Comedy legends gather for Ronnie Corbett tribute at Westminster Abbey

Comedy legend Ronnie Corbett CBE was honored in a service of Thanksgiving on Wednesday at Westminster Abbey. Corbett, who passed away in March 2016 at the age of 85, made up 1/2 of the brilliant sketch comedy duo on The Two Ronnies with Ronnie Barker. The special service of thanksgiving at the historic church included readings, prayers, reminiscences […]

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Post Maigret, is there more ‘Bean’ in Rowan Atkinson’s future?

Fresh off another brilliant performance as French detective Jules Maigret in the Easter Sunday broadcast of “Maigret: Night at the Crossroads“, Rowan Atkinson has dropped a few hints that he and long-time BFF Richard Curtis could have another Mr. Bean feature storyline ready to share with the masses in the near future. According to reports from the Daily […]

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John Cleese heads all-star dream cast in new BBC1 sitcom, “Edith”

John Cleese is back and the British sitcom world is all the better for it. Almost four decades removed from the world of sitcom, the former founding member of Monty Python will appear in his first BBC sitcom since Fawlty Towers ended in 1979. Edith will see Cleese head an all-star cast including Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey, […]

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Dame Hyacinth honored at Buckingham Palace

Patricia Routledge experienced a day Hyacinth Bucket could only dream about this past week at Buckingham Palace where she received her award recognizing her life-long service to the theater and charity. One can only imagine a 21st century Hyacinth answering the slimline telephone with automatic redial…”The Bucket residence, the Dame of the house speaking!” hoping upon […]

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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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Look out America — ‘Raised by Wolves’ lives on another day with U.S. pilot on ABC

Fasten your seatbelts, America, the British sitcom, Raised by Wolves, starring Rebekah Staton (Ordinary Lies), Philip Jackson (Poirot, Robin of Sherwood), Helen Monks (The Archers, Holby City, Upstart Crow) and Alexa Davies (The Detectorists) is headed to the States. The critically-acclaimed series ran the gamut of being called ‘refreshingly honest’ to ‘a bloody mess’ by […]

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‘Doc Martin’ producers confirm plans for two new series

Earlier this year, we had the great good fortune to speak with the absolutely delightful Ian McNeice (a.k.a. Bert Large) at WhoFestDFW3. You may recall that McNeice has portrayed Winston Churchill in several episodes of Doctor Who over the years. For obvious reasons, the discussion drifted briefly to another very popular series that Ian is currently associated with, […]

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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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