Blue Peter, the longest-running children’s TV show in the world (as in, the entire world) has a powerful message for kids around the world and, some adults too. As powerful as it is, it’s a simple message and one that one would think or hope wouldn’t need to be given in 2020 but, sadly, it is. […]
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UPDATE: As you have most likely read over the last couple of days, the iconic 12th episode of Fawlty Towers entitled “The Germans” was pulled from the BBC owned UKTV Play streaming service due to several racial slurs and other offensive terms used by Major Gowen, the hotel’s elderly resident played brilliantly by Ballard Berkeley. At the time of the removal, long-time fans of the series were unclear as to whether or not we would ever be able to ‘mention the war’ ever again. Well, what a difference a day makes as word now comes from the UK streaming service that the episode will be re-instated in the not-too-distant future with “extra guidance” to be added to the front of the program.
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On the heels of the removal of The Mighty Boosh, Little Britain, Come Fly with Me and The League of Gentlemen from Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Britbox, comes the announcement by catch-up and streaming platform, UKTV Play, that they will immediately remove “The Germans” episode of what has long been considered the greatest television comedy series in existence, Fawlty Towers. While the remaining eleven episodes will still be available, at this point, no one knows if we’ve heard the last of the classic catchphrase line from the episode, “Don’t mention the war”.
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As production filming in the UK gets set to resume in the near future, the gripping psychological drama, Baptiste, has been commissioned for a second series by the BBC. With filming originally set to have begun back in February, Tchéky Karyo returns as retired detective Julien Baptiste. For series two, Killing Eve star Fiona Shaw will join the […]
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As Planet Earth begins to slowly emerge from almost 3 months of ‘sheltering at home’ and, if you’re like me, you find yourself wanting to travel more than ever and living in the ‘you can’t travel so all you want to do is travel’ nightmare. As airlines and hotels attempt to get back to where […]
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From Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin to Ben Parkinson in Butterflies to Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By, Geoffrey Palmer has been a constant fixture in our collective British comedy lives for the better part of four decades with these three series alone. Palmer, who has had numerous guest roles in series such as Doctor […]
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The new season of Grantchester (S5) returns to PBS’ Drama Sunday beginning June 14. It seems like an eternity since Sidney Chambers (James Norton) left the friendly confines of the 1950s Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. You might remember that early on in series 4, the Anglican vicar fell in love with a black woman involved in the Civil Rights Movement […]
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As series 3 is set to premiere next Wednesday on Sky One in the UK, the British Comedy Guide has revealed that a fourth series of Agatha Raisin has been confirmed and will go into production when restrictions put in place during the coronavirus pandemic are lifted. Ashley Jensen will return in the title role as […]
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Another gem is headed to public television stations beginning in June courtesy of American Public Television. This one touches all the bases for me as it involves both the Beatles AND Monty Python! An Accidental Studio: The Story of Handmade Films tells the tale behind musician George Harrison’s HandMade Films, the small British production company […]
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The Kinks, considered by many as one of the most influential rock bands of the 60s (Tellyspotting included), are headed to a public television station near you beginning tonight and throughout the month of June! Having formed in 1964, the legendary rock group originally split up in 1996 when tensions hit an all-time high between Ray and his […]
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