BBC 2's Line of Duty commissioned for third series

As if I needed yet another reason to solidify my belief that the UK invented good telly. Put aside Hustle, MI5, Life on Mars, Endeavour and Call the Midwife for a minute and take a look at Line of Duty. The police procedural from BBC2 premiered in 2012 and quickly became the BBC2’s best-performing drama […]

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Move aside Daleks; New Doctor Who villian sees Keeley Hawes as….a banker!

The greatness of Keeley Hawes (Spooks, Ashes to Ashes, Upstairs Downstairs, Line of Duty) will play Ms Delphox, a powerful out-of-this-world character with a dark secret. Travelling across space and time the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and his companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), will come face to face with the mysterious Ms Delphox when they […]

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My telly guilty pleasure known as 'Mad Dogs'

I can only imagine the commissioning pitch for Mad Dogs. Probably started off as ‘…it’s somewhat of a Fargo meets Twin Peaks meets Sexy Beast meets Mulholland Drive mash-up’. Thankfully and selfishly, for me, Mad Dogs was commissioned because it is pure guilty pleasure telly greatness.   To start with, it has an unbeatable cast […]

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DCI Banks set for public television premiere in Jan 2013

As with most police procedural programs that come out of the UK (i.e. George Gently, Daziel and Pascoe, Prime Suspect, Inspector Lewis, Endeavour, etc.), brilliant as they are, they all tend to constantly reinforce the thought that there is a definite pecking order within the department between the DCI and everyone else from DI on […]

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BBC adds classic Hitchcock to the mix with re-do of The Lady Vanishes

Following up on the successful 2008 re-do of Hitchcock’s 1935 film, The 39 Steps, which starred Rupert Penry-Jones, Lydia Leonard and David Haig, the BBC has announced plans to tackle Hitchcock’s 1939 classic, The Lady Vanishes. Targeted for Christmas release on BBC One, the film is set to begin filming in Budapest at the end […]

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The Last Weekend w/ Rupert Penry-Jones & Shaun Evans

Not that I’m being greedy or anything, but with all the particulars that are involved in ITV1’s announcement Monday both in front of and behind the camera, I need to see this now…and it needs to be a part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. The upcoming ITV1 commissioning of Blake Morrison’s best-selling suspense thriller, The Last […]

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Bit and Bobs from BBC Showcase – Liverpool

As you slept away the night last night, Tellyspotting landed in Liverpool content to begin working very hard on your behalf, finding the best of British telly for broadcast on public television in the States for the coming year. After a quick 9-hour flight to London followed by a 2.5 hour train journey to Liverpool, […]

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Best crime-fighting banger – Ford Cortina or Audi Quattro?

With last night’s premiere of Ashes to Ashes on KERA-TV in North Texas, the obvious question of the day is Ford Cortina or Audi Quattro. Life on Mars has ended and Sam Tyler (John Simm) and the Ford Cortina are long gone. Be strong LOM fans. DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), DS Ray Carling (Dean […]

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