green salad. I know it seems like a pain to keep the thighs on the bone – and in small pieces – but that’s what makes this dish taste so good.

Neil El Aynaoui and Bilal El Khannouss both missed close-range efforts they could and perhaps should have buried, but despite the seemingly unstoppable tide, Scotland kept heads above water, and the abnormally subdued Tartan Army were spurred back into life when John McGinn recorded their first shot of the match in the first minute of injury time.

After one of the worst weeks in its 25 year history, Xbox seems like it’s on the ropes and a reader isn’t sure they want to see what happens next.

I wasn’t going to try and write anything about what’s been going on with Xbox this week, because I didn’t think I could really add to it. It’s clear Microsoft is acting its usual uncaring self towards the livelihoods of thousands, it’s clear they’re only really interested in gaming in terms of whether they can dominate it or not, and it’s just as clear that none of them really know what they’re doing.

That’s obvious to everyone and all I can really add is the usual stuff about me loving the Xbox 360 back in the day and wasn’t it great when everyone was really into Halo? Lots of you reading this probably have those memories and I hate to break it to you (and Microsoft) but that was 20 years ago, and those days aren’t coming back.

Realising how long it is since Xbox was on top, it brings home to me what a mess they’ve made of things and how Phil Spencer only ever made things worse, even though he seemed to know what he was talking about. At least he wanted the business to grow though, but I think it’s looking increasingly obvious that the new boss has been told to wind things down.

Although it seems that Game Pass is the biggest cause of Xbox’s downfall, since It’s super expensive to do but it doesn’t attract enough people to make it all worthwhile, it was obvious to me that the Xbox Series X was doomed the minute it didn’t launch with Halo or any games that anyone cared about.

Worse than that, Xbox said, as if it was a good thing that everyone would approve of, that there would be no Xbox Series X exclusive for, I think it was two years. So if you bought a new Xbox Series X console at launch you could guarantee it wouldn’t be used to its full potential for at least two years. The fact that when Halo Infinite eventually came out it was rubbish, hardly seemed to matter compared to that, because the Xbox Series X was already bleeding out by that point.

You could easily say the console was dead on arrival, because at no point did it ever look like it was going to be a contender and then when Starfield came out and was a dud, that was it, you could tell that’s when they gave up and said let’s just release everything multiformat on PlayStation 5.

That’s a sad way for Xbox to go out but we’ve been there before with Sega, so we know it doesn’t have to be the end. But now I think it is for Xbox, even if it’s going to be a slow, agonising death filled with denial and false hope. Whereas my memory with Sega is they just shrugged their shoulders and got on with the job of being a third party publishers almost immediately.

I don’t particularly blame the new Xbox boss for the last few weeks of madness, she’s been given a job and they knew she didn’t know anything about games when they hired her, so she’s trying to speak to people and fans to get ideas of what to do. The whole exclusivity thing is stupid, and everyone can see their rules for it don’t make any sense, but at this point I get the feeling even hardcore Xbox fans have lost hope.

It’s a death of a thousand cuts, very literally because after all that nonsense about making Xbox (sorry, XBOX) great again we’re now into the cold reality of the situation: massive job cuts and studio closures.

It’s Wednesday afternoon as I type this and there hasn’t been any new news for a couple of days but as far as I’ve read we’re looking at probably Ninja Theory being shut down or sold off, as well as maybe two or three studios – the smaller ones like Double Fine that make art house games that never sell (which makes you wonder why Microsoft bought them in the first place).

I don’t know if there’s any accurate prediction of how many people are going to be laid off but it seems to be in the thousands rather than hundreds… again. And not just the smaller developers but people from Bethesda and Activision as well. Talented people that have been making games we all enjoy for years and then are thrown out at a moment’s notice because Microsoft’s graph isn’t going up quickly enough.

And then what’s left after that? A bunch of crippled studios with not enough people to do the work needed, that are constantly fearing for their job and planning to leave Microsoft as soon as they can. Good job Microsoft, you’ve killed Xbox. Except it’s not a quick death and I’m not sure I’ve got the stomach for watching it happen over the next few weeks.

By reader Xane

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

MORE: Xbox’s real exclusivity problem is they don’t make games people want – Reader’s Feature

MORE: How to be a dad and a gamer and still get a good night’s sleep – Reader’s Feature

MORE: Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake is going to beat GTA 6 for Game of the Year – Reader’s Feature

When temperatures rise, sleep often suffers. Hot nights can make it harder to fall asleep, increase waking during the night and leave people feeling less rested the next day.

One reason is thermoregulation, the body’s ability to keep its internal temperature within a safe range. Sleep is closely linked to body temperature: to fall asleep and stay asleep, the body usually needs to lose some heat. Hot bedrooms make that harder.

And UK summers are becoming hotter. The Met Office has reported that the chance of exceeding 40°C in the UK is now more than 20 times higher than it was in the 1960s, with a 50% chance of another 40°C day in the next 12 years.

Humidity can make the problem worse. Research on humidity and heat stress shows that high humidity can increase the strain heat places on the body. The body cools itself partly by sweating. As sweat evaporates from the skin, it carries heat away. But when the air is already humid, evaporation becomes less efficient.

So how can you sleep better in hot weather?

Air conditioning is one answer, but it is not affordable or practical for many households. According to the Energy Saving Trust, the electricity unit rate under the July to September 2026 price cap is 26.11p per kWh for direct debit customers. A small portable air-conditioning unit using about 1kW for seven hours a night over 30 nights would cost around £54.83 in electricity alone, before buying the unit.

Research on overheating in homes shows that shading and ventilation can be important passive cooling strategies: reducing indoor heat without mechanical cooling. Before cooling the air, then, it helps to reduce the heat entering the home. Overheating usually comes from sunlight entering through windows, known as solar gain, and warm outside air.

These eight steps can help keep bedrooms cooler before nightfall.

1. Keep sunlight out during the day

On sunny days, keep curtains or blinds closed on sun-facing windows. This reduces sunlight entering the room and heating up floors, walls and furniture. External shading, such as shutters, awnings or shades, can be even more effective because it stops some sunlight before it reaches the glass.

Be careful with windows. If the air outside is hotter than the air inside, opening windows can bring heat in. Open windows when the outside air is cooler than indoors, often early in the morning, evening or overnight. Close them during the hottest part of the day if the outside air is warmer.

2. Use cross-ventilation when the air outside is cooler

Cross-ventilation means opening windows or doors on different sides of a home so air can flow through. When outdoor air is cooler, this can help remove heat that has built up indoors. Studies of passive cooling in homes have found that night-time ventilation can reduce overheating, although effectiveness depends on the building, outdoor temperature, safety, noise and air quality.

3. Reduce heat from conservatories and sun-facing rooms

Conservatories can become very hot because sunlight passes through the glass and warms the surfaces inside. Keep them ventilated during the day and, where possible, close internal doors between the conservatory and the rest of the house. Reflective films, blinds, shutters, awnings and shaded roofs can all reduce heat gain.

Loft spaces and top-floor rooms can also become hot because roofs absorb solar heat. Loft ventilation or reflective roof materials may help in some homes, although these are usually more substantial interventions. For example, solar panels on the roof can generate electricity and at the same time act as a barrier to reduce heat transfer to the building.

4. Move where you sleep

If your bedroom is on an upper floor or faces south or west, it may be one of the hottest rooms in the house. Heat rises through the building, and sun-facing walls and roofs can continue releasing stored heat after sunset.

During a heatwave, sleeping on the ground floor or north-facing side of the home may help.

5. Reduce heat and humidity indoors

Ovens, hobs, tumble dryers, washing machines and dishwashers can all make indoor spaces warmer. Cooking and drying clothes indoors can also increase humidity, making it harder for sweat to evaporate.

On very hot days, use heat-producing appliances earlier in the day or later in the evening. Use extractor fans when cooking or showering because they remove warm, moist air before it spreads through the home. Research on moisture movement and extractor fans has shown that fans can reduce the movement of moisture from kitchens and bathrooms to other rooms.

6. Choose breathable bedding and clothing

A review of sleepwear and bedding fibre types found that bedding and clothing can affect thermal comfort during sleep. Light, loose sleepwear and bedding can help the body lose heat. Cotton and linen are often comfortable because they absorb moisture and allow air movement, although fabric weave, thickness and moisture handling also matter. Avoid heavy bedding, thick duvets and tight synthetic fabrics that trap heat and moisture.

7. Use fans carefully

Evidence on electric fan use in hot weather suggests that fans can be useful in many hot conditions, but their safety depends on temperature, humidity, age, hydration and health.

Fans do not cool the air. They move air across the skin, which can help sweat evaporate and make people feel cooler.

In very high temperatures, especially for older adults or people who are dehydrated or unwell, fans alone may not be enough. If using a fan, drink water, avoid directing it continuously at the face while sleeping, and stop using it if it makes you feel hotter, dizzy or unwell.

8. Try low-cost cooling aids safely

Reusable ice packs, freezer blocks or cooling pillows may help some people feel more comfortable. Wrap ice packs in a cloth or place them on a tray to avoid condensation soaking bedding or direct cold contact with skin.

Cooling mattress toppers and bedding that use water or phase change materials may also help. These materials absorb, store and release heat as they change state, although cost and effectiveness vary.

In hot weather, better sleep starts long before bedtime.

The most effective approach is usually a combination: block sunlight during the day, ventilate when outside air is cooler, reduce heat from appliances, sleep in the coolest room available and use bedding that allows the body to lose heat.

In the early 20th century, American anthropologist Franz Boas argued that being free just means being fully in harmony with your culture. The Inuit with whom he had done fieldwork saw themselves as incomparably free, even though he saw them as constrained by traditional rules.

But the opposite was also true: they saw his (freely chosen) decision to live among them as a strange cultural compulsion. For Boas, there is no absolute freedom: “We are free in so far as the limitations of our culture do not oppress us; we are unfree when we become conscious of these limitations and are no longer willing to submit to them.”

This idea sheds light on a puzzling aspect of free speech debates. Speech is never truly free: we are limited by grammar, context, politeness, style and genre. Controversies arise not because there are limits to what you can say, but because limits feel wrong. Limitations that follow your own inclinations feel sensible and natural – merely a question of hitting the right tone, avoiding some words in order to be convincing, impressive, civil or reasonable. Even free speech absolutists are polite to their mothers.

Cultures of free speech

This vision of free speech is disturbing, though. As Boas’s contemporary Bronislaw Malinowski pointed out – if freedom is just alignment on your culture, then a fully indoctrinated citizen of a totalitarian state would be entirely free.

But none of us live in just one culture. Our commitments are multiple, cross-cutting and conflicting, and there are dissidents even in totalitarian regimes. Dissidents are not outside culture, however. Their desire for free speech may reflect misalignment with official truth, but it is also rooted in other cultural and historical commitments and values.

In my new book, I argue that our free speech wars could be seen as a struggle between three main visions, each with its own notion of freedom.

“Reason” envisions the rational exchange of opinions within the law. “Carnival” values free speech as a radical attack on established laws and orthodoxies. “Honour” is concerned with the bravery and honesty of truth-speakers doing their duty.

Carnival and honour

The real problem with Boas’s view is that it assumes freedom is just one kind of thing – being in line with your culture. His critics often think it is the opposite: thinking outside the box and being conscious of yourself as an individual rather than following the herd.

This idea is central to certain free speech stances: the more shocking or unconventional, the more one is a genuine free speaker. When French students took to the streets in May 1968, their most famous graffiti read “it is forbidden to forbid”. But this freedom as the absence of constraint is itself a cultural vision, with specific historical roots. It echoes medieval carnival where there was a suspension of all rules and the inversion of all propriety.

Yet when people break cultural rules, it is often in pursuit of another cultural ideal. The 17th century Quakers, for instance, were famously bold and unconventional speakers, often insulted and beaten for refusing to call people “sir” or observe common courtesies. Committed to speaking purely and truly in the eyes of God, they rejected deference as insincere flattery and worldly pride. They broke with propriety, but their freedom of speech was the very opposite of “it is forbidden to forbid”. Instead, it entailed saying less, not more, and was felt as an obligation.

Religious freedom-as-obligation might sound strange to secular ears, yet free speech is often experienced precisely in this way. Think of whistleblowers, martyrs and truth-speakers who might say, like Martin Luther did, “here I stand, I can do no other.” This is freedom as an honourable commitment to the truth.

Honour and reason

It also echoes the ancient Greek figure of the parrhesiast – the brave truth-speaker, like the orator speaking to an angry crowd. Parrhesia (truth telling) requires personal courage and a certain disrespect for conventions.

But the ancient Greeks also had isegoria – an equal right to speaking in public, a matter of law and formal equality. Isegoria required not individual courage but collective rules, civility and reasonable turn-taking.

Historian Teresa Bejan has argued this distinction echoes in contemporary no-platforming debates: no-platformed speakers see themselves as courageously saying what no one wants to hear; while no-platformers claim to equalise access to public speech by giving the marginalised their turn.

But we could also read it the other way: no-platformers are sometimes seen as bravely speaking out against the system, while critics of no-platforming wish that everyone would be a bit more civil and reasonable and listen to people they disagree with.

Counting to three

None of these modes of free speech are absolute. Reason implies standards of civility some speakers fall foul of. Carnival rarely gives voice to the enemy, to those deemed “powerful” or to the “establishment”. Honour is also the language of reparation, insult and offence.

Reason, carnival and honour are not mutually exclusive cultures. Rather they are “modes” of free speech – like modes of transport, each gets us there differently, with different costs and implications.

In a debate on free speech which is so often binary and polarised, counting to three can help us see that the hardest choices are not always between less and more free speech – they are about the kind of freedom we are reaching for and what limits it comes with.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

A South Cambridgeshire village has been described as a ‘really safe environment’

A Cambridgeshire commuter village has been praised by locals for its “small, peaceful community”. However, they complained about its “nightmare” rail crossing, which they say is becoming “worse and worse”.

Foxton is conveniently located around seven miles away from Cambridge and is home to more than 1,200 residents, according to the 2021 census. Comprising pretty little cottages, with a true village feel, Foxton offers several local amenities including a convenience store, post office, and a pub called The White Horse.

As part of our Exploring Cambridgeshire series, we spoke to residents about what they think of it. Flavia Metcalfe has lived in the village for seven years. She used to live in the centre of Cambridge, and before that, she lived in Manchester.

Flavia said she “loves” living in Foxton as it is “very safe, especially when you have kids”. She added: “You feel really assured that you’re in a really safe environment. Everyone is really friendly too.

“It’s not very diverse, but you don’t really notice it because everyone is so welcoming, so friendly, so nice. It’s a really lovely village.”

Flavia shared that housing prices are relatively expensive in the area. She said the village “makes up for it with safety and friendliness”.

House prices in Foxton have an overall average of £536,178 over the last year, according to Rightmove. In comparison, the average house price in South Cambridgeshire was £433,000 in April 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Flavia described Foxton as an ideal village for commuters because you can travel into the capital “really easily” as well as having a close proximity to Cambridge. She added: “I work in Cambridge so I get the train into the city really quite easily. Generally if there wasn’t a station here, you may find it difficult. But it makes a huge, huge difference.”

Describing the amenities in Foxton, she continued: “Socially you have a pub, a shop and now you have the café. So, for a small village you have more going on than in other villages.”

However, the local said she does find Foxton’s railway crossing a “pain”, “especially for someone that commutes quite a bit”.

Flavia added: “Often, you have times where you stand there for a good five to 10 minutes and you miss the train.” She thinks a bypass would make a “huge difference”.

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A 67-year-old resident, who has lived in Foxton for around 40 years, and asked to be named only as David, said the village has a “small, peaceful community”.

Explaining that plans for a bypass have been ongoing for years, he said: “I think it needs it because that level crossing is getting worse and worse.”

David added: “You get stuck. Villagers go out the back way but it is difficult. You have to build that into your equation [for travel].”

A 72-year-old man, who wished to remain anonymous, has lived in the village for a decade. He highlighted that Foxton is very “sport orientated” and is “very much” a commuter village nowadays.

He said that it is a community where “you see everybody in the mornings and you say ‘good morning’” which makes for a “friendly” village.

He agrees with other villagers calling for a bypass that “something definitely really [needs to be done] because that is the only issue you’ve got living in the village is getting out into the A10”.

He said some form of improvement would be “really good” and emphasised that plans have been ongoing for a “long time” but “nothing has really come from it”. The resident said the community doesn’t know anything anymore and feels “in the dark at the moment” about the future plans.

Kathy Dixon said there is a “big community spirit” in Foxton and there are “always things going on and when there is a village event, everybody turns up”. She thinks Covid-19 was “evidence of how much people pull together”.

At the moment, Kathy feels as though Foxton is not necessarily a commuter village because there are “plenty of retired people here”. She said: “During the day, it doesn’t turn into a ghost village, like others do.”

She said moving from Harston to Foxton was the “best thing that ever happened” to her and she feels as though it was “fate”.

Kathy said the Foxton crossing is a “nightmare” but “at least we can go round it” because it is a bit of a “rat run”. She said that the bypass plans are going to become irrelevant because “you’ve got the East West Railway coming through and whatever plans the Greater Cambridge Partnership has got”.

She continued: “It escalated in price, and I think people gave up on it [the plans]. I think since Covid-19, people are working from home, so it is probably not going to happen.”

Kathy said, if more houses were built in Foxton, she “would want to see more preservation of habitat”. She continued: “There have been some fairly aggressive planning applications at the bottom of the village. So it would be okay if it was done, but if it was done tastefully and it looked like a village, rather than just more red brick.”

Greg Wolverson, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: “While heatwave criteria will be met for some in the south and south-east of England over the weekend, with temperatures into the low 30s possible, the warmth will expand and intensify at the start of next week, which, coupled with high temperatures overnight, leads to potential impacts.