BLOGS
Skins seeks new talent for third series
- Posted at 11:59am
- 29 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Want to get involved in the upcoming new series of rambunctious teen drama Skins? Well here's your chance. The producers are running a competition to win a speaking part in the show (closing date 16 November), and are also looking for writers, directors - and musicians.
Skins has always featured cutting edge music as part of its eclectic soundtrack but for series three it's going one step further and asking viewers to contribute. For the chance to have your music featured on Skins, email your best track to skinsmusic@e4.com.
And between now and...
Brand and Ross suspended
- Posted at 5:32pm
- 28 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Update: 5:46pm Wednesday 29 October
Russell Brand has resigned from his Radio 2 show.
Update: 11:30am Wednesday 29 October
Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, has announced the suspension of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. As of this morning, all their shows will be taken off the air.
In a statement, Thompson said: "I have decided that it is not appropriate for either Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross to continue broadcasting on the BBC until I have seen the full report of the actions of all concerned."
"This gross lapse of...
Top Gear needs you!
- Posted at 6:47pm
- 27 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
With an Aussie version up and running, an American series at the pilot stage and a brand-new Russian model revving its engine, the Top Gear franchise is becoming as universal as global warming (although not, as some have suggested, responsible for it).
But success creates expectation and Richard Hammond admits it's getting harder to come up with new ideas for Top Gear stunts. "I guess it's our own fault, because we've set the bar really high," he says. "What we've discovered is that a lot of Top Gear ideas are found at the bottom of beer...
Matt Lucas films sword and sorcery comedy
- Posted at 3:37pm
- 24 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Little Britain's Matt Lucas and former EastEnder Sean Maguire are in the midst of shooting a new sword and sorcery comedy series - the catchily titled Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire.
Maguire, most recently seen on our screens in US ensemble sitcom The Class, plays reluctant hero Krod Mandoon, the last hope in the struggle against the realm's evil ruler Chancellor Dongalor, played by Lucas.
Joining Maguire on his quest are a number of actors who already boast sci-fi/fantasy credentials. John Rhys-Davies was Gimli the dwarf in The Lord of...
Richard Armitage's Spooks tattoos decoded
- Posted at 3:11pm
- 22 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Richard Armitage is the newest recruit to the Spooks team, as the spy drama returns for a seventh series (starting Monday 27 October at 9pm on BBC1).
Armitage plays the mysterious Lucas North, who's been released on a spy-swap after spending eight years in a Russian prison. During his time there, Lucas has gained a number of impressive tattoos. As he tells MI5 supremo Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), "Tattooing is part of the culture in there. You don't do it, you don't belong. You don't belong, you're dead."
But what...
The League of Gentlemen return
- Posted at 3:17pm
- 20 October 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
The League of Gentlemen are coming back - but in separate projects. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton will write and appear in Psychoville for BBC2 next year, while Mark Gatiss stars in the Christmas drama Crooked House, which he's written for BBC4.
Psychoville (which is what The League of Gentlemen was called when it was shown in the Far East) is closer to League in style: it's a dark comedy mystery with characters including a one-handed clown who makes balloon animals with his hook, and a panto dwarf who's in love with Snow White. It co-stars...
Daniel Craig out of action after Quantum injury
- Posted at 12:44pm
- 14 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Daniel Craig is out of action after exacerbating a shoulder injury during the filming of the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace (released 31 October and the subject of this week's South Bank Show).
Having undergone surgery, Craig is under doctor's orders to take a long break from work. "The cartilage and sinew have to mend properly," says Craig, "which is apparently going to take about six months. It'll be a while before I can hang off the side of a train again …"
So how does he feel about the enforced break,...
Pinky, Perky and Dougray return
- Posted at 10:41am
- 08 October 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
Pinky and Perky make a comeback
Pinky and Perky are the latest classic children's characters to get a 21st-century makeover - a new Pinky & Perky Show comes to CBBC and BBC1 next month. The high-pitched pigs have come a long way since the 50s - now they're computer-animated. The stories have a modern twist, too. P&P still appear on PPC TV, but now have to deal with nasty executives who want to cancel their show. Let's hope it doesn't end up being a case of life imitating art…
Dougray Scott heads home
Stephen Fry: America v Britain
- Posted at 11:57am
- 07 October 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
Comfortably ensconced in the front seat of a London black cab, Stephen Fry has been on an epic tour of all 50 states of the USA, for his new series Stephen Fry in America (starts Sunday 12 October, BBC1). But as well as revealing the many and varied wonders of the United States, the trip has made Fry ashamed of his own countrymen. We asked him why.
"We British like to believe that Americans are ignorant, irony-free and vulgar. I found no more evidence of that than I find of the Dutch, the Italians, the...
Cleese, Williams and Atkinson return to the stage
- Posted at 12:13pm
- 06 October 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
Prince Charles is known for his love of comedy, notably The Goon Show. But he's excelled himself with the names he's attracted to his 60th-birthday comedy spectacular, We Are Not Amused.
Taking place in aid of the Prince's Trust on 12 November and showing on ITV1 soon after, the show features John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson (on Gold this Thursday in Blackadder Exclusive: the Whole Rotten Saga) and Robin Williams, all performing live on stage.
Cleese hasn't performed live for two years (in a tour of New Zealand) but promises something special here. Atkinson's...
Foyle's War writer creates new drama series
- Posted at 2:29pm
- 30 September 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
Fans of Foyle's War writer Anthony Horowitz have a new and very different show to look forward to. He's created Collision, an ambitious ensemble drama series about the disparate lives of people caught up in a major road accident.
The show is filming now and stars Primeval's Douglas Henshall (pictured) and Kate Ashfield as the cops investigating the crash and its unusual aftermath. Paul McGann, Claire Rushbrook and Phil Davis are among those playing crash victims, nearly all of whom are harbouring a dark secret. Collision airs on ITV1 next year.
Richard Hammond to host Saturday night show
- Posted at 3:01pm
- 29 September 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
Has BBC1 become obsessed with comical, It's a Knockout!-style game shows? Hole in the Wall, in which contestants in lycra and cycle helmets are pushed into a pool by a foam wall, debuted last month with a middling 3.3m viewers.
Now Top Gear's Richard Hammond has signed up to host Total Wipeout, another Saturday-night show in which contestants in lycra and cycle helmets try to complete what the hit US version accurately calls "the most ridiculous obstacle course ever assembled". The fun starts on BBC1 early next year.
Rentaghost and Worzel to make a comeback
- Posted at 3:51pm
- 25 September 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
Children's shows to be remade
Classic kids' programmes Rentaghost and Worzel Gummidge are on their way back. Production giant RDF has bought the rights to both, and thinks they can be "reworked for a modern audience". But in this day and age can Rentaghost still get away with a camp jester named Mr Claypole? And will today's youngsters find it any less disturbing than we did when Worzel pulls his own head off?
New arrivals at Emmerdale
Emmerdale turns posh this Christmas. Joining the cast as sexy, wealthy couple Natasha and Mark Wylde are...
Casino Royale crane jump voted best 007 stunt
- Posted at 2:00pm
- 24 September 2008
- by PaulJones-RT
The stunning crane jump from Casino Royale - Daniel Craig's first outing as 007 - has been voted the best ever James Bond stunt in a survey of over 1,400 RadioTimes.com users.
It was closely followed by the daring scene from 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, in which Bond skis off a cliff edge to almost certain doom, only to open a Union Jack parachute in mid air.
The full results of the survey are as follow:
1. Jumping from crane to crane - Casino Royale (12%)
2. Ski chase...
Eurovision - new ruling
- Posted at 1:34pm
- 23 September 2008
- by JackSeale-RT
This year's Eurovision Song Contest caused pan-continental outrage, with block voting by ex-Soviet states powering Russia to victory. Even Terry Wogan told RT he wanted to quit the show.
Now Eurovision's under-fire bosses have announced that 2009's contest will use both televoting and old-style juries, which should be less geographically biased.
But even if the system had been in place earlier, it wouldn't have helped us this year: our man Andy Abraham came last in Belgrade, with a song that was deeply unpopular throughout Europe.
What did you make of this year's Eurovision?...
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