BLOGS
Barrowman unhappy with new Torchwood format
- Posted at 4:34pm
- 03 July 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
On Monday 6 July series three of alien-busting Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood comes to BBC1 and BBC HD. A five episode "miniseries" being shown across the week, Monday to Friday, Children of Earth is what creator Russell T Davies calls a "first contact story" - a story that begins with children across the globe coming to a complete halt to chant in unison, "We are coming. We are coming."
Sounds like a job for Torchwood. But with two members of the team - Owen and Tosh - killed off in the...
Channel 4 adds TV archive to 4oD
- Posted at 5:15pm
- 23 June 2009
- by WilliamGallagher-RT
You will never go out again. Not even to work. Certainly not to the DVD store. From Friday 3 July, Channel 4 is opening its archives online: initially 4,000 hours of some of the finest British television ever made will be yours for the price of watching it on your computer.
All you've got to do is choose what to watch. It's going to get harder as Channel 4 keeps adding more and more material but Radio Times picks out the greatest, the most controversial and the funniest. All of this, every minute of every episode, will...
Arlene Phillips to leave Strictly Come Dancing?
- Posted at 11:40am
- 18 June 2009
- by LauraPledger-RT
The hot gossip is that judge Arlene Phillips has been dropped from hit BBC1 series Strictly Come Dancing.
The Sun claims that renowned choreographer Phillips, 66, will be replaced by 30-year-old singer Alesha Dixon - who won the dancing competition in 2007 - in a bid to attract a younger audience to the show.
A BBC spokeswoman refused to confirm the speculation: "We can't confirm anything about the new series of Strictly yet, but we are always looking at ways to maximise viewers' enjoyment of our shows."
Alesha herself told Sky News: "There is always...
Andy Murray on Wimbledon - and those remarks about England
- Posted at 3:45pm
- 17 June 2009
- by WilliamGallagher-RT
Such talent, such strength and such a fantastic chance at Wimbledon - yet still Andy Murray has his detractors. Maybe it's because the Scottish tennis star revealed he was supporting "anyone but England" in the 2006 World Cup.
"I made a joke about the England team, like I do with my friends," he explains in an exclusive interview for the new issue of Radio Times. "And they joke about Scottish football all the time! That's when I realised I couldn't afford to make jokes like that."
If he's decided to avoid that, he's also trying...
Parky calls for better British cop shows
- Posted at 1:10pm
- 16 June 2009
- by WilliamGallagher-RT
"The Wire is not about reassurance or redemption," says Michael Parkinson in the new issue of Radio Times. "Journalist David Simon spent time with Baltimore's police department and what he witnessed became two of the best television police series of all time - Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire."
The self-professed cop show fan wants to see British TV get it right: "Now Morse has gone, we need a substantial series based on a cop."
Our current crop of cops don't make the grade. "Will Ashes...
Top Gear: your female presenting team
- Posted at 3:15pm
- 15 June 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Top Gear fans will be celebrating the return of the series to BBC2 this Sunday. The nation's favourite motoring show is beloved of lads and ladettes alike, yet it features an all-male presenting line-up. So what if Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were replaced by members of the opposite sex? Who would you put in the driving seats?
In a recent survey on RadioTimes.com, we asked you to name your ultimate female TG trio. 1,793 of you responded. So who did you choose?
To stand in for Clarkson...
Ashes to Ashes to get third series
- Posted at 3:52pm
- 08 June 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Yes, Gene Hunt will be firing up the Quattro for one last time!
1980s-set time-shift police drama Ashes to Ashes, starring Philip Glenister as the no-nonsense copper, will return for a third and final series in 2010, and the producers are promising further fireworks - and are even hinting at a possible return for Sam Tyler (John Simm's character in the original series, Life on Mars).
Co-creator Ashley Pharoah said: "We are as excited as the viewers to see how Alex's (Keeley Hawes) journey ends and we promise the...
Piers Morgan on Britain's Got Talent
- Posted at 1:21pm
- 26 May 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan - who described singer Susan Boyle as "our very own Rocky" - talked to RT about some of the key battles the phenomenon has thrown up.
The people v Britain's Got Talent
"People need to bear in mind that we are trying to produce good television… I think the whole debate about 'truth in television' has gone way too far. A show like ours… is all about entertainment, and in the end you have to have a sense of realism about that."
"But I do think...
Michael Parkinson slams "witless TV"
- Posted at 11:42am
- 19 May 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
In the latest issue of Radio Times (23–29 May), Michael Parkinson has attacked what he calls "today's witless programming".
Mourning the cancellation of Melvyn Bragg's ITV1 arts series The South Bank Show after two decades, Parkinson lampoons the broadcaster's reliance on celebrity-driven shows, suggesting that any future arts programming might include:
"The likes of Kerry Katona, Jordan and Cheryl Cole creating the necessary link between the ITV audience and, let's say, Jane Eyre on Ice, or Simon Cowell's opera, Robson and Jerome: My Part in Their Downfall, or Al Murray investigating the...
Graham Norton talks Eurovision
- Posted at 6:11pm
- 12 May 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Eurovision remains the world's most watched non-sporting TV event, with figures estimated as high as 600 million. This year, the BBC expects even more than last year's 9.3 million to tune in and all eyes will be on new host Graham Norton to see if he can keep us as entertained as Wogan used to do. RT asked Graham about a big night for him - and, just maybe, the rest of the country…
How will your presenting style compare with that of former host Terry Wogan?
"Terry was a master at taking...
Eurovision 2009 - five reasons to be hopeful
- Posted at 6:02pm
- 12 May 2009
- by JonWilde-RT
What's tipping the balance in the UK's favour this year?
1. The Lloyd Webber factor
Eurovision expert Barry Viniker says, "The last seven winners have all delivered performances rooted in ethnic traditions, whether it be Turkish belly dancers or Greek folk instrumentation. Traditionally, the UK excels at musical theatre. In turning to Andrew Lloyd Webber, we're conforming to a Eurovision-winning formula."
2. National pride
According to Eurovision veteran Dana, who won for Ireland in 1970, the UK has regained its Eurovision pride this year and this could prove decisive. "If...
What's behind Katie and Peter's split?
- Posted at 12:09pm
- 12 May 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Their relationship was forged in the crucible of reality TV after they met on ITV's I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, and ever since then Katie Price (aka Jordan) and Peter Andre have made a point of living life in the tabloid spotlight.
They had the obligatory fluffy pink OK! magazine wedding shoot and their marriage spawned a reality show of its own - Katie & Peter - followed by a spin-off charting their move to California.
It's a row that took place on that show, Katie and Peter:...
Morph to star in Ashes to Ashes
- Posted at 3:47pm
- 28 April 2009
- by DannyScott-RT
Of all the high-profile guests on Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, few come with such malleable features as TV legend Morph. Just six inches high and made of brown Plasticine, Morph provided the fledgling Aardman Animations studio with its first sniff of success in 1976 (nearly ten years before Nick Park joined the company), when he debuted on kids' art show Take Hart.
Morph's appearance in next week's Ashes (Monday 4 May) lasts barely 15 seconds; Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) has a surprisingly shocking and sinister encounter with him via her...
Parkinson's comments on Jade spark media storm
- Posted at 11:21am
- 08 April 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Something of a furore has arisen around Michael Parkinson's recent comments in Radio Times about the life and death of Jade Goody and her treatment by the press.
"Her death is as sad as the death of any young person but it's not the passing of a martyr or a saint or, God help us, Princess Di," says the veteran broadcaster.
"When we clear the media smoke screen from around her death what we're left with is a woman who came to represent all that's paltry and wretched about Britain today."
The...
Actress Wendy Richard dies
- Posted at 3:56pm
- 26 February 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
Former EastEnders star Wendy Richard has died, aged 65, after losing her battle with cancer.
Richard was best known for her 21 years as Pauline Fowler in the BBC1 soap. She joined the show when it began in 1985 and left in 2006 after her character was killed off, reportedly by mutual consent. Her earlier career included roles in sitcoms such as Are You Being Served? and even featured a number-one hit record, Come Outside, with Mike Sarne.
Last year, Richard revealed that her cancer had spread and become increasingly aggressive, and that she...
More
CHOOSE BLOG
LATEST POSTS
-
- Barrowman unhappy with new Torchwood format
- Fri 03 July 2009, 4:34pm
-
- Big Brother's Best Bits: week four
- Fri 03 July 2009, 11:02am
-
- Torchwood
- Thu 02 July 2009, 4:45pm
-
- The week in soapland
- Tue 30 June 2009, 5:02pm
-
- Sorry, I don't watch The Wire…
- Mon 29 June 2009, 3:02pm
LATEST COMMENTS
-
- Karen Gillan is the Eleventh Doctor's companion
- "give her a chance i cant…"
- Fri 03 July 2009, 7:34pm
-
- Sorry, I don't watch The Wire…
- "well its only alisons opinion on…"
- Fri 03 July 2009, 7:19pm
-
- Andy Murray on Wimbledon - and those remarks about England
- "RabidScot indeed. This kind of…"
- Fri 03 July 2009, 1:43pm
BLOGS ARCHIVE
ADVERTISER LINKS