News round-up: Wimbledon; BBC Radio Wales; favourite Shakespeare speech; Girlfriends in New Zealand – and more

18 July 2018 21:37

Zoë joins the crowds at Wimbledon

Zoe and her husband, Gawn Grainger, recently enjoyed world-class tennis and glorious weather at Wimbledon. They were pictured in the Royal Box on Centre Court, where Serena Williams was playing Julia Georges.

Hear Zoë interviewed by Aled Jones

From 1-2pm this Sunday, 22 July, there’s another chance to hear Zoë’s BBC Radio Wales interview. The hugely enjoyable programme, presented by Aled Jones, was first broadcast in June 2017.

Whether you’re in Wales or elsewhere, you’ll find details of how to listen to Radio Wales on the station’s website.

Zoë’s favourite Shakespearean speech

In a recent podcast from BBC Radio 3’s The Shakespeare Sessions, Zoë explains why the famous ‘O for a Muse of fire’ speech at the beginning of Henry V means so much to her. (The brief interview originally aired on Radio 4 several years ago but is certainly worth listening to again.)

‘It encompasses everything that my father [Sam Wanamaker] had envisaged [for his reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe],’ Zoë remarks about the speech. ‘It paints the most wonderful picture, and it asks the audience to enter the world of play, of theatre.’

Zoë knows the speech particularly well, having spoken it on stage at the Globe in June 1997 to mark the theatre’s official opening.

She recalls an auspicious moment in the run-up to the opening ceremony: ‘As I rehearsed [the speech], just as I did the bow at the end, the sun just came up the top of the thatch and hit me straight in the eyes. That was, I felt, a little sign.’

You can watch Zoë give the powerful speech during the ceremony itself, as it was filmed for a fascinating documentary, Henry V at the Globe.

Girlfriends comes to New Zealand

You can now watch every episode of Girlfriends in New Zealand, thanks to streaming service TVNZ OnDemand. The drama was originally shown in the UK earlier this year and has also been enjoyed by US viewers.

Check out TVNZ’s great list of reasons to watch the series (though surely the fact it stars Zoë, Miranda Richardson and Phyllis Logan is reason enough!). But be warned: Girlfriends ‘will suck you in and steal your heart’!

Love Hurts series two in the US

The streaming service that brought Girlfriends to the US, Acorn TV, is getting ready to release the second series of Love Hurts in late August. Look out for major developments in the relationship between Zoe’s tough-yet-vulnerable Tessa and cheeky entrepreneur Frank (Adam Faith).

This news follows the equally welcome announcement that series one will be available to Acorn TV subscribers from the end of July.

Fingers crossed that US fans will get to see Love Hurts’ final series in September... I’ll keep you updated!

28 Tales for 28 Days crowdfunding campaign

Zoë is among the actors set to take part in 28 Tales for 28 Days, a series of videos for the charity Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group. The project will highlight the experiences of people indefinitely detained in the UK and call for a 28-day time limit to be imposed on immigration detention periods.

As GDWG explains, ‘Actors including Jeremy Irons, Christopher Eccleston, Shobu Kapoor, Maxine Peake, Zoe Wanamaker and Niamh Cusack and writers Kamila Shamsie, Patience Agbabi, Neel Mukherjee and others will be filmed reading the tales of those who have experienced detention and those who have worked with them. All writers and actors will donate their work. Studio space is also donated.’

The charity has launched a crowdfunding campaign with the aim of raising enough money to cover filming, editing and distribution costs. If you’d like to make a donation to 28 Tales for 28 Days, you can do so until 2 August.

Thanks to Karoline for her help.

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