Bill Young | Tellyspotting

Posted March 7, 2021 - No Comment

1920s Toronto on edge as Drake Private Detectives Agency shutters after 4 series

Starring Lauren Lee Smith as Frankie Drake, Chantel Riley as Trudy Clarke, Rebecca Liddiard as Toronto Police Morality Officer Mary Shaw and Sharron Matthews as, perhaps, the most enthusiastic morgue attendant ever, Flo Chakowitz, Frankie Drake Mysteries is set in 1920s Toronto and follows the city’s only female private detectives as they take on the cases the police don’t want to touch. Sadly, it appears the ladies of Frankie Drake Mysteries have solved their last crime on the streets of Toronto when series 4 comes to an end.

Posted March 6, 2021 - No Comment

Timothy Spall joins Lesley Manville for Anthony Horowitz’s ‘Magpie Murders’ on PBS

While it was recently announced that Foyle’s War creator, Anthony Horowitz, would adapt his best-selling novel, Magpie Murders, as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series, at the time there was really no movement other than that given the on-again, off-again UK production coronavirus lockdown. Things have begun to look up, however, as Magpie Murders goes into production next week in Suffolk […]

Posted March 5, 2021 - No Comment

Live in a sitcom? The BBC’s Writer’s Room is a fun behind-the-scenes resource for British comedy and drama fans

Given the events of the last year, you’re probably at a point where you feel like you are either living in the middle of a sitcom or more like a nightmare. Nightmare aside, if you’ve ever thought, as I’m sure we all have at one time or another, 1) this would make a great sitcom or, […]

Posted March 2, 2021 - No Comment

Remembering the Cream Reunion Concert as The Royal Albert Hall celebrates 150 years!

The one and only Royal Albert Hall has been home to more legendary moments in music history then the law allows. While the past year has been more than challenging for this iconic venue, the concert hall that borders London’s Hyde Park in South Kensington is nothing short of a national treasure….and, has been for 150 years! My first memory of attending a concert at Royal Albert Hall occurred some 15+ years ago in 2005 to see the Cream Reunion Concert as part of the filming for the PBS series Great Performances,

Posted February 28, 2021 - No Comment

‘Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown’ is just what we all need right now….

Aside from the obvious much more important reasoning of ‘flattening the curve’, ‘slowing the spread of the virus’ and vaccinating as much of the world’s population as possible, if anything good has come from the last year of the off-again, on-again mandated ‘sheltering at home’ lockdown, it’s the steady flow of creativity from the creative […]

Posted February 27, 2021 - No Comment

Benedict Cumberbatch signs on for ‘The 39 Steps’ reboot!

Unfortunately, it’s not Sherlock but it might just be the next best thing when Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the medium that made him a household name in a new small screen adaptation of the John Buchan 1915 novel, The Thirty-Nine Steps. There have been several adaptations over the years, one of which being a BBC adaptation starring Rupert […]

Posted February 25, 2021 - No Comment

Happy Birthday, George Harrison — 25 February 1943

Sometimes known as ‘the quiet Beatle’, George Harrison would have been 78 years young today. The Liverpool-born musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer and, oh yeah, lead guitarist of the Beatles passed away in November 2001 of lung cancer at the very young age of 58. While most Beatles fans will immediately identify with songs written […]

Posted February 20, 2021 - No Comment

Remembering Midsomer Murders’ Sykes and other 4-legged screen pets on National Love Your Pet Day 2021!

No self-respecting animal lover will ever forget Isis and Pharoah, the two 4-legged companions that were forever by Lord Grantham’s side in Downton Abbey or the majestic visual of Seamus riding up and down the Cornish coast in Poldark with Captain Ross Poldark at the helm or Queen Victoria’s beloved Dash, always at the young Queen’s side in Victoria. To celebrate National Love Your Pet Day, my thoughts immediately turned to the fictional English county of Midsomer and one of its most recognized residents, Sykes. It was a sad day back in September 2016 when one of the most beloved TV dogs since Lassie announced his retirement from Midsomer Murders. Sykes, John Barnaby’s beloved pet dog, hung up his lead following series 15 and retired after five years with the show.

Posted February 18, 2021 - 1 Comment

Happy 92nd, Dame Patricia Routledge!

One of the few upsides of this past week of sub-zero temperatures, loss of electricity for millions of people and the possibility of broken pipes in our collective futures, is the opportunity to send good wishes for a very happy birthday to the brilliant Dame Patricia Routledge, who turned 92 on Wednesday. While Hyacinth would […]

Posted February 14, 2021 - No Comment

‘Agatha Raisin’ set to make the Cotswolds safe for another series in 2022

With series 3 of Agatha Raisin resting somewhat comfortably in our collective rearview mirrors since this past Summer, rumors of a series 4 are now officially confirmed by Sky One and Acorn TV. Starring Ashley Jensen as the titular amateur detective, four more feature-length stories of the crime-based comedy drama have been ordered. Filming has been on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic but word out of the UK is that series 4 will officially begin production in March, with a target transmission date in late 2021 or early 2022.