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Oldham’s Matt Walls wins gold in the men’s omnium at debut Olympics

The 23-year-old's victory earns Team GB's first track cycling gold medal at the Games.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th August 2021

British cyclist Matt Walls has bagged a gold medal at Tokyo 2020 with a dominant performance in the omnium.

At his first Olympics, the 23-year-old proud Oldham lad finished on a total of 153 points – 24 more than silver medallist Campbell Stewart of New Zealand.

Italy’s defending champion Elia Viviani took bronze.

Walls’ victory earns Team GB’s first track cycling gold medal at the Games – adding to a personal haul that has already seen him take a world championship bronze and European title.

Walls got his campaign at the Izu Velodrome off to the perfect start when he won the opening scratch race, before placing third in the tempo race.

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Second place followed in the elimination round, ensuring he would top the overall standings going into the 100-lap points race.

He was one of several riders to gain a lap early on, earning 20 points, and won two of the sprints.

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Not only is this Team GB’s first track cycling gold of the Games, Walls is also Great Britain’s first male Olympic champion in the omnium event, after Mark Cavendish’s silver at Rio 2016 and Ed Clancy’s bronze at London 2012 – when the event was first included on the Olympic programme.

Walls told the BBC after his victory: “I managed to get a good lead coming to the end.

“It’s been a hard day [but] I came into that points race with a bit of a lead which was nice, it gave me a bit of breathing room.”

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Giving a deserved shoutout to his upbringing in the Greater Manchester town, Walls added: “Thank you to all my family and friends, I wouldn’t be here without them, especially my parents when I was younger growing up, they travelled around the country with me and there’s no chance I’d be here without them.”

Featured Image – Twitter (@TeamGB)

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Review | The Lion, The Witch and The Beaver* – sorry, Wardrobe

The Manc The Manc The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe review The Lowry Salford Quays

What an enchanting evening at The Lowry as we were transported to Narnia to review the live stage adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in Media City as the production began its festive run in Greater Manchester.

As we entered the playing space, the atmosphere was set with a pianist on stage, slowly drowning out the noise of the outside world and settling the audience in for a night of magic.

Launching ‘Act One’ with a touching rendition of the British wartime classic, ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Vera Lynne, we meet the large ensemble, multi-instrumentalist cast.

This talented ensemble pivots around multiple roles throughout the performance, creating a shape-shifting atmosphere with some impressive seamless transitions, allowing us to “open our minds” and be absorbed into the mythical world of Narnia alongside The Pevensies.

narnia manchester stage show review
lion witch wardrobe review mcr
Credit: Brinkhoff/Moegenburg

Sweetly played by Joanna Adaran, Jesse Dunbar, Kudzai Mangombe and Bunmi Osadolor, they excel in exploring sibling dynamics such as rivalry, trust, but most of all, loyalty and love.

The most mind-blowing element of this performance, however, was the production; it truly is the unsung hero of the entire show, so we’ll so the singing on their behalf.

Set and costume (designed by Tom Paris), lighting (done by Jack Knowles), puppetry design and direction (by Max Humphries and Toby Olie), sound design (credit to Tom Marshall) and hair, make-up and wig designer (Susanna Perez).

All this carefully curated talent helped create a world where we had no choice but to believe in magic.

For us as an audience, it made things so much easier to immerse and delight in the world of C.S. Lewis’ imagination, as it is so wonderfully presented in front of us.

This was elevated once again by levitation and disappearing acts – the scene was set on the
boards and in the air.

You can see more pictures from the show HERE.

Huge credit goes to Gwen Hales (aerial director) and Chris Fisher (magic and illusions); it felt as if anything was possible, and we needed no convincing that we were in the presence of pure enchantment.

However, arguably the most magnificent moment of the show was the reveal of Aslan himself.
As this grand puppet prowled onto the stage, you could hear gasps echo throughout the theatre.

Manoeuvred by three puppeteers, this skilful spectacle was a credit to bringing the story to
life in live theatre. The seamless, lifelike movements of breath and king-like presence were
both majestic and a credit to the production.

Accompanied by Stanton Wright, we had no doubt that this was the true hero of Narnia.

If you want us to sum up our review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at The Lowry, quite simply, this show is nothing short of a marvel.

narnia pla the lowry salford quays media city uk
Make sure to take home a cuddly lion toy, of course. (Credit: The Manc)

With constant playfulness and wit throughout – mainly brought to you from the broad Northern and oh-so lovable Mr Beaver (Ed Thorpe), and fellow believer in magic, ‘The Professor’ (Kraig Thornber).

It’s the lattermost that left us with a lasting thought, as he warmly reminds the audience that even when times feel dark, “the sun is always up there, we just have to look.”

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is running from The Lowry in Salford Quays all the way up until Sunday, 11 January 2026. Don’t miss the magic and grab your tickets HERE.

If you’re interested in finding out what else we’ve enjoyed at the theatre in Manchester recently, then look no further…

The Tina Turner Musical at Palace Theatre, Manchester – simply the best

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/Press shots (Brinkhoff/Moegenburg supplied via The Lowry)

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Peaky Blinders confirm title and release date of upcoming film

Danny Jones Danny Jones Peaky Blinder film title and release date reveal

After what feels like an age since it was first announced, Peaky Blinders and Netflix have finally confirmed the title and release date of the upcoming feature-length film.

It was revealed that the global streaming giant secured exclusive rights to the movie last year, and it has now been revealed that it will also be released in selected theatres before it hits the platform.

With production on the long-talked-about project getting underway in September 2024, we’ve heard little else from creator Steven Knight, who has also been booked to deliver the Oasis reunion documentary chronicling their Live ’25 world tour.

However, we now know not only the official title of the film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, and that it will be dropping early next year. They’ve even shared the first poster.

Clearly referring to the series’ most famous lead character, Thomas Shelby – played by now fully-fledged Hollywood A-lister Cillian Murphy since 2013 – the teaser shows him sat astride a horse, not to mention covered in a fair amount of dirt and/or blood.

Alongside the suit and the trademark newsboy cap with blades inserted in the brim (the calling card of both the fictional and the real ‘Peaky Blinders’), it’s quite a classic look of Tommy’s.

Scheduled to release in limited cinemas on 6 March before arriving on Netflix on 20/3/2026, this will not only be the first film in the wider franchise but the first to air separately from the BBC.

While its parent network is still involved as collaborators on the flick, this is the first instalment in the IP to be distributed directly by Netflix after they bought the rights to release the show in the US.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the BBC is gearing up to oversee the next generation of the show and introduce a whole new generation of Peaky Blinders…

peaky blinders movie name and release date
Another look at a seemingly older Tommy Shelby (Credit: Publicity picture via Netflix)

As for The Immortal Man, both new and returning members of the cast include:

  • Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer, 28 Days Later)
  • Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Silo)
  • Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, The Hateful Eight)
  • Sophie Rundle (After the Flood, Gentleman Jack)
  • Ned Dennehy (Culprits, The Peripheral)
  • Packy Lee (Blue Lights)
  • Ian Peck (His Dark Materials, Robin Hood)
  • Jay Lycurgo (Steve, Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself)
  • Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin)
  • Stephen Graham (Adolescence, A Thousand Blows)

Speaking in a full press release, Murphy said: “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me. It is very gratifying to be re-collaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.”

Returning four years after the end of the mainline series, but catching up with Tommy at the outset of WWII in terms of the actual timelines, Netflix say that the Shelby patriarch “is driven back from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet.”

Safe to say we cannot wait to be back in the world.

In the meantime, you can find out more about the next season(s) of Peaky Blinders coming to the BBC very soon down below.

Adored BBC show Peaky Blinders set for return to British for a ‘new generation’

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Taylor Rooke (via Wikimedia Commons)/Publicity picture (via BBC/IMDb)

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