![\"downton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/downton-abbey-mrs-hughes-mr-carson-phyllis-logan-jim-carter-1567766801.jpg\" "\\"Downton")
<\/p>\nDownton Abbey star Phyllis Logan is set to feature alongside Bridgerton and The Crown stars in a new wholesome TV film from 5’s Play for Today strand, set to release later this year. A revival of the BBC One anthology series of the same name, the film strand debuted on 5 last year and is now returning with six more titles, including Logan’s Village Idiot.<\/p>\n
Described as a “sharp and heartfelt” comedy, Village Idiot sees Logan, known for the role of Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey, lead a stacked cast. The Scottish star plays Barbara, “a ferociously stubborn English grandmother” who resorts to extreme measures when her beloved cottage is threatened with demolition by High Speed train developers. <\/p>\n
As Barbara chains herself to her house, the company sends a “painfully polite” liaison person, Peter (Max Harwood), to try and remove her, but a twist is in store as the two are revealed to be related. In a surprise development, Peter learns that Barbara is his estranged grandmother, with a “gloriously awkward” battle of wills ensuing.<\/p>\n
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ITV<\/p>\n
Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV<\/a> The two clashes inevitably and dramatically, with Barbara’s “weaponised stubbornness and talent for public protest” giving Peter’s detached corporate approach a hard time. <\/p>\n “As their standoff snowballs into a small\u2011town circus of press, protestors, and well\u2011meaning locals, both are forced to reckon with what ‘home’ really means \u2014 and whether blood ties can survive locked gates, padlocks, and a very watchful village,” the synopsis teases, promising to pack an “emotional punch”.<\/p>\n “Witty, warm, and sharply observed, Village Idiot captures rural England on the brink of change, balancing laugh\u2011out\u2011loud comedy with genuine emotional punch.”<\/p>\n Written by Samson Hawkins and directed by Rhys Aaron Lewis, Village Idiot also stars The Crown’s Angus Imrie, Grantchester’s Kacey Ainsworth and Bridgerton star Kathryn Drysdale. ITV<\/p>\n Also part of this year’s Play for Today strand are survival thriller Wild, starring Daniel Mays, Joel Fry and Amit Shah, as well as Archie Panjabi and Paul Kaye’s The Quiet Hour, romantic comedy Closing Time, dark dramedy The Nine O’Clock Trot and coming-of-age story, The Castle.<\/p>\n Village Idiot and the other Play for Today films are set to launch on 5 later this year.<\/p>\n The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Sir David Attenborough, is here! Buy Sir David Attenborough in newsagents or online<\/a>. Reporter, Digital Spy<\/p>\n Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times<\/a> and Digital Spy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downton Abbey star Phyllis Logan is set to feature alongside Bridgerton and The Crown stars in a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[173981,137241,635,201163,637,146,85,46,195853,636,201162,411],"class_list":["post-428414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-downton-abbey","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-23528afa-c934-4ba1-875c-cb9b69a9ba4d","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-downton-abbey-star-confirmed-in-heartfelt-comedy","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n![\"daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f1355b10-3a73-45dd-8075-fb5ac04e8773.jpg\" "\\"Daniel")
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<\/p>\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778079799_155_a5577bef-f874-41e6-b03b-0f8d9f1e5f46_1686136547.file.png\" "\\"Headshot")
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