Throng

The BBC has announced plans to broadcast Wimbledon in 3D for the first time.

The broadcaster will use the 125th Wimbledon Championships as a part of an experiment with the emerging technology, broadcasting the women’s and men’s finals live in 3D.

Viewers will need a 3D-ready TV to watch the coverage but will not need to purchase additional receiver or set top box equipment. 

Danielle Nagler, the head of BBC HD and 3D, said: “I’m delighted that in this anniversary year we’re bringing UK audiences a new way of getting close to the action on Centre Court. I’m sure that 3D will only add to the drama as the world’s greatest players compete for the championship.”

Paul Davies, BBC executive producer of sport, said: “During our 75 years of televising the Wimbledon Championships the BBC has continually broken new ground in broadcasting techniques. This unique 3D transmission is the latest innovation to bring to life all the tension, drama and excitement on one of the most iconic arenas in the world”.

BBC Vision director George Entwistle added: “We know how much audiences already enjoy the BBC’s Wimbledon television coverage. This is a hugely important experiment for us and I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to show some of our stunning sports coverage to our audiences, in 3D, for free.”

Source: Digital Spy

Doctor Who will return for a seventh season it has been confirmed by a BBC exec.

The BBC One series will return with Matt Smith in the role of the Doctor again for another 14 episodes according to BBC executive Sam Hodges.

Hodges tweeted:  ”Doctor Who is returning. Fourteen new episodes have been commissioned with Matt Smith as The Doctor.”

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat later re-tweeted the post, confirming the news.

“14 eps + Matt definitely [involved]. I’ve got a plan and I’m not telling you what it is,” he added.

Source: Digital Spy

The X Factor is only in its second audition city but judge Louis Walsh believes they may have found potential winners already.

Walsh spoke on Loose Women about the first auditions of the season in Glasgow and Birmingham, saying there may have been w inner in among them.

“The talent we’ve got is amazing,” Walsh said. “We got two people yesterday in Glasgow, we got two in Birmingham…..like incredible people, possible winners.”

Walsh also spoke about the season ahead, saying he believes the new judging line-up will work without Simon Cowell.

“We’ve just got a feeling that this could be our biggest and our best series ever,” he said.

“Kelly’s pretty fiery and Tulisa..ohhhhh…she’s good and of course Gary Barlow’s been round, he knows what he’s talking about. He’s very honest.”

Source: unrealitytv

The BBC today announces its most comprehensive coverage of Glastonbury to date.

Offering a complete multi-platform experience with coverage from six stages, between Thursday 23 June and Friday 1 July, there will be a host of programming, including live headline sets, festival highlights, interviews and a special first-time radio triple-cast, taking viewers and listeners directly into the heart of one of the world’s greatest festivals.

The award-winning TV and radio coverage will be hosted by presenters working across both platforms, bringing viewers live music and highlights on BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four, as well as on four Red Button streams, in addition to BBC Radio 6 Music leading for radio and additional coverage on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4.

There will also be a wealth of online content at bbc.co.uk/glastonbury and the latest under-the-radar talent will be showcased on the BBC Introducing Stage.

Coming together for a true audience experience on TV, viewers can enjoy live headline sets, classic acts, cutting-edge bands, world music and unsigned artists, as well as meet the people who make Glastonbury what it is – the entertainers, circus and cabaret acts, the workers and the crowd that have made Glastonbury the world’s paramount live music festival.

Jan Younghusband, Commissioning Editor, Live Music and Events, says: “We are delighted once again to bring the BBC viewers and listeners to the heart of the action at the world’s greatest popular music festival.”

BBC Two’s coverage is presented by Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne, Mark Radcliffe and Zane Lowe and combines live performances, festival highlights, interviews and special acoustic sets across the weekend.

With live headline sets from major artists, including U2, Coldplay and Paul Simon, BBC Two also has extended highlights of each day’s events into the early hours of the morning and afternoon coverage on Saturday and Sunday.

Viewers can watch the best of the festival with a two-hour highlights programme on Friday 1 July from 11.35pm.

BBC Three programming is presented by Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates, with Friday’s slot covering Mumford And Sons from The Other Stage.

Saturday’s coverage includes sets from Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Elbow and The Chemical Brothers, while The Streets and Queens Of The Stone Age are showcased on Sunday.

There are also highlights programmes on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 June from 7pm, looking back to the Beyonce and Coldplay headline sets.

BBC Four’s coverage is hosted by Mark Radcliffe and includes sets from a discerning blend of heritage artists and critically acclaimed favourites. Friday’s programming showcases BB King, Morrissey and Jimmy Cliff, while Sunday sees highlights from Coldplay’s set and Kool And The Gang.

Red Button coverage is across four streams and includes performances from many of the stages during the festival.

There will also be more highlights from the BBC Introducing Stage and from Monday 27 June to Friday 1 July, viewers will be able to press the Red Button to enjoy a different artist each day.

BBC Radio 6 Music is the BBC’s ‘radio home’ of Glastonbury for the third year, broadcasting non-stop coverage, with Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2 and Radio 4 offering complementary programming.

Recently awarded National Station of the Year at the Music Week awards, 6 Music will broadcast comprehensive coverage from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 June 2011. Presented by 6 Music’s team of trusted festival guides – Steve Lamacq, Lauren Laverne, Shaun Keaveny, Cerys Matthews, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie plus Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish – 6 Music’s coverage will include live performances from across the stages, interviews with performers, regular festival news updates from the station’s expert music news team plus a voyage into the weird and wonderful far reaches of the festival.

Paul Rodgers, Editor, Radio 6 Music, says: “6 Music’s coverage of Glastonbury has gone from strength to strength over the past few years and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve from a small studio in a very big field. This year will be no exception and I know that we’ll be able to bring the best of the festival to our listeners.”

To kick off proceedings, on Thursday 23 June (8.00-10.00pm) 6 Music unites with Radio 1 and Radio 2 to deliver an historic triple-cast across all three networks, for a special show called Introducing Glastonbury, broadcast live from site. In this two-hour special, Steve Lamacq, Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe will celebrate the best of BBC Introducing and preview the forthcoming diverse delights of Glastonbury 2011.

Other highlights of the station’s daily coverage include Steve Lamacq’s daily Round The Stages show (Friday 24 to Sunday 26 June, 10.00pm-midnight), featuring live highlights from the headline artists playing across the Pyramid, Other, Peel, Park and West Holts stages.

Plus seasoned festival goers Adam and Joe offer their own unique take on the action each day (Friday–Sunday, 10.00am-1.00pm), including a special Glastonbury-themed command for Black Squadron members on site and at home.

The build-up to the festival starts on Wednesday 15 June (4.00-7.00pm) when Will Champion from Saturday night Pyramid Stage headliners Coldplay joins Steve Lamacq to talk about what makes the festival so special to the band.

Radio 2 reflects the festival’s live music over the weekend (Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June, 10.00-11.00pm) with Radio 2 In Concert At Glastonbury. Stuart Maconie and Steve Lamacq showcase the action, as it happens, from the Pyramid Stage.

Following the festival, 6 Music, Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2 and Radio 4 take a retrospective look at the festival with live music highlights.

On Monday 27 June at 7pm on Radio 1, Zane Lowe brings together his highlights of the festival with three hours of live music and interviews. Throughout the day on 6 Music, listeners can request their favourite live moments from across the weekend then, at 9.00pm (Monday-Thursday), Gideon Coe presents a live set from a 6 Music headline act.

Jo Whiley plays her pick of the live music from 8.00pm on Radio 2 (Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 June) plus she presents a special Glastonbury In Concert show on Thursday 30 June.

A special edition of Radio 4′s Sony Award winning science/comedy show The Infinite Monkey Cage, recorded in the festival’s Cabaret Marquee, broadcasts on Monday 27th (4.30-5.00pm). Presenters Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by musician Billy Bragg, comedian Shappi Khorsandi and scientist Professor Tony Ryan to bring their own brand of rationality and reason to Glastonbury’s most hardened new-age followers.

The BBC’s dedicated website bbc.co.uk/glastonbury will complete the BBC’s experience of Glastonbury, offering live video streaming of performances and 6 Music’s activities across the weekend. It will also host a range of ‘trusted’ expert guides from BBC DJs, which will guide viewers and listeners through the vast area of online content.

Extended highlights of 60+ performances from the Pyramid, Other, John Peel, West Holts and BBC Introducing stages will be available to watch on demand following the event.

The iPlayer broadcasts are also aggregated into the site.

 

Full TV broadcast details (not confirmed):

Friday 24 June

 

BBC Two 

2145-2230 U2 Live (BBC Four picks up at 22.30-2300) 

2300-2600 U2 Live plus Highlights

 

BBC Three 

1900-2200 Fearne & Reggie with Glastonbury Highlights 

2100-2200 Mumford And Sons

 

BBC Four 

2000-2100 BB King 

2100-2200 Morrissey 

2200-2230 Jimmy Cliff 

2230-2300 U2 Live (picking up from BBC Two)

 

Saturday 25 June

 

BBC Two 

1600-1730 Glastonbury 2011 Highlights 

2200-2600 Coldplay Live and Glastonbury 2011 Highlights

 

BBC Three 

1900-2000 Jessie J and Tinie Tempah 

2000-2100 Paolo Nutini and Friendly Fires

2100-2200 Elbow 

2200-0000 Janelle Monae and The Chemical Brothers

 

Sunday 26 June

 

BBC Two 

1730-1900 Glastonbury 2011 Highlights 

2200-2600 Beyonce Live plus Glastonbury 2011 Highlights

 

BBC Three 

1945-2100 Plan B 

2100-2200 Pendulum and Kaiser Chiefs 

2245-0000 The Streets and Queens Of The Stone Age

 

BBC Four 

1900-2000 Coldplay Highlights

2200-2330 Kool And The Gang at Glastonbury

 

Monday 27 June

 

BBC Three 

1900-2000 Beyonce Highlights

 

Tuesday 28 June

 

BBC Three 

1900-2000 U2 Highlights

 

Friday 1 July

 

BBC Two 

2335-0100 Glastonbury 2011: Best Bits

STV Entertainment reports that Simon Cowell is arranging a duet between two of his youngest protégés, BGT finalist Ronan Parke, and American Idol finalist, Jackie Evancho.

Here’s the full report…

Jackie Evancho stunned British audiences when she appeared on the Britain’s Got Talent final on Saturday night.

The pint-sized opera singer delivered a breathtaking performance of the aria Nessun Dorma, made famous by the late Luciano Pavarotti.

11 year old Jackie won America’s Got Talent last year and has since gone on to record an album which featured a duet with BGT 2009 runner-up, Susan Boyle.

Now Simon Cowell has plans to team her up with this year’s runner-up, Ronan Parke. 12 year old Ronan, just like Jackie, has an extremely powerful voice and cute charm and it seems Mr Cowell has recognised the potential pound signs in the angelic pair.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, Simon Cowell thinks they “look great together.”

Jackie’s popularity could be key in launching Ronan to the global market. Although Scottish singer Jai McDowall took the top spot on this year’s BGT final, Ronan remains optimistic about carving out a career in the music industry.

He told BBC Radio Norfolk: “Susan Boyle and JLS came second and they’ve made a big career out of this and hopefully I can too.”

A duet with Jackie would certainly be a good place to start.

Sirens, June 2011, Channel 4

British Comedy Award winner Kayvan Novak (Four Lions, Facejacker), Rhys Thomas (Bellamy’s People, Star Stories) and Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, Worried About the Boy) star as a team of world-weary paramedics forever forced to deal with humanity at its stupidest in Channel 4′s Sirens.

The six-part comedy drama series, was created by Brian Fillis (The Curse of Steptoe, An Englishman in New York) and inspired by EMT paramedic Tom Reynolds’ book, Blood, Sweat and Tea.

To the outside world Stuart (Thomas), Ashley (Madden) and Rachid (Novak) look like angels of mercy; to their colleagues, they’re a trio of pedantic know-alls; and to the career alcoholics and late night revellers on the swarming streets of Leeds, they’re nothing more than glorified taxi drivers with one drop-off point – Accident & Emergency.

Rhys Thomas, best known as spoof talk radio presenter Gary Bellamy on BBC2′s Bellamy’s People, plays Stuart. At the end of a shift, Stuart just wants to go home, lock the door and keep the other naked apes out.

Those misanthropic tendencies are the source of ongoing friction with Maxine (Amy Beth Hayes – Misfits), a sergeant in the West Yorkshire police force and, to all intents and purposes, Stuart’s only friend.

Unbeknownst to her, and against his better judgement, Stuart secretly finds himself wanting to re-join the human race. To be with someone. But surely not Maxine?

Kayvan Novak, who picked up the Best British Comedy Performance in a film for his role in Chris Morris’ Four Lions, is Rachid – a man with a naughty past that’s always threatening to catch up with him.

Behind the sexual conquests and non-stop boasting about his prowess, Rachid’s biggest worry is the niggling self-doubt that the girls he sleeps with only ever view him as an exotic sideshow and never the main event.

Richard Madden is Ashley. Young, handsome, and a bit of a lad, he thinks he has it sussed, knows how to play the game, and always keeps his cards close to his chest. His only problem, as a gay bloke who doesn’t actually like other gay blokes, is that he’s never in the biggest game of them all.

Swept along by an endless tide of bodily fluids rarely their own, our trio bicker, fight and shag their way through the darkly funny maelstrom of their lives.

Behind the uniforms, the sirens, and the incredibly fast driving, they are three ordinary blokes trying to make it through yet another shift. But once they’ve finished saving other people’s lives, will they be able to salvage their own?

Hal Vogel, executive producer, explains: ‘David Aukin and I had always talked about producing a satire to do with the health service. Then I heard this acerbic, misanthropic character on the radio reading excerpts from his blog about life as an ambulance driver in London and thought it might offer a really original way in. Tom Reynolds, the author of the blog, has a very wry, irreverent tone and his anecdotes about life on the front line are the kind of material you just can’t make up.

‘We wanted to make an anti-procedural show; bold, funny, moving, insightful. Our take was to use the medical aspect as a backdrop against which to follow the lives, loves and misadventures of our three heroes as they grapple with much more serious issues – like how to get laid in the middle of the day after a tough shift, or who out of the three is actually the Alpha Male in the gang, or having an existential crisis after finding a suicide – universal themes that aren’t specific to ambulance drivers but are actually finally about things that concern us all; sex, power, fear of death.

‘The aim was to make a darkly comic show about the human condition from the point of view of three utterly original, funny, loveable paramedics – confronted with a view of humanity as seen from the gutter.

‘We met the writer Brian Fillis after seeing Fear of Fanny. Brian had spent ten years working as a school teacher so understands life in the public sector. This, coupled with his unique take on the world, gave us a sense that he might find a really original way in.

‘We gave him the blog and he just ran with it. What was important to us was that it should be comedy coming out of real observation, real comedy and real drama undercutting each other; making it laugh out loud one minute and moving the next.’

Sirens is made by Daybreak Pictures (The Promise, Endgame, Britz) . The six-part drama is written by Brian Fillis (The Curse of Steptoe, An Englishman in New York), and Tony Basgallop (Worried About The Boy, Being Human).

It is produced by Chris Clough (Skins) and executive produced by Hal Vogel (The Promise) and David Aukin (The Promise). It is directed by Victor Buhler (Coming Up), Damon Thomas (Dirk Gently) and Amanda Boyle (Cast Offs).

© Courtesy of Channel 4

by entertainmentnews

STV report today that a young Scottish singer reduced the X Factor judges to tears with a rendition of Adele’s hit ‘Someone Like You’.

Here’s the report…

A young singer from Fife became the star of the show at yesterday’s Glasgow X Factor auditions, reducing new judges Gary Barlow and Kelly Rowland to tears.

Jade Richards, 21, who performed Adele’s hit Someone Like You, is now being tipped as the one to watch on this year’s series.

All four judges on the panel agreed that the singer, who currently performs as part of a duo in clubs and pubs around the country, had something special about her.

X Factor veteran Louis Walsh gave the brunette the highest praise possible, telling her: “This has made our trip to Scotland so worthwhile.”

Rookie judge Kelly Rowland, who used to be one third of R&B super group Destiny’s Child, tearfully added: “I know it sounds funny but I had a dream about this.”

And N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos told Jade: “This is your moment and I want you to take it all in – a humungous yes.”

However the judges weren’t quite as taken with all of the hopefuls at the Scottish leg of auditions, the Daily Record reports.

Take That singer Gary, known as the Mr Nice of pop, told one Irish hopeful: “If you were my daughter I wouldn’t have even let you come out of the house today.”

The Daily Mirror today reports that the BBC are prepared for controversy over their imminent airing of a documentary which features a man dying on-screen after an assisted suicide.

Here’s what the paper has to say…

THE BBC plans to court controversy by showing a man dying on screen for the second time in weeks.

A seriously ill man in his 70s will be filmed drinking poisonous liquid before collapsing on a sofa in an assisted suicide.

Just before he takes his life, the pensioner – known only as Peter – shakes presenter and author Terry Pratchett’s hand and says: “Have a good life. I know I have.”

It comes after the BBC last month showed the moment cancer-stricken grandad Gerald died in Inside the Human Body.

Yesterday campaigners lashed out at the decision to air the show. Vivienne Patterson, of Mediawatch, said: “It’s a video essay about why Terry Pratchett wants euthanasia. That subject is such a political hot potato and the BBC is just giving one point of the argument.

“The problem is there is a line which has been crossed because they have screened a death, now we have this one.”

Care Not Killing, which promotes palliative care, added: “The people who are opposed to assisted suicide remain at a complete loss as to why the BBC acts as a cheerleader for a change in the current laws.”

The programme will show motor neurone disease sufferer Peter travelling to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

In a cottage surrounded by snow, he eats chocolate to take away the taste of the poison he has to drink to kill himself.

His wife Christine strokes his hand while he waits to die.

Fantasy novelist Pratchett, who has early onset Alzheimer’s and wants a change in assisted suicide laws, told Radio Times: “He had an incurable disease that was dragging him down, so he’s decided of his own free will to leave before he was dragged.

“I think, in the circumstances, Peter got what he wanted, a good death.”

Documentary editor Charlotte Moore argued the BBC had to show Peter dying on screen. She said: “To gloss over his final moments would be to do a disservice to him, to Terry and to the viewer.

“We have a responsibility to tell the story in its entirety. How can we do this if we shy away from the crux of the story? I hope this film transcends the arguments over legislation, policy and morality.”

Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die is on BBC2 next Monday at 9pm.

Plus, Max proposes to Vanessa!

It’s all happening next week in EastEnders, and courtesy of What’s On TV, we have a few juicy spoilers for you…

The first of which is that when Janine’s gran Lydia passes away, the police arrive to question Janine about the old lady’s death…

After all, if Janine did have anything to do with Lydia’s death, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s murdered someone!

Also next week, even though he’s desperate to be with Tanya again, Max proposes to Vanessa, and the poor unsuspecting Afghan hound looky likey accepts!

But when Greg nearly walks in on Max and Tanya sharing a passionate kiss, they’re left not knowing if he saw them or not…

It’ll be tears before bedtime there!

Sam Claflin (Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, United), Claire Foy (Little Dorrit, The Promise), Reece Ritchie (Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, Pete Versus Life), Lee Ingleby (Being Human, Inspector George Gently), MyAnna Buring (The Twilight Saga, Any Human Heart), David Gyasi (Red Tails, Murderland) and Jessica Gunning (Law & Order UK, Doctors) will star in White Heat, a new semi-autobiographical drama series written by award-winning writer Paula Milne (Endgame, Small Island, The Virgin Queen, The Fragile Heart, The Politician’s Wife) and produced by ITV Studios for BBC Two.

Paula Milne says: “Getting the right cast for White Heat was crucial not least because it spans half a century. It means our young cast must age from 18 to early forties when the older cast take over. Our young cast are all riding the crest of their own burgeoning, brilliant careers – like the characters are when we first meet them. It takes more than talent to take us on their epic journey through the decades – it takes insight and extraordinary maturity and they have that too. They all say they are lucky to play such parts. Me, I think we are lucky to have them.”

This ambitious series charts the lives of seven friends from 1965 through to the present day. Their relationships; complex, volatile, life affirming and life changing start when they come together as a diverse group of young students to live as flat mates in London’s Tufnell Park: rebel with a cause Jack (Claflin), intelligent feminist Charlotte (Foy), fragile beauty Lilly (Buring), medical student Jay (Ritchie), electronics enthusiast Alan (Ingleby), law student Victor (Gyasi) and big-hearted Orla (Gunning).

The series follows them over four decades as their lives, loves and destinies are shaped by the political events of each era – from the death of Churchill, the union strife of the Seventies, the ascendancy of Thatcher, the Falklands, Aids, the end of the Cold War to the present day. Their interwoven personal lives played against the backcloth of these crucial events converge to make them the people they are today.

Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning says: “The cream of new British acting talent have been cast to star in Paula Milne’s White Heat, an epic story of our times told through the eyes of seven amazing characters, which will continue BBC Two’s commitment to original drama in 2012.”

Filming will begin next week on location in London. Executive Producers are Kate Bartlett and Paula Milne for ITV Studios and Lucy Richer for the BBC. Elinor Day is Producer and John Alexander (Small Island, Exile) is Director.

White Heat is a truly original piece that continues to signal BBC Two’s confident new direction following the re-birth of drama on the channel, commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, Drama Commissioning, and Janice Hadlow, Channel Controller, BBC Two.