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26 parses as 2, 2 ("republic" + "monarch")

9 parses as 2, 4 where the 4 is a Grauniad crossword luminary.

9a is all in reverse - a four letter grand inquisitor of Spanish note (the reversal is how the setter derived his name but not the intended reference here, I don’t think) and a two letter old lady

Thanks both: all is clear to me now.

I have no idea of the theme despite all the previous posts - if it's TV-related, I don't have one! I have several gaps, the most significant being 8a and 6D - can anybody help please?

Just finished. Found it quite tough mainly because I had the wrong answer for 8a before I knew the theme. I had a type of tree and the wrong kind of weapon. Then had 6a wrong too. I had a word for sailors which nearly works.

Anyway once established I got on much better but enjoyed some of the misleading in the clues.

FOI was 4d. LOI 6d.

I think my COD would be 7d. Good puzzle from Paul despite not knowing much about the theme

Rocky, yes, I did exactly the same thing with 6a :-(

Neville, the theme is a TV show, it'll be hard to complete the puzzle without GK.

8 is thematic, parses as (1,1,1) inside 5, the 5 is a weapon with last letter removed.

6d parses as 4 "lobby" inside 3, it's a Paul trademark clue.

Actually just 8a now plus associated 3d .... if it's what I think it is, it's a rubbish clue!

Thank you Geeker, I see it now but it's true I know very little about the theme