Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot added to BBC One’s Christmas line-up

At this time every year, I lament my decision to not pack a bag and head to London for Christmas. Aside from the fact that it would be a magical time of year to walk down Regent Street spending hours inside Hamley’s Toy Store before heading over to Oxford Street for a stroll through Selfridges, […]

Read more

A few Boxing Day bits and bobs

Doing a bit of Sherlock work on and around the Internets, post-Downton Abbey Christmas special, post-Doctor Who Christmas genius and post-Eastenders Christmas, one realizes that time does not stop for Boxing Day. Telly fans in the UK have now set their sights on the 1 January premiere of the Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss brilliant second […]

Read more

BBC1 vs. ITV1 in Christmas Smackdown 2011

Will 2011 be the year that ITV unseats the 600 pound giant in the room, BBC One, for Christmas Day ratings dominance? Cue Michael Buffer….Let’s get ready to rumble! The infamous long-awaited Christmas Day schedules for both BBC One and ITV1 have been set, sort of, (as of today, anyway) and war has officially been […]

Read more

A Downton Abbey Christmas

As avid U.S. viewers of Downton Abbey are acutely aware, lucky UK telly watchers have already been treated to an early Christmas with the recent completion of the second series of the hit ITV series. But wait. There’s one more present to unwrap. Even though the Downton Abbey Christmas Special broadcast schedule has not yet […]

Read more

Being Human, season 3 – behind the scenes

While it’s not ‘officially’ 2011 as of yet, doesn’t mean we can’t set our sights on several series that premiere during the first part of the new year. You already know about Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs, which as a reminder, transmits tonight (Boxing Day) in the UK. A placeholder note to the U.S. that Downton […]

Read more

Upstairs Downstairs….165 Eaton Place gets a facelift

Scheduled for Boxing Day (26 December) on BBC One, with parts two and three to follow the next two days, UK viewers don’t have long to wait before we return to 165 Eaton Place (U.S. premiere is set for April 10, 2011 on Masterpiece Classic). On the surface, the challenge of bringing back perhaps the […]

Read more

Upstairs Downstairs – it was 40 years ago today…almost

As the UK moves closer to the Boxing Day premiere of a 21st century remake of Upstairs Downstairs and with American audiences not far behind with an April 2011 premiere as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series, it’s time to look back to a day almost 40 years ago when the original London Weekend Television series premiered […]

Read more