Beloved actor Maggie Smith has died at the age of 89, it has been confirmed. The news was announced by her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin in a statement. “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” it reads. “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
Smith’s career spanned several decades, across both stage and screen – she began her theatre career in the early 1950s, while her screen career began in earnest with 1958’s Nowhere To Go. Her cinematic breakout role came in the 1965 adaptation of Othello, in which she played Desdemona – and was nominated for an Oscar. The film also starred Michael Gambon...
Smith’s career spanned several decades, across both stage and screen – she began her theatre career in the early 1950s, while her screen career began in earnest with 1958’s Nowhere To Go. Her cinematic breakout role came in the 1965 adaptation of Othello, in which she played Desdemona – and was nominated for an Oscar. The film also starred Michael Gambon...
- 9/27/2024
- by Ben Travis
- Empire - Movies
Maggie Smith, the two-time Oscar and four-time Emmy winner whose work in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Downton Abbey — plus everything before and after — made her one of the most formidable British actors of all time, died Friday. She was 89.
Her sons, actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, told the BBC that she died “peacefully in hospital … an intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
Best known in recent years for matriarchal roles in seven of the Harry Potter films and the ITV-pbs series Downton Abbey, Smith earned early acclaim with a best actress Oscar...
Her sons, actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, told the BBC that she died “peacefully in hospital … an intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
Best known in recent years for matriarchal roles in seven of the Harry Potter films and the ITV-pbs series Downton Abbey, Smith earned early acclaim with a best actress Oscar...
- 9/27/2024
- by Lisa de los Reyes and Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
British stage and screen actress Maggie Smith, the “Downton Abbey” and “Harry Potter” star who numbers two Oscars, three Emmys and countless stage awards to her credit, died Friday in London. She was 89.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement. “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
In her late 70s, Smith drew an entirely new legion of fans thanks to her starring role in...
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin said in a statement. “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
In her late 70s, Smith drew an entirely new legion of fans thanks to her starring role in...
- 9/27/2024
- by Carmel Dagan and Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
Charles Dance is set to play Italian artist Michaelangelo in new BBC docu-drama “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty.”
Dance’s casting in the three-part series came as the BBC unveiled its arts and culture slate across television and radio at a dedicated event in London on Wednesday evening. “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty” is a co-commission with PBS exploring an era of violence and power politics that produced some of the Western world’s greatest works of art.
Other highlights on the slate include Simon Schama’s take on the culture wars in “The History of Us,” the return of archaeological series “Civilisations” with a new iteration tentatively titled “Civilisations: Rise and Fall,” and a docu-drama about Jane Austen to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth next year. “Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius” will include interviews with writers, actors, and biographers.
A series of new films...
Dance’s casting in the three-part series came as the BBC unveiled its arts and culture slate across television and radio at a dedicated event in London on Wednesday evening. “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty” is a co-commission with PBS exploring an era of violence and power politics that produced some of the Western world’s greatest works of art.
Other highlights on the slate include Simon Schama’s take on the culture wars in “The History of Us,” the return of archaeological series “Civilisations” with a new iteration tentatively titled “Civilisations: Rise and Fall,” and a docu-drama about Jane Austen to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth next year. “Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius” will include interviews with writers, actors, and biographers.
A series of new films...
- 9/25/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
On Tuesday 3 September 2024, BBC Four broadcasts Patricia Routledge Remembers!
Talking Heads Season 1: Episode Summary
The upcoming episode of “Patricia Routledge Remembers,” titled “Talking Heads,” promises to be a delightful exploration of one of the most celebrated series in British television history. Airing on BBC Four, this episode focuses on Alan Bennett’s unique tele-plays, which were crafted for a select group of talented actors, with Patricia Routledge being one of the standout stars.
In “Talking Heads,” Patricia reflects on her experiences with the scripts that highlighted her exceptional comic talents. The episode features her memories of three distinct characters: from the sharp wit of A Woman of No Importance to the poignant storytelling in A Lady of Letters, and the quirky charm of Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet. Each character offers a glimpse into the versatility and depth that Patricia brought to her performances.
As she shares her journey,...
Talking Heads Season 1: Episode Summary
The upcoming episode of “Patricia Routledge Remembers,” titled “Talking Heads,” promises to be a delightful exploration of one of the most celebrated series in British television history. Airing on BBC Four, this episode focuses on Alan Bennett’s unique tele-plays, which were crafted for a select group of talented actors, with Patricia Routledge being one of the standout stars.
In “Talking Heads,” Patricia reflects on her experiences with the scripts that highlighted her exceptional comic talents. The episode features her memories of three distinct characters: from the sharp wit of A Woman of No Importance to the poignant storytelling in A Lady of Letters, and the quirky charm of Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet. Each character offers a glimpse into the versatility and depth that Patricia brought to her performances.
As she shares her journey,...
- 9/3/2024
- by Olly Green
- TV Regular
“Patricia Routledge Remembers” is set to premiere its first season with a special episode titled “Talking Heads.” This exciting show will air at 11:45 Pm on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, on BBC Four. The episode dives into the world of Alan Bennett’s beloved series of tele-plays, showcasing the incredible talent of Patricia Routledge.
In “Talking Heads,” Patricia shares her experiences of receiving scripts that perfectly matched her comic style. She reflects on her roles in three memorable stories: “A Woman of No Importance,” “A Lady of Letters,” and “Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.” Each character presents its own unique challenges, and Patricia offers insights into the creative process of bringing these figures to life on screen.
Fans of Patricia Routledge can look forward to a heartfelt and humorous journey as she recounts her memories of working with Alan Bennett. This episode promises to be a delightful blend of nostalgia and wit,...
In “Talking Heads,” Patricia shares her experiences of receiving scripts that perfectly matched her comic style. She reflects on her roles in three memorable stories: “A Woman of No Importance,” “A Lady of Letters,” and “Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.” Each character presents its own unique challenges, and Patricia offers insights into the creative process of bringing these figures to life on screen.
Fans of Patricia Routledge can look forward to a heartfelt and humorous journey as she recounts her memories of working with Alan Bennett. This episode promises to be a delightful blend of nostalgia and wit,...
- 8/27/2024
- by Ashley Wood
- TV Everyday
Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral headlined by Ralph Fiennes, Paul Andrew Williams’ The Nest starring Andrea Riseborough and Jan Komasa’s Jeremy Thomas-produced Good Boy are among the projects backed by the Yorkshire Content Fund and in production across the summer.
The Yorkshire Content Fund, administered by Screen Yorkshire, has been supporting local production since 2012. It was initially set up with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (Erdf), which was awarded through the now-defunct regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward.
Following the demise of the regional development agency structure in 2012, the Yorkshire Content Fund continued to support production in...
The Yorkshire Content Fund, administered by Screen Yorkshire, has been supporting local production since 2012. It was initially set up with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (Erdf), which was awarded through the now-defunct regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward.
Following the demise of the regional development agency structure in 2012, the Yorkshire Content Fund continued to support production in...
- 8/1/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Thin Blue Line actor David Haig is adapting his World War II thriller play Pressure into a film. Here are the details.
While David Haig is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Grimm in Ben Elton’s The Thin Blue Line, he also an acclaimed dramatic actor, delivering the astonishingly dark Playing Sandwiches monologue in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads series.
Haig is also a prolific playwright, however. He penned the 2004 play My Boy Jack, about Rudyard Kipling’s son fighting in the first World War. He adapted into a television film in 2007, in which he also starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall.
Pressure premiered in 2018. Haig wrote and also starred in the production, which chronicled the story of the decision makers behind the D-Day landings, the tiny window of opportunity they were afforded in choosing between June 5th or June 6th 1944 and the pressure cooker environment in which they worked,...
While David Haig is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Grimm in Ben Elton’s The Thin Blue Line, he also an acclaimed dramatic actor, delivering the astonishingly dark Playing Sandwiches monologue in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads series.
Haig is also a prolific playwright, however. He penned the 2004 play My Boy Jack, about Rudyard Kipling’s son fighting in the first World War. He adapted into a television film in 2007, in which he also starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall.
Pressure premiered in 2018. Haig wrote and also starred in the production, which chronicled the story of the decision makers behind the D-Day landings, the tiny window of opportunity they were afforded in choosing between June 5th or June 6th 1944 and the pressure cooker environment in which they worked,...
- 6/6/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Warning: this Inside No. 9 review contains spoilers.
Alfred Hitchcock and co. needed just shy of two hours for Rear Window; Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and director Al Campbell nailed their version in under 29 minutes and got a great gag in at the end.
Inside No. 9 perfection? I’d argue so. Show me one second wasted in this expertly constructed half hour. From Larry’s “best to use a brick” introduction, all the way to the Netflix punchline, this was pretty unassailable storytelling. It had comedy, tension, surprise, very decent guest stars and a formal experiment that was no gimmick, but integral to the story’s suburban satire.
Less Rear Window than Front Door, “Mulberry Close” was told almost entirely through the static frame of a video doorbell. Val and Damon (Vinette Robinson and Shearsmith) were newcomers to the close, having just moved into No. 9 next door to Larry...
Alfred Hitchcock and co. needed just shy of two hours for Rear Window; Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and director Al Campbell nailed their version in under 29 minutes and got a great gag in at the end.
Inside No. 9 perfection? I’d argue so. Show me one second wasted in this expertly constructed half hour. From Larry’s “best to use a brick” introduction, all the way to the Netflix punchline, this was pretty unassailable storytelling. It had comedy, tension, surprise, very decent guest stars and a formal experiment that was no gimmick, but integral to the story’s suburban satire.
Less Rear Window than Front Door, “Mulberry Close” was told almost entirely through the static frame of a video doorbell. Val and Damon (Vinette Robinson and Shearsmith) were newcomers to the close, having just moved into No. 9 next door to Larry...
- 5/22/2024
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Playwright Alan Bennett has written original screenplay The Choral, which will begin filming this summer.
There’s a reason a remake of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues (pictured above) was one of the first things put into production when the pandemic started in 2020. Not only were they easy to film with a single cast member, but the texts are also regarded as modern classics of drama, each story a masterpiece in construction and storytelling. You only have to watch the original versions to see the astonishing power of David Haig in Playing Sandwiches or Dame Thora Hird in A Cream Cracker Under The Settee.
The Choral, meanwhile, is Alan Bennett’s first original script written for the screen in forty years, after 1984 comedy A Private Function. The synopsis reads as follows:
Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society,...
There’s a reason a remake of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues (pictured above) was one of the first things put into production when the pandemic started in 2020. Not only were they easy to film with a single cast member, but the texts are also regarded as modern classics of drama, each story a masterpiece in construction and storytelling. You only have to watch the original versions to see the astonishing power of David Haig in Playing Sandwiches or Dame Thora Hird in A Cream Cracker Under The Settee.
The Choral, meanwhile, is Alan Bennett’s first original script written for the screen in forty years, after 1984 comedy A Private Function. The synopsis reads as follows:
Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society,...
- 3/21/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale are starring in 'The Choral'.The actors have signed up to feature in the latest collaboration between director Sir Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett following on from 'The History Boys' and 'The Lady in the Van'.Unlike the pair's previous films, 'The Choral' is an original script rather than an adaptation of one of Bennett's plays.The movie is set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916 and follows the chorus master and the men in the ambitious local Choral Society, who have volunteered for the frontline during World War I.Under the guidance of the demanding Dr. Guthrie (Fiennes), the Choral recruits a group of teenage boys and girls who discover the joy of singing while the new boys come to terms with the fact that they will soon be serving their country.The film explores the humour and humanity in a community that faces an uncertain future.
- 3/21/2024
- by Joe Graber
- Bang Showbiz
Sony Pictures Classics has taken worldwide rights to Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral, written by Alan Bennett, and set to star Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale.
This is the fourth feature collaboration between Bennett and Hytner after The Lady In The Van, The History Boys and The Madness Of King George. Unlike those films,The Choral is based on an original screenplay rather than a play.
Hytner will produce the film alongside Kevin Loader and Damian Jones. Backing comes from Sony Pictures Classics, BBC Film and Screen Yorkshire, and shooting will commence in Yorkshire this May.
Executive producers include Caroline Cooper Charles,...
This is the fourth feature collaboration between Bennett and Hytner after The Lady In The Van, The History Boys and The Madness Of King George. Unlike those films,The Choral is based on an original screenplay rather than a play.
Hytner will produce the film alongside Kevin Loader and Damian Jones. Backing comes from Sony Pictures Classics, BBC Film and Screen Yorkshire, and shooting will commence in Yorkshire this May.
Executive producers include Caroline Cooper Charles,...
- 3/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett are collaborating again, with The Lady in the Van, The History Boys and The Madness of King George duo set to team on The Choral, which will star Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale. Production begins in May in Yorkshire, according to Sony Pictures Classics, which said Wednesday that it has acquired all worldwide rights to the pic.
Unlike their previous collaborations that were based on Tony-winning playwright Bennett’s stage plays, this is an original screenplay. Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society, who have volunteered for the front. Under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie (Fiennes), the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. Together they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new...
Unlike their previous collaborations that were based on Tony-winning playwright Bennett’s stage plays, this is an original screenplay. Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society, who have volunteered for the front. Under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie (Fiennes), the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. Together they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new...
- 3/21/2024
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC is celebrating the art of the literary adaptation by screening a variety of classics on BBC Four. More details here.
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
There are numerous laugh-out-loud moments in Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s darkly comic and voyeuristic exploration of the British aristocracy being released on Friday by Amazon MGM Studios. Despite the hugely impressive efforts of Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant, however, most don’t belong to the lead cast, but to Paul Rhys.
As Duncan, the imperious and terrifying butler, the Welsh actor silently steals scenes from under the toffee noses of both those he dutifully serves at the Saltburn mansion (including Pike, Grant, Jacob Elordi and Alison Oliver) and the lower-class interloper he’s keeping a beady eye on (Barry Keoghan) each time he appears with hilariously po-faced magnificence.
And it’s a face that crops up again in another starry title landing late in the awards season corridor. In Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated biopic Napoleon, out Nov. 22 via Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures, Rhys plays Talleyrand, the crafty...
As Duncan, the imperious and terrifying butler, the Welsh actor silently steals scenes from under the toffee noses of both those he dutifully serves at the Saltburn mansion (including Pike, Grant, Jacob Elordi and Alison Oliver) and the lower-class interloper he’s keeping a beady eye on (Barry Keoghan) each time he appears with hilariously po-faced magnificence.
And it’s a face that crops up again in another starry title landing late in the awards season corridor. In Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated biopic Napoleon, out Nov. 22 via Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures, Rhys plays Talleyrand, the crafty...
- 11/15/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film-maker who directed the 1984 classic A Private Function, starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith
In a small Yorkshire town in 1947, a pig is being illicitly reared to provide meat for a forthcoming banquet of local dignitaries celebrating the marriage of Princess Elizabeth. That is, until a timid chiropodist (Michael Palin) pig-naps the animal, urged on by his grasping wife (Maggie Smith), who sees it as a possible ticket out of their glumly austere lives and up the social ladder.
So begins A Private Function (1984), originally titled Pork Royale, Alan Bennett’s first script for cinema. With finely rendered performances from Palin, Smith – who is hilariously sour as what Time Out called “a Lady Macbeth of the aspidistras” – and a host of British talent, the film’s tone teeters on the brink of unwholesomeness without ever quite tipping over.
In a small Yorkshire town in 1947, a pig is being illicitly reared to provide meat for a forthcoming banquet of local dignitaries celebrating the marriage of Princess Elizabeth. That is, until a timid chiropodist (Michael Palin) pig-naps the animal, urged on by his grasping wife (Maggie Smith), who sees it as a possible ticket out of their glumly austere lives and up the social ladder.
So begins A Private Function (1984), originally titled Pork Royale, Alan Bennett’s first script for cinema. With finely rendered performances from Palin, Smith – who is hilariously sour as what Time Out called “a Lady Macbeth of the aspidistras” – and a host of British talent, the film’s tone teeters on the brink of unwholesomeness without ever quite tipping over.
- 7/6/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Paxton Whitehead, the prolific and acclaimed actor whose career stretched from 17 Broadway productions, a recurring role on the hit 1990s sitcom Mad About You and a memorable turn as a snooty professor who takes an instant disliking to Rodney Dangerfield’s crude self-made man in 1986’s Back to School, died June 16 at a hospital in Arlington, Va. He was 85.
His death has been confirmed by his son Charles Whitehead, with many friends and colleagues sharing their memories on social media.
Actor Dana Ivey wrote: “We first worked together in My Fair Lady in 1964, and the last time was in Importance of Being Earnest in 2010 — friends for 59 years. I loved him so. Heartbroken.”
Tony-nominated for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of Camelot, Paxton, born in English village of East Malling, made his Broadway debut in a short-lived production of Ronald Millar’s The Affair. His next Broadway show — Beyond the Fringe...
His death has been confirmed by his son Charles Whitehead, with many friends and colleagues sharing their memories on social media.
Actor Dana Ivey wrote: “We first worked together in My Fair Lady in 1964, and the last time was in Importance of Being Earnest in 2010 — friends for 59 years. I loved him so. Heartbroken.”
Tony-nominated for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of Camelot, Paxton, born in English village of East Malling, made his Broadway debut in a short-lived production of Ronald Millar’s The Affair. His next Broadway show — Beyond the Fringe...
- 6/19/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Since 1947, the Tony Awards have recognized an array of remarkable shows with the coveted title of Best Play. From timeless classics like Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman to modern-day masters such as Alan Bennett’s The History Boys and Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. Through their captivating narratives and spellbinding performances, the plays remind us why the Tonys have a knack for recognizing the timeless magic that leaves audiences longing for an encore.
The most recent winner was Stereophonic, which won at the 2024 Tonys.
Scroll through the gallery to take a look back at all the Best Play winners.
The most recent winner was Stereophonic, which won at the 2024 Tonys.
Scroll through the gallery to take a look back at all the Best Play winners.
- 6/6/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
To mark the release of Allelujah arriving for Premium Digital Ownership and Premium Digital Rental from 17th April and will also be available on Blu-Ray and DVD from 29th May, we have 3 Blu-Rays to give away!
Allelujah is directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay by Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford), and based on the stage play by Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The Lady in The Van). It is a warm, humorous and deeply moving story about surviving old age:
When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. Allelujah celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand.
Allelujah is directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay by Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford), and based on the stage play by Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The Lady in The Van). It is a warm, humorous and deeply moving story about surviving old age:
When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. Allelujah celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand.
- 5/23/2023
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
What do the 76th annual Tonys have in common with the 17th annual awards?
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
- 5/8/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
There are no bad episodes of Inside No. 9 – Steven Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s brilliantly inventive anthology show telling half-hour stories set in single locations – which is one problem when choosing favourites. Another is that every single ranking seems to be topped by the same episode – series two, episode two, ‘The 12 Days Of Christine’. You’ll get no argument there – that episode is a masterpiece blending comedy, spookiness, drama and an emotional final act revelation that brings the whole thing together. But it does rather overshadow the other 43 episodes so far aired, many of which are also excellent and worthy of more notice.
As Inside No. 9 returns for the rest of series eight, we present: 15 of its best Inside No. 9 episodes that are *not* ‘The 12 Days of Christine’.
15. Misdirection
Considering the reputation this series has for surprising twists, it’s perhaps strange that it took until series five...
As Inside No. 9 returns for the rest of series eight, we present: 15 of its best Inside No. 9 episodes that are *not* ‘The 12 Days of Christine’.
15. Misdirection
Considering the reputation this series has for surprising twists, it’s perhaps strange that it took until series five...
- 4/24/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
When you’ve stolen Glastonbury, defined an era, released the album of the decade and exploded Michael Jackson’s cheesy pop pomposity on the global stage, what exactly do you do for an encore? Such was the dilemma facing Jarvis Cocker – arch Britpop voyeur, poet laureate of the fumbled bra-strap and Jesus sandal, once memorably described as a cross between Alan Bennett and Barry White – as he sat in hotel rooms on the tour for 1995’s masterpiece Different Class. There he was, shrouded in the anonymous dark, watching pornographic films and relating deeply to the blankness in the eyes of the performers.
“I found it fascinating wondering what happened to these porn stars,” the frontman of Sheffield alt-legends Pulp – who reform for a run of major festival and arena shows this summer – told NME in 1998. “People have a voracious appetite for porn, they need to see new faces all the time,...
“I found it fascinating wondering what happened to these porn stars,” the frontman of Sheffield alt-legends Pulp – who reform for a run of major festival and arena shows this summer – told NME in 1998. “People have a voracious appetite for porn, they need to see new faces all the time,...
- 3/30/2023
- by Mark Beaumont
- The Independent - Music
On the surface, Allelujah looks like standard Mother’s Day weekend fare; sweet and a bit twee with a rousing clap for the heroes spirit and the thrilling need to shove a hankie up your sleeve just in case Dame Judi dies at the end.
This is not that film.
It all starts off predictably enough; The Beth is a small Yorkshire hospital under threat of closure and the vulnerable patients in its respected geriatric unit have the most to lose if the battle to save it should fail. Figuratively and literally holding their hands through this turbulent time are Sister Gilpin (Jennifer Saunders) and Dr Valinder Singh Vashish (Bally Gill), who generously adopted the moniker Dr Valentine after patients repeatedly failed to pronounce his name. Dr Val also serves as our narrator.
The inhabitants of the precious beds on the ward are a checklist of sweet and sour, cheeky and confused archetypes,...
This is not that film.
It all starts off predictably enough; The Beth is a small Yorkshire hospital under threat of closure and the vulnerable patients in its respected geriatric unit have the most to lose if the battle to save it should fail. Figuratively and literally holding their hands through this turbulent time are Sister Gilpin (Jennifer Saunders) and Dr Valinder Singh Vashish (Bally Gill), who generously adopted the moniker Dr Valentine after patients repeatedly failed to pronounce his name. Dr Val also serves as our narrator.
The inhabitants of the precious beds on the ward are a checklist of sweet and sour, cheeky and confused archetypes,...
- 3/17/2023
- by Emily Breen
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
I used to think that directing was all about commanding – about knowing the answers to all the questions,” says Richard Eyre. “Now I feel the opposite.” Eyre, one of the titans of British theatre since the 1970s, has of course done his share of commanding in the past. Of Ian McKellen in one of the definitive stagings of Richard III. Of Daniel Day-Lewis in Hamlet, which saw the actor walk off stage mid-performance and never return. Of the National Theatre, throughout his 10-year stint as creative director between 1987 and 1997, when he championed the work of firebrand artists such as David Hare and Howard Brenton.
On screen, he cut his teeth on Play for Today before moving on to films such as 2006’s Notes from a Scandal and the BBC’s 2018 King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and a cusp-of-stardom Florence Pugh. Now 79 years old, Eyre speaks to me over video chat...
On screen, he cut his teeth on Play for Today before moving on to films such as 2006’s Notes from a Scandal and the BBC’s 2018 King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and a cusp-of-stardom Florence Pugh. Now 79 years old, Eyre speaks to me over video chat...
- 3/16/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Film
With the NHS and healthcare in general never far from the headlines, the arrival of Richard Eyre’s Allelujah couldn’t be more timely.
Based on Alan Bennett’s stage play and set in the geriatric wards of much-loved hospital, The Bethlehem – known to the community at “The Beth” – the film follows the staff and patients as they cope with the possibility of closure and the many pressures and challenges of working or living there. Some confront personal problems, others find themselves questioning their beliefs and, ultimately, the hospital is rocked by an unexpected event. It’s a heartwarming drama with a serious side.
Director Richard Eyre, together with actors David Bradley and Bally Gill spoke to us about the making of the film, and especially how the cast and crew were more like a family. Eyre had worked with many of them before – particularly Judi Dench – and recalled a wonderful atmosphere on set.
Based on Alan Bennett’s stage play and set in the geriatric wards of much-loved hospital, The Bethlehem – known to the community at “The Beth” – the film follows the staff and patients as they cope with the possibility of closure and the many pressures and challenges of working or living there. Some confront personal problems, others find themselves questioning their beliefs and, ultimately, the hospital is rocked by an unexpected event. It’s a heartwarming drama with a serious side.
Director Richard Eyre, together with actors David Bradley and Bally Gill spoke to us about the making of the film, and especially how the cast and crew were more like a family. Eyre had worked with many of them before – particularly Judi Dench – and recalled a wonderful atmosphere on set.
- 3/13/2023
- by Freda Cooper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Dame Judi Dench has opened up about how her degenerative eye condition has led to eyesight loss.
In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that aired Friday, the Oscar winner said her vision has made it difficult to remember her lines.
In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died In 2022
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said.
The actress first announced her macular degeneration diagnosis in 2012, saying she struggled to read scripts and see other people’s faces.
Macular degeneration is the most common cause of severe eyesight loss among people over 50. Because only the center of vision is affected, people rarely go blind from it, instead only losing the ability to see small details. However, as it worsens, people lose the ability to drive,...
In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that aired Friday, the Oscar winner said her vision has made it difficult to remember her lines.
In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died In 2022
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said.
The actress first announced her macular degeneration diagnosis in 2012, saying she struggled to read scripts and see other people’s faces.
Macular degeneration is the most common cause of severe eyesight loss among people over 50. Because only the center of vision is affected, people rarely go blind from it, instead only losing the ability to see small details. However, as it worsens, people lose the ability to drive,...
- 2/18/2023
- by Alex Nguyen
- Uinterview
Dame Judi Dench claims that her eyesight is getting so bad that she is struggling to continue acting.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show Friday, the 88-year-old actress said an age-related degenerative eye condition is affecting her ability to remember lines.
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines, but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now.”
Dench has had macular degeneration for more than a decade now.
“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she said. “I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine...
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show Friday, the 88-year-old actress said an age-related degenerative eye condition is affecting her ability to remember lines.
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines, but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now.”
Dench has had macular degeneration for more than a decade now.
“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she said. “I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine...
- 2/17/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Judi Dench has been quite open with fans over the last several years about her degenerative eye condition, which has made it increasingly difficult for the 88-year-old Oscar winner to learn her lines. In a new interview on “The Graham Norton Show” (via People magazine), Dench said it’s now become “impossible” to learn lines because of her eyesight loss. The actor has long prided herself on having a photographic memory when it comes to scripts, but she can no longer rely on it.
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of ‘Twelfth Night’ right now.”
During a 2021 conversation with the Vision Foundation,...
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” Dench said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of ‘Twelfth Night’ right now.”
During a 2021 conversation with the Vision Foundation,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
Judi Dench has opened up about the challenges her eyesight condition has brought on, revealing that it’s become “impossible” for her to read scripts.
Years ago, the award-winning actor revealed she had Amd (age-related macular degeneration), a common condition that usually occurs in people’s fifties and sixties and affects vision.
Amd doesn’t cause total blindness, but can make reading and recognising faces difficult, according to the NHS website.
Last October, the 88-year-old Belfast star said the condition was “bad enough”, admitting she “can’t see”.
Now, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Dench said “it has become impossible” for her to read scripts (via Entertainment Tonight).
“Because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” she explained.
“I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them.
Years ago, the award-winning actor revealed she had Amd (age-related macular degeneration), a common condition that usually occurs in people’s fifties and sixties and affects vision.
Amd doesn’t cause total blindness, but can make reading and recognising faces difficult, according to the NHS website.
Last October, the 88-year-old Belfast star said the condition was “bad enough”, admitting she “can’t see”.
Now, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Dench said “it has become impossible” for her to read scripts (via Entertainment Tonight).
“Because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” she explained.
“I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them.
- 2/17/2023
- by Inga Parkel
- The Independent - Film
Judi Dench is opening up about her continued struggled while losing her vision due to advanced macular degeneration (Amd).
The Oscar-winning actress, age 88, joined “The Graham Norton Show” in an episode airing Friday when – joined by Hugh Jackman, Michael B. Jordan, Eugene Levy, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Pink – she shared that reading scripts and learning her lines has become an “impossible” uphill battle since being diagnosed with Amd in 2012.
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory,” she said. “I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page.”
Also Read:
‘The Crown’ Star Helena Bonham Carter Thinks It’s Time for the Netflix Series to End: ‘It’s Very Different Now’
She added that due to her photographic memory, memorizing lines never used to be a hurdle for her. “I used to...
The Oscar-winning actress, age 88, joined “The Graham Norton Show” in an episode airing Friday when – joined by Hugh Jackman, Michael B. Jordan, Eugene Levy, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Pink – she shared that reading scripts and learning her lines has become an “impossible” uphill battle since being diagnosed with Amd in 2012.
“It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory,” she said. “I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page.”
Also Read:
‘The Crown’ Star Helena Bonham Carter Thinks It’s Time for the Netflix Series to End: ‘It’s Very Different Now’
She added that due to her photographic memory, memorizing lines never used to be a hurdle for her. “I used to...
- 2/17/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
Neil Forsyth’s The Gold is a true crime drama with a distinctive perspective. As much as it’s about the cat-and-mouse chase between the robbers of £26 million’s worth of gold bullion in November 1983, and the special task force trying to catch them, it’s also about the British class system. Over six episodes (airing weekly on BBC One and available as a box-set on BBC iPlayer), Forsyth tells a story about villains on both sides of the social divide and the entrenched systems protecting those at the top. His London is just as veined with establishment corruption, freemasonry and snobbery as it is with armed robbers, hooky fences and locals who keep their mouths shut for fear of reprisal.
The ensemble drama covers the period from the 1983 robbery, then the largest gold heist in British history, to the investigation and sentencing of select ring leaders. The story, as the newspapers show,...
The ensemble drama covers the period from the 1983 robbery, then the largest gold heist in British history, to the investigation and sentencing of select ring leaders. The story, as the newspapers show,...
- 2/12/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Shot in 2021, a film of Allelujah, Alan Bennett’s 2018 play set on a geriatric ward, is released next month. How relevant does it remain? Its stars, including Jennifer Saunders and Bally Gill, share their thoughts during production – and more than a year later
I live 10 minutes’ walk from a disused psychiatric hospital in north London. Well, partly disused: 40 of St Ann’s in Tottenham, with the glossy new assessment centre and low-rise 30s blocks, is still going strong. The other side of the site, built as a fever hospital in 1892, has been gradually abandoned.
There is a Victorian laundry, grand as an ocean liner. A massive castellated water tower, like the rook in a giant’s chess set. A gorgeous sprawl of red-brick wards and lodges, with shaped gables, stacked chimneys and blind boxes over intricate windows.
I live 10 minutes’ walk from a disused psychiatric hospital in north London. Well, partly disused: 40 of St Ann’s in Tottenham, with the glossy new assessment centre and low-rise 30s blocks, is still going strong. The other side of the site, built as a fever hospital in 1892, has been gradually abandoned.
There is a Victorian laundry, grand as an ocean liner. A massive castellated water tower, like the rook in a giant’s chess set. A gorgeous sprawl of red-brick wards and lodges, with shaped gables, stacked chimneys and blind boxes over intricate windows.
- 2/10/2023
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
John Cleese is rebooting his classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, it was announced this week.
The British actor and writer, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is collaborating on the new show with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.
He will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development, along with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The Fawlty Towers reboot will reportedly explore “how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.
Cleese claimed that an initial meeting about the series had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I can remember”.
So what happened to the main four castmembers of Fawlty Towers?
John Cleese
After Fawlty Towers finished, Cleese, who played bedraggled hotelier Basil Fawlty, went on to enjoy a successful film career.
Highlights include 1981’s Time Bandits, directed by fellow Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, and the screwball...
The British actor and writer, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is collaborating on the new show with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.
He will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development, along with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The Fawlty Towers reboot will reportedly explore “how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.
Cleese claimed that an initial meeting about the series had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I can remember”.
So what happened to the main four castmembers of Fawlty Towers?
John Cleese
After Fawlty Towers finished, Cleese, who played bedraggled hotelier Basil Fawlty, went on to enjoy a successful film career.
Highlights include 1981’s Time Bandits, directed by fellow Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, and the screwball...
- 2/8/2023
- by Louis Chilton and Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - TV
Chatting away to Sally Hawkins, as you do, in the fabled Abbey Road Studios in posh North London neighborhood of St. John’s Wood, she tells me ”I feel fine” when I inquire after her well-being.
Our feet are planted in the very spot where The Beatles recorded the track for “I Feel Fine,” a single that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic back in 1964. I couldn’t tell whether Hawkins purposefully chose those words to chime with where we were stood.
Related Story Breaking Baz: Hot Star Paul Mescal Heats Up London Theater; BAFTA Talks Gender Neutrality; All About Amy Winehouse When We Were Neighbors Related Story 'Glass Onion' Claims Title Of Most-Viewed Film In A Week On Nielsen U.S. Streaming Charts; 'Yellowstone' Has Its First Billion-Minute Week Related Story Joe Cornish Talks Netflix Ghost Hunter Series 'Lockwood & Co...
Our feet are planted in the very spot where The Beatles recorded the track for “I Feel Fine,” a single that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic back in 1964. I couldn’t tell whether Hawkins purposefully chose those words to chime with where we were stood.
Related Story Breaking Baz: Hot Star Paul Mescal Heats Up London Theater; BAFTA Talks Gender Neutrality; All About Amy Winehouse When We Were Neighbors Related Story 'Glass Onion' Claims Title Of Most-Viewed Film In A Week On Nielsen U.S. Streaming Charts; 'Yellowstone' Has Its First Billion-Minute Week Related Story Joe Cornish Talks Netflix Ghost Hunter Series 'Lockwood & Co...
- 1/27/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Alan Cumming has earnt the praise of fans as he revealed that he was the latest celebrity to return his OBE.
The Scottish star of stage and screen announced on Friday (27 January), his 58th birthday, that he had “recently” returned the honour given to him in 2009 for services to the arts and his LGBT+ activism in the US.
Writing on Instagram, Cumming explained that recent public conversations about the monarchy and British Empire had made him reconsider and return the prestigious honour he’d once been so proud of.
In doing so, Cumming joins a number of well-known individuals to have refused an honour for a variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not feel it was appropriate.
Here is a run-down of familiar faces who have spurned their honours:
Skepta
Skepta claimed he had turned down an MBE for the 2017 New Year's Honours via a new track,...
The Scottish star of stage and screen announced on Friday (27 January), his 58th birthday, that he had “recently” returned the honour given to him in 2009 for services to the arts and his LGBT+ activism in the US.
Writing on Instagram, Cumming explained that recent public conversations about the monarchy and British Empire had made him reconsider and return the prestigious honour he’d once been so proud of.
In doing so, Cumming joins a number of well-known individuals to have refused an honour for a variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not feel it was appropriate.
Here is a run-down of familiar faces who have spurned their honours:
Skepta
Skepta claimed he had turned down an MBE for the 2017 New Year's Honours via a new track,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Roisin O'Connor and Isobel Lewis
- The Independent - Music
Alan Cumming has earnt the praise of fans as he revealed that he was the latest celebrity to return his OBE.
The Scottish star of stage and screen announced on Friday (27 January), his 58th birthday, that he had “recently” returned the honour given to him in 2009 for services to the arts and his LGBT+ activism in the US.
Writing on Instagram, Cumming explained that recent public conversations about the monarchy and British Empire had made him reconsider and return the prestigious honour he’d once been so proud of.
In doing so, Cumming joins a number of well-known individuals to have refused an honour for a variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not feel it was appropriate.
Here is a run-down of familiar faces who have spurned their honours:
Skepta
Skepta claimed he had turned down an MBE for the 2017 New Year's Honours via a new track,...
The Scottish star of stage and screen announced on Friday (27 January), his 58th birthday, that he had “recently” returned the honour given to him in 2009 for services to the arts and his LGBT+ activism in the US.
Writing on Instagram, Cumming explained that recent public conversations about the monarchy and British Empire had made him reconsider and return the prestigious honour he’d once been so proud of.
In doing so, Cumming joins a number of well-known individuals to have refused an honour for a variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not feel it was appropriate.
Here is a run-down of familiar faces who have spurned their honours:
Skepta
Skepta claimed he had turned down an MBE for the 2017 New Year's Honours via a new track,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Roisin O'Connor and Isobel Lewis
- The Independent - Film
Happy Valley is a drama about love. About catching baddies and family bonds, about impoverished communities and domestic abuse. But it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line of dialogue, about stew of all things, that has created the most buzz over the course of the new season.
The line in question came in episode three of the Yorkshire-set show, as Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) explained to her grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) why he shouldn’t be having secret meetings with his father Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) in prison.
“He has a kink in his brain – a twist, a psychological deformity,” she told him. “It’s an absence of something that allows him to possibly seem quite normal to you, but it allows him to do things – evil things, nasty things, things that normal people just wouldn’t do, things that he’s ended up in prison for.
“Now you don’t have that kink,...
The line in question came in episode three of the Yorkshire-set show, as Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) explained to her grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah) why he shouldn’t be having secret meetings with his father Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) in prison.
“He has a kink in his brain – a twist, a psychological deformity,” she told him. “It’s an absence of something that allows him to possibly seem quite normal to you, but it allows him to do things – evil things, nasty things, things that normal people just wouldn’t do, things that he’s ended up in prison for.
“Now you don’t have that kink,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - TV
Since the 70s Haggard also campaigned to secure rights and recognition for directors.
British film, television and theatre director Piers Haggard, who directed Pennies From Heaven and a campaigner for the rights of his fellow directors, has died aged 83.
He began his career in television in the 1960s before directing Dennis Potter adaptation Pennies From Heaven, starring Bob Hoskins, in 1978. It won a Bafta for Most Original Programme and is considered a landmark in British television history.
His film credits included cult classic The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971); Quatermass (1979) written by Nigel Kneale; Venom (1982) with Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski; Mrs.
British film, television and theatre director Piers Haggard, who directed Pennies From Heaven and a campaigner for the rights of his fellow directors, has died aged 83.
He began his career in television in the 1960s before directing Dennis Potter adaptation Pennies From Heaven, starring Bob Hoskins, in 1978. It won a Bafta for Most Original Programme and is considered a landmark in British television history.
His film credits included cult classic The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971); Quatermass (1979) written by Nigel Kneale; Venom (1982) with Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski; Mrs.
- 1/18/2023
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The 2023 New Year's Honours list has been revealed, with cultural figures including Stephen Graham and Brian May among those acknowledged.
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
- 12/31/2022
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Film
The 2023 New Year's Honours list has been revealed, with cultural figures including Stephen Graham and Brian May among those acknowledged.
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
- 12/31/2022
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Music
The 2023 New Year's Honours list has been revealed, with cultural figures including Stephen Graham and Brian May among those acknowledged.
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
This list marks the first published since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September and the first to be signed off by her son King Charles III. A total of 1,107 recipients, 50 per cent of whom are women, make up this year’s list.
Other high-profile names to have made the list include contemporary artist and broadcaster Sir Grayson Perry. The 62-year-old artist, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, “is knighted for services to the arts”.
Sir Grayson was previously appointed Cbe in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to contemporary art.
Comedian and actor Frank Skinner is to receive an MBE, along with Countdown presenter Rachel Riley, who is being recognised for “her efforts to raise awareness of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism”.
However, there are always...
- 12/31/2022
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Music
Pathé has today launched its trailer for ‘Allelujah’ which is set to open in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 17 March 2023.
When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. The story celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand.
Based on the stage play by Alan Bennett and directed by Richard Eyre, the film stars Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and newcomer Bally Gill, supported by Judi Dench (Notes on A Scandal, Iris), Derek Jacobi, David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Russell Tovey (The History Boys) and Julia McKenzie.
Also in trailers – “Nothing works now that you have gone…...
When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. The story celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand.
Based on the stage play by Alan Bennett and directed by Richard Eyre, the film stars Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and newcomer Bally Gill, supported by Judi Dench (Notes on A Scandal, Iris), Derek Jacobi, David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Russell Tovey (The History Boys) and Julia McKenzie.
Also in trailers – “Nothing works now that you have gone…...
- 12/13/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Perhaps no medium understands television’s terrifying potential quite like film. That’s right: countless horror movies have paid homage to the spooky possibilities of their industry’s smaller screen little brother over the years. Movies like Poltergeist, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and The Ring all recognize that a television set is a potentially powerful totem.
A TV set is a device that families have placed in their living rooms for decades, passively welcoming in all manner of signals, blithely trusting that evil somehow won’t piggyback its way on them. Still, for much of television’s early years, there wasn’t a ton of great horror series to speak of (aside from the truly iconic like The Twilight Zone). That has all changed now.
To celebrate Den of Geek‘s 15th anniversary, we are once again counting down the best pop culture that the past decade and a half had to offer.
A TV set is a device that families have placed in their living rooms for decades, passively welcoming in all manner of signals, blithely trusting that evil somehow won’t piggyback its way on them. Still, for much of television’s early years, there wasn’t a ton of great horror series to speak of (aside from the truly iconic like The Twilight Zone). That has all changed now.
To celebrate Den of Geek‘s 15th anniversary, we are once again counting down the best pop culture that the past decade and a half had to offer.
- 10/13/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding the U.K., to filmmaker Margy Kinmonth’s feature documentary “Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War.”
Written, directed and produced by Kinmonth, executive produced by Maureen Murray and made by Foxtrot Films, the film is the true story of one of Britain’s greatest landscape artists. Eric Ravilious was the first war artist to die in WWII. Set against the wartime locations that inspired him, the film brings to life the undervalued British artist.
Made in co-operation with Imperial War Museums, the documentary unfolds in Ravilious’ own words, through previously unseen private correspondence and rare archive film. Shot entirely on location in the U.K., Portugal and Ireland, the film features contributions from Ai Weiwei, Alan Bennett, Grayson Perry, Robert Macfarlane, Freddy Fox and Tamsin Greig.
Currently on theatrical release in the U.K., the film has grossed more than £275,000 at the box...
Written, directed and produced by Kinmonth, executive produced by Maureen Murray and made by Foxtrot Films, the film is the true story of one of Britain’s greatest landscape artists. Eric Ravilious was the first war artist to die in WWII. Set against the wartime locations that inspired him, the film brings to life the undervalued British artist.
Made in co-operation with Imperial War Museums, the documentary unfolds in Ravilious’ own words, through previously unseen private correspondence and rare archive film. Shot entirely on location in the U.K., Portugal and Ireland, the film features contributions from Ai Weiwei, Alan Bennett, Grayson Perry, Robert Macfarlane, Freddy Fox and Tamsin Greig.
Currently on theatrical release in the U.K., the film has grossed more than £275,000 at the box...
- 10/8/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Nothing has illustrated the current turmoil in British politics quite as starkly as the recent tanking of the pound against the dollar, a puzzle even to the ruling party whose prime minister and chancellor caused it. Richard Eyre’s fitfully funny Allelujah reflects this schism in more ways than one, balancing broad grey-pound comedy and seriously macabre drama with the result that a seemingly gentle satire inexplicably dives into a murky existential abyss in its final act. Even fans of Alan Bennett, the famously folksy playwright and national treasure of the north, will struggle with the juxtaposition of wry bathos and savagery, the latter ramped up from Allelujah’s original incarnation as a Bennett stage play sprinkled with Dennis Potter-style song-and-dance numbers.
The subject is the UK’s National Health Service, once the envy of the world and now the subject of a massive culture war between the sentimental left and the neoliberal right,...
The subject is the UK’s National Health Service, once the envy of the world and now the subject of a massive culture war between the sentimental left and the neoliberal right,...
- 10/1/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Like some kind of cinematic equivalent of the vault in the Tower of London where the Crown jewels are stored, the stage-to-screen adaptation Allelujah piles a number of “national treasures” atop one another: a script based on a play from 2018 by national treasure Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George); a cast featuring such treasured national stars as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Jennifer Saunders; direction from feted theater and film veteran Richard Eyre (Iris, Notes on a Scandal) and so on. It’s all rolled up in a story about the institution every Brit most loves to love and moan about in equal measure, the National Health Service. What could possibly go wrong?
At the risk of having my Leave to Remain resident status in the U.K. revoked, I am sad to report that Allelujah the film is something of a disappointment.
Like some kind of cinematic equivalent of the vault in the Tower of London where the Crown jewels are stored, the stage-to-screen adaptation Allelujah piles a number of “national treasures” atop one another: a script based on a play from 2018 by national treasure Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George); a cast featuring such treasured national stars as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Jennifer Saunders; direction from feted theater and film veteran Richard Eyre (Iris, Notes on a Scandal) and so on. It’s all rolled up in a story about the institution every Brit most loves to love and moan about in equal measure, the National Health Service. What could possibly go wrong?
At the risk of having my Leave to Remain resident status in the U.K. revoked, I am sad to report that Allelujah the film is something of a disappointment.
- 9/16/2022
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I’m writing a letter to Richard Curtis on behalf of Frances de la Tour. Release the director’s cut of Love Actually – for the sake of the nation. The silken-voiced Harry Potter and Seventies sitcom star was originally among the crème de la crème British thesps starring in the 2003 film, playing Anne Reid’s dying, bed-ridden partner – but both actors ended up on the cutting room floor. “Oh yes, we had a lovely scene,” she says. “And I think it was the only gay scene,” she remembers. “It’s odd that they cut it. Maybe it was too dark to bring into it. Because it ended up being quite a light and fluffy film, didn’t it?” It could have made the affectionately derided Christmas film into something quite different – more progressive, less cloyingly twee. But, still, Curtis has manners. “At least he wrote to me and said we...
- 9/15/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - TV
I’m writing a letter to Richard Curtis on behalf of Frances de la Tour. Release the director’s cut of Love Actually – for the sake of the nation. The silken-voiced Harry Potter and Seventies sitcom star was originally among the crème de la crème British thesps starring in the 2003 film, playing Anne Reid’s dying, bed-ridden partner – but both actors ended up on the cutting room floor. “Oh yes, we had a lovely scene,” she says. “And I think it was the only gay scene,” she remembers. “It’s odd that they cut it. Maybe it was too dark to bring into it. Because it ended up being quite a light and fluffy film, didn’t it?” It could have made the affectionately derided Christmas film into something quite different – more progressive, less cloyingly twee. But, still, Curtis has manners. “At least he wrote to me and said we...
- 9/15/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - Film
Toronto – Sometimes films with the best intentions just doesn’t come together. A great cast, a notable filmmaker, and fine source material don’t always coalesce. That’s certainly the case with Richard Eyre’s “Allelujah,” which debuted at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival this weekend.
Read More: “Bros Review”: Billy Eichner’s witty gay from com works [TIFF]
Based on Alan Bennett’s 2018 play of the same name, the ensemble piece is set at The Bath, a fictional Yorkshire, England hospital whose services have slowly been widdled away by the British government.
Continue reading ‘Allelujah’ Review: Not Enough Judi Dench In This Hospital Drama Searching For Urgency [TIFF] at The Playlist.
Read More: “Bros Review”: Billy Eichner’s witty gay from com works [TIFF]
Based on Alan Bennett’s 2018 play of the same name, the ensemble piece is set at The Bath, a fictional Yorkshire, England hospital whose services have slowly been widdled away by the British government.
Continue reading ‘Allelujah’ Review: Not Enough Judi Dench In This Hospital Drama Searching For Urgency [TIFF] at The Playlist.
- 9/11/2022
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
“Allelujah,” Richard Eyre’s latest film, unfolds in a Yorkshire geriatric hospital, following a group of patients as they make peace with or rage against the indignities of old age. It’s a story that resonates with Eyre, a legendary stage and screen director.
“I’m about to be 80,” he says. “So old age isn’t my consuming passion, but it’s a subject that has been forced on me and that has become difficult to ignore. I’m acutely aware of having outlived both my parents and many of my friends.”
Perhaps unwittingly, “Allelujah,” which premieres this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival, also serves as a showcase for a generation of English actors such as Judi Dench, David Bradley, and Derek Jacobi, who have all entered their ninth decades.
“I’m not sure I was fully conscious of it it, but what a privilege to have this professional continuity,...
“I’m about to be 80,” he says. “So old age isn’t my consuming passion, but it’s a subject that has been forced on me and that has become difficult to ignore. I’m acutely aware of having outlived both my parents and many of my friends.”
Perhaps unwittingly, “Allelujah,” which premieres this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival, also serves as a showcase for a generation of English actors such as Judi Dench, David Bradley, and Derek Jacobi, who have all entered their ninth decades.
“I’m not sure I was fully conscious of it it, but what a privilege to have this professional continuity,...
- 9/11/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.