Bill Young | Tellyspotting

Posted October 18, 2014 - No Comment

U.S. networks to adapt 'Moone Boy', 'IT Crowd'

You might remember NBC’s fatal 2003 attempt at adapting the Steven Moffat/Sue Vertue situation comedy, Coupling. I say fatal because even though there were 11 episodes produced (which is still a miniscule number of episodes for an American sitcom), it was cancelled after only 4 episodes with 7 of them having never seen the light of day to this day. 180 degrees in the other direction, however, was NBC’s re-make of Ricky Gervais’ brilliant series, The Office, which ran for 9 seasons largely due to the talents of Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Ed Helms.

Posted October 17, 2014 - No Comment

Illusionist Derren Brown enters Sherlock stars' mind palace

I’m afraid that one segment in tonight’s Stand Up to Cancer 2014 fundraising marathon to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK won’t go very far in satisfying those that are impatiently awaiting the next installment of Sherlock that is headed our way during Christmas 2015, but it is a bit of fun. Mentalist/Illusionist […]

Posted October 16, 2014 - No Comment

Foyle's War creator/writer sets sights on Moriarty and James Bond

If David Tennant is the hardest working man in show business, then writer Anthony Horowitz has to be considered the hardest working man in the literary world. Aside from his countless novels written over the years, many will, no doubt, associate Horowitz with his screenwriting telly work on Robin of Sherwood, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Murder Most Horrid, many of the early episodes of Midsomer Murders, a very well-crafted small-screen mini-series, Collision and, obviously, the creator/writer of Foyle’s War, starring Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks.

Posted October 15, 2014 - No Comment

‘Father Ted’ Ardal O’Hanlon heads to BBC Radio 4 for new sitcom, ‘Best Laid Plans’

In addition to the abundance of regional theater readily available throughout the UK, the other bit of brilliance that makes me want to hop on the next Boeing 777 and head east is the very civilized process of continuing to develop of good comedy via BBC Radio 4, which is also home to one of […]

Posted October 14, 2014 - No Comment

Don't insult the audience's intelligence says 'Wolf Hall' author, Hilary Mantel

“As soon as you decide it’s too complicated for the viewer or history is an inconvenient shape, you fall into a cascade of errors which ends in nonsense”, author Hilary Mantel said to the audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Referring to her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies and their upcoming BBC adaptations, Mantel stressed the importance of not under-estimating the intelligence of her readers and audience, reports Radio Times. “As soon as you decide this is too complicated for the viewer or history is an inconvenient shape – ‘I’ll just tidy it up’ – you fall into a cascade of errors which ends in nonsense”, citing Showtime’s The Tudors as the perfect example of how simply combining history and drama does not always make for good telly.

Posted October 13, 2014 - No Comment

Final 'Wallander' series begins principle filming

BBC 1 announced last week that the final three-part series of the hauntingly brilliant detective drama, Wallander, has begun principle production filming. Starring Sir Kenneth Branagh, the final trilogy of 90-minute episodes will adapt the two remaining works by Swedish author Henning Mankell that features the character. The first will be based on the 1993 […]

Posted October 12, 2014 - No Comment

The chance meeting that brought Foxes to 'Doctor Who'

Back in May 2014, Foxes (a.k.a. Louisa Rose Allen) added her name to an already extensive list of top-notch guest stars that were set to appear on the upcoming series 8 of Doctor Who including Keeley Hawes, Hermione Norris, Ben Miller, Frank Skinner and Tom Riley. Needless to say, the Grammy-award winning British singer was decidedly over-the-top at the thought of making her acting debut opposite Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman.

Posted October 11, 2014 - 1 Comment

More 'drama' than the law allows in New Orleans at BBC Syndication Showcase 2014

It was drama overload this past week in New Orleans at the BBC’s annual Syndication Showcase (insert how much you feel sorry for me being in New Orleans for three days screening brilliant telly here). I say drama overload in the nicest possible sense. Seems as though ever since that fateful day in January 2011 […]

Posted October 10, 2014 - No Comment

Sherlock's Martin Freeman in BBC2's 'The Eichmann Show'

Adolf Eichmann, one of the Second World War’s most notorious figures and chief architect of the Nazis’ ‘final solution’ plan to exterminate Europe’s Jews, will be the subject of a new BBC2 film, The Eichmann Show, which will focus on the 1961 trial of one of the major organizers of the Holocaust. The original trial […]

Posted October 9, 2014 - No Comment

W1A's rebranding effort of the BBC to continue in 2015

Ian Fletcher, the Beeb’s Head of Values and chair of its Way Ahead Task Force, will roam the halls of the BBC for a bit longer as a second series of W1A has been commissioned but the BBC. “I am very happy to have the cameras back,” said the fictional Fletcher (played by Downton Abbey‘s […]