Bombs on trains, coke-fuelled gambling sprees and canine barbecues … from Bodyguard to Industry, here are your most horrific, heart-in-mouth TV moments

The episode starts with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials, but as things progress it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them, or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses. Paul, Sheffield

Looking for eco-friendly toys, games and presents for little ones that won’t break the bank? We have kits, skittles, crayons, trucks and tractors to add to your list

• The best toys and gifts for one-year-olds

Father Christmas has a hard time of it. In a cost of living crisis, the elves struggle to afford top-notch toy-making materials, and there is strong resistance to using plastic amid the climate crisis. Nonetheless, the wishlists remain the same: teddies, model cars, jewellery, games. What is the person in charge of presents to do?

A YouGov poll last year found more than half of parents planned to spend in excess of £90 a child on Christmas presents. And yet, as research by toy subscription service Whirli found, approximately 26% of Christmas toys – a jaw-dropping 25 million – are neglected by the end of January in the UK alone. What’s more, almost 80% of toys – much of them plastic – will eventually end up in landfill, incinerators or the ocean.

Adapting your fitness routine to your physical realities can help prevent injury from over-exercising

• Tell us: have you fallen in love this year?

Last year, I had to give up running. It was, as my sports medicine doctor counseled, “time”.

Since I was a teen, it had been my primary form of exercise and stress relief. But for months, I had been ignoring small signs of encroaching decrepitude: the popping and grinding in my right knee and hip joints whenever I stood up, bent down or took the stairs. The medical term for this is crepitus, yet I kept stubbornly persuading myself that I was still a “young” fiftysomething.

The former Verve singer talks about his supporting role in the big Oasis reunion shows, his AI fears and what he thinks of fans who Shazam his songs

Richard Ashcroft is the man of the moment. Fresh from supporting Oasis as the self-proclaimed “only man for the job”, the former Verve singer is back with an (almost) sold-out arena tour for 2026, and some more Oasis dates in South America, not to mention a seventh solo album, Lovin’ You. We caught up with Ashcroft to chat about loving Abba, being inspired by Serge Gainsbourg and fighting Liam Gallagher.

Hi, Richard! Always a pleasure to interview another Richard – who else is in the club?
Madeley … Hammond … It’s dying out. I wonder if it’s because of the Dick abbreviation? Back in the day, old actors were very happy being Dickie. I went into an off licence in Chiswick and this lad went: “All right, Dickie?” I said: “Do you know what happens to people who call me Dickie?” He said: “Oh no, sorry mate.” I said: “I’m only joking. I don’t give a shit. Call me what you want.”

From cultivating a spiral-shaped orchard to finding lost glaciers and dressing up as a landmark bird, on 4 November artists around the UK will participate in Remember Nature, a day of activism to offer hope for the future

Back in 2015, well into the twilight of his life, the artist and activist Gustav Metzger decided to embark on one last big project. Best known as the inventor of auto-destructive art – a response, he said, to the destructive horrors of the Holocaust – Metzger had also, over the course of a long career, been an inspirational teacher to Pete Townshend of the Who and campaigned for numerous causes including nuclear disarmament and vegetarianism. Now, on a video message barely three minutes long, he was making one final plea.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he began, appealing to creatives to take a stand against the ongoing erasure of species. “Our task is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are inherently creative.”

After Guardian writers shared their scariest Halloween watches, readers respond with their picks, from Jaws to The Blair Witch Project

My parents took me to see it in the theatre, under the impression that it would be appropriate for a seven-year-old. Princess Mombi’s macabre wardrobe of disembodied heads; the psychopathic laughter of the “wheelers”, with all four limbs ending in squeaky wheels; Nicol Williamson’s sinister, vicious Nome King – all are permanent fixtures in my unconscious hall of famous terrors. And Fairuza Balk’s Dorothy is eerie to match, a perfect uncanny heroine for a truly twisted “children’s” film. gradeoneirony

Incidents are being investigated as part of the inquiry into Saturday’s mass stabbing on a high-speed train

The stabbing of a 14-year-old boy and two reports of a knifeman seen at a barber’s in Peterborough are being investigated as part of the police inquiry into a mass stabbing on a high-speed train.

Cambridgeshire police said the teenager was non-fatally injured at 7.10pm on Friday, before a man with a knife was seen at a barber’s in the Fletton area of the city 15 minutes later, although this was only reported to police two hours later.

UK government alerted after RedBird Capital’s boss allegedly threatened to ‘go to war’ with the title’s newsroom

The boss of the US private equity group bidding for the Daily Telegraph has been reported to the UK government for potentially breaching rules protecting the newspaper’s editorial independence, after allegedly threatening to “go to war” with the title’s newsroom.

The Guardian understands that the independent directors of Telegraph Media Group (TMG) have alerted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) about supposed comments made by RedBird Capital’s Gerry Cardinale to the Telegraph’s editor, Chris Evans. The government department is thought to be considering if there has been a breach of the legislation.

Party leader says proposal had been an ‘aspiration’ and accuses Tories and Labour of ‘wrecking the public finances’

• UK politics live – latest updates

Nigel Farage has rowed back from his party’s election promise to cut £90bn of taxes, accusing Labour and the Tories of “wrecking the public finances” and saying Reform UK would need to get public spending under control first.

The Reform leader rejected suggestions he had been forced to break manifesto promises in order to gain economic credibility, suggesting the proposal had only ever been an “aspiration”.

Scientists find even modest amounts of exercise appear to delay brain changes and cognitive decline in patients

Even modest amounts of daily exercise may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in older people who are at risk of developing the condition, researchers have said.

People are often encouraged to clock up 10,000 steps a day as part of a healthy routine, but scientists found 3,000 steps or more appeared to delay the brain changes and cognitive decline that Alzheimer’s patients experience.