As if 2014 wasn’t already a busy year for Dame Maggie Smith, on Friday, October 17, the Dowager Countess was made a member of the Order of Companion of Honour in a ceremony at Windsor Castle. Ok, technically, it was actually Dame Maggie Smith that received this well-deserved honor, but it was fun to think […]
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After binge-watching Sally Wainwright’s amazing series, Happy Valley, which starred Sarah Lancashire and Steve Pemberton, I began to see the haunting figure of Tommie Lee Royce on every street corner. Played brilliantly by James Norton, Royce was the stereotypical tormented soul/psychopathic killer (if there is such a thing). Thankfully, to get that image out of my head, all I had to do was quickly fast forward to the premiere of ITV’s Grantchester earlier this month.
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Returning to the small screen for series 4 in early 2015, Death in Paradise continues to add to and already impressive cast list. Filming has begun with many guest stars already destined for a bit of fun on the crime-ridden island of Saint Marie including Downton Abbey‘s Amy Nuttall, Call the Midwife‘s Leo Staar, Outnumbered‘s […]
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You might remember NBC’s fatal 2003 attempt at adapting the Steven Moffat/Sue Vertue situation comedy, Coupling. I say fatal because even though there were 11 episodes produced (which is still a miniscule number of episodes for an American sitcom), it was cancelled after only 4 episodes with 7 of them having never seen the light of day to this day. 180 degrees in the other direction, however, was NBC’s re-make of Ricky Gervais’ brilliant series, The Office, which ran for 9 seasons largely due to the talents of Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Ed Helms.
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I’m afraid that one segment in tonight’s Stand Up to Cancer 2014 fundraising marathon to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK won’t go very far in satisfying those that are impatiently awaiting the next installment of Sherlock that is headed our way during Christmas 2015, but it is a bit of fun. Mentalist/Illusionist […]
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In addition to the abundance of regional theater readily available throughout the UK, the other bit of brilliance that makes me want to hop on the next Boeing 777 and head east is the very civilized process of continuing to develop of good comedy via BBC Radio 4, which is also home to one of […]
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“As soon as you decide it’s too complicated for the viewer or history is an inconvenient shape, you fall into a cascade of errors which ends in nonsense”, author Hilary Mantel said to the audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Referring to her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies and their upcoming BBC adaptations, Mantel stressed the importance of not under-estimating the intelligence of her readers and audience, reports Radio Times. “As soon as you decide this is too complicated for the viewer or history is an inconvenient shape – ‘I’ll just tidy it up’ – you fall into a cascade of errors which ends in nonsense”, citing Showtime’s The Tudors as the perfect example of how simply combining history and drama does not always make for good telly.
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BBC 1 announced last week that the final three-part series of the hauntingly brilliant detective drama, Wallander, has begun principle production filming. Starring Sir Kenneth Branagh, the final trilogy of 90-minute episodes will adapt the two remaining works by Swedish author Henning Mankell that features the character. The first will be based on the 1993 […]
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Back in May 2014, Foxes (a.k.a. Louisa Rose Allen) added her name to an already extensive list of top-notch guest stars that were set to appear on the upcoming series 8 of Doctor Who including Keeley Hawes, Hermione Norris, Ben Miller, Frank Skinner and Tom Riley. Needless to say, the Grammy-award winning British singer was decidedly over-the-top at the thought of making her acting debut opposite Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman.
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It was drama overload this past week in New Orleans at the BBC’s annual Syndication Showcase (insert how much you feel sorry for me being in New Orleans for three days screening brilliant telly here). I say drama overload in the nicest possible sense. Seems as though ever since that fateful day in January 2011 […]
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