telly’s morning briefing: the casting department has left the shire
The Gentlemen recruits Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom, Call of Duty returns to Nintendo, SmackDown gets new tag champions, PEAK reaches Xbox, and PHP’s maintainers need more than applause.
Saturday, October 24, 2026 · morning edition
The Gentlemen has expanded its criminal résumé, Nintendo has company in the war zone, and SmackDown’s tag belts changed hands. Also: a mountain your friends can fall off together and the people keeping the internet upright.
the casting department has left the shire
Robert Carlyle, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom are joining The Gentlemen for Season 3, with Theo James and Kaya Scodelario returning. Netflix says filming is underway in the UK and Morocco; Dexter Fletcher and Bruna Marquezine are also among the new arrivals. There is no premiere date in the announcement, so this is a casting update, not a request to clear tonight’s schedule. The criminal enterprise has apparently acquired an extremely good recruitment department.
call of duty has located the nintendo
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is out on Nintendo Switch 2, with Nintendo’s October 23 announcement marking the series’ return to its hardware. The release includes the campaign, multiplayer and DMZ extraction mode; multiplayer and DMZ require Nintendo Switch Online. That “2” is doing important work: this is not an announcement for the original Switch. Below is the official campaign trailer released in September, now attached to a game people can actually play.
the tag belts have new forwarding addresses
The title defence in yesterday’s afternoon briefing ended with new champions: Michin and B-Fab beat Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley on Friday’s SmackDown. WWE’s official results describe Jade Cargill striking Paxley while the referee was out of position, followed by Michin’s Styles Clash for the win. The championship history now lists Michin and B-Fab, so this is a completed title change rather than another preview. Ringside assistance remains an alarmingly effective professional service.
your friend can now drop you from an xbox
PEAK reached Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC on October 22, with crossplay and Xbox Play Anywhere support. Aggro Crab’s launch post says this version includes all content updates, and one Xbox purchase covers console and PC. Mixed-platform groups can therefore make the climb together without first negotiating matching hardware. The mountain has removed one excuse; your friends’ judgement remains outside its warranty.
the internet’s maintenance department would like a budget
After this week’s critical PHP security fixes, EFF is arguing that companies should contribute more money and people to open-source maintenance. The PHP Foundation’s October 21 advisory identifies fixed releases 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35 for two vulnerabilities that can allow remote code execution under the relevant conditions. For site operators, that means checking the underlying PHP version with the host, not assuming an application update is the same fix. Free software has never meant that the people maintaining it can subsist on gratitude.
Image credits: featured still, Netflix / Tudum; Modern Warfare 4 promotional artwork, Activision; PEAK artwork, Team PEAK / Aggro Crab and Landfall, via Xbox Wire. Official campaign trailer: Activision / Call of Duty.
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