Posted November 6, 2020 -  No Comment

British acting legend, Geoffrey Palmer, passes away at 93. RIP, Geoffrey.

From Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin to Ben Parkinson in Butterflies to Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By, Geoffrey Palmer has been a constant fixture in our collective British comedy lives for the better part of four decades with these three series alone. Palmer, who had numerous guest roles in series such as Doctor Who, Inspector Morse, Blackadder Goes Forth, Poirot, Ashes to Ashes and Rev, had perhaps his most well-known guest starring role as Dr Price in “The Kipper and the Corpse” episode of Fawlty Towers in 1979. With a celebrated career that spanned seven decades, Palmer, who turned 93 years young in June of this year, passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday, 5 November.

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Posted July 31, 2020 -  No Comment

Leaving the world with a lifetime of laughter to enjoy forever, legendary comedy producer/director, Sydney Lotterby, dies at 93

While we never had the good fortune to speak with Sydney for our any of our PBS specials that featured not only the stars of some of the all-time great British comedy series but also focused on the writers and creators of some of the classics of British comedy, it was through the words of John Cleese, Dame Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer, Jenny Funnell, Moira Brooker, Philip Bretherton, Richard Briers, Michael Crawford, Roy Clarke, David Jason, Karl Howman, Bob Larbey and Frank Thornton that we were immediately schooled on the greatness that was Sydney Lotterby.

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Posted September 2, 2015 -  No Comment

Portwenn surgery to re-open Monday, 7 September on ITV

When we last left Portwenn and the daily ups and downs of Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) and Louisa (Caroline Catz), the couple had married but, as we are all so painfully aware, their marital harmony was short lived. After a life-threatening incident, Louisa decided to take their son James Henry to stay with her mother in […]

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Posted July 13, 2015 -  No Comment

Is ‘Brittas Empire’ set for reboot?

Ok, so I might be in the midst of a mild case of ‘good old days’ syndrome when it comes to British comedy but there are days that I look at the current comedy output from the UK and long for the days when a new season of As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, […]

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Posted February 1, 2015 -  No Comment

R.I.P. Geraldine McEwan – Miss Marple/Mulberry actress dies at 82

Mulberry has finally come to take hold of Miss Rose Farnaby’s hand and escort her across the bridge… Actress Geraldine McEwan, known primarily in recent years for playing Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Jane Marple on ITV and PBS, has died at the age of 82. McEwan, who appeared in 12, 2-hour episodes as Miss Marple, […]

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Posted April 6, 2014 -  No Comment

R.I.P. – Bob Larbey

These are getting harder and harder to write with each passing but they seem to come more frequently these days than any of us would like. The British comedy world, actually, the comedy world, lost a good friend this past week when Bob Larbey passed away. While you may not be familiar with the name, […]

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Posted March 31, 2013 -  No Comment

A tearful goodbye to BBC Television Centre…

As of today, the infamous BBC Television Centre is no more. It has ceased to be. It has gone on to meet its maker. Bereft of life, the Centre rests in peace! It is…an ex-Television Centre. On Monday, 18 March, a host of BBC stars bid farewell to the famous Wood Lane building for a […]

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Posted January 29, 2013 -  No Comment

British comedy stars invade the London stage

As we (im)-patiently await the next Facebook status update from the inhabitants of Downton Abbey, chronicling the devastating events of series 3, episode 4, it time to, yet again, turn our attention to what really sets British actors apart from their American counterparts. As we experienced, first hand, back in 2009 at the Theatre Royal […]

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