Keeley Hawes will not appear in Line of Duty series three

RADIO TIMES
By Susanna Lazarus
Thursday 23 April 2015 at 02:18PM

Keeley Hawes stole the show when she joined series two of Line of Duty, earning widespread critical acclaim and a best actress Bafta nomination for her portrayal of DI Lindsay Denton.

But any fans hoping to see her feature in the upcoming third series will be disappointed. Jed Mercurio's police corruption drama – which also stars Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar – began filming earlier this month, but Hawes has confirmed she will not be involved.

Speaking at last night's Bafta Television Awards nominees party, she was asked what she knows of the return of the BBC2 series. "Only that Daniel Mays is doing it which is great news because he is brilliant.

"There's nothing for me in there," she added.

Was she hoping there might be after the popularity of her role last year? "No, because it's done and dusted, really. I've done it."

However, the 39-year-old actress added she's delighted by the "grittier roles" she'd been offered since she kept the nation gripped over whether or not the inscrutable Denton was guilty. "I went on to play Samatha Mollison in The Casual Vacancy and that was a role I don't think I'd have been thought of for had I not done Line of Duty."

Hawes also spoke of her surprise at the scale of reaction to her no-frills appearance in the Bafta-nominated role. "Mostly people were surprised that an actress would be happy to be seen without any make-up on – it's not shocking, is it? So, that had a big impact – the look and the fact it's something they hadn't seen me do. But then they hadn't given me the opportunity to do it."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-23/keeley-hawes-will-not-appear-in-line-of-duty-series-three

Judi Dench tells her version of Benedict Cumberbatch's "shocking" Richard III proposal

RADIO TIMES
13 October, 2014
By Susanna Lazarus



Judi Dench is a busy lady, appearing at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday before being whisked off to Cardiff to continue filming on Richard III, one of three new Hollow Crown films being made by BBC2.

But the actress's role in the Shakespeare adaptation is all thanks to her appearance at another festival earlier this year. Dench, 79, was in conversation with Richard Eyre at Hay Festival last June when Benedict Cumberbatch put her on the spot...

"It's a shocking story," recalls Dench. "We were doing Hay and I was instructing – I had to do the bits of Shakespeare that I remembered – and so I said to [Richard], 'You have to say three lines of this.' I was rehearsing and then Cumberbatch said 'I’ll do that for you'.

"So he leapt up on stage to enormous applause and did these three lines and then went and sat down again and Richard said, 'Any questions?' and there was one question and Ben Cumberbatch turned to my friend David next door to him and said, 'Shall I ask her?' David said 'Yes' and [Cumberbatch] said, 'Are you going to play my mother in Richard III?'



"It’s a very good way of being asked to do a part. You don’t mess about, you don’t spend ages dithering about it. When somebody asks you, say yes or no and I said yes."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-10-13/judi-dench-tells-her-version-of-benedict-cumberbatchs-shocking-richard-iii-proposal

HEADING TO PBS: This First Look At Benedict Cumberbatch In 'The Hollow Crown' Is Everything

HUFF POST TV
By Bill Bradley

Thanks to the BAFTA award-winning "The Hollow Crown" series in 2012, you can expect three more adaptations of Shakespeare’s "History" plays from Neal Street Productions and Carnival Films/NBCUniversal, with "Henry VI" in two parts and also "Richard III," according to BBC. The star-studded cast includes Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Keeley Hawes and Tom Sturridge.

Though an air date hasn't been set, the series will be shown on PBS in the U.S. and BBC2 in the U.K.

 

READ MORE HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/02/benedict-cumberbatch-the-hollow-crown_n_5920754.html

Emily Watson: My nightmare sex scene with David Tennant - Doctor Who (LONDON EVENING STANDARD)

Miranda Bryant
08 April 2013

Emily Watson has revealed her embarrassment over a violent sex scene with former Doctor Who David Tennant in new BBC2 mini series The Politician’s Husband.

Mother-of-two Watson said that although Tennant was a “complete gentleman”, sex scenes are “always a bit of a nightmare”.

Her character is sexually abused by her husband, a fellow politician played by Tennant in the drama, which starts on April 25. Watson, 46, told The Times: “The power struggle between them becomes so intense that it spills into violence.


READ MORE: http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/emily-watson-my-nightmare-sex-scene-with-doctor-who-8564180.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: Great scene from Episode 4, Parade's End

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujSogzSbwxI

Romangirl88

Benedict Cumberbatch: Parade's End gives BBC2 biggest drama ratings hit in seven years (THE TELEGRAPH)

By Ben Bryant10:02PM BST 28 Aug 2012

Audience figures show the first episode attracted 3.5 million viewers, making it BBC2’s biggest drama in years.

BBC2 trounced BBC1 and ITV’s Friday night prime-time ratings with 15 percent of all viewers, doubling its usual share.

The five-part series marked a return to television for internationally renowned playwright Tom Stoppard after a 35-year hiatus.

Stoppard helped boost the channel to its most impressive ratings since HBO’s historical drama Rome aired in 2005.

Star turns from Benedict Cumberbatch, who enjoys a large global following, and Rebecca Hall, also helped give prominence to the period piece.


Critical praise was just as forthcoming as viewers.

The Telegraph’s reviewer James Walton described it as a programme that ‘demanded and rewarded our full attention’ and awarded it four and a half stars. It was met with an equally rapturous reception across the board in other national newspapers.

Concert pianist James Rhodes wrote on Twitter: “Parade's End the perfect counterpoint to a heavy day. Hall, Stoppard & Cumberbatch - what a combination! TV that makes one feel smart...“

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9504571/Parades-End-gives-BBC2-biggest-drama-ratings-hit-in-seven-years.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: Parade's End viewing dates in UK (SCOOP IT!)

Scooped by T Poulson

According to T Poulson of Scoop It! this cover says Parade's End will begin August 24 and have five hour long episodes on BBC2.  I don't see it, but there you go...

 http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch: Parade's End Footage

(well you have to wait for it a bit - sorry.  It's in here somewhere)

David Tennant debuts lighter 'do as he shoots new BBC drama series By SARA MALM (MAIL ON LINE)

Here is David Tennant as you have never seen him before – blond!

The former Doctor Who actor showed off his new hairdo as he shot scenes for upcoming new BBC2 series The Politician’s Husband.

The three-part miniseries, which will air next year, sees Tennant play a Cabinet minister whose political career is suddenly dwarfed by his wife's.


READ MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2160956/David-Tennant-shoots-new-BBC-drama-series-pyjamas--new-blonde-hairdo.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Rev writer admits show won't return this year James Wood says BBC2 sitcom's cast are 'too bloody successful' but hopes to make a third series in 2013 Share 32 Email Ben Dowell guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 9 May 2012 06.35 EDT (THE GUARDIAN)

The writer of Rev has admitted there will not be a third series of the award-winning BBC2 sitcom this year because the cast, including Tom Hollander and Olivia Colman, are "too bloody successful".

So far the BBC has made two series and a Christmas special, and has attracted a range of impressive guest stars including Ralph Fiennes, Richard E Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Geoffrey Palmer, James Purefoy and the veteran actor Sylvia Syms.

James Wood, the co-creator with Hollander of the comedy about a London inner-city vicar, told MediaGuardian: "The cast are too bloody successful."

Wood said he was "cautiously optimistic" about getting the cast together in 2013 but this could not be guaranteed.


READ MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/may/09/rev-writer-wont-return?newsfeed=true

Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Irons: BBC's top cast for Olympic Shakespeare seasons (TELEGRAPH)

Ben Whishaw will star in a new BBC season of Shakespeare plays. He said: “Playing Richard II has been a hugely rewarding experience." Photo: BBC

The BBC have attracted an all-star cast for their season of Shakespeare history plays. With the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as executive producer, the BBC will screen Richard II, Henry IV parts I and II, and Henry V, from late June on BBC2 as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Among the top British talent involved in acting and directing are: Jeremy Irons, Ben Whisaw, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Richard Eyre. Among other actors involved are: Tom Hiddleston (Prince Hal), Patrick Stewart (John of Gaunt), Julie Walters (Mistress Quickly), David Suchet (Duke of York), Lindsay Duncan (Duchess of York), Rory Kinnear (Bolingbroke), Michelle Dockery (Lady Percy), Maxine Peake (Doll Tearsheet), Iain Glen (Warwick) and John Hurt (The Chorus).

Irons stars as Henry IV, while Russell Beale plays Falstaff. Eyre will direct Henry IV, and Thea Sharrock is the director on Henry V.


READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/9240442/BBCs-top-cast-for-Olympic-Shakespeare-seasons.html

BRENDAN COYLE: 'Thank God I'm nothing like evil Mrs Bates': She adored playing Downton's villain but her real life revolves around her family By CHRISSY ILEY (DAILY MAIL)

What many people don’t know is that Maria Doyle Kennedy is a singer first and foremost. Her new album, Sing, is a beautiful collection of songs co-written with her husband, Kieran, and she has an amazing, soulful voice.

She seems self-conscious, yet the roles that we’ve most known her for are assertive women who are not in the least self-effacing. ‘Usually I don’t play the part of bitches, but when I do I really enjoy it,’ she says with a savouring smile. In the case of Mrs Bates she presented her as the ultimate vengeful woman.

Her character was pretty vile. ‘It was fantastic to play someone so awful. You could never be like that in real life. It was made all the more brilliant because of the period. You don’t march around being nasty. You say dreadful things in the same way as you say: “Isn’t the tea lovely?” ‘I really don’t behave like that in real life. I am not a devious person, anyway.

And I can lose control of my temper. I’m not that buttoned up.’ I assume Julian Fellowes, who wrote Downton, must have taken a special liking to her to cast her in Titanic.‘No. Originally they had cast Emily Watson in my role but there was a slight delay in filming and she became unavailable.’

The voice you hear on her album has a nurturing, earth-mother quality. ‘Singing is the thing apart from my family that gives me the most joy in the world. I don’t ever spend a day without singing.’ She is 47 and has four boys, the last of whom ‘will probably forever call himself mother’s little surprise’.

 When she played Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII in the first series of BBC2’s The Tudors, the irony was not lost on her that she was playing a woman who would have remained Queen had she been able to deliver a son, while Maria herself has only delivered boys.


READ MORE:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2135911/Maria-Doyle-Kennedy-Downton-character-Mrs-Bates.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Hugh Bonneville discusses his role as Ian on 2012

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/twenty_twelve/videos/3600/meet_the_actors_hugh_bonneville_on_ian/

Hugh Bonneville in 2012 (THE INDEPENDENT) I PRAY THIS COMES ON IN AMERICA!!!

On 14 March last year, the Olympic countdown clock was unveiled at a grand ceremony in Trafalgar Square. Less than 24 hours later, it had ground to an embarrassing halt, which became known as the "Olympic clock-up".

In a spooky coincidence, that very same evening the climax of the first episode of Twenty Twelve, a mockumentary about the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission written several months earlier, featured an Olympic clock, which had – you've guessed it – ground to an embarrassing halt.

A (real-life) London 2012 spokesman was forced to release a statement saying, "It could be a case of life imitating art."

Twenty Twelve, which returns to BBC2 at 10pm on Friday, is full of these spot-on satirical moments. In fact, it could win a gold medal for prescience. This spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary, which won the Best Sitcom gong at the British Comedy Awards last year, tracks the confederacy of dunces who tie themselves in increasingly complex knots attempting to prepare for the biggest event this country has ever hosted.

The ODC is run by the hapless Ian (played by Hugh Bonneville). He is hindered by his gloriously inept team, who include the spectacularly un-self-aware PR chief, Siobhan (Jessica Hynes). It is entirely appropriate that the show's theme tune is "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (There may be trouble ahead...").

 READ MORE:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/twenty-twelve-back-on-track-with-hugh-bonneville-the-lord-of-office-jargon-7594951.html