Look, Guardian, how anyone can list John Hurt's five best performances and not even MENTION his Caligula in I, Claudius whereas the likes of King Ralph gets listed is beyond me. Okay, fine, the article is about film performances and I, Claudius was tv, but still. You should have mentioned it if only to regret that it couldn't be listed due to the cinematic criteria. It's still the ultimate standard towards which all mad emperor performances aspire and so often fail because they forget it's not all about the shouting.

(Btw, re: the rest of that list, Elephant Man and 1984 I agree with; in Alien John Hurt's character certainly was memorable but that was because of the nature of his demise, not because he got fleshed out before that, so if we go by great cameo John Hurt performances on screen who get killed off early on, his Control from the recent Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy might qualify more.)

Meanwhile, Penny Dreadful goodness:

Vanessa Ives icons! All the Vanessa, all the time.

Courtesy of the recent SDCC: A deleted scene from the finale featuring Helen McCrory and Simon Russell Beale, featuring rhymes and sinister intentions, deliciously played. It also makes me want to rewatch Seance with an particular eye on how Madame Kali/Evelyn interacts with Vanessa there. Bring on the next season!