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Peter Dinklage became a force to be reckoned with at the Emmys during his tenure as Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” with the actor winning four wins from eight nominations. The cast of “Game of Thrones” was so good, however, that many of them are still Emmys forces even after the show ended and they’ve moved on to different projects. Let’s take a look at the “Game of Thrones” alumni who could compete at this year’s Emmys.

Jonathan Pryce — “The Crown” and “Slow Horses”

Another “Thrones” guest actor who deserved some awards attention for his magnetic turn as the High Sparrow; he was one of the show’s most hissable villains. Now, he’s in line for a Drama Supporting Actor bid for portraying Prince Phillip in “The Crown.” Pryce’s Prince Phillip is more of a supporting player in the show than Matt Smith‘s version was,...

Five top film makeup and hair awards contenders will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2024 awards contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Thursday, December 7, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Denton Davidson and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

Golda (Bleecker Street)

Synopsis: Focuses on the intensely dramatic and high-stakes responsibilities and decisions that Golda Meir, also known as the ‘Iron Lady of Israel,’ faced during the Yom Kippur War.

Bio: Karen Hartley-Thomas was an Emmy nominee for “Little Dorrit” and “Cranford.” Other projects have included “Patrick Melrose,...

Carl Davis, who composed the scores for The French Lieutenant’s Woman, the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice and perhaps most famously Abel Gance’s epic 1927 silent film Napoléon, has died. He was 86.

Davis died Thursday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, his family announced.

“We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music,” they wrote on Twitter. “A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation, and he wrote scores for some of the most-loved and remembered British television dramas.”

Born in Brooklyn but living in the U.K. since 1961, Davis was hired by documentarians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill to create music for the 13-hour 1980 miniseries Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film and for Napoléon.

“My first score for a silent movie was Napoleon,” he said in 2010. “Five hours of it! It...

To mark the release of Allelujah arriving for Premium Digital Ownership and Premium Digital Rental from 17th April and will also be available on Blu-Ray and DVD from 29th May, we have 3 Blu-Rays to give away!

Allelujah is directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay by Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford), and based on the stage play by Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The Lady in The Van). It is a warm, humorous and deeply moving story about surviving old age:

When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. Allelujah celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand.

“Game of Thrones” consistently landed multiple nominations for its eclectic cast, with Tyrion Lannister actor Peter Dinklage earning the most out of his costars with eight nominations and four wins. Now, the prequel show “House of the Dragon” may take over that mantle with several players from that show competing for Emmy bids this season. However, the ghost of “Thrones” remains with many alumni in the running for other shows this year. Let’s take a closer look at a half dozen who we predict are the likeliest to hear their names on Emmy nominations morning.

Hannah Waddingham — “Ted Lasso”

Waddingham played Septa Unella in “Thrones,” with her best moment coming in Cersei‘s walk of shame in season five. Now, she’s in the running to pick up a bookend to the Best Comedy Supporting Actress Emmy she won in 2021. She lost last year to Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott...

Since The Crown launched on Netflix in 2016, it’s become a monumental hit, including being the first show to win all seven major drama category awards during the 2021 Emmys. And now it’s back for its fifth, and penultimate, series.

There’s a particular buzz around this latest season of this fictional dramatisation of the life of Queen Elizabeth II: not only is there a major cast change for the second time, it will also be the first time a new series airs since the deaths of Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip.

Season five will cover the 1990s, arguably one of the royal family’s most difficult decades. They endured a major fire at Windsor Castle, the messy public breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, and the leadup to the tragedy of Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris.

Netflix released this explosive-looking official...

We knew Prudence Featherington was regal—but Hollywood royalty, too?! Bessie Carter, who plays Prudence on the hit Netflix drama, is the daughter of two of the most respected actors in the industry. Her father is Jim Carter, who played Mr. Carson on Downton Abbey, and her mother is Imelda Staunton, the Oscar-nominated actress who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films. Jim and Imelda, who wed in 1983, appeared alongside Bessie in the BBC series Cranford in 2007. Jim played Captain Brown, Imelda played Miss Octavia Pole and Bessie was the maid. Bessie, who got her big break on Bridgerton, has also appeared on the BBC television series Howards End. Jim earned four...

The only problem with British TV is that there isn’t more of it. The seasons are often shorter than their American counterparts, ensuring that audiences are always left wanting another episode.

Enter BritBox. The BBC and ITV streaming service boasts some of the more famous British imports in its catalog, alongside a deep library of English greats that might not have gained the same notoriety on this side of the pond. We’ve put together the best of the best shows to watch on BritBox in all genres, from meaty murder mysteries (the most popular category on BritBox) to the perfectly understated British comedies.

1. “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans”

Based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans” is a perky and playful 1930s murder mystery packed with twists, turns, and sizzling banter. Will Poulter is Bobby Jones, a wayward naval...

Jana Bennett, the British and U.S. TV powerhouse who ran BBC TV, BBC Worldwide and History, has died aged 66.

Bennett was open about her rare condition glioblastoma multiforme in an interview with London’s Evening Standard in 2019, at which point she revealed she had become a trustee of OurBrainBank, a cancer research app allowing Gbm patients to share their symptoms with clinicians.

BBC Director General Tim Davie said: “Jana Bennett was one of the most talented television producers of her generation and a formidable champion of public service broadcasting. She was a trailblazer who rose to the top of the industry, tirelessly championing upcoming talent, as well as having the foresight to bring together television and digital services. She was a brilliant and gifted colleague and is a big loss to the television industry.”

The powerhouse of British and U.S. TV was born in New York State in...

Starz is developing an anthology series about “lesser known” but “extraordinary women of history” from Lionsgate Television and Colin Callender’s Playground, with the first installment being a show about Eleanor of Aquitaine.

The potential series about “one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages” will be written by Susie Conklin, who is adapting the project from historian Alison Weir’s biography “Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life” and its companion novel “Captive Queen.”

Per Starz, “Eleanor of Aquitaine defied the conventions of her time as a Queen of both England and France who wielded immense political influence over the kingdoms of men. She was a wife, mother and a fierce leader in an era when women were regarded as little more than chattels. Eleanor’s unwavering spirit saw her through many years of victories and defeats – a marriage bound by duty, a passionate love affair, family alliances and betrayals,...

Starz is delving far into the past once again for its latest project.

Fresh off the success of “The Spanish Princess,” the network is developing another historical drama based around the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The project is one of multiple series Starz is working on in conjunction with Lionsgate TV and Colin Callender’s Playground banner as part of what the network is calling its “extraordinary women of history” slate.

The Eleanor of Aquitaine show is based on Alison Weir’s biography “Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life” and its companion novel “Captive Queen.” Starz has acquired the rights to both, and intends to announce additional properties in its aforementioned slate in due time.

“This slate of series will focus on lesser known, but undeniably exceptional female historical figures while continuing the exploration of fierce characters in history,” said Christina Davis, president of programming for Starz. “Alison Weir’s...

Starz is developing a slate of series inspired by “extraordinary women of history” and has set a drama about Eleanor of Aquitaine from A Discovery Of Witches writer Susie Conklin and Playground Entertainment as the first in the strand.

The network has optioned the rights to historian Alison Weir’s biography Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life and its companion novel Captive Queen for the first series.

Conklin, who has also worked on BBC drama Cranford, will adapt and serve as an exec producer, alongside Scott Huff and David Stern for Playground Entertainment, Colin Callender’s company behind Starz’ The Spanish Princess.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was previously played by Katharine Hepburn in 1968 feature The Lion in Winter.

It is the latest in a long line of female focused-period dramas for the network, which has found success with the likes of Outlander, The White Queen and The White Princess.

Eleanor of Aquitaine...

The Crown has found its new prince: Game of Thrones veteran Jonathan Pryce will play Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip in the Netflix drama’s upcoming fifth and sixth seasons, our sister site Deadline reports.

Pryce takes over the role from Tobias Menzies, who played the role in last year’s Season 3 and will return as Philip alongside Olivia Colman in the upcoming Season 4, due to hit Netflix later this year. (Menzies took over for Matt Smith, who played Philip opposite Claire Foy in The Crown‘s first two seasons.)

More from TVLineThe Crown Season 5, Featuring Latest Cast Change,...

Can you believe it’s been 10 years since Jimmy Fallon hosted the Emmy Awards? Four years before he’d go on to inherit “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno, this ex-“Saturday Night Live” actor had been sitting at the “Late Night” desk for a little over a year when NBC tapped him to host TV’s biggest night on August 29, 2010. Fallon’s Emmy opening number is one of the best in recent memory, as he gathered several A-listers for an infectious and cheer-inducing performance of Bruce Springsteen‘s “Born to Run.” Watch the Emmys flashback video below from the 62nd ceremony.

SEE2020 Emmy Best Comedy Series Predictions

Wearing a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans, Fallon intercepted four of the hottest stars in entertainment (at the time) outside the Nokia Theatre: “Glee” actors Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer and Amber Riley. The kids were seemingly inhabiting their comedy-musical counterparts,...

Fresh off his first Oscar nomination for “The Two Popes,” veteran actor Jonathan Pryce could find himself back in the awards race thanks to an upcoming role in the Amazon Prime limited series “Tales From The Loop.” In honor of the show’s premiere, let’s take a look back at Pryce’s varied career in our photo gallery of his top 12 film roles, ranked worst to best.

See Jonathan Pryce Interview: ‘The Two Popes’

Pryce is no stranger to awards. In addition to his Oscar nomination, he received Golden Globe and BAFTA bids for his leading performance as Pope Francis in “The Two Popes.” He earned an additional Globe nomination for “Barbarians at the Gate” (Best TV Supporting Actor in 1993) and another BAFTA nom as Best Actor for “Carrington” (1995). His stage turns have brought him two Tony wins: one as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his 1977 Broadway debut in “Comedians,...

Fresh off his first Oscar nomination for “The Two Popes,” veteran actor Jonathan Pryce could find himself back in the awards race thanks to an upcoming role in the Amazon Prime limited series “Tales From The Loop.” In honor of the show’s premiere, let’s take a look back at Pryce’s varied career in our photo gallery of his top 12 film roles, ranked worst to best.

Pryce is no stranger to awards. In addition to his Oscar nomination, he received Golden Globe and BAFTA bids for his leading performance as Pope Francis in “The Two Popes.” He earned an additional Globe nomination for “Barbarians at the Gate” (Best TV Supporting Actor in 1993) and another BAFTA nom as Best Actor for “Carrington” (1995). His stage turns have brought him two Tony wins: one as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his 1977 Broadway debut in “Comedians,” and another in 1991 as...

Despite being an Emmy winner, cinematographer Ben Smithard readily admits to being nervous about lensing the “Downton Abbey” film. “The producers wanted to make the movie as epic as we could. When it came to choosing the new camera system and lighting, I was always thinking of how to make it look like bigger like a film.”

See‘Downton Abbey’ box office makes history for Focus Features, but will it give the film an Oscar boost?

While he hadn’t worked on the long-running TV series, Smithard says in the exclusive video above that he was comfortable with shooting period pieces. Indeed, he earned his Emmy for “Cranford,” which was set almost a century before the action in “Downton Abbey.” The show’s creator Julian Fellowes crafted a continuation of the Crawley family saga using a 1927 royal visit as a backdrop. While much of the story takes place at the family home,...

The feature continuation of “Downton Abbey” reunites the cast and much of the crew of the period TV series with a mandate to deliver more of the glamour, drama and just plain kindness that prompted millions of viewers on both sides of the Atlantic to fall under the spell of the sprawling Crawley family.

“We wanted to make it more luxurious, more exotic, more visually stimulating, more cinematic,” says production designer Donal Woods, who worked on all six seasons of the series as well as the feature, which bows Sept. 13 in the U.K. and Sept. 20 in the U.S.

Written by series creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Michael Engler, the feature reunites Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Jim Carter, and brings in newcomers Imelda Staunton and Geraldine James, as part of an ensemble cast with 17 lead characters. The story picks up in 1927, a few years after the series’ end,...

Victoria star Tom Hughes is joining the cast of Sky and AMC Networks drama A Discovery of Witches.

Hughes will star as Kit Marlowe, an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era, for the show’s second season. Hughes, who also starred in BBC Cold War drama The Game, is the first name revealed to join the cast after the British pay-broadcaster made a bumper two-season order for the supernatural series.

Downton Abbey and The Good Wife star Matthew Goode stars as vampire Matthew Clairmont in the Bad Wolf-produced show, while Hacksaw Ridge‘s Teresa Palmer plays heroine Diana Bishop in the series.

A Discovery Of Witches is the first installment of Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, which has sold more than 3.5M copies worldwide. Originally published in 2011, Discovery is the story of Diana, a young scholar at Oxford who is a descendant of the Salem witches. When she accidentally unlocks an enchanted manuscript,...

AMC will introduce viewers to a magical new world when A Discovery of Witches comes to the Sundance Now and Shudder streaming services this January, and ahead of the first season's premiere, they've already acquired the second and third seasons of the Sky One UK series:

Press Release: New York, NY – November 5, 2018 – On heels of Sky UK’s greenlight announcement for second and third seasons of the captivating series “A Discovery of Witches,” Sundance Now, AMC Networks’ direct-to-consumer Svod service curated with high-quality dramas and crime thrillers, and Shudder, the leading premium streaming service for thriller, suspense and horror, has confirmed the acquisition of both seasons. The first season is set to premiere on both the services in U.S. and Canada on January 17, 2019.

Adapted from Deborah Harkness’s critically-acclaimed and bestselling All Souls trilogy, the Sky original production launched in September in the U.K. and was produced by Bad Wolf,...

Martin Shaw, who has headlined some of the most popular English dramas of the last half century, says he has the role of his career in “George Gently” as the title character, a police detective who struggles to find his footing after his wife is killed. The long-running British series is finally eligible for the Emmys thanks to the participation of the streaming service Acorn TV.

Back in 2007, Shaw had his pick of projects and was drawn to this loose adaptation of the Alan Hunter crime novels by the creative forces behind the scenes. “Peter Flannery has such a wonderful reputation. He’d won awards for ‘Our Friends in the North.’ His name first and foremost made me drive to London to meet. I read the first script and thought it was sensational.”

While the first 23 telefilms were set in the swinging 60s, the last two see Gently and company...

Expect to see the Starz program “Howards End” reap a Best Limited Series Emmy nom on July 12, along with nominations across the board for its actors and below-the-line talent. The series debuted stateside in May, 26 years after the acclaimed 1992 film adaptation that garnered nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director (James Ivory) and won three including Best Actress for Emma Thompson.

Based on the acclaimed 1910 novel by E.M. Forster, this new spin on the timeless classic was adapted by Oscar champ Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester by the Sea”). It stars Hayley Atwell and Philippa Coulthard as the independent and unconventional Schlegel sisters navigating their way through turn-of-the-century England, whose lives become intertwined with the wealthy Wilcox family and the working-class Bast family. The series also stars Emmy winners Julia Ormond and Tracey Ullman, alongside Matthew Macfadyen, Joseph Quinn and Alex Lawther.

See Emmys 2018 exclusive: Starz categories for ‘Outlander,’ ‘Counterpart,...

The long-running British series “George Gently” is finally eligible for the Emmys thanks to the participation of the streaming service Acorn TV. Martin Shaw, who has headlined some of the most popular English dramas of the last half century, has the role of his career as the title character, a police detective who struggles to find his footing after his wife is killed.

While the first 23 telefilms were set in the swinging 60s, the last two see Gently and company adjusting to life in the 1970s. The last installment in the series, “George Gently and the New Age,” is contending for Best TV Movie at the 2018 Emmys. This finale brings Shaw’s character full circle as he inches closer to solving the death of his wife. That tragedy had been he catalyst for Gently leaving London in 1964 and joining the North East police force.

A large part of the appeal...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Acorn Media.

The new season of the smash hit U.K. dramedy, plus over 1.5 hours of bonus content;

Starring Martin Clunes (Arthur & George) and Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly)

with guest stars Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Avatar), Art Malik (True Lies, Homeland),

Doc Martin, Series 8

DVD and Blu-ray Debut from Acorn on December 12, 2017

“A smart, gentle comedy with loads of wit and zest” —The Globe and Mail

“Sweet, stirring, and completely addictive” —Slate

“Delightfully quirky” —Los Angeles Times

“Absolutely bloody hilarious” —London Evening Standard

Widely considered one of the most successful British series in the U.S., U.K. and worldwide, Doc Martin, Series 8 makes its DVD/Blu-ray debut on December 12, 2017 from Acorn TV, an Rlj Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: Rlje) brand. Martin Clunes (Men Behaving Badly) returns as Dr. Martin Ellingham in the eighth series of this smash-hit British comedy. In these all-new episodes,...

A friendly reminder that performances begin tomorrow Tuesday, November 28 for the Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of The Royal Court Theatre's production of The Children, the new play by Olivier Award winner Lucy Kirkwood Chimerica, directed by James Macdonald Top Girls at Mtc starring acclaimed London cast members BAFTA Award winner Francesca Annis BBC's Cranford , Olivier Award nominee Ron Cook Juno and the Paycock at The Donmar, and Olivier Award winner Deborah Findlay The National Theatre's Stanley.

Today is a big day for Doctor Who fans, as actress Jodie Whittaker has officially been announced as the Thirteenth Time Lord on the long-running BBC series, with Peter Capaldi making his bow as the 12th Doctor during this year's Christmas special:

Press Release (via The Futon Critic): New York - July 16, 2017 - The BBC and BBC America today announced to the world that Jodie Whittaker will be the new Doctor Who. She will be the Thirteenth Time Lord and take over from Peter Capaldi who leaves the global hit show at Christmas.

New head writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall who takes over from Steven Moffat on the next series made the decision to cast the first ever woman in the iconic role.

Jodie Whittaker says: "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey - with Chris and with every Whovian on this planet. It's more than an honor to play the Doctor.

The first female Doctor is among us.

Doctor Who has tapped Broadchurch‘s Jodie Whittaker to play the Thirteenth Doctor after departing star Peter Capaldi makes his final appearance as Twelve in this December’s Christmas special.

RelatedElisabeth Moss to Play ‘Typhoid Mary’ in BBC America Miniseries Fever

The highly anticipated casting was announced following the conclusion of the Wimbledon men’s final on Sunday.

“I’m beyond excited to begin this epic journey with [new showrunner Chris Chibnall] and with every Whovian on this planet,” Whittaker said in a statement. “It’s more than an honor to play the Doctor. It means...

BBC One, PBS, Playground co-pro starts shoot this month.

Dame Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon and Emily Watson will star in the BBC One drama adaptation of Little Women for UK indie Playground.

Based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott, the coming of age story about a family growing up in post-Civil War America, will air as a three-part mini-series adapted by the creator of Call the Midwife Heidi Thoma (Cranford) and will be directed by Vanessa Caswill (Thirteen).

Principal photography gets under way this month in Ireland. Co-producers are PBS label Masterpiece.

The series will be set during the book’s 1860’s world with the UK actors adopting Us accents.

Maya Hawke, Willa Fitzgerald, Annes Elwy and Kathryn Newton will play the March sisters alongside rising actor Jonah Hauer-King as Laurie Laurence.

Watson is set to play Marmee, the matriarch of the March family. Lansbury will play the girls’ wealthy relative – the cantankerous Aunt March...

Leading casting director who helped to launch actors such as David Oyelowo and Benedict Cumberbatch

Maggie Lunn, who has died of cancer aged 56, was a leading casting director, at various times head of casting at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Almeida. She also cast for television and film, including the BBC series Cranford and the film Notes on a Scandal. Recent work for the stage included, in 2015, the triumphant Young Chekhov trilogy at Chichester Festival theatre, which transferred to the National the following year.

Casting directors – in theatre, TV and film – are the unsung heroes of every production. Benedict Cumberbatch, Alex Jennings, Ben Whishaw, Eve Best, Rory Kinnear, Eddie Redmayne and David Oyelowo are a few of the now celebrated actors whose careers Maggie helped to launch.

Continue reading...

Donald Pleasence, Joan Collins, and Caroline Munro co-star in The Devil Within Her, aka Sharon's Baby and I Don't Want to Be Born, a 1975 horror film featuring a violent baby that is coming to Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing.

Blu-ray.com reports that the folks at Scorpion Releasing are hard at work on a fresh 2K restoration of The Devil Within Her, and while an exact release date has yet to be revealed, the Blu-ray is expected to come out in early 2017.

We'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on special features announcements and release details. In the meantime, we have the official synopsis, trailer, and poster for the Peter Sasdy film:

Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "Hollywood legend Joan Collins teams up with cult stars Donald Pleasence and Caroline Munro in this terrifying tale of a demonic baby!

Lucy (Collins, Dynasty, Land Of The Pharoahs) is a former dancer, having moved...

DramaFever is getting an infusion of classic British entertainment. The New York-based streaming platform, popular for its focus on international TV and movies, has closed a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide North America for the U.S. streaming rights to 18 BBC titles.

DramaFever added five BBC titles to its streaming platform on July 1, 2015, and will add the remaining 13 shows over the next few months. The online video service’s premium subscribers now have access to the first five titles: Tess of the D’Urbervilles (starring Eddie Redmayne), Pride and Prejudice (Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth), Upstairs, Downstairs (Keeley Hawes), Little Dorrit (Claire Foy), and Miss Austen Regrets (Olivia Williams).

Here’s a list of the remaining BBC titles DramaFever will start streaming in the upcoming months:

Sense and Sensibility (Premieres July 31) – Sense and Sensibility is a story of two young sisters on a voyage of burgeoning sexual and romantic discovery.

Russell Tovey and Alistair Petrie are the latest stars to join the BBC and AMC's miniseries The Night Manager.

A television adaptation of the classic John le Carré novel, it will star Tom Hiddleston as an ex-soldier named Jonathan Pine, who is recruited for the British intelligence service by the mysterious Burr (Olivia Colman).

Jonathan Pine is sent to investigate an alliance between Washington DC, Whitehall and a major arms dealer by infiltrating weapons trader Richard Onslow Roper's (Hugh Laurie) gang.

Joining Cranford star Petrie and Being Human's Tovey as a new cast addition is Douglas Hodge.

Hodge's notable credits include playing Bartholomew Rusk in Penny Dreadful, and appearing in the films Diana and Serena.

Directed by Academy Award-winning film In a Better World's Susanne Bier, The Night Manager is expected to premiere next year.

After having robust box office numbers this past weekend and being praised by both audiences and critics, Woman In Gold opens in wide release this Friday, April 10. In his review, Jim Batts says, “Woman In Gold concerns a celebrated work of art, but it’s also about two inspiring lives also worthy of celebration.” Read his review here.

Woman In Gold is the remarkable true story of one woman’s journey to reclaim her heritage and seek justice for what happened to her family. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann (Mirren), starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt’s famous painting ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’. Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Reynolds), she embarks upon a major battle which takes them all the way to the heart of...

ITV has announced the cast for its new six-part drama series Home Fires.

Previously known as Jambusters, the period piece follows a group of inspirational women in Cheshire at the height of World War II.

Banding together as the Great Paxford Women's Institute, they help maintain the nation's fabric in its darkest hour.

Downton Abbey's Samantha Bond and Cranford's Francesca Annis will lead the cast, which also includes Mark Bonnar (Line of Duty), Ruth Gemmell (Utopia), and Claire Rushbrook (My Mad Fat Diary).

Mark Bazeley (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher), Frances Grey (The Widower) and Ed Stoppard (Cilla) will also feature in Simon Block's adaptation of Julie Summers's non-fiction book Jambusters.

"We're really delighted to have commissioned Home Fires," said ITV's Director of Drama Steve November. "Great writing from Simon has given Julie Summers's wonderful book a fictional life.

"The women are real and engaging...

Brody’s got a new job: Damian Lewis (Homeland) will play Henry VIII in Masterpiece’s Wolf Hall on PBS.

The program will follow the meteoric rise of Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) in the Tudor court, from his start as a blacksmith’s son to Henry VIII’s closest advisor. Claire Foy (Little Dorrit) will play Anne Boleyn in the six-part mini-series written by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

Other casting includes Jonathan Pryce (Cranford) as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Joanne Whalley (The Borgias) as Henry’s first wife Katherine of Aragon, and Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) as Stephen Gardiner, Secretary to the King.

Good things come to those who wait. For Judi Dench that good thing would be movie stardom. She's been acting on stage since 1957 (as Ophelia in Hamlet at the age of 23), on tv since 1959 (the title role in Hilda Lessways), and on the silver screen since 1964 (The Third Secret)...  but it wasn't until 1997/1998 when Dench hit her sixties that true movie stardom happened, prompted by the double whammy of her first Oscar bid (Mrs Brown) and its follow up "oops sorry about last year" Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love (recently discussed). Isn't her career trajectory unheard of? Who doesn't even start being a movie star until their sixties? Dame Judi thats who.

Though she may soon retire (she's turning 80 a year from now) she's still in her movie prime. Her latest starring role is as Philomena, the story of a woman seeking the grown son she gave up for adoption,...

BBC One has announced a new series of Jimmy McGovern's Moving On.

The fifth run of the daytime series will be the first drama to premiere in its entirety on BBC iPlayer.

As with previous series, the drama will consist of five stand-alone films, produced by Accused creator McGovern.

Natalie Gumede (Coronation Street), Anita Dobson (EastEnders), Anthony Flanagan (The Village) and Jo Joyner (EastEnders) will be among the new series' stars.

Lee Ingleby (Inspector George Gently), Duncan Preston (Love And Marriage), Ray Fearon (Harry Potter), Emma Cuniffe (The Lakes), Sharon Horgan (Pulling) and Craig Kelly (Coronation Street) will also appear.

The lineup is completed by Taj Atwal (Stella), Amy Nuttall (Downton Abbey), Ramon Tikaram (White Heat), Jo-Anne Knowles (Waterloo Road) Rosalind Ayres (Outnumbered), Emma Lowndes (Cranford) and Keith Barron (The Chase).

Johnny Vegas and Robert Glenister will also direct two of the films.

BBC Daytime's Damian Kavanagh said: "Moving On...

Ditch Davey has joined the cast of the Us network series The Black Box, which stars Sherlock Holmes' Kelly Reilly as Elizabeth Black, a neuroscientist who struggles to hide her mental illness from her fiancé and family.

Vanessa Redgrave will play Dr. Hartramph, Elizabeth's psychiatrist. Davey is cast as Dr. Marc Bickman, a brilliant neurosurgeon.

Davey played Nemetes in Spartacus: War of the Damned, the New Zealand-produced 'sword and sandal' show which recently wrapped its third and final season.

He was a regular in Sea Patrol, All Saints and Blue Heelers and appeared in Justin Dix.s thriller Crawlspace. His other credits include Underbelly. Files, Satisfaction and Wilfred.

The Us network ABC commissioned The Black Box. Shooting of the 13 episodes starts in New York later this month, produced by Bold Films.

The show was created by Amy Holden Jones, whose screenwriting credits include Mystic Pizza, The Relic and Indecent Proposal.

Hayley Atwell

Kieran Kinsella

Acorn Media are providing some much needed relief to those of us who are still upset about the BBC’s decision to cancel Zen. The Brit-loving DVD distributors are giving a U.S. debut to the Sky crime drama Falcon. Ok, so it’s not set in Rome but Seville is a pretty good setting as it is a fascinating city steeped in history and culture. No, Rufus Sewell isn’t in it but it does feature Kiwi actor Marton Csokas, who I am told is equally popular with the ladies.

As with Zen, the producers of Falcon got their inspiration from a popular series of crime novels. Wisely or not, the producers of both shows decided that all or most of the characters should have decidedly British accents despite the fact that they are in Italy or Spain. That element of the show takes some...

Stage and screen actor Francesca Annis talks about the cult of celebrity, going nude for Roman Polanski and the pressure of playing a famous beauty

What first drew you to acting?

It happened by chance. I was brought up as a dancer, and was studying Russian ballet at a school, Corona, when an agency asked me to audition for Cleopatra [the 1963 film]. I went along two hours early to tell them I couldn't go since I had to go and buy ballet shoes. The director, Joseph L Mankiewicz, was just going out the door. We had an informal chat, and the next thing I knew I had an acting career.

What was your big breakthrough?

Doing a musical with Jane Birkin in a West End show called Passion Flower Hotel. It put me on the map – not least because Barbra Streisand's recording of the lead song, How Much of the Dream Comes True,...

Goodbye Being Human, but hello Parks and Recreation. This week's Must-See TV is a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, mixing long-awaited arrivals with some sad, sad departures and gritty murder mysteries with some controversial comedy.

Plus, there's two big Comic Relief TV events taking place in advance of the big day itself on March 15 - Russell Brand's Give It Up gig (Wednesday, March 6 at 10pm on BBC Three) in aid of beating addiction and Comic Relief's Big Chat with Graham Norton, all six hours of which will air live on BBC Three on Thursday, March 7 from 7pm, with highlights following Friday at 10.35pm on BBC One.

Mayday: Monday (March 4) at 9pm on BBC One

This edition of TV picks technically goes from the week commencing Monday, March 4, buuuuut we're going to do a bit of cheating here to make sure you don't get left behind on this dark,...

Mayday co. BBC

Mi5 veteran Peter Firth returns to BBC One during the first week of March in the new drama Mayday. The show is the brainchild of Whitechapel writers Ben Court and Caroline Ip, and like that show, Mayday focuses on the investigation of a grizzly murder. However, rather than placing the police detectives at the center of the action, Mayday is centered around the possible culprits and the friends and family members who may or may not reveal their suspicions to the police.

Peter Firth plays Malcolm – a man whose own wife thinks him capable of killing. His co-stars include Lesley Manville (Cranford), Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), Sam Spruell (Eternal Law), and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones). Precise broadcast details have yet to be revealed.

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BBC One is to strip new five-part drama Mayday across a single week.

The thriller series stars Sophie Okonedo (The Slap), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones), Peter Firth (Spooks) and Lesley Manville (Cranford).

Penned by Whitechapel writing duo Ben Court and Caroline Ip, Mayday tells the story of a missing teenager and the hunt for the abductor, told through the eyes of a close-knit community.

"I am very excited that they are screening Mayday over five days," said star Okonedo. "I think it will suit the piece enormously.

"It has a lot of twists and turns and things are not always as they seem. The reality is often heightened with a cliffhanger at the end of every episode."

Mayday has been directed by Black Mirror's Brian Welsh and produced by Chris Fry (Spooks).

The series premiere on Sunday, March 3 on BBC One.

> The Village, White Queen, Mayday: First...

Adam Afriyie denies he's plotting to oust David Cameron. Why replace one wealthy Tory smoothiechops with another?

✒There is something hilarious about the Tories' anguish over their leadership, and especially hilarious that the stalking horse may turn out to be the backbencher Adam Afriyie, a half-Ghanaian multimillionaire. Somebody must have sat down in a bar, or perhaps a hotel room swept for bugs, and said "look, the public are fed up with the country being run by a wealthy smoothiechops. What we need to do is replace him – with another wealthy smoothiechops! That'll show how inclusive we are. When it comes to millionaires, we Tories are colour blind!"

✒It's one of those trick pub quiz questions like "into which ocean does the western end of the Panama Canal flow?" The answer is, surprisingly, the Atlantic, as the canal runs more or less north to south but on a slant. Another is "what is 10 in London,...

BBC sports presenter, praised for knowledgeable, engaging style during London 2012, wins achievement of the year

Capping a summer that was almost as golden for her as it was for the winning athletes, Clare Balding was recognised on Friday for the Olympic and Paralympic coverage that prompted national admiration of her presenting skills, as she collected achievement of the year at the Women in Film and Television awards.

The sports presenter – praised for her knowledgeable, engaging style during London 2012 – was the best known of three women honoured for their roles in broadcasting the Olympic Games.

Joining her on the awards podium were Tracey Seaward, who took the producer award for her work on Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony, while Barbara Slater, the BBC's first female director of sport, won the inspirational woman award.

"I take the award on behalf of all of the women in sports television," Balding said after accepting her award.

A partly-finished novel by Edith Wharton, The Buccaneers, which was later finished by her scholar Marion Mainwaring was adapted into the BBC 1995 mini-series and now comes word that BBC and Ruby Films’ are planning feature adaptation of the acclaimed high-society novel.

My Week With Marilyn director Simon Curtis is in talks to helm the big-screen version from a script written by Heidi Thomas, the screenwriter behind BBC drama Cranford.

The story of the morals held by fashionable society at the time follows five wealthy American girls who, unable to find mates in New York, set off for England in search of well-off English husbands.

Curtis was also set to direct the online dating-themed rom-com ensemble Click to Connect.

If he signs the deal for The Buccaneers, shooting aims to begin during the second quarter of next year.

Check out a preview clip from the 1995 BBC series ‘The Buccaneers’.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Channel 4’s award winning comedy-drama about the hilarious and painful truths of being a student is being released on DVD for the first time on October 8th. We have three copies of the DVD to give away to our readers. Winner of a British Comedy Award for Best New Comedy and two Rts Television Awards for Best Scripted Comedy and Best Writer – Comedy. Fresh Meat is created by Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, Fresh Meat follows a group of six students embarking upon the most exciting period of their lives so far: university! Fresh Meat focuses on an assorted bunch of fresher’s when their new university accommodation office places them together in a shared house. There’s Jp (Jack Whitehall), a public school boy with good teeth and an inflated sense of entitlement; Kingsley (Joe Thomas, The Inbetweeners), charming and crushingly insecure; Josie (Kimberley Nixon,...

Without pretending this will be as exhaustive as the Clothes on Film costume guide (parts One and Two) for Sherlock Holmes (2009), here we go with a lighter, though still hopefully informative analysis of its sequel, A Game of Shadows (2011, directed by Guy Ritchie). Again the film’s costume designer has lent a hand, and again Oscar winner Jenny Beavan needs no further introduction. So not pausing for backstory or padding and on the assumption of spoilers ahead, let us begin…

John Watson (Jude Law) is introduced first sitting at his desk in a grey herringbone tweed waistcoat, white striped stiff collar shirt and brown patterned necktie. Always in tweed, he is immediately recognisable as Law’s Watson. The only item missing is his brown coachman’s hat, which as the story flashes back several weeks prior soon makes its debut.

With just a hint of colourfully attired extras in a crowded London street,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 11, 2012

Price: DVD $24.98

Studio: Warner Home Video

If there’s one thing we’re grateful for, it’s more Absolutely Fabulous. For the TV show’s 20th birthday, Edina (Jennifer Saunders, Shrek 2) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley, Late Bloomers) returned for three new specials.

Aired in 2011 and 2012, the new Absolutely Fabulous BBC specials find the fashionistas playing their own part in the 2012 London Olympics, Eddy setting her sights on changing the career of a very big fish and one of the characters having a life-changing experience.

Also returning to the British comedy were Eddy’s bookish daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha, TV’s Cranford), Eddy’s off the wall assistant (Jane Horrocks, TV’s The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard) and Eddy’s cunning mother Mrs. Monsoon (June Whitfield, TV’s Last of the Summer Wine).

The 20-year-old television show, which was created by British comedian Saunders, originally aired...

Back in 2010, few cinemagoers had Tom Hiddleston on their radar. Since then the English actor has become a staple on the big screen and tonight was named Best Male Newcomer at the Empire Awards 2012, while Thor - in which he played the villainous Loki - was named Best Sci-fi/Fantasy film.

We'll next be seeing Hiddleston reprising that role in The Avengers, released in the UK on April 26 under the alternative name of Avengers Assemble, and out in the Us on May 4.

Hiddleston said: "It's strange because, to be totally honest, before the beginning of 2010 I had only made one feature film in my entire life, and then I made five in the space of 12 months."

As well as playing Loki in Kenneth Branagh's Thor and American author F Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen's nostalgic romantic drama Midnight in Paris, the London-born actor has starred in mentor Joanna Hogg...