A woman who describes herself as a sociopath has now revealed the calculated dating tactics she says can leave men emotionally hooked and desperate to prove themselves. 

Speaking on Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast, Kanika Batra claimed she can identify different personalities and determine exactly how to handle them. 

‘I know what people are feeling. I just will never feel it,’ said Batra, who is a former Miss Universe and Miss World finalist. ‘And I know how to mimic an accurate response, something that they would want to see.’ 

Batra, 30, who says she has been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, openly described herself as highly skilled at lying and manipulation. 

Her approach centers on three methods that can initially look like ordinary romance rather than attempts to seize control. First, she overwhelms a partner with gifts, affection and intense attention until he becomes attached to the feeling she provides. 

She can then withdraw that warmth, creating uncertainty and making him work to regain her approval. Finally, she sets small tests that require a man to inconvenience himself, allowing her to measure his loyalty before committing to him.

‘People know that I can manipulate in many different ways,’ Batra told Williamson.

‘It’s just an idea of I understand that you’re a certain type of person and I know how to work every type of person,’ she added.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are both mental health conditions involving a lack of empathy and manipulative behavior, but they differ significantly in core motivations and daily actions. 

Those with ASPD tend to be deceitful, impulsive, irritable and physically aggressive.

While individuals suffering from NPD are more arrogant, entitled and have an inflated self-image.

Mental health professionals diagnose these disorders using clinical evaluations based on criteria in the DSM-5-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision), which is the official handbook used by mental health professionals to define, classify, and diagnose mental disorders.

Batra said she was diagnosed with ASPD at age 21. Batra, who is married, said she does not have to maintain the same mask around her husband and described him as a calming influence. 

But she admitted she has manipulated former partners, sometimes slowly withdrawing communication and effort until the relationship disintegrated.

She told Williamson that the first tactic she uses, love-bombing, comes naturally to her. 

The term describes overwhelming someone with affection, praise, gifts or communication early in a relationship, potentially creating an intense attachment before a genuine bond has formed.

Kanika Batra, 30, who says she has been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, openly described herself as highly skilled at lying and manipulation

‘I also actually really love giving gifts, and I love love bombing. I do it naturally. It’s not necessarily planned,’ she said on the podcast.

That flood of attention can leave partners craving more, according to Batra, who described what happens when the intensity begins to fade.

‘And then they get hooked on it, and then they start getting really, really obsessive,’ she said. 

‘They’ll be like, “Oh, okay. Why aren’t you calling me more? Oh, are you seeing other people? You must be seeing other people.”‘

Batra acknowledged that she wants to deliver affection on her own terms rather than whenever a partner demands it. She said she has often begun to feel ‘pure contempt’ for partners after approximately three months, once the fantasy she projected onto them gave way to reality.

Her second tactic involves creating distance and limiting access. Batra advised women to switch off social-media notifications and activity indicators, avoid constant texting and maintain an air of mystery during early dating.

She argued that this prevents women from becoming dependent on the dopamine rush of receiving attention while also stopping men from knowing when they are available online.

‘You don’t know when he was online. He doesn’t know when you were online. You’re mysterious,’ she said.

Batra also suggested saving a man’s number under a mildly insulting contact name to weaken the emotional power he holds. She offered ‘hepatitis B’ as an example, reasoning that a woman would be less devastated if someone stored under that name failed to reply.

Her third strategy is to test how much effort a man is willing to expend. Rather than directly demanding an extravagant gesture, she recommends asking him to complete a small task or travel slightly farther than necessary to meet.

‘That’s the purpose of tests,’ Batra said. ‘So, you ask them to go slightly inconveniently out of their way to help you in some way.’

She continued: ‘Do you mind picking this up on your way here? Do you mind meeting me here? Even though it’s a little bit further from you.’

Batra argued that a man who genuinely cares would not object to minor inconveniences, allowing a woman to judge his actions rather than trust romantic promises.

She also recommended quietly reminding a reluctant man that he has competition. ‘If he thinks he’s better than you, show him your other options,’ Batra said, before stressing that women should not make the tactic too obvious. ‘Just let him know you’ve got options.’

Williamson challenged Batra over whether this advice could encourage women to introduce toxic games into otherwise healthy relationships. 

He noted that love-bombing a man before withdrawing affection, or identifying his insecurities and deliberately pressing them, closely resembles manipulation tactics commonly condemned when men use them against women.

Batra conceded that some of her advice could be viewed as manipulative, saying: ‘I think it is fair. Yeah.’

However, she claimed the ruthless behavior should stop once a secure relationship has been established.

‘I tell them where ruthlessness should begin and where it should end. And it should definitely end when you’re in a secure relationship,’ she said.

As a retired Apple reseller and repairer, Alan, 79, from the East of England, believes a folding phone would be “brilliant for anyone dealing with graphics, videos and eBooks”, but perhaps not so much for “hefty spreadsheets and business applications”.

With his selling experience, Alan doesn’t think the price is an issue, “if someone wants it enough, they’ll buy it,” he says.

“I’ve just switched to the iPhone Air from the previous 16, which I got primarily for the sophisticated camera. As I hardly used all the camera features and the phone was quite heavy, the Air is an adequate replacement and doesn’t pull my trousers down.”

Apple sceptics

These readers, however, are sceptical about Apple’s products and their newest line-up is no exception.

Adrian, 69, from the East of England, has avoided their products for about five years: “I haven’t been an Apple fanchild for some time now”.

The most he has ever paid for a phone, which happened to be a folding phone, was around £500. “Surely, there’s a price threshold beyond which even the most die-hard devotees would bluster,” he questions.

Devotees to the brand “seem to overlook frequent reports of failing batteries, reduced efficiency in older models, updates nuking otherwise-functioning phones and of course, the exploding batteries,” Adrian explains.

“Yes, the aesthetics and techno feel of Apple are lovely but beneath the skin, the guts have to show backbone.”

The Yorkshire Shepherdess will appear at Everyman Northallerton later this month for a behind-the-scenes celebration of the hit More4 show.

Our Farm Next Door: A Behind-the-Scenes Celebration will take place on Wednesday, September 30, ahead of series four.

The Owen family from Our Yorkshire Farm and Our Farm Next Door (Image: CHANNEL4)

Amanda and special guests will discuss how the programme began and followed her family’s ambitious restoration of Anty John’s farmhouse.

Fans will also see an exclusive preview of what to expect when Our Farm Next Door returns to More4.

It comes three years after work began on the ancient farmhouse near the Owen family’s famous Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale.

The event will revisit the biggest moments from the first three series and reveal how the show is made in one of the Yorkshire Dales’ most remote areas.

Amanda Owen’s Our Farm Next Door to return for series four

Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids follows Amanda, her former husband Clive Owen and their nine children as they farm in Swaledale and transform the derelict Anty John’s property.

Channel 4 confirmed in August 2025 that the programme had been commissioned for two more series after its success on More4.

The broadcaster said the it would follow the family as work moved indoors, including decisions about the rooms, plumbing and running water.

Cameras have also continued to document Amanda, Clive and their children’s daily lives on the farm.

Series three aired in early 2026, covering the work at Anty John’s and major family moments including Clive’s 70th birthday.

The show has been a More4 success, with Lime Pictures reporting that series three’s second episode grew its audience and ranked third among the week’s top 30 multichannel programmes.

Viewers can now discover how the show is made before series four reaches screens.

Behind the scenes of Our Farm Next Door

The Northallerton event will explore the show’s first three series and how its makers capture life at Ravenseat and Anty John’s.

Leeds-based Wise Owl Films has filmed the Owen family throughout the renovation, through changing seasons and difficult Yorkshire Dales conditions.

The event will reveal what it takes for the family and crew to work in such an isolated location.

The evening will also revisit funny, emotional and memorable moments from three years of filming.

The Owen family from Our Yorkshire Farm and Our Farm Next Door (Image: CHANNEL4)

Organisers say the show has captured a significant period for the Owen children as they grow, develop interests and build careers.

The nine children are Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine and Nancy.

Viewers have seen the older children build lives and careers of their own while the younger ones take on bigger roles around the farm.

Reuben Owen has built a career in heavy machinery and groundwork away from Ravenseat, while eldest daughter Raven has taken a very different path from the remote family farm.

The transformation of Anty John’s

At the heart of Our Farm Next Door is Anty John’s, the historic property acquired by the Owens close to Ravenseat.

The project began with a largely derelict building that needed painstaking restoration before its interior could become a family home.

The show has followed the transformation stone by stone while exploring the property’s history and former residents.

The Our Farm next Door promo poster (Image: CHANNEL 4)

Channel 4 has said the family bought the house as part of its plans for the future.

Amanda has also investigated the property’s connection to Anthony Clarkson, a historic Swaledale map-maker linked to it.

Executive producer Mark Robinson described the project as the story of a family rooted in the Yorkshire Dales bringing a house back to life.

Series four will continue that story.

Our Farm Next Door event in Northallerton

Our Farm Next Door: A Behind-the-Scenes Celebration will be held at Everyman Northallerton, at the Treadmills development on East Road, on Wednesday, September 30.

Tickets cost £12.50 through the Royal Television Society.

Fans will hear from Amanda Owen and special guests and see footage from series four before it airs on More4.

The event comes years after the Owens became household names on Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, as their television story continues.

While that programme ended in 2022, Amanda, Clive and their children later returned to screens with Our Farm Next Door, putting Ravenseat, Swaledale and the transformation of Anty John’s back at the centre of their story.

Amanda and Clive announced their separation in June 2022 but said they would continue working on the farm and co-parenting their nine children.

A Washington Post editorial invoked the Bible to downplay the potential threat posed by artificial intelligence and instead warned of looming government overreach against Big Tech — while failing to note that billionaire Post owner Jeff Bezos recently co-founded an AI company.

The unsigned editorial, published Wednesday evening under the headline “AI hysteria jumps the shark,” came in response to comments in which current and former Anthropic employees said people working on AI projects “earnestly believe” the technology could kill all humans within 10 years.

“Scripture warns against false prophets,” the Post‘s editors wrote. “The Gospel of Matthew says that no one but God, ‘not even the angels of heaven,’ knows the day or hour of the end times.”

The editorial, posted outside the news outlet’s formidable paywall, also condemned the “chilling sweep” of legislation proposed by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Rep. Greg Casar of Texas to pause advanced AI development and ban “artificial superintelligence.”

“Politicians should not seek to regulate a fast-moving technology they don’t understand,” the editors wrote.

The editorial made no mention of Amazon founder Bezos, who bought the Post for $250 million in 2013 and last month ranked No. 10 on Time‘s list of the most influential people in AI.

The magazine cited his role as co-founder and co-CEO of the AI startup Prometheus, which was launched in November 2025 and valued at $41 billion in June, with Bezos telling CNBC that its work “will make it much easier for engineers to design physical objects.”

A Post spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from The Independent regarding the editorial’s apparent lack of full disclosure.

The editorial came as Bezos — whose Blue Origin space company reportedly holds about $1.1 billion in federal contracts — has significantly softened his stance against President Donald Trump, with whom he feuded during Trump’s first term over the Post‘s coverage of the White House.

Amazon, where Bezos is executive chairman and owns nearly nine percent of the company’s stock, donated $1 million toward Trump’s 2025 inauguration, which he attended with future wife Lauren Sánchez.

The company also gave an undisclosed amount to help fund construction of the president’s controversial $600 million White House ballroom, and spent $40 million on a widely panned documentary about first lady Melania Trump that IMDb says grossed about $16.7 million worldwide.

The Post has also been undergoing a period of upheaval under Bezos, including the loss of about 300,000 subscribers and associate editor David Maraniss, a 48-year employee, after the owner vetoed a 2024 endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump and ended the paper’s practice of endorsing candidates.

The Post lost another 75,000 subscribers early last year after Bezos said its opinion pages would only promote “personal liberties and free markets,” leading to the resignation of top opinion editor David Shipley.

His right-leaning successor, Adam O’Neal, announced his resignation in July, telling colleagues it was best for him and his family, according to The New York Times.

Several high-profile opinion columnists, including Pulitzer Prize winners Eugene Robinson and Jonathan Capehart, have also resigned or taken buyouts since the libertarian shift in the Post‘s editorial tone.

The spark for Wednesday’s AI editorial was a series of Tuesday social media posts in which Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon said he’d resigned his position after three years “doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic.”

“Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” he wrote.

Coxon also said, “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

In response, Anthropic employee Evan Hubinger, who holds the title of alignment science lead, wrote, “Jacob is correct here — we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!”

“I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to,” he added.

Spokespersons for Anthropic and OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from The Independent.

The posts followed similar warnings about the potential impact of AI from major tech figures including Elon Musk, Google co-founder Eric Schmidt and Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, a retired computer scientist who’s been called the “godfather of AI.”

A 2024 survey of more than 4,000 AI researchers around the world found that only 3 percent “were most worried about the long-term, speculative scenario in which advanced, out-of-control AI poses a threat to human existence,” according to Responsible Ai UK, a group of British academics.

The most frequently cited concerns about AI were malicious use, misuse, misinformation and the impact on jobs, RAiUK said.

The Post‘s editorial came as polls have consistently shown that about seven in 10 Americans oppose AI-related data centers in their communities.

It acknowledged that predictions of people being killed by AI were “concerning” but said they “merit a certain skepticism.”

“People working at the frontier may know more than most about what today’s models can do. But that does not give them special knowledge of what machines that do not yet exist will someday become — or how society will adapt to the challenge,” it said.

The editorial also held out the promise of “the many potential upsides of AI, such as the developing breakthrough medicines.”

But left unsaid were the results of a May study, published by leading medical journal The Lancet, in which Columbia University researchers found that the rate of fabricated sources in biomedical papers surged 1,200 percent from 2023 to 2025, according to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.

The authors offered several possible explanations, including intentional misconduct, but noted that previous studies found that up to 69% of AI-generated references in “biomedical contexts” were made up.

Mark Russell, 37, also reversed into a garden wall, threw a bike through a window and caused around £10,000 worth of damage

A disgruntled boyfriend drove into the front of his ex girlfriend’s house before returning and reversing into a garden wall before ramming into a police car. He caused more than £10,000 worth of damage to the house and the police cars.

Mark Russell, 37, turned up at his ex partner’s home in Ebbw Vale at around 3am on May 4 but she wasn’t there. He hammered on the front door and disturbed his ex’s niece who was babysitting at the house.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday heard the defendant was intoxicated and demanded his bank card, which his ex’s niece threw out the window. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here

Prosecutor Alex Orndal said Russell got into his Jeep and used it to ram into the front of the house.

The defendant then threw a bike through the window, causing damage to the door, lamp, and a Ring doorbell before he drove away.

At 5.30am, Russell returned and hammered on the door again before getting into the Jeep and reversing into a garden wall, causing £1,103 worth of damage.

The police attended and a number of police vehicles attempted to block the defendant’s Jeep in, but he rammed a police car in order to make his escape.

Two officers inside the car received minor injuries. The extent of the damage caused to the police cars was valued at £9,666.

The defendant was arrested and interviewed, and told police he was not the driver of the car and couldn’t remember anything because he was drunk.

Russell, of Moorland Road, Ebbw Vale, later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and criminal damage.

The court heard he has a total of 26 previous convictions.

In mitigation, Nigel Fryer said his client is currently serving an 84-month prison sentence for burglary, but is using his time in custody well having learnt to read and write.

The defendant has children and plays a big part in their lives.

Recorder Robin Rouch sentenced Russell to eight months imprisonment, to be served consecutively to his current sentence.

The defendant was also disqualified from driving for 62 months.

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Corrie viewers have seen Kit Green being diagnosed with breast cancer this week

Coronation Street fans have been praising a decision made in Kit Green’s cancer storyline as they spotted a ‘new duo’ in the long-running show.

As fans of the ITV soap, which is filmed in Salford, know, it was back in 2024 that the detective made his first appearance in Weatherfield after Bernie Winter went on a mission to find her long-lost son, Zodiac, who ended up being the detective who had been renamed Christopher by his adoptive parents.

Kit’s life has since evolved on the cobbles, having discovered he has a son, teenager Brody Michaelis, and he was also seen enjoying a romance with Sarah Platt – until she recently dumped him when she was put on remand for the murder of Theo Silverton.

Click here to sign up for more Coronation Street updates in our newsletter

Now, actor Jacob Roberts is currently tackling a new health storyline for his character, Kit, who was seen being diagnosed with breast cancer in scenes aired this week.

The diagnosis comes on the back of the death of Bernie’s aunt, Celeste, who made Gemma Winter-Brown aware that the family may carry the familial BRCA gene. Carrying a familial BRCA (Breast Cancer) gene mutation means inheriting a harmful change in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes from a parent, which significantly raises your lifetime risk of developing certain cancers.

But as Bernie and Gemma face testing, unbeknownst to them and the viewers, Kit has already been seeking medical help due to concerns about his own health, and has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, which had already spread to his lymph nodes.

The Coronation Street production team are working closely with Macmillan Cancer Support and Breast Cancer Now to accurately portray Kit’s cancer while raising awareness of the very real risks of the illness amongst men.

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During Wednesday’s (September 9) episode of Corrie, viewers saw Kit accidentally collide with Ross Wilkes in the Rovers, causing him to spill his drinks. When Kit clutched his chest in pain, Ross accused him of overreacting, unaware of his diagnosis. It caused Kit to lose his temper and punch him straight in the face. Fuming, Ross said he would be reporting Kit, as Bethany Platt dragged him out.

Later, Todd Grimshaw, who knows about Kit’s recent diagnosis, headed to see Ross and try to smooth things over for him. Ross said he wouldn’t press charges, but would accept a few beers as an apology. It was then during Thursday’s (September 10) episode of Corrie that Todd was seen telling Kit that he’d smoothed things over with Ross, and that he should share his news with his family, which came after he joined him at an earlier hospital appointment.

And it was the scenes between the pair that got fans talking on social media. @sabbyissingular said: “What a great duo these two are! Whoever at @ITV, @itvcorrie decided too have Todd involved in this kit storyline… YOU deserve a raise! Two characters who couldn’t be further from one another but alike in so many ways! Made ever more fab by Jacob & Gareth themselves! #corrie.”

@C70268211 commented: “I knew Todd would do a George. Kit can’t hold off telling others for much longer though. You can’t blame other characters for not understanding fully if they don’t know. #Corrie.” @tardisgirl93 added: “No but I loved this scene. Todd supporting Kit? This is a great idea #corrie.”

Dame Helen Mirren proved there is no bad blood between the MobLand cast as she cosied up to Tom Hardy at the season two premiere in London on Thursday night. 

Since the last series, it appears there has been more drama off-screen than on, with reports of major tension between Tom and production during filming leading to claims he is departing the show. 

And just days after the actress, 81, defended the actor, 48, the pair appeared to be getting on like a house of fire as they posed for snaps on the red carpet. 

Embracing Dame Helen as she dazzled in a sequinned dress, the two looked at ease together before joining Pierce Brosnan. 

Dame Helen, who plays Maeve Harrigan in the Paramount+ series, looked sensational in a £4,470 silver sequined gown from designer Jenny Packham. 

Yet while Dame Helen dressed up for the occasion, it appeared Tom had missed the memo as he chose not to wear a suit and opted for a more casual Rogue & Sons $825 white shirt and trousers. 

His bold shirt featured a blue painting of The Tower of Babel by German artist Wilhelm von Kaulbach.

Guy Ritchie’s London-set crime drama is back, as viewers are thrown back into the world of the Harrigan family and their fixer, Harry Da Souza, played by Tom Hardy.

The pair appeared to be getting on like a house of fire as they posed for snaps on the red carpet – just days after the actress defended the actor, 48, following reports of major tensions 

Dame Helen and Tom embraced each other with a sweet hug

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Dame Helen dazzled in a £4,470 silver sequined gown from designer Jenny Packham

The pair put on a friendly display as they posed for snaps 

Pierce Brosnan, who plays Maeve’s husband Conrad Harrigan, put on a dapper appearance in a pinstripe blazer jacket and black and white spotted shirt. 

Meanwhile Laura Pulver made sure to stand out from the crowd in a strapless yellow dress from American fashion designer Prabal Gurung. 

Pairing the dress with silver drop earrings, the star was seen posing with leading woman Dame Helen and co-star Joanne Froggatt.

Emmett J Scanlan showcased his muscular physique in a sheer black top which he wore under a black blazer jacket. 

Other celebrities in attendance included Millie Mackintosh, Roxy Horner,  Kimberley Garner and Nadiya Bychkova.  

The premiere marks the first time the gangster drama cast have all publicly reunited following the controversy surrounding lead star Tom’s on-set behaviour

Over the past few months there were reports of behind-the-scenes friction involving Tom, with stories claiming there were disagreements over the direction of the show.

However, his co-star Dame Helen recently jumped to his defence and said people should be ‘free to f*** up’.

There were accusations of major tension between Tom and production during filming led to reports of him departing the show.

It’s since been reported the actor and producers Jez Butterworth and David Glasser are working through their creative differences in time to start shooting series three.

Dame Helen, who plays Maeve Harrigan in the Paramount+ series, dazzled in a £4,470 silver sequined gown from designer Jenny Packham

Conrad Harrigan ( Pierce Brosnan ) and Maeve Harrigan (Dame Helen Mirren ) are the power couple at the centre of the family 

Laura Pulver made sure to stand out from the crowd in a strapless yellow dress from American fashion designer Prabal Gurung

Pairing the dress with silver drop earrings, the star was seen posing with leading lady Dame Helen and co-star Joanne Froggatt

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Dame Helen and Laura held hands in a sweet moment 

Pierce completed his look with a matching tie, matching pinstripe suit trousers and stylish shades 

Their co-star Joanne Froggatt  wowed in a black maxi dress with dramatic shoulders 

Millie Mackintosh looked incredible as she attended the premiere 

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The show’s director Guy Ritchie and Jacqui Ainsley looked loved up on the red carpet 

Roxy Horner caught the eye in a black mesh mini dress 

Kimberley Garner sizzled in a plunging blue maxi dress 

Thomas Tuchel cut a smart figure for the event 

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Nadiya Bychkova (L) and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (R) turned heads in white 

Aimee Fuller looked stylish in double denim 

Nick Moran appeared in high spirits on the red carpet 

Sally Wood stunned in a black mini dress 

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Spencer Matthews looked stylish in an orange suit 

Meanwhile, Dame Helen has doubled down on her defence of Tom, after previously showing her support for her co-star via a ‘Love you now and always’ Instagram post and stating publicly she would work with him again in a ‘heartbeat’.

‘You do learn certain things as you get older,’ she recently mused to Radio Times. ‘About how to work with people, really.’ 

Admitting that whilst she has certainly not become more forgiving of people she added: ‘What you learn is every single person is different; every single person has their own way of doing things.’

‘There’s not one way, there’s a million different ways.’ 

‘What you want is what’s on the screen, or what’s on the stage, to be great. And the only way to do that is for everyone to feel that they can be free to create and explore and experiment and f*** up,’ adding that she herself has ‘endlessly’ ‘f**ked up’. 

The star, who reprises her lead role alongside Tom, Lara Pulver, Mandeep Dhillon and Teddie Allen, gushed that she loves ‘to work in an ensemble situation, and MobLand is very ensemble. It suits me just fine.’

Tom’s dismissal from MobLand was first reported in the Puck newsletter in May. The report blamed ‘clashes with producers among others’, during production of season two.

Just as season two is set to hit screens, season three is set to go into production this autumn.

It’s been reported that his character Harry was not written out at the end of series two. 

Season two picks up after the bloody events of the first season as Harry is caught between increasingly dangerous factions and has to keep the Harrigan operation from imploding.

Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan) and Maeve Harrigan (Helen Mirren) are still the power couple at the centre of the family – but their relationship and their grip on the organisation are under considerable strain.

The Harrigans are attempting to present a united front while new rivals move against their criminal empire.

Written and directed by Benedict Andrews, Electra/Persona is two plays conjoined. The first is a version of Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy Electra, and the second is a stage adaptation of the 1966 Ingmar Bergman film Persona.

In Sophocles’ play, Electra seeks vengeance for her father, Agamemnon, who upon returning from war was murdered by her mother, Clytemnestra.

Clytemnestra feels justified in the killing because Agamemnon sacrificed her first-born daughter, Iphigenia, to win the gods’ favour in war. Electra and her other sister, Chrysothemis, wait for the return of their brother, Orestes, whom Electra hopes will enact the revenge.

At the start of Persona, the famous actress Elisabeth Vogler has stopped speaking entirely after performing onstage as Electra. In hospital, a doctor assigns a young and talkative nurse, Alma, to help in Elisabeth’s recovery.

Alma accompanies Elisabeth when her convalescence is transferred to a house in the country. Filling the silence, Alma begins to share her deepest secrets. When she discovers that Elisabeth has been writing letters to the doctor about her confessions, a confrontation ensues.

Linking these two narratives brings to the fore a range of complex meanings. Instead of driving a particular message home, Andrews happily trusts the audience to draw their own connections.

The play stars Cate Blanchet and Nina Hoss, who take turns at the roles of Electra/Elisabeth or Clytemnestra/Alma depending on the toss of a coin.

This sets up the continued themes of blurring image, appearance and personas, which draw on the dreamlike quality of the Bergman film – or films influenced by Bergman, such as David Lynch’s surrealist masterpiece Mulholland Drive (2001).

Before the play begins, Blanchett, Hoss and Ella Lily Hyland (playing Chrysothemis/doctor) enter the theatre from the audience, who applaud. At the performance I attend, Blanchett quips: “We haven’t done anything yet.”

Upon instruction, an audience member flips a coin and Hoss calls “heads”. It is tails. Blanchett says: “Fuck it, I’ll do Electra.”

Hoss and Hyland sit in the front row facing the stage, while Blanchett moves to a container of white face paint, puts some on her hands, then rubs it onto her face and clothes, thus becoming Electra – and the play begins.

The white face paint each actor puts on before joining the scene recalls the masked performance of tragedy in antiquity. Ancient Greek actors wore masks with exaggerated features to be projected out to a large audience .

In contemporary mask work, the donning of a mask is an embodied transformation from actor to character. As persona is Latin for mask, this choice serves as a subtle connection to the second narrative, and lays foundations for the production’s investigation of both performing and blurring identity.

Between stage and screen

Throughout the Electra story, the actors don multiple costumes of other characters from Sophoclean inspiration. They play as Agamemnon, Orestes, the sacrificed daughter Iphigenia, and sometimes even versions of themselves. This heightens the mixing of roles established in the opening coin toss.

In my research into casting practices, I have explored the potential meanings made when different actors play the same role within a production.

In ancient tragedy, actors would play more than one character by exiting and returning in a different mask. Within Electra/Persona, this use of casting and costuming contributes to ideas about the performance of self, and the risk of getting lost in being someone else. By the end of the Electra story, it is unclear precisely who is the one exacting revenge.

There is then a transition into the Persona narrative. Still on stage, the actors remove their white make-up and prepare for their new roles.

Blanchett transitions into Elisabeth and Hoss into Alma. A screen comes down in the centre of the stage which displays live-feed video footage from a camera Blanchett carries around the stage with her throughout.

One of the main differences between stage and screen acting is that the former is a telling medium and the latter a showing medium. Stage actors often assess the size of their role by how many lines they have. Screen actors count the amount of time they have on screen, as there are often reacting shots and close-ups which reveal the character’s inner monologue.

By having non-speaking Elisabeth displayed on the screen and Alma on stage with all of the lines, this artistic choice capitalises on the strengths of both mediums while asking questions like: who is the one really performing? Is the theatrical or the filmic image more authentic?

As the second narrative draws to a conclusion, the blurring of persona and medium becomes more complex and surreal. Who is who? Who is taking advantage of whom? The relationship between the two women results in a powerful and permanent blur.

Magda Willi’s set also plays on these ideas of blurring and mirroring. At the edge of the stage is a 23-step staircase of bleached wood, running from stage left to right and almost to the top of a proscenium arch.

It recalls the seating in an ancient amphitheatre. And by having us face a large empty audience space, it almost puts us in the position of being the show.

This is amplified in the transition from Electra to Persona, when the screen first descends and shows a live-feed of the audience. Not only are we facing another audience, but that other audience is ourselves.

In ancient Athens, Electra was not presented as a standalone play, but accompanied by two other tragedies and a satyr play (a bawdy, satirical drama). The other tragedies may have been connected by a continued narrative, as with the only surviving tragic trilogy, Aeschylus’s Oresteia. But they may also have been connected thematically, allowing the audience to draw connections for themselves.

Electra/Persona taps into this ancient tradition, allowing the audience to think through these complex stories and performance aspects. This is an evocative and artful play, driven by two powerhouse performers.

Electra/Persona is on at the Lyttelton Theatre, London, until October 10.

You can see the historic aircraft in action

Spitfires, Hurricanes and the renowned Red Arrows will be flying over Cambridgeshire this weekend. Every year, the Imperial War Museum in Duxford has a flying season with regular air shows throughout spring, summer and autumn giving people plenty of opportunities to watch some aircraft in action.

The impressive air show also offers other activities happening throughout the weekend to keep each visitor happy and entertained. This weekend is one to mark in the calendar if you haven’t already as the Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show will take place on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13.

You can enter the museum from 8am and the air show will begin at around 1pm, with the flight line closing from about 12pm. The event will end at 7pm.

Tickets for adults aged 16 or over cost £49.50 but you can save 10 per cent if you are a IWM member. Children 15-years-old or younger go free with a standard ticket booking.

Tickets for either the Saturday or Sunday air show are available to buy here.

The flying show is the main event of the day, with many iconic aircraft included in the fly list this year. These include: Supermarine Spitfire MK I X4650 which starred in the 2017 film Dunkirk; Hawker Hurricane MK IIB BE505, the world’s only airworthy two-seat example of the famous Hurricane; Supermarine Seafire MK XVII SX336; and the Red Arrows, one of the world’s premier aerobatic display teams will feature on Saturday only. The display will be between 1.25 and 2pm.

The air show may seem like a long wait from arrival leading up to 1pm but there is an array of activities for families to enjoy throughout the day. The event will host live performances such as the Duxford Dancers, The Umbrella Big Band and D-Day Darlings.

There is a Traditional Steam Fair with a Galloper Carousel, Helter Skelter, Swing Boats and Toy Town ride for young children from 10am to 6pm. There is also a Miniature Steam Train running from 10am to 6pm as well as a Spitfire Design Studio on Sunday only.

For the true aircraft and history enthusiasts, Second World War re-enactors and Living History groups will take you on a journey through time with immersive storytelling. A ticket includes access to the museum’s extensive collections as well, so it is worth saving some time to take a stroll around some of the museum’s displays.

There are also a range of food and drink retailers across the airfield to ensure everyone can find something to enjoy on this action-packed day.

How to get there?

The museum is ideally located near the M11 and takes about 15-minutes to reach from Cambridge. If you are driving, parking is limited and a parking permit must be purchased when you buy the event tickets.

Alternatively, if driving is easier but you are eagerly trying to avoid the inevitable queues on the day, you could consider using the Trumpington Park and Ride. A free shuttle bus service is available from Cambridge railway station and Trumpington Park and Ride, making it easy to access the event.