Special

ITV has commissioned a unique one-off special celebrating the life of much-loved comedy genius Les Dawson.

Les Dawson: An Audience That Never Was. will mark the 20th anniversary of Les Dawson’s untimely death in June 1993. At that time, Les was just two weeks away from recording An Audience with Les Dawson, the latest in a distinguished line of legendary comedic talent to be honoured with an invitation to perform in front of an invited celebrity audience.

Les Dawson was following some of the giants of British and international comedy into the Audience with… spotlight, and be the latest name on a list that included Billy Connolly, Kenneth Williams, Dame Edna, Mel Brooks, Dudley Moore, Jackie Mason, Bruce Forsyth and Peter Ustinov. Continue reading »

The BBC has announced a new season of programming for both TV and radio that will mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.

The BBC’s Coronation commissions will celebrate and showcase the history behind the memorable day of 2 June 1953, the first Coronation to be televised and the year that began the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

To mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation, BBC Parliament will for the first time broadcast a digitally re-mastered version of the Abbey Coronation Service in full on Sunday 2 June, 2013. Continue reading »

Bill Nighy has agreed to reprise his role as MI5 spy Johnny Worricker in the second and thord parts of The Worricker Trilogy.

Turks & Caicos and Salting The Battlefield follow Page Eight, which aired on BBC Two in August 2011 and starred Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes, Judy Davis and Michael Gambon.

Turks & Caicos stars Bill Nighy, Christopher Walken, Winona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Ewen Bremner, James Naughton, Dylan Baker, Zach Grenier and will be filmed in London and Turks & Caicos. Continue reading »

Channel 4 has commissioned a 24-hour multi-platform event that will commemorate D-Day in June this year.

Channel 4 Specialist Factual Commissioning Editor John Hay and Channel 4 Factual Multi-platform Commissioning Editor Kate Quilton have commissioned Windfall Films to make D-Day: As It Happens, a 24-hour history event due for transmission across TV, web, mobile devices and social media on 5th & 6th June this year. Digit, Windfall’s digital partner on this project, will deliver the website build.

The project will enable viewers and users to experience this pivotal moment in twentieth century history in real time, by tracing – moment by moment – what happened to 7 real participants on the day. New, unpublished research has been used to assemble archive film, photographs, radio reports and other records of D-Day on a 24-hour timeline and play it out in parallel with the present, so that each element of the timeline is released out at the minute it happened in 1944. Continue reading »

Jonas Armstrong will feature in a new 90- minute film for BBC One.

Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood, The Street) is to star in The Whale (w/t), a 1 x 90-minute film for BBC One and Discovery, written by Terry Cafolla (Holy Cross, Messiah), which will tell one of history’s greatest stories of survival at sea.

Filming begins in Malta this week and the drama will follow the ill-fated voyage of The Essex through the eyes of the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson who, at 14, was the youngest member of the crew and one of only eight survivors of the shipwreck. Continue reading »

An adaptation of The Thirteenth Tale is reported to be underway at the BBC.

TVWise reports that the 90-minute film is an adaptation of the Diane Setterfield novel of the same name.

BBC Two is working with Heyday Films, who were the producers behind the Warner Bros. Harry Potter films.

Heyday Films optioned for the rights in 2007 with the original plan being a feature film.

Fans of Girls Aloud will have one last chance to catch the girl-group on MTV.

The network has announced they will be airing one of their farewell gigs on MTV’s freeview channel Viva on Saturday, March 30 at 7pm.

The group – which consists of Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts, Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle – announced their break-up this week on Twitter after their final gig in Liverpool.

“Dear Alouders, we just want to say from the bottom of our hearts Thank you!! This tour has been an amazing experience and the perfect chance to say thank you for being on this journey with us through a decade,” they said. Continue reading »

The BBC has today announced its Easter programming line-up.

BBC One

In The Mystery Of Mary Magdalene, Good Friday on BBC One, Melvyn Bragg sets out to unravel the many questions surrounding one of the Bible’s most vivid, and to some, controversial figures: Mary Magdalene.

In the gospel accounts Mary Magdalene plays a key role in the Easter story. She is there at the cross when Jesus is crucified and she’s a key witness to the resurrection. So why, despite there being no reference to it in the Bible, is Mary Magdalene remembered primarily as the sinner or even prostitute whom Christ redeems? Continue reading »

Peter Capaldi has nabbed the lead role in a new dramatised documentary based on the life of Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Thick of It actor will play the Italian in the 3D production, entitled Inside the Mind of Leonardo Da Vinci, for Sky Arts and Sky 3D.

“Leonardo’s journals are an extraordinary body of work, highlighting Da Vinci’s position at the vanguard of ideas, thought and design. It’s wholly fitting therefore, that his works are being brought to life in such a creative way with the use of Sky’s cutting edge 3D technology,” said James Hunt, channel director of Sky Arts. Continue reading »

BBC Two are looking to channel a little period era charm with a new special that aims to recreate a 19th century ball from Pride and Prejudice.

While many will be hoping for Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, they will have to settle for Amanda Vickery, who will host the special that sees a bunch of experts weaving together the planning an rehearsal of a typical ball of the era.

Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, said: “Pride And Prejudice is a cornerstone of British cultural and literary heritage and, 200 years after it was published, it is fantastic to be able to bring BBC Two audiences a new look at the goings on behind the popular social event of the era.” Continue reading »