With temperatures across the globe hitting record highs the past couple of days, I hope everyone is staying hydrated, staying in the shade and surviving as best you can. 110 degrees is bad enough where I am but one can’t even begin to fathom it being 104F (40C) in London today which is, reportedly, the highest temperature on record to date.
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As co-writer and co-director of BBC’s The Office, Stephen Merchant is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais. Several years ago, the British writer, director, radio presenter, stand-up comedian and actor added London West-End appearance to his CV with his first play, The Mentalists by Richard Bean, alongside Steffan Rhodri at the Wyndham Theatre. And, his most recent effort alongside the greatness of […]
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Only the brilliant comedic genius that is Rowan Atkinson could build antcipation for an entire comedy series around one man’s fight with….a bee! When the former star/co-creator of such British comedy classics such as Mr. Bean and Blackadder is given a platform to showcase his physical comedy capabilities, it does spell the potential for comedy gold. In Man vs. Bee, […]
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Mackenzie Crook, the writer, director and star behind the brilliant metal-detecting sitcom The Detectorists, confirmed there will be one last sweep of the English countryside coming from his mind palace which will warrant getting the band back together in the not-too-distant future. The series, which finished after three series in 2017, was not only a very cerebral […]
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A series that played a significant part in shaping my ‘formative years in British telly’ was when I first discovered Monty Python’s Flying Circus. When it first aired in the United States on October 6, 1974, courtesy of my local PBS station, KERA (where I have now worked for a majority of my career in television), it […]
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One of the few upsides of another year living under a pandemic cloud is the opportunity to send good wishes for a very happy birthday to the brilliant Dame Patricia Routledge, who turns 93 today. Given Hyacinth would have been appalled at the possibility that I might forget to drop a card in the post […]
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Hartswood Films founder, Beryl Vertue, passed away Saturday at the age of 90. While her name might not be top-of-mind, her legendary career work in British comedy and drama will live on for generations around the world. “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum/Beryl passed away […]
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Gary Waldhorn, the actor best known for his role of Councillor David Horton in the Dawn French comedy, Vicar of Dibley, has died at the age of 78. Waldhorn’s son Josh confirmed to BBC News that his father died on Monday, saying in a statement: “Classically trained, it was the theatre where he truly flourished and he leaves a legacy […]
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It seems that watching television on New Year’s Eve in Germany is right up there with the tradition of watching the Queen’s Christmas Day message in the UK. Dinner for One is a particularly crucial part of Germany’s festive programming, where it has been broadcast on Das Erste, a public television channel, since 1972. Around half the population still tunes in on New Year’s Eve to watch it with some Germans even recreating the meal served in the skit.
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In addition to stopping for a moment to be eternally thankful for family, friends, avid and first-time Tellyspotting readers, good health and our cat, MiniBoots, no Thanksgiving would be complete without recognizing the contributions made by two classic British series in not only setting me on a lifelong desire of wanting to consume all things British when […]
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