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• War & Peace: additional casting announced

  24 February 2015 ( #Andrew Davies, #BBC, #Leo Tolstoy, #The Weinstein CO., #War & Peace )

  Gillian Anderson and Jim Broadbent have joined the cast of Andrew Davies' adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace for the BBC and The Weinstein Co., which has now started principal photography. Anderson is set to play Anna Pavlovna while Broadbent will...

• In French: Une nouvelle adaptation de Guerre et Paix (BBC)

  30 December 2014 ( #andrew davies, #BBC, #leo tolstoi, #War and peace, #Weinstein )

  Ce devrait être l'un des événements de la grille de BBC One pour les mois à venir. Annoncée début 2013, la nouvelle adaptation de Guerre et Paix , le roman mondialement connu de Léon Tolstoï , prend finalement forme avec l'annonce de son casting complet...

• The future of the BBC: will the licence fee be abolished?

  27 February 2015 ( #BBC, #Dr Who, #licence fee, #Sherlock, #Wolf Hall )

  It is interesting that on the eve of the publication of the seismic DCMS select committee report on the future of the BBC, the Corporation’s director general Lord Hall was hosting a screening of the brilliant drama Wolf Hall. Perhaps it was no accident...

• How Sarah Phelps adapted JK Rowling for TV

  16 February 2015 ( #BBc, #from page to screen, #JK Rowling, #Sarah Phelps, #The Casual Vacancy )

  Sarah Phelps is used to treading in the footsteps of giants; her acclaimed screenplays include BBC adaptations of Dickens’s Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. However, when it came to dramatising JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy for the small screen,...

• Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston to Star in The Night Manager

  12 January 2015 ( #BBC, #hugh laurie, #john le carré, #The Night Manager, #tom hiddleston )

  BBC One, The Ink Factory and AMC today announced a co-production partnership for the television adaptation of John le Carré’s novel The Night Manager. Multiple Emmy® nominee Hugh Laurie (House) and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, War Horse, Midnight In...

• The epic poem Beowulf is to be made into a 13-part drama by ITV

  15 December 2014 ( #Beowulf, #Game of Thrones, #ITV, #Jekyll and Hyde, #The Frankenstein Chronicles )

  The epic poem Beowulf is to be made into a 13-part drama by ITV. Described as a western set in the dark ages of Britain’s mythic past, the series will use locations in County Durham and Northumbria to represent the poem’s Scandinavian setting, and will...

• The BBC, a “uniquely precious institution”

  12 December 2014 ( #BBC, #BBC3, #Hilary Mantel, #licence fee, #Wolf Hall )

  Peter Kosminsky, the director of BBC2’s lavish adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall books, has delivered an impassioned defence of the BBC. Speaking on the same day that the Corporation set out its plans for moving BBC3 online – a decision which the...

• TV Adaptations and Historical Accuracy

  20 November 2014 ( #BBC, #Bring Up the Bodies, #Hilary Mantel, #historical drama, #Wolf Hall )

  Historical accuracy in fiction is crucial, author Hilary Mantel has told an audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Speaking with reference to her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, their subsequent stage productions and the upcoming BBC...

• Sherlock Holmes Copyright Case

  03 November 2014 ( #Conan Doyle, #Public Domain, #Sherlock, #Sherlock Holmes, #US Supreme Court )

  The case of the disputed Sherlock Holmes copyright has ended after the US supreme court on Monday left intact a ruling that said 50 works featuring the famed fictional detective are in the public domain. The high court’s justices, which like the eccentric...

• Cast announcement for the Go-Between

  29 September 2014 ( #BBC, #BBC1, #Classic-novel adaptation, #JB Priestley, #The Go-Between )

  Both actors have a strong connection to The Go-Between. Vanessa Redgrave’s father, Michael Redgrave, played the Older Leo in the first adaptation in 1971. Jim Broadbent appeared as an extra in the same adaptation in his first ever, uncredited, film role....

• The BBC and the General Strike

  28 September 2014 ( #BBC, #Churchill, #General Strike, #history, #John Reith )

  For nine days in May 1926 the nation's industry was at a standstill in the General Strike. Many of the newspapers stopped printing, so there were few means of communication between authorities and the populace. But there was the tiny British Broadcasting...

• “The Book Was Better”

  05 August 2014 ( #A Song of Ice and Fire, #Game of Thrones, #Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, #Outlander, #The Walking Dead )

  The battle between books and TV used to be fought by bibliophiles proclaiming that they didn’t even own televisions. Today, the terms of battle have changed, as prestige TV has gotten enough cultural status that there is probably some counter-snob bragging,...

• GRRM won't be writing for series 5

  09 August 2014 ( #A Song of Ice and Fire, #Game of Thrones, #George RR Martin, #GoT, #HBO )

  Before you get too upset, however, here’s the author’s reason: He wants to focus on writing the eagerly awaited sixth novel in his Song of Ice and Fire saga, The Winds of Winter. As fans are very much aware, Thrones is quickly catching up to the author’s...

• In French: Ridley Scott (producteur) adapte Philip K. Dick pour Amazon

  31 July 2014 ( #Amazon, #Frank Spotnitz, #Philip K. Dick, #Ridley Scott, #The Man in the High Castle )

  Rejeté par Syfy et la BBC, l'adaptation du roman récompensé du prix Hugo en 1963 en mini-série de 4 heures aura finalement été récupérée par Amazon, scénarisé par Frank Spotnitz et réalisé par David Semell. "Le Maître du Haut Château" raconte l'histoire...

• Game of Thrones / series 5: deviating from the books

  24 June 2014 ( #Game of Thrones, #George RR Martin, #GoT, #HBO, #road map )

  We might not have seen the season four finale over here yet (No spoilers, please America) but showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff are already teasing season five. And it sounds like a stressful affair. The pair, who have been the brains behind the...

• JK Rowling on the BBC and HBO

  07 June 2014 ( #BBC One, #HBO, #JK Rowling, #Sarah Phelps, #The Casual Vacancy )

  Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear and Julia McKenzie will star in BBC1's adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. Bafta Award-winning Gambon - seen most recently in Quirke - will play Howard Mollison, owner of the Pagford delicatessen,...

• Sherlock and Doctor Who named as BBC's two global successes

  21 July 2014 ( #BBC, #detective drama, #Doctor Who, #Sherlock, #Steven Moffat )

  Fans in France, Germany, Russia and on both sides of the Atlantic may already know it, but Sherlock is now officially a global phenomenon. The BBC detective drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman was sold to more broadcasters worldwide...

• Why are fantasy world accents British?

  03 May 2014 ( #British accents, #Game of Thrones, #George RR Martin, #GoT, #HBO )

  A lot of British people will not have heard of Game of Thrones. This tale of family strife and royal intrigue in a fantasy world called Westeros has been a big hit on HBO in the US. Millions watched the first series, justifying the movie-like budget poured...

• 'fansubbing' en débat à Séries Mania 2014

  02 May 2014 ( #ATAA, #fansubbing, #Séries mania, #sous-titrage, #traduction )

  L'organisation du festival a eu l'excellente idée de confronter deux mondes qui, avec la circulation des contenus et la démocratisation des outils, tendent de plus en plus à s'affronter : les professionnels et les amateurs. Aujourd'hui, il suffit d'un...

• Period Drama Music on the Radio

  11 June 2014 ( #Brideshead Revisited, #Downton Abbey, #Game of Thrones, #Parade's End, #Sherlock )

  The emotional departure of Amy Pond and the triumphant return of Sherlock Holmes are among the dramatic moments set to feature in a Classic FM programme dedicated to music from TV shows. Howard Goodall's weekly radio programme Saturday Night at the Movies...

• Andrew Davies wants to cast Scarlett Johansson in War and Peace

  07 April 2014 ( #Andrew Davies, #BBC, #Leo Tolstoy, #Scarlett Johansson, #War and Peace )

  Writer Andrew Davies wants a mega Hollywood star to take one of the lead roles in his upcoming BBC2 adaptation of Tolstoy’s 1869 classic novel War and Peace: Scarlett Johansson. The veteran writer, once dubbed TV’s Mr Sex for his racy adaptations of period...

• Wolf Hall on BBC Two

  08 May 2014 ( #BBC, #BBC Two, #Booker Prize, #Hilary Mantel, #Wolf Hall )

  BBC2 are assembling one hell of a cast for their adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall... Joining Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell is Homeland star Damian Lewis, playing the fiery Tudor King Henry VIII who oversees the meteoric rise of the former blacksmith's...

• No feature film adaptation of Wolf Hall

  21 April 2014 ( #Bring up the Bodies, #Hilary Mantel, #stage adaptations, #TV adaptations, #Wolf Hall )

  An excerpt: " And there will, of course, be television versions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, to be screened – most likely – some time next year, adapted by Peter Straughan. She has been much less involved in these than in the plays. Straughan,...

• Quirke: a new series for BBC One adapted by screenwriter Andrew Davies

  16 April 2014 ( #Andrew Davies, #BBC, #Benjamin Black, #Gabriel Byrne, #John Banville )

  Quirke (we never get to know his Christian name) is the chief pathologist in the Dublin city morgue – a charismatic loner whose job takes him into unexpected places as he uncovers the secrets of sudden death in 1950s Dublin. It’s a rich and smouldering...

• A Sherlock Christmas Special?

  24 April 2014 ( #BBC, #Christmas Special, #detective drama, #Sherlock, #Xmas Special )

  Martin Freeman has thrown into question much of what we thought we knew about where Sherlock will go next. Co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat told us earlier this year that they had already produced outlines for series four and five of the BBC...