Mr. Bean Christmas Turkey – a public service

With the Christmas holiday approaching like a bullet train, I thought it was more of a public service than just merely fun to show this clip as you prepare the Christmas turkey. As many times as I have watched this classic from Mr. Bean, starring the brilliant Rowan Atkinson, it just never gets old. When […]

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Judi Dench – the greatest of all-time

Who would have thought that what started in 1957 with the role of Ophelia as part of the Old Vic company in Liverpool would culminate days after her 76th birthday with Dame Judi Dench being named “the greatest stage actress of all-time“. Might have had something to do with her seven Laurence Olivier awards along […]

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BBC for sale? Ok, not really.

Will they or won’t they. Sell the hallowed grounds of the BBC Television Centre, that is. With the Centre celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year, it was 2007 whereby plans started to sell off the historic building thus, moving thousands of employees to either their studios in Salford or to Broadcasting House in central London. […]

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For Judi Dench, 2011 starts with Jane Eyre

Seems as though it has merely been days since we were getting exhausted just hearing of Judi Dench’s daily  work schedule. She’s just back from India where she spent a month filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is based on a book by Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things. It follows a group of British […]

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Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift board the QE2

Keeping Up Appearances icons, Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift recently (ok, it was almost 20 years ago) sat down with BBC Radio broadcaster, Judi Spiers, for a really fun behind the scenes conversation about the iconic British comedy, Keeping Up Appearances, where they allude to their upcoming (at the time) journey aboard the QE2 as […]

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The 'unofficial' history of London's television studios

Every so often, you run across a site on ‘the internets’ that you just have to share. This particular site came to our attention recently when we were taping the host segments at TC8 in BBC Television Centre with Moira Brooker (Judy, As Time Goes By) and Philip Bretherton (Alistair, As Time Goes By) for the […]

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Upstairs Downstairs – it was 40 years ago today…almost

As the UK moves closer to the Boxing Day premiere of a 21st century remake of Upstairs Downstairs and with American audiences not far behind with an April 2011 premiere as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series, it’s time to look back to a day almost 40 years ago when the original London Weekend Television series premiered […]

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BBC Christmas 2010 w/ Upstairs Downstairs preview

For those that reside east of the Atlantic, the BBC has given the world a hint of what you’ll be treated to on Christmas Day 2010 with a really top-notch trailer below. As we’ve talked about at great length, schedulers at The Beeb take their jobs extra serious on this day, recognizing the desires of […]

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BBC/PBS DVR alert: 165 Eaton Place is back

Good news no matter what side of the pond you find yourself on as we approach the holiday season. No, not talking about the upcoming Doctor Who “A Christmas Carol” special. While I am waiting for that Steven Moffat gem, I’m really looking forward to something much more classic. Television’s most famous address, 165 Eaton Place, opens […]

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LENNONYC – tonight on PBS

Following the break-up of the Beatles, John Lennon left for New York with Yoko Ono to escape. Escape from years of Beatlemania, the death of Brian Epstein and a rapidly deteriorating home life. In a sense, Lennon was growing up. In the midst of a creative transformation. Lennon definitely grew up as his New York […]

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