Freema Agyeman might be off Russell T. Davies' Christmas card list, having ditched Torchwood to star in Law & Order: London. Agyeman was set to become a regular cast member of the Doctor Who spin-off (following her successful guest-appearances in season 2), but she's belatedly decided to turn her back on the sci-fi hit, which returns next year for a 5-episode run. Scripts are being hastily rewritten to accommodate her character's absence.
Now, this was reported by The Sun, so they may have intentionally put an "angle" on it -- like making it into a BBC defection story, because L&O:L is an ITV series. Career-wise, it makes sense for Agyeman to move onto new things now that DW and TW have raised her profile. L&O:L will be more challenging and, if successful, likely to run and run for years. Still, if the TW writers really are midway through writing, and now have to introduce a brand new character because of Agyeman's late-decision, that's very unfortunate.
In the US, the fortunes of the Life On Mars remake seem to be improving. After a terrible pilot (leaked onto the internet to widespread derision), the series has ditched Rachel LeFevre (as Annie Cartwright), added Ray and Chris back into the cast, transplanted the action from L.A to NYC, been given permission from the BBC to change the underlying mystery... and now movie veteran Harvey Keitel has agreed to replace Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt!
How's that for juicy casting? I'm not belittling Philip Glenister's performance (and he'll always be the real Gene), but Keitel is definitely a few dozen steps up the actor's league. It'll be interesting to see what he brings to the role. A lot of bad attitude and shouting, most likely! But isn't he far too old, at 69?
