For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Netflix users have been left grumbling about new series The Diplomat – but for a rather positive reason.

The TV series, which was compared to The West Wing when it first started in 2023, has returned for a second, with the series rapidly shooting to the top of the streaming service’s most-watched list alongside some new films that are receiving more negative reviews.

Season one introduced viewers to Keri Russell‘s US Ambassador Kate Wyler as she gets caught up in an international crisis, and won fans with its fast-paced narrative and many twists and turns.

While the new episodes have been even more acclaimed than the ones featured in season one, the common complaint is that there just aren’t enough of them: The Diplomat season two has just six episodes, which is two less than the first.

Six episodes is commonplace for a British TV drama, but not that typical for Netflix shows, which usually last for anything from eight to 13 episodes.

Fans are now expressing their frustration over the low episode count on social media, which should be read as praise by the show’s creator Deborah Cahn, who began her career as a writer and producer on The West Wing before working on Homeland.

However, Netflix has good news for fans of the show: a third season is on the way and it was filmed back-to-back with season two, meaning it will most likely arrive in 2025.

Still, this has not abated the anger in the interim: “Whyyyyyy is S2 of The Diplomat only 6 episodes when S1 was 8????” one fan wrote, with another stating: “Six episodes are not enough, I wished it was a 26-episode season. Geopolitical storytelling at its best and I wish I’d been in the writers room. Twisty AF.”

One fan waded in: “We waited 18 months for a six-episode season!? I hate Netflix so much. Please bring back network television with respectable 22-episode seasons.”

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Advertisement

Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free

An additional viewer, who has been lapping up season two, also stated on X/Twitter: “Just finished Season 2 and I’m so mad it was only 6 episodes because it was the best 6 episodes I’ve watched all year. I’m trying hard to think of something better I’ve seen in 2024 and honestly I can’t!

One person said that they felt “cheated” by the lower episode count.

The Diplomat is available to stream on Netflix now

MARRIED At First Sight UK viewers were left stunned after Luke took a swipe at Amy’s appearance in an old photo. 

This week, the remaining couples of the E4 experiment are on homestays, with each visiting their loved ones and local areas to see how they fit into each other’s lives. 

6

Advertisement

6

6

However, with Luke and Amy already struggling, it appeared the couple went from bad to worse when Amy brought her new husband home to Blackburn. 

Showing him around her home, Luke stopped when he saw an old photo of Amy on her staircase wall.

Amy beamed that the picture was from when she went with her family in Ibiza, but was left far from pleased with Luke’s comments.

Shocked, Amy asked him to repeat himself, causing him to say she looked “bloated” in the picture and was “skinnier” now. 

“I prefer you now, is this before the glow up?” he asked, causing her to sarcastically say “thanks”.

“You look stunning there, but you look stunning here more. You look skinnier now than in there,” he continued.

“You look skinnier now than in here. In here you look… bloated.”

“I’m absolutely fuming right now. Luke’s saying i basically look hideous in this photo,” she told cameras.

“Nothing’s changed I just had my teeth done. Bit of filler in my lip. That’s it. Glow up? Bloated?!”

Viewers were stunned at his comments, and believe that Amy has begun to “check out” of the relationship after multiple arguments with little change. 

“Luke is 100% being petty now comments about her ‘pre glow up’, the mould in her room lmao,” one fan wrote on X. 

“Lol Amy and Luke need to call it a day,” said a second. “How he communicates and how she receives said communication are polar opposites. They shouldn’t even finish the week together.” 

A third noted: “Luke just verbalises every single thought he has. He needs to take a moment and think about what he’s about to say before he says it.”

“Brother, Luke, please, just stop,” said a fourth. “I mean, you’re hilarious but come on man, you’re not helping yourself.” 

Things went from bad to worse for the couple, with the next morning not making things any easier. 

While he got on like a house on fire with her beloved dog, it seemed he and Amy were not on the same page when it came to communication. 

He later pointed out the mould in the corner of her bedroom, prompting yet another argument between them. 

Prior to their Blackburn visit, the couple had already had a barney at Luke’s house, when he was caught out lying about cutting up a photograph he had on his wall. 

When Amy asked why half a photograph on his wall was missing, Luke initially said he “wanted it to be a portrait photo”. 

However, Amy didn’t buy it, and he eventually admitted that there was a woman in the photo he had since cut out. 

Fans think that this is the beginning of the end for the couple, with nothing seeming to get them on the same page. 

“Why is Luke just digging himself holes left right and centre hahahah just tell the truth big man,” one wrote.  

While another said: “Amy’s checked out and wants Luke to do something bad enough to justify her dumping him.” 

“Amy and Luke are done, she’s checked out,” noted another. 

By the end of the episode, Luke had declared himself a “single man” to her friends, saying that he felt “disrespected” and was “being portrayed in the wrong way”.

Married At First Sight UK continues tomorrow at 9pm on E4.

6

Advertisement

6

6

MARRIED At First Sight’s Sacha and Ross have baffled fans with their ongoing issue about where to move.

On Monday night’s episode, the home stay week continued with Sacha bringing Ross to Walsall to visit her family.

5

Advertisement

5

Sacha was determined to show him the highlights of the area in a bid to make him move there from Manchester.

However, Ross has reservations as his daughter, Blue, is currently living in Manchester and he didn’t want to be too far away from her.

With Sacha wanting to remain closer to her family, it seems the pair have hit a roadblock in making their relationship work.

However, this came as a bit of a shock to viewers – especially when they discovered that Walsall and Manchester is only about an hour-and-a-half drive down the motorway from each other.

As a result, some are accusing them of playing up the issue, wondering why they don’t move somewhere in the middle to make things work.

They also thought they were blowing the issue way out of proportion.

Speaking on X, one fan wrote: “For a bit of context, Walsall and Manchester are a 1 hr 40 mins drive apart – I drive 1 hr 20 mins (each way) to work, twice a week. It’s really not the dealbreaker they are making it out to be!”

“Being from the North of Scotland, I thought the distances Ross and Sacha were talking about were enormous!” said another,

“Then I googled it and realised Manchester and Walsall are a 1 hr 40 min drive apart! That is absolutely nothing!”

“Get a grip, it’s literally down the road… it’s not another country Sasha!!!” said a third.

A fourth joked: “Last time I looked Manchester was 90 mins from Walsall. Not 3 flights, a visitors visa and a malaria injection away.”

“For the love of God it’s like 70 miles from Manchester to Walsall. This is NOT A BIG DEAL,” said a fifth.

“Why don’t Ross and Sacha get a place in between Manchester and Walsall (like Stoke on Trent)?” noted another.

“Then they’d only be an hour from each place. That’s doable, no?”

The pair’s marriage hangs in the balance of the decision, with the final commitment ceremony coming up quickly.

Currently, it looks like nearly all the couples are hanging on by a thread, with Kieran and Kristina returning to their homes alone, and Polly and Adam spending the entire time arguing.

Things didn’t look much brighter for Luke and Amy, who seem to be unable to get through a single conversation without triggering an argument.

A dinner with her friends resulted in Luke declaring himself “a single man” much to the anger of Amy.

Nathan and Lacey appear to be the only couple who could go the distance at this moment in time, with the pair getting closer by the day to the approval of Lacey’s mum.

Married At First Sight UK continues tomorrow at 9pm on E4.

5

5

5

Advertisement

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Strictly Come Dancing stars Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin had to bid farewell to the dance floor as they became the latest couple to be voted off the BBC One show on Sunday.

The duo said they were left “gutted” by the result, which has been branded a “travesty” by viewers.

After an emotional episode that saw professional dancer Amy Dowden in tears over her temporary replacement’s show-stopping performance with JB Gill, Sunday’s results show episode (3 November) saw Gladiators star Montell Jordan end up in the bottom two alongside hockey player Sam Quek.

However, it was Quek and her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin who were sent home by all four judges after performing the dreaded dance off.

Quek couldn’t hide her disappointment, telling host Tess Daly after that she was “gutted” by her elimination. Explaining precisely why this was, she added: “I’m gutted because I do feel like I still have more to give.”

In a follow-up post discussing her departure from the show on Facebook, Quek continued: “Losing a dance off isn’t great. In fact, the competitor in me hates it, but Montell is a better dancer than me and this is a dance competition after all – so fair do’s.”

She credited the show with bringing “that spring in my step back” after what she said has been a “quiet” few years, but said it “was tougher than I imagined” as she “sacrificed everything I needed to and still ended up towards the bottom of the leaderboard” each week.

Quek wrote: “I must stress, I knew what I was signing up for. And when I commit to something, I give it everything I have for as long as I have to. I have no regrets about what I put into this process. That’s why I cannot be too sad about leaving. I gave everything I had. I fell short and that’s ok, because there was nothing more I could have done.”

During the results show, Quek also pointed out what she has admitted was a misconception she previously had about the show when she was watching along as a viewer, telling Daly: “I’m guilty of watching the competition and thinking ‘how do they have that relationship as a celebrity and a dancer?’

“All I can say is, the time you spend with each other and what you bring out in each other. It really is, and it sounds dead cheesy, magical.”

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

Advertisement

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free

Quek’s elimination follows the departures of Dr Punam Krishan, footballer Paul Merson, singer Toyah Willcox, presenter Nick Knowles and Olympian Tom Dean.

With the 20th series of the BBC dancing competition at its halfway mark, certain celebrities who were expected to make it far are now finding themselves being sent home.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 9 November on BBC One.

MAFS bride Amy Kenyon has responded in an emotional statement after her homestays week with groom Luke.

The stunning bride wasn’t seeing eye to eye with Luke after several comments made during the episode.

4

Advertisement

4

Amy was initially grossed out by Luke letting her dog lick him, and she also accused him of ‘lying’ after seeing a photo on his fridge.

Luke had cut the photo to remove a girl from it, but lied to Amy about the gender of the person he’d got rid of.

Then, things went from bad to worse as Luke told Amy she looked ‘bloated’ in a throwback photo of her, and then pointed out mould on the ceiling of her mum’s house.

On social media, while many viewers understood the concerns Amy raised about her relationship with Luke, some others questioned why Amy was getting “so annoyed.”

Viewers hit out at Amy over her disagreements with Luke on the show, as one wrote: “Why is Amy picking on everything Luke does?”

A second said: “Amy has had the ick since the wedding day and is now picking on Luke because she’s mentally checked out.”

But Amy has now taken to social media to share her thoughts on the episode, while admitting it was a difficult watch.

Opening up, the blonde beauty penned: ““From bad, to worse…

“Tonight’s episode will be a difficult one to watch for me. I’m not proud of my behavior or of the person I was pushed to become, I might be over reacting writing this but I look back at this person and remember how I lost me.

“Emotions ran extremely high during home stays, with a lot of tension building up at that point due to things going on behind the scenes, which unfortunately cannot be disclosed out of respect.

“When I visited my home, my mum was really down and didn’t want to be part of the filming. This was when she unintentionally hinted at some tough news regarding my brother, which made an already challenging time even harder.

“Please be kind when watching, to both myself, Luke, and my amazing friends. Remember that what you see is only a few clips from many hours of filming.

“It’s hard to see things being portrayed this way, but at the end of the day, this is the reality of TV, and it’s what I signed up for. I know I’m not demanding, boring, or any of the other things I’ve been called recently by a select few.

“I am a strong woman that knows her worth and doesn’t take s***, I’m also not an actor and never aspire to be.

“The people who know me know the real me, and that’s all that matters ✨

“I hope you enjoy tonight’s episode and watching the rest of mine and Luke’s journey together, we just might surprise you.

“Love, kindness, and positivity to you all and to the judgmental trolls that don’t know me, f*** you.”

As Amy brought Luke to her mum’s home and introduced Luke to her dog, he made himself at home, got down on the floor and let the dog lick his face and mouth.

Amy couldn’t believe what she was witnessing and viewers felt much the same as they flooded social media with their comments.

One person wrote: “Luke, I like you, but that dog behaviour is disgusting.”

A second added: “If someone was licking my dog like that I would be seriously concerned.”

A third said: “Does Luke fancy Amy’s dog or what? This licking is terrible.”

A fourth person echoed: “Luke stop licking that dog ASAP.”

Someone else said: “Luke I didn’t have a bad word to say about you until you let the dog lick you like that.”

Amy complained to the camera about the noises Luke was making as the dog licked him, as Luke let it happen again while laying in bed with Amy in the morning.

As the homestays continued the two also meet up with Amy’s pals.

Amy’s friend asks Luke: “Adult entertainment.. is that what you see yourself doing, even now when you’ve got a wife?”

Speaking to camera, Luke says: “This is definitely an attempt to assassinate my character.”

Awkwardly during the dinner, he adds: “Well.. as of now, I’m a single man,” and puts his ring on the table.

Amy fumes: “You lied. You’re a liar.”

Luke then says to camera: “Maybe it’s not meant to be.”

4

4

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

The course of English history is often mapped out against its Kings and Queens. The Normans, bringing European modernity to a savage isle; the Plantagenets, turning the nation into an international superpower; the Victorians, industrialising our country into a formidable, globe-spanning empire. It is an easy taxonomy, but one that elides the fact that eras are shaped as much by the power behind the throne as by the royals themselves. That’s where Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the second and final chapter in the BBC’s adaptation of the late Hilary Mantel’s historical novels, comes in.

Anne Boleyn is dead. After an affair – then marriage – that changed the country, Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) is now wed to Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips) and feverishly anticipating the birth of a male heir. Slinking about behind the king, working as a fixer for the personal, political and religious matters of the day, is Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), Henry’s “dog”. From his origins as a blacksmith’s son in Putney, Cromwell is now Lord Privy Seal – one of England’s richest men and most eligible bachelors. But his power – once staked to Cardinal Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce), now heavily invested in both Jane and the King’s fraught relationship with Princess Mary (Lilit Lesser) – is a precious commodity. So hard to gain, so easy to lose.

This follow-up to 2015’s acclaimed adaptation of the first two novels in Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy rounds out the saga. While most viewers will know that events will culminate with Cromwell’s head on the chopping block, this is no simple, undulating, rise-and-fall narrative. Instead, the rise seems perpetual, the fall precipitous. Both Mantel and Peter Straughan, who adapts the novels, capture the capricious nature of the Tudor court and the mortal value of favour. “When fortune turns against you,” warns Wolsey, from beyond the grave, “you will feel the lash.” Ignore the temptation to find modern political resonances within this narrative – this is about the fickleness of the human condition. Much as a dearth will eventually lead to a glut, so too must the wheel move back again, and famine follow feast. And Cromwell’s finale is approaching.

“There are no endings,” he cautions, “only beginnings.” And with The Mirror and the Light picking up almost a decade after the acclaimed first volume (released before Mantel rounded out the trilogy) there is some reorientation necessary. The cast has shifted (Tom Holland is off Spidermanning now, while Timothy Spall stands in for the late Bernard Hill) and most returning characters have aged dramatically, even if Thomas Brodie-Sangster still appears to be getting younger. The internecine politics of the 16th-century court might be as murky as the lighting, but things quickly resolve around one central question: can Cromwell hold on? Enemies and advocates alike have fallen: Wolsey is gone, Anne Boleyn is gone, Thomas More is gone. Rylance, who is one of the great actors of the facial mask, gives nothing and everything away in a single look. His Cromwell is a man who knows the precariousness of his station, who sees his mistakes and triumphs for what they are. “I’m a good dog,” he declares. “If you set me to guard something, I’ll do it.” Yet it is the loyalty that made him that will undo him.

Mantel’s books are a staggering literary achievement; no popular historical novels have achieved the interiority that she managed with Cromwell. This series attempts to mimic that through a non-linear timeline that is constantly suggestive, if not revealing. Why is Cromwell drawn to specific memories at specific times? Why is his mentor, Wolsey, appearing now to remind him of his own downfall? For a man who has always operated in the shadows, he is now living in the gloom of foreshadowing. Without the benefit of Mantel’s prose or access to the fragmented Cromwell psyche, it is as much as the show can do to elevate itself beyond The Tudors, The White Queen, or The Spanish Princess. And even if the eventual product is inferior to its source, the story is still riveting and the telling still mature and dynamic.

“You feel the axe’s edge,” Princess Mary tells Lord Cromwell, in the meeting that will eventually undo him. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is built on that premise. Rylance’s central performance grounds the show – keeps it from floating off into the existential troposphere – but the charge remains. This is a story about history, as conducted by long-dead mortals, and about how the urgency of the present fossilises into the immutable past. All that – and it’s also a bloody fun story about trying not to get your head chopped off.