Weekly schedule for Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Mo 3/5: Courtney Cox, Louie Anderson

Tu 3/6: Joel McHale, Dan Boulger

We 3/7: Susan Sarandon, Rondell Sheridan

Th 3/8: Raquel Welch, Carl Edwards

Fr 3/9: Kristin Davis, Chris O'Dowd

Mo 3/12: Leslie Bibb, David Milch

Tu 3/13: Jason Segel, Jennette McCurdy

We 3/14: Regis Philbin

Th 3/15: Molly Shannon, Michael K. Williams (R 11/10/11)

Fr 3/16: Poppy Montgomery, Charlie Higson (R 11/14/11)

Mo 3/19: Anne Rice, Geoff Tate

Tu 3/20: Kathy Bates, Brad Goreski

We 3/21: Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Miller

Th 3/22: Ewan McGregor (R 11/15/11)

Fr 3/23: David Sedaris, Jeff Cesario (R 11/30/11)

David Tennant: project updates

The first episode of Tree Fu Tom will air on Monday 5 March at 5.25 pm on CBeebies. The other four episodes will be shown on subsequent days during the week.
More information at David Tennant on Twitter

David Tennant was recently interviewed about his part inTree Fu Tom

Love Virtually will air on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 8 March from 2.15pm.

More information at David Tennant on Twitter

 

The Decoy Bride will be screened in selected cinemas from Friday 9 March.

Details are on the Official Facebook Page

On Friday 16 March, BBC Radio Four will broadcast Waiting For The Boatman.

This drama was written by Stephen Wakelam. It is set in Naples in 1610 and is about the last days of the painter Caravaggio. The story is told through the eyes of his friend and former model Mario Minniti as he searches for the artist. The play is directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and also stars Anton Lesser, Harry Livingstone and Joe Dempsie. 

More information at David Tennant on Twitter

During April, BBC Radio Three will be broadcasting a Shakespeare Season as part of The Cultural Olympiad.Part of this season is a project where a company of actors perform two different plays - Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night.

David Tennant will be playing Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet and Malvolio in Twelfth Night.

Romeo and Juliet was recorded during the week commencing Monday 13 February and Twelfth Night the following week. 

More information at David Tennant on Twitter 

John Hannah to star in Blood Ties

John Hannah will join Emily Watson and Harry Treadaway in Blood Ties, a UK time-twisting thriller. Watson will play the estranged mother of a teenage girl on the run.

Michael Clifford will direct, and he said: “Emily brings an edge to Paula, which adds another dimension to the film and its appeal to audiences”

The film is the first production from Phil Parker’s Not Your Average Company, which will work with new talent across Europe. The company’s second feature, Bait, will shoot in the autumn.

Joanne Lee wrote the script. The film shoots this summer.

The project, formerly titled Relative Desire, has had development funding from UK’s Design and Creative Fund.

Source: Screen Daily

Martin Compston to star in Line of Duty

Content Television has secured the international distribution rights for the new BBC drama Line of Duty, produced by World Productions for BBC Two.

Written by Jed Mercurio (Bodies), Line of Duty is a cat-and-mouse thriller of five hour-long episodes. It stars Adrian Dunbar (Ashes to Ashes), Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen), Vicky McClure (This Is England), Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly) and Gina McKee (Notting Hill). It is executive produced by World Productions’ Simon Heath (United) and Stephen Wright for the BBC. Episodes one to three are directed by David Caffrey and episodes four and five are by Douglas Mackinnon.

Greg Phillips, the president of Content Television, commented, “Line of Duty provides a compelling insight into the harsh realities of modern-day policing, featuring performances from some of the acting world’s most exciting new talents. Jed Mercurio’s script and the first-class team at World Productions have created a thriller which will keep audiences gripped from beginning to end. We are expecting strong interest from our international licensees when this title makes its debut at MIPTV.”

Simon Heath, the creative director of World Productions, added, "It's great to be working again with the team at Content, who did such a fantastic job for us on United. The brilliant Jed Mercurio has created not only a gripping and prescient stand-alone thriller, but a format that can return each year with a new and unique investigation into police corruption."

Source: World Screen

Peter Capaldi to join cast of The Hour

The Wire star Dominic West has admitted to reading about himself online and joining discussions about his work on internet forums. West, who is currently working on the second series of BBC Two drama The Hour, claimed that no-one ever believes it is him when he confronts them online about derogatory remarks.

"I like to have chats about myself with people - mainly putting forward the case for the defence in forums. I use my own name but nobody ever believes me," he told the Radio Times.

West also confessed to watching back his own work when it airs on TV.

"I don't particularly like watching myself on the TV but I do like to check that none of my lines have been cut," he said.

"One or two ended up on the cutting-room floor [in The Hour] but that was mostly due to my occasional bad acting."

The six new episodes of The Hour will feature the broadcast team "deeply embroiled in cover-ups, sexual intrigues and the resurgence of Mosley's fascism" and will have the "looming spectre of the Cold War" as its backdrop. The Thick of It comic Peter Capaldi, Hannah Tointon and Tom Burke have joined the cast for the second series.

Filming started in December in London and the new run is expected to air in summer 2012.

Source: Digital Spy

Gerard Butler replaces Eric Bana in diamond thriller 'Brilliant'

Gerard Butler has replaced Eric Bana as the lead in diamond heist thriller Brilliant.

The 300 star will play a small-time crook who gets dragged into a major robbery in Robert Luketic's upcoming thriller. Bana was first linked to the role back in September 2011, but has since been recruited to an as-yet-untitled terrorism thriller from Intermission director John Crowley.

The move sees Butler and Luketic reunite for the first time since their 2009 romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. Cameron Diaz will portray Butler's female accomplice in Brilliant and a female lead is still to be recruited, according to Variety.

Butler's reported signing comes mere days after the 42-year-old completed a three-week rehab programme to combat a prescription drug dependency.

He was last seen in Marc Foster's Machine Gun Preacher, where he played a drug-dealing biker-turned-protector of Sudanese child soldiers.

Source: Digital Spy

Also reported by:
UK Press Agency

Film News

Empire Online

/Film

Ewen Bremner to star in Snow Piercer

Ewen Bremner, best remembered as Spud from Trainspotting, has boarded Joon-ho Bong‘s Snow Piercer. The South Korean director’s first English-language film is an adaptation of the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, about a post-apocalyptic world covered in snow and ice. The only remaining humans are the passengers of the titular train, and tensions are running high between the classes.

Bremner is set to play a father who teams up with Chris Evans‘ character to rescue his kidnapped son. We’ve previously heard that Octavia Spencer would be playing a mother who gets involved in the brewing revolution in an attempt to save her son, so could it be that Bremner and Spencer’s characters are married to each other? Or is the kidnapping of sons just a common hobby in the future?

At any rate, the top-notch cast also inclues Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, and Kang-ho Song. Snow Piercer will enter production shortly for a 2013 release.

Source: /Film

Also reported by Upcoming Films

Sky Arts announces a range of new commissions

Sky Arts has boosted its investment in original content with a range of ambitious new commissions, innovations and initiatives for 2012, both on and off screen.

A host of British national treasures will feature in Playhouse Presents – a new series of original comedy and drama productions airing from April.

Building on Sky Arts’ Playhouse Live and Theatre Live series, which were executive produced by Sandi Toksvig, Playhouse Presents is a series of diverse productions which recreate famous moments in history. They span universal themes and genres and showcase acting, directing and writing talent in the UK.

Playhouse casts will include Emma Thompson as the Queen and Sir Tom Jones in his first acting role. Will Self is writing for David Tennant. Other high profile actors to feature include Brenda Blethyn, Trevor Eve, Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, Sheila Hancock, Douglas Henshall, John Hurt, Geraldine James, Tom Jones, Eddie Marsan, Gina McKee, Paul O’Grady, Will Self, Martin Shaw, Harry Shearer, Stellan Skarsgård, Alison Steadman, David Tennant, Emma Thompson, Russell Tovey, Zoe Wanamaker and Olivia Williams.

Read more at Televisual 

Also reported by Deadline and The Stage 

More details of The Snipist starring Douglas Henshall 

More details of The Minor Character starring David Tennant (and here)

Weekly schedule for Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Mo 3/5: Courtney Cox, Louie Anderson 

Tu 3/6: Joel McHale 

We 3/7: Susan Sarandon, Dan Boulger 

Th 3/8: Raquel Welch, Carl Edwards 

Fr 3/9: Kristin Davis, Chris O'Dowd 

Mo 3/12: Leslie Bibb, David Milch 

Tu 3/13: Jason Segel, Jennette McCurdy 

We 3/14: Regis Philbin