Event cinema title Dear England is the widest new release at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, playing in 716 UK venues through National Theatre Live.
The play first screened in 694 venues yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. As well as cinemas, it is screening in many non-cinema venues such as community centres and village halls.
Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup, the 2020 European Championships, and the 2022 World Cup.
Directed by Rupert Goold and starring Joseph Fiennes as England manager Gareth Southgate,...
The play first screened in 694 venues yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. As well as cinemas, it is screening in many non-cinema venues such as community centres and village halls.
Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup, the 2020 European Championships, and the 2022 World Cup.
Directed by Rupert Goold and starring Joseph Fiennes as England manager Gareth Southgate,...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Event cinema title Dear England is the widest new release at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, playing in around 800 UK cinemas through National Theatre Live.
The play first screened in 694 cinemas yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. The exact weekend location number is to be confirmed; should it be above the 777 sites of James Bond film No Time To Die from 2021, it would be the widest opening ever in UK-Ireland cinemas.
Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup,...
The play first screened in 694 cinemas yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. The exact weekend location number is to be confirmed; should it be above the 777 sites of James Bond film No Time To Die from 2021, it would be the widest opening ever in UK-Ireland cinemas.
Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup,...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces another make-or-break moment in his political career when he appears in Parliament on Wednesday to face questions about whether he intentionally misled MPs over the so-called partygate scandal.
The partygate scandal rocked the UK in the months following the Covid-19 pandemic and ultimately contributed to Johnson’s downfall as Prime Minister. The affair involved reports of parties held by government and Conservative Party staff members at Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence, during the pandemic when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. In response, Johnson repeatedly said that no rules had been broken.
Johnson will be grilled by the UK parliamentary privileges committee on Wednesday, a cross-party group of MPs tasked with investigating potential cases of contempt of Parliament and breaches of privilege. Contempt of parliament is defined as an obstruction or interference with the workings of the House of Commons.
The hearing,...
The partygate scandal rocked the UK in the months following the Covid-19 pandemic and ultimately contributed to Johnson’s downfall as Prime Minister. The affair involved reports of parties held by government and Conservative Party staff members at Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence, during the pandemic when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. In response, Johnson repeatedly said that no rules had been broken.
Johnson will be grilled by the UK parliamentary privileges committee on Wednesday, a cross-party group of MPs tasked with investigating potential cases of contempt of Parliament and breaches of privilege. Contempt of parliament is defined as an obstruction or interference with the workings of the House of Commons.
The hearing,...
- 3/22/2023
- by Zac Ntim and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Picture the scene. It’s the end of November. Matt Hancock has been named king of the jungle. After a month of tears, torture and tepid banter, he has obliterated all competition. Boy George has made zero impact. Mike Tindall is in the dust. Jill Scott is no one. The public have voted to humiliate the former health secretary, and he has eaten it up. Literally: he has eaten every species of testicle. But at some point during this process there came a moment when the tide started to turn. When, exactly, is hard to say: when he taught Chris Moyles how to do parkour? When he played truth or dare round the campfire and admitted he thinks Dominic Cummings is a “gimp”? Or when, on his ninth bushtucker trial, he was finally broken, weeping into a bath of eels? No one knows. But this much is true: he may have lost the Tory whip,...
- 11/17/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - TV
Picture the scene. It’s four weeks from now. Matt Hancock has been named king of the jungle. After a month of tears, torture and tepid banter, he has obliterated all competition. Boy George has made zero impact. Mike Tindall is in the dust. Jill Scott is no one. The public have voted to humiliate the former health secretary, and he has eaten it up. Literally: he has eaten every species of testicle. But at some point during this process there came a moment when the tide started to turn. When, exactly, is hard to say: when he taught Chris Moyles how to do parkour? When he played truth or dare round the campfire and admitted he thinks Dominic Cummings is a “gimp”? Or when, on his ninth bushtucker trial, he was finally broken, weeping into a bath of eels? No one knows. But this much is true: he may have lost the Tory whip,...
- 11/10/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - TV
Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock will reportedly take part in the new series of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, following the likes of Boy George, Seann Walsh and Mike Tindall into the jungle
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
- 11/4/2022
- by Joe Sommerlad
- The Independent - TV
Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock will reportedly take part in the new series of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, following the likes of Boy George, Seann Walsh and Mike Tindall into the jungle
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
- 11/4/2022
- by Joe Sommerlad
- The Independent - TV
Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock will reportedly take part in the new series of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, following the likes of Boy George, Seann Walsh and Mike Tindall into the jungle
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
“Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire,” an insider told The Sun.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.”
The Conservative MP for West Suffolk was first elected in 2010 and served as head of the department of health under Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, finding himself at the centre of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic first arrived on these shores in early 2020.
He was criticised over elements of...
- 11/1/2022
- by Joe Sommerlad
- The Independent - TV
The crisis of leadership Britain has been plunged into over recent years merits sustained study as a cautionary tale. But it demands deeper and sharper analysis than is available in “This England,” a curiously indifferent six-part miniseries notionally centred on former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the initial coronavirus outbreak, currently limping out on Sky’s U.K. arm.
When Winterbottom’s Revolution Films announced the project (originally titled “This Sceptred Isle”) last year – with Kenneth Branagh unveiled as the project’s Johnson – speculation was rife. Would the series be an ensemble satire, along the lines of Winterbottom’s rambunctious “24 Hour Party People”? Or an artfully sober inquiry, in the vein of the director’s Amanda Knox-inspired “The Face of an Angel”? In fact, it’s neither: what we’ve got is a hurriedly assembled primetime procedural that undermines its claim to rigorous accuracy from the off...
When Winterbottom’s Revolution Films announced the project (originally titled “This Sceptred Isle”) last year – with Kenneth Branagh unveiled as the project’s Johnson – speculation was rife. Would the series be an ensemble satire, along the lines of Winterbottom’s rambunctious “24 Hour Party People”? Or an artfully sober inquiry, in the vein of the director’s Amanda Knox-inspired “The Face of an Angel”? In fact, it’s neither: what we’ve got is a hurriedly assembled primetime procedural that undermines its claim to rigorous accuracy from the off...
- 10/7/2022
- by Mike McCahill
- Variety Film + TV
With an ego as gargantuan as his obviously is, it must be highly flattering to Boris Johnson that no less a figure than Sir Kenneth Branagh was chosen to play him in This England, Sky’s new drama about the now former Pm and the Covid crisis. More, still, that considerable time and energy has been spent on turning Branagh into a passable physical replica of Johnson.
A frequent problem in dramatisations such as these is whether the main players should basically be doing impressions of a well-known real-life figure, or rather play them more as they might a fictional figure, say Hamlet or Mr Darcy. In the case of This England, they’ve opted for the impersonations, with some uncanny likenesses. As Matt Hancock, Andrew Buchan reproduces every tiny intonation and mannerism of the hapless former health secretary so unnervingly well that it is as if they’d actually...
A frequent problem in dramatisations such as these is whether the main players should basically be doing impressions of a well-known real-life figure, or rather play them more as they might a fictional figure, say Hamlet or Mr Darcy. In the case of This England, they’ve opted for the impersonations, with some uncanny likenesses. As Matt Hancock, Andrew Buchan reproduces every tiny intonation and mannerism of the hapless former health secretary so unnervingly well that it is as if they’d actually...
- 9/30/2022
- by Sean O'Grady
- The Independent - TV
Do you remember the coronavirus pandemic? Chances are you do, firstly because it happened very recently and secondly because it was very, very horrible. The collective trauma of the event was unprecedented since the Second World War. With that in mind, here comes the show that precisely nobody was asking for: This England. Dominic Cummings yelling about Brexit! Dramatisations of people dying in the ICU!! Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson!!!
For all that This England (Sky Atlantic) sets out to be a panoptic view of the early months of the crisis, there’s a blonde tousled elephant in the room. Even if unintentional, the show is all about Boris Johnson, and the great problem with Branagh’s performance is that it’s simultaneously a fairly poor impression and an enormously distracting one. He paces and preens and the audience is constantly reminded that this is supposed to be Boris Johnson.
For all that This England (Sky Atlantic) sets out to be a panoptic view of the early months of the crisis, there’s a blonde tousled elephant in the room. Even if unintentional, the show is all about Boris Johnson, and the great problem with Branagh’s performance is that it’s simultaneously a fairly poor impression and an enormously distracting one. He paces and preens and the audience is constantly reminded that this is supposed to be Boris Johnson.
- 9/28/2022
- by Nick Hilton
- The Independent - TV
BBC Chair Richard Sharp has said MacTaggart lecturer Emily Maitlis was “completely wrong” to say due process was not followed after her now-infamous Dominic Cummings Newsnight rant, and rubbished her claim that a Conservative Party agent sits on the BBC Board.
Maitlis, who has now left the BBC and is fronting a Global podcast, made the comments during last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival address, stating that the BBC had “sought to pacify the complaint” immediately, which she disagreed with.
Speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Dcmsc) this morning, Sharp said Maitlis was “completely wrong” to say due process was not followed.
“While I thought the issues raised were worthwhile, I disagree with her view of impartiality which may mean she led with opinions, not facts. We found Newsnight had not appropriately addressed the issue because she led with her opinions.”
The now-infamous opening segment led with...
Maitlis, who has now left the BBC and is fronting a Global podcast, made the comments during last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival address, stating that the BBC had “sought to pacify the complaint” immediately, which she disagreed with.
Speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Dcmsc) this morning, Sharp said Maitlis was “completely wrong” to say due process was not followed.
“While I thought the issues raised were worthwhile, I disagree with her view of impartiality which may mean she led with opinions, not facts. We found Newsnight had not appropriately addressed the issue because she led with her opinions.”
The now-infamous opening segment led with...
- 9/6/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC has hit back at its former star presenter Emily Maitlis, who this week claimed the organization had succumbed to government interference when it reprimanded her over comments she made on air.
The day after Maitlis made the claim in her lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC’s director of content Charlotte Moore was quick to reject the suggestion.
Moore told the same Festival audience:
“In no way was there any influence from the government or from the board … Due process was followed and the BBC decided there was a breach of editorial standards. We hold everyone to account on editorial standards.”
She added that BBC viewers “expect our journalists to leave their personal agenda at the door – we’re not here to campaign” and it is important for the BBC to show “due impartiality on every subject.”
Read More: Emily Maitlis warns Edinburgh TV Festival audience...
The day after Maitlis made the claim in her lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC’s director of content Charlotte Moore was quick to reject the suggestion.
Moore told the same Festival audience:
“In no way was there any influence from the government or from the board … Due process was followed and the BBC decided there was a breach of editorial standards. We hold everyone to account on editorial standards.”
She added that BBC viewers “expect our journalists to leave their personal agenda at the door – we’re not here to campaign” and it is important for the BBC to show “due impartiality on every subject.”
Read More: Emily Maitlis warns Edinburgh TV Festival audience...
- 8/26/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Emily Maitlis has said that the reproach she received from BBC bosses over her 2020 on-air monologue about Dominic Cummings “makes no sense”.
In her much-scrutinised introduction on 26 May 2020, the former Newsnight host said Cummings, then Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, had “broken the rules” and added: “The country can see that and it’s shocked the government cannot.”
In response, a BBC spokesman said at the time: “The BBC places the highest value on due impartiality and accuracy and we apply these principles to our reporting on all issues.
“As we have made clear previously in relation to Newsnight we did not take action as a result of any pressure from Number 10 or government and to suggest otherwise is wrong. The BBC found the programme breached its editorial standards and that decision still stands.”
On Wednesday (24 August), during a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Maitlis spoke about this incident,...
In her much-scrutinised introduction on 26 May 2020, the former Newsnight host said Cummings, then Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, had “broken the rules” and added: “The country can see that and it’s shocked the government cannot.”
In response, a BBC spokesman said at the time: “The BBC places the highest value on due impartiality and accuracy and we apply these principles to our reporting on all issues.
“As we have made clear previously in relation to Newsnight we did not take action as a result of any pressure from Number 10 or government and to suggest otherwise is wrong. The BBC found the programme breached its editorial standards and that decision still stands.”
On Wednesday (24 August), during a speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Maitlis spoke about this incident,...
- 8/25/2022
- by Peony Hirwani
- The Independent - TV
British broadcaster Emily Maitlis has warned that populism has overcome the power of the mainstream media to hold politicians to account in the wake of Donald Trump’s popularity and Brexit, and unveiled a blueprint for wrestling back control in her MacTaggart lecture Wednesday.
Delivering this year’s annual Edinburgh TV Festival address as she takes a “deep breath” following her recent BBC exit, the former Newsnight presenter, globally recognized as the journalist behind the notorious Prince Andrew interview, said “one set of rules had been replaced with another” when Trump won the U.S. presidency in 2016.
She used a string of examples from the past five years, including the infamous Robert De Niro rant against Trump, to explain the way in which the media has allowed populists to dominate. It was part of her thoughtful speech entitled “Boiling Frog: Why We Have To Stop Normalising The Absurd.”
The mainstream...
Delivering this year’s annual Edinburgh TV Festival address as she takes a “deep breath” following her recent BBC exit, the former Newsnight presenter, globally recognized as the journalist behind the notorious Prince Andrew interview, said “one set of rules had been replaced with another” when Trump won the U.S. presidency in 2016.
She used a string of examples from the past five years, including the infamous Robert De Niro rant against Trump, to explain the way in which the media has allowed populists to dominate. It was part of her thoughtful speech entitled “Boiling Frog: Why We Have To Stop Normalising The Absurd.”
The mainstream...
- 8/24/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Dino Sofos might not be a household name in the same vein as Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart lecturer Emily Maitlis or former BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel, but he has had a mighty impact on the British broadcasting news landscape of late.
The creator of the hugely-popular Brexitcast, Americast and Newscast BBC Sounds podcast franchise exited the BBC after 15 years last November to set up his own production outfit, Persephonica, with Tom O’Hara, and has since had a hand in tempting BBC lifers Maitlis and Sopel away from the corporation, amidst a wider talent exodus that has left Broadcasting House bosses nervous.
Along with another ex-bbc heavyweight, Policy Editor Lewis Goodall, Persephonica is gearing up for the launch of Global podcast The News Agents, a daily audio show “holding power to account without fear or favor,” according to Sofos, who speaks to Deadline in the weeks before the launch.
The creator of the hugely-popular Brexitcast, Americast and Newscast BBC Sounds podcast franchise exited the BBC after 15 years last November to set up his own production outfit, Persephonica, with Tom O’Hara, and has since had a hand in tempting BBC lifers Maitlis and Sopel away from the corporation, amidst a wider talent exodus that has left Broadcasting House bosses nervous.
Along with another ex-bbc heavyweight, Policy Editor Lewis Goodall, Persephonica is gearing up for the launch of Global podcast The News Agents, a daily audio show “holding power to account without fear or favor,” according to Sofos, who speaks to Deadline in the weeks before the launch.
- 8/23/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
When it was announced that Michael Winterbottom would be making a series about the first pandemic lockdown in the spring of 2022, many assumed—or perhaps hoped—that the politically committed director would be holding the British government to account. However, speaking to Deadline at the 38th Sarajevo Film Festival, 25 years after his acclaimed war drama Welcome To Sarajevo screened there, Winterbottom revealed that, in common with many of his fictionalized but factual feature films, the six-part Sky series This England , which debuts 21 September, will be an ensemble piece, taking a bird’s-eye view of the British authorities’ initial response to Covid.
“Boris is just one strand that runs through it,” he said, “because it’s really a mosaic of lots of different stories. The most enjoyable part was the research, really, because we started it straight after the first wave, in June 2020. We got to talk to lots of scientists,...
“Boris is just one strand that runs through it,” he said, “because it’s really a mosaic of lots of different stories. The most enjoyable part was the research, really, because we started it straight after the first wave, in June 2020. We got to talk to lots of scientists,...
- 8/19/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
"You have to reign him in." Who's ready to revisit the pandemic again?! Sky TV has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a new series titled This England, with that title being spoken in a line of dialogue at the end of the trailer. It was originally pitched with the title This Sceptred Isle, but was updated for release this fall. The series follows the events surrounding Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government in the face of the first wave of the 2020 global pandemic. It's described as a "truly unique drama that combines Michael Winterbottom's talent for conveying powerful real-world stories with a stunning performance from Kenneth Branagh." Branagh stars as Boris, with a cast featuring Ophelia Lovibond as Carrie Symonds, Andrew Buchan as Matt Hancock, plus Tim Goodman, Alec Nicholls, James Corrigan, and Simon Paisley Day as Dominic Cummings. I was expecting this to be more...
- 8/18/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom says he has “no regrets” that the events depicted in his upcoming Sky series “This England,” which follows the Covid-19 response of outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, did not include the turbulent period that led to Johnson’s resignation in July.
Speaking to Variety at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where the director will be giving a masterclass on Friday, Winterbottom said it was his intention from the start to end the six-part limited series after the first wave of the pandemic, a decision that didn’t change with the dramatic events that forced Johnson to step down.
“There are limitations in ending it there, but I still think that was the best idea,” the director said. “It was very fresh, so I think we got a lot of stuff right.”
Produced by Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, “This England...
Speaking to Variety at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where the director will be giving a masterclass on Friday, Winterbottom said it was his intention from the start to end the six-part limited series after the first wave of the pandemic, a decision that didn’t change with the dramatic events that forced Johnson to step down.
“There are limitations in ending it there, but I still think that was the best idea,” the director said. “It was very fresh, so I think we got a lot of stuff right.”
Produced by Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, “This England...
- 8/18/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Chums, a forthcoming TV series about the Oxford University days of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is set to be illuminated by never before seen stills by acclaimed photographer Dafydd Jones.
Two Rivers recently optioned Simon Kuper’s book of the same name, telling the history of Johnson and fellow Oxford alumni turned politicians Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Chums is now set to become a four-part series, with many of the stories brought to life through the photography of Jones, who studied his craft Oxford Polytechnic while several of the country’s future leaders partied nearby.
On Instagram, Jones explained how he came to photograph future prime minister Boris Johnson:
“At Oxford the privately educated formed their own cliques separating the top private schools from the minor ones. They didn’t socialise much with those from state schools. I was turned down when I asked permission...
Two Rivers recently optioned Simon Kuper’s book of the same name, telling the history of Johnson and fellow Oxford alumni turned politicians Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Chums is now set to become a four-part series, with many of the stories brought to life through the photography of Jones, who studied his craft Oxford Polytechnic while several of the country’s future leaders partied nearby.
On Instagram, Jones explained how he came to photograph future prime minister Boris Johnson:
“At Oxford the privately educated formed their own cliques separating the top private schools from the minor ones. They didn’t socialise much with those from state schools. I was turned down when I asked permission...
- 6/12/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Sky Recommissions ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ On Four-Strong Entertainment Slate
Sky has commissioned a second season of its Never Mind the Buzzcocks reboot on a four-strong entertainment slate that includes a football quiz exec produced by Jack Whitehall. The recommission comes alongside a second series of Matt Lucas/Elis James’ Fantasy Football League, Whitehall’s quiz Got Got Need, which is led by football pundits Harry and Jamie Redknapp, and a Nish Kumar/Josh Widdicombe series about local news called Hold the Front Page. Cult music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks aired for nearly 20 years on the BBC before being rebooted last year on Sky, hosted by Greg Davies and featuring Noel Fielding, This Country star Daisy May Cooper and comedian Jamali Maddix. They are joined by a roster of top music and comedy stars each week. All shows will air on Sky Max, which replaced Sky One last year.
Sky has commissioned a second season of its Never Mind the Buzzcocks reboot on a four-strong entertainment slate that includes a football quiz exec produced by Jack Whitehall. The recommission comes alongside a second series of Matt Lucas/Elis James’ Fantasy Football League, Whitehall’s quiz Got Got Need, which is led by football pundits Harry and Jamie Redknapp, and a Nish Kumar/Josh Widdicombe series about local news called Hold the Front Page. Cult music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks aired for nearly 20 years on the BBC before being rebooted last year on Sky, hosted by Greg Davies and featuring Noel Fielding, This Country star Daisy May Cooper and comedian Jamali Maddix. They are joined by a roster of top music and comedy stars each week. All shows will air on Sky Max, which replaced Sky One last year.
- 5/17/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Billy Connolly will be the recipient of the Edinburgh Television Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
The Scottish comedian and actor will also be in conversation at the fest in a session hosted by his wife, Pamela Stephenson Connolly, which will reflect on his extensive body of work and successes within the industry. Connolly retired from comedy in 2018 and has been focusing on his work as an artist since.
Also in Edinburgh news, Lin-Manuel Miranda will be interviewed by producer Jane Tranter in a session focusing on talent and specifically how to nurture and support new generations of creatives. Miranda will also answer questions from emerging creatives, including from the TV Foundation’s talent schemes and Screen Alliance Wales.
Completing this year’s lineup of masterclasses will be a session focusing on Amazon doc All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. Hosted by Radio 1’s Rickie Haywood-Williams, the event will include Amazon Studios’ Dan Grabiner,...
The Scottish comedian and actor will also be in conversation at the fest in a session hosted by his wife, Pamela Stephenson Connolly, which will reflect on his extensive body of work and successes within the industry. Connolly retired from comedy in 2018 and has been focusing on his work as an artist since.
Also in Edinburgh news, Lin-Manuel Miranda will be interviewed by producer Jane Tranter in a session focusing on talent and specifically how to nurture and support new generations of creatives. Miranda will also answer questions from emerging creatives, including from the TV Foundation’s talent schemes and Screen Alliance Wales.
Completing this year’s lineup of masterclasses will be a session focusing on Amazon doc All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. Hosted by Radio 1’s Rickie Haywood-Williams, the event will include Amazon Studios’ Dan Grabiner,...
- 8/17/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Benedict Cumberbatch on the friendship at the centre of The Courier, & the multiverse of MCU content
With his new film The Courier finally due out in UK cinemas this week, we had the pleasure of catching up with star Benedict Cumberbatch to discuss the new thriller that shows an important part of history that we – and many more, we suspect – would not have been aware of before.
The Courier sees Cumberbatch star as British businessman Greville Wynne, unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Like us, Cumberbatch himself had no idea about the story of these two men but, as with other roles he has taken on, that was part of the mystery and why he signed on.
“I think my parents might remember it but I shamelessly knew nothing about it,...
The Courier sees Cumberbatch star as British businessman Greville Wynne, unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Like us, Cumberbatch himself had no idea about the story of these two men but, as with other roles he has taken on, that was part of the mystery and why he signed on.
“I think my parents might remember it but I shamelessly knew nothing about it,...
- 8/10/2021
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: Here are your first look images from Brit indie film Venice At Dawn, which features House Of The Dragon star Fabien Frankel alongside This Sceptred Isle actress Greta Bellamacina.
The plot follows two unlikely thieves, Dixon (Frankel) and Sally (Bellamacina), who after meeting drunkenly in a bar plot to steal an expensive painting from Sally’s ex-boyfriend Stephen (Tom Basden).
Lead supporting cast are Celyn Jones and Tanya Burr, with supporting roles for Richard Ellis, Nick Helm, Sophie Kennedy Clark, and Ruhtxjiaih Bèllènéa.
Shot on location in London, the movie heralds from director Jamie Adams (Black Mountain Poets) and was shot in his signature semi-improvised mumblecore style, but also with a nod to the Ealing comedies of the 1960s.
The Serpent and Last Christmas actor Frankel was the lead in ABC’s TV movie reboot of the NYPD Blue detective show and was recently announced as key character Criston...
The plot follows two unlikely thieves, Dixon (Frankel) and Sally (Bellamacina), who after meeting drunkenly in a bar plot to steal an expensive painting from Sally’s ex-boyfriend Stephen (Tom Basden).
Lead supporting cast are Celyn Jones and Tanya Burr, with supporting roles for Richard Ellis, Nick Helm, Sophie Kennedy Clark, and Ruhtxjiaih Bèllènéa.
Shot on location in London, the movie heralds from director Jamie Adams (Black Mountain Poets) and was shot in his signature semi-improvised mumblecore style, but also with a nod to the Ealing comedies of the 1960s.
The Serpent and Last Christmas actor Frankel was the lead in ABC’s TV movie reboot of the NYPD Blue detective show and was recently announced as key character Criston...
- 5/10/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Michael Winterbottom has temporarily stepped back from his directing duties on Sky’s Boris Johnson series This Sceptred Isle for health reasons.
Winterbottom is working remotely and is said to be recovering well. The Crown and Brideshead Revisited helmer Julian Jarrold will take over in the interim, overseeing the current block of episodes, before Winterbottom returns to direct the next block. Production on the buzzy five-part series continues.
Co-written by The Trip helmer Winterbottom, This Sceptred Isle is based on first-hand testimony from those close to British prime minister Johnson. It will chart the events surrounding the Pm, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Kenneth Branagh leads a cast that includes Ophelia Lovibond as Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and Simon Paisley Day as Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior adviser at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
Winterbottom is working remotely and is said to be recovering well. The Crown and Brideshead Revisited helmer Julian Jarrold will take over in the interim, overseeing the current block of episodes, before Winterbottom returns to direct the next block. Production on the buzzy five-part series continues.
Co-written by The Trip helmer Winterbottom, This Sceptred Isle is based on first-hand testimony from those close to British prime minister Johnson. It will chart the events surrounding the Pm, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Kenneth Branagh leads a cast that includes Ophelia Lovibond as Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and Simon Paisley Day as Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior adviser at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
- 3/24/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Sky’s buzzy series on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has found its latest protagonists in the shape of Elementary actress Ophelia Lovibond and Brexit: The Uncivil War star Simon Paisley Day.
Deadline can reveal that Lovibond will star next to Kenneth Branagh as Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in This Sceptred Isle. Paisley Day will play Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior adviser at the height of the coronavirus crisis, which provides the backdrop to the five-part series.
Co-written and directed by The Trip helmer Michael Winterbottom, This Sceptred Isle is based on first-hand testimony from those close to Johnson. It will chart the events surrounding the Pm, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global coronavirus pandemic.
There is little doubt it was an extraordinary period for the British leader, who fell critically ill with Covid-19 and weeks after his discharge from hospital,...
Deadline can reveal that Lovibond will star next to Kenneth Branagh as Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in This Sceptred Isle. Paisley Day will play Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s most senior adviser at the height of the coronavirus crisis, which provides the backdrop to the five-part series.
Co-written and directed by The Trip helmer Michael Winterbottom, This Sceptred Isle is based on first-hand testimony from those close to Johnson. It will chart the events surrounding the Pm, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global coronavirus pandemic.
There is little doubt it was an extraordinary period for the British leader, who fell critically ill with Covid-19 and weeks after his discharge from hospital,...
- 3/3/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
When the only music you can stand is the drumbeat of rage coursing through your aching head, the Sleaford Mods are always good for a spin. They’re Nottingham, England’s answer to the Fall, with singer Jason Williamson rant-rapping about everything from austerity-era Britain to consumerism to the foibles of the music business over Andrew Fearn’s spare-yet-sharp beats.
Spare Ribs, the Mods’ 11th LP since they formed in 2007, is a veritable a la carte menu of outrages. Sick of hipsters who fetishize the blue-collar existence? Check out “Nudge It,...
Spare Ribs, the Mods’ 11th LP since they formed in 2007, is a veritable a la carte menu of outrages. Sick of hipsters who fetishize the blue-collar existence? Check out “Nudge It,...
- 1/13/2021
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
This His Dark Materials review contains spoilers.
By now, this series has firmly established the rule that if you put Mrs Coulter in a scene, you’ve got yourself a scene. It almost doesn’t matter who she’s paired with. Lee Scoresby, a Magisterium toady, a mirror… So long as Ruth Wilson is there, fizzing with barely concealed rage and oozing manipulative seduction, it works.
She doesn’t even need to speak, as this episode’s opening showed. Let Mrs Coulter watch a woman from our world tapping away at a laptop while rocking her baby and it’s all we need to understand the character’s fascination, frustration and regrets.
With that in mind, it makes sense that this adaptation keeps inventing new places for Mrs Coulter to appear. Much of ‘The Scholar’ was devoted to telling her story in our world, and did so with humour and empathy.
By now, this series has firmly established the rule that if you put Mrs Coulter in a scene, you’ve got yourself a scene. It almost doesn’t matter who she’s paired with. Lee Scoresby, a Magisterium toady, a mirror… So long as Ruth Wilson is there, fizzing with barely concealed rage and oozing manipulative seduction, it works.
She doesn’t even need to speak, as this episode’s opening showed. Let Mrs Coulter watch a woman from our world tapping away at a laptop while rocking her baby and it’s all we need to understand the character’s fascination, frustration and regrets.
With that in mind, it makes sense that this adaptation keeps inventing new places for Mrs Coulter to appear. Much of ‘The Scholar’ was devoted to telling her story in our world, and did so with humour and empathy.
- 12/6/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
In the midst of a pandemic — and ample political and social turmoil — who better to release new music than Nottingham electro-punks the Sleaford Mods? Spare Ribs is out on January 15th, but you can watch the video for “Mork N Mindy” — directed by Ben Wheatley (Rebecca) — right now.
Although a few songs on the record — including “Mork N Mindy” — were written pre-Covid-19, frontman Jason Williamson counts the pandemic and lockdown as inspiration for most of the tracks. “Nobody knew what was going to go on,” he tells Rolling Stone of...
Although a few songs on the record — including “Mork N Mindy” — were written pre-Covid-19, frontman Jason Williamson counts the pandemic and lockdown as inspiration for most of the tracks. “Nobody knew what was going to go on,” he tells Rolling Stone of...
- 10/30/2020
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
BBC/ITV SVoD lands trio of dramas from high-profile talent.
Anthony Horowitz, Irvine Welsh and Ridley Scott projects are spearheading UK SVoD BritBox’s debut drama slate.
The BBC and ITV joint-venture has ordered a trio of crime adaptations from the high-profile authors, along with a Patrick Spence (Fortitude) project, as it moves into high-end scripted programming for the first time.
Set to air across 2021 and 2022 with several of the series lengths yet to be determined, the calibre of the talent secured underlines the extent of BritBox’s scripted ambitions.
The Beast Must Die, from Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and New Regency Television,...
Anthony Horowitz, Irvine Welsh and Ridley Scott projects are spearheading UK SVoD BritBox’s debut drama slate.
The BBC and ITV joint-venture has ordered a trio of crime adaptations from the high-profile authors, along with a Patrick Spence (Fortitude) project, as it moves into high-end scripted programming for the first time.
Set to air across 2021 and 2022 with several of the series lengths yet to be determined, the calibre of the talent secured underlines the extent of BritBox’s scripted ambitions.
The Beast Must Die, from Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and New Regency Television,...
- 7/22/2020
- by 1101459¦Hannah Bowler Broadcast¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Lockdown has inspired some great satirical art. Only yesterday I saw a dog waste bin in my local woods affixed with a picture of Dominic Cummings. Our movements, like those of the dogs of Blean Nature Reserve, may be contained, but our creativity runs free.
In the case of Staged, a six-part BBC One comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, containment was both inspiration and form. Conceived by Simon Evans and Phin Glyn, the series was made and set during UK lockdown. The episodes were all filmed, by necessity, inside the cast’s homes, and scenes were spliced with stock footage of the two main locations in London and Wales.
Unlike some lockdown TV projects which have been borne forth on a wave of gratitude for the efforts made to keep calm and telly on, Staged is the real deal. It’s perfectly suited to the format and properly funny.
In the case of Staged, a six-part BBC One comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, containment was both inspiration and form. Conceived by Simon Evans and Phin Glyn, the series was made and set during UK lockdown. The episodes were all filmed, by necessity, inside the cast’s homes, and scenes were spliced with stock footage of the two main locations in London and Wales.
Unlike some lockdown TV projects which have been borne forth on a wave of gratitude for the efforts made to keep calm and telly on, Staged is the real deal. It’s perfectly suited to the format and properly funny.
- 6/23/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: A BBC insider has told us the decision to reprimand Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis on Wednesday over her comments about Dominic Cummings was “weak and embarrassing.”
In a blistering attack, the well-placed BBC news source, who works on one of the corporation’s flagship shows, said: “BBC bosses couldn’t have handled this situation any worse. Rushing to judgment in order to hang one of its prized assets out to dry is frankly weak and embarrassing.“
They added that the decision has caused “dismay and anger” within the Newsnight ranks: “The mood among the team is of dismay and anger at this decision. We stand behind Emily and the editor Esmé [Wren] in support of them on this. The decision by BBC management will only act to undermine Newsnight’s award-winning journalism during a crucial time when it’s needed most.”
Maitlis clarified last night that, contrary to reports, she...
In a blistering attack, the well-placed BBC news source, who works on one of the corporation’s flagship shows, said: “BBC bosses couldn’t have handled this situation any worse. Rushing to judgment in order to hang one of its prized assets out to dry is frankly weak and embarrassing.“
They added that the decision has caused “dismay and anger” within the Newsnight ranks: “The mood among the team is of dismay and anger at this decision. We stand behind Emily and the editor Esmé [Wren] in support of them on this. The decision by BBC management will only act to undermine Newsnight’s award-winning journalism during a crucial time when it’s needed most.”
Maitlis clarified last night that, contrary to reports, she...
- 5/28/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
BBC presenter Emily Maitlis has been reprimanded by the broadcaster for comments made on last night’s edition of flagship news and current affairs program Newsnight about a controversial lockdown trip taken by government aide Dominic Cummings.
Deadline has confirmed that Maitlis will not be hosting Wednesday’s edition of the program, which is due to go out at 22.45Pm UK time (2:45Pm Pt). UK Editor Katie Razzall will instead be in the main chair.
The BBC is denying that it has enforced the change. A tweet from an account claiming to be Newsnight editor Esme Wren stated that Maitlis “hasn’t been replaced in response to the statement” and that Razzall was “part of the team”, inferring that a shift in host was not out of the ordinary.
Razzall also tweeted saying, “Just for the record, Emily Maitlis has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight...
Deadline has confirmed that Maitlis will not be hosting Wednesday’s edition of the program, which is due to go out at 22.45Pm UK time (2:45Pm Pt). UK Editor Katie Razzall will instead be in the main chair.
The BBC is denying that it has enforced the change. A tweet from an account claiming to be Newsnight editor Esme Wren stated that Maitlis “hasn’t been replaced in response to the statement” and that Razzall was “part of the team”, inferring that a shift in host was not out of the ordinary.
Razzall also tweeted saying, “Just for the record, Emily Maitlis has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight...
- 5/27/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s nothing like a major political scandal to deliver TV ratings, and so it proved in the U.K. this bank holiday weekend.
Despite it being the hottest day of the year, a reported 3.7 million viewers tuned into BBC One on Monday afternoon to hear Dominic Cummings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief advisor, defend his decision to make a 260-mile trip while the country was in lockdown. Cummings was recently portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the Channel 4/HBO drama “Brexit: The Uncivil War.”
Cummings explained yesterday that he had not told Boris Johnson when he decided to take his family from London to County Durham, in the North of England, on March 27 after his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms.
Cummings — who masterminded the successful Brexit campaign ahead of the U.K.’s referendum on E.U. membership — said he believed he had acted “reasonably” and within the law.
Cummings...
Despite it being the hottest day of the year, a reported 3.7 million viewers tuned into BBC One on Monday afternoon to hear Dominic Cummings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief advisor, defend his decision to make a 260-mile trip while the country was in lockdown. Cummings was recently portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the Channel 4/HBO drama “Brexit: The Uncivil War.”
Cummings explained yesterday that he had not told Boris Johnson when he decided to take his family from London to County Durham, in the North of England, on March 27 after his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms.
Cummings — who masterminded the successful Brexit campaign ahead of the U.K.’s referendum on E.U. membership — said he believed he had acted “reasonably” and within the law.
Cummings...
- 5/26/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Dominating headlines in the UK this bank holiday weekend was the revelation that Dominic Cummings, chief advisor to Pm Boris Johnson, had taken a 260-mile trip while his wife was displaying coronavirus symptoms.
Fellow politicians and journalists, as well as much of the public, were incensed by what appeared to be an overt breach of the country’s lockdown policy, with numerous calls for his resignation.
Cummings appeared on TV on Monday afternoon to address the controversy, making a staunch defense of his actions as “reasonable”, claims that were subsequently backed up by his boss Johnson. A total of 3.7 million viewers tuned in to BBC One for the statement, according to the BBC Live Political Programmes’s editor Rob Burley on Twitter.
Looking to clarify events, the government aide stated that on March 27 he visited his wife, who was experiencing coronavirus symptoms, but then returned to work. This itself appears...
Fellow politicians and journalists, as well as much of the public, were incensed by what appeared to be an overt breach of the country’s lockdown policy, with numerous calls for his resignation.
Cummings appeared on TV on Monday afternoon to address the controversy, making a staunch defense of his actions as “reasonable”, claims that were subsequently backed up by his boss Johnson. A total of 3.7 million viewers tuned in to BBC One for the statement, according to the BBC Live Political Programmes’s editor Rob Burley on Twitter.
Looking to clarify events, the government aide stated that on March 27 he visited his wife, who was experiencing coronavirus symptoms, but then returned to work. This itself appears...
- 5/26/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Spitting Image is returning after BritBox handed the puppet comedy reboot a two season order – its first original commission in the UK.
The Svod service ordered the series from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver producer Avalon. It will air in the autumn with the second season to follow in 2021.
Development of the puppets is already underway with Dominic Cummings, James Corden, Donald Trump, RuPaul, Boris Johnson, Beyoncé, Elon Musk, Harry & Meghan, Bernie Sanders, Prince Andrew, Adele, and Vladimir Putin all falling under the show’s gaze.
The reboot was first revealed by Deadline in November 2017. It is being overseen by Roger Law, co-creator of the original series, which ran for 18 series on ITV.
The show features puppet caricatures of celebrities and politicians and in the 1980s and early 1990s was famous for featuring the likes of Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher. A U.S. pilot was produced...
The Svod service ordered the series from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver producer Avalon. It will air in the autumn with the second season to follow in 2021.
Development of the puppets is already underway with Dominic Cummings, James Corden, Donald Trump, RuPaul, Boris Johnson, Beyoncé, Elon Musk, Harry & Meghan, Bernie Sanders, Prince Andrew, Adele, and Vladimir Putin all falling under the show’s gaze.
The reboot was first revealed by Deadline in November 2017. It is being overseen by Roger Law, co-creator of the original series, which ran for 18 series on ITV.
The show features puppet caricatures of celebrities and politicians and in the 1980s and early 1990s was famous for featuring the likes of Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher. A U.S. pilot was produced...
- 3/4/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren has said that it is time for the BBC to consider other ways of funding itself as a debate rages in the UK about the future of the licence fee.
In quotes widely reported in the British press, Mirren told an audience at the Kiln Theatre in London that the licence fee, a mandatory £154.50 ($200) levy on UK households, has “had its day.”
Mirren stressed that “we cannot lose the BBC,” but on the licence fee, she reportedly said: “I think we are moving past that. And what will follow it I don’t know. I think that the licence fee has had its day.”
The actress was speaking against the backdrop of a spirited debate about the future of the BBC in the UK, with Boris Johnson’s government apparently making moves to weaken the corporation and threaten its future funding.
The licence fee will...
In quotes widely reported in the British press, Mirren told an audience at the Kiln Theatre in London that the licence fee, a mandatory £154.50 ($200) levy on UK households, has “had its day.”
Mirren stressed that “we cannot lose the BBC,” but on the licence fee, she reportedly said: “I think we are moving past that. And what will follow it I don’t know. I think that the licence fee has had its day.”
The actress was speaking against the backdrop of a spirited debate about the future of the BBC in the UK, with Boris Johnson’s government apparently making moves to weaken the corporation and threaten its future funding.
The licence fee will...
- 2/18/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
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