With the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth nearly upon us (February 2012), there are numerous festivals, exhibitions and educational activities planned for 2012. Two of the most eagerly awaited events from my perspective, however, will be those that find their way to the telly in December leading up to the year-long celebration. Bleak Expectations […]
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Having first appeared in a 1990 New Year’s Day radio program for Thames Television, Mr. Bean is officially retired. Rowan Atkinson, the British comedy great that brought the character to life believes he is too old to play the Buster Keaton-like character any longer. Having last played the lovable legend in the 2007 film, Mr. […]
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With the passing of David Croft on Sunday, 27 September, at age 89, more from our 1999 interview for the public television program, Salute to British Comedy on American Public Television. When host Penelope Keith introduces the ‘Allo ‘Allo segment, we come to realize that the series was not only complex for the audience, but […]
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British comedy legend, writer/producer David Croft, has died at age 89. Responsible for such classic sitcoms as Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, ‘Allo ‘Allo and Are You Being Served?, Croft began his career in show business with an early childhood advertisement appearance and then a small part in the 1939 film, Goodbye […]
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For your viewing pleasure, there are a couple of upcoming gems on the Dame Judi Dench horizon. One sooner than the other, but both well worth the wait. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel From the director of Shakespeare in Love, the star-studded film features the likes of a couple of Dames (Judi Dench and Maggie […]
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For fans of the BBC series, New Tricks, it was welcome news recently that the series had been commissioned for an additional two seasons to be broadcast in 2012 and 2013. For those unfamiliar with the series, New Tricks stars an unconventional bunch of old school ex-coppers brought out of retirement to work on unsolved […]
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Sky 1, to further demonstrate their ongoing commitment to create original comedy content, announced recently that Trollied, starring Jane Horrocks, Jason Watkins and Mark Addy, has been renewed for two seasons. In somewhat of a departure for British comedy commissioning, which traditionally consists of green-lighting one season of a series for 6-8 episodes at a […]
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Downton Abbey 2 vs. Spooks 10 vs. Mildred Pierce With Downton Abbey 2 and Spooks 10 set to battle it out Sunday night in the UK, the States have a battle of their own as the Sunday night telecast of the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards will pit the original Downton Abbey 1 series against HBO’s […]
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Rampant rumors have been circulating around the internets this past week, many the direct result of a Craig Charles appearance last week on ITV This Morning. While he was there to, most likely, chat about his role on Coronation Street, the talk quickly turned to the long running British sci-fi comedy with Charles, given the […]
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With the new series of the hit comedy drama, Doc Martin, set to return tomorrow (Monday, 12 September) on ITV1 in the UK, it’s time to set up yet another support group in the U.S. Unfortunately, as we have recently reported, series 5 will not premiere in the States until April 2012 on public television […]
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