BBC

Miriam Margolyes is to star in a new BBC Four sitcom written by, and co-starring, Frog Stone. The show features mother and daughter Fran (Stone) and Mim (Margolyes) whose relationship is redefined when Mim reveals she is dying.

Christie is one of Britain’s most notorious killers and murdered at least eight women, including his wife Ethel, by strangling them in his flat at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill.

BBC One will celebrate Dame Shirley Bassey’s 80th birthday with one hour special in which the music icon will perform some of her biggest and best-loved classics backed by a live studio orchestra.

Based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas, the four-part series is described as “a moving story about identity, obsession, desire, the dizzy heights of success and the terrifying risk of failure.”

Written by Conor McPherson, the three-part Paula also stars Owen McDonnell (Spooks, Single-handed) and will be directed by Alex Holmes (Coalition, House of Saddam) through Cuba Pictures.