As if I needed another reason to like David Tennant, Patrick Stewart and Tamsin Greig. With UK schools shuttered as of 23 March leaving schoolchildren across the UK struggling to understand Shakespeare during the lockdown, thanks to the Royal Shakespeare Company, students will be able to get tips and insights from leading actors who have perform […]
Read more
Like me, if you’ve been ‘working from home’ for the last couple of months spending a good portion of your workday on what seems like endless Microsoft Teams or Zoom conference calls, you’re probably getting a bit weary trying to find a different room in the house to give your workmates something interesting to look at from a background standpoint. To the rescue comes the BBC Archive as they open the vault to give everyone access to their favorite British comedy or science fiction set to use as a backdrop for your next video conference call.
Read more
Whether it’s ‘live’ concerts on social media or theaters around the world opening up their archives allowing everyone to experience classic theater performances, it’s clear that creativity (not necessity) is the mother of invention. Just this past week, the National Theatre in London opened up their archive to stream the 2011 production of Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Now, comes the ultimate gift to fans of Harry Potter as Daniel Radcliffe narrates “The Boy Who Lived”, the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, to kick off a stellar online read-through of the book.
Read more
If you look up ‘must-see’ in any dictionary anywhere, you’ll be presented with a description of the 2011 National Theatre production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Days) and starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Doctor Strange) and Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Elementary), the stage adaptation by Nick Dear (Jane Austen’s Persuasion) is headed to the National Theatre’s YouTube channel for a free screening beginning this Thursday.
Read more
Honor Blackman, the British actress best known for portraying the James Bond girl Pussy Galore in 1964’s Goldfinger, died Sunday of natural causes at the age of 94. While Goldfinger would go on to become a massive hit in the Bond franchise, it would be the only Bond film she would appear in. While Blackman will ‘live forever’ as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, her career spanned an awesome eight decades.
Read more
You know COVID-19 is some serious stuff if the UK government resorts to calling out the Daleks to be the enforcer of their social distancing and self-isolation policy. The Doctor Who villain was spotted by a number of ‘sheltering at home’ North Yorkshire residents patrolling the streets of Robin Hood’s Bay, in North Yorkshire, telling residents […]
Read more
In a rare, televised national broadcast, The Queen addressed the nation earlier on Sunday to assure not only the UK but, in a sense, the entire world that ‘we will meet again’. Speaking from Windsor Castle, it was only the fifth time the monarch has given such a speech in her 68-year reign (February 1991, First Gulf War; death of Diana, Princess of Wales, September 1997; death of the Queen Mother, April 2002; Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, June 2012).
Read more
It’s not out of the ordinary that in difficult times you turn to The Doctor for advice. As Planet Earth seems particularly off its axis at the moment as the world is struggling to cope with the fallout of social distancing and varying degrees of a sheltering at home lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, leave […]
Read more
As the world desperately tries to come to grips with closed borders, sheltering at home and social distancing, filming of two of the most popular shows on British television, Peaky Blinders and Line of Duty have been postponed as the UK film and TV production industry begins an overall shutdown in the face of the spread of the coronavirus.
Read more
Regular readers of Tellyspotting may recognize this post from St. Patrick’s Day in years past. Well, it’s been several years since I re-posted it so I thought it was worth repeating given most of us will be spending tonight at home. So bear with me today as this day just isn’t the same without Frank. […]
Read more