Father & Son debuts in Australia

It is a good thing Father's Day has come and gone because this is not what you would call a 'heart-warming' story about a boy and his dad. As a young man, Michael (Dougray Scott) was a violent thug who led a crime ring on a Manchester estate. Ill-gotten gains paid for the good life until an enemy murdered Michael's wife, sparing his son, Sean (Reece Noi). Flash forward and Michael is living the quiet life in Ireland with a new wife and a baby on the way, while 15-year-old Sean, in the care of Connie, his late mother's sister (a great performance by Sophie Okonedo), finds himself a suspect in a murder case. Still notorious, Michael returns to discover his violent legacy continues and old enemies never die. Created by the team behind Wallander and The Queen, this is a superbly plotted, four-part thriller with an outstanding cast.

The miniseries debuted on Australia's ABC2 on 19 September

Read more at Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian

Dougray Scott promotes 'Father And Son'; discusses future projects

Dougray has been doing interviews to promote Father And Son which premiers on Monday, June 7 on STV and ITV1 in the UK. It will air over four consecutive nights. He talked about his latest role in Father and Son, but also revealed a few details about his upcoming films. You can read the full interview over at The Daily Record.

...In Father And Son, which also stars Sophie Okonedo and Stephen Rea, Dougray plays ex-criminal Michael O'Connor who returns to Manchester from a quiet life in Ireland in order to save his estranged teenage son Sean - played by Reece Noi - from prison and to redeem his own troubled past.

...As far as work is concerned, he has a number of film and TV projects in the can, including a TV pilot for new Boston-set series Quinn-Tuplets in which he plays a documentary film-maker who chronicles a family of quints' lives.

Also complete are Roland Joffe movie There Be Dragons and comedy No Ordinary Trifle, in which he plays opposite his real-life wife.

He's also attached to Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh's new film The Magnificent 11 - an updated remake of classic western The Magnificent Seven, with the action set around an amateur football team saving an Indian restaurant.

Another of his projects is former Skids frontman Richard Jobson's mooted war film Into The Valley, which follows Scottish soldiers returning home after serving in Afghanistan and has been inspired by the hit Skids song of the same name.

He said: "I'm very keen to do them. The Magnificent 11 is very much on the cards and I did New Town Killers with Richard, who is a fantastic director. He's started to get the funding together so hopefully it will all come together. He's much in demand and chooses all his projects, like Father And Son, by making sure business is personal. [Steve Hendry]