Friday News Roundup: Hello, Summer Edition
Friday also means that it’s News Roundup time around here! Click through for loads of updates from around the world of British entertainment, including Sherlock, Doc Martin, Downton Abbey, Misfits, Bedlam, Red Dwarf, last weekend’s Diamond Jubilee festivities and more!
Beautiful photos of the Queen’s Diamond Jubliee celebrations from Londonist. Even more (beautiful) photos of the river pageant from The Daily Mail.
Yahoo!UK has some more great Diamond Jubilee photos, this time from the royal carriage procession and RAF flyover. Loads more really lovely pictures from The Telegraph are available here.
Apparently the BBC has been getting a fair amount of backlash for what has been called poor coverage of the Queen’s Jubilee. Not that this complaining stopped anyone from watching – Jubilee coverage over the bank holiday weekend was most-watched show of the year so far.
Fresh off his performance at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert, former Beatle Paul McCartney announced he’ll also be playing the Opening Ceremony at the London Olympics.
Neat: The Telegraph features the 60 best-of-British achievements of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
Worth watching: Prince Charles’ speech about his mother at the Diamond Jubilee concert.
Sherlock and Downton Abbey both received nominations for this year’s Television Critics Association Awards.
Shelock’s Louise Brealey talks about her character Molly Hooper and what to expect in Series 3. (She also reveals that the Sherlock cast watched The Reichenbach Fall at Martin Freeman’s house and there was a lot of crying. Adorable.)
Fantastic sci-fi hit Misfits will air on Logo TV this summer here in the States!
Former Tenth Doctor David Tennant has signed on to play a “maverick sleuth” for a major ITV detective drama said to be inspired by Danish crime series The Killing.
Sherlock and Spooks leading lady Lara Pulver has joined the cast of Starz series Da Vinci’s Demons.
Craig Charles talks about the new series of Red Dwarf, calls it “grumpy old men in space.”
Dougray Scott set for a guest appearance in Doctor Who Series 7.
Shirley MacLaine talks to TV Guide about filming Downton Abbey Series 3. She also apparently said that the set “seemed haunted.”
Rather adorable new interview with Benedict Cumberbatch about Sherlock and his new status as a British heartthrob, courtesy of Pop Sugar.
The show’s writers introduce Series 2 of Bedlam.
Are we ready for a video game version of Sherlock? The game trailer for upcoming title The Testament of Sherlock Holmes was revealed at E3 this week.
Martin Clunes does an interview with the Radio Times – and it’s got a giant Doc Martin spoiler for Series 6!
Clunes has also ruled out a revival of his classic sitcom Men Behaving Badly.
Ten things that make Top Gear great.
Sherlock’s Andrew Scott is among the cast of BBC Radio 4’s new dramatization of James Joyce’s Ulysses, along with Niamh Cusack and Stephen Rea. The seven part radio series will air as part of the station’s day long Bloomsday celebration on June 16.
A video look inside Highclere Castle, the house that stands in for the Crawley home in Downton Abbey.
Why Downton Abbey isn’t going to be competing in the Emmy category you’d expect this year.
Everyone ever loves Downton, even Mad Men star Jon Hamm.
Russell Brand set to return to UK television with Brand X, a current affairs show.
The Huffington Post looks at why the Sherlock Holmes stories are having such a cultural resurgence of late.
This is super awesome: a Q&A featuring five former Doctors from Doctor Who.
In Doctors that Never Were news – Bill Nighy confirms that he turned down the chance to play the Doctor, claiming the role came with too much baggage.
Former Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg officially confirmed as part of the cast for BBC Three’s Cuckoo.
Not sure why this article’s out now, but it’s still a nice piece on Luther star Idris Elba. [ETA: Now I realize this feature’s probably due to Elba’s role in Prometheus, which opens in theaters this weekend.]
Steven Moffat is apparently still unhappy with CBS about the whole Elementary existing thing.
Interesting look at 4Seven, Channel 4’s new channel offering featuring fan input on scheduling – programs with the most social media buzz earn a repeat airing the next day.
Sherlock’s Rupert Graves talks about his upcoming guest role on Doctor Who.
The BBC is apparently set to axe all four judges on the UK version of singing competition The Voice after the show lost 7 million viewers during its run.
Worth reading: Variety on the future of the leadership at the BBC as they prepare for budget cuts in their not-so-distant future.
