Interview: BEOWULF co-creator James Dormer

Yesterday, I interviewed screenwriter James Dormer, the co-creator of ITV's new fantasy drama BEOWULF: RETURN TO THE SHIELDLANDS, for Frame Rated. Please head over there and have a read! If you already like the show, which started last Sunday, there are a few teases to what future episodes have in store, too. Click here!

Review: ITV's JEKYLL & HYDE

The BBC have dominated family-friendly telefantasy since Doctor Who returned in 2005, and their traditional rival ITV have mostly failed to deliver a worthy riposte—with the possible exception of Primeval. Their last serious attempt was 2009's awful Buffy ripoff Demons. ITV are hoping to put that right this autumn with an adaptation-cum-sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, from writer Charlie Higson (The Fast Show). In this version, we're following the great-grandson of the original Victorian scientist who drank a potion that split his personality—so the action mostly takes place in mid-thirties London.

Frame Rated: 5 New U.K TV Shows to Watch this Autumn

Yesterday over at Frame Rated: I compiled a list of 5 New U.K TV Shows to Watch this Autumn. My picks are BBC2's London Spy. ITV's Jekyll & Hyde. Sky Atlantic's The Last Panthers. E4's Tripped. Sky1's You, Me & The Apocalypse. But in what order of excitement? Please click through to read and find out!

Is America's remake of SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY the BEST TIME EVER?

It's fascinating to me when successful British TV formats don't work when translated for our American cousins. The U.S have remade ITV's light entertainment hit Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, which debuted on NBC a few days ago. They're airing Best Time Ever on Tuesdays because weekend TV in America is mostly a wasteland (as advertisers believe the lucrative 18-34 demographic are out getting wasted, not watching TV indoors), with the possible exception of Sunday evenings when lots of popular cable drama's broadcast.

Trailer: THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO

Gerry Anderson's most famous creation, 1960s marionette action-adventure series Thunderbirds, has been remade for the modern-age. The new show utilises computer animation instead of puppets, handled by the world-famous WETA Workshop (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) in New Zealand, and includes the vocal talents of Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) as Lady Penelope, Thomas Sangster (Game of Thrones), Kayvan Novak (Three Lions) as Brains, Angel Coulby (Merlin), and Rasmus Hardiker (Saxondale). After some teasing over the past month, the first trailer has now arrived and, naysayers be damned, this looks like a lot of fun to me. I'm pleased by how faithful the designs of the ships are, which just goes to show how ahead-of-its-time the original show was. THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO... 15 April. Are you excited?

Is ANT & DEC'S SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY still the show to order?

ITV's light entertainment extravaganza Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (hereafter SNT) is back for a twelfth series, and not before time after Harry Hill's Stars in their Eyes flopped. Truth is, ITV have a tough time finding a weekend ratings winner whenever X Factor's off-air, with the exception of Ant & Dec's two other shows (I'm a Celebrity, Britain's Got Talent), so they'll be glad SNT's back—and its only serious rival is BBC1's The Voice, which will surely fade in the ratings now the Blind Audition rounds are over. But is SNT actually any good, when you examine it? Or does the charisma of the Geordie duo cover a lot of cracks?

Premiere reviews: BROADCHURCH (series 2) & AGENT CARTER

This week, global success BROADCHURCH returned to try and maintain its reputation as a premium crime drama; while Marvel launched their second comic-book television show, AGENT CARTER...

Trailer: BROADCHURCH - Series 2

How will ITV's small-town whodunit justify a second series, considering the murder was solved last time? It's still vague, although the first 60-second trailer for BROADCHURCH series 2 suggests the story will concern the disappearance of two little girls. It feels like we're just going to have to buy into the idea this town's cursed when it comes to bad shit happening. Maybe the disappearances will tie into last year's storyline, somehow? Who knows. But if it's ultimately a different crime being investigated in the same coastal community, I'd say the chances of a third series are slim. Unless audiences are happy to buy into the idea of picturesque Broadchurch being some kind of nexus for murder and kidnapping...

Broadchurch returns to ITV on 5 January 2015.

By George, it's DOWNTON CLOONEY!

On the one hand, it's rather marvellous a humble ITV drama like DOWNTON ABBEY now has the clout to attract A-list Hollywood talent like George Clooney for a glorified cameo. On the other hand, is this a shark-jumping moment? It totally breaks whatever thin vestige of realism the show's clinging to, being suddenly presented with the visage of ER's Dr Doug Ross... no?

December 2014 Highlights – BLACK MIRROR • DOCTOR WHO • DOWNTON ABBEY • ESIO TROT • THE WRONG MANS

December is a particularly busy month in British TV because of the two-week period over Christmas and New Year when various shows air specials. It's less exciting in the U.S, where shows go on mid-season hiatus until January or February. (I've never understood that, seeing as you have more of a captive audience thanks to 'holiday period + winter weather', but whatevs.) Below are my picks of the best stuff heading our way this month—although there's always a level of secrecy with UK scheduling, so it's subject to change and amendment the closer we get to Christmas time. As always, let me know about any glaring omissions, and I will sneakily update this post. (That's an added incentive for RSS readers to visit the actual blog, too...)

Newsbuzz: DOCTOR WHO's Christmas clue, TRUE DETECTIVE casting, WONDER WOMAN finds a director, ITV adapting JEKYLL & HYDE

The BBC have revealed that this year's DOCTOR WHO Christmas special is entitled "Last Christmas", fanning the flames of a summer rumour about Jenna Coleman leaving the series.

Review: ITV's CHASING SHADOWS

★½ (out of four)

DS Sean Stone claims "serial killers" only exist in Hollywood, and the proper term is "multiple murderers"; and yet, ironically, he's a detective on the autistic spectrum, which is arguably even more of a fictional invention. After all, when you're dealing with grieving families and need to get into the mindset of criminals, how could it possibly help to be a social misfit who can't even car-share? Where are the sleuths with almost preternatural empathy, beyond Hannibal's Will Graham?

ITV spent £1 million on X FACTOR trailer, but only uploaded it in 480P

Things are about to get loud.

THE X FACTOR is returning on 30 August, with Simon Cowell back as head judge, joined by returning pop star Cheryl Cole Fernandez Versini, new judge Mel B, and old hand Louis Walsh. ITV spent £1 million on this Game of Thrones-inspired trailer for the new series (where each judge is the general of their own bellicose army, unleashing hell), but for some reason they only uploaded it to YouTube as a 480P stream. What a bum note.

What are the best British TV panel shows?

One of the most common and popular formats on British television is the venerable "comedy panel show". The UK has cornered the market with this genre, largely because it's the only country that makes so many. It probably helps that they're so cheap and relatively easy to produce.

Oddly, the panel show is almost unheard of in America nowadays, although the US is credited with originating the genre and it was very popular in the '50s and '60s. But the comedy panel show sub-genre never really took hold across the pond, perhaps because there was no radio tradition of "parlour games"? Anyway, here endeth the history lesson. Below are my favourite UK-made comedy panel shows, of those currently in existence... do you agree with my choices?

ITV developing JEKYLL & HYDE and BEOWULF adaptations

The BBC has almost cornered the market in family-friendly fantasy in the UK, although ITV had some success with Primeval. But that wormhole/monster silliness couldn't hold a candle to Doctor Who or Merlin. The BBC's telefantasy has stumbled with Atlantis (although some people enjoy it), but they still reign supreme when you remember another of ITV counter-attacks was Demons. Remember that sub-Buffy calamity?

MSN TV: ITV's MIDSOMER MURDERS - 'The Killings of Copenhagen'

Over at MSN today: I've reviewed the special 100th episode of ITV 'whodunut?' MIDSOMER MURDERS, which involved a case that took the detectives to Denmark's capital Copenhagen, home of The Killing...

Midsomer Murders is one of those workhorse dramas that feels like it's been around forever, but is only now celebrating its hundredth episode. I remain convinced that it’s missing an extra zero. Debuting in 1997, this murder-mystery drama (based on a novel by Caroline Graham) has produced 16 series, and shows no sign of stopping. It has endured following the departure of John Nettles, the original lead; he bowed out as DCI Tom Barnaby in 2010 and Neil Dudgeon succeeded him as cousin DCI John Barnaby.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

TV News: 24, ITV's CHASING SHADOWS, BBC3's CUCKOO & Fox's GOTHAM

• Judy Davis quit 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY last week, but it's now been revealed the Australian actress has been replaced by Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark in Game of Thrones, above-right). She will now play Margo, the British widow of an infamous terrorist, and I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job. [via EW]

MSN TV: ITV's DOWNTON ABBEY - series 4 finale

Today over at MSN: I've reviewed the series 4 finale of DOWNTON ABBEY (so beware of major spoilers!), where some of the year's storylines were resolved, and others nudged into the Christmas special's agenda...

Downton Abbey overcame a misguided second series with a general return to form last year, culminating in the shock death of Matthew Crawley (actor Dan Stevens decided he wanted out, forcing an eleventh hour EastEnders-style dose of Christmas misery when he crashed his car). The real test of series four was seeing if the show could overcome the loss of Stevens - whose character was the dapper heir to the Crawley family fortune and one-half of the show's key romantic coupling. The answer is a resounding yes, although the potential suitors for widowed Mary haven't left much of an impression, making Lady Mary look a little marginalised, despite the fact she was on equal footing with her father in terms of managing the family estate. As finales go, I expected better - particularly as it was an extended episode, and Julian Fellowes tends to write better with doubled screen-time. Downton was as cosy as one expects for a Sunday evening on ITV, but I'm beginning to find it rather frustrating how this show fumbles good ideas. Or rushes them for no good reason.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Chatrick: ALAN CARR - CHATTY MAN; THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW; THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW

left-to-right: Norton, Ross & Carr; brothers-in-chat

British chat shows don't elicit much discussion online, where the genre is dominated by US late-night talk shows. That's a shame, because US talk shows are almost interchangeable and their formats haven't changed much since the 1970s, while UK chat shows tend to experiment more. I also find them more enjoyable because they're (a) less scripted (no "pre-interviews"), (b) ply guests with booze, (c) don't drag on all year, and (d) the guests are allowed to swear (which tends to please Americans in particular).

David Tennant reprises BROADCHURCH role in US remake

I never expected this! David Tennant has been cast in the US remake of hit ITV drama Broadchurch, which also found an audience and critical acclaim in the US during its broadcast on BBC America. A remake of the show is already planned for Fox (which creator Chris Chibnall is writing the pilot for), and it's just been revealed that Tennant will be hopping across the pond to play the lead detective!