Finland jumps on the ‘Sherlock’ bandwagon

According to Radio Times, there’s about to be a new Sherlock in town. Well, in 2019 anyway. Sherlock North, to be produced by U.S. and Finnish production outlet, Snapper Films, is in the works charting the consulting detective’s time in Finland when he was on the run from Professor Moriarty. Based on an interlude in […]

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Peter Capaldi opens the TARDIS door to make way for 13th Doctor

There is no joy in Mudville tonight as Peter Capaldi has revealed that he is leaving Doctor Who at the end of series 10 which begins in April of this year. The actor confirmed his plans Monday on BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley program, An Evening in with Peter Capaldi with the news that the 2017 […]

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‘Upstart Crow’ returns for second series

Upstart Crow, the BBC2 comedy starring David Mitchell as William Shakespeare, will return later this year for a second series with several new cast members in tow. Emma Thompson (Brideshead Revisited, Love Actually, Harry Potter, Howards End, Fortunes of War) and Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh) are joining the cast of Upstart Crow. Thompson will […]

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‘Ordinary Lies’ heads to public television this Spring

There are several new British comedies headed to a number of public television stations over the course of the next few months. Having touched briefly on both Still Open All Hours and W1A, we turn our attention to Ordinary Lies, a series that starts a bit slow, can be a bit gripping at times but is, ultimately, brilliant […]

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Inspector George Gently to make North East England streets safe one final time

After ten years and 23 episodes, filming for the eighth and final series of BBC1’s period police drama, Inspector George Gently, begins this week. Martin Shaw returns as DCI George Gently alongside Lee Ingleby as his sidekick Inspector Bacchus and Lisa McGrillis playing Detective Sergeant Rachel Coles. Unfortunately, for me, this will be like a good friend […]

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BBC/PBS partner for contemporary newspaper drama — “Press”

I absolutely love this time of year if for no other reason than it’s the annual PBS presentation at the Television Critic’s Association where we learn all kinds of brilliant things that are on the telly horizon. The first bit of news came earlier this week with the BBC/PBS/Lookout Point/Deep Indigo announcement about Press. The 6-part […]

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BBC to adapt John Le Carré’s “Spy Who Came In From The Cold”

Avoiding for a few days, once again, the extreme temptation to write about Sunday night’s series 4 finale of Sherlock, we turn our attention to the brilliant news that the BBC will adapt one of author John Le Carré’s most famous works, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. The best-selling 1963 novel will […]

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From the Vault: The 1973 ‘Open All Hours’ pilot

I may be in the minority here, but one of my most favorite British situation comedies of all-time is Open All Hours. Written by Roy Clarke (Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances) and starring comedy legends Ronnie Barker and David Jason, Open All Hours ‘premiered’ in 1973 as a last-minute addition to Barker’s comedy anthology series, Seven […]

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Hugh Bonneville’s spot-on imitation of … the Countess of Grantham?

There is definitely something in the water when it comes to British actors that places them a cut above their American counterparts as it relates to stage and screen. Some point to the ‘formal’ theater training that makes them more than capable to handle both the most serious role one week and a drop-dead comedic […]

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