TV & Showbiz

Bez and Shaun Ryder are starring in a new gangster movie – nope, not kidding

Yes, as in the maraca-shaking, "twisting ma' melon man", Madchester icons.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 21st November 2024

No, you didn’t misread the headline and you’re not on acid: Manchester music legends Bez and Shaun Ryder are set to feature in a brand-new gangster film.

Yes, the ones from the Happy Mondays – why are you having such trouble processing this?

Seriously though, we did a little double-take ourselves when we came across this news, but the familiar Manc faces look to be among the ensemble of a brand-new gangster movie by Irish writer, actor, producer and filmmaker, Ciaron Davies.

And this is just a little leak or rumour that may have been blown out of proportion: you can take it from the horse’s mouth as Happy Mondays frontman, Ryder, recently shared the news on social media.

As you can see, the new film is called Geezers and is billed as a “British crime caper” written and directed by Davies, featuring Shaun as hard-man Robbie and Bez as ‘Monk’. If you saw Ryder shaking off that snake biting his hand like it was nothing then you already know he’s hard as nails.

Although it’s not strictly listed as a comedy per se, ‘caper’ would suggest plenty of humour and light-heartedness, so we’re thinking more like The Gentleman, Italian Job, or maybe even Four Lions, rather than a serious crime thriller.

Now, while we’ve seen both of the Salfordians on screen before not only in the likes of music videos, interviews, panel shows and even as two of the funniest guests to ever go on Celebrity Gogglebox, this latest venture will serve as their respective acting debuts.

According to the IMDb page, the synopsis of the film is as follows: “Crime caper about a stolen bag of money. Caught in the crossfire are ‘The Geezers’ a bunch of wannabe criminals who have bitten off more than they can chew. With 24 hours to grab the cash, London may just go up in smoke tonight.”

Shame it’s not set on the mean streets of Manchester, or better yet Salford, but you’ve still very much caught our interest.

You can see the first promotional poster for the film down below.

Read more:

As for Davies, he has been involved with a number of small-budget TV film projects, as well as appearing in shorts and even video games, so it’s fair to say that getting 62-year-old Ryder and his ever-energetic hype man, 60, involved is quite the coup for his movie-making career.

We’re still not over Bez rather randomly delivering a curry to our offices, to be honest, so seeing him act is going to feel like one long fever dream.

Although the film has no release date just yet, we know that filming locations having included parts of Warrington and Pinewood Studios, will be produced by Loose Gripp Films and distributed by publishers High Fliers.

Given the high-octane nature of Geezers and its genre, the feature will involve lots of action, stunts, violence and even martial arts – though how much kung-fu these two will have learned for the project remains to be seen…

All we know is that the film is supposedly “coming soon” and if you don’t want to see Bez and Shaun Ryder doing their best impression of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie then you’re lying to yourself. Praying for a Rowetta cameo to put the cherry on top.

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Featured Images — Shaun Ryder (via X)/Loose Gripp Films/IMDb

TV & Showbiz

Single Mancs wanted to take part in next series of Married At First Sight UK

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Okay, bold question time – would you marry a complete stranger?

If you (somehow) answered yes to that, then you’ll probably be keen to hear that hit Channel 4 reality show, Married at First Sight UK, is currently on the lookout for brave contestants to take part in the next series.

And you’ll probably be even keener to hear that casting directors are urging single Mancs to stick an application in… if they fancy it.

If you haven’t seen Married at First Sight yet, well then firstly, where have you been? And secondly, it’s a dating show like no other that sees singletons marry complete strangers in a social experiment – and it’s undoubtedly binge-worthy and extremely entertaining.

MAFS UK
Married at First Sight UK has opened its casting for the next series / Credit: Channel 4

Contestants – who will not have met or had contact with each other until the wedding day – are matched up with their supposed ‘perfect match’, determined by a group of experts who use “scientific matchmaking methods”.

Once the contestants are married off, the camera follows them for five weeks to see whether the new relationship is a success or not.

Calling on singletons to put their faith in the matchmaking service, Channel 4 wrote in the casting announcement on the ‘Take Part’ section of its website: “If you are ready to swipe left to the dating apps and say ‘I do’ at the altar, then our experts are here to help you find the one.”

Channel 4 wants singletons to put their faith in the matchmaking service / Credit: Channel 4

Casting directors say singles of all ages, backgrounds, gender identities, and sexualities are ‘welcome to apply’ for the new series.

Fancy it then?

Applications are currently open for the next series, and to apply to the show, you just need to be over 18 years of age, live in the UK, and feel ready for marriage.

Read more:

Find out more and apply here.

Featured Image – Channel 4

TV & Showbiz

BBC is looking for messy Mancs who need to ‘sort their life out’ to take part in new series

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Do you need to sort your life out?

We get that this may sound like a pretty brutal and upfront question to ask, but don’t shoot the messenger, it’s technically the BBC asking it, as producers are currently on the hunt for messy people who could do with ‘sorting their life out’ to take part in the new series of one of its hit TV shows – and they’re encouraging Greater Manchester residents to apply.

While the title of the show may, quite literally, be Sort Your Life Out, we promise it’s not as harsh as it seems, as in reality, it’s just offering you a helping hand to tidy up.

That’s right, if you would you like your home to be totally transformed by none other than Stacey Solomon and her expert team, then through a life-changing declutter, supersize spring clean, and some ingenious carpentry solutions to top things off, you could bring some job back to where you live.

The BBC is looking for messy Mancs who need to ‘sort their life out’ to take part in new series / Credit: BBC | FreerangeStock

Stacey and her expert team of organising fanatics can help you let go of the things you don’t need, and streamline what you do.

Plus they’ll also help to create space-saving storage and put systems in place to save you time and money in the future.

“Whether you have a new baby on the way, want to run a business from home, find it hard to let go of sentimental items or just want to create calm in the chaos, we’d love to hear from you,” producers said in a casting call on the BBC website.

Does this process sounds like something you could benefit from then? Producers of the hit show are looking for families or shared households to take part in a potential future series.

Read more:

Find out more and apply to Sort Your Life Out on the BBC website here.

Featured Image – BBC

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