As we close down another BBC Showcase, time to take a quick look back at our time in Liverpool. With over 2500 hours of comedy, drama, natural history and documentary from the BBC catalogue available to view, just over 40 hours of screening were logged over the past 4 days looking for that hidden gem to bring to public television in 2012-2013.

Production begins on Downton Abbey 3

While we were screening away in Liverpool, the great Shirley MacLaine has landed at Downton Abbey. One can only imagine the first words from the Dowager Countess as ‘why does every day involve a fight with an American”? Not a lot is known about Ms. MacLaine’s character other than the fact that she plays Countess Cora Grantham’s mother, Martha Levinson. Here’s a shot from early filming of Downton Abbey 3 of Shirley MacLaine and her ladies’ maid, Miss Reed, played by Lucille Sharp.

While the regular cast seemed to be quite excited about her arrival for filming, given some recent tweets from Shirley MacLaine, she seems pretty excited too.

• Off for wardrobe fittings for DA. Love costumes of period pictures. Wonder how big my bustle will be?
• Everything is going well. We shot outside in wind and rain. Love the cast and crew
• Amazing day on Downton Abbey set. I love the British humor and temperament and functionality. Maggie [Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess] is so subtle and so much fun!

I so can’t wait for this. You?

By the way, I must admit, I did finally succumb to the extreme pressure and used the last 90 minutes of the screening on Wednesday for the upcoming Sherlock 2 premiere of “A Scandal in Belgravia”. All I can say is you haven’t seen anything yet. This is the best 90 minutes you will see on television for some time….at least until you see the next episode the following week.