Local actor, comedian and writer, Diane Morgan, recently accepted an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton and her acceptance speech is as heartwarming as it is funny.
Born in Farnworth, Bolton, Diane Morgan has gone on to become a well-known stand-up comedian, actor, TV presenter and writer, among many other things over the past two decades.
Probably best known for her appearances on numerous UK panel shows, Netflix’s Afterlife and as her Bafta-nominated character Philomena Cunk, she is, without doubt, one of the most prominent comics in the country — a fact which was acknowledged by her local university in a ceremony last week.
Presented with the degree during the institution’s final day of annual graduation ceremonies last week, the Cunk on Earth star gave a short, sweet and humorous speech to her fellow graduates, joking, “I should not be here”.
Starting by saying, “There’s been a dreadful mistake”, Morgan was happy to self-deprecate and she accepted the surprise honour, adding, “I got a G in maths. A G!”
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Nevertheless, she expressed her gratitude to the university for their “generosity” and went on to shed further light on her long and winding road to success.
Regaling the audience with the story of how she “bumped into Maxine Peake who is also a Boltonian, when [they] were both auditioning to get into Manchester Polytechnic for the acting course” over 30 years ago, she explained that “neither of [them] got in” and it took “three long years” to be accepted.
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In the time between bumping into Peake outside Bolton Town Hall and getting into drama school, she detailed her various jobs, from “packing worming tablets, selling fish and chips” and even spending time working as “an Avon Lady”. She also confessed she was sacked from almost all of them.
Quipping that she lost one job at Bolton’s local Last Drop Village tea rooms because she didn’t know what a cream tea was, she went on to add: “I am here to tell you that anything is possible. If you’ve got passion and you work hard, you can do absolutely anything.
“Everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it as an actress, that it was an impossible dream, that you’d need maths. You don’t need maths; you don’t need maths for anything… Take that Rishi Sunak!”
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Having cracked up the crowd throughout, that final comment — a dig at the Prime Minister’s remarks that this country suffers due to an “anti-maths mindset” — was met with rapturous applause in a room filled with people who appreciate the arts just as much as they do numbers and the hard sciences.
We pass on our congratulations to Diane Morgan on her honorary doctorate and well-deserved moment of recognition, and hope her story can serve as a reminder that you can do whatever you put your mind to. We didn’t do well in maths either — suck it, Rishi.
Release date set for Oasis reunion tour documentary by Peaky Blinders creator
Danny Jones
If you had any doubt that the upcoming Oasis reunion shows weren’t going to be heavily documented, you’re an absolute fool. However, we’ll admit we weren’t expecting to hear the creator of Peaky Blinders‘ name connected to the tourthat’s soon set to be relived in theatres.
Yeah, as in the Brummies with the flat caps on the telly – them ones.
That’s right, the same man who brought Tommy Shelby and Birmingham’s most infamous gang to our screens has been overseeing the major documentary project, which will chronicle the return of the Gallagher brothers and put the best bits on film.
Better still, now we have a full release date and know where it will be shown, including information about its cinematic and streaming rollout.
The great wait is over.
An epic new documentary film from BAFTA and Oscar-nominated writer, producer and director Steven Knight, directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, will tell the story of the Oasis reunion the world was waiting for. Featuring unprecedented on stage and… pic.twitter.com/hgR2ERlz0n
That’s right, while there still isn’t a set title for the doc (we’re pretty sure it’s a very Ronseal kind of deal), we do know it’ll be coming not just to cinemas but even IMAX theatres.
Landing on 11 September 2026, just over a year on from when the boys got back on the road and gave us one of the greatest summers ever, it will launch on Hulu and Disney+ internationally.
With additional direction from Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, the Steven Knight-produced project is arguably set to be just as big a cultural event as the Live 25′ themselves.
Knight, who was confirmed as the co-creator, writer and producer of the Oasis ‘Live ’25’ world tour documentary movie back in March, recently teased that the initial rough edit was around four hours long.
While we doubt it’ll remain so significant in length, who knows how it will compare to the likes of Supersonic or the Knebworth documentaries?
The brain behind Peaky Blinders is creating the second Oasis doc after 2016’s Supersonic. (Credit: Taylor Rooke/BBC/IMDb)
It’s worth noting to begin with that, besides the BBC’s blockbuster gangster series, which is soon to be followed up with the franchise’s first feature film on Netflix, Knight does have some background in music-related media.
The 65-year-old created the six-part BBC drama, This Town, which revolves around the rise of ska and the ‘two-tone’ revival movement in the Midlands during the 1970s; he also wrote the script for the 2024 opera biopic, Maria, starring Angelina Jolie.
Southern and Lovelace are also two of the names behind the LCD Soundsystem film, Shut Up And Play The Hits, which covers frontman James Murphy’s final gig as part of the band at Madison Square Garden in New York.
You can watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 for ‘FREE’ across Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
Did you know you can watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 for free across Greater Manchester just by taking a quick trip to the shops?
If you’re eager to watch Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and the Runway Magazine crew on the big screen once again, you can do so for ‘FREE’ – well, basically…
After making its cinema premiere earlier this month, 20 years since the first film, The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues the story with more iconic quotes and a whole host of celebrity cameos.
One of these is pop phenomenon Lady Gaga, who also appears on the soundtrack for this stylish sequel alongside artists like Miley Cyrus, Doechii, and Brit acts Raye and Olivia Dean.
Just like real life, the story follows the real-life fashion news outlet and media brand, Runway Mag, undergoing some major changes.
For instance, they’re wrestling with scrapping print editions of their beloved publication and swapping this for online short-form content.
The sequel to this fashion-focused film also sees role reprisals from Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, with new additions from Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh and Justin Theroux.
Now, enough of us talking at “a glacial pace”, let’s get all of you fashion fans those free cinema tickets before they go out of style.
An all-new promotion courtesy of not one, but three notable names: The Devil Wears Prada 2, Diet Coke and Sainsbury’s.
The UK Supermarket chain is currently running a promotion during the film’s big-screen run, where if you purchase a 30-pack of Diet Coke, you can get free tickets to The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Simply purchase one of the big crates of Diet Coke between Wednesday, 29 April and Tuesday, 19 May, before snapping a picture of your receipt and uploading it online.
So it really is that simple, all you have to do is buy a 30 pack of Diet Coke and get a free cinema ticket for doing so – did somebody say girl maths?
For more info and to upload your receipt, visit the promotional website HERE.
There’s even an exclusive The Devil Wears Prada 2 X Diet Coke pop-up in Manchester city centre TODAY (Friday, 8 May) at Exchange Square from 12-8pm.
And they’re not just handing out a few Cokes; there’s even limited edition merchandise and more to get your hands on.
Danny Jones -
17th July 2023 
