Bill Young | Tellyspotting

Posted October 29, 2021 - No Comment

‘Lady Grey’ of the DeVere Tortworth Hotel wishes her subjects around the world a Happy National Cat Day!

Back in September 2019, one of our last pre-COVID trips featured a memorable one-night stay at the DeVere Tortworth Court Hotel in Wotten-Under-Edge, just north of Bristol. Our brief overnight stay back was topped off by an appearance by the one and only Lady Grey, who graced us with her presence before heading out to secure the perimeter. As you can see, while she did allow us to pet her, she wasn’t all that happy to pose for the camera while on duty.

Posted October 27, 2021 - No Comment

Get ready to return to ‘Happy Valley’…one final time!

With chances of a third series consistently hovering between zero and none since 2016, creator/writer Sally Wainwright (Scott and Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack) is at long last returning to Calder Valley, West Yorkshire in Northern England, a.k.a. Happy Valley. While Wainwright has successfully skated rumors about a third series since the show ended back […]

Posted October 26, 2021 - No Comment

Book your trip ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ beginning January 2

Whether it’s Doctor Who, Broadchurch, Des, Good Omens, Staged or narrating both Twenty Twelve and W1A, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that David Tennant can do just about anything. While David Tennant could probably do it with ease but, as Phileas Fogg, a bet with his friends at the Reform Club that he can circumnavigate the world in just 80 days […]

Posted October 21, 2021 - No Comment

Rising from the ashes, ‘Sanditon’ (the town and the series) returns March 20 to PBS Masterpiece!

The seaside resort town of Sanditon isn’t the only thing set to rise from the ashes as Sanditon, the television adaptation of the ‘unfinished Jane Austen’ novel of the same name, returns for as second series on March 20, 2022 as part of PBS Masterpiece. Thanks, in large part, to a relentless fan effort headed up by the #SanditonSisterhood to keep the series alive, it was announced earlier this year that the PBS period drama would continue with not only a series 2 but also a series 3!

Posted October 20, 2021 - No Comment

42 years ago, 42 became the literary answer to life, the universe and everything

It was 42 years ago this month where the literary world learned the answer to life, the universe and everything. While the face of radio comedy changed forever back in March of 1978, it was October of 1979 that Douglas Adams unleashed Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as a book, on the world. While, as a society, we tend to celebrate anniversaries like 40th or 50th such as high school reunions commonplace, I prefer a 42nd anniversary of H2G2 for obvious reasons. Until next time, so long and thanks for all the fish.

Posted October 18, 2021 - No Comment

Post-solar flare crisis, ‘Cobra’ S2 returns to battle cyber warfare

Two years ago the plotline of Cobra seemed a little ‘out there’ to say the least. Imagine, the United Kingdom brought to its knees by a global catastrophe, unprepared politicians scrabbling to respond and even the weird notion of panicked citizens stockpiling toilet paper thrown in to make it even more implausable. While it wasn’t a […]

Posted October 14, 2021 - No Comment

Just in case you’re in the market for a used Mini Moke with TV experience…

If you happen to have recently lost out on acquiring The Blackadder Pub, the 1972 Reliant Regal Supervan III used in Only Fools and Horses, the original Fallen Madonna with the Big B**bies painting from ‘Allo ‘Allo, a rare 1966 Dalek or Dibley Manor from Vicar of Dibley, there’s still hope that you can own a piece of British telly history as one of two […]

Posted October 10, 2021 - 3 Comments

CBS’s remake of BBC’s ‘Ghosts’ continues trend of American remakes that miss the mark.

Regular readers of Tellyspotting are, no doubt, keenly aware of just how much I do not care for American remakes of British comedies or mysteries. The American broadcast streets are littered with failed remakes of the likes of The IT Crowd, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Coupling, Spaced, Absolutely Fabulous, Men Behaving Badly, Life on Mars, Skins, The In-Betweeners, […]

Posted October 8, 2021 - No Comment

The Dame is a Dane as Judi Dench discovers family link to William Shakespeare and Hamlet

With familial links to Hamlet’s Castle, the connection is set to be revealed on the BBC program, Who Do You Think You Are?, which will broadcast Tuesday, 12 October and has left her feeling just a wee bit closer to William Shakespeare, a full 64 years after she made her debut as Ophelia in Hamlet.

Posted October 5, 2021 - No Comment

A pre-Oompa-Loompas Willie Wonka heads to the big screen with an amazing cast in tow!

Full disclosure. Re-makes tend to scare me, whether it’s big or small screen. Pre-Endeavour, prequels used to scare me too. Neither really ever came close to meeting expectations based on the original until Shaun Evans brought a young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse to life during his early career with the Oxford City Police CID.

While I’m reserving judgement on an announced 2023 release of Wonka, given it will be really hard to touch Gene Wilder’s definitive 1971 portrayal of the iconic children’s literary character, recent announcements as to casting may just have me looking forward to this one.