Eighties teen icon Corey Haim has died at the age of 38, the Los Angeles coroner's office has confirmed. The actor, who most famously starred in 'The Lost Boys' alongside Keifer Sutherland, passed away early this morning at the Providence St Joseph Medical Centre. No cause of death has been released as yet, pending a post mortem, but some reports have suggested that Haim died as the result of an accidental drugs overdose.

The Toronto born actor's career began on Canadian TV series 'The Edison Twins', which ran from 1982 – 1986, and he appeared in his first feature, 'Firstborn', in 1984 alongside Robert Downey Jr and Sarah Jessica Parker. His major break came in 1986 with a lead role in the film 'Lucas', which led to further high profile roles, but his star waned through the nineties and he struggled with drug addiction and financial troubles, which saw him bankrupt by 1997.

He had in recent years made a bit of a comeback, appearing from 2006 in two series of reality vehicle 'The Two Coreys' alongside friend and frequent eighties co-star Corey Feldman. His relationship with his fellow former child star deteriorated, however, apparently under the strain of Haim's addictions.

A casting update for the forthcoming West End production of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' has  been announced. 'Lost In Austen' actress Jemima Rooper will be joining previously announced stars David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker in the show, as will Stephen Campbell Moore and Daniel Lapaine.

Rooper appeared at The National Theatre last year in 'The Power Of Yes', and will soon be seen in ITV's 'Bouquet Of Barbed Wire' remake. 'Ashes to Ashes' actor Campbell Moore's recent work includes his role in Alan Bennett's 'The History Boys', which he undertook in the West End and on Broadway, as well as in the film version of the play.

The play is to be directed  by Howard Davies, and runs at the Apollo Theatre from 19 May to 11 September.

The BBC has appointed a new head of entertainment and events. Katie Taylor, who  is to take on the role vacated by Jon Beazley, is currently executive editor of comedy entertainment, overseeing programmes such as 'Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow' and 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks'. She'll be the first woman ever to run the whole department.

Here's what Taylor says about it all: "I am very excited to be working with so many talented BBC faces, both on and behind the screen and look forward to both bringing on the next generation of artists and to creating brand defining and distinctive entertainment shows and events".

The government has announced the launch of a new internship initiative to help graduates from deprived backgrounds gain experience in the arts. The Creative Bursaries Scheme plans to create at least 40 internships a year with arts organisations for those unable to pay for their own training or take on unpaid internships. Each graduate will be given a bursary at the rate of £15k per year.

Funding for the project, which begins in September this year, is being provided by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England and The Jerwood Foundation will manage it. Gordon Brown says of the scheme: "It is a vital boost for some of our great future actors, artists and musicians who may otherwise have slipped through the net".

It's been announced that this year's Laurence Olivier Awards will be broadcast live on Radio 2. It will be the first time that it's ever been aired live on the radio, making it another first for 2010; as previously reported, the ceremony will be broadcast live via the internet for the first time too.

The special two hour radio programme will be hosted by Paul Gambaccini and presented live from the Grosvenor House Hotel in London from 8 – 10pm on 21 March. The web broadcast will be streamed at www.olivierawards.co.uk.

The new Doctor Who, Matt Smith, is to introduce himself to fans later this month when he appears on tour as part of a BBC Outreach programme that targets 'hard to reach' communities. He and co-star Karen Gillan will travel around the UK to showcase the first episode of the new series, taking in Belfast, Inverness, Sunderland, Salford and Northampton. Executive producer Piers Wenger says:  
"This is a great opportunity for the new doctor and his companion to interface directly with the people who matter most to Doctor Who: the fans".

Following that tour, which begins on 29 March, there will also big-screen events in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Plymouth and Swansea.

A study commissioned by Channel 4 has found that the number of men working TV outnumber women two to one. More than three quarters of people appearing on news programmes were men, for example, though things are a bit more even on the soaps, however, with women occupying around half the roles.

Researcher Dr Guy Cumberpatch claims that the report, part of a diversity project involving all the big broadcasters, is the most comprehensive ever study of people appearing on TV.

Bafta has said that a blunder in the first round of voting for this year's TV awards was the result of human error. The mistake meant that a number of eligible TV programmes were left off lists opened to the academy's members on Tuesday for the initial ballot to decide nominees. The organisation have not confirmed which shows they were, but reports claim that Derren Brown's 'The Events' and 'Alan Carr - Chatty Man' were amongst them.

A spokeswoman for Bafta said: "Bafta operates an online voting system across all its awards. Upon the first round of voting for the television awards opening to the membership on Tuesday, a number of omissions were spotted. The lists were immediately investigated, a human error discovered and amendments made online that afternoon".

She added that only seven percent of members had voted before the mistake was noticed, and that they had been asked to resubmit their votes. "By doing so Bafta is satisfied that the entries originally omitted have been presented fairly to every voter in this first round" the spokeswoman continued. "Neither the integrity of the voting process, nor the chances of any entrant, have been affected in any way as a result of this error".

The Academy Awards happened last night, and I expect you all know that, given that it gets a completely out-of-proportion level of coverage by the UK media. I mean, I know it's a big awards night, and everything, but I fail to see why it's so much more important than any other award ceremony. I suppose more of the world might be interested, but honestly, there's just too much chat, speculation and post-mortem on national news programmes that ought to be covering stories about war and politics.

Anyway, you have no doubt all heard the big news, which is that Kathryn Bigelow has made history by being the first woman ever to get the Best Director gong for her work on 'The Hurt Locker'. I think it's pretty shocking that a woman hasn't won it before, actually, and it really just demonstrates that women are still up against plenty of barriers, because it's certainly not that they don't have the necessary talent. Anyway, well done her.

'The Hurt Locker' also took Best Picture, and the film's Mark Boal got the award for Best Original Screenplay. It also triumphed in the film editing, sound mixing and sound editing categories. Main awards season rival Avatar, directed by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron, took the awards for cinematography, art direction and visual effects.

Bafta winning Brits Colin Firth ad Carey Mulligan failed to repeat their success at the Oscars, losing out to Best Actor Jeff Bridges, nominated for his role in 'Crazy Heart', and Sandra Bullock, who took the Best Actress gong for her performance in 'The Blind Side'. Which must take the sting a bit out of the Razzie she recently received (and, to be fair, turned up v. good humouredly to accept). 'Inglourious Basterds' star Christoph Waltz beat the likes of Matt Damon and Christopher Plummer to the Best Supporting Actor gong - no surprises there, as he's won it at pretty much every awards bash this season – whilst another hot favourite, US comedienne Mo'Nique, took the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part in 'Precious'.

Elsewhere, Pixar's 'Up' won in the Best Animation Category, which doesn't surprise me, although I've not yet seen it. Sadly, Armando Iannucci et al failed to take Best Adapted Screenplay for 'In The Loop', but they were up against some fierce competiion from the likes of Nick Hornby ('An 'Education'), Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner ('Up In The Air') and the winner, of course, of that category, Geoffrey Fletcher, who adapted the screenplay for 'Precious'. In the music categories, Michael Giacchino got Best Original Score for 'Up', and Ryan Bungham and T Bone Burnett took the Best Original Song award for 'The Weary Kind', used in 'Crazy Heart'.

As usual, there was as much focus on the frocks as there was on the gongs. But I'm not going to comment on those, because I find all that a bit vacuous.

A series featuring archive highlights from The South Bank Show is to be broadcast on ITV. As previously reported, the Melvyn Bragg fronted arts programme was cancelled last year after more than thirty years on the air.

The new series, called The Southbank Show Revisited will consist of episodes focussing on the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Billy Connolly, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench, created using a combination of footage from the stars' previous appearances on the programme combined with new interviews.

GMTV presenter Penny Smith is leaving the show after a fairly impressive 17 years on it. It's the number of years that I'm calling impressive, by the way, not her performance. Though I suppose her performance on the show might have been impressive, but I can't say it's something I've consistently (ever?) monitored.

The show is about to undergo a change of format, so it could be the case that she's been pushed to go, especially given the trend for younger female news anchors. But it could also not be the case, so I won't presume to make a judgement on that. In any case (yes, I know I've used the word case for the third time in as many sentences) she has other stuff to move on to; she's to host a new Radio 2 opera show in June and is working on a third novel, and is apparently in talks about other ITV projects. She is quoted as saying: "It's an ideal time for me to say goodbye to early mornings. Now that the format has changed, I have taken the plunge and am moving on".

GMTV's managing editor Neil Thompson says: "Penny has been a welcoming and familiar face on Britain's breakfast screens for many years. She has done a fantastic job over the last 17 years and has made an enormous contribution to the success of the News Hour".

The new show will see Smith's co-host John Stapleton move to the role of special correspondent, which will see him "bring viewers his inimitable eye-witness accounts of the major national and international stories". He says: "I'm going back to doing what I love best - covering major national and international news stories, and, after 12 years of getting up at 3.45am, I'm looking forward to having at least a few lie-ins a week when I'm not on duty".

James Corden says that the sketch show that he did with Mathew Horne, er, 'Horne & Corden' was a bit pants. I am pleased to hear that he realises that it was. You may remember that the BBC said at the end of last year that it was on hold, but claimed this was because of time commitments, not because it was rubbish, and that it had definitely not been axed.

Corden evidently thinks it should be axed, however. Or perhaps he thinks someone else should write the sketches for him. Asked in an interview with Shortlist magazine if he would be going back to writing sketches, he said: "No. The truth is, honestly, I'm not good enough at writing sketches to write a sketch show. It was a mistake. There's no point in doing something unless it's going to be as good as 'Big Train' or 'The Fast Show'. Why bother? And the absolute truth is I wasn't good enough".

Speaking about the negative response from TV critics, he added: "I got called a fat waste of space a lot in the papers. The material wasn't strong enough, but the torrent of abuse I got for it from the media was something else. But you can't cry about it - my life is a picnic. People have real problems, I'm just called fat and useless in the papers".

Which, I will grudgingly admit, makes him sound like a reasonable individual.

Michael Parkinson has accepted £25,000 libel damages from the Daily Mail after they published an article claiming that he had lied about  his family background to ingratiate himself with other people, and suggested that he had behaved badly towards an elderly uncle. The TV presenter is to donate the payment to charity.

Parkinson said in a statement: "As a journalist myself, I have been reluctant to take legal action against any newspaper. Where defamatory allegations have been published about me, I have always, until now, turned a blind eye." He added, however, that in this case, the tabloid had “crossed a line”.

He went on to complain about the way the Mail handled the matter. "During my nearly 60 years as a journalist, I have always believed it was standard journalistic practice, as well as a matter of common decency, for a newspaper to apologise publicly and promptly when they have made a mistake”, he said.  "In this case, it should not have taken nine months nor been so difficult for the editor to apologise promptly. Moreover, I believe that the persistent delaying tactics of the Daily Mail were both unattractive and unworthy of a national newspaper. At a time when the media is seeking greater freedom, I think it is counterproductive for a newspaper to behave in this way."

Wednesday's edition of the mail ran an apology which read: "An article of 30 May 2009 reported claims that Sir Michael had threatened to sue a relative over suggestions that the former chat show host had been insensitive to his uncle and had lied about his father in his autobiography. We accept that Sir Michael had not lied about his family or been insensitive. We apologise for any distress caused and have agreed to pay him damages and costs".

According  to a survey by actors' union Equity, many West End theatres are infested with rats, mice and fleas: three quarters of actors and stage managers working at 24 venues in theatreland report that there are regular infestations.

One respondent is quoted as saying: "Mice, mice, mice. Quite often there is an unpleasant smell which usually turns out to be a dead one!". Another surveyed thespian added: "I had tiny bite marks on my lipstick recently when I left the lid off".

Equity's general secretary Christine Payne said: "I knew it was bad out there, but I am really shocked by this! These findings mean that tonight, over 600 actors and stage managers will go to work knowing that they will probably see and smell vermin, both living and decomposing, in their work-place. I accept that many West End theatres are old and difficult buildings to manage, but this is running out of control. These appalling conditions must come to an end. I want to thank all those West End actors and stage management who took part in this survey. Their union will be working with them to make sure that effective action is taken".

Hmm. Feel a bit itchy now. Perhaps it's comforting to take note that backstage areas are otherwise kept clean and tidy. Or perhaps it's not.

Having ceased trading last week, London club seOne will reopen next month under the name Debut. Apparently the club is now under new management and will undergo a full refurbishment before it's relaunched.

In a statement issued last week, seOne spokesman Marcus Kay said that the club had ceased trading on 22 Feb after falling "victim to the recession and hard times felt in nightclubs all over the UK". He told Mixmag later: "The club couldn't run on Saturdays alone and filling the Fridays and Thursdays became harder and harder. The overheads could not be met".

However, yesterday the club's PR informed Mixmag that it would be reopened as "more of an event space and music venue rather than a club" on 9 Apr.

Mutya Buena has applied for ownership of the Sugababes name, her legal team has told the BBC. Buena, an original member of the group who quit in 2005, submitted an application to the European Trademarks Authority earlier this week. I've no idea why no one thought to register it before.

The singer's lawyers, Kilburn and Strode told the BBC that they were "hopeful" that the application would be approved and added that, although the other two founder members of the group, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy, were named on the application, Buena is the "sole applicant".

As you may be aware, Buchanan was replaced in the group by Eurovision singer Jade Ewen last year, meaning that there are now no original members in the line-up. At the time, Mutya said: "It kind of doesn't make sense that there is Sugababes any more", which is syntactically awful but a good point nonetheless. The current Sugababes line-up released their latest single, 'Wear My Kiss', last month, and are set to release the group's seventh album, 'Sweet 7', later this year.

Award winning Edinburgh based group Forest Fringe is planning a 'microfestival' at London's Battersea Arts Centre next month. The event, taking place from 2 – 3 April, will include the kind of innovative and interesting fare you'd expect from the collective, including one-on-one performances, installations, works in progress, and audio tours.

It's all part of a larger tour of the country: further 'microfestivals' will be staged at The Arches in Glasgow from 16 – 17 April, as part of National Theatre Wales' Assembly programme in Swansea from 24 – 25 April, and at the Old Vic in Bristol from 8 – 9 May.

The National Theatre have said that the details of around 17,500 people may have been accessed by a hacker who breached their customer database on 20 February. The good news is that apparently no financial data was seen, as the venue encrypts payment information, though other account details – name, email address and password – may have been accessed.

An email has been sent to the affected customers, which read: "We were notified over the weekend of a security incident that took place on Saturday, February 20, which may have led to your NT website account (email, password, name and contact information only) being accessed by an unauthorised user. Your payment information is safely encrypted, so no financial or booking details have been viewed".

The NT have asked the affected customers, only a small proportion of their 900,000 strong database, to change their passwords. A spokesman said: "Fortunately, the security measures we have in place mean that we have only had to ask our affected customers to change their password. But, of course, we take this matter seriously, which is why we’ve contacted everyone who may have been affected".

London Burlesque Festival producer Chaz Royal has announced that the four year old event will be this year extended to a week, and suitably renamed the London Burlesque Week. It will take place from 20 – 25 April, and will feature more than a hundred performers, including the likes of Dusty Limits, Ivy Paige and Little Beau Peep.

Chaz Royal says this: "The London audience is a mix of regular cabaret enthusiasts and curious newcomers, who appreciate the finest in burlesque performers as well as sheer glamour and tastefully risque entertainment. We help develop the most talented new and established performers, right through from the avant garde to erotic, sexy circus artists, exposing them to an international stage and the acclaim of diverse audiences".

Jermyn Street Theatre's artistic director Gene David Kirk has reassured theatre-goers that his venue is in fact open, after a newspaper article claimed in error that the venue had closed. Building work is taking place in the area, and a number of neighbouring businesses are indeed closing until 2012, but, says Kirk, the theatre is not one of those. The aforementioned newspaper article had, however, named it as one of the places affected by the redevelopment.

The artistic director is quoted as saying: "This is an error as the theatre does not come under the Crown Estate’s development plans. We sit neatly next door to the block that is about to be razed to the ground. Yes, we may be under a bit of tarpaulin and there could be the odd skip in the street, but rest assured when you enter the inner sanctum of the theatre you will be received with a cheery smile, a warm welcome and a great show".