Here’s everything you need to know about Arsenal’s upcoming FA Cup quarter-final with Southampton

The quadruple may have gone, but there are still three trophies up for grabs for Arsenal.

The Gunners haven’t won the FA Cup for six seasons, having claimed the trophy in the only final to be held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They will be confident of reaching the final four this time around, with Championship side Southampton standing in their way.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What time is Southampton v Arsenal kick off?

Southampton v Arsenal kicks off at St Mary’s, Southampton, on Saturday, April 4, 2026.

Kick-off is at 8pm.

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What TV channel is Southampton v Arsenal on?

The game will be televised live on BBC One as well as TNT Sports 1.

Coverage on the BBC starts at 7.30pm, while the TNT coverage begins at the same time.

What about live streaming?

The game will be streamed live and for free on BBC iPlayer.

TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the HBO Max app and website.

Southampton v Arsenal team news

The hosts will be without Flynn Downes and Kuryu Matsuki due to suspension, while captain Jack Stephens is a doubt after suffering a training ground injury earlier in the week.

Leo Scienza is similarly expected to miss out as he recovers from a groin problem.

For Arsenal, Martin Zubimendi, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke are major doubts.

Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice could be rested after returning early from England duty.

Eberechi Eze is set to miss out with a calf injury and Mikel Merino is also ruled out.

The ambulances from Hatzola, a volunteer-led ambulance service operating in the Golders Green area of north-west London, were set on fire in the early hours of March 23, causing gas canisters stored in the vehicles to explode, resulting in £1 million worth of damage, Westminster Magistrates Court heard.

Donald Trump is demanding $152 million to turn the infamous Alcatraz back into a ‘state of the art’ maximum security jail over 60 years after it released its final prisoners

Donald Trump wants US taxpayers to pay $152 million to turn the popular tourist attraction Alcatraz back into a maximum-security prison.

The infamous maximum security island jail has not housed prisoners since the early 1960s, and now attracts over 1.2million visitors each year – but Trump is asking for £115million to return its to rebuild it as a “state of the art” detention facility. The request, which emerged in yesterday’s US budget proposals for the forthcoming year, forms part of an eye-watering $1.7 billion (£1.2billion) requested for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Plans for Alcatraz would include converting the site to “house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders“, though few other details have been provided.

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Mikey Smith

When the prison closed in 1962, officials said maintaining the facility would cost between $3million (£2.2m) and $5million (£3.75m) per year, without including daily operating costs. Much of the island housing Alcatraz, known as “The Rock,” is covered in bird faeces, and all resources needed to rebuild and operate the facility would need to be taken by boat.

“As an agency, we are moving forward, evaluating, and formulating the actions necessary to reopen and operate USP Alcatraz,” the US Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. When Trump first announced his intentions to return Alcatraz to its former use in 2025, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi branded the idea of opening Alcatraz the “stupidest initiative yet.”

“Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” she said in a statement, saying she would oppose the plan. The former speaker slammed the budget proposal from the Trump administration as “absurd on its face and should be rejected outright”.

Trump has previously said he wishes to see the 116-year-old Alcatraz building “substantially enlarged” and transformed into a “secure prison”. He mentioned that the waters surrounding it are “surrounded by sharks” – though marine biologists have pointed out that the species present there, such as small leopard sharks, are generally non-threatening and would not pose a real obstacle to escape.

Previously, Trump’s plan was criticised as it was pointed out that the island has no running water or sewage system in place, with all supplies needed for the prison required to be brought in by boat. By the time Alcatraz closed, it was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also dismissed the proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison, calling it “not a serious proposal” in July 2025 and reiterating his comments in recent days. “There’s no realistic plan to make Alcatraz reopen as anything other than the wonderful tourist attraction that it currently is,” the mayor said.

Congress would need to approve the plan, with battles expected across the political aisle over the size and detail of the wider $1.7 billion prison budget.

For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us?

It’s a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling.

“If I were looking at Earth from a distance, I would be pretty disappointed,” theoretical physicist Avi Loeb says. “Most of our investing is dealing with conflicts to prevent other people from killing us or us killing others. Look at the Ukraine war over a little bit of territory. That is not a sign of intelligence.”

The debate on whether little green men or UFOs are among us escalated in February when former President Barack Obama, responding to a podcaster’s question, said aliens are “real,” but he ”hasn’t seen them” and “they’re not being kept at Area 51.” President Donald Trump later announced on social media that he was directing release of government files because of “tremendous interest.”

Stepped-up interest in UFOs also is swirling as the United States heads back toward the moon with Wednesday’s launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission. The four astronauts aboard will do a fly-around of the moon before returning to Earth.

In a world riven by war, civil unrest, climate change and divisiveness, it’s easy to wonder what newcomers to Planet Earth might make of us and our struggles. Whatever the case, well over a majority of Americans echo the sentiment of the slogan from “The X-Files”: “The truth is out there.”

A 2021 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed about two-thirds of Americans said their best guess is that intelligent life exists on other planets. About half of U.S. adults said UFOs reported by people in the military are “definitely” or “probably” evidence of intelligent life outside Earth.

“We don’t want to think this is the only place in this extraordinarily and incomprehensibly large universe where life and intelligence and even technology have emerged,” says Bill Diamond, president and chief executive of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

“It sort of says about humans, ’We don’t want to be alone.’”

Something is up there. But what?

Americans have been fascinated by the thought of life outside this planet following the recovery of debris in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico. The military initially said the material was from a flying disc, only to reverse course and tell the public it was from a weather balloon.

Hollywood ran with it. Flying saucers, little green men and eventually humanoid gray aliens became part of popular culture. April 5 even is celebrated annually throughout the iconic “Star Trek” franchise as “First Contact Day” to mark the date in 2063 when humankind, in “Trek” canon, first made contact with Vulcans.

Much in the popular culture suggests any aliens might be aggressive. Priscilla Wald, who teaches about science fiction at Duke University, has a theory as to why.

“It seems to me it’s a reflection on who we are, that we’re projecting onto aliens the way we treat each other,” Wald says. “So the aliens are coming down, they want to conquer us, they’re violent. Who does that sound like? It sounds like us.”

In 2024, the Pentagon released hundreds of reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena. However, that review gave no indications that their origins were extraterrestrial.

On two separate occasions, Debbie Dmytro saw things in the sky over Michigan’s southern Oakland County. The greenish object Dmytro says she saw March 1 in the sky over Royal Oak, Michigan, looked like neither plane nor helicopter. Dmytro, a 56-year-old medical professional, acknowledges that it could have been some type of commercial or delivery drone.

What she saw in 2023 in the same general area north of Detroit is not so easily explained.

“Four yellow lights, yellowish golden lights and they were all flying very, very low,” Dmytro remembers. She says the lights were about 100 feet (30 meters) up at their nearest.

“I’ve never seen anything so low without any noise and flying in complete uniformity,” she says. “Is it something man-made? Is it something that’s not manmade? Who knows?”

Who knows indeed? UFOs, the term for unidentified flying objects, has in recent years given way to UAP — unidentified aerial phenomena or unidentified anomalous phenomena.

“Absolutely, there are such things” as UAPs and UFOs, says Diamond, whose SETI — Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence — seeks to explore, search and understand the nature of life and intelligence in the universe.

“People observe things in the sky that they can’t immediately identify or recognize as either human engineering such as planes or drones or helicopters, or animals, such as birds, and therefore they don’t know what they are,” Diamond says.

Time for the truth

Like so many, Dmytro wants to know what the government knows. “I think there’s more information out there. I’m open to learning more,” she says. “I have an open mind. It’s always about scientific proof.”

Retired Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet says evidence clearly shows there are UAP zipping around the airspace and in the oceans.

“The nonhuman intelligence that operates them or controls them are absolutely real,” Gallaudet says. “We’ve recovered crashed craft. We don’t know if they’re extraterrestrial in origin.”

Gallaudet worked as acting administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He participated in a 2024 congressional hearing on UAP disclosure and says the release of government files promised by Trump is something people find of interest. He just hopes the president follows through.

There are billions of galaxies in the universe and each has billions of stars, so the likelihood life developed elsewhere is fairly high, according to University of Michigan Astronomy Professor Edwin Bergin, who teaches about looking for life elsewhere. He believes that if intelligent beings navigated vast distances to reach Earth they would make themselves known — despite humanity’s penchant for creating chaos.

“I would think that they would look at us like we were crazy … but they would come out,” he says. “I mean, why come here otherwise unless you’re going to sit and observe.”

Loeb, director of the Institute for Theory & Computation at Harvard and head of the university’s Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts, believes in the likely existence of extraterrestrials.

“They might be laughing at us,” he says. “They might be watching us … to make sure we will not become predators, that we will not become dangerous to them.”

In the interest of national security

Much of the government’s secrecy around UFOs and UAP is tied to national security concerns, according to Diamond.

“We have pretty advanced technologies, satellite, ground-based that are for various purposes mostly national security and defense that are pointing at the sky or things on board aircraft,” Diamond says. “Sometimes these pick up objects. The technology behind it is sensitive and protected.”

Government data, including a “trove ” of UAP video the Navy is sitting on, should be shared with scientists for research and a better understanding of the characteristics of the objects, says Gallaudet, who spent 32 years in the Navy and viewed classified UAP video.

“When you look at these things in our airspace having near collisions with our aircraft, that’s a real valid concern,” he says. “We are just not sure of what they are and what they intend to do with their interaction with humanity. That could be a national security threat, or not.”

“When has ignorance ever been a good national strategy?” Gallaudet asks. “Whether it be scary, harmful or not, or a mix, I think seeking the truth is in our best interest.”

Meanwhile, Diamond doesn’t think any “true alien encounter could be kept secret.”

“If any civilization has mastered interstellar travel, they have technology and capabilities beyond our wildest comprehension,” he says. “If they want to interact, they will; if they don’t, they won’t. If they want to be seen, they will be, and if not, they won’t be!”

Matthew Marsden now spends his days spreading his controversial views on subjects including immigration, liberal women and climate change, on social media.

A former Coronation Street heartthrob has swapped the cobbles for life as a right-wing influencer.

Matthew Marsden now spends his days spreading his controversial views on subjects including immigration, liberal women and climate change, on social media.

The dad-of-nine, who played hunky mechanic Chris Collins in the soap, is spouting his political views online after claiming the entertainment industry blacklisted him for publicly voicing his opinions, including raising questions about Covid lockdowns and the vaccine.

Marsden, who is now a US citizen, has repeatedly commented on Tommy Robinson’s online posts and was even interviewed by the former English Defence League leader at a Republican party event in the US last month.

A source told the Mirror: “Matthew’s reputation as a right-wing influencer is growing. He readily tells people his views, regardless of how upsetting they may be to some. They are likely to shock some Corrie fans who knew him as a lovable heartthrob in the 90s.”

Marsden has 192,000 followers on X and more than 17,000 subscribers on YouTube. Videos he has posted in recent weeks have featured a number of inflammatory titles, including “How immigration is destroying the UK”, “The diversity myth that’s destroying us” and “The UK’s cultural collapse: what’s really happening?”. He has made a number of controversial posts on X, including claiming the UK has been “invaded” and that “race wars are coming to Europe, do something about it before you become the minority”.

He has also claimed the UK has been “colonised” and suggested he wants to see “a complete halt to immigration and deportations on a massive scale”. And he has posted: “I do not recognize the country I was born and raised in. And it makes me very, very angry.”

Marsden has also claimed Britain is no longer a Christian country and told how he believes the UK should bring back public hanging. And he has described climate change as a “scam” and ranted about “liberal women” and how he believes they are “destroying the West”.

Marsden’s Coronation Street character, a womanising ex-soldier turned grease monkey, had a busy year on the cobbles. He provided a personal service to garage customers, including Sally, the wife of his boss Kevin Webster. Marsden won Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards in 1997 before leaving Weatherfield in March 1998 after appearing in 137 episodes.

He went on to sign a record deal with Columbia Records and released singles The Heart’s Lone Desire followed by a cover of Hall & Oates’ She’s Gone, with Destiny’s Child providing backing vocals. He later enjoyed a movie career, including roles in Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Black Hawk Down, boxing movie Shiner, opposite Michael Caine, and Resident Evil: Extinction.

Other acting highlights include parts in TV series Helen of Troy, Rambo 4, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Prime Video hit series Reacher, a TV adaptation of Lee Childs’ popular book series. Speaking to Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, at an event held for Republican Ken Paxton in Texas on March 3, Marsden railed against what he considers “woke garbage” in modern cinema.

He also spoke to Robinson about what he considers infringements on UK citizens rights, telling him: “I watch over there very keenly. I’ve been watching what you’ve been doing over the years and you watch it and you can see the freedoms being eroded over and over and over again. It’s the death by a thousand cuts. When I go back [to the UK] and see how much it’s changed, it’s really dramatic for me.”

Marsden, who said he moved to Los Angeles in 2003 and has been living in Texas for the past five years, added: “I fully embrace the culture. That’s what people want when you come to their country and you respect their traditions.

“I didn’t want to come to this country and see what’s happening in the UK when people are coming there and they’re saying ‘this place is a s***hole, we’ve gotta change it to the hell hole that we just came from. I don’t believe in that whatsoever. You’ve got to be committed. If you’re a guest in that country and you have the privilege to come to that country then you should adhere to the culture of that country.”

Marsden spoke in July 2024 about how he would welcome being asked to make a return to Coronation Street more than 25 years after leaving. Speaking at the time, he said: “I feel like Chris Collins didn’t really have proper closure.

“I love Coronation Street. I was in it for a year. It was one of the greatest times of my life. I loved living in Manchester. We had an amazing cast. I was very fortunate to be a part of that show. That was my real first big job. So it’ll always have a special place in my heart.”

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Liverpool were thrashed 4-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final and Hugo Ekitike’s shirt swap with Rayan Cherki during the match caused anger among Reds supporters

The sight of Hugo Ekitike exchanging shirts with Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki left numerous Liverpool supporters fuming as the Reds were comprehensively beaten 4-0 in the FA Cup.

Despite a promising opening at the Etihad Stadium, the Reds were swept aside in the quarter-final clash as Erling Haaland netted a hat-trick and Antoine Semenyo also got on the scoresheet.

To make matters worse, Mohamed Salah had a penalty stopped by James Trafford as the Reds slumped to a dismal defeat, their third against City across all competitions this season.

Watching from the dugout, Arne Slot chose to make several substitutions with his team 4-0 down midway through the second period, including withdrawing Ekitike for Cody Gakpo.

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Soon after, Cherki, who had set up Semenyo’s goal, was substituted by Tijjani Reijnders for City, and he wasted no time swapping shirts with his France international colleague Ekitike as he departed.

Cherki even pulled on Ekitike’s Liverpool shirt, which sparked fury among some City supporters in the stands, promptly forcing the ex-Lyon player to take it off.

However, it was the eagerness with which Ekitike had sought to exchange shirts that irritated several Reds supporters, particularly following such a dismal display which is certain to intensify pressure on embattled manager Slot.

“Ekitike swapping his shirt before full time at 4-0 down tells you all you need to know about the mentality of this squad,” said one fan on X.

Another added: “Hugo Ekitke swapping shirts with Rayan Cherki when it’s 4-0 tells you everything you need to know about this squad at the moment. Heads in the clouds.

“Ekitike’s first thought after being subbed off after stinking the joint up was getting Cherki’s shirt,” wrote another.

Another responded to the shirt swap by writing: “There’s absolute zero man management, leaders or captains in this side anymore. no one cares.”

Following the crushing defeat, the Reds must dust themselves off ahead of their Champions League clash away at Paris Saint-Germain, Ekitike’s former side, on Wednesday.

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Emergency services were called to Dunfermline Bus Station after the alarm was raised at around 10.25pm on Friday.

A man has been arrested and charged after a “rammy” broke out at a bus station in Fife.

Emergency services were called to Dunfermline Bus Station after the alarm was raised at around 10.25pm on Friday.

Officers were responding to reports of a disturbance. Local reports suggest there were a number of people involved.

Images from the scene showed a number of police vehicles in attendance. No serious injuries were reported but a 42-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection.

He was released on an undertaking to appear before Dunfermline Sheriff Court at a later date.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.25pm on Friday, April 3, 2026, police were called to a report of a disturbance at Dunfermline Bus Station. Officers attended and no serious injuries were reported.

“A 42-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection and released on an undertaking to appear before Dunfermline Sheriff Court at a later date.”

It comes after the Record reported on two serious incidents at Kilmarnock Bus Station in recent weeks.

A man was taken to hospital after an alleged attack at 2.50pm on Sunday, March 29.

Two males, aged 16 and 17, were arrested and charged in connection with the incident. The pair are due to appear in court at a later date.

Eyewitnesses in the area said the bus station was covered in blood following the incident.

Just days earlier on Friday, March 20, a man was injured in an alleged attempted murder at the station.

Eight youths – seven boys aged 12 to 17, and a girl aged 16, were charged after a 29-year-old was injured at around 9.45pm.

They have all been released on an undertaking to appear at court at a later date. A source told the Record that the man who was attacked was a dad who was passing through the town centre at the time.

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KABUL, Afghanisan (AP) — Widespread flooding, landslides and lightning strikes triggered by heavy rain and storms across Afghanistan have left 77 people dead and 137 injured over the past 10 days, the country’s Disaster Management Authority said Saturday.

More rain has been forecast for the coming days throughout Afghanistan, and the authority warned the public to stay away from river banks and areas prone to flooding.

So far this year, dozens of people have died due to extreme weather in Afghanistan, an impoverished country that is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Earlier this year, heavy snowfall and flash floods left dozens of people dead across the country.

The recent toll includes 26 people killed over the past 48 hours, the disaster authority said. Overall, 793 homes have been completely destroyed and a further 2,673 have been damaged, while floods and landslides have destroyed 337 kilometers (about 210 miles) of roads, it said.

Businesses, agricultural land, water wells and irrigation canals have also been damaged, with more than 5,800 families affected overall, the authority said.

Several highways connecting the country’s capital to the provinces have also been damaged by floods and landslides, forcing travelers to take long, circuitous routes to reach Kabul, Public Works Ministry spokesman Ashraf Haqshinas said Saturday.

They include the Kabul to Jalalabad highway, which is the main route linking the capital to the Pakistani border and eastern Afghan provinces. A landslide and rockfalls, as well as flooding, shut the highway on Thursday morning, and Haqshinas said crews were working to re-open the road.

The Public Works Ministry warned travelers to be cautious when using roads in affected areas.

Flooding has also shut the Salang Pass, a high mountain pass in the Hindu Kush mountain range that connects Kabul to the country’s north, including the major cities of Kunduz and Mazar-e-Sharif.

Snow and heavy rain often trigger flash floods that kill scores, or even hundreds, of people at a time in Afghanistan. In 2024, more than 300 people died in springtime flash floods.

___

Elena Becatoros contributed from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Having said this, temperatures could still reach mid-20s next week.

Those travelling over the Easter weekend have been told there could be disruption on the roads as well as on rail, air and ferry services.

Here’s what we know about Storm Dave, including where in the UK it is expected to hit and when.

What different Met Office weather warnings mean

Where is Storm Dave expected in the UK?

Up to 30 centimetres of snow could fall, with the Met Office issuing a yellow severe weather warning in Scotland for heavy snow and blizzards, causing some travel and power disruption.

Meanwhile, an amber weather warning for wind has been issued for parts of northern England, Scotland and Wales tonight.

The Met Office has upgraded a severe yellow weather warning for wind to amber, meaning flying debris could lead to “injuries or danger to life”.

The amber warning covers parts of Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, North Wales and Scotland, and comes into effect at 7pm this evening and is due to remain in place until 3am on Sunday.

#StormDave has been named and is forecast to bring damaging winds across northern parts of the UK, with some disruptive snow possible in northwest Scotland later on Saturday and into Easter Day #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/J0NZYD2SPC

— Met Office (@metoffice) April 2, 2026

When is Storm Dave expected to hit the UK?

The warnings are in place this evening and tomorrow morning, with the storm expected to hit during this period.

Storm Dave will hit hardest on Saturday evening, before beginning to weaken on Sunday as it moves into the North Sea.

The Met Office still has multiple yellow and amber weather warnings in place for wind covering the whole of mainland Scotland, Northern Ireland, parts of northern England and North Wales from Saturday evening into Sunday.

There could also be dangerous conditions from large waves along the coastline, as well as gusts of up to 90mph in exposed areas.

Greg Dewhurst, a Met Office meteorologist, said: “There is cold air across Scotland at the moment and, as the rain pushes across this afternoon, it is going to turn to snow.

⚠️⚠️ Amber weather warning issued ⚠️⚠️#StormDave brings strong winds across northern England, southern Scotland and northwest Wales

Saturday 19:00 – Sunday 03:00

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Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/SFNZe404xo

— Met Office (@metoffice) April 4, 2026

“We’ll see heavy snow forming across parts of the Highlands as we go through the rest of the afternoon into the evening time and early hours, as much as 20 to 30 centimetres could fall over the higher ground, and five to 10 centimetres over lower ground.”

When will temperatures rise next week?

After Easter Monday, temperatures are expected to rise as warmer air comes from Europe.

Mr Dewhurst said: “On Tuesday, warmer air moves in across England and Wales from the near continent through Tuesday and into Wednesday.

“We will see temperatures rising to the low 20s, with highs around 20C or 21C on Tuesday, and possibly 23C or 24C come Wednesday.

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“The sunniest skies on Wednesday may be limited to south-east England, where 23 and 24 is most likely.”

He added that mid-20s temperatures are normal for April as the sun starts getting stronger.

How to track Storm Dave

Brits can track Storm Dave via the Met Office website today through to tomorrow.

The Met Office’s tracker allows you to see the movement of Storm Dave and the impact of the storm.

You can monitor the rainfall, wind gusts, cloud cover and temperature.

Will you be tracking Storm Dave? Let us know in the comments.

The Little Hulton actor’s first major role came in the early 1990s, with his breakout performance in Let Him Have It.

He followed this up with the popular BBC drama Our Friends in the North, starring alongside Daniel Craig, Gina McKee, and Mark Strong.

The 62-year-old has also featured in multiple films, including Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Thor: The Dark World.

But Chris is perhaps best known and beloved by fans across the world for his iconic turn as the Doctor in the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Playing the ninth incarnation of the Time Lord, he helped relaunch the sci-fi series in 2005 after ‘the wilderness years’.

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: Jeff Moore / PA)

Bringing a modernised show which had new generations hiding behind the sofa, Chris starred opposite Billie Piper, who played companion, Rose Tyler.

Hopping in the Tardis and fast-forwarding to the present, he was at the Oxford Literary Festival last weekend.

Sitting down opposite fellow actor Paterson Joseph, the pair discussed their lives and careers at Oxford University’s Sheldonian Theatre.

The 61-year-old, who has been the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University for more than three years, is known for his roles in Wonka, Peep Show and Julius Caesar.

Both actors have written books, with I Love the Bones of You by Chris, and Mr Joseph’s award-winning The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho.

Following their conversation and some questions from the crowd, the pair departed the historic venue to rapturous applause.

Paterson Joseph and Christopher Eccleston at the Sheldonian Theatre. (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking to our sister title, The Oxford Mail, he said: “Give it to Billie! Yeah, why not? Why not.”

 While appearing at the Fan Expo convention in 2022, he had said: “I was saying to somebody today in the green room that Russell T Davies is coming back, right, and who’s going to be his Doctor?

 “I think it should be Billie Piper, actually. Catherine Tate’s great, but I think there’s your Doctor.

 “And I’d like to see you all struggle with it. ‘How can she be the Doctor when she was an assistant?!’

 “I like the idea of it blowing fuses in the canon, or whatever it’s called.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

Then last year, Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into an incarnation played by Ms Piper, realising Chris’ own idea. 

When asked if he really was a Time Lord after making the correct prediction, the actor laughed and joked: “Exactly, I’m a prophet!” 

He made his comments at the Oxford Literary Festival last weekend.

Christopher Eccleston and Oxford Mail reporter Ed Burnett. (Image: Newsquest)

 Christopher said:  “The irony of Oxford and Cambridge, of course, is that all these working-class men made this beauty, and a lot of them dreamt to be scholars themselves.”

 Speaking about appearing at Oxford Literary Festival 2026, Chris added: “My dad would be very proud that I’ve been asked to speak at a literary festival because my family were all voracious readers.

 “Books are the gateway, that’s what I’d say to any young person – if you’re in trouble, and you don’t know anything, it will be in a book.

 “So if I can support a literary festival, I’ll be there.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

 Having already penned his autobiographical book about his relationship with his father, Ronnie, Chris revealed that he’s keen to write again. 

“Yes, I would like to write, but I think writing certainly within my industry is the hardest thing to do,” he said. 

“I think it’s the most ignored and the most malign, and that’s deeply ironic because they’re the most important people in our industry, writers. 

“So yes, I’d very much like to write again, but I don’t seem to have the discipline, especially with being alone with your thoughts for so long. 

“Most of the writers I know working in television and film are lunatics because as soon as there’s a wrap party or a drink, they’re there because they spend so much time alone. 

“But I should try more, and I really admire what Paterson’s done.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

In recent months, he has fronted a high‑profile campaign calling for a ban on gambling advertising, working with the Coalition to End Gambling Ads. 

A short film titled Stacking the Deck is available to watch on YouTube, and Chris spoofs the style of glossy betting commercials. 

Criticising gambling ads, he has urged the government to curb promotions which are helping to destroy lives.

 “We’ve addressed the advertising of alcohol, and we’ve addressed the advertising of tobacco, but we are not accepting that gambling is an addiction,” said Chris. 

“It’s a disease. These gambling companies are making absolute fortunes, and they’ve got the government in their pocket. 

“The government needs to clean that up, and I think the public would respect whichever government was in power if they said we’re going to take a lot of your money off you. 

“People are committing suicide. I’ve interviewed a woman who lost her husband, and her two children have lost their father because of his addiction, which destroyed the family’s finances. 

“It’s being encouraged as you only need to have a mobile phone and you’re targeted. So it’s a moral question for me. 

“Children are seeing these things. When you’re watching Premier League football, there are constant advertisements by people who should know better. 

“It’s going in subliminally, and it’s rooting. It’s a huge addiction. So we start with the same strictures applied to the advertising of alcohol and tobacco.”

Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston as Rose Tyler and the Doctor. (Image: BBC / PA)

Moving on to music, Chris is known to be a big fan of The Smiths from his native Manchester, but the actor opened up on what else he likes to listen to.

 “I like Black Grape, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order, but really I’m a soul boy. 

“The Smiths are an outlier for me. I was born in 1964, and I heard all the great Motown stacks, all of funk, hearing black American music made me realise that America is a country built on racial discrimination. 

”It made me look at America in a very different way. It was really important in my education about racism, and also, you could dance to it. 

“Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, Betty Wright, people like that. 

“At the same time, I was listening to all the Jamaican reggae and ska, but it’s that interesting thing that white guys of my generation, even the skinheads, were listening to black music. 

“That’s what music’s supposed to do, to bring people together. So yeah, I’m a soul boy.”

You can catch Chris next in the new psychological thriller miniseries Unchosen, which premieres on Netflix on Tuesday, April 21.