The News Roundup – Thanksgiving Weekend Edition
As you begin the trek home from visiting family or just take some time to relax after a blitz of Black Friday shopping, settle in with this week’s holiday edition of the News Roundup.
Click through for the latest tidbits and goodies from around the world of British entertainment, including Downton Abbey, Bedlam, Doctor Who, The Hour, New Tricks, Peep Show, Hunted, Red Dwarf and more!
Storyline details have surfaced for Series 8 of Peep Show.
For some incomprehensible reason, Bedlam could be back for a third series.
Tom Kilbey is apparently taking a break from The Only Way is Essex.
Dad’s Army Uncovered: 35 Things You Need to Know About the BBC Comedy Classic
Julie Plec and Greg Berlanti (producers of The Vampire Diaries and Arrow respectively) are now set to adapt a US version of Tomorrow People.
In case you’ve ever wondered: why no one on Elementary ever blinks about there being a guy named Sherlock Holmes running around.
Watch the trailer for spy/espionage mini-series Restless, starring Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery alongside Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon and more!
Celebrating 90 Years On Air: The best moments of BBC speech radio.
More on Series 2 of The Hour – this time from star Dominic West.
Speaking of The Hour – in case you missed it, you can stream the Series 2 premiere online before it airs.
Bored waiting for Series 3? Project: How to develop Sherlock Holmes-like powers of observation and deduction.
It’s official: BBC America will day and date the Doctor Who Christmas special, airing it on Christmas Day just a few hours after our friends across the pond get to see it.
Nice new Tom Hiddleston interview, wherein the British thesp discusses a bunch of stuff, including Thor: The Dark World.
Sherlock fans are pretty cool: A shrine to the great detective in a London phone box.
Only Fools and Horses star Nicholas Lyndhurst has joined the New Tricks cast for Series 10.
Here’s your first official look at Jenna Louise-Coleman’s new Doctor Who companion. (The Victorian dress is A+ in my book!) More photos can be found this way, as well.
Red Dwarf’s Craig Charles says that the cast of the sci-fi hit would like to do more episodes of the show.
In what is surely a sign the Telegraph had a slow news day: this is a real article: Benedict Cumberbatch wants to keep his Watson male.
Ruthie Henshall to do a guest spot on Russell T. Davies’ Wizards vs. Aliens.
Take a look at a new gallery of photos from Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery’s new World War II spy drama, Restless.
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch to narrate the sequel to Raymond Briggs’ Christmas story The Snowman.
Something I did not know: Ben Whishaw learned to play the piano for two months for his role in Cloud Atlas. (I can’t even whistle; this impresses me.)
Behold: yet another rumor that former Tenth Doctor David Tennant will return to Doctor Who for the 50th anniversary next year. (This time it’s from “legitimate sources”!)
While we’re waiting for Series 3: There’s an official Downton Abbey companion book out!
Dame Eileen Atkins, one of the co-creators of Upstairs Downstairs, now apparently thinks that there are too many period dramas on TV, calling the trend “TV snobbery.” Allllrighty, then.
Oh, dear, this is a bit of life imitating art, I think? Doc Martin star Martin Clunes has been banned from driving for a bit because he racked up too many speeding tickets. (He’s also been dropped from the car insurance ads he’s been doing as a result.)
The BBC’s annual Children in Need charity telethon raised over 26.7 million pounds last weekend. Huzzah!
In case Skyfall has made you obsessed with Ben Whishaw (like everyone else on the internet apparently), here’s a good primer on his other roles.
Jude Law confirms that there will be a third Sherlock Holmes movie, but isn’t sure about what the schedule looks like.
Things I love: When the British press fight with each other. Though this critique of the Daily Mail in a Guardian op-ed is totally warranted.
Website Digital Spy does their Top Five Sherlock Holmes stars.
Why it’s good to be Dame Maggie Smith: the venerable actress was the only actress in Downton Abbey who refused to wear a corset with her costume – and totally got away with it.
Den of Geek interviews Hunted creator Frank Spotnitz.
Chris O’Dowd to head the cast of new BBC2 mockumentary Family Tree.
“Omnishambles,” a word coined by the writers of political satire The Thick of It, is the Oxford Dictionary’s UK Word of the Year.
The Thirteen Most Memorable Doctor Who guest stars, according to What Culture.
