BBC Four has ordered a 75 minute one-off drama titled An Innocent Abroad about P.G. Wodehouse’s fall from grace and self imposed exile frome England. Tim Pigott-Smith, Zoe Wanamaker and Julian Rhind-Smith are set to star in the 75 minute film, which is due to star shooting on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland, later this month.
Update, 5:30pm: My sources are now telling me that BBC Four’s deal with NBCUniversal is for the first two seasons of Parks and Recreation. I hear that the two season pickup is due to the short episode run of the show’s first season (6 episodes). If the series proves to be successful for BBC Four, they will lock down the rights for the remaining seasons of the show. Such a deal is typical when it comes to acquisitions, with life-of-series deals being more rare and only tending to be inked when a series has proven to be a hit or if the series in question was subject to heavy bidding from multiple broadcasters (which I’m told wasn’t the case here, with BBC Four being the only interested UK broadcaster).
History’s twelve-part documentary series Mankind The Story Of All Of Us continues tonight at 10pm with episode 2. Narrated by Stephen Fry, Mankind The Story Of All Of Us is produced by Nutopia and has been described as a cinematic documentary series which explores the history of mankind and how our fight for survival on a harsh brutal planet – in short it is the story of all of us.
Read More
UPDATE, March 2nd: Sources at Universal’s Home Entertainment Division now tell me that the DVD is on track for a March 18th release. I have also confirmed that it was indeed Syfy UK who were in talks to acquire the movie fromNBCUniversal International Television Distribution. That deal has now been closed and Red Faction: Origins is set to premiere on Syfy UK on Tuesday April 16th at 11pm.
The BBC has released the first two images (see below) for its upcoming ten part historical drama series The White Queen, which was acquired for broadcast in the US by cable network Starz back in September. (Click on the images for larger view)
Read More
Starz’s critically acclaimed – yet ratings challenged – political drama series Boss won’t be returning for a third season, the network has announced. “After much deliberation, we have made the difficult decision to not proceed with Boss. We remain proud of this award-winning show, its exceptional cast and writers, and are grateful to Kelsey Grammer, Farhad Safinia and our partners at Lionsgate TV.”
EXCLUSIVE: Ross Armstrong has joined the cast of ITV1’s drama series Foyle’s War in a recurring role for its upcoming eighth season. My sources are telling me that Armstrong will be playing a character named Danny Willis and will appear in all 3 two-hour episodes. Created by Anthony Horowitz, Foyle’s War originally followed Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle, who investigated criminals taking advantage of the circumstances in the UK during World War Two. Season eight will be set during the early period after World War Two, where Foyle, now a senior intelligence officer, will focus his attention on the world of espionage as he gathers secret intelligence in support of Britain’s security, defence and the Government’s foreign and economic policies.
ABC has cancelled struggling freshman drama series 666 Park Avenue & Last Resort, TVWise has confirmed. A representative of ABC said “the network has no further commitment to either series beyond the initial [13 episode] order.” According to the network, both shows will be allowed to air all 13 episodes in their current time-slots. At present it is unclear which shows will replace them, as ABC has yet to announce its mid-season schedule.