Londoner's Diary: Florence Pugh next to star in le Carré TV blockbuster

In today's Diary: Florence Pugh fills Tom Hiddleston's Le Carré shoes | Lady Antonia Fraser shoots down BBC's Gunpowder | Jeffrey Archer sexes up auction | Michael Stipes screens Helena Christensen's call
Florence Pugh lands John Le Carre role
Dave Benett/Getty Images
Londoner's Diary10 November 2017

In the fight to match the success of The Night Manager, the BBC has found its new Tom Hiddleston. And she comes with Evening Standard approval. Florence Pugh, winner of last year’s breakthrough gong at the Evening Standard Film Awards, will step into Tom’s shoes by leading the next adaptation of a John le Carré classic.

Last night, BBC1, The Ink Factory and AMC — the teams behind last year’s hit thriller — announced that they will reunite to make The Little Drummer Girl, a six-part drama with Pugh, right, taking the starring role. Based on le Carré’s bestselling novel, published in 1983, it has similiarities to the The Night Manager, where a British ex-pat is recruited to infiltrate a criminal organisation. In this case, the Brit is a radical Left-wing actress, the setting is 1970s Middle East and the criminal is a Palestinian terrorist.

Pugh impressed with her chilling performance as the titular character in Lady Macbeth and is nominated at next month’s British Independent Film Awards. But she may still feel the pressure to deliver: The Ink Factory is helmed by Simon and Stephen Cornwell, le Carré’s sons, and they call the book one of their father’s best.

Director Park Chan-wook, who made last year’s The Handmaiden, will make his TV debut. He calls Oxford-born Pugh “the most energetic young female actor” he has seen in recent years. But will she be better than Hiddleston? She may want to clear her trophy cabinet just in case.

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A withering verdict from Lady Antonia Fraser on Gunpowder, the Guy Fawkes drama just on the BBC. Fraser, widow of Harold Pinter, has written several acclaimed works of non-fiction including The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605, so we had to ask her opinion of the TV series which starred Kit Harington and Liv Tyler. “I want you to listen closely because I’ve thought very carefully about how I would describe it,” she said. “In a word: yuk!”

Trump’s girl forgiven for bad language

We called it: earlier this week we wrote that TfL was the frontrunner for the Bad Grammar of the Year Award. Last night TfL was crowned champion. But it could all have been different if Ivanka Trump had appealed to the judges, who included Jeremy Paxman and author Virginia Ironside. Idler founder Tom Hodgkinson proposed her tweets “for her use of ‘it’s’ for ‘its’ and for this howler: ‘Cuddling my little nephew Luke… the best part of an otherwise incredible day!’” But it wasn’t to be. “My fellow judges forgave her these minor lapses. ‘She’s American,’ said Virginia. ‘It doesn’t count’.”

Quote of the Day

Jasmine Hemsley is a naughty eater
Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage

"I eat steak and drink alcohol"

Cook Jasmine Hemsley, one half of Hemsley & Hemsley nd author of East By Wesr, says her diet isn't all kale and vitamin shots.

The girls and boys go their separate ways

Red or black, Oliver Cheshire?
Dave Benett

A bit of a gender divide on the party scene last night. Actor Douglas Booth and DJ Nick Grimshaw were among an army of stylish men at a townhouse in Primrose Hill, where Mr Porter launched its own new label, Mr P. Designer Charlie Casely-Hayford had another reason to celebrate: his engagement to interior designer Sophie Ashby. But where were all the women? At Chiswick House, at the Bottega Veneta dinner, models Arizona Muse and Poppy Delevingne were among the revellers, with Lady Violet Manners wearing a distinctly Veruca Salt outfit. She must have had the golden ticket.

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Automatic for the People, the classic R.E.M. album, has been re-released for its 25th anniversary and celebrated with a Paul Smith collaboration. The Londoner spoke to R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe at Paul Smith’s store on Albemarle Street last night but we were interrupted by his phone. Who could be calling? On the screen we saw a familiar name: supermodel Helena Christensen. He didn’t pick up. Sorry, Helena, he was talking to someone far more important.

Archer sexes up auction

Jeffrey Archer rubs it in at auction
Getty Images

The Londoner dined with the Duke of Cambridge at the City Veterans Dinner at the Imperial War Museum last night, where novelist, politician and one-time jailbird Jeffrey Archer, pictured, joked about the latest problems for Britain coming from Brussels.

“The latest grief from them is they want us to decide how many condoms there should be in a packet,” he said. “The Greeks want six: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and never on Sunday. The French want seven: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The Italians want nine: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and twice on Saturday and Sunday. But I on behalf of the British people have demanded 12! January, February, March and so on until December.”

Tweet of the Day

Who's a lucky cuddly bear?

Looks like Kate Moss has a new cuddle buddy. Pudsey the Bear has been given a Louis Vuitton and Supreme print, which will be auctioned off in aid of Children in Need. Moss posed for a snap, with matching ears. That should make it a guaranteed big seller.

Aside from offering too much information about his sex life, Lord Archer put his salesman skills to the test by chairing a fundraising auction. He raised more than £80,000. For that, we’ll forgive the joke.

Superfan of the day: new Doctor Who companion Bradley Walsh tells NME that he got a DJ to extend a wrap party by 40 minutes to allow time to play Dancing Queen 11 times in a row. Does the Tardis have a stereo?

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