Poldark star Aidan Turner touches down in Dublin

IRISH INDEPENDENT
April 5, 2017

Aidan Turner has returned to Dublin for a rare night out at home, as Poldark fans are in a spin over the show's earlier return to our screens.

The heart-throb was snapped tonight at The Gate theatre with new director of the theatre Selina Cartmell at the opening night of Noel Coward's Private Lives.

He appeared tonight at the theatre dressed down in jeans and a beanie hat for the show, which is at the beginning of a three month run.

"The earlier filming schedule on this series means that we can bring the much anticipated third series back sooner for fans to Sunday nights in June," a BBC spokeswoman said.

http://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-news/poldark-star-aidan-turner-touches-down-in-dublin-35597779.html

Five ways Downton Abbey changed TV

NEWS.COM.AU
Clare Rigden
News Corp Australia Network

AS Downton Abbey closes its doors for the final time, we take a look at how this British costume drama achieved global acclaim.

1. It’s made stuffy costume drama cool again

Downton Abbey brought a format often only seen on networks like the BBC in Britain, and ABC in Australia, and made it accessible to everyone.

“I think one of the things that Downton has done, is explode the myth that period drama has to be highbrow or in the literary genre,” says Executive Producer, Liz Trubridge.

Even though the storylines are set in a bygone age, viewers can relate to what characters are going through. And having gorgeous sets and costumes makes it all the more fun.

“I don’t think it’s overstating it to say that Downton has taken a much-loved British genre — the period countryhouse drama — and given it a complete overhaul for the 21st century, borrowing from the compelling storylines of soap opera to the quality writing and production values of contemporary U.S. television shows,” says Executive Producer, Gareth Neame.

Shows like Mr Selfridge and Ripper Street — both successful series that have premiered in the past few years — owe much to their predecessor.


2. It’s showed the Yanks how it’s done

Downton is a British format that found an audience in the States — not the other way round. In the process it was a game-changer for US networks and producers, who realised there was an audience for this type of drama.

Fellowes admits the show’s success took him by surprise.

“That was a rather extraordinary moment: to realise you’d written a show that was reaching parts [of popular culture] that other shows don’t reach,” he says.

The series finale was watched by 9.9 million viewers in the US, and was nominated for an Emmy award every year it aired.

3. It’s epic in scale

Everything about Downton is on a grand scale, from the setting — beautiful Highclere Castle, where it’s filmed — to the costumes, set dressing, and even the storylines.

Downton’s six series span one of the most tumultuous decades in modern history. Everything from the introduction of electricity and the automobile, to the First World War and the Spanish flu is covered — and that’s just for starters.

Producers never shied away from tackling political and social issues too, talking about everything from the rise of fascism in the 1920s, to the establishment of the women’s suffragette movement.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/5-ways-downtown-abbey-changed-tv/news-story/84b4abc40d07df4ec3b87a2a840a1acc

6 Things You Need to Know About Poldark's Aidan Turner

MASTERPIECE

Irish actor Aidan Turner may not yet be a household name stateside, but when Poldark rides onto your screens, you will definitely want to know anything and everything about the star that took the UK by storm. Start with these six things you need to know about Aidan Turner.



1. Dancing With the Star
Long before dancing in the fictitious assembly rooms of Cornwall, Turner was nimbly leading partners across the dance floors throughout the UK as a competitive dancer, having trained for a decade in Latin American and Ballroom dancing! Tango, anyone?

2. No Account
Unlike his castmates @RubyBentalland @ReedHeida, Turner doesn't have a social presence. "I don't do social media—maybe people should know that, because there's probably a bunch of fake Twitter things out there, Instagrams and all that, and Facebooks. I don't do any of it."



3. Shorn Free
Turner's mass of dark, windswept, romantic curls are so swoon-worthy, they've even inspired their own Twitter presence! But are they real? "We had hair extensions for a little while until it grew, and then we took them out. Yeah, it really is my hair, as wild as it is!"



4. A Short List of One
Poldark's executive producer, Debbie Horsfield, wanted Aidan and only Aidan for the lead role. Turner described being offered the part, without so much as a screen test, to the New York Post: "There was a knock on the door and the FedEx guy was there with the first two Poldark books and all eight scripts for the series. I thought, 'What on earth is this?' Then my agent calls and says there’s an offer for me to play the part of Ross Poldark. That had never happened to me before. It was surreal."



READ MORE HERE: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/spotlight/poldark-s1-6-things-aidan-turner/

Aidan Turner: I put a stone on after Poldark ended and I'm too fat and hairy to get my top off

THE MIRROR
BY NICOLA METHVEN
15 May, 2015



Poldark heart-throb Aidan Turner has revealed he put on a stone as soon as the show ended and is now “too fat and hairy” to get his top off.

The actor, who stripped off for the now infamous scything scene, also said he knew his technique was wrong but stuck with it to add to the drama.

Aidan, 31, said the effort that went in to creating his renowned six-pack was enormous. “It’s quite hard work to get into that sort of shape.

“Towards the end, I was so sick of it - I wanted to stuff my face. I think I put on a stone straight away.”

He claimed that fans would be “so disappointed” if he bared his torso now.

“I’m way too hairy,” he laughed. “If I went to the beach right now, people wouldn’t recognise me. I think keeping my top on these days is probably a good idea. I’m in nothing like the shape I was.

“People are just, ‘Hey - where’s your six-pack?’ I’m like, ‘I’m fat now - what are you talking about?’”

But the hunky star plans to hit the gym once again before filming on the second series starts in September.

Aidan entirely agrees with the scything experts who criticised his efforts. For the episode, he took lessons from a pro who said it should be more of a gentle twisting motion than massing slashing.

But he laughed: “Can you imagine if that was the scene? I was getting f***ing stuck in and every time I was doing it, I could see him shaking his head and turning away.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/aidan-turner-put-stone-after-5699360

Aidan Turner playing Poldark in BBC hit was "meant to be”, says show's writer

MIRROR
14:53, 7 May 2015 By Robert Dex , Danny Walker

Aiden Turner being cast as Poldark in BBC hit was "meant to be”, according to a key member of the production.

The writer who helped bring the BBC's hit remake of Poldark to TV said the casting of Aidan Turner as the title character was spot on.

The 31-year-old actor has won millions of fans for his brooding role as Captain Ross Poldark and the Cornish saga has since been recommissioned for a second series.

Scenes of Turner swimming naked in the sea and working topless with a scythe in a field have grabbed the most attention, while a question and answer Twitter session descended into farce when the actor was swamped with questions about his looks.



Debbie Horsfield, who wrote the hit adaptation, said she knew "somebody pretty spectacular" had to play the title role and Turner was her first choice.

She told BBC Radio 5 live's Anna Foster she normally does not write scripts with actors in mind but made an exception for Turner.

She said: "I started mulling it over in my head what were the characteristics that you would need and it became clear it was a pretty special person. I wrote one name down in my notebook then closed the book and didn't say anything to anybody."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/aiden-turner-playing-poldark-bbc-5652890

What Can Matthew Goode Bring to Downton Abbey Season 6?

MOVIE PILOT
by Peter Flynn ⋅ Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 6:46am



Matthew Goode is now in Downton Abbey! I can't stress enough what great casting that is! Of all the choices of well-mannered slightly adorable classy men, he fits the show perfectly. Tom Hiddlesdon? Too widely loved. Ben Wishaw? Too tasteful (dude was Paddington, y'know!) But Matthew Goode? He's the perfect culmination of tacky class. He's like a well-refined savant Ken Doll, and I would love him to return for Downton Abbey Season 6.

If his other main project, The Good Wife permits, we may well see more of Matthew Goode in Season 6. What might Downton Abbey gain from this precious porcelain man returning to our screens?

He Has Chemistry With Lady Mary!

Lady Mary's exploits, and the men those exploits rope in are where the sexy elements of Downton Abbey emerge (as sexy as you can expect Downton to be). Matthew Goode's Henry Talbot made his first appearance in the 2014 christmas special. While I'd misunderstood a joke sketch and was thoroughly fed up with the lack of George Clooney on my screen, Matthew Goode suddenly pops up and starts shooting grouse, and I'm in a stupor of wonderment for the rest of the episode.

I can speak for the fans when I say that everyone wanted Henry and Mary's snappy back and forth to be taken further. Their wry chemistry was palpable, and can be taken places, which the show seems to know! Why else would they explicitly address Henry Talbot's perchance for racing cars? It's kinda weird that Mary is totally into this, since it was a car crash that literally killed her ex-husband, Dan Stevens! I'm just not sure why she would be getting all hot and bothered for fast, dangerous machines.

He Can be Sinister

Matthew Goode is a funny actor. Just put him in stuff, and I will laugh at it, like a gnome being photographed going round the world. That said, he has more depth than just being a funny action-figure man, and has shades of lurid ominousness that make him a joy to watch. He could certainly adapt to some of the dark DARK places Downton Abbey is willing to go. Goode's range could tonally do some interesting things to Season 6.

If you want proof of Goode's ability to play the unsettling villain, look no further than Park Chan-Wook's masterful Stoker. His performance as Uncle Charlie is a truly terrifying delight, and if Henry Talbot were to descend into some sort of villainous figure in Season 6, Goode could manage it spectacularly.

READ MORE HERE: http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/05/06/what-can-matthew-goode-bring-to-downton-abbey-season-6-2909516?lt_source=external,manual

Dowager Countess to outlive Downton Abbey... even though character played by Dame Maggie Smith must be 110 by now

DAILY MAIL
By CHRIS HASTINGS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 18:59 EST, 2 May 2015 | UPDATED: 09:05 EST, 3 May 2015

She is as much a part of Downton Abbey as its Bath Stone walls – and just as imposing. So it is only right that the redoubtable Dowager Countess of Grantham will remain a constant of the ITV show right until the very end.

By some reckoning the formidable Crawley family matriarch, played by Dame Maggie Smith, would be 110 at the time the final series is set. But it seems that even the Grim Reaper is so intimidated by the prospect of her withering putdowns that the character will not be killed off.

Lord Fellowes, the Oscar winning creator of the show confirmed the news, saying: ‘Maggie will never die!’

The disclosure that Violet will survive to the end of the final episode – to air on Christmas Day – will be welcomed by the show’s 120 million fans worldwide.

The Dowager Countess is by far the most popular character and has remained stubbornly alive even though pundits have been predicting her demise ever since the show launched in 2010.

And it has been suggested that the Dowager Countess’s death would be the obvious way of bringing the curtain down on the global franchise.

It would certainly be her time. Downton Abbey’s first series was set in 1912, when the character was already in her dotage. The forthcoming sixth series is set more than a decade later.

And he revealed: ‘All the cast we said goodbye to in series five are all popping up in the final series.
‘It will end on Christmas Day. It will be a two-hour special on Christmas night. I am pleased with the way the whole series is coming on actually.’

He declined to be drawn on specifics about the plots, although fans are hoping that butler Carson and housekeeper Mrs Hughes will finally tie the knot following his proposal in last year’s Christmas Day episode.

Fellowes said he wouldn’t write his new American television series The Gilded Age, set among the high- society families of New York in the late 19th Century, until he had finally completed work on the last scripts for Downton.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3065753/Dowager-Countess-outlive-Downton-Abbey-character-played-Dame-Maggie-Smith-110-now.html#ixzz3Z6RTuJa2 
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Poldark fans left gasping as star ****** in final episode (spoiler) (interview video)

MIRROR
18:30, 20 April 2015 By Nicola Methven



Poldark fans will be gasping for different reasons in the series finale this Sunday – when Ross cheats on Demelza by stealing a kiss with his first love Elizabeth.

The moment comes when Ross, played by Aidan Turner, meets up with his former sweetheart after falling out with her husband, his treacherous cousin Francis.

The kiss will devastate many fans who have grown to love Demelza, whose journey in the BBC1 drama has taken her from kitchen maid to lady of the house.

A devoted wife, and mother to Poldark’s daughter, she would be heart-broken to learn that he is still in love with Elizabeth.

But the cracks in their marriage were beginning to show in the last episode after Ross learned that she had helped his cousin Verity to elope with Captain Andrew Blamey.

Her well-meant actions led to Francis wrongly blaming Ross and exacting his revenge by betraying him in spectacular fashion.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/poldark-fans-left-gasping-star-5555698

Downton Abbey to end after six series

BBC NEWS
March 26, 2015



The next season of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey will be its last, its makers have announced.
"Inevitably there comes a time when all shows should end and Downton is no exception," said the programme's executive producer Gareth Neame.

Created by Julian Fellowes, the show follows an aristocratic family's fortunes from 1912 to the mid-1920s.

Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern have played the Earl and Countess of Grantham since the show began in 2010.

The drama has won a string of awards since its inception, including two Baftas, three Golden Globes and 11 Primetime Emmys.

Its success both at home and abroad was recently demonstrated when the Duchess of Cambridge went to see it being filmed at Ealing Studios in west London

"The Downton journey has been amazing for everyone aboard," said Lord Fellowes, whose next project will be The Gilded Age, a period drama set in New York.

"People ask if we knew what was going to happen when we started to make the first series and the answer is that, of course we had no idea.

"Exactly why the series had such an impact and reached so many people around the world, all nationalities, all ages, all types, I cannot begin to explain."

"But I do know how grateful we are to have been allowed this unique experience."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32074921

Poldark fans disappointed as Aidan Turner 'engaged to be married'

THE TELEGRAPH
By Hannah Furness, Arts Correspondent11:16AM GMT 23 Mar 2015



He has caused something of a stir among the women of Britain for his rugged role in Poldark.

But hopeful fans of Aidan Turner could be left somewhat disappointed, after it emerged he has become secretly engaged to his long-term girlfriend.

Turner, 31, has reportedly proposed to actress Sarah Greene after three happy years together.

The Sunday Express claims rumours in the couple's home town of Dublin suggest they agreed to wed after spening Christmas with Turner's parents.

A source quoted by the newspaper said: "They are a really close and happy couple, and marriage is the logical next step for them.

"Sarah is perfect for him, she's very protective. Both of them don't really go for the glitzy side of showbusiness; they're happier spending quiet evenings playing Scrabble."

Turner is currently appearing in BBC period drama Poldark as the gallant Ross, who returned from war to find his true love engaged to another man.

Over the first three episodes, he has gained legions of female fans for scenes which see him galloping across Cornwall on horseback and working topless in the field.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11489391/Poldark-fans-disappointed-as-Aidan-Turner-engaged-to-be-married.html

Poldark tipped to become ‘BBC’s answer to Downton Abbey’ as second series ‘almost certain’ to go ahead

METRO
Caroline Westbrook for Metro.co.ukSunday
22 Mar 2015 1:16 pm



Speculation over Poldark’s future has mounted further following reports that a second series of the show is looking increasingly likely – and that its star Aidan Turner can ‘name his price’.

According to the Mirror insiders at the BBC have said it is ‘almost certain’ new episodes will begin filming in Cornwall later this year, with execs potentially planning to keep the show on air for several years.

And as the inevitable Downton Abbey comparisons begin to surface, one source told the paper that the corporation was prepared to dig deep to keep the show’s star on board.

‘Aidan has become a huge hit with viewers,’ the source said. ‘The role of Ross Poldark has put him in the shop window and movie makers from Hollywood will be beating down his door.

‘Without Aidan there is no Poldark. There is a real feeling it could turn in to a long-running series.’

Nothing has been confirmed, of course, although the actor previously hinted that a second series is in the works after saying he would be returning to Cornwall, where the show was filmed, later this year.




READ MORE HERE: http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/22/poldark-tipped-to-become-bbcs-answer-to-downton-abbey-as-second-series-almost-certain-to-go-ahead-5115514/

POLDARK COMES TO MASTERPIECE CLASSIC IN 2015

Downton Abbey tourist invasion leaves Lady Mary unamused

THE TELEGRAPH
By Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor
3:23PM GMT 20 Mar 2015


Michelle Dockery looked unamused at the delay to filming Photo: FameFlynet.uk.com

If Lady Mary’s expression is anything to go by, the tourists who wandered on to the set of Downton Abbey were not very welcome visitors.

Filming in the picturesque village of Lacock was disrupted when a tour guide led up to 50 overseas students on to the High Street in the picturesque village of Lacock, Wiltshire, which was being used to recreate a market scene.


Rob James-Collier joked with the crew during the hiatus in filming (Photo: FameFlynet.uk.com)

Thrilled to find themselves in the midst of a TV show, the group waved camera phones and selfie sticks. Witnesses said the shoot was interrupted for 45 minutes until they moved on, although a Downton spokesman claimed their presence had no impact on the day and filming continued.

Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, looked unamused. Others, including Rob James Collier (Thomas Barrow) appeared more relaxed about the visitors.

Downton stars and extras pause while tourists take pictures of the set (Photo: FameFlynet.uk.com)

READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11485675/Downton-Abbey-tourist-invasion-leaves-Lady-Mary-unamused.html

Poldark heartthrob Aidan Turner's girlfriend warns fans 'hands off he's mine'

 MIRROR
19:32, 14 March 2015 By Nigel Pauley



Heartthrob Aidan Turner’s long-term girlfriend has issued a firm “hands off – he’s mine” warning to his legion of new fans.

The Irish star of BBC costume drama Poldark has set millions of hearts fluttering with his smouldering lead performance as Ross – a man torn between two women.

But in real life he is very much in love with his girlfriend of three years, Irish actress Sarah Greene.

And protective Sarah has sent a clear message to anyone with designs on her man – steer clear because he’s off the market.

A friend said: “Sarah will stand no nonsense from any woman who tries to get too close to Aidan. She will let them know very directly ‘hands off – he’s mine’.”

Sarah, 29, who divides her time between Dublin, London and New York, also fiercely guards her privacy and private life.

And she isn’t afraid of confronting anyone who is “rude enough” to invade their personal space.

She said: “My boyfriend was on the Tube and people started taking pictures of him asleep. It’s like, ‘Ask for a photo if you want a photo.’

"Everyone is paparazzi these days. I have a private life and I want that to be private. The odd time in New York you find people taking pictures of you, it’s really rude.”

Friends of the Cork star said: “Sarah is an interesting mix of small town Irish charm and fierce ambition.

"She has the drive to reach the very top, but she doesn’t like all the nonsense that goes with it.

“She has been dating Aidan for over three years and they are very close.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/poldark-heartthrob-aidan-turners-girlfriend-5336034

You'll Never Guess Princess Kate's Favorite Room on the Downton Abbey Set

PEOPLE MAGAZINE
BY SIMON PERRY @SPerryPeoplemag UPDATED 03/12/2015 AT 12:10 PM EDT •ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 03/12/2015 AT 10:50 AM EDT


Princess Kate (far right) with Penelope Wilton, Hugh Bonneville and Laura Carmichael of Downton Abbey
CHRIS JACKSON/WPA POOL/GETTY

Princess Kate meeting the cast of Downton Abbey is the most English thing to happen since tea met crumpets.

After touring the set of the smash Masterpiece drama on Thursday, the expectant royal, 33, sat down for a photo with the ensemble.

Anglophiles, you're going to want to pour yourself a cuppa and spend a long moment with this glorious picture.


Princess Kate (front row, center) with the cast of Downton Abbey
CHRIS JACKSON / WPA POOL / GETTY

Most of the cast is assembled, with an amusing mix of contemporary and period clothes – a distinction highlighted in the front row, with Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) in her '20s garb and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) in a current look.

"It was a surreal and exciting experience to be at work and be visited by a member of the royal family," Carmichael told PEOPLE. "She has watched the show and loves it and that's really lovely."

Princess Kate with Brendan Coyle (right) of Downton Abbey
CHRIS JACKSON / WPA POOL / GETTY

"She spent the longest time in the kitchen, so me and Lesley [Nicol, who plays head cook Mrs. Patmore] are taking that as a compliment," says Sophie McShera, who plays assistant cook Daisy.

"We told her that two of the hobs work – because we like having steaming pans," Nicol shared.

And though Kate appeared to observers to be a little starstruck, McShera says, "Everyone around her was more starstruck."

Of course, the visit wouldn't be complete without some playful upstairs-downstairs rivalry – in this case, between Brendan Coyle (valet John Bates) and Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham).

Princess Kate (right) with Rob James-Collier of Downton Abbey CHRIS JACKSON / WPA POOL / GETTY

Kate ended up spending an hour longer than she had planned. Now, the cast hopes the eight-months pregnant royal is resting.

"I think she should go and have a sit down and take her shoes off," says Nicol. "It's quite hard work on those heels."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE:  http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222_20907433,00.html

Downton Factor returns to town for a sixth series

WHITNEY GAZETTE
March 4, 2015

Downton Abbey at Cogges Manor Farm, including Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham

STARS from the hit television period drama Downton Abbey were spotted filming at Cogges Manor Farm, near Witney, on Monday.

Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, and Laura Carmichael, who plays lady Edith Crawley, were seen on set. It is understood they were filming episodes in the hit show’s sixth series set to air later this year on ITV.

Cogges has often been used for scenes at the fictional Yew Tree Farm, home to the Drewe family, who bring up Lady Edith’s child. It is one of a series of locations used across West Oxfordshire. Others include Bampton, which doubles as the fictional Downton village.

Filming has become known as ‘the Downton factor’, providing a valuable boost to the district’s tourist industry.



In November last year West Oxfordshire Council, in partnership with Visit Britain, met about 90 Chinese tour operators and media representatives in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Council tourism services manager Hayley Beer said she expected two more international tour operators to sign contracts with the council, to add to its deal with International Friends, which began conducting Downton tours to the Cotswolds in April 2014.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/wgheadlines/11830612.Downton_Factor_returns_to_town_for_a_sixth_series/?ref=fbshr

Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance Star in PBS Masterpiece’s ‘Wolf Hall’

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By ANDREW GOLDMAN
March 5, 2015 3:36 p.m. ET

HAS THERE EVER LIVED a lustier, more murderous cast of characters than the Tudors? The infamy of the English dynasty owes largely to the treacherous 38-year reign of Henry VIII, but an even more compelling character may be his enabler and brain for hire, Thomas Cromwell, the commoner who rose in his court to become a kind of Henry whisperer, an advisor renowned for his ability to read the king’s mind like a book. For 500 years, Cromwell was viewed as a great heavy in the Tudor drama, a character whose lure became irresistible to the British novelist Hilary Mantel. “When I was researching, I started off with a fairly conventional viewpoint: that Cromwell’s a villain but an interesting villain,” Mantel says. “Then I began to discover other things and modified my view very fast.” Cromwell was the consummate fixer—in Mantel’s words, “the man to cut through some legal entanglement that’s ensnared you for three generations, or talk your sniffling little daughter into the marriage she swears she will never make.” Mantel also found him unusually sympathetic: After the deaths of his wife and daughters, he went on to support his large extended family. She devoted eight years and a thousand pages to novelizing the first 51 years of Cromwell’s life with Wolf Hall, released in 2009, and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, published three years later.

The books made Mantel a literary star—the first British author to win the Man Booker Prize twice. Naturally, film producers came calling. “There were many suitors, yes,” she says. But her books are serious works of historical fiction. The Tudors—notably in the Showtime series of the same name and the filmed adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl—had been transformed in the popular imagination as characters scheming and copulating through airbrushed Hollywood bodice rippers (“bonkbusters,” as the genre is known in England). Mantel feared what would become of her Cromwell in the wrong hands, how tempting it might be to drown him in an orgiastic, Game of Thrones–style bloodbath.



One suitor stood out from the rest: Colin Callender, the British-born producer who’d just left HBO after 21 years to start his own production company. As the president of HBO films, Callender had overseen the production of John Adams, a miniseries based on David McCullough’s biography. Mantel loved the seriousness of the project—the fact that it starred Paul Giamatti, not Tom Cruise—and that it made colonial life look as cold and austere as history tells us it was. Callender, she trusted, wouldn’t make the Tudors, in her word, too “cute.”

While devouring Wolf Hall, Callender recognized something novel, but also enticingly familiar, about Cromwell. As he’d seen firsthand at HBO, The Sopranos had irrevocably darkened the public’s taste and tolerance of its television protagonists, opening the doors for the likes of House of Cards’ Frank Underwood, Ray Donovan and, Callender imagined, the centuries-despised Thomas Cromwell. “Audiences are increasingly interested in characters who live on both sides of the moral equation,” Callender says. “I thought, here was the way to reinvigorate the television historical drama for the post–Sopranos, Breaking Bad world.” The rights to Mantel’s book became the first acquisition at Callender’s Playground Entertainment. Now he just needed actors with the gifts to sell Mantel’s portrayal of the insatiable Henry and his deft consigliere, Cromwell.

THERE ARE MANY who swear that Mark Rylance, the man Callender tapped to play Cromwell, is the greatest actor alive, that seeing him embody the small-time drug dealer Johnny “Rooster” Byron in Jerusalem is as close to a religious experience as the theater can offer. At lunch on a Pasadena, California, hotel patio, Rylance blushes, looking at his feet while Damian Lewis, who plays Wolf Hall’s Henry VIII, testifies to his brilliance. “I don’t know who the greatest actor is—it’s kind of a ridiculous notion—but if you haven’t seen Mark onstage, I’m here to tell you he’s extraordinary,” Lewis says. “He’s kind of cornered the market in redefining characters that we think we know.”

As they are both actors who spent their early professional years performing the Bard at the Royal Shakespeare Company, it might be tempting for American audiences to toss Rylance and Lewis into the same classically trained British actor bin. But just eyeballing them sitting next to each other suggests that their social circles rarely intersect. Rylance, who arrived wearing his trademark fedora, comes across as a theater bohemian, with silver Navajo bracelets on each wrist (he’s actively involved in Survival International, a group committed to protecting tribal people around the world) and a short-sleeved patterned bowling shirt; Lewis, the Eton-educated, St. John’s Wood–reared son of London privilege, is chic in a tailored dark blue shirt, designer jeans and a Rolex, and carries himself with a natural masculine confidence. Given that Rylance has spent his life projecting his voice onstage—he’s won three Tonys and two Oliviers—it’s surprising that he speaks so softly one has to lean in to hear him, even sitting a few feet away. (As a child, Rylance suffered from an intense shyness that kept him from speaking a word until he was 6.)

Through Wolf Hall, Rylance has taken on the job that Mantel began—redefining Cromwell, saving him even, almost 500 years after he was beheaded on trumped-up charges of treason. Rylance, best described as sprightly, might not be the first actor who comes to mind to play Cromwell; in Wolf Hall he’s a physically imposing brute who had likely killed a man or two in close combat during his mysterious younger days and was depicted in the enduring Hans Holbein likeness as a bruiser, fleshy and austere under his black bonnet. “I’m aware I’m not so big as Cromwell is physically, but I can take on psychological weight,” Rylance says. Playing bigger isn’t a problem for an actor of Rylance’s gifts; in fact, just the day before, he’d been sitting with Steven Spielberg, discussing how he will play the titular big friendly giant in The BFG, the director’s upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book. He’s thought deeply about the mechanics of the Cromwell-Henry relationship and came upon an unexpected insight when he encountered a man who keeps grizzly bears in Montana. “He said to me, the thing with bears is they are incredibly emotional, they’re made of emotions,” Rylance says. “You have to be very clear and very loving towards this bear, which is emotionally like a 15- or 16-year-old autistic child. I compare Damian’s Henry to that.”



READ MORE HERE: http://www.wsj.com/articles/damian-lewis-and-mark-rylance-star-in-pbs-masterpieces-wolf-hall-1425587807

Julian Fellowes says he has no say in how show HE created will end... but admits it can't go on forever

DAILY MAIL
By JOANNA CRAWLEY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:03 EST, 4 March 2015 | UPDATED: 16:03 EST, 4 March 2015



He's the creator of the show, so if anyone knows when Downton Abbey will end it's Julian Fellowes.

But the 65-year-old screenwriter has insisted that how and when the period drama will finish isn't ultimately down to him.

Explaining that he doesn't 'own' Downton, Julian has told The New York Times that any decisions regarding the finale of the hit series will be made by the show's owners, NBC Universal.

Amid mounting rumours that the ITV production will end after the sixth series, which will air in the UK later this year, Julian told the newspaper: 'It's not really my decision. I don't own Downton Abbey now.

'NBC Universal [which owns Carnival Films] owns Downton Abbey. So I could walk away. But I wouldn't walk away. It's too much my baby.'

The writer added that he 'can't immediately' say exactly when the show will end, but went on to admit that he wouldn't want to continue the storylines of the Crawley family past World War Two.

'Maybe people would say, "Oh my God, that's baby George, grown up!" But I don't think it would be continuous, with Michelle Dockery with her hair covered with talcum powder.'

Rumours that Downton will come to an end this year first started circulating In January, but ITV were quick to shoot down the reports as 'speculative'.

Julian though is moving to New York to work on a new period drama, meaning the rumours of his British-set period drama's imminent end are looking more and more likely.

The show's star Dame Maggie Smith, who plays Violet Crawley, also appeared to signal the end was nigh as she said she was ready to leave the show last week.

The 80-year-old has since clarified her remarks with a representative telling The Wrap: 'Maggie has always been on the record as saying she'll be with the show for as long as the show runs.'



This comes after Smith, said that she she can't see how programme can continue after the upcoming sixth season.

'They say this is the last one, and I can't see how it could go on,' the legendary actress told the Sunday Times.

Continuing she quipped: 'I mean, I certainly can't keep going. To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now. We're into the late 1920s.'


READ MORE HERE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2979509/Julian-Fellowes-says-no-say-created-end-admits-t-forever.html

Aidan Turner almost breaks Twitter as fans gush over heartthrob as he discusses Poldark re-make on This Morning

THE MIRROR
11:45, 5 March 2015 By Rebecca Pocklington



Actor Aidan Turner caused quite a reaction as he appeared on This Morning today - and that was just from host Amanda Holden .

The presenter had to fan herself as she welcomed the actor on to the show , and Twitter fans were just as excited to see the heartthrob, as he discussed his upcoming role in the re-make of Poldark.

Asked what his family thought to his new role, Aidan revealed: "My mum said something like 'don't screw it up'."



As Amanda giggled along with the rest of us, to pretty much everything the actor said, they showed spoilers from the upcoming hit.

The actor will be reunited with former Being Human co-star Russell Tovey later in the show, and he couldn't resist dropping his friend in it.

When asked about any secrets between them, Aidan admitted Russell was great at karaoke - and his speciality was Fast Car.

Could we be treated to a rendition? Or even better, a duet?

BBC1’s new £12million version of Poldark airs this Sunday night.

See all the hilarious reaction ere

(SPOILER ALERT) ‘Downton Abbey’ Recap: In the Finale, Mary Meets Mr. Handsome, With a Who Could-Care-Less Attitude (SPOILER ALERT)

NEW YORK TIMES
By LOUIS BAYARD  MARCH 1, 2015 10:37 PM


Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary with  one of the twin Barkers portraying Lady Mary's son, Master George Crawley.Credit Nick Briggs/Carnival Films for Masterpiece

Season 5, Episode 9

Oh, Abbots. It can’t be over, can it? Another season, gone as quickly as a grouse flying over Brancaster Castle.

So let us keep sorrow at bay by reminding ourselves: We’ve finally pulled abreast. Oh, sure, those viewers in Britain got their usual three-month head start on us (just as the Brits used to get first crack at the latest Dickens installment). Viewers in the United States who were too impatient to wait for the weekly drip of revelation snapped up their DVDs and sometimes blurted out key plot developments over a few too many Manhattans. They had us in their spoiler-alert grip, Abbots, but no longer. Democracy reigns.

So now that we’re all on the same plane of knowledge, what can we say for sure about this fast-receding season? (For Baron Fellowes’ thoughts, read this.)

Longstanding relationships (the Bateses, Robert and Cora) were tested and left standing. Longstanding plot lines were either resolved (Edith’s daughter) or abruptly discarded (Mary Crowley’s sort-of-not-really love triangle). Characters like Violet, the dowager countess, were enlarged with new layers and backstories; others showed clear signs of outliving their narrative usefulness. From all indications, we have seen the last of:



1) Mary’s dim suitor Tony Gillingham (Tom Cullen), who gets a fine consolation prize in Mabel Lane Fox (Catherine Steadman).

2) Boston-bound Tom Branson (Allen Leech), who has taken longer to quit the scene than Cher.

3) Rose (Lily James) and Atticus (Matt Barber), who are heading off to New York. (Synchronously, Ms. James has veered off toward “Cinderella,” a part she seems genetically modified for.)

One way or another, the Downton family is fragmenting. Just like the Downton estate (headed for subdivision) and the Downton ethos, a victim to those winds of sociopolitical change that Carson (Jim Carter) keeps mumbling on about. As servants like Daisy (Sophie McShera) begin to imagine better lives, as Socialists like Sarah Bunting make scenes in fine dining rooms, as Edwardian ideals give way to harsh postwar realities (excellent historical timeline here), look for the Crawleys and their retinues to feel and fight their own anachronism.

We know they’ll lose, but what’s a historical drama without gallant fools engaged in rear-guard actions? So carry on, you lovely, maddening elitists, along with your lovely, maddening retinues. We’ll be griping and grumbling, and we’ll be watching.

In the meantime, may I suggest just one incremental reform? On the evidence of Episode 9, you need better legal counsel.

I’m sure the Earl of Grantham’s lawyer, George Murray (Jonathan Coy), has a few gray cells poking around in there, but several years after botching the defense of Bates (Brendan Coyle), he seems bound and determined to do the same with Mrs. Bates (Joanne Froggatt), even going so far as to declare the police case against her airtight when — as we all know, Abbots — it has more holes than, well, a grouse flying over Brancaster Castle.

Turns out that, when Anna was a teenager, she cut her stepfather-molester with a knife, and while she was never charged, that mysteriously reconstructed incident has created some kind of — oh, I don’t know, “pattern” of violence that will sweep Anna straight to the gallows, and in the name of Perry Mason, can’t some fine lawyerly mind sweep this whole business to sea? Instead, it falls to Bates (Mr. Coyle) to confess to Mr. Green’s murder and then vamoose to Ireland.

Now if Sarah Bunting were still around, I would point out to her that, even without benefit of a welfare state, no one enjoys better job security than the Bateses. It doesn’t matter how much leave they take or how many heinous crimes they’re accused of, their jobs are always kept open, their home fires are kept burning, and free (if incompetent) legal care abounds. Sweden could do no better.

At any rate, Anna is sprung on bail, and Murray declares, “We’re going forward and not backward,” but to me, it feels like we’re on the same leaking story pontoon, which only stays afloat because Baron Fellowes’ legs are kicking as madly as they can. By episode’s end, even he must be a little fatigued because a York publican turns up to give Bates an alibi, and the witness who ID’d Anna sprouts “doubts,” and lo and behold, it’s Christmas, and who should pop out of the mistletoe, as it were, but Bates?

Love emerges when you least expect it, Abbots. Sometimes all it takes (and this will give aid and comfort to Freudians everywhere) is for a lot of men to pull out their big guns. The Sinderbys have rented Brancaster for a weeklong shooting party, and no one is immune. Even Edith (Laura Carmichael) loses a bit of her Mildred Pierce-y daughter fixation and dances a few rounds with agreeable castle agent Bertie Pelham (Harry Hadden-Paton). We wish them both well. (And by the way, Edith needs to let that hair flow. With her locks down to her shoulders, she goes from librarian to licentious.)

But no one is more moved by the sight of men and their gauges than Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), who finds herself unaccountably aroused by the marksmanship of a handsome stranger named Henry Talbot. Now I don’t mean to crow, but as soon as I heard Matthew Goode was signed up for the final episode, I immediately discerned that his plot function would be roughly the same as it was in “The Good Wife”: to melt the froideur of a stern, ashen, erotically complicated brunette. Sure enough, he shows up on the Northumberland moors without even an establishing close-up but with enough swagger to remind us that Mary needs a chap who looks as good as Tony G but treats her as roughly as Inspector Vyner. “Heavens,” exclaims Mary, watching Talbot climb into his car. “What a snappy chariot.” Now I would’ve thought she’d be a little skittish of automobiles, given how her late husband met his end, but she seems to be all over Henry T and his Bentley.

Amazing to think, Abbots, that after two seasons of arid flirtation and Liverpool lovefests, Our Miss Flint has found someone to spark off. And the secret to his allure? He doesn’t give a damn if she likes him or not. Look for Talbot to stick around.

READ THE ENTIRE RECAP HERE: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/downton-abbey-recap-in-the-finale-mary-meets-mr-handsome-who-could-care-less/?_r=0