LESLEY Manville and Tim McMullan will be reprising their roles in the latest Anthony Horowitz adaptation.

The BBC today confirmed they will be completing the hugely popular murder mystery series after acquiring the rights to the final instalment.

BBC

Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan will be reprising their roles in the latest Anthony Horowitz adaptation[/caption]

BBC

The murder mystery follows book editor – turned sleuth Susan Ryeland[/caption]

BBC

The blend of present day and period mystery has won fans over[/caption]

Anthony Horowitz’s stories follow the central character, Susan Ryeland, and her fictitious detective advisor, Atticus Pünd.

The first series was named The Magpie Murders and aired on BBC One and Iplayer in 2023, that was followed by the second instalment – The Moonflower Murders which was released the following year.

In the who-done-it series, book publisher turned amateur sleuth Susan has spent her career editing fictitious crime novels for the ill tempered crime writer, Alan Conway.

In series one Susan finds herself ripped from the pages of fictional crimes and confronted with a very real murder when her star writer turns up dead.

The second series finds Susan making a new life for herself with her partner in sunny of Crete, but she’s soon pulled back into the world of murder and deception.

Now the BBC have revealed the deal has been done to add a third, and final, series to their schedules and, as fans of the books will know, it will be called Marble Hall Murders.

Lesley Manville will be returning to reprise her role as Susan and she’ll be joined once again by Tim McMullan, who plays her wise imagined sidekick and mentor Atticus Pünd.

The series originally aired on the ill-fated BritBox streaming service but it was later acquired by the BBC where it proved popular enough to extend to the second series.

Fans have loved Horowitz’s unique blend of reality and fiction that delves viewers into present day and historical cases at the same time.

At moments throughout the real life cases that Susan is investigating the fictitious detective from her murder novels appears and offers sage advice and wisdom.

In a tease of what’s to come the BBC have confirmed that this time round Susan will be following the story of “Pünd’s Last Case” which is set in 1955, in an exotic villa in Corfu.

The BBC will be hoping that series three will follow in the Moonflower Murder’s footsteps, as the previous case drew in a average of 4.9 million viewers.

Speaking about the show, creator, Anthony Horowitz said: “I’m so happy to bring the team back – stars, director, producers, and crew – for a third instalment of what has been a fantastically successful TV series. I have a feeling this could be the best yet.”

Previously the show’s star Lesley Manville, who fans may recognise from the Crown, has heaped praise on fellow TV sleuths who have come before her.

She said: “It’s made me admire Angela Lansbury and David Suchet who did all the Poirot’s. David was doing a denouement every episode. I delivered the denouement at the end of Moonflower and I was learning it for six weeks.”

Both Magpie and Moonflower Murders are available to stream on the BBC Iplayer.

BBC

Marble Hall Murders will follow on from the huge hit – Moonflower Murders[/caption]

JOSH ROCK is backing himself and rival Luke Littler to dominate darts for DECADES to come.

The 23-year-old regularly faced off against The Nuke as the pair rose up through the ranks together.

Getty

Josh Rock hopes 2025 will see him bag several PDC titles[/caption]

Getty

The 23-year-old wants to dominate darts alongside Luke Littler for decades to come[/caption]

Rock, current World No. 16, has bagged four PDC ranking titles in his career so far.

The Northern Irishman had been tipped for big things after winning the World Youth Darts Championship in 2022.

But has has yet to make it past the quarter-final stage of a major TV event.

Rock watched on as Littler – then aged just 16 – stunned the world by reaching the 2024 PDC World Championship final.

Littler returned a year later to beat Michael van Gerwen at Ally Pally and become the youngest-ever world champion.

And Rocky believes Littler’s rise proves there has been a changing of the guard.

He told the BBC: “It is fantastic for the sport.

“Luke winning the Worlds at such a young age shows it is a young man’s sport now.”

Rock won the Dutch Darts Championship last year and progressed past the second round of the World Championships for a third consecutive year.

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And he believes his game is in good shape ahead of a packed schedule ahead.

He continued: “I had a solid 2024 but honestly I think 2025 is going to be my year.”

“My game is there to challenge, it always has been, it just has to come out when it needs to.

“I 100 per cent believe it. There is six years between me and Luke.

“We can have a very long career, and I believe that me and him will dominate the sport.”

Late last year, Rock admitted he is happy playing second-fiddle to darts’ newest sensation.

And he believes with the focus elsewhere, his talents can eventually shine through.

Rock told Het Nieuwsblad: “None of [the attention on Littler] bothers me. I like to fly under the radar, no problem at all.

“Luke can claim all the attention and therefore take the pressure off me.

“I’m happy with how I’m pitching the past few months and you can’t quite compare the hype either, so let me do it quietly.

“I was a star boy, he’s a star boy now. It’s really from a different level. He doesn’t care either.

“We’re good friends and I talk to him often, and that’s what I often say to him: ‘You really don’t care about anything, do you?’

“He handles all the attention much better than I do. So let him be the star!”

Littler, 18, and Rock are currently preparing for the upcoming World Masters.

The tournament has undergone a huge revamp, which includes the adoption of the old best-of-three-legs per set format.

Rock faces off with in-form Jermaine Wattimena in his first-round match on Thursday.

While Littler, fresh from disappointment at the Dutch Masters, takes on Andy Baetens.

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A SINGLE mother has opened up about being homeless and unemployed as she received life-changing help.

Amy, from Belfast, who supports her 12-year-old daughter Phoebe on just  £60 a week, after being signed off work due to anxiety.

Channel 5

Businesswomen Michelle and Liz vowed to help the mum[/caption]

Channel 5

Amy and her daughter Phoebe have just £60 to live on a week[/caption]

But now she has appeared on Channel 5‘s Rich House Poor House and was seen sobbing after receiving help.

The single mum switched lives with a pair of beauty aestheticians – who admitted they burned through ‘thousands and thousands’ each week, on this week’s episode airing on Sunday.

The Channel 5 episode revealed the emotional moment that wealthy businesswomen, Michelle and Liz, promised to help single mother, Amy get back to work after a bout of ill health left her relying on benefits. 

The self-made businesswomen Michelle and Liz who are best friends and colleagues, said they grew their business from the ground by ‘working 24/7’.

Michelle, who lived in her luxury house in Lisburn near Belfast, helped Amy during the show.

The two friends run an aesthetics clinic in Belfast, which also offers discounted procedures to women who’ve suffered domestic abuse or illness.

Meanwhile, just a few miles away in Newtown Abbey, Amy lived in a housing association flat struggling to even afford the basics for her and her daughter.

The single mum has just £60 a week to spare, leaving her and her daughter to live without flooring in their hall or living room. 

Despite living off of benefits, Amy was desperate to get back to earning a living but struggled with a lack of confidence, having been signed off from work due to anxiety a few years earlier.

She previously worked in retail during the pandemic but was forced to quit amid mental health struggles along with 2.3 million people who signed off of work for health reasons in the wake of Covid.

Channel 5

The beauty salon owners offered Amy a job leaving her sobbing at her new chance[/caption]

Prior to the swap, Michelle described herself as someone who ‘likes to shop’.

The businesswoman showed off a glamorous walk-in-wardrobe containing 50-60 pairs of shoes and multiple designer handbags. 

She and business partner Liz admitted they enjoyed ‘the finer things’ including ‘nice holidays, handbags, and shoes’.

“Being in a job you love is vital, it makes you want more, it makes you want to improve and grow,” she said.

Describing what she hoped to achieve during the swap, Liz said: “To offer confidence to someone who is maybe lacking in confidence.”

Michelle seconded the wish to support an individual ‘struggling to realise their own dreams and ambitions.’ 

When the swap took place, the businesswomen were stunned by the weekly budget admitting they would spend more than £60 on just one meal out.

In their welcome note, Amy apologised for the ‘lack of living room and hall carpet’, adding that they hoped the pair felt ‘at home’ regardless.

When Amy opened her envelope with her weekly budget of £1,600 she was shocked to see the budget 25 times her usual spending limit, Amy said seeing the cash in real life didn’t ‘feel real’.

On the first night of the swap, Amy and her daughter tucked into a tasty £50 takeaway, while the aestheticians made do with some freezer fish fingers. 

After the first night in Amy’s house, Michelle and Liz complained of feeling ‘freezing’ and ‘unsafe’.

Trying to make a positive start to the swap, the beauty experts headed to the shops to buy food for the week – but swiftly chomped through nearly half their budget.

“I don’t know how they’re surviving with such little money, it’s really scary,” said Michelle. 

Later, Amy spoke with a friend of Michelle’s, where she discovered that the two weren’t so different.

The business woman hadn’t always lived the high life and was also a single mother of two who experiences poverty in the past.

On the other side of the divide, a candid conversation with Amy’s brother, Brian, revealed to Michelle and Liz that Amy and her daughter had spent four months homeless.

Brain said the mother and daughter duo had spent the time living with him and that the mother had slept on his floor – despite his best efforts to give her the bed. 

During the swap, Amy and her daughter got a taste of the high life visiting beauty salons, the theatre and day out zip wiring.

The beauty workers also wanted to help Amy get back into work and organised her a trial shift as a receptionist at their salon.

Despite her past experiences with anxiety, Amy excelled in the trial, with a worker at Michelle’s clinic calling the aesthetician to inform her that things had gone well and that the mother had been a natural.

Michelle and Liz were also keen to help Amy make her home more liveable and insisted a carpet is ‘a need not a want’, and swiftly arranged for a new one to be installed.

They even transformed their living room with a new set of furniture. “I really want them to have a home that’s warm and cosy,” Michelle said. 

When the women finally met at the end of the week, they shared a tender moment where Michelle told Amy that she would be ready to talk about offering her a job when she was ready.  

Michelle told Amy that her staff ‘couldn’t speak highly enough’ of her and that ‘it takes a certain kind of soul to be able to sit and take a call and talk to people when they’re feeling vulnerable’.

The mother-of-one broke down in tears upon hearing the news, and jumped up to give both women a bus.

And that wasn’t all. When Amy and Phoebe arrived home to their brand new living room, they were both hit with another shock as they discovered they’d been given a brand new carpet and furniture. 

“It a completely different living room,” said Amy in another emotional moment. 

“Absolutely gorgeous, I was not expecting any of this,’ she added. ‘This is unbelievable.”

A MEMBER of the Irish Defence Forces admitted his involvement in drug dealing and money laundering when he pleaded guilty to a number of charges in court today.

Shane Scanlon was charged in connection with the seizure of close to €27,000 worth of cocaine at Collins Barracks in Cork last March.

Scanlon, of Cooline Heights, Cobh, County Cork, signed pleas of guilty to several charges including having drugs for sale and supply and money laundering in Cork District Court.

The 34-year-old first appeared in court in March of last year in connection with the offence.

Scanlon pleaded guilty to being in possession of cocaine at Collins Barracks, on Old Youghal Road in Cork, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it to another, on March 27, 2024.

He also admitted to having cocaine unlawfully in his possession for his own use on the same occasion.

He also plead guilty to money laundering in respect of €2,250 at his home in Cobh, and another sum of €1,100 at Collins Barracks.

He was also in possession of articles – a blender and weighing scales – for the purpose of commission, preparation, facilitation or instigation of a drug-trafficking offence.

Judge Mary Dorgan remanded Scanlon on continuing bail to appear before Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing on February 4 next.

The accused previously surrendered his passport.

He has to continue to sign on at Cobh Garda Station whilst on bail.

The DPP had decided that the case could proceed by indictment at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The charge of having cocaine for sale and supply when it exceeds €13,000 comes with a mandatory ten year minimum prison sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances.

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Shane Scanlon appeared at Cork District Court[/caption]

JOE Brolly has reportedly joined the backroom coaching team of Mayo GAA club Knockmore.

Brolly has of course for decades made his feelings on Gaelic football clear through multiple punditry platforms.

But at the age of 55 he is taking once again taking on an official role at senior level, having previously only dabbled in coaching with Antrim and Belfast club St Brigid’s many moons ago.

Per The 42, the 1993 All-Ireland winner will be operating as ‘Head coach/selector’ on veteran boss Ray Dempsey’s staff.

In a previous stint with the club, Dempsey guided them to county crowns in 2020 and 2021.

Former Knockmore supremo Nigel Reape is quoted as saying in that piece: “He’s done bits and pieces and I’d say he will be a breath of fresh air. It’s a good coup for Ray.”

While he’s synonymous with Derry GAA, Knockmore have become his local club since marrying Mayo native Laurita Blewitt in 2022.

Brolly is said to be one member of a 15-strong backroom team for the county championship runners-up.

The club count current inter-county stars Colm Reape and Darren McHale among their ranks, while longtime Mayo half-forward Kevin McLoughlin is probably their most high-profile player.

The outspoken ex-RTE analyst has long been in the habit of ridiculing the modern trend of bloated backroom staffs at club as well as county level.

For instance, he mocked the extent of fellow former Sunday Game pundit Kevin McStay’s Mayo support staff when that became public knowledge in September 2022.

While retweeting an image of every person named on the ‘Mayo senior backroom team’, he sarcastically queried ‘No gynaecologist?’

So his surprise involvement will ensure far more eyeballs are glued to how the Ballina outfit far in the 2025 Mayo club championship.

Among the instant reaction to today’s news breaking, Antaine Lud O’Dochartaigh quipped on X: “Time to see if he can walk the walk…”

Similarly, Fionn Moules added: “My condolences to Knockmore GAA.”

Lastly, Damian Hagan expressed his surprise in blunt fashion, commenting: “Sweet holy f***!”

A FIRE has broken out just outside the Etihad in front of thousands of fans only hours before Manchester City’s Champions League clash.

The Premier League champions host Club Brugge needing a win to guarantee qualification into the knockout stages.

But footage just hours before kick-off showed a merchandise van outside the stadium on fire.

Fire trucks were seen also rushing to the scene as thousands of fans looked on in shock.

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THE UK’S “best service station” is set to close in hours – and any drivers still parked inside will have to be “escorted out”.

Gloucester Services, on the M5 northbound, will shut from 8pm until 6am tomorrow, according to National Highways.

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The deli is packed with fresh produce, attracting visitors from all over[/caption]

Alamy

A view from the outside[/caption]

Drainage survey work will be carried out between Junctions 12 and 11A overnight.

Drivers were warned if their cars are still parked at the services by 8pm tonight they will have to be “escorted” away.

A spokesman said: “Northbound Gloucester Services will be closed for drainage surveys (traffic already within the service area wishing to exist will be escorted).”

The site, which has developed a cult following among drivers, is regularly ranked as one of the UK’s best motorway services.

Famous for its farm shop, restaurant, and scenic surroundings, it attracts motorists who go out of their way to visit.

One social media user wrote: “I go out of my way to go there.”

A second chimed in: “A touch of class.”

Another user commented on a video tour of the services, recalling how they did their entire Christmas shop there, and added: “With venison sausages… sourdough bread… and prepared pheasants with stuffing.”

While the northbound side of the services will be closed overnight, the southbound side remains open as usual.

Drivers planning to stop on the northbound M5 tonight will need to find an alternative or plan ahead to avoid disappointment.

Gloucester Services, a sister site to the equally popular Tebay Services in Cumbria, is unlike your average motorway stop.

With its grass-roofed buildings, picturesque lake, and high-end food offering, it has been hailed as a touch of class compared to the usual dreary pit stops.

Even the car park has immaculately maintained grass verges at the end of each set of bays, as well as a line of trees planted down the middle.

A babbling stream runs into the lake that sits out the front of the restaurant, populated by families of ducks and stretching right up to the gravel bank where customers sit at wooden tables.

Large panoramic windows enable a spectacular view of the English countryside in all its glory, especially on sunny days.

The interior incorporates varnished wooden beams and pillars throughout, with mezzanine-style tiling on the wales and a vast skylight to give it a light and airy feel.

Even dogs are welcome inside, while owners can enjoy a woodland walk to break up their journey.

Outdoor diners can also enjoy the view of a well-kept large duck pond, fed by a babbling brook, at the rear of the building, or sit in a sheltered booth at the front.

Vegans and vegetarians are also catered for, with meals including sweet potato and chickpea tagine, and mac and cheese.

For kids, there’s a fabulous play area made entirely from wood to help burn off the energy of children who’ve been trapped in a car for too long.

It comes after the UK’s most expensive personalised number plates for 2023 were revealed – with the priciest breaking £120,000.

YouTube / FWP Ltd

Inside is light and airy, thanks to the glass fronted design and skylights[/caption]

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A seated area is available for those who want to dine al fresco[/caption]