Happy 80th, Dame Penelope Keith!

Today is Penelope Keith’s 80th birthday. With a long public television history dating back to the days of Good Neighbors and To the Manor Born to her efforts serving as host for PBS’ The Funny Ladies of British Comedy and More Funny Ladies of British Comedy and right through to her more recent presenting efforts in the numerous […]

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R.I.P. Geraldine McEwan – Miss Marple/Mulberry actress dies at 82

Mulberry has finally come to take hold of Miss Rose Farnaby’s hand and escort her across the bridge… Actress Geraldine McEwan, known primarily in recent years for playing Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Jane Marple on ITV and PBS, has died at the age of 82. McEwan, who appeared in 12, 2-hour episodes as Miss Marple, […]

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R.I.P. – Bob Larbey

These are getting harder and harder to write with each passing but they seem to come more frequently these days than any of us would like. The British comedy world, actually, the comedy world, lost a good friend this past week when Bob Larbey passed away. While you may not be familiar with the name, […]

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Could the end of Hustle be the perfect 'long-con'?

According to creator/writer, Tony Jordan, it has been mutually agreed upon with the BBC to end the brilliant series, Hustle, at the conclusion of the upcoming eighth season. The series, which starred regulars, Robert Vaughn, Adrian Lester as Michael “Mickey Bricks” Stone and Robert Glenister as Ash “Three Socks” Morgan, was still as tightly done […]

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The Norman Conquests – finally!

Normally, when you put forth the time and effort to revisit the 70’s and watch what you remember as being brilliant television, chances are, you come away a bit disappointed. Such is not the case with the just released on DVD version of the 70’s classic, The Norman Conquests, from the PBS Great Performances series. […]

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Behind the Britcom premieres on PBS

Zero hour is here…the PBS premiere of Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen. I know we’ve been talking about this for awhile, tempting you with some of the early interview footage from the production shoots over the past couple of years. As KERA airs the 2-hour program tonight at 9:00pm, many PBS stations around […]

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Behind the Britcom – Penelope Keith on the actor/writer relationship

From Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen, coming to PBS stations nationwide in March 2011, we continue our look at the making of British comedy while celebrating those that pen the programs that make up one of the most intelligent television genre’s on the planet. Over the course of producing the program, we talked […]

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Behind the Britcom – Casting 101

As we rapidly approach the PBS national premiere of Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen , which features a look into the minds of the creators of some of the best situation comedy on television anywhere, one thing struck all of us involved in the production of the program besides the known commodity of […]

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For Judi Dench, 2011 starts with Jane Eyre

Seems as though it has merely been days since we were getting exhausted just hearing of Judi Dench’s daily  work schedule. She’s just back from India where she spent a month filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is based on a book by Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things. It follows a group of British […]

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Fall reading by some British comedy favorites

A few additions to your Fall reading list have just hit the shelves the last couple of weeks from two long-time favorite British comedy stars. Dawn French Following the release of her memorable autobiography titled Dear Fatty, Dawn French talked of a very difficult, painful life that led her to a life of comedy. Now, […]

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