BBC Four: Women We’ve Loved

There’s a TV season that I am rather looking forward to on BBC Four which starts on 16th November, called ‘Women We’ve Loved‘.

The season consists of three films, one about Enid Blyton, one on Gracie Fields and the final on Margot Fonteyn.

I am a big fan of all three, especially Enid Blyton, so I heartily applaud BBC Four for creating this season!

In Enid, Helena Bonham Carter is actually in a role that isn’t ’scary’ nor opposite Johnny Depp, and directed by Tim Burton – and she looks great in it!

The first of the films will be Enid, which will be shown on BBC Four on Monday 16th November, 21:00 – 22:25, with Gracie! shown the week after, and Margot the week following that.

A short synopsis of each of the films follows; if you click on the links you will find short preview trailers of each.

Enid

Helena Bonham Carter leads the cast in Enid, written by Lindsay Shapero, and is joined by Matthew Macfadyen and Denis Lawson.

Blyton’s charming characters and classic tales have enchanted countless generations of children for almost 80 years and she has sold more than 500 million books in 40 countries. This drama casts light on the ambitious and driven woman behind the beloved Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers and the Noddy series.

From the adversity of an imperfect childhood to renowned author and household name, the orderly, reassuringly clear worlds that Enid Blyton created within her stories contrasted with the intricacy of her personal life.

Gracie!

Jane Horrocks is Gracie! in Nick Vivian’s romantic comedy about Gracie Fields, singer and comedienne from Rochdale who rose to fame in the Thirties – becoming the nation’s darling and highest-paid film actress in the world.

Renowned for her “common touch”, Gracie symbolised the indomitable spirit of Thirties Britain. Her mass appeal was unprecedented.

Beginning at the phenomenal peak of her career when her iconic status seemed indestructible, this one-off film examines Gracie’s potent war-time struggle between love and duty, and the staggering long-term repercussions of her relationship with Italian-born Hollywood director Monty Banks.

The film opens a window on the complicated and fragile private life of a very public star who, despite everything, was determined to keep the nation laughing.

Jane Horrocks will sing a stunning repertoire of Gracie songs including Sally, Sing As We Go and I Never Cried So Much In All My Life.

Margot

Anne-Marie Duff stars as Margot Fonteyn, one of the greatest dancers of our time. Margot is written by Amanda Coe, and partly based on Meredith Daneman’s Fonteyn biography.

Margot tells the story of the prima ballerina assoluta’s dancing partnership and complex relationship with Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, forged towards the end of her career.

The partnership propelled them into the stratosphere of international stardom, creating a kind of celebrity that had never existed before and securing their place in the hearts of audiences and the history of ballet.

Margot also stars Sir Derek Jacobi as choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton; Penelope Wilton as Margot’s mother BQ; Lindsay Duncan as Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet; Con O’Neill as Margot’s husband Tito; and Dutch actor Michiel Huisman as Nureyev.

Bradley James and Colin Morgan (Merlin)

I was so busy last week, that I completely forgot to post these hawt stills of Bradley James as Prince Arthur in Merlin!

My other post on Merlin is probably the most popular on my entire blog, so I thought I’d add some more fuel to the fire!

Oh, and BBC – can Colin Morgan (Merlin) be allowed to get his kit off too please?!

Oh, and I have scoured the internet long and hard, to find what seems to be the only picture online of Colin Morgan without his smock on !

Robbie Williams – BBC Electric Proms and new album

Having previously blogged about the build up to the performance, I’ve just caught up with the BBC Electric Proms and had chance to see Robbie’s performance, having only had opportunity to listen to the audio via Radio One during the week.

I do wish that he’d stop lauding this ‘it’s been three years since I last gigged’ fact… it makes me feel really old, as I can still remember all the work that we put into his last tour as if it were only yesterday heh!!

The Electric Proms performance at Camden Roundhouse was absolutely fabulous I though!

I’m a fan of the Electric Proms themselves, I tend to love any album or concert that weaves orchestras into popular music (such as Metallica’s S&M gig), and Robbie’s music was rife for such treatment, especially as there seems to be a lot of orchestration in his new album (yay!).

For me, the highlight of the entire gig was when he performed ‘We Know You‘, which will be the second song from his new album, and will be released on December 14th 2009.

The sound on this track is gorgeous! I love the lazy, classical, sweeping refrains/sound to the track, and I have a feeling that I will rate this of one of his best tracks given a few more listens.

Hopefully, that won’t be the kiss-of-death for the track, as I tend to get really passionate about the Robbie tracks (and performances) that fall by the wayside somewhat! (Note, this does not include the RudeBox album… that fell by the wayside all on its own!!).

A few of the other new tracks previewed are as below:

For people in the UK, there are currently plenty of ways to catch up on the performance:

• Hit the Red button on Freeview (from BBC channels) – or go directly to channel 301 – the gig is on a constant loop.
• BBC iPlayer also carries the audio from Radio One – which gives an unedited version of the gig (the visual was edited slightly – a lot of the  ad-lib stuff (that was rather endearing to Robbie) was cut out unfortunately).

As a side note, this gig has also been screened in cinemas in several different countries, and has earned this performance the official Guinness World Record for “most cinematic screenings of a live concert” – not bad when you consider that the last Take That concert was made available to people via Vue Cinema screens too!

The track listing for ‘Reality Killed The Video Star’ will be as below:

#	Title		Length
1.	“Morning Sun”		4:05
2.	“Bodies”		4:01
3.	“You Know Me”		4:27
4.	“Blasphemy”		4:18
5.	“Do You Mind?”		4:06
6.	“Last Days of Disco”		4:50
7.	“Somewhere”		1:01
8.	“Deceptacon”		5:01
9.	“Starstruck”		5:21
10.	“Difficult for Weirdos”		4:29
11.	“Won’t Do That”		3:38
12.	“Superblind”		4:46
13.	“Morning Sun (Reprise)”		1:19

Very pleased that Robbie is back on top form, can’t wait for the album, and I really look forward to the possibility of him gigging again in the very near future!

Criminal Justice, Series Two

After my initial ravings about the award-winning Criminal Justice (series one), I think that I was setting myself up for disappointment when it came to series two.

Although a good piece of drama, I felt that it didn’t hold up against series one if I’m honest. The story line, character development and writing was much better in the first.

As is to be expected with any TV series, the ratings for the second series were slightly down on the first – the second averaged a respectable 4.4 million viewers per night against season one’s 5.2 million per night.

It was, however, really good to see Maxine in something different – hasn’t she come on a lot since her days as Twinkle on Dinnerladies?!

I rushed out to purchase season one when it came out on DVD recently, though I won’t be doing the same for series two I’m afraid (which is scheduled for 28th December 2009 incidentally).

Robbie Williams – Electric Proms (trailer)

Rather liking the trail spot for Robbie Williams’ spot on the BBC Electric Proms schedule!

For UK readers, the gig will be broadcast from 7pm on Radio One on the night  (Tuesday 20th October 2009), and will be shown on BBC Two shortly afterwards (on the Tuesday). The gig will stay available via BBC iPlayer/ the ‘red’ button until 31st October.

For those outside the UK, the Prom is due to be shown around the world at various cinema screens (visit this link for more information).

My favourite Robbie performance was the one that he did in Berlin for the album launch of ‘Intensive Care’ (incidentally, this is my favourite Robbie album, and also the one that I thought had the best artwork surrounding it! – t’was awesome I thought) and so I am hoping that this performance harks back to that more mature and stylish performance style/sound. I loved the inclusion of ‘real’ instruments back at the 2005 launch!

As an aside, there is a give away called ‘Songbook’ in The Mail On Sunday this weekend (11th October 2009) – as loathe as I am to say it, I may consider purchasing The Mail so that I can get hold of a copy :-\

Again, for those in the UK, look out for Robbie on this weekend’s X-Factor Live Show too!

More Robbie tracks from the new album (‘Reality Killed The Video Star’) to be previewed please!!

Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking for Dorothy

It would appear that Andrew Lloyd Webber IS going to press ahead with his Wizard Of Oz show, despite initially changing his mind (a few times) due to commitments with ‘Love Never Dies’.

Very bad decision in my opinion and, despite my enormous adulation for musical theatre, I really think this will be a turkey. We already have Wicked in the West End, so why would we need The Wizard of Oz?!

The talent search doesn’t even have an imaginative show name FFS!

Additionally, isn’t it about time we looked for more male leads as we’ve already done ladies twice before now? I would presume that the token lad (and hopefully not yet another stage school brat child)  is going to be the person they get to play Toto? (WTF is that all about – really, Toto, a singing dog?! *sigh!!*)

No doubt the show will be even more packed with gay innuendo (and not just from Graham Norton!)… they’ve clearly just gone, oooh ‘Nancy’ got a few laughs, let’s go the whole hog.

He should stick to what he knows best, his OWN musicals – many of which I’d love to see come back, not least Jesus Christ Superstar (especially with one of the more well known Jesus’ -  Glenn Carter – currently in Jersey Boys, the West End would really benefit), Aspects of Love or a proper production of  Sunset Boulevard (casting for Norma Desmond or Joe Gillis would be awesome!).

Boo.

Lord Lloyd-Webber to find Dorothy

Lord Lloyd-Webber’s latest Saturday night talent show will search for a girl to play Dorothy and a dog to play Toto in The Wizard Of Oz, the BBC says.

Winners of the programme will star in a West End production of the musical.

It follows BBC One’s I’d Do Anything, Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? which also found musical stars.

The new programme, also called The Wizard Of Oz, will again be presented by Graham Norton.

Lord Lloyd-Webber, 61, said the previous talent shows he had made with the BBC had “provided an incredible shot in the arm for musical theatre in Britain”.

I can’t wait to work with the BBC again in the hunt for Dorothy – an iconic role of course made famous by a young Judy Garland in the film in 1939,” he added.

“But, as a cat man myself, however, I approach casting Toto with considerable trepidation.”

The search for Dorothy will begin with auditions across the UK in early 2010 with the programme airing later in the year.

Lord Lloyd-Webber’s fellow judges have yet to be announced.

Doctor Who: The End Of Time

NB – Spoilers – please DO NOT watch the YouTube clip if you do not want to see any cast information on Doctor Who: “The End Of Time” (the final Tennant episodes airing over Christmas 2009).

The video clip is admittedly of poor quality, taken by someone at yesterday’s SD Comic Convention, but it’s the best there is at the moment, and still watchable!

Enjoy – I am very excited!

First picture of Matt Smith as The Doctor

In my opinion, great to see a bit of a personality shining through and not just the surly publicity stills that have been churned out of Matt Smith. I’m warming to him a lot on the basis of this one photo… weird!

Full guff below:

Via BBC / Lizo Mzimba :

Doctor Who fans have been given their first look at the new costume being worn by Matt Smith, the 11th actor to play the role.

The Time Lord’s new look consists of tweed jacket, bow tie, rolled up trousers and black boots.

Filming on the new episodes begins on Monday in Cardiff, with the new series going out in spring 2010.

Smith is taking over from David Tennant, whose last episodes will be shown at the end of the year.

“I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show,” Smith said after arriving on set for his first day of filming.

“The scripts are brilliant – I’m excited about the future and all the brilliant adventures I get to go on as the Doctor.”

The Doctor will also have a new companion – Amy Pond – played by Karen Gillan, who meets the Time Lord in episode one of the new series.

There is also a changed team behind the scenes, led by new lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat who will be responsible for the overall creative direction of the show, as well as plot and character arcs.

“Matt and Karen are going to be incredible, and Doctor Who is going to come alive on Saturday nights in a whole new way,” Moffat said.

Since its return in 2005, Doctor Who has won a number of accolades, including Baftas and National Television Awards.

A Short Stay In Switzerland

When this aired earlier this year, I have to say, I was greatly moved by it!

Julie Walters is truly one of our finest actors and what she brought to this performance was phenomenal I thought! I was in floods by the time that I’d finished watching it, and it really did get under my skin.

Anyway, I am briefly blogging about the programme to highlight that it is coming out on DVD on Monday 27th July ‘09 – hurrah!!!

[inspired by the story of Anne Turner]

Having just witnessed the death of her husband Jack from an incurable neurological disease, Anne Turner (Julie Walters) is diagnosed with a near identical illness.

With determined rationality, Anne’s answer is that once her illness has reached a critical point, she will take her own life. And she needs her children’s support.

But the more her son and two daughters struggle to gain consensus over their mother’s desire to die as they struggle to find another way through, the further they pull apart.

From Jessica’s silent recriminations to Sophie’s stubborn practicality, the magnitude of the situation threatens to tear the family to pieces.

Anne must also face the fury of her best friend Claire – whose opposing views bring them into direct and vocal conflict.

Writer Frank McGuinness adds: “As a doctor Anne Turner lived and worked by her principles, and she chose to die by them. This film recognises that rare courage.”

Source

Maid Marian And Her Merry Men

I’ve just started re-watching the first series of this fabulous kids TV programme, which ran in the UK from 1989 through until 1994.

The programme still seems just as fresh as it did 20 years ago, and I can still remember the exit-tune from my childhood – is there any child of a certain age who honestly doesn’t?!

Only 24 episodes were made of the series; six 25 minute long episodes per each of the four series.

I’ve still got a few episodes to go on Series One, before moving into some of the later series, however I can’t wait until I get to some of the episodes which parodied popular culture of the day (the Jurassic Park and Crystal Maze episodes to name but a few heh!!)