What really happened during Shakespeare’s ‘Lost Years’? In ‘real-life’, these lost years are widely acknowledged as being a crucial period in Shakespeare’s life, long having been a mystery to scholars, and cover his rise from virtual obscurity in Stratford-upon-Avon to fame as a playwright in London. Preferring to grab hold of the potential of great idiocy […]
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David Nobbs, the creator/writer of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, one of the classic British situation comedies of all-time, has died at the age of 80. Based on a series of novels penned by Nobbs and first broadcast in the late 1970s, the series brilliantly told the story of middle aged, middle manager, Reginald […]
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Brilliance personified in the form of the British comedy hit, Vicious, returns to PBS on Sunday, 23 August. It has been awhile but, at long last, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi are back and are as turbulent (and bitchy) as ever. The two ‘Sirs”, who star as Freddie and Stuart, an elderly couple who […]
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It wasn’t quite 932 A.D. when I first crossed paths with King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Brave Sir Robin and the Knights of the Round Table, but even though it was 1975, it seems like it was just yesterday that I was standing on line at the Esquire Theatre in Dallas for the ‘world premiere’ of […]
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Dirk Gently, Douglas Adams’ holistic detective, who was brought to life by Stephen Mangan (Green Wing, Episodes) in a one and done-series, four-episode BBC4 adapatation, will get another shot at success across the pond. Gently bases his methods on the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things”, which relies on random chance methods to uncover connections between seemingly-unrelated cases. While […]
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Ellen Ripley, the heroic warrant officer who spent more time than the law allows aboard the doomed Nostromo spacecraft and the ship’s shuttle battling an extraterrestrial endoparasitoid species with multiple life cycles, better known as the Xenomorph X121, in Alien and Aliens, is headed to much calmer waters this time around for the new series […]
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Ok, so I might be in the midst of a mild case of ‘good old days’ syndrome when it comes to British comedy but there are days that I look at the current comedy output from the UK and long for the days when a new season of As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, […]
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In 2011, British tennis ace Andy Murray was given advice for defeating Roger Federer in a commercial for Comic Relief Red Nose Day. Murray was unfortunate enough to bump into the Brockmans, the dysfunctional family at the center of the semi-improvisational BBC comedy, Outnumbered. Things seem to start out well when Jake enthusiastically greets Andy but, as you can […]
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Still sporting his Jon Snow long-hair and beard, Kit Harington made his first post-Game of Thrones appearance last week at The Championships at Wimbledon, immediately setting the Internets hair on fire. While it may be small hope, there is hope, nonetheless, that Harington’s character, Jon Snow, might reappear after being left to die in the cold at the […]
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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. The British writer, director, radio presenter, stand-up comedian and actor has, just recently, added a London West-End appearance to his CV with his first play, The Mentalists by Richard Bean alongside Steffan Rhodri at the Wyndham Theatre. Known for his brilliant command […]
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