British Telly

Daniel Radcliffe and David Holmes tell the emotional story. Plus: Kin and Scrublands are two new juicy BBC thrillers. Here’s what to watch this evening

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£100,000 is up for grabs as the cult reality TV series draws to a close. Plus: the Country Music Awards, straight outta Nashville, Tennessee. Here’s what to watch this evening

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while Doctor Who has had kids hiding behind the sofas in fear for six decades, Davies has shared that not all of the episodes will be appropriate for children to watch at all.

The writer behind It’s A Sin and Years and Years explained that he had thought of his eight-year-old self while creating the new episodes, and accepted that kids would be watching, even though “it’s not a children’s show”.

Of the three episodes, series opener The Star Beast, which airs on 25 November and centres on a furry creature called a Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes), is the most child-friendly, Davies explained.

“It is like a great big Pixar family film, like a bank holiday film – all the family watching, lots of laughs, a funny monster,” he said.

However, the following two episodes will not be appropriate for children, Davies warned. “The second one, Wild Blue Yonder, is darker. Not scary – it’s genuinely weird,” he said.

“We do very scary stuff. Some stuff is quite violent. It’s not for children, it’s about children.”

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/television/t/631440

This Diana-obsessed series is the very definition of bad writing. Despite the brilliant cast, it’s a crass, soapy dive into the abyss – not least in the atrocious scenes featuring Ghost Diana.

Mary Berry teaches celebrities a thing or two about cooking in this new series. Plus: the finale of Brassic. Here’s what to watch this evening

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The presenter revisits the residents she spoke to in 1988 after Pan Am flight 103 was bombed. Plus: Alan Davies launches David Mitchell through the air. Here’s what to watch this evening

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The Libertines singer invites Theroux to his Normandy home. Plus: a magical new documentary series about an aquarium. Here’s what to watch this evening

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cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/617880

Veteran film collector John Franklin believes the answer is for the BBC to announce an immediate general amnesty on missing film footage.

This would reassure British amateur collectors that their private archives will not be confiscated if they come forward and that they will be safe from prosecution for having stored stolen BBC property, something several fear.

“Some of these collectors are terrified,” said Franklin, who knows the location of the two missing Doctor Who episodes, along with several other newly discovered TV treasures, including an episode of the The Basil Brush Show, the second to be unearthed this autumn. “We now need to catalogue and save the significant television shows that are out there. If we are not careful they will eventually be dumped again in house clearances, because a lot of the owners of these important collections are now in their 80s and are very wary,” he added.

Discarded TV film was secretly salvaged from bins and skips by staff and contractors who worked at the BBC between 1967 and 1978, when the corporation had a policy of throwing out old reels. And Hartnell’s Doctor Who episodes were far from the only ones to go. Many popular shows were lost and other Doctor Who adventures starring Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee were either jettisoned or erased. A missing early episode of the long-running sitcom Sykes, starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques, has also been rediscovered in private hands in the last few weeks.

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The BBC said it was ready to talk to anyone with lost episodes. “We welcome members of the public contacting us regarding programmes they believe are lost archive recordings, and are happy to work with them to restore lost or missing programmes to the BBC archives,” it said.

Whether this will be enough to prompt nervous collectors to come forward is doubtful. While collectors are in no real danger, the infamous arrest of comedian Bob Monkhouse in 1978 has not been forgotten, Franklin suspects: “Monkhouse was a private collector and was accused of pirating videos. He even had some of his archive seized. Sadly people still believe they could have their films confiscated.”

The BBC has confirmed that, as is now tradition, Doctor Who will be a part of this week’s charity telethon for Children in Need with the broadcast of a special exclusive scene starring David Tennant’s 14th Doctor on November 17.

Dispatches investigates the thousands of children taken from Ukraine to Russia. Plus: a new drama set in London’s music scene circa 2001. Here’s what to watch this evening

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The comedian is a great tour guide in Australia. Plus: Hannah Waddingham hosts the Earthshot Prize 2023. Here’s what to watch this evening

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Who will make it through to Blackpool in Strictly Come Dancing? Plus: Jools Holland celebrates Windrush music. Here’s what to watch this evening

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The charming sitcom goes out in chaotic style. Plus: Krishnan Guru-Murthy meets the Taiwanese civilians preparing for a Chinese invasion. Here’s what to watch this evening

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The Australian newsroom series is back and there is rivalry in the air. Plus, Taskmaster just keeps getting better. Here’s what to watch this evening

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From spy tactics to a serial killer, in the first episode we learn all about the passport. Plus: Brian Cox delves into the life of the bard. Here’s what to watch today

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The roving reporter takes on the former heavyweight boxing champion. Plus: Bake Off continues. Here’s what to watch this evening

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First up, the special's title is listed as Doctor Who Holiday Special: The Church on Ruby Road, with December 25th set as the date. Clearly, we're getting that "Ruby" connection to Gibson's companion – but is it now running as a "Holiday Special" instead of a "Christmas Special"? Could it be a title change strictly for Disney+ as a way of observing all holidays?

The Grave follows the work of Vitaly Borovyi, who buried almost 450 bodies in a mass grave in Izium. Plus: The Long Shadow reaches its conclusion. Here’s what to watch this evening

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One of my favorite projects that Berry ever worked on is 2004’s AD/BC: A ROCK OPERA. It aired on BBC Three in 2004 and features a lot of the usual BBC comedy suspects that seemingly always work together: Berry, Richard Ayoade (who also directed and co-wrote the lyrics with Berry), Julia Davis, Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Matt Lucas, and more. It’s a hilarious parody/homage of those hippie-influenced Christ musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. AD/BC especially skewers the movie adaptations of those plays, with their anachronistic blending of modern props with the BC setting, erratic camera moves and dizzying editing, awkwardly rhyming lyrics, and the free flowing (and rarely good) choreography.

Neonsplatter

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/593448

Well this could be very interesting indeed... Obviously the main question is how on earth can they cut anything from that story down to 75 minutes when it's already such a lean script with no padding at all?!?

I'm a huge Troughton fan though, and while I'm g glad there's been something of a First Doctor revival in the last few years it'd be great to see a colourised Mind Robber or something as well, not that it will happen...

Picking up from a mention over in British comedy:

Doctor Who fans will be very familiar with the concept of animating lost episodes of a television, utilising the soundtrack to give as close an approximation as possible to the original broadcast version. Several Who stories have come back to life this way, and very successfully too.

The same team who did the work on assorted Doctor Who stories is now behind Dad’s Army: The Animations, which will bring six lost episodes of Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s sitcom to the screen for the channel GOLD in November.

The episodes are as follows:

The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Walker (Series 2, Episode 3)

Private Walker is called up into the army and Captain Mainwaring does all he can to appeal the decision.

Under Fire (Series 2, Episode 6)

The platoon arrest a supposed Nazi agent, on charges of signalling to enemy air-craft.

A Stripe For Frazer (Series 2, Episode 5)

Private Frazer receives an ill-advised promotion to Lance Corporal.

The Animated Christmas Special

In these two shorts (from Christmas Days 1968 and 1970 respectively), Captain Mainwaring drills his platoon in physical fitness and assembles a choir to entertain the troops.

Of all five animations, only A Stripe For Frazer has been seen on television before, and the three full episodes were previously remade in live action as Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes in 2019.

Release date for the first one: Monday November 6th

An intense documentary about the mysterious death of Jennifer Pandos. Plus: Judi Dench on Shakespeare. Here’s everything to watch this evening

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A documentary shows the secrets of Kennedy and Sinatra’s friendship. Plus: French thriller Dark Hearts. Here’s what to watch this evening

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A host of entertainers take over the Francis Crick Institute for Stand Up to Cancer. Plus: the ghosts are getting existential. Here’s what to watch this evening

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It’s all coming to a head at Mardi Gras in Interview With the Vampire. Plus, Mary Berry teaches us – and Mel Giedroyc – a thing or two. Here’s what to watch this evening

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