Hartswood Films founder/Sherlock’ EP, Beryl Vertue, passes at 90.

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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‘The Durrells’ is full of warmth, humor and just plain fun

One of the brightest spots in the drama category at the recent BBC Showcase in Liverpool was The Durrells. Based on ‘The Corfu Trilogy’, three autobiographical novels (which include ‘My Family and Other Animals​’​) by environmentalist Gerald Durrell​,​ ​The Durrells is set on the Greek Island of Corfu in 1935, ​and ​follows the adventures of Gerald and his […]

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World Cup 2014: OK, England, it's time to 'Bring It Home'

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil just around the corner, beginning next week on 12 June. Every participating country is still in the running and, just like Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber, they all still have a chance. For England, however, 2014 couldn’t have come soon enough in order to quickly erase the disaster […]

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BBC revives Comedy Playhouse with 'Over to Bill'

This Spring will see two brilliant returns to the telly. Not so coincidentally, brilliance will collide when Doug Naylor’s Over to Bill launches as one of three pilots scheduled for the revival of the BBC’s Comedy Playhouse strand. Comedy Playhouse began in 1961 and ran until 1975 as an anthology series which served as the […]

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What's that in the air on PBS Dec 22? – It's Mr. Stink, of course

I first crossed paths with Mr. Stink at the BBC Showcase meeting last February. At that time, we saw a simple one-time-only special with a big name cast grab the hearts of some of the most cynical television program executives attending the Liverpool screenings. Although it had already aired on BBC One on Christmas Day […]

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From the Friday Vault: Men Behaving Badly turns 20

As we pull together our collective thoughts from the past couple of days at the BBC Syndication Showcase in the Big Easy, based on the response from last weeks premiere of From the Friday Vault, I thought we’d not only continue this feature but actually get it to you on a Friday! Great concept, huh? […]

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Me and Mrs. Jones premieres 12 October on BBC One

Starring Sarah Alexander (Coupling, People Like Us, Green Wing) and Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly), Nathanial Parker (Merlin) and Robert Sheehan (Misfits), the new BBC comedy, Me and Mrs. Jones, produced by Hartswood Films (Sherlock, Coupling, Jekyll, Men Behaving Badly), is one to definitely keep an eye on when it premieres on 12 October on […]

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