Watching Simon Pegg stride through Great Northern ODEON on a Sunday afternoon is more than a little strange.
This is a place where people come to see the movie stars – but today it looks like a celebrity has stepped right off the big screen.
Fans flock to grab photos with Pegg as he weaves from the box office towards the theatre; filling the walkspace with the clamour of shouts and snapping cameras.
Bumping into the star of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz on Deansgate would be arresting at the best of times, but it’s even more extraordinary when you consider the context.
Pegg is in Manchester for a premiere he couldn’t originally attend, for a film that almost didn’t get shot, starring in a role that’s unrecognisable to anything he’s done before.
“It felt like something I needed to put right…”
One of the big features on the bill this weekend at Manchester International Film Festival is Lost Transmissions – an independent movie starring Pegg and Juno Temple about music, creativity and psychosis.
Pegg made the movie in between stints on Hollywood blockbusters Star Trek and Mission:Impossible, and whilst his busy schedule had cast doubt on any potential appearance at the premiere, a last-minute scheduling change means that Pegg makes it to town just in time.
Lost Transmissions is a smaller kind of production than the star is used to nowadays, but he’s as visibly passionate about the project as much as any other he’s been involved with.
Grappling with complex mental health issues, Lost Transmissions presented Pegg with am unfamiliar and particularly challenging role – but it also allowed him to break new ground by working with a female filmmaker.
“I hadn’t done a movie that has been directed by a woman in twenty years of making films,” Pegg tells us, sounding a little surprised by his own answer.
“That felt like something I needed to put right.”
Pegg has long been a loud advocate for female representation in cinema, and when the opportunity came to work with Katharine O’Brien for her directorial debut, he was hungry to take it.
“It was the script [that attracted me to the project] first and foremost… and the fact that Katharine had sent me a script that was straight drama.
“I tend to get pigeon-holed as a comedy actor, which is my own fault.”
“At one point, it looked like it was going to get dropped…”
After realising they were both on the same page, Pegg and O’Brien began to throw some momentum behind Lost Transmissions, with excitement growing around its potential. However, schedule clashes meant the film was, for several months, left dangling by a thread.
“I was attached to the project for a very long time,” Pegg tells us.
“At one point it looked like it was going to get dropped or I was going to have to drop out because of Mission: Impossible.
“But Katharine waited for me, thank goodness, and we got to make the film.”
“Making it was a really fun experience. It was a 20-day shoot, which is not what I’m used to compared to the bigger films, but she was so sure of what she wanted in terms of performance and the look of the movie.
“It’s really nice when you work with a director who knows what they’re doing.”
Lost Transmissions dives into territory few films have dared to explore and even fewer have managed to understand: The world of schizophrenia.
Speaking about his role Pegg explains: “I play a guy called Theo Ross whose a music producer working in Los Angeles, a British guy, who has developed schizophrenia due to some bad acid he took in the nineties.
“In the movie, he decides to come off his medication because he’s worried it’s stifling him creatively, but of course that leads to him drifting back into the realm of schizophrenic delusion.
“It comes down to Juno Temple’s character trying to save Theo as he drifts off further and further into mania.”
“It’s easy to approximate madness in film; mental health issues seem to be one of the last kind of things that it’s ok to be flippant about…”
Pegg went to great lengths to embody the character during production – with the role of Theo so different to his usual roles.
“I researched it thoroughly; it didn’t feel like a role I could just guess,” Pegg says.
“Schizophrenia is a very real, very specific condition. It gets mistaken a lot of the time for split personality, but schizophrenia isn’t like that at all. [It’s] more about people’s perception getting confused, the brain starts to make certain patterns and create delusional narratives which the person responds to.
“So, I really had to learn about that and meet schizophrenics, read about it, watch documentaries, and go into the film knowing what I was talking about.
“It’s easy to approximate madness in film, mental health issues seem to be one of the last kind of things that it’s ok to be flippant about. Acting crazy, you know, anyone can do that – but it’s not at all the way to approach it.
“You have to approach these things faithfully and give a genuine, authentic portrayal.”
Before Pegg heads off to host a Lost Transmissions Q&A alongside his director, he fills us in on his next chapter.
“I’ve got two Mission:Impossible films to make over the next two years,” he confirms.
“And there’s something I’m developing at Stolen Picture – mine and Nick Frost’s production company.
Pegg’s features scrunch together as he searches his memory banks.
“It’s a show I’ve been developing for… eight years, I think. I’ve finally found a way to do it!”
Suddenly, a wide smile spreads across his face.
“But I can’t say anything about it yet… which is really frustrating.”
Now’s not the time for that, anyway. Today is all about the indie film that pulls Pegg from his self-confessed comedy “pigeon-hole”. And he’s proud of it.
Catch Lost Transmissions in cinemas during its wide release from 14 March. For more information on some of the fantastic films playing this week at MANIFF, head to their website.
Feature
You can sleep in a luxury train carriage at an old railway station in Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
There’s an Airbnb listing in Delph where you can stay in a classic converted train carriage, and it’s even situated in an old train station, so someone buy my ticket ASAP.
Get ready to have the best train experience of your life, as the only cancellation you have to worry about is booking the day off work.
The Carriage at The Old Station is a two-person character property in Delph, Saddleworth that offers you the chance to live out your vintage fantasy by stepping back in time on a luxury static train coach.
It may be situated at an old station, but the interior is refreshing and light with mint blue beams, fuchsia cushions and a royal red carpet and curtains.
As well as a majestic interior, this carriage has an equally impressive amount of amenities, including a Bluetooth sound system, board games and its own indoor fireplace.
This Airbnb is fairly new too, with only 44 reviews to its name – the first only dating back to September of last year; don’t say we don’t find you some absolute gems.
Inside the Airbnb that’s an old converted train carriage.The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.
One user even stated, “We regularly stay in five-star locations and this surpassed five-star easily! We highly recommend a stay here.”
While another opened her review with three simple adjectives that we also feel perfectly sum up this train carriage property perfectly: “Opulent, indulgent, extravagant”.
It should come as no surprise that this place is beautiful inside and out, as in the description, host of the property Nigel states he’s a retired designer.
The train carriage stay is also close to a proper country pub, The Old Bell Inn, as well as the Diggle canal walk if you fancy a stroll and a pint before tucking into bed in your old train carriage for the night.
Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.
If you’re after boarding The Carriage at The Old Station and having a fabulous overnight stay or mini holiday of your own, you can find the Airbnb listing and everything you need to know HERE.
Review | Dua Lipa had Anfield levitating on her first night in Liverpool
Thomas Melia
British-Albanian performer and prolific pop star Dua Lipa is halfway through her first-ever international stadium tour, and it’s nothing shy of a spectacle – night one in Liverpool living, breathing, levitating proof.
To say I wasn’t singing more than half of this setlist verbatim would be a lie; the setlist for Lipa’s Radical Optimism tour is stacked with hits upon mega hits.
Her commanding single ‘Training Season’ kicks things off and besides getting the whole stadium hyped up, it sets the tone for the night ahead, one Dua has full control of, and also features a firework or two.
Within 15 minutes of stepping onto the stage, the unofficial anthem of Anfield’s resident football club and recently re-crowned Premier League champions, Liverpool FC, was played.
Dua Lipa performing ‘Physical’ at Anfield Stadium.Smiles all round at the ‘Radical Optimism’ tour in Liverpool.Credit: Audio North
In fact, ‘One Kiss’ was met with an unmatched electric energy that she ended up playing it again later on, because why the hell not?
This isn’t just a song: it’s a beast. When you’re playing a song that’s spent eight weeks at No.1, has 2.5 billion streams and at an arena with a legacy like Anfield‘s, there was simply no way these fans were going to be tame.
Similarly, partway through the second act, Lipa had the audience wrapped around her fingers once more as she played the dance-inducing smash ‘Levitating’. In that moment, we were all her “sugarboos.”
This was a proper crowd-pleasing moment. To be honest, they all were.
As we strut our stuff into the third act, we’re met with another dancefloor filler, ‘Physical’, fans were ready and waiting to chant “let’s get physical” with the superstar.
The fourth act, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. Ms. Lipa took some time to show her love to some of the album’s deeper cuts; I greatly appreciated being able to belt out “How looong?” as she played ‘Falling Forever.’
She finished this segment with the song that started it all, one she’s never forgotten to play since bursting onto the music scene back in 2015: ‘Be The One.’
Dua Lipa and Dave McCabe (The Zutons) performing ‘Valerie’.The superstar taking pictures with fans at Anfield.Liverpool is in for a treat if the second Dua Lipa show is even half as good as night one at Anfield.
Dua, let us tell you something, you’ll always be the one.
The encore felt like the epitome of all things Dua Lipa. It’s like when you hear that one ABBA megamix that has you shouting, “Oh, I know this one… and I know this one too!”
And rightly so, with a back-to-back, four-song medley spanning from ‘New Rules’ and ‘Dance the Night’, to ‘Don’t Start Now’ and ‘Houdini’. Perfect, perfect, perfect.
— DANIEL is calling..☎️💜 (@daniel__SG) June 24, 2025
After this medley, night one of the ‘Radical Optimism’ tour was over, but we and the fans were certainly left feeling radically optimistic.
Come on, how can you not be when the timeless classic ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ by Whitney Houston is soundtracking your concert exit?
I have one last question for anyone who hasn’t splashed the cash for one of her shows yet… if you’re not watching Dua Lipa live, then ‘Whatcha Doing’?
Lipa had the crowd well and truly in her fingertips.Dua gave quite the performance in Merseyside.An increasing master of not just pop songs but stagecraft too. (Credit: Audio North)
Gareth Lloyd -
12th March 2020 
