Filming Starts On Second Series Of Death In ParadiseBookmark and Share

Thursday, 19 July 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
A second series of crime drama/comedy Death In Paradise has started filming in the Caribbean - with singer-songwriter Jamelia signed up for a cameo in her first TV role.

Ben Miller (Primeval) again stars as Detective Inspector Richard Poole - the uptight English police officer uncomfortable in such exotic surroundings - and he is joined once more by Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) as police officer Dwayne Myers, Don Warrington as Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, Sara Martins as Detective Sergeant Camille Bordey (pictured below with Miller), and Gary Carr as police officer Fidel Best.

Jamelia said:
I'm so excited. Not only am I in a great drama filming my first TV role but I'm doing it in the Caribbean too! I'm really looking forward to working with such a talented cast.
Other guest stars are Michael Brandon, Bryan Dick, Dexter Fletcher, Kelly Adams, Kenneth Cranham, Stephanie Beacham, Amanda Mealing, Tom Ward, Patrick Baladi, and Gemma Jones.

Guadeloupe once again doubles for the fictitious island of Saint Marie, and as with the first series there will be eight 60-minute episodes when the show returns to BBC One early next year.

Co-executive producer Belinda Campbell said:
We have a wonderful cast for Death In Paradise and our list of guest stars is equally exciting. Jamelia in particular was such a surprise find; she is not only a talented singer but actress too.

The stories for this series are full of humour and intrigue and hopefully the whole family will have fun trying to work out whodunit each week. We can't wait to bring a bit of Caribbean sunshine back to the cold and wet UK!
Fellow co-executive producer Polly Hill said:
Death In Paradise was a real hit with the BBC One audience, who enjoyed the weekly instalments of light-hearted murder-mystery in a beautiful Caribbean setting. The show is part of a wide range of drama programming across the BBC, which includes Ripper Street and Hunted.
The first series aired between 25th October and 13th December 2011, averaging 6 million viewers per episode.

The programme is a Red Planet Pictures production in association with Kudos Film and TV and BBC Worldwide, produced with the support of the region of Guadeloupe. Created by Robert Thorogood, it is produced by Tim Key and directed by Keith Boak, Alrick Riley, and David O'Neil.




FILTER: - BBC - Drama - Death In Paradise

From Primeval to Shetland via The SilenceBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 8 May 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
BBC_One_Scotland_logoFormer Primeval star Douglas Henshall is to appear as the lead character in a new BBC One crime drama.

He will play Detective Jimmy Perez in the two-part murder-mystery Shetland, which has been adapted by David Kane from the books by Ann Cleeves.

Set against the backdrop of the Shetland Isles, the drama, which will be directed by Peter Hoar, centres on the native Shetlander Perez, a widower who has returned home after a long spell away and has "a bone-dry sense of humour and an idealistic desire to protect his beloved Shetland Isles from inevitable change".

When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the island community is intrigued to know if it's an ancient find or a contemporary mystery. And when an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, Perez and his team find themselves at the centre of two feuding families whose envy, greed, and bitterness has divided the surrounding community.

Henshall, who also starred in the 2010 BBC One drama The Silence alongside Dervla Kirwan and Hugh Bonneville, said: "I am very much looking forward to working with David Kane, filming in Scotland, and being back on BBC One."

Further casting is yet to be announced. Shetland is being produced by Sue De Beauvoir for ITV Studios through BBC Scotland. The executive producers are Elaine Collins for ITV Studios and Christopher Aird for BBC Scotland.

BBC Scotland's drama department is home to Waterloo Road (BBC One), Lip Service (BBC Three), Field Of Blood (BBC One Scotland), and River City (BBC One Scotland).

(newslink: BBC Media Centre)






FILTER: - BBC - Drama

Sherlock Is Named Best TV DramaBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 1 May 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Sherlock has added another gong to its collection after being named Best TV Drama at today's South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

The BBC One series was co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and in an interview, which can be seen by clicking on the BBC News link below, Moriarty actor Andrew Scott praises the writing - with a subsequent forthright show of gratitude by Gatiss for his comment! During the interview, Gatiss refers to his and Moffat's "love of Conan Doyle's genius".

The BBC's mockumentary series Twenty Twelve, which had been nominated for Best Comedy, lost out to Channel 4's Fresh Meat at the awards ceremony, which was held at The Dorchester in London.

The first series of Sherlock won last year's BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series, and Martin Freeman, who plays Dr Watson, won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. Series 1 also scooped the Arqiva award for Best Terrestrial Show at last year's Edinburgh International Television Festival, Charlie Phillips won the 2011 BAFTA Television Craft Award for Editing: Fiction, and the show has bagged five BAFTA Cymru honours.
(newslink: BBC News)







FILTER: - BBC - Twenty Twelve - Comedy - UK - Drama - Sherlock

Sherlock And Twenty Twelve In Line For AwardsBookmark and Share

Monday, 2 April 2012 - Reported by John Bowman
Sherlock is in the running for a gong at this year's South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

The BBC One show, co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, has been shortlisted for Best TV Drama, alongside This Is England '88 and Top Boy, both from Channel 4.

Meanwhile, "mockumentary" series Twenty Twelve, starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, and Olivia Colman, with a narration by David Tennant, which has just started its second series on BBC Two, has been nominated for Best Comedy. It faces competition in the form of Fresh Meat (Channel 4) and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (BBC Two).

The awards ceremony will take place at The Dorchester in London on Tuesday 1st May, to be televised on Sky Arts 1 HD at 9pm. Melvyn Bragg - who fronted the 1977 BBC2 documentary Whose Doctor Who - will be the master of ceremonies. He said:
Although this is a celebration of British arts by British artists, we have a world-class list of nominees. The South Bank Sky Arts Awards are the only one of their kind in the world, and we very much look forward to a great day, where we'll recognise and honour the best talent in this country.
The awards take their name from The South Bank Show - an arts magazine series for ITV that Bragg presented and which ran for 32 series between 1978 and 2010. It is being revived by Sky Arts from Sunday 27th May.
(newslink: Sky Arts)




FILTER: - BBC - Twenty Twelve - Comedy - UK - Drama - Sherlock