Toby Jones heads to 19th century London as ‘The Secret Agent’

It’s Monday so it must be time, once again, to give everyone a heads up that more quality drama is headed to the BBC1 schedule this week. In this case, we’re talking the forthcoming Sunday premiere of The Secret Agent, starring Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Captain America, Dad’s Army and the voice of Dobby […]

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PBS delivers another Masterpiece with ‘Churchill’s Secret’ in September

Admittedly, there will be an entire generation who know Michael Gambon only from the Harry Potter franchise. Others will immediately think back to an absolutely brilliant performance in The Singing Detective. Whichever the case, it’s more must-see-tv from the UK as Gambon takes on the role of Sir Winston Churchill in the new PBS drama, Churchill’s Secret. Gambon joins a long-list of […]

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‘The Tunnel: Sabotage’ to test Anglo-French detective duo once again

The Tunnel, the British/French crime drama television series, adapted from the 2011 Danish/Swedish crime series The Bridge, will return to Sky Atlantic in April. The Tunnel: Sabotage will see the return of the brilliant Anglo-French detective duo played by Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones) and Clémence Poésy (Harry Potter). New to the scene for series two will be Emilia Fox (Silent Witness), Clarke […]

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R.I.P. Alan Rickman (1946-2016)

When I read the news about Alan Rickman’s passing yesterday, my initial reaction was to channel Howard Beale, open the window and shout, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it any more!” First David Bowie and now Alan Rickman. In just a few short days, Planet Earth lost two incredibly talented and […]

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Getting to know your Dowager Countess, a.k.a. Dame Maggie Smith

As Planet Earth prepares for the final series of Downton Abbey which begins on Sunday (3 January) on PBS’ Masterpiece series, if, like the Dowager Countess herself, you haven’t seen the series, it’s quite possible that you’d be surprised to know that the Dowager Countess was not Dame Maggie Smith’s first role. When it comes […]

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Fresh from his ‘mini’ Mr. Bean tour of London, Rowan Atkinson heads to Hungary to begin filming ‘Maigret’

Rowan Atkinson, the former star of Blackadder and Mr Bean, is making a return to television to play Belgian author Georges Simenon’s pipe-smoking policeman, Jules Maigret, in two new films for ITV and, hopefully, as part of PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery series in the States. Fresh off his recent celebratory ‘25th birthday of Mr. Bean tour‘ […]

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The ‘lost years’ of Shakespeare found in BBC Films’ “Bill”

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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