Check in to ‘Hotel Portofino’ tonight on PBS then stick around for the return of ‘Endeavour’!

Set in the breathtakingly beautiful resort town of Portofino, Hotel Portofino is about personal awakening at a time of global upheaval in the traumatic aftermath of World War I and of the liberating influence of Italy’s enchanting culture, climate and cuisine on elite British travelers.

Premiering tonight at 8pET/7pCT on PBS, Hotel Portofino tells the story of the Ainsworth family that has relocated from Britain to open an upscale hotel on the Italian coastline. Once you meet the cast of characters, both Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey come to mind….if they happened to be set in 1920 Italy.

Bodyguard’s Keeley Hawes returns to MI5 in Channel 4’s period spy drama ‘Traitors’

Venturing into Nicola Walker territory in my book, the greatness that is Keeley Hawes returns next month in a new spy drama from Channel 4, Traitors. The former Spooks, Ashes to Ashes, Durrells in Corfu, Upstairs Downstairs, Line of Duty, Bodyguard star will play Priscilla, a woman working as a member of the Civil Service following the Labour Party’s […]

Maureen Lipman packs her bags and heads to ‘Coronation Street’

After almost ten years of covering British comedy, drama, pop culture and pretty much everything British, today is a first. As in the first time we write about Coronation Street. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running television soap opera, the series premiered on 9 December, 1960 and centers on Coronation Street […]

Happy belated 45th, Upstairs Downstairs (the original Downton Abbey!)

On October 10, 1971, Upstairs Downstairs took the world by storm. Based on an original idea by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins for a comedy called Behind the Green Baize Door, the series ran for 5 series and 68 episodes over four years from 1971-1975. As originally thought out, the series would focus on two housemaids, played […]

‘Belgravia’ is up next for ‘Downton Abbey’ creator Julian Fellowes

The doors of Downton haven’t even shuttered yet and Julian Fellowes already has something in the works. The Downton Abbey creator/writer heads to the world of online for his next project, a new story in 11 episodes, published week by week, which will tell the story of Belgravia – London’s grandest postcode. Just in case Belgravia sounds familiar […]