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Classic Doctor Who and British comedy series are often the first things viewers think of when BritBox is mentioned. Of late, however, the British TV streamer has expanded its offerings to originals and limited series to go along with its archive of U.K. TV classics.

This list of hidden gems is curated around highlighting archive U.K. TV series you may have missed as well as recently-acquired properties from other streaming services that are often overlooked. Whether you subscribe to BritBox directly or use the Amazon or Roku platforms, these series and limited series are must-watches.

Africa and Britain: A Forgotten History

Summary: Historian Dr. David Olusoga guides viewers to observe all of the current historical and archeological evidence documenting Black life in Britain. Olusoga moves from the ancient Cheddar Man through today including the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Why It’s a Hidden Gem: BritBox’s documentary offerings are...

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“The Original Money Pit”

By Raymond Benson

Remember the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? The official credits of that film do not mention the excellent writing team of Frank Panama and Melvin Frank, who adapted Eric Hodgins’ 1946 biographical comic novel Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House into the popular 1948 “disaster comedy” starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The Money Pit is, in reality, an under-the-table remake of Blandings. It’s a pity that the original was not acknowledged, for, frankly, Blandings is much more realistic (and clever).

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was indeed a popular film and yet during its initial run was deemed to have lost money—just like the hapless Mr. Blandings does while attempting to move out of New York City to Connecticut. The movie is funny enough, for sure, but perhaps in...

Pablo Larraín’s upcoming Princess Diana drama “Spencer” has found its Prince Charles in English actor Jack Farthing. The 35-year-old performer is currently filming the project opposite Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, a new photo of which has been released (see below). Larraín has been filming “Spencer” in Germany, but now the production is heading to the United Kingdom for the final stretch of principal photography. Neon will be releasing “Spencer” in theaters later this year.

The official “Spencer” synopsis reads: “December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different.”

“Spencer” is a contained narrative set over the course of a single Christmas weekend as Diana...

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42, The Power Of Three, Dinosaurs On A Spaceship and more - the Doctor Who work to date of the show's next showrunner...

Who is Chris Chibnall? You might know him as the creator of Born & Bred, Law & Order: UK and Broadchurch amongst others, but as readers of this site, it's more likely that you know his scripts from Doctor Who and his tenure as head writer of Torchwood. On Friday, the BBC announced that Steven Moffat will be stepping down as the showrunner of Who after next year's tenth series (since its revival), to be replaced by Chibnall in 2018.

Over the weekend alone, there has already been a lot written and said in speculation about what the new show-runner, Doctor Who's third since Russell T. Davies combined the roles of head writer and executive producer when he revived the series in 2005. I, for one, welcome our...

The Returned meets The Missing in this critically acclaimed, must-see supernatural horror!

In a seemingly normal house in Enfield, north London, a series of disturbing paranormal events have begun to take place. Reports of an unworldly presence making repeated attempts on the life of 11-year-old Janet Hodgson soon attract the attention of paranormal investigator Maurice Grosse (Timothy Spall) who is convinced that the house is plagued by a poltergeist. With the attacks growing increasingly violent by the day Maurice will stop at nothing to protect Janet from these strange and dark forces.

Chilling and terrifying, The Enfield Haunting is the unmissable true story of the most documented and shocking poltergeist incident in modern history.

The Enfield Haunting is out on DVD from 19th October 2015. To win a copy just answer the following question:

The Enfield Haunting star Timothy Spall played which character on the TV show Blandings? Was it:

a...

Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie is set to return to one of her earliest roles and bring back the character of Gwen Dawson on Downton Abbey.

Following on from Sunday's (October 4) happy episode, which saw Charles Carson and Elsie Hughes finally walk down the aisle, next week will see Gwen Dawson return to Downton a transformed woman.

Last seen in the show's first season, Gwen served as a housemaid who ultimately left the Abbey to take a job as a secretary. Little is known of her life since, although it was mentioned in season four that Gwen had recently been married.

Leslie is not the only familiar face making another appearance on Downton as Allen Leech's Tom Branson shocked the Crawley family with his own surprise return at the end of Sunday's instalment.

Since leaving the period drama, Leslie has gone on to star in Utopia, The Great Fire and Blandings,...

To celebrate the release of series 2 of ITV’s Broadchurch on Blu-Ray and DVD, we’re giving 5 lucky WhatCulture.com readers the chance to win a copy of the multi-award winning drama on Blu-Ray!

Series 2 sees David Tennant return as Alec Hardy and Olivia Coleman resume her role as Ellie Miller, last seen having her life torn apart as her husband Joe confessed to murdering local schoolboy Danny Latimer in the remote seaside town.

Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan, who play Danny’s parents Beth and Mark Latimer, will also return to their roles, alongside Arthur Darvill as vicar Paul Coates, Carolyn Pickles as newspaper editor Maggie Radcliffe and a host of other ‘local’ faces.

Legendary Emmy nominated film and television actress Charlotte Rampling, Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas, Hitchcock, Jupiter Ascending), Eve Myles (Torchwood, Merlin, Little Dorrit) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Bad Education,...

The National Television Awards 2015 longlist nominations have been announced and voting is now (October 14) open.

Hosted by Dermot O'Leary, the NTAs celebrate the best and most popular TV and are exclusively voted for by viewers. The 2015 awards take place at London's O2 on January 21.

The Nta shortlist will be announced in January when the final round of voting begins. Viewers can vote for free online at nationaltvawards.com or by calling the Nta vote form request line 0844 646 2060.

Full list of 2015 nominations:

Chat Show Host

Adam Hills

Alan Carr

Graham Norton

Jonathan Ross

Michael McIntyre

Paul O'Grady

Piers Morgan

Sarah Millican

Comedy

Benidorm

Big School

Birds of a Feather

Blandings

Boomers

Citizen Khan

Derek

Mrs Brown's Boys

Not Going Out

Outnumbered

The Big Bang Theory

The Wrong Mans

W1A

Daytime

Animal Saints and Sinners

Antiques Road Trip

Bargain Hunt

BBC Breakfast

Coach Trip

Escape to the Country

Father Brown

Fifteen to One

Flog It!

There’s one of two things you can be almost guaranteed of when you see a story that takes place on a train – romance, or a murder.

Mummy On The Orient Express

By Jamie Mathieson

Directed by Paul Wilmshurst

As a farewell fling, The Doctor takes Clara on a trip aboard the Orient Express in space, exactingly copied from the original, except for the bit about being spaceworthy. It becomes quickly apparent that all is not well on the craft – a mysterious unseen beast is killing people exactly 66 seconds after the victim sees it – and no one else does. It turns out this particular journey is a massive two-fold trap – the ship is filled with scientists versed in areas of research that pertain to the beast, and are pressed into service to capture it, by any means necessary.

The Doctor quickly joins the press gang, understanding that the only way...

The worst thing anyone's said to me? 'Sorry old boy, but you've got leukaemia'

Timothy Spall, 57, was born in London. After studying at Rada, he joined Birmingham Rep and the RSC before being cast in the hit TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 1983. His movies include Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet and Secrets & Lies, and Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. He played Churchill in The King's Speech, Peter Taylor in The Damned United and Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter films. He is currently starring in PG Wodehouse's Blandings on BBC1. He is married with three children.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

I have had a tendency to sleepwalk in the past. I once woke up in the nude in a corridor of a hotel in Cornwall in the small hours of the morning. Oh, the cringing shame.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Wanting...

Blandings: BBC One, 6.30pm

Jennifer Saunders and Tim Vine star in this brand new series of the hilarious period comedy. Based on the stories by PG Wodehouse, Blandings is perfect family viewing. Tonight's season two premiere focuses on the obnoxious Duke of Dunstable coming to stay, causing all manner of mayhem. However, the Duke turns out to be the least of Clarence's problems when he discovers his house guest has a dastardly plan to get him out of the way! Harry Enfield and Mathew Baynton guest star.

Call The Midwife: BBC One, 8pm

The medical drama continues tonight with the nuns and midwives preparing a surprise jubilee celebration to mark 50 years since Sister Evangelina took her vows. However, a face from the past threatens to ruin the party. Elsewhere, new nurse Patsy becomes an instant hit with the midwives and when a pregnant young woman with Down's syndrome is brought in feeling unwell,...

Tim Vine has spoken about his decision to quit Not Going Out.

The comic starred in the BBC One sitcom between 2006 and 2012, but did not return for its sixth series in 2013.

Vine told Digital Spy that he "really enjoyed" his time on the Lee Mack comedy and still watches it "whenever it is on".

"I just felt like I didn't want to do it forever," he said. "It is nice to keep moving - move with the times and all that."

Vine will star as Beach the butler in series two of BBC One's Blandings, which begins on Sunday, February 16 at 6.30pm.

"Blandings is a perfect example, because it was a period piece," he explained. "I thought, 'I would love to do something like that' which is why I was pleased when it came up."

Not Going Out is expected to air its seventh series later in 2014.

Tim Vine joins...

Jennifer Saunders has hit out at "despicable" constructed reality shows like Made in Chelsea and The Only Way Is Essex.

The comic actress and writer claimed that the programmes were misleading viewers by the way they reflect real life.

"I would rather shoot myself than watch either [show]," she told Radio Times.

"I find them both horrid. The way those programmes make people behave is despicable."

She added: "The whole conceit that it's real life is, by any stretch of the imagination, ridiculous."

Constructed shows have risen in popularity in recent years, including Towie, Made in Chelsea, Geordie Shore, The Valleys and Desperate Scousewives in the UK.

The programmes usually feature groups of people living their so-called day-to-day lives, while producers provide storylines and situations to present a narrative.

The Only Way Is Essex will return for an 11th series on ITV2 later this month, while E4's Made in Chelsea...

Tim Vine has joined the cast of the upcoming second series of Blandings.

The Not Going Out star will play Bladings Castle's long-suffering butler Beach in the BBC One comedy, based on the stories by PG Wodehouse.

Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders will reprise their roles as Lord Clarence Hemsworth and his sister Connie, respectively.

Harry Enfield, Celia Imrie and Mathew Baynton will be among the second run's host of guest stars.

Julian Rhind-Tutt, John Sessions, Daisy Beaumont, Zoe Boyle, Michael Brandon, Nichola McAuliffe and Jemima Rooper round out the guest actors.

Blandings' second series will see Clarence looking to spend more time with his pig The Empress of Blandings, and facing the risk of being committed to an insane asylum by a guest, among other stories.

Writer Guy Andrews said in a statement: "As ever, all Clarence wants is to be left in peace with his beloved pig.

Blandings Acorn Media

Kieran Kinsella

Prepare to be amused because on 3 September, Acorn Media are releasing the BBC’s hysterically funny Blandings on DVD. The six-part character-based comedy is based on the Blandings Castle stories by P.G. Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster). Like most of his work, Blandings pokes fun at the aristocracy and the class divisions that formed the backbone of Downton Abbey-era Britain.

Timothy Spall (The Syndicate) is the king of the castle as it were. He plays Lord Clarence Emsworth — the pig-loving, Lord of the Manor who dreams of leading a quiet life. His biggest problem is his domineering younger sister Connie, Lady Keeble (Jennifer Saunders). Widowed some years before, she has taken to creating and enforcing rules in the Blandings Castle. While Connie is a stickler for the rules, Clarence’s second son Freddie Threepwood is anything but. He is a profligate who can’t behave...

Foyle's War: one of the most highly acclaimed British TV shows of all time.

Silver Spring, MD; August 15, 2013 – Rlj Entertainment’s (Nasdaq: Rlje) Acorn TV, the first streaming service focused on the best of British TV in North America, announces more exclusive U.S. premieres as well as tripling its available content. Available at www.Acorn.TV and via its popular Roku app, Acorn TV brings many of the best British mysteries, comedies, and dramas, as well as select Australian, U.S. and Canadian series, to the increasing number of consumers who prefer to stream content. Previously, Acorn TV streamed a full season of 18 rotating series; moving forward, Acorn TV will add at least six new and classic series each month, as well as offering a catalog of 65 series for catch-up viewing and discovery of new series, with no set end dates. Acorn TV also continues to offer a free 30-day trial.

Dani's Castle, the spin-off from popular Cbbc series Dani’s House, is set to return to Cbbc for a second series.

The new series follows Dani Harmer as she becomes a Hollywood star while continuing to look after her Bogmoor Castle home.

Joining the cast for the new series is 11 year old Toby Murray (represented by Mark Jermin Management) from Brighton, who will play the new regular lead role of Dylan.

Toby made his stage debut last year in the original cast of ‘Matilda the Musical’ in Stratford Upon Avon and in London's West End. He appeared in BBC comedy The Blandings and has recently filmed on feature film The Promise in France

He has already relocated to Northern Ireland to film Dani's Castle throughout the summer, but Toby is not there unaccompanied - he is taking his pet Bearded Dragon who shall also be starring in the show. Lucas...

Blandings will return for a second series, BBC One has announced.

The period comedy series - based on the novels of PG Wodehouse - will be back with seven new episodes in early 2014.

Timothy Spall (The Syndicate) and Jennifer Saunders will reprise their roles as absent-minded Lord Clarence Emsworth and sister Connie, with Jack Farthing (Da Vinci's Demons) also returning as Clarence's son Freddie.

"As ever, all Clarence wants is to be left in peace with his beloved pig," explained writer Guy Andrews. "But events conspire against him as never before."

Kristian Smith, exec producer for the BBC, added: "I'm so thrilled that audiences young and old have loved Blandings as much as we do.

"The capers at Blandings Castle offer us charming family comedy and a truly stellar cast; Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders immaculately capture all the joy and spirit of Wodehouse's brilliant characters and Guy Andrews's...

Casting directors are among the most powerful figures in showbusiness, able to make or break careers. But what exactly do they do? Laura Barnett talks auditions, callbacks – and tears

Up in his office on the sixth floor of the Palace theatre, in the heart of London's theatreland, Stephen Crockett is letting me in on a secretive world. The walls are lined with posters for hit shows he has worked on: from Chicago to almost every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; from Mamma Mia! to Jerry Springer: The Opera. His desk is buried beneath piles of newspapers, CVs and headshots. But – showing me a photograph of performer Dianne Pilkington, just cast in Mamma Mia! – he assures me it's organised chaos. This is the mysterious world of the casting director.

They are rarely interviewed. Few people outside theatre, film and TV know who they are. Yet casting directors rank among the most influential operators in showbusiness.

News Louisa Mellor 21 May 2013 - 08:34

We spoke to Doctor Who writer Chris Chibnall about the story behind P.S., the series 7 extra scene featuring Brian Williams...

Our heads may be full of series seven finale The Name of the Doctor, but think back to mid-series closer The Angels Take Manhattan, and the unassuming extra scene following up the story of Brian Williams that followed six weeks afterwards.

Written by former Torchwood showrunner Chris Chibnall, the additional four and a half minutes weren't filmed, but sparingly animated with a voiceover by Arthur Darvill, and arguably, are all the more poignant for it.

We asked Chibnall how the terrific P.S. (which you can see below) came about...

Is it right that that P.S., the wonderful Doctor Who extra scene that came after The Angels Take Manhattan, came about because it was lobbied for by fans?

No, no. When I was writing,...

Interview Louisa Mellor 21 May 2013 - 07:00

We chatted to Broadchurch, Doctor Who, and Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall about success, fan theories, orange cagoules, and more...

Spoiler warning: this interview reveals the identity of the Broadchurch killer, and other series one plot details.

Years of keeping Doctor Who and Torchwood’s confidences must have been excellent preparation for the secrecy Chris Chibnall had to maintain throughout the run of his successful ITV drama, Broadchurch.

Part whodunit and part exploration of grief and loss, the David Tennant and Olivia Colman-starring series came to occupy a rare position in early 2013. Critics praised it, viewers watched it in their millions, and in its final weeks, online theories on the killer’s identity were just as widespread and meticulously constructed as anything you’d find in a Doctor Who comments section. Broadchurch fans united on Monday nights and poured reactions onto Twitter and Facebook during every ad break.

Singer, currently on TV in Blandings, lands role of Rhino in 70s-set drama about birth of British punk scene

The British singer Paloma Faith is to star in Untitled Punk Movie, an independent drama about the early days of punk in the 70s. Faith will play one of the leading characters, Rhino, in a film that charts the adventures of four young fans who hitchhike between the venues on the Sex Pistols' landmark Anarchy in the UK tour.

"I wanted to play Rhino instantly, because it really rang true to me that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are always expected not to be intellectual. And Rhino, like so many people I am close to, challenges that perception," Faith explained to Screen Daily. "She has balls and she knows what she's talking about."

Untitled Punk Movie is produced by Wellington Films and Zentropa Sweden. It will be written and directed by...

Dancing on Ice's audience sunk as the ITV show clashed with new BBC One comedy Blandings last night. The Sunday night reality show recorded 6.97m (27%) between 6.15pm and 7.45pm, losing 800,000 viewers on last week's series launch and short by nearly as much on last year's second instalment. Period comedy Blandings, starring Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders, premiered with an impressive 5.7m (22.2%) in a difficult 6.30pm slot. Some 378,000 watched Dancing on Ice on +1, while 6.6m (23.8%) returned for Lauren Goodger's departure in The Skate Off at 8.30pm, as well as 155k on +1. Between the skating competition, All Star Family Fortunes managed a decent 5.89m (22.3%) and 123k on timeshift. The second episode of Mr Selfridge pulled in 6.6m (23.8%) at 9pm, dropping 300k on last week's opener but fending (more)...

Edgar Rice Burroughs's lord of the jungle has been through many incarnations in print and on screen in 100 years. What is the secret of his survival?

Just before the first world war, a penniless pencil-sharpener salesman from Chicago had one of those eureka moments that occasionally illuminate the Anglo-American literary landscape. Steeped in the trashy magazine culture of the age – "the pulps" – 35-year-old Edgar Burroughs decided that if he couldn't beat them, he'd join them.

"If people were paid for writing rot such as I read in some of those magazines," he said later, "then I could write stories just as rotten. As a matter of fact, although I had never written a story, I knew absolutely that I could write stories just as entertaining and probably a lot more so."

At first, his imagination took him into outer space. The adventures of intergalactic explorer John Carter in Under the Moons of Mars,...

British actors David Walliams and Timothy Spall made a newlywed couple's big day extra special by crashing their nuptials and posing for pictures.

The stars were on a break from filming upcoming BBC TV comedy Blandings in Northern Ireland last week (ends06May12) and they happened to be present for Alan and Nicola Forbes' celebrations following a ceremony at Crom Castle.

Nicola tells Britain's The Sun, "It made our day, we're so lucky. The wedding was already unbelievable and everything was outstanding, but what really made it was David turning up. We'll never forget it.

"No one could believe it. Then he had everyone in stitches when he jumped for my bouquet."...

David Walliams and Paloma Faith have joined the cast of new BBC One comedy Blandings. Starring Jennifer Saunders and Timothy Spall, the series is set in 1929 and follows a chaotic family at the fictional Blandings Castle. David Bamber and Harry Potter actor Mark Williams have also signed up to star in the show, which is based on PG Wodehouse's stories and will air as six self-contained episodes. Spall plays Lord Emsworth (known as Clarence), who longs to be left at peace with his beloved pig The Empress, while Saunders stars as his sister Connie. Williams will play Beach, Lord Emsworth's long-suffering and loyal butler. Bamber plays the role of Herr Schnellhund, Clarence's dance teacher. Pramface star Jack Farthing (more)...