Celebrities and news-makers are grilled by Matthew Stadlen in exactly five minutes in a series for the BBC News website. This week, actor Sir Ian McKellen talks to Matt about the appeal of Shakespeare, the difference between working in theatre and film, the importance of having a child’s imagination and how Newsnight helps him relax after a show. More..

CNN’s Becky Anderson talks with stage and sceen legend Ian McKellen about his 40 years of acting.

Primmy writes: I thought you might be interested to know that Peter Jackson will be on The Culture Show on BBC2 in the UK tonight at 7PM, discussing The Lovely Bones (and hopefully other things!). bbc.co.uk

Ian McKellen is on CNN International’s ‘Connect the World’ programme tonight as ‘Connector of the Day’. This is a segment of the programme that encourages viewers to send their questions online at connecttheworld.blogs.cnn.com, which are then asked by host on air.

Chris writes: Andy Serkis was a guest on the television programme Something for the Weekend on BBC2 in the UK today (17th January). He was asked if would be reprising the role of Gollum in The Hobbit and he said that although nothing had yet been signed, he expected to be returning. The programme will soon be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer website at the following link. Unfortunately, it can only be viewed by people in the UK. More..