Move over, Downton Abbey: Parade’s End is moving in Stellar writing and cast make British period piece a winner By Bill Brownstein, Montreal Gazette February 20, 2013 (CALGARY HERALD)

MONTREAL - Great news for those going through the initial stages of Downton Abbey withdrawal: another sterling British period piece is set to make its North American debut.

The five-part miniseries Parade’s End begins Tuesday on HBO Canada. But unlike Downton Abbey, viewers won’t have to wait endless weeks for it to wrap. This Parade comes to an end on Feb. 28; the entire series airs over three nights.

Saving the best for last: Not to detract from Downton Abbey, but Parade’s End packs even more of a punch. Yet it, too, has epic sweep, replete with lavish costumes, tony castles and manicured gardens.

Not that time-honoured servitude doesn’t come into the fray, but Parade’s End is much more upstairs than downstairs-oriented. There is also more passion and more mirth at play here than in Downton Abbey. The tension builds dramatically in this bittersweet tale of love and valour. And the “whiff of sex permeates like a vapour,” as one character so accurately assesses.

Not to detract from the work of Maggie Smith et al at the Abbey, but Parade’s End stars Benedict Cumberbatch (yes, the same guy somewhat slumming in the Sherlock TV series), Rebecca Hall, Adelaide Clemens, Rupert Everett, Stephen Graham, Janet McTeer, Miranda Richardson and many more give the equivalent of a master class in acting. Even the late Sir Larry Olivier would be dazzled.

And not to detract from Downton Abbey creator/writer Julian Fellowes, but it’s hard to top scripts penned by playwright Tom Stoppard, who has adapted this series from the acclaimed four novels of Ford Madox Ford. The dialogue, be it tongue-in-cheek droll or deliciously treacherous, is brilliant. To wit: “He’s not dead. He’s in Glasgow.” Or, “He’s a great lump of wood … (I want) to kill him to see if he has any blood in him.”



Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Move+over+Downton+Abbey+Parade+moving/7990821/story.html#ixzz2La6W2suT

Two sex scenes in the first six minutes... the steamy saga that the BBC hopes will grab Downton's crown By CHRIS HASTINGS and EMILY HILL (DAILY MAIL)

On the night before her wedding, in a sumptuous Parisian hotel suite, a beautiful bride-to-be with tumbling red hair opens the door to her lover. Although he is not the man she is to marry in the morning, they kiss passionately, before he rips off her clothes and ravishes her on the carpet.

This is the arresting opening to the BBC’s latest period drama, Parade’s End.

It boasts two sex scenes in the first six minutes. The second features the show’s stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, breathlessly panting and grappling at one another through illicit sexual congress in a railway carriage. A scene in a later episode shows a naked Hall smoking in the bath.


Downton Abbey’s Lord and Lady Grantham would be appalled – never dreaming of such lewdness. But the BBC hopes that Parade’s End will soon be beating Downton in the battle for ratings and critical plaudits.

Cumberbatch has already launched an attack on ITV’s hit costume drama, denouncing it as  ‘sentimental’, ‘cliched’ and ‘atrocious’.

Outraged Downton devotees are now labelling the actor ‘Cumberbitch’ but its creator, Julian Fellowes, appears to be talking down the furore, claiming: ‘I am quite sure what Ben said has been taken out of context.’

Like Downton, Parade’s End opens in 1912 and unravels the tangled love lives of the English upper-classes in the run-up to the First World War. It soon makes Fellowes’s version of Edwardian life – in which a Turkish gentleman has died in Lady Mary’s bed after making love with her and Lady Sybil has run off with a chauffeur – look positively prim and proper. TV insiders have already dubbed the BBC production ‘Downton for grown-ups’.

‘I like the idea of it being called an adult drama,’ says Susanna White, director of the new five-part series. ‘The two shows are very different animals and although they may appear to have the same spots, they don’t.
‘The only similarity is the period in which they are set and the fact that they are both about a load of toffs.

‘Downton is just a lovely thing to curl up in front of with a glass of wine but ours is the opposite. I like to think of Parade’s End as Downton Abbey meets The Wire,’ she adds, referring to the gritty American crime series.


The £12 million production – one of the most expensive dramas ever commissioned by the BBC – was adapted from acclaimed modernist writer Ford Madox Ford’s series of four novels also called Parade’s End.

In contrast to Downton Abbey, which many viewers feel at times descends into soap opera, the BBC drama could not be more highbrow. ‘Ford Madox Ford tracks the shifting moods of the nation, from chauvinistic pre-war Edwardian complacency to post-war exhaustion,’ says Professor of Literature John Sutherland at University College London. ‘It was a big subject. For those inspired to pick up Penguin’s tie-in edition of Parade’s End be warned: it’s 856 pages. At two minutes a page . . . well, you can do the maths.’

Adapted by playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, Parade’s End was filmed across 150 sets and boasts a cast that also includes Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett and Anne-Marie Duff.


Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2190323/Parades-End-Two-sex-scenes-minutes--steamy-saga-BBC-hopes-grab-Downtons-crown.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: Acting stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Miranda Richardson and Amr Waked announced for Cheltenham Music Festival (SCOOP IT)

Festival Director Meurig Bowen has always been keen to combine words and music throughout the Festival programme… "Music carries with it so many wonderful and moving stories, and it's great to be able to tell these stories in performance alongside the music. It's really exciting to know now that these three superb, and very different actors will be appearing in the Music Festival." Cheltenham Music Festival runs from 4-15 July 2012.

http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch?_tmc=fm-6QGTrPKzNWM1fS5rVo0eykvO1C2SXllEXJh0gLLo

Benedict Cumberbatch, Miranda Richardson and Amr Waked announced for Cheltenham Music Festival 9:30am Monday 25th June 2012 in News (TEWKSBURY ADMAG)

Benedict Cumberbatch, Miranda Richardson and Egyptian film star Amr Waked have today been announced as the latest additions to the Cheltenham Music Festival line-up. These stellar actors will perform in three separate performances which combine music with words this July.

Festival Director Meurig Bowen has always been keen to combine words and music throughout the Festival programme… "Music carries with it so many wonderful and moving stories, and it's great to be able to tell these stories in performance alongside the music. It's really exciting to know now that these three superb, and very different actors will be appearing in the Music Festival."

READ MORE: http://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/news/9779802.Acting_stars_Benedict_Cumberbatch__Miranda_Richardson_and_Amr_Waked_announced_for_Cheltenham_Music_Festival/

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch to perform in Cheltenham Friday, June 22, 2012Gloucestershire Echo

He is joining a line-up of acclaimed actors, including Blackadder favourite Miranda Richardson and Egyptian film star Amr Waked for three separate performances at the July event.

It will see them combining words with music for the shows.

Festival director Meurig Bowen admitted he had been keen to see the two disciplines being brought together.

He said: "Music carries with it so many wonderful and moving stories. It's great to be able to tell these stories in performance alongside the music.

"It's really exciting to know now these three superb, and very different actors will be appearing at the festival."

Benedict Cumberbatch will be reading war poetry at Parabola Arts Centre on July 12 while Miranda Richardson will narrate the story of royal music at Cheltenham Town Hall on July 8.


http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Sherlock-star-Benedict-Cumberbatch-perform/story-16432801-detail/story.html

David Oakes will have cameo on Pillars of the Earth Sequel - World Without End (DAVID OAKES)

Channel 4 has acquired the rights to World Without End, the follow-up to medieval drama Pillars of the Earth, which it showed in late 2010.

The eight-part series adapted from Ken Follett’s sequel is set 150 years later in the same fictional town of Kingsbridge, and features some of the descendants of the original characters from Pillars of the Earth. Miranda Richardson stars alongside Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon and Spooks’s Peter Firth.

The co-production between Tandem, Take 5 and Galafilm is made in association with director Ridley Scott’s production company Scott Free Films.


Read further:  http://david-oakes.co.uk/content/world-without-end-channel-4-acquires-rights

Hobbit cast and crew due back

Nelsonians can expect to see famous faces from The Hobbit in the region next month, when a larger group of cast and crew members return for more filming.

A chartered plane left Nelson Airport about 1pm yesterday, with about 150 crew members from production company 3 Foot 7 on board.

They had been filming in Golden Bay for a week, after flying down from Taupo last Friday. They filmed at Canaan Downs on the Takaka Hill and other scenic places like Kaihoka Lakes and Mt Owen.

A crew member who was heading to Auckland on a separate flight said the group that left Nelson yesterday was 3 Foot 7's "second unit".

"We had great weather – it's a shame to be leaving. All the crew are quite disappointed," he said.

The man said the main unit had been based in Ranfurly in Dunedin, where the second unit was heading yesterday.

"The main unit goes through first – we're sort of like the mop-up crew," he said.

"We do a lot of helicopter stuff – tricky stuff, aerial shots. Every day is different." The man said the entire crew stayed in Golden Bay and worked from 4.30am to 7pm six days in a row.

He said Nelsonians were "bound to" see some famous faces when the main unit returned in December.

The Nelson Mail

Dame Helen Mirren, Alesha Dixon and Shazia Mirza wear green scarves in solidarity with Afghan women

Actress Dame Helen Mirren, singer and TV presenter Alesha Dixon, comedian Shazia Mirza, and a host of other celebrities, are backing the new Green Scarves for Solidarity campaign, which calls on world leaders to keep their promises to Afghan women 10 years since the start of military intervention in Afghanistan.

The campaign calls on people around the world to wear a green scarf to show their support for Afghan women.� Green scarves are the symbol of the Afghan Women's Network, a leading women's organisation in Afghanistan, whose members wear green scarves as a show of strength and unity.

�Other UK celebrities supporting the campaign include the model Laura Bailey, singer Paloma Faith, lawyer Miriam Gonz�lez Dur�ntez, singer and actors Anna Friel, Rebecca Hall, Riz Ahmed, Juliet Stevenson, Charlotte Riley, Miranda Richardson and Dame Harriet Walter. The campaign also has the support of Pakistani singer song-writer Hadiqa Kiyani, , the award-winning Iranian film directors Mohsen, Hana, Samira, Marziyeh and Maysam Makhmalbaf, and Nashwa Al Ruwaini, who has been dubbed the "Oprah of the Middle East".

The protection of women's rights was promoted as a positive outcome of the international intervention which began on 7 October 2001, but the campaign says that there are mounting fears that the gains women have made are in danger of slipping away.� There are now 2.7 million girls in school and women are back at work.� But the number of women in the civil service has dropped from 31 percent in 2006 to 18.5 percent in 2010 and more than 87 percent of Afghan women have experienced some form of violence.

The Green Scarves campaign calls on world leaders to renew their promises to Afghan women at December's Bonn Conference, which will set the course for Afghanistan beyond the withdrawal of international troops by the end of 2014. The campaign calls on world leaders to pledge that any political settlement with the Taliban and other armed groups will explicitly guarantee women's rights; to ensure that women play an active role in any peace negotiations, and to renew efforts to improve women's access to basic services, such as health and education.

Dame Helen Mirren said:

"Afghanistan is still one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women, but women there have made real gains over the last 10 years. Millions of girls are enrolled in school and women are working as doctors, lawyers and businesswomen. But Afghan women are worried about what the future will bring. Our leaders need to promise them that any peace settlement will not come at the cost of their hard earned gains."

Shazia Mirza said:

"All women have the right to feel safe, valued, and respected as human beings regardless of where they live and under what regime. They have the right to be educated and share the same freedoms as men. It's sad that we have to fight for women to have these rights, but it's important and vital that we do."

Samira Hamidi, director of the Afghan Women Network, said:

"Afghan women have made a lot of gains and achievements in the past 10 years. There are thousands of Afghan women who directly support their families on a financial basis. There are Afghan women MPs in Parliament. There is a Ministry of Women's Affairs whose role is to focus on women's welfare. There is a strong Afghan women's movement speaking up for women's rights. But fears still remain.� One of the major concerns is the absence of Afghan women in discussions and decisions on peace. No negotiation or decision can be complete if half the population's views are ignored."

Women and men are being asked to upload photographs of themselves wearing green scarves and caps as part of an online photo petition to show they support Afghan women. The petition will be presented to William Hague before the Bonn conference. It will also be made into a solidarity photo wall that will be displayed outside the Bonn conference and erected outside - to remind everyone in the conference of the promises made to the women of Afghanistan. The campaign is supported by 17 aid and women's rights organisations, including Oxfam, CARE UK, Women for Women International and Muslim Women's Network UK. Women and men interested in supporting the campaign can upload a photograph of themselves at www.ch16.org.

Public figures supporting the campaign include Miranda Richardson (UK), Dame Helen Mirren (UK), Juliet Stevenson (UK), Dame Harriet Walter (UK), Rebecca Hall (UK), Anna Friel (UK), Riz Ahmed (UK), Professor Amina Wadud (US), Aryana Sayeed (UK/Afghanistan), Kristiane Backer (Germany/UK), Laila Rouass (UK), Shabhana Rehman (Norway), Shazia Mirza (UK), Alesha Dixon (UK), Dawn Porter (UK), Laura Bailey (UK), Livia Firth (Italy), Mariella Frostrup (UK), Aminatta Forna (UK), Miriam Gonz�lez Dur�ntez (Spain/UK), Hana Makhmalbaf (Iran), Maysam Makhmalbaf (Iran), Marziyeh Makhmalbaf (Iran), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Iran), Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran), Annie Khalid (UK/Pakistan), Hadiqa Kiani (Pakistan), Paloma Faith (UK), Jane Shepherdson (UK), Charlotte Riley (UK), Pippa Small (UK), Nashwa Al Ruwaini (Egypt/UAE), Yasmeen Khan and Sajeela Kershi (UK), Sonia Panesar (UK), Rita Morar (UK), Sohail Anjum (UK), Maz from Bonafide (UK), Khiza Monir (UK), Sinbad Phgura (UK), Shizzio (UK), Metz and Trix (UK), Sham D (UK), Asjad Nazir (UK), Kaser Mehmood (Qatar).

Organisations supporting the campaign include:Oxfam, Muslim Women's Network UK,

Safe World for Women, Women for Women International, Soroptimists GBI, CARE UK, Women in Black, WISE, Working Muslim, Saferworld, Womankind, UK Feminista, Gender Concerns (NL), Keinkhan Youth (NL), F-Word, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS).

The Afghan Women's Network (AWN) is the cornerstone of Afghanistan's fledging women's movement, serving as a well-established network for the growing number of women's organisations operating in the country. AWN has had a strong presence in Kabul, Herat and Jalalabad, while also working through local partners in several Afghan provinces. AWN fulfils the function of a network of organisations, as well as undertaking its own projects addressing issues such as gender-based violence, youth empowerment and girls' education.

For more information and images of famous women and Afghan women wearing green scarves please contact Rebecca Wynn on rwynn@oxfam.org.uk, + 44 (0) 1865 472530 or+ 44 (0) 7769 887139



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