The Piano, a Channel 4 series which hopes to shed light on some of the nation’s most talented secret musicians, will be airing an episode set in York this Sunday night (July 26) at 9pm.

The show was recorded at York Railway Station in March, attracting large crowds of curious commuters, musicians, and fans of the hosts – Claudia Winkleman and Mika – who were eager to get a sneak peek.

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First launching in 2023, The Piano seeks to undercover the most talented amateur pianists from across the country by giving them the chance to play music on public pianos at railway stations for a chance to perform in a prestigious final concert.

The show is known for being a tearjerker, with many of the contestants having their own stories and a reason why music means so much to them.

A preview of this episode says: “World-renowned jazz pianist Hiromi joins Claudia and Mika in York, where Britain’s oldest pub landlord gets the whole station singing and a gifted songwriter astonishes the judges.”

Claudia Winkleman filming at York Railway Station for series 4 of Channel 4’s The Piano. (Image: Photo Nadia Jefferson-Brown)

Filming in York – which is one of several stations featured in series four, alongside locations including London Bridge and Birmingham – saw spectators packed around the performance area hoping to get a sneaky look at the performers as they took to the stage.

During her time filming in York, Claudia proved a hit with the crowd, regularly chatting to onlookers between takes and making a beeline for babies and dogs gathered around the station.

Contestants filming in York included Harri Kelly, a 21-year-old pianist from Manchester who attended with his parents, Angela and Heath.

Filming for The Piano at York Railway Station. Photo: Nadia Jefferson-Brown (Image: Nadia Jefferson-Brown)

LNER’s Joshua Chapman, who helped manage the filming operation at the station, said York was an ideal stop on the programme’s latest nationwide search for talent.

Speaking during the visit, he said: “This is something very different for the station; something we don’t see every day.

“It is a nice surprise for customers passing through and the general public who have heard that they are filming. It is nice to have the station filled with music.”

It’s apparently as Scottish as Tunnock’s Tea Cakes, Nessie and Edinburgh Castle.

And if there was a little puzzlement over the decision to have the King and Queen arrive to open tonight’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the TARDIS, everyone was just going along with the flow.

In fact, palace aides were keen to stress, there was very good reason to feature the travelling time machine made famous by the BBC’s Doctor Who as an ‘icon of Scotland’: the long-running series has featured many Scottish ‘Doctors’ (namely Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Ncuti Gatwa); it is based on a police box designed by Scottish architect Gilbert Mackenzie; moreover Glasgow boasts more surviving original UK police boxes than any other city.

Oh, and for the real ‘Whovian’ nerds, The Doctor holds a degree in medicine from the University of Glasgow (as well as another from the Prydonian Academy on his home plant of Gallifrey).

A three and a half minute film shown at the start of the opening ceremony at the Hydro Arena showed the TARDIS going on a journey around Scotland, operated by national treasure Sir Chris Hoy and Scottish actor Greg McHugh.

The pair were seen walking through Glasgow when the phone on one of the city’s landmark police boxes started ringing, prompting the men to answer.

A conversation with ‘the palace’ followed about ways in which to hurriedly get Their Majesties from Balmoral, the Royal Family’s private Aberdeenshire home, to Glasgow in time for the ceremony.

After arguing about which one of them was qualified to ‘drive’, they stepped into the contraption and took off – much to the confusion of the Seventh Doctor, McCoy, who had apparently parked it there.

The King gazed out into the crowd after stepping out of the phone box from Doctor Who

Charles and Camilla were later greeted by Scottish cyclist Sir Chris Hoy

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Charles shook hands with Dr Donald Rukare, the President of Commonwealth Sport, before taking his seat

The King and Queen were led to the Royal Box, where they were seated next to Andy Burnham

Camilla was introduced to the new Labour leader’s partner, Marie-France van Heel, before taking her seat

The newly inducted PM even appeared to amuse Camilla with a joke

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During a chaotic journey though time and space, the TARDIS materialised at a number of famous landmarks – including Loch Ness, Edinburgh Castle, The Kelpies in Falkirk, the University of Glasgow, the Victorian Glenfinnan Viaduct and a Jurassic period Highlands – before finally alighting at Balmoral Castle.

Thanks to the marvels of technological wizardry, two figures were then briefly glimpsed in the shadows boarding the Time Machine.

To the sounds of the legendary Doctor Who soundtrack, the TARDIS was then seen approaching the arena before the stage lit up and it landed, with the King and Queen stepping out with a cheery wave.

Charles, wearing a navy suit and a pink tie, was followed by Camilla, who donned a vibrant blue Anna Valentina jumpsuit. 

Followed by kilt-clad Hoy and McHugh, the royal couple were then led to their seats in the Royal Box, where they were greeted by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. 

The newly inducted PM introduced Camilla and Charles to his wife, Marie-France van Heel, before he and the Queen appeared in great spirits as they shared a laugh. 

The opening ceremony comes just five days after Burnham visited Buckingham Palace to complete his appointment as PM.  

‘Hopefully there was no travel sickness,’ a royal insider joked knowingly in reference to the Queen’s well-known lack of enthusiasm for flying at the best of times, let alone in a spinning extraterrestrial Time Machine. 

She arrived in Glasgow alongside Charles earlier today, with the King set to read aloud a message later tonight which he placed inside his Baton back in March 2025. That Baton has since to travelled to each of the 75 Commonwealth Nations over the course of 500 days.

The royal couple appeared in good spirits ahead of Charles’s duty to officially start the Commonwealth Games later tonight

A raft of political figures sat beside Charlies and Camilla in the Royal Box at the Glaswegian area 

Charles arrived in Glasgow earlier today and appeared jubilant upon his arrival at the arena

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South Africa’s flag bearer Bridget Calitz leads her country’s team out on to the stage 

Every nation competing in this summer’s Games presented a Baton representing their culture (The Nigerian team is pictured)

Team Cameroon are pictured carrying their Baton and flag across the stage 

Team England were greeted with a cheer as they strolled out donning white and orange tracksuits

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The English were led by Sian Honnor, who was ‘speechless’ to discover the news earlier this week

The biggest roar of the night was however reserved for Team Scotland

But before Charles once again takes to the stage, each of the 74 nations competing in the Games will take to the stage bearing a Baton representing their culture. 

Team England were the second European nation, after Cyprus, to take to the stage. Sporting white and orange tracksuits, they were led out by bowler Sian Honnor, who gushed about being handed flag-bearing duties earlier this week. 

‘I was actually speechless when I learned the news,’ she said. ‘Which is very unusual for me.’ 

This summer marks the second time in 12 years that the Games have been held in Scotland after the nation stepped in to take over hosting duties from the Australian state of Victoria.

Organisers in the southern hemisphere pulled out in July 2023, citing spiralling costs, a little more than a year after agreeing to host. Victoria’s auditor general had dubbed the Games a ‘waste of taxpayer money with no discernible benefit’. 

The spectacle in Glasgow will, therefore, be scaled down due to the significant lack of preparation time.  

The number of events being held has plunged from 20 to just 10 (including cycling, swimming and basketball), and although 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories will take part, this is 2,000 fewer than normal.

No new stadiums have been built as running costs have been slashed from the close to £800million spent in Birmingham four years ago, to £160million now.

And, for the first time since 1954, the BBC will not be airing the games after TNT Sports splashed out £5million to secure the rights. Live coverage will be on HBO Max at a cost of £4.99, although daily highlights can be seen on Channel 5.

The athletics events will be held in the significantly smaller Scotstoun Stadium, which holds just over 10,000 people and tickets sales are said to have been generally sluggish.  

Organisers were said to have been hoping for a late surge in sales as recently as this morning, when seats worth between £45 and £95 for tonight’s opening ceremony were yet to have been snapped up. 

It was 12 years ago that Glasgow last hosted the Commonwealth Games. The opening ceremony that summer was held at the 60,000-capacity Celtic Park and featured Rod Stewart, Ewan McGregor and John Barrowman. 

This year’s venue for the opener, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, is significantly smaller, holding a little more than 14,000 people. 

Only 500,000 tickets have been made available for the 11-day event, down from the 1.2million which went on sale in 2014. 

A 39-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries following the alleged attack.

A man has been charged by police ten months after an alleged machete attack in a Glasgow pub that left a punter with serious injuries.

Emergency crews were called to Bells Bar in the Springburn area of the city on Friday, September 26, 2025, when a man allegedly hacked at the 39-year-old victim with a blade.

He was rushed to hospital with what was described as serious injuries.

Following the alleged serious assault on Springburn Way, police began a hunt for the suspect and they have confirmed that a 50-year-old man was arrested and charged on Thursday, July 23, 2026.

He is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.

The alleged attack was captured in footage that was reported on by the Record at the time. A man entered the premises while pub goers were singing karaoke and allegedly pulled out a weapon and struck..

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A man has been arrested and charged in connection with a serious assault incident in Springburn.

The incident happened at a licenced premises on Springburn Way on Friday, 26 September, 2025. A 39-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The 50-year-old man was arrested and charged on Thursday, 23 July, 2026. He is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.”

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The killing of PC Andrew Harper in 2019 still has the power to shock. Here was a young officer carrying out his duty by investigating a burglary in Berkshire. There were three teenagers involved, and when PC Harper and his colleague tried to apprehend them, the former ended up being dragged behind a car for a mile.

The killers were acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. It was a crime so heinous, and their remorse so lacking, that it led to the introduction of “Harper’s Law”, which imposes a life sentence for anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker.

Unfortunately, but in keeping with constitutional convention, that law cannot act retrospectively; and now there is the repulsive prospect of two of the killers becoming eligible as soon as next June for an earlier release from their jail time under legislation recently passed to reduce prison overcrowding.

The family of PC Harper have been rightly horrified by this development. His widow speaks for many: “It is about whether justice is something we truly believe in, or something that can be negotiated away when it becomes inconvenient.”

It surely feels like a denial of justice that a punishment duly handed down can be almost arbitrarily reduced, not because of some fresh evidence or other consideration, but simply because the state has so mismanaged things that there are not enough cells available.

More alert to public opinion than Sir Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham has immediately paused the policy and is reviewing it. He wants to ensure that “everything has been looked at before this policy proceeds”.

The pause he has ordered is lawful in the sense that ministers can determine the timetable for its implementation – but any substantive change in its terms would require fresh drafting, and a return to parliament in September, at the earliest.

More pressing still is the fact that HM Prison and Probation Service has to undertake risk assessments and other checks before releases, which take time; and the whole system is in danger of collapsing through overcrowding again before Christmas.

It is certainly an appalling indictment of the state of the criminal justice system – and there are other disturbing examples emerging of what appear to be unfairness to victims of serious sexual abuse.

Invariably, when ministers are taken to task over this, as they were in the emergency release programme two years ago, they blame their Conservative predecessors. In this, they are now only partially correct.

It is undeniable that, after 14 years in power, the Conservatives only added about 500 spaces to the prison estate. But over the same span, they also systematically boosted the prison population to breaking point. Under successive Tory lord chancellors, the law and sentencing guidelines were inexorably toughened.

Everything that could be done was done, but with minimal investment in the prisons: longer minimum custodial sentences for all levels of crime; prison prioritised over community and other punishments; later eligibility for early release; more whole life orders and fewer tariff reviews for lifers.

These went down well at party conference and met a public thirst for retribution, and each individual measure might have had merit (such as tougher sentences for house-breaking, for too long considered a minor inconvenience); but the cumulative effect, exacerbated by “austerity” cuts to budgets, was to overwhelm the prison and probation services.

All of that is an inescapable, unforgivable fact. But something does seem to have also gone wrong in Labour’s own legislation, the Sentencing Act, which received royal assent in January.

It implemented the eminently sensible and considered recommendations made in the review of the system by David Gauke, a former Conservative justice secretary, but with some very unfortunate consequences for certain high-profile cases. This suggests that the lines drawn around certain types of crime may now be too lenient.

As Mr Burnham has no doubt also now discovered, the act also makes no allowance for a lord chancellor or justice secretary to review individual cases, although the timings for implementation of the act can be changed. To keep the two killers of PC Harper incarcerated after the existing act eventually comes into force and other inmates are being set free, would break the law.

So unless the law is changed rapidly, a number of those who really should remain behind bars, as the courts and parliament intended, will in due course be at liberty, even if tagged and on probation. Bu there is now an opportunity for Mr Burnham to respond to public disquiet and make some changes to the act as well as delay its application – though the pressure on space will continue to intensify.

At this point, Mr Burnham could usefully take the opportunity to end the inhuman treatment of people in prison limbo under the old IPP (imprisonment for public protection) regime, and also speed the deportation of foreign offenders. That would certainly create the time and space for a more orderly reassessment of the act’s shortcomings, and avoid some shameful releases.

The prime minister has at least signalled that he has seen the problem, and wants to solve it, even if there’s not much he can practically do about it right now. Here, as elsewhere, he is bumping into the limits of prime ministerial power.

A gang who bundled a man into a car boot before tying him up and torturing him in an ‘honour’ kidnapping because they disapproved of his relationship have been jailed for nearly 40 years.

The 21-year-old victim was snatched from outside his home by masked men after he began a relationship with the sister of two of his attackers.

Harrowing footage captured the moment he was dragged from the property in front of his mother and bundled into the boot of a black Audi A4 in Arleston, Telford, Shropshire, on December 29 last year.

He was then driven from the scene with his legs hanging from the boot – before the kidnappers stopped a short while later to close the door.

The young man was then taken to a hired shipping container where he was tied to a chair and beaten, before eventually managing to escape by locking himself in the Audi when his kidnappers had left the vehicle before driving off.

Shayyan Hussain, 24, Faheem Chohan, 23, and Ehteshan Hussain, 22, were jailed for seven-and-a-half years while Jawad Hussain, 21, was sentenced to seven years.

All four men, from Telford, previously pleaded guilty to kidnap at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Haider Ali, 22, also of Telford, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of kidnap by a jury. He arrived at the storage container in a second car before transporting other members of the gang from the scene.

The kidnappers sped off down the road with the boot open and feet hanging out, before taking their victim to a shipping container

Shayyan Hussain, 24, was one of two brothers who disapproved of their sister’s relationship with their friend

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Ehteshan Hussain, 22, and his brother held the principle planning roles in the plot, a court was told

Sentencing, Judge Trevor Meegan said the kidnap was driven by family ‘honour’, adding it was not done on ‘impulse’ but showed a large amount of preparation.

He said the Hussain brothers ‘occupied a leading operational role’ and did most of the planning, while Faheem Chohan and Jawad Hussain both ‘willingly participated’ in the kidnap and assault.

The judge added: ‘This was a deeply troubling offence of abduction and abuse of a young man to terrify and degrade him.’

Prosecutor Jack Guise said the motive of the kidnapping was that the victim – who had been a lifelong friend of the gang – had entered a relationship with the sister of the Hussain brothers.

He said: ‘Prior to the date of the kidnapping, the victim and defendants were not strangers.

‘The families came from the same village in Pakistan; two of the defendants are brothers, the other two are cousins, albeit distant cousins.

‘They went on holiday together and ate family meals together… they went to the same mosque.’

But Mr Guise said the relationship between the victim and the other men soured when he began messaging the sister of the Hussain brothers as the pair ‘did not approve’ of the relationship.

The court heard prior to the kidnapping there were a number of incidents of cars driving past the victim’s house or following him on the motorway as he drove to work, in an attempt to warn him off the relationship.

On one occasion, when in a car with his brother, one of the defendants confronted the victim with a baseball bat.

The gang took their victim to a rented storage contained where he was tied up and beaten

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The gang had to stop on their journey to close the car boot after their victim was left hanging out

Mr Guise said on the day of the kidnap, the victim was at home with his mother while an electrician was doing some work in the house.

An Audi pulled up outside the house at 2.18pm and three men got out and charged into the property.

They barged past the electrician and grabbed the victim dragging him outside and bundling him into the boot of a black Audi A4.

Shocking CCTV footage showed the victim’s mother running after her son whilst screaming, before one of the men callously shoved her to the ground as she tried to stop the men leaving.

A fourth masked man was behind the wheel and he drove off with two of the defendants in the car and the third defendant and victim in the boot.

The vehicle drove through Wellington, Telford with the men hanging out of the back of the boot, until it came to a brief halt, at which point the third kidnapper exited the boot and closed it.

Eventually the car stopped at a storage unit in Eyton, Shropshire, where Ehteshan Hussain had leased a secure storage container.

The victim was taken inside, stripped, bound to a chair and repeatedly punched by the four kidnappers.

Mr Guise said the ‘torture’ continued with the four men recording videos of the beatings, making their victim apologise on camera to the two brothers’ father.

Ali arrived 20 minutes after the gang of four in a Volkswagen, before leaving ten minutes later with Jawad, and Shayyan in the Audi, which the trio then dumped at Lilleshall Golf Club. 

Jawad Hussain, 21, was jailed for seven years for his role in the plot

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Faheem Chohan, 23, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years at court this week

Haider Ali pleaded not guilty to kidnap, but was convicted by a jury – he has now been sentenced to seven years in prison

Ali then dropped Shayyan and Jawad off at a different address in Arleston before returning to the unit in the Volkswagen to collect Ehteshan and Chohan.

After they had left, leaving the man tied up in the dark, the father of the victim was called and £20,000 was demanded from the family.

The caller threatened to kill the victim by throwing him off a bridge and said if they did not pay, the victim would ‘not be coming home’.

The abandoned Audi was later spotted and reported to police with CCTV able to lead police to Ali.

While Ali was in police custody, a video of the victim being tortured by the kidnappers was sent to his phone at 7.11pm.

Using this, officers were able to identify the four other kidnappers as Jawad, Ehteshan, Shayyan and Chohan.

During this time the gang went back to the unit just before 8pm and put the victim into a car, then drove towards north Shropshire.

At 9.58pm police received a call from a takeaway in Whitchurch, Shropshire, stating a man was claiming to have escaped kidnap and was seriously injured. Officers attended and identified him as the victim.

He told officers that while the gang was out of the car, he was able to lock the doors and, noticing the keys in the ignition, drive to safety. 

He was then taken to hospital for treatment to facial injuries, including a fractured eye socket, injuries to the ribs and bruising on his hands and arms.

The victim was also able to confirm the identities of the four men, and officers arrested Jawad Hussain, Ehteshan Hussain and Chohan, while Shayyan Hussain handed himself into police the following day.

In a victim impact statement the young man said he now ‘rarely leaves the house’ adding the ‘kidnap has changed my life’.

Jawad, Ehteshan, Chohan and Shayyan pleaded guilty to kidnap in January 2026. Ali pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found guilty following a two-week trial last month. 

A sixth man who also stood trial for kidnap was found not guilty of any involvement.

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Holehouse said: ‘This was a horrifying ordeal for the victim, who was kidnapped by men he had considered friends for much of his life.

‘He was dragged from his home, held against his will, subjected to a violent assault and threatened with death. The actions of these men were both cruel and calculated, and the sentences handed to them reflect the seriousness of their offending.

‘I would like to commend the victim for the courage and resilience he has shown throughout this investigation and court process.’

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Savera UK is a leading charity working to end ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and other harmful practices, including forced marriage, spiritual abuse and conversion ‘therapy’. 

It provides lifesaving and life-changing services for survivors and those at risk, regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, or gender, and help and advice for professionals, training and education, research and campaign work.

National helpline: 0800 107 0726 (10am – 4pm, Monday – Friday)

Get help online: https://www.saverauk.co.uk/I-need-help/

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If you are at immediate risk, please ring 999