BBC News - Entertainment & Arts
The latest stories from the Entertainment & Arts section of the BBC News web site.
Calvin Harris named top hitmaker
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:20:58 GMT
Pop star Calvin Harris was the most successful songwriter in the UK singles chart in 2011, according to research from trade magazine Music Week.
Dickens 'beyond' modern children
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:30:44 GMT
Charles Dickens biographer Claire Tomalin says children are not being taught to read with the attention span necessary to appreciate the novelist's works.
Sharon to make EastEnders return
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:10:26 GMT
Actress Letitia Dean is to return to Albert Square after an absence of six years.
VIDEO: Cher Lloyd: 'I'm scared of cyberbullies'
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:44:48 GMT
Pop singer Cher Lloyd tells Panorama's Declan Lawn about being cyberbullied and her fears for her family's safety.
Residents say no to film-makers
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:14:40 GMT
The residents fed-up with movie stars and camera crews
Artist set for Facebook windfall
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:13:34 GMT
A US graffiti artist who painted Facebook's offices is set to become a millionaire when the social network begins trading as a public company.
Working with Lucian Freud
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:44:45 GMT
A unique insight by his assistant, model and friend, David Dawson
In pictures: Copycat exhibition
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:04:00 GMT
Original artworks hang alongside copies in new exhibition
Vettriano's Butler in rare show
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:16:20 GMT
One of the most famous paintings by Fife artist Jack Vettriano has gone on public display for the first time in two decades.
VIDEO: Leveson: Ex-NOTW showbiz editor
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:20:10 GMT
Former News of the World showbusiness editor gives evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
BBC accuses Iran of intimidation
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:47 GMT
The BBC's Director General, Mark Thompson, accuses the Iranian authorities of intimidating those working for its Persian service.
VIDEO: Simon Callow celebrating Dickens
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:16:04 GMT
Acclaimed actor and writer Simon Callow has written a biography of Charles Dickens, exploring the importance of the theatre to the author.
VIDEO: Hockney on sitting for Freud
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:05:49 GMT
David Hockney has revealed some of Lucian Freud's work practices, ahead of two major showcases of the late painter's work.
VIDEO: John Bishop's Sport Relief challenge
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:24:36 GMT
Comedian John Bishop is about to take on a five day triathlon from Paris to London to raise money for Sport Relief.
Gibb says he feels 'fantastic'
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:59:19 GMT
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb says he is making a "spectacular" recovery from cancer and that he is feeling "fantastic".
Amanda Holden to return to BGT
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:51:59 GMT
The presenter says she is to return to the TV talent show next Saturday after recovering from the traumatic birth of her second daughter.
6 Music to mark 10th anniversary
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:44:39 GMT
BBC Radio 6 Music is to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a host of commemorative programming.
Titanic cameraman dies in crash
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:41:02 GMT
Award-winning underwater cinematographer Mike deGruy dies in a helicopter crash in Australia.
David Jason moves behind the camera
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:26:19 GMT
Sir David Jason moves behind the camera
VIDEO: Electra's guest BGT judge and more news
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:26:49 GMT
Broadcaster NBC apologises after singer M.I.A. swore during her Super Bowl performance and Carmen Electra's a guest judge on Britain's Got Talent plus the rest of the day's top entertainment headlines.
Old strips and online aid comics
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:18:21 GMT
Why nostalgia and the internet are increasingly important for comics
Depardieu to star as Strauss-Kahn
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:30:11 GMT
Gerard Depardieu is to star in a movie about the sex scandal that caused IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign.
Brits dominate 2011 album market
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:07:57 GMT
British music acts accounted for 52.7% of the overall UK album market last year, figures show.
Lana Del Rey conquers album chart
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:18:22 GMT
US singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey goes straight in at number one in the UK album chart with her debut release Born To Die.
Hackney ticket registration opens
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:16:24 GMT
Ticket registration for BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend has opened, with 100,000 tickets to be allocated.
Radcliffe beaten at US box office
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:54:06 GMT
Chronicle, a film about teenagers with super powers, beats Daniel Radcliffe thriller The Woman in Black to top the North American film chart.
ITV's Fred West drama wins award
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:02:58 GMT
Appropriate Adult, ITV1's dramatisation of the arrest of killer Fred West, picks up best single drama at the Broadcast awards in London.
'Cult' film explores sect secrets
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:46:44 GMT
Martha Macy May Marlene explores the attraction of cults
Phil Spector death case settled
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:21:53 GMT
The mother of the actress Phil Spector murdered has settled a wrongful death case against the music producer, according to her lawyer.
Film-maker Zalman King dies at 70
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:05:50 GMT
Film-maker Zalman King, best known for writing and producing the hit movie Nine and a Half Weeks, dies aged 70.
Broadcasters urge PM on court ban
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:09:24 GMT
Three of the UK's biggest news providers write to the prime minister urging legislation to overturn the ban on cameras in courtrooms to be included in this year's Queen's Speech.
Acting veteran Ben Gazzara dies
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:27:26 GMT
US film and Broadway actor Ben Gazzara has died in New York at the age of 81.
VIDEO: Iran 'intimidating BBC Persian'
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:25:09 GMT
The BBC's director general Mark Thompson has accused the Iranian authorities of intimidating those working for its Persian service.
How realistic are TV cop shows?
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:26:50 GMT
How realistic are police shows on television?
Fassbender scoops Standard award
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:52:07 GMT
Michael Fassbender wins the best actor prize at the Evening Standard British film awards for his roles in sex addiction drama Shame and Jane Eyre.
AUDIO: Sir Cliff Richard proud of monarchy
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:14:21 GMT
Sir Cliff Richard told BBC Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics that he has great respect for The Queen.
SA 'resurrected singer' detained
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:26:29 GMT
A South African man who claims to be a famous Zulu musician who apparently died in 2009 is in custody until DNA tests determine his identity, police say.
Finborough scoops theatre awards
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:56:11 GMT
The Finborough Theatre is the big winner at this year's Off West End Theatre Awards.
Gruffalo author pens protest poem
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:11:54 GMT
Children's laureate and Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson writes a poem in protest at planned library closures across the country.
Madonna 'brassy' at Super Bowl
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:47:31 GMT
Madonna "rose to the occasion" to give "a shot of female brass" to the Super Bowl in her 12-minute half-time show, reviewers say.
