A Harry Potter-themed escape room has opened in Leeds and we expect fans of the J K Rowling tale will be very excited at the news.
Located at newly opened Leeds escape room The Escapologist, it can be found at the White Rose Shopping Centre.
Here, you'll find yourself a student at Hogwarts with Professor Lupus desperately in need of your help. He's already protected you from a wild troll attacking the school grounds, now he's injured and unable to move.
The challenge is to find his special medicine to stop him becoming 'extremely ill' before nightfall - which fans will know is code for 'turn into a werewolf' and bite you. No pressure, then.
The game's description continues:
"He also tells you to give the medicine to his owl who will bring the vial to him once you have found it.
"You feel the professor is keeping something hidden from you, but after he persists you decide to do as he has asked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bay-y-1jD40&t=43s
"You are now in Professor Lupus’ classroom and have an hour until the sun sets. You don’t know where the medicine is, what it is for, or what it looks like, but you must get it to the professor before night falls! Hurry!"
So not only do you have to find his medicine, you also have to find his owl (a nice little touch, which we obviously love as Loiners) - all within the space of an hour. Tick tock.
Ranked at a medium difficulty, the game can be played by between two and six players at a time and is just one of seven experiences available to try at the new gaming location.
On top of this, you'll also find an Alice in Wonderland-themed room, a Sherlock Holmes-inspired room and a Guy Fawkes-inspired game called 'The Gun Powder Plot.'
As well as the seven different themed rooms, The Escapologist also has a fully licensed bar and cafe for refreshments.
To find out more about the different experiences on offer and to book, head over to the escape room's website here.
Comedian Joe Lycett is putting money behind the bar at a pub in Sheffield this week, as he continues to encourage people to get out and support their local boozers.
The TV favourite – who is also currently one of the stars on The Traitors – announced the news as he bid farewell to his fictional TV pub The Lycett Arms.
On the show, he said: “There are 45,000 pubs in the UK – go and give them some love.”
Joe Lycett then proceeded to list 30 brilliant pubs up and down the country, including one in Sheffield, and announced that the drinks are on him this week.
He told audiences: “[This] Friday I’ll be putting a little bit of money behind the bar in all the pubs you’ve just seen. I hope you can have a drink on me.”
The chosen pub in Sheffield is The Hallamshire House, a lovely old boozer serving real ale in Crookesmoor.
Announcing the news to social media, Channel 4 and Joe Lycett wrote: "Take this as your excuse to drop what you’re doing, call a mate, and head to your local pub. Even if you see this during the middle of a working day. Go. Be free."
Well, you certainly don't have to tell us twice.
Some pubs have even agreed to match the offer, commenting on the post: “Thank you so much for the shout out. Next time you find yourself nearby, pop in for a pint!”
So this Friday, get your friends together and have a free pint on Joe Lycett himself - you know you want to.
BBC is casting for next series of The Traitors and wants people from Yorkshire who are ‘good at lying’ to apply
Clementine Hall
The BBC is currently casting for the next series of The Traitors, and is looking for some deceptive Yorkshire folk to take part.
It's safe to say that The Traitors is pretty much a cultural phenomenon at this point.
Pretty much everyone and their dog is tuning in to watch The Celebrity Traitors on Thursday and Friday evenings, but this time it's not about the celebs.
Producers describe The Traitors as a ‘game of trust and treachery’, and there’s always plenty of twists, turns, shocks, and surprises along the way – but do you reckon you’ve got what it takes to play?
If so, the BBC is currently casting for the next series of the popular show, and is calling on people in Yorkshire and across the UK to apply.
Applications are currently open to players who are over 18 years of age and have the right to legally reside in the UK.
The first series of the smash-hit BBC reality competition show proved pretty popular when it premiered back in 2022, but the second series took things to a whole new level, and truly seemed to capture the attentions of the nation like no other – with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the three episodes each week.
But in case you haven’t seen it, The Traitors is, put simply, a competition series that’s built on strategy, suspicion, and deception, where a team of players are tasked with competing in a series of missions – with the more missions they complete successfully, the bigger the prize pot gets.
However, hidden among the players are the ‘Traitors’, who meet in secret and decide who to eliminate from their fellow players known as the ‘Faithfuls’.
The aim for the ‘Traitors’ is to stay undetected until the end, while the aim for the ‘Faithfuls’ is to banish all of the Traitors before the game ends.
Up for it? You have until 31 May 2027 to get your applications in online here.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd September 2021 
