Gillian Anderson is to play a witch as she leads the cast in a BBC adaptation of hit children's book Room On The Broom to be screened at Christmas.

After 16 days of sporting heroism which made London the centre of the world, the curtain fell on the 30th Olympics last night with a display of exuberant – at times anarchic – revelry that had but one message: Bye world, we hope you as good a time as we did. Now let's dance.

Rebecca Adlington

This, the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals in 100 years, is the ever-smiling face of the athletes who will, we're confident, make us all proud at London 2012.

A Spall victory

Wonder what the Queen was watching last night? We know already that she's a big fan of Timothy Spall, so she may have kicked back at 8.30 with the second series of his amiable circumnavigation of the British Isles, Timothy Spall: Back at Sea. But when that finished did she get the butler to come in and flick over to Channel 4 for Wallis Simpson: the Secret Letters? She must have been slightly interested surely, and I can't really see her watching Sebastian Coe on Who Do You Think You Are? instead. Or ITV2's repeat of Benidorm. What's more, if she did watch, what did she make of it, having grown up with a less than forgiving view of its subject matter?

All the world's a stage? More like all the world's a trailer with coffee-coloured leatherette sofas, carpets and walls, stationed in a suburban car park – the second home of most film and TV actors. And Rafe Spall is a very, very busy actor right now, which is why I find myself interviewing him during his lunch break on the set of the Channel 4 sitcom Pete Versus Life – sitting in his trailer in a car park of an adult education college in Hayes, not far from Heathrow Airport.

The cost of going digital and a run of average 3D blockbusters have dragged Cineworld's profits down this year, but the group is confident that a strong slate in the second half will see it hit full-year targets.

The British film industry enjoyed "mixed fortunes" last year with record box office receipts but a decline in the number of cinema visits, according to statistics released today.

No wonder the Queen follows Everyman Tim

Brenda Blethyn, everybody's favourite on-screen mother, hits the TV detective beat next month. But first, she's got one or two surprising confessions of her own.

Starring: Eva Birthistle, Aidan Gillen, Timothy Spall

Following is a compete list of winners at the 83rd annual Academy Awards in Hollywood.

She was once a waif-like fixture in costume drama who struggled to impress the critics. Now she has evolved into one of cinema's most intriguing actresses. And then there's the company she keeps...

Readers review this week's big film