Sherlock writer says Benedict Cumberbatch 'doesn't need' the show now

BBC



The co-creator and writer of BBC One's Sherlock has told Newsbeat that it's getting harder to persuade Benedict Cumberbatch to do the show.

Steven Moffat says it's because Benedict and Martin Freeman - who plays Watson - don't need it.
They both have successful movie careers which means their schedules are packed.

"They don't need Sherlock anymore. So we have to persuade them to do it - which is fair enough," he says.

Speaking at the BAFTA Television Awards nominees party in London last night Steven Moffat says he was surprised they signed up to a fourth series.

"They are very serious about it, they do love it very much," he says.

"I didn't think we actually thought we'd get a fourth series out of them."

But he revealed this year's Christmas special has already been recorded and series four is expected at some point in the future - when it's been filmed.

Steven Moffat also writes and produces Doctor Who and says it's usual to have to persuade actors to do shows.



READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/32426270/sherlock-writer-says-benedict-cumberbatch-doesnt-need-the-show-now

Sherlock, Doctor Who, Luther and JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy appear in BBC1 2015 trailer

By Radio Times staff
Friday 2 January 2015 at 09:51AM



With 2014 done and dusted, BBC1 is teeing up the next 12 months of programming with a trailer featuring glimpses of its upcoming shows, including much anticipated returns for some old favourites.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will be back for a one-off Sherlock special, expected at the end of the year, while despite rumours of her departure, Jenna Coleman will join Peter Capaldi for another full series of Doctor Who.



Crime-solving comebacks include Sarah Lancashire in series two of Happy Valley, Idris Elba in a two-part Luther story and Kris Marshall in Death in Paradise. Meanwhile, Rita Ora joins as a coach on The Voice UK and Lord Sugar will return with a new right-hand man on The Apprentice following the departure of Nick Hewer.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-01-02/sherlock-doctor-who-luther-and-jk-rowlings-the-casual-vacancy-appear-in-bbc1-2015-trailer

Benedict Cumberbatch Filming a Secret Doctor Who-Sherlock Crossover?

 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
By Arjun Varma
October 18, 2014 11:16 BST



Benedict Cumberbatch is working on a super-secret project for BBC One and BBC Two and looks like fans are really hoping it could be a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover.

The news that Benedict Cumberbatch is filming "something special" and highly secretive for BBC One and BBC Two is sure to make his fan base go into overdrive, states a Mirror report.

BBC One shared two mysterious snaps of the star on its Facebook page and wrote: "Benedict Cumberbatch filming something special for BBC One and BBC Two. More details soon…"



READ MORE HERE:  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/benedict-cumberbatch-filming-secret-doctor-who-sherlock-crossover-1470641

Benedict Cumberbatch takes on Peter Capaldi and Martin Freeman at the 2015 NTAs

RADIO TIMES
By Ben Dowell
Tuesday 14 October 2014 at 01:49PM



As voting opens on the National Television Awards 2015 longlist, there are more than enough mouth-watering tussles in prospect before the shortlist is announced in January.

First up is the battle of the Sherlock actors with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman joining a crowded field of fifty-plus hopefuls in the best drama performance category.

Other names in the frame include Peter Capaldi who is competing against Jenna Coleman – AKA the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald – to make the shortlist for the same award. Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire, Cilla star Sheridan Smith and Last Tango in Halifax pair Sir Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are also among the string of names in a particularly competitive longlist.

VOTE HERE

Another set of TV colleagues will be battling it out for the entertainment presenter prize with new Strictly Come Dancing pairing Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly among 24 nominees on the longlist. Also included is Daly’s husband Vernon Kay and Ant & Dec who have walked away with the award for the last 13 years.

Over in the drama category, Doctor Who and Sherlock are bidding for a nomination, up against Line of Duty, New Tricks, Downton Abbey and Happy Valley.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-10-14/benedict-cumberbatch-takes-on-peter-capaldi-and-martin-freeman-at-the-2015-ntas

Videos - Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Capaldi, Ringo Starr acceptance speeches from GQ awards 2014

(warning - for some bizarre reason Dan Stevens swears a lot while introducing Benedict Cumberbatch, so if you are offended, I'm sorry)

Tom Hiddleston for Ben Wheatley's JG Ballard adaptation High Rise

DIGITAL SPY
By Mayer Nissim
February 5, 2014



Ben Wheatley has announced that Tom Hiddleston will star in his next film, an adaptation of JG Ballard's High Rise.

The Sightseers director confirmed the news on Twitter and via his blog, sharing a poster by Jay Shaw.

"Here we go. Cant quite believe this is happening," Wheatley said.

"Tom Hiddleston! Jeremy Thomas! Script by Amy Jump! JG BALLARD! Another ace Jay Shaw poster."

Wheatley added that shooting for the film will start in June.

Ballard's High Rise was first published in 1975. It is set in a closed-environment modern high-rise building that descends into violence.

Wheatley was first attached to the project in August 2013 and said at the time that he was a big fan of Ballard's work.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a549040/tom-hiddleston-for-ben-wheatleys-jg-ballard-adaptation-high-rise.html

David Tennant, Matt Smith: Emma Thompson reveals she would have loved to play a female Doctor Who

MIRROR
By Lydia Smith

Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson revealed she would have jumped at the chance to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC series.

On tonight's The Graham Norton Show, Thompson denied speculation that she was offered the role that was given to The Thick of It actor Peter Capaldi.

Appearing alongside Matt Smith and David Tennant, she said: “I would have said yes, I’d have loved to have played Doctor Who.

"Maybe women need their own kind of new time travelling person?"

On the upcoming 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor, the tenth Doctor David Tennant and eleventh Time Lord Matt Smith remained tight-lipped about the plot.

They only revealed that Capaldi, who is set to play the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor, will not be in tomorrow's episode.

According to Matt: "Peter joins at Christmas."

David also added that he didn't need any persuading to appear in the special.

Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/emma-thompson-reveals-would-loved-2838202#ixzz2lUx1MeqQ 
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Hugh Bonneville sports long hair and moustache as he channels 70s vibe for Paddington film

DAILY MAIL
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 14:24 EST, 12 November 2013 | UPDATED: 18:37 EST, 12 November 2013



Viewers are more used to seeing him dressed in smart three-piece suits and tails, so they could be forgiven for not recognising Hugh Bonneville as he filmed his latest movie role.

The Downton Abbey star swapped 1920s attire in favour of a casual 70s look as he shot on location in London on Tuesday for new film Paddington.

Sporting a long brown wig, the 50-year-old is transformed into character Mr Brown, as the famous bear gets a 2014 revamp in the blockbuster starring Nicole Kidman, Matt Lucas and Peter Capaldi.

A mechanical head has been created to shoot scenes for the upcoming film of the classic children’s books.
While the character will mostly be computer generated, the puppet was used in a number of scenes filmed in Paddington station last week.

Colin Firth is providing the voice for the character, which was originally created by author Michael Bond in 1958.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2503711/Downton-Abbeys-Hugh-Bonneville-channels-70s-Paddington-film.html#ixzz2kYuCLyl5 
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Michael Fassbender, Damian Lewis: Told you so... Poirot extras became stars in own right

THIS IS SOMERSET
 By Steve Grant
November 4, 2013



It's an act of deduction worthy of Hercule Poirot himself, but actor David Suchet believes he spotted the talents of some of Britain's most successful actors long before they became stars in their own right.
Suchet, who was educated at Wellington School, Somerset, told the Radio Times he had accurately predicted which of the drama's bit-part players would go on to become household names.

Among the 1,124 actors who appeared in the 13 series of Agatha Christie's Poirot were Joely Richardson, Damian Lewis and Michael Fassbender – all before they were well known.

"This is quite true," Suchet told Radio Times of his talent-spotting skills. "As regards everybody who has now become a big name – I have said at the time, 'Watch out for that one'. I've sensed it."




 He said he and the production team did not want the programme to be a "Spotlight gallery" – a reference to the actors' directory used by casting agents. However, the requirement for fresh faces to adopt looks of consternation when accused of a crime created a huge demand for new talent.

The cast included two men who went on to play the lead role in Doctor Who. Peter Capaldi, who makes his first appearance as the Doctor at Christmas, turned up in Wasps' Nest in 1991, 14 years before he became a household name as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It. Christopher Eccleston was a fascist thug in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe in 1992.

Richardson had one of her first television roles in Poirot in 1989 when she was 24. Four years later she starred in the BBC adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Lewis was a recent graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama when he played a young resident at a hostel beset by thievery in Hickory Dickory Dock in 1995. By 2001 he had taken the lead role in Band of Brothers and is currently playing the compromised war hero at the centre of Homeland.
Emily Blunt, meanwhile, fared considerably better than her character in Death on the Nile in 2004. Linnet Ridgeway, an American heiress, was found with a bullet hole in her head. Blunt herself went on to take leading roles in My Summer of Love and The Devil Wears Prada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4K57BiMF0

READ MORE HERE: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Told-Poirot-extras-stars-right/story-20028298-detail/story.html#axzz2ji2SJdE1

Ripper Street Season 2: 7 Actors Who Should Guest

WHATCULTURE

September 3, 2013 

By Stu Whittaker

Whitechapel is stirring.

As you may know, the second series of Ripper Street is just around the corner. Matthew Macfadyen returns as DI Edmund Reid, paired with his stalwart DS Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) and the mysterious and talented coroner Captain Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg), who has finally hidden his sordid past as Matthew Judge…or so it seems.

The BBC Autumn Original Drama trailer gives little away but as we know, with a new series comes a myriad of new actors (encompassing both genders). David Costabile, Gale from Breaking Bad and Thomas Klebanow on The Wire, has been cast as the second Judge brother, obviously there to cause concern for Captain Jackson. Being Human’s Damien Molony enters as a new DC for H Division whilst Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones) will play a rival to Reid and co. as K Division’s Inspector Jedidiah Shine. Others gracing the show are Leanne Best (Theatre Awards UK nomination actress of The Match Box), Leverage’s Gina Bellman, Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones, 2000 Acres of Sky), Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who) and James Wilby (Maurice).

Honourable Mention
Robson Green

Okay, I don’t particularly want to see him star in Ripper Street, a reason why he isn’t on the ten and rather as an honourable mention. Robson Green is a former co-star of Jerome Flynn from the popular series Soldier Soldier, the two also had a hit song ‘Unchained Melody’ released on the back of the show. It would be great to see the chemistry between the two revived, be it with Green as a friend to H Division or a foe. His acting credentials surround a long British TV career; three seasons of Casualty, Touching Evil, Wire in the Blood and recently Being Human and Waterloo Road.

7. Peter Capaldi

I thought I’d start with the recently cast Doctor. See I had already decided to use Peter Capaldi in this list before he was made the Doctor yet I still think he would make a guest appearance if it was offered and I think an actor of his immense ability and experience of over thirty years could be influential on Ripper Street.

Capaldi has been phenomenal in his performances, especially as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It and its spin-off film In the Loop. Capaldi has won many awards for his performance; 2010 BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance and two British Comedy Awards for Best Television Actor in 2010 and 2012.



5. Pauline Quirke

For me I found it difficult to cast possible women for Ripper Street, this is due to the content and era the story is set in, most female characters are either prostitutes, love interests or victims. Pauline Quirke would suit the show though, either as an antagonist, by this I don’t even mean a villain but rather as an abrasive character who H Division come across, a reluctant witness or working-class mother who knows something she will not unveil, per se.

I really think she would fit into the 1890′s era of Ripper Street, she has defined herself as a comedic actress yet has not shied away from roles that require her to portray a brash, dramatic side of her talents, which she does perfectly. In Broadchurch she is threatening simply in her demeanour, it is about time that H Division come across a lady of similar ilk.

1. Andrew Scott

Probably the best portrayal of a villain since Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Andrew Scott created a vivid, unpredictable, charismatic, nightmare vision of Sherlock’s nemesis, Moriarty. Andrew Scott won the 2012 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role, he is the perfect villain, heinous and yet, in a quaint way, appealing and likeable.

Scott is keen not to become typecast, though, having starred in The Fuse, a gritty BBC four-parter, playing a melancholic detective opposite Christopher Eccleston, a pitch perfect performance as Paul McCartney in ‘Lennon Naked’, an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s The Scapegoat, in which he plays a “terribly, terribly posh person with a side parting” and this year he will appear in ‘The Stag’, an Irish comedy drama about a stag weekend, with himself playing the best-man.

Andrew Scott is a veteran of all of acting’s schools, with numerous credits across stage and screen. He is the ideal candidate for a major villain for our heroes at H Division to face, a big bad to span most of a series offering a Moriarty for Ripper Street, hopefully not the same character but conveying the same bone-chilling essence.

If there is anyone I’ve missed or someone who you would prefer, let me know!


Read about all the rest at http://whatculture.com/tv/ripper-street-season-2-7-actors-who-should-guest-star.php/5#imWeiv1KuufCHo27.99 

New 'Doctor Who': It's Peter Capaldi

The Scottish-born actor becomes the 12th actor to play the British sci-fi icon.

Brian Truitt

USA TODAY 

3 p.m. EDT August 4, 2013

And the sonic screwdriver goes to Peter Capaldi.

The Scottish actor was named the new star of the British sci-fi franchise Doctor Who on Sunday during a live broadcast on BBC America. He will replace the departing Matt Smith, whose time in the time-traveling police box the TARDIS ends later this year.

"It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer," said Capaldi, a lifelong fan of the show. "I haven't played Doctor Who since I was 9 on the playground."

Capaldi, 55, becomes the 12th man to play the Doctor since the cult show debuted in 1963 with star William Hartnell and the fourth Time Lord since executive producer Russell T Davies rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, following Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Smith.

Executive producer Steven Moffat had considered Capaldi when they were casting the 11th Doctor. "There comes a right time for the right person to play it," he said.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/08/04/new-doctor-who-star/2612947/

Ewan McGregor to star in new rom-com directed by Peter Capaldi And rom-com veteran Kate Hudson is in talks to star opposite him (NME)

Ewan McGregor is to star in a new romantic comedy film directed by Peter Capaldi.

Capaldi has also written the screenplay for the film, which is titled Born To Be King. The Scottish actor-director, 54, is perhaps best known for playing sweary spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in BBC's The Thick Of It.

According to Variety, Born To Be King centres on the daily battle between the male and female leads on a film set. When an extra arrives bearing an uncanny resemblance to the male star, the situation becomes even more fraught.


READ MORE: http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/ewan-mcgregor-to-star-in-new-rom-com-directed-by-peter/289152