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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Happy 80th, Dame Judi Dench!

This pic is from our Summer 2010 interview with Dame Judi Dench for the PBS special, Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen. She was absolutely the most delightful person on the planet, bar none. What struck us the most was her admitting that what terrified her the most was the time right before going onstage […]

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A Silver Jubilee Performance of The Good Life

At the conclusion of the myriad of events surrounding the recent Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebration, I started thinking back to the Silver Jubilee in 1977 when Her Majesty and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, attended a taping of an episode of The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the States), starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, […]

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Plowman to commissioners: Show TV comedy writers the money

You might not know the name, but you can’t help but know the comedy output that Jon Plowman has been involved with and responsible for over the years. As the former head of BBC Comedy involved in the commissioning of comedy output and now working freelance for the BBC producing comedy, Jon Plowman has been […]

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Judi Dench talks situation comedy

Let me just start this off by, again, saying that I think Dame Judi Dench is about ten shades of brilliant. Now, B.B. King may still be the hardest working man in the music business, but you just can’t convince me that Jay Leno should continue to be tagged by his peers as the hardest […]

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Steven Moffat: Creating comedy, start to finish

Counting down the days until Doctor Who-mania kicks in with the combined U.S./UK premiere of series 6 on 23 April, I’m reminded of the comedy genius side of the Steven Moffat brain in the pre-Doctor Who, pre-Sherlock days of Coupling. Going back over some of our original interviews for PBS’ Behind the Britcom: From Script […]

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Bring Back Whites campaign gathering steam

Full disclosure upfront. I have only seen two episodes from the first (and only) season of the BBC situation comedy, Whites, starring Alan Davies as an executive chef at a country house hotel that has “past his sell-by date”. That said, I feel qualified to comment on the current Bring Back Whites campaign as this […]

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Waking the Dead calls it a day

After ten brilliant seasons, the British forensic crime drama is taking it’s toys and going home. Waking the Dead producer, Colin Wratten writes in this edition of the BBC TV blog about the last days of the series (there might be a few spoilers here for those that don’t want to get a hint as […]

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The Norman Conquests – finally!

Normally, when you put forth the time and effort to revisit the 70’s and watch what you remember as being brilliant television, chances are, you come away a bit disappointed. Such is not the case with the just released on DVD version of the 70’s classic, The Norman Conquests, from the PBS Great Performances series. […]

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Behind the Britcom premieres on PBS

Zero hour is here…the PBS premiere of Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen. I know we’ve been talking about this for awhile, tempting you with some of the early interview footage from the production shoots over the past couple of years. As KERA airs the 2-hour program tonight at 9:00pm, many PBS stations around […]

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