Drama | Tellyspotting

June 28, 2022
Masterpiece to adapt Gill Hornby’s ‘Miss Austen’ for PBS!

While this is definitely not Jane Austen’s first rodeo on PBS whether it be earlier adaptations of Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma or even the most recent adaption of Austen’s previously unfinished work (Sanditon), news of a somewhat different type of Austen adaptation has fans worldwide eagerly anticipating the forthcoming small screen version of Gill Hornby’s critically-acclaimed Miss Austen which focuses on the life of the author herself.
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June 19, 2022
Check in to ‘Hotel Portofino’ tonight on PBS then stick around for the return of ‘Endeavour’!

Set in the breathtakingly beautiful resort town of Portofino, Hotel Portofino is about personal awakening at a time of global upheaval in the traumatic aftermath of World War I and of the liberating influence of Italy’s enchanting culture, climate and cuisine on elite British travelers.

Premiering tonight at 8pET/7pCT on PBS, Hotel Portofino tells the story of the Ainsworth family that has relocated from Britain to open an upscale hotel on the Italian coastline. Once you meet the cast of characters, both Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey come to mind….if they happened to be set in 1920 Italy.
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May 10, 2022
R.I.P. Dennis Waterman — the last original ‘old dog’ on ‘New Tricks’

Dennis Waterman, a.k.a. Gerry Standing, of British police procedural New Tricks fame, died Sunday at age 74 in hospital in Spain. As the last original ‘old dog’ member of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad (UCOS) of the Metropolitan Police Service in New Tricks, Waterman appeared in every episode of the series’ first 11 […]
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May 2, 2022
46 years after David Bowie, Bill Nighy continues as ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’

The Man Who Fell To Earth, based on the Walter Tevis 1963 novel and Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 cult classic film starring David Bowie, will follow a new alien character (Faraday), played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future. Bill […]
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May 1, 2022
The fight against fascism begins tonight on ‘Ridley Road’! — on PBS!

Set against the backdrop of a swinging sixties London we haven’t seen: an East End world where far right fascism is on the rise, PBS’ Ridley Road tells the story of Vivien Epstein (Aggi O’Casey), a young Jewish woman who after falling in love with a member of the ‘62 Group’, rejects her comfortable middle-class life […]
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April 29, 2022
Post ‘Annika’, Nicola Walker heads to the National Theatre in ‘The Corn is Green’

What does one do to pass the time following the conclusion of the first series of an intriguingly interesting series based on a BBC Radio 4 drama while you wait to hear if there will be a second series? If you happen to be Nicola Walker, you head to London’s National Theatre, obviously, where you […]
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April 26, 2022
Needing a ‘Sanditon’ fix before separation anxiety sets in? Here’s a S3 teaser…

With series 2 of Sanditon in our collective rear-view mirrors as of this past Sunday on PBS, Masterpiece has given us a brief sneak peak at series 3 (accent on ‘brief’) which is tentatively slated for 2023 broadcast. Thankfully, series 2 was filled with enough shocks, surprises, delights, romance and heartbreak to make most everyone forget about the […]
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March 23, 2022
Sir Mark Rylance confirms ‘Wolf Hall’ sequel in the works….finally!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus but his arrival may be a couple of years off. Oscar-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance has confirmed he is set to reprise the role of Thomas Cromwell in a TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror And The Light. The BAFTA/Golden Globe winning and critically acclaimed 2015 series merged […]
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March 16, 2022
Download your ‘Sanditon’ S2 viewing party kit before Sunday!

In advance of Sunday’s long-awaited return of Sanditon and the premiere of series 2, both PBS and Masterpiece have prepared everything you’ll need from invitations, to Sanditon-inspired recipes, vitual backdrops, decorations and even a bingo card so that your group can make the most of the big night and welcome your favorite characters back to the seaside […]
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March 4, 2022
Radio 4’s ‘Annika’ makes the leap to the small screen with Nicola Walker as DI Annika Strandhed

From the time I was first introduced to the acting talents of Nicola Walker in her role as DI Susan Taylor in Touching Evil (co-starring with Grantchester‘s Robson Green), followed by her time as Ruth Evershed in Spooks (MI5), guest roles in Luther, Being Human and Inside Men, then her more recent efforts in Scott & Bailey and Last Tango in Halifax, once again I’m convinced she […]
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