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7 items from 2013

22 May 2013 1:48 AM, PDT | Digital Spy | See recent Digital Spy - TV news news »

Daniel Mays is to lead the cast of new BBC One drama Common.

The one-off crime thriller - from writer Jimmy McGovern (Accused, Cracker) - centres on 'joint enterprise' law and tells the tale of four men who flee a fatal stabbing.

Lead actor Mays most recently starred in ITV's BAFTA-winning drama Mrs Biggs and appears in the movie Welcome to the Punch opposite James McAvoy.

Jodhi May (The Ice Cream Girls), Robert Pugh (Game of Thrones), Nico Mirallegro (My Mad Fat Diary) and Susan Lynch (Monroe) form the rest of the Common cast.

"When it comes to casting you always have a 'wish list' - a list of actors who'd be perfect for the parts you have written," said McGovern.

"You never get them of course. They're often too busy or away on holiday or they hate the script or whatever. But on this occasion, I got them all, »

14 May 2013 5:11 AM, PDT | Digital Spy | See recent Digital Spy - TV news news »

Shameless creator Paul Abbott has revealed his new Channel 4 comedy drama project No Offence.

The eight-part series is a Manchester-based police show, which Abbott claims will mix "cop drama, family saga and social mayhem".

Channel 4's press release about the show describes its plot as follows:

"Set in a crumbling Victorian cop shop on the wrong side of Manchester, No Offence follows a group of bobbies on the front line, wondering what they did to end up here, in this force, on this side of town. Keeping these streets clean is a Herculean task, enough to demoralize even the keenest rookie.

"But there's a reason these cops are in this force. As the never ending rabble off the local estates pours in, Inspector Vivienne Deering, the station's sharp, funny (peculiar) and hard as they come boss, and her team led by DC Dinah Kowalski (smart but impetuous, stuck in the middle, »

11 May 2013 4:05 PM, PDT | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

Sky's Hannibal might have been more interesting with a bit more psychology and a bit less blood and guts

Hannibal (Sky Living)

The Apprentice (BBC1) | iPlayer

Life of Crime (ITV1) | ITVplayer

Murder on the Home Front (ITV1) | ITVplayer

Great Artists In Their Own Words (BBC4) | iPlayer

There are two ways of looking at the kind of psychologically rich and physiologically brutal fiction written by Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs. The first is that it's a sort of cultural safety valve, a secure and harmless realm in which to explore the dark thoughts that haunt our nightmares. The second is that it's gruesome porn for sickos.

The more sophisticated understanding is obviously the former, but there's some queasy part of me that can't quite shake off the suspicion that the latter contains a kernel of truth. Given the popularity and critical acclaim these books have enjoyed, I »

- Andrew Anthony

14 April 2013 4:05 PM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

BBC and ITV enraged the government with early portrayals of the conflict but it is being supplanted by recent conflicts

British TV deployed rapidly – and with frequent controversy – to attack the Falklands war as a subject. The assiduous historical website British Television Drama records, in the decade after the war, 10 dramas based on the conflict.

The BBC screened five plays within five years of the events, which may surprise those who now associate the corporation with editorial caution and at the time clearly astonished the Ministry of Defence, which made numerous objections and obstructed access to actual locations and equipment.

The earliest pieces were oblique, with Don Shaw's The Falklands Factor dramatising an 18th-century dispute over the islands, and Maggie Wadey's The Waiting War focusing on military and naval families. ITV also enraged the MoD and the government with a children's series, Jan Needle's A Game of Soldiers, »

- Mark Lawson

16 March 2013 8:00 AM, PDT | The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news »

Jamie Lloyd Productions today announced that The Hothouse, Harold Pinter’s macabre tragicomedy will return to London’s West End in a new production this May. The Hothouse is next up in a thrilling season of work for Trafalgar Transformed, a joint initiative between director Jamie Lloyd (Donmar’s Passion, Broadway’s Cyrano de Bergerac, the National Theatre’s She Stoops to Conquer, Royal Court’s The Pride) and Howard Panter. It comes hot on the heels of the critically acclaimed Macbeth, starring James McAvoy, tickets for which have sold out. The Hothouse, with design by award-winning Soutra Gilmour, runs from 4 May to 3 August.

Simon Russell Beale (Privates on Parade, National Theatre’s Timon of Athens and Collaborators) is playing Roote and John Simm (Elling, Sheffield Theatres’ Hamlet and Betrayal) as Gibbs. Further casting will be announced shortly. Jamie Lloyd said: “It is a dream come true to be working »

- Dan Bullock

28 February 2013 5:08 AM, PST | Digital Spy | See recent Digital Spy - TV news news »

BBC Three has released a new animated promo for its zombie drama In The Flesh.

The three-part thriller - from new writer Dominic Mitchell - will debut on Sunday, March 17 at 10pm.

The new animated clip takes the form of a public information film, providing the viewer with tips on how to survive a zombie uprising and what to do in the event of being bitten.

In The Flesh stars Luke Newberry as Kieren Walker, an 18-year-old who is revived from his 'partially deceased' zombie state but struggles to reintegrate into society.

Ricky Tomlinson (Cracker, The Royle Family), Kenneth Cranham (Layer Cake) and Alex Arnold (Skins) also star.

> BBC announces new series Atlantis to replace Merlin

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Watch a trailer for In The Flesh below: »

25 February 2013 2:45 AM, PST | Digital Spy | See recent Digital Spy - TV news news »

BBC Three has unveiled the first trailer for its new zombie drama In The Flesh.

Newcomer Luke Newberry leads the cast as Kieren Walker, appearing alongside Ricky Tomlinson (Cracker, The Royle Family) and Kenneth Cranham (Layer Cake).

In The Flesh takes place four years after a zombie uprising and charts humanity's efforts to reintegrate the living dead into society.

One such zombie is Kieren Walker, who must adjust to his new life with the help of fellow zombie Amy (Emily Bevan), his best friend Rick (David Walmsley) and his sister Jem (Harriet Cains).

Skins actor Alex Arnold will also appear in the series, which has been scripted by new writer Dominic Mitchell and will be directed by Jonny Campbell (Eric and Ernie).

In The Flesh will premiere on BBC Three in March.

> BBC announces new series Atlantis to replace Merlin

> Being Human: Is it the right time for the show to end? »

7 items from 2013