(l-r) Phoebe Aldridge (LUCY MORRIS), Roy Tucker (IAN PEPPERELL), Hayley Tucker (Lorraine Coady) in The Archers

The Archers' outgoing editor Vanessa Whitburn has denied that the drama has been competing with soaps such as EastEnders for sensational storylines.

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He was the most reviled and misunderstood monarch in English history, but one of the last remaining mysteries of Richard III could soon be resolved with the help of modern science and a fragment of DNA

Is the body in the car park really Richard III? At last, the answer

...and it could prove that he really didn’t commit the greatest crime in royal history

Hans was Heiri, Barbican Theatre, London

Hans was Heiri is built around a rotating house. The set looks like a dolls’ house, a square of four rooms with simple furniture. Then it starts to spin. The performers stay upright as the floor tilts under them, until gravity sends them tumbling from room to room.

Amit Drori’s Savanna: A Possible Landscape as part of the London International Mime Festival

Savanna, A Possible Landscape, Barbican Pit, London

Amit Drori’s Savanna looks like a mechanical Eden. Enchanting robot creatures nose the air and investigate the stage: a trundling tortoise, a springbok made of springs. There are “ohhhs” of wonder and delight as each new animal emerges.

les ballets C de la B, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House

les ballets C de la B, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House

The Old King shows a man reduced to wordlessness, fighting to communicate or connect with an audience. Dancer Romeu Runa flails about, putting himself through gruelling tasks.

Full tilt: William Bonnet of Circle of Eleven lives dangerously

Dance review: Circle of Eleven - Hang on to your hats – if you can

Take one room, spin it through 90 degrees and let a gravity-defying Frenchman loose in it. Then prepare to be amazed

Harlekin, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London

Harlequin is traditionally an agile comic character, fast and acrobatic. Russian theatre troupe Derevo have no shortage of physical skill, but it’s stretched out to painful slowness.

Ockham's Razor, Platform Theatre, London

Ockham’s Razor’s aerial performance on the opening night of London International Mime Festival sets out to explore the idea of being lost and visual tales about trust and identity are the happy results.

A resolution to give a little more

If it's running a marathon or growing a tash, I admire those who raise money money for charity

Rafael Benitez praises 'resourceful' former rivals Everton

Rafael Benitez is bracing himself for a hot reception at Everton despite refusing to repeat his small-club jibe ahead of his first match on Merseyside as Chelsea manager.

Soldiers serving in Afghanistan celebrated Christmas with traditional roast turkey lunch

Around 9,000 servicemen and women are deployed in Helmand Province an

Robinson Crusoe & the Caribbean Pirates,
Birmingham Hippodrome

Brian Conley goes from the I'm A Celebrity... jungle to a Caribbean island in Birmingham

Aladdin: A Wish Come True, O2 Theatre, London

Paul O’Grady’s alter-ego Lily Savage as Widow Twankey was exuberant

Justin Lee Collins to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house? He's no pantomime villain

If the disgraced comedian wants to return to our screens, his first move must be to reject Big Brother.

Things to do in winter

Stuck for ideas for what to do during the coldest few months of the year? This is winter, sorted

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James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats
Giro d'Italia: The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

As the Giro d'Italia tackles the brutal climb, Simon Usborne takes on the snow and switchbacks – and soon realises what the fuss is about
National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again