After having watched The IT Crowd the other night on Channel 4, I now get how really well done it is. Written by Graham Linehan, who wrote the great Father Ted and the even greater, Black Books, I had only seen a couple of episodes of season one and, to be honest, couldn’t see what […]
Read moreLONDON – July 18, 2010: It just keeps getting better and better as we continue our interviews for the doc on the British comedy writers for PBS. Yesterday, it was another day, another highlight as we talked with Dawn French, writer, actor, comedy genius. Dawn talked at great length about her good friend, Richard Curtis, […]
Read moreWithout question, when a British comedy fan is asked what it is they like about British comedy, the first answer is “…the writing“. Ask any actor or actress what it is that sets British comedy apart from the rest of television as we know it, the answer is always “…the writing“. It’s intelligent television that […]
Read moreSeems fitting that a rose inspired by the greatness of Dame Judi Dench would top the seller’s list at the end of the first day of this week’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. The “drama queen” rose, with red and white stripes, is described in The Telegraph as having a “light but descent scent”. Dame […]
Read moreNext time you sit down to watch As Time Goes By, here’s a little insight as to what goes in to creating an episode of your favorite British comedy. The week begins with the initial read-through of the script by the cast. This is where the actors begin to interact and go over the brilliant […]
Read moreLots of bits & bobs or odds & sods coming our way over the last couple of weeks concerning our favorite pastime, British television. Thought I’d go through a quick bit of scattershooting to give everyone updates on current series, answer some mailbag questions that have come in and impart some basic little known or […]
Read moreSome of you know, some don’t, that we are currently in production on a PBS special to air in March 2011 across the U.S. that will attempt to pay homage to what many of us feel is the number one reason as to why British comedy is brilliant – the writers. In the special, we’ll hear […]
Read moreJust a little over a month from hosting the Olympics, the city of Vancouver along with the international theatre community around the world set their sights on theatre to celebrate World Theatre Day. Created on March 27, 1961 by the International Theatre Institute, the message below, written by Dame Judi Dench, will be read onstage […]
Read moreWhat do you get when you put an innocent clip on YouTube that has generated over 1 million hits and then increases by over 100K at day? A BBC/RTE pilot, obviously. Dublin comedian Brendan O’Carroll created the short piece based on his Mrs. Brown character for the BBC as a “test”. While the pilot was […]
Read moreI’m not sure “down time” is a phrase that is in Judi Dench’s vocabulary. Appearing in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, Ms. Dench is fresh off of her recent roles in both Cranford and Return to Cranford, seen on PBS stations nationwide and the film, Nine, not to mention […]
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