R.I.P. — Robbie Coltrane

Scottish actor, comedian and writer Robbie Coltrane has died at the age of 72. While more than one generation will only know Robbie Coltrane for his decade long role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter film franchise (2001-2011), I first ran across his work in the early to mid-80s sketch comedy series, Alfresco, which he starred alongside Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson.

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‘Van der Valk’ set for September 25 return on PBS Masterpiece

At long last, series 2 of Van der Valk is set to hit the PBS schedule beginning Sunday, September 25 on Masterpiece. I say ‘long-last’ because it was April 2020 when the first series transmitted and then June 2021 when Masterpiece announced that the Amsterdam-based series had begun filming their second season. Unfortunately, global shutdowns and lockdowns played havoc with any hope of series 2 being able to immediately follow series 1.

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Douglas Henshall set to leave ‘Shetland’ after S7

Sad for us, but good for him, DI Jimmy Perez (aka Douglas Henshall) will leave the Shetland Islands in his rear view mirror when series 7 comes to a close later this Autumn. After having done his level best during his almost decade long tenure to unravel the seemingly endless murder mysteries set across Scotland’s striking Shetland Islands, it’s time according to Shetland series star Douglas Henshall.

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‘Endeavour’ to call it a day after 9 series!

Endeavour, the series which began as a single film a decade ago in 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Inspector Morse, will end its run after 33 episodes across nine seasons according to a special video statement from series producers Mammoth Screen and PBS Masterpiece. Season 8 will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece between June 19 and July 3, followed by three more episodes for Season 9 which is currently filming in Oxford and will air in 2023.

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‘Silent Witness’ celebrates their 25th with the return of Amanda Burton!

Taking a page out of the Midsomer Murders 25th anniversary playbook, Silent Witness is celebrating its own 25th by bringing back original series star, Amanda Burton. Burton led the series for its first eight seasons as forensic pathologist Sam Ryan before Emilia Fox took over as Dr. Nikki Alexander, as part of the forensic pathology team at the Lyell […]

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The Barnaby cousins to re-unite for ‘Midsomer Murders’ 25th anniversary special

In this increasingly unfortunate 21st century world of ‘one and done’ mysteries that we all seem to live in these days, Midsomer Murders continues to buck the system and is now the UK’s longest-running contemporary detective drama, having aired on ITV since 1997 with 22 series and 132 episodes. The series is based on the Chief Inspector Barnaby crime-novel […]

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’20 Things to Do in Midsomer….Before You Die’

Presented by John Nettles, who played DCI Tom Barnaby in Season 1-13, 20 Things to Do in Midsomer… Before You Die is a 20th anniversary special featuring stars past and present discussing the peculiar quirks (who can forget death by wheel of cheese!) of the delightful yet deadly Midsomer county. Much like its fictional Carribean island cousin of Saint Marie, paradise isn’t always….well, paradise.

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Q&A with Lorna Watson and Will Trotter of ‘Sister Boniface Mysteries’

Look out, bicycle-riding nuns of Nonnatus House! There’s a new Sister in town and she’s armed with an IQ of 156, a PhD in Forensic Science and a Vespa! Appearing in only one episode of the now possessor of 100 episodes, Father Brown, Sister Boniface is hell-bent (sorry) on helping to make the streets of Great Slaughter safe for everyone and not let it turn into Midsomer or the sleepy little village of Kembleford where there seems to be a murder every week!

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