Drama | Tellyspotting

May 3, 2020
PBS Masterpiece, BBC team up to commission ‘World on Fire’ for a second series!

With 3 episodes remaining in the first series of World on Fire (Tonight, May 10 and 17 on PBS Masterpiece), welcome news comes from PBS and the BBC that the Helen Hunt-led British World War II drama has been commissioned for a second series. Although the news of the commissioning was both welcome and somewhat expected given both the audience and critical acclaim, it’s does come as a bit of a surprise given the fact that a previously popular series that was also designed as a multi-year drama, Sanditon, was inexplicably cancelled after the first series.
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May 2, 2020
After 30 years, ‘Good Omens: Lockdown’ has a message for you.

On May 1, 1990, a classic novel was born. From the brilliant mind palaces of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch tells the story birth of the son of Satan and the coming of the End Times. The Apocalypse is near, and Final Judgement will soon descend upon the human species. Now, on the 30th Anniversary of the original publication of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, who better to hear from during this uncertain time of ‘sheltering at home’ than Aziraphale and Crowley themselves.
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April 23, 2020
‘Van der Valk’ set to make the streets of Amsterdam safe this Summer on PBS

Street-smart, cynical and unapologetic detective Simon Van der Valk is an everyman of sorts, investigating high profile cases and gritty murders that immerse him and his team in contemporary Amsterdam’s fast-paced worlds of art, politics, addiction, mysticism, and fashion. If you’re a fan of Luther, Van der Valk is fasten your drama seat belt at its finest.
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April 12, 2020
‘The Missing’ spin-off, ‘Baptiste’, the newest masterpiece on PBS’ Drama Sundays premiering tonight!

One of the The Missing’s best-loved characters returns in Baptiste, a spinoff series with Tchéky Karyo reviving his role as French detective Julien Baptiste. Tom Hollander (Pride & Prejudice, Cambridge Spies, Rev, The Night Manager) and Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife, Partners in Crime, Wolf Hall, Patrick Melrose) round out the cast of the six-part […]
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April 7, 2020
Fire up the Quattro folks, series creator confirms there is more ‘Life on Mars’ headed our way!

Looking back, it’s been a couple of years since John Simm let it be known that he’d be keen on a possible Life on Mars revival. At the time, it reminded me about the greatness of the series starring Philip Glenister as the ultimate old-school DCI Gene Hunt and John Simm as DI Sam Tyler. Primarily […]
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April 3, 2020
PBS’ Drama Sunday tells the story of ‘The Windermere Children’

Full disclosure, I had never heard the story of the Windermere children before now. This little-told true story of the young people rescued from concentration camps and sent to Britain is not only poignant and powerful, it’s hopeful. By the end of the film, I hope everyone has a box or two (or three) of tissues […]
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March 26, 2020
Q&A with ‘Sanditon’s Crystal Clarke as she reveals her hope for Miss Lambe if there were to be a 2nd series and much more…

One of the glaring downsides of not having the benefit of a second series as of yet of the British period drama, Sanditon, isn’t the fact that it didn’t adhere to a traditional Jane Austen ending but that there wasn’t near enough time during series 1 to fully develop the character of Georgiana Lambe, played by […]
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March 21, 2020
#COVID-19 delays production of ‘Call the Midwife’ S10

The most recent TV and film industry casualty of the coronavirus pandemic reaches all the way to Poplar and the bike-riding resident nuns of Nonnatus House as the BBC has shut down filming of this year’s Call the Midwife Christmas Special and the forthcoming series 10.
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March 16, 2020
Rest assured, Sir Julian Fellowes’ ‘Belgravia’ is every bit as scandalous as ‘Downton Abbey’

It was inevitable that Sir Julian Fellowes’ newest endeavor would be forever linked and compared to the greatness of Downton Abbey. And, given the fact that his newest effort, Belgravia, starts out with a promotional tag line of ‘secrets, sex, class warfare and corsets’ among the upper echelon of London society, it’s no wonder. While both series explore […]
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March 13, 2020
Q&A with ‘Sanditon’s Rose Williams as she shares her thoughts about the series, Jane Austen, the possibility of a 2nd series and, yes, even cricket!

With Sanditon in the books following the series 1 conclusion in the U.S. as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series, Tellyspotting had the extreme good fortune to sit down recently with delightful Rose Williams, aka Charlotte Heywood, to talk about the series, the role of Charlotte, Jane Austen and everything in-between. We even talked her into divulging her secret to playing cricket! It’s a long one, so grab a bag of popcorn and settle in.
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