General

Nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs) TV Awards were announced this morning and, for the second year in a row, the list of nominees features a combination of great performances and truly bizarre omissions that makes one wonder whether the nomination process boils down to drawing names from a hat.

Leading the field this year were Olympic-themed comedy Twenty Twelve, Alfred Hitchcock biopic The Girl and drama Last Tango in Halifax, which all picked up four nominations apiece. The 2012 London Olympics also fared well, taking 3 out of 4 nominations in the “Sporting and Live Event” category, and Danny Boyle’s Isles of Wonder Opening Ceremonies will also compete for the Audience Award.

Some of these nominations are spot-on: it’s lovely to see Last Tango in Halifax getting nominated; both because of its unconventional love story and the fact that stars Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are fantastic. Twenty Twelve was hysterical. Ben Whishaw did amazing things with a traditionally under-performed Richard II in The Hollow Crown. Boyle surely deserves every award he’s about to win for his stunning work on the Olympics. Even though I thought The Girl was boring, Toby Jones is always a capable performer.

And yet, much like 2012, there are just some really weird picks and obvious snubs. Click through for a look at the full list of nominations, and then let's discuss what they got right and what they got wrong in the comments. The awards ceremony is scheduled for May 12.

Welcome to our first News Roundup of 2013, Telly Visions readers! Though, really, it’s highly likely that the thing most of you are excited about it’s the long-awaited premiere of Downton Abbey Series 3 this weekend. Can’t say I blame anyone though – I’ve seen Series 3 already and I’ll still be watching and tweeting along with everyone else this Sunday!

So, give yourself something to do while you're counting down the hours until Sunday night gets here and catch up on the latest British entertainment tidbits with this week’s Roundup. Click through for bits and bobs on Doctor Who, Ripper Street, The Spies of Warsaw, Being Human, Inspector Lewis, Mr. Selfridge, and, of course, Downton itself.

Enjoy – and stick around to dish all the latest Crawley family developments this weekend. If you’re a DC local, WETA is marathoning all of Series 2 on Sunday, starting from 11:30am!

Happy New Year, Telly Visions readers! Wishing all of you all the best in 2013 – hoping you have a wonderful year, full of lots of love, laughter, and, of course, some really great British television. (Technically, I’m a day late sharing these important wishes, so consider them doubled for my tardiness/technical problems at home!)

The New Year is all about new beginnings, so obviously that means that now that we’ve taken a moment to reflect on the year that was, it’s time to look forward to the great things that are headed our way in the next twelve months. Because there’s quite a bit of fabulous British programming headed our way in 2013 and a lot to get excited about. Here’s my list of ten things I can’t wait to see this year – what’s yours?

Happy New Year’s Eve, Telly Visions readers! Hope you have a fun and safe and fabulous time tonight ringing in the New Year and that 2013 is full of many wonderful and magical moments for you.

Because everyone else is doing it, it seems today’s a fitting time to look back on 2012 and everything that happened in it. Which, quite frankly, was a pretty epic amount of great British TV. So, since everyone else on the internet appears to be making “Best of” lists today, here’s mine – my favorite bits of British television I consumed in 2012. Share your personal picks in the comments – and tell me if I’ve managed to miss something that was must-see this year.

Happy Christmas Telly Visions readers! (If you’re celebrating, of course – Happy Tuesday and generally Winter-ish season if you’re not.) Hope your day is going wonderfully and that Santa has brought you lots of goodies, including hopefully some British TV under the tree!

As ever at this time of year, it seems appropriate to once again say thank you to each and every one of you for being here – for reading and commenting and tweeting and just being generally fantastic. Getting to talk about a topic I love with such smart people regularly is pretty much the best present a gal could ever want. Well, that and the rest of the classic Doctor Who box sets I don’t already own. (But, I think I ask for that every year.)

So, as we head into the part of the day where everyone is buried under wrapping paper and is possibly guilty of eating too much, take a break to pat yourselves on the back for being awesome, and then catch up on the latest from around the world of British entertainment with this week’s edition of the News Roundup. We’ve got bits and bobs on Sherlock, Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey, The IT Crowd, The Making of a Lady, Call the Midwife and more!

Happy weekend, Telly Visions readers and welcome to being officially under the one month mark in our wait for the Downton Abbey Series 3 premiere! (This just generally seems worth of celebration, don’t you think?)

Alas, however, the weekend’s winding down – wrap up your Sunday night with a look at the lastest from around the world of British entertainment news in this week’s installment of the News Roundup! This week we’ve got bits and bobs from Merlin, Miranda, Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Being Human, the cast of Sherlock and more!

Happy weekend, Telly Visions readers! Somehow it’s suddenly become December – how on earth did that happen so fast? We’re counting down to the end of 2012, but luckily, we’re also getting every closer to several very awesome things – most notably the premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, the US debut of Downton Abbey Series 3 and the start of Cabin Pressure Series 4 (all of which rank very highly on my list of things I’d like Santa to bring me a little bit more quickly than usual, if he has no objections).

So, wind down from the start of holiday preparations with a Sunday night read through the latest tidbits from around the world of British entertainment in our News Roundup. Click through for bits and bobs on Doctor Who, Skins, Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Downton Abbey, The Hour, Luther and more.

Hope all of you have had a wonderful long Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

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!

We call today Veterans Day here in the United States, it’s referred to as Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Countries, some folks still like to call it Armistice Day, or even Poppy Day, but, nevertheless, the sentiment is all the same – when we all take a moment to reflect and to say a heartfelt thank you to all the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve in the armed forces, whatever country they may hail from. We’re grateful for your sacrifice!

Time for our (mostly) weekly News Roundup! Click through for the latest from around the world of British entertainment news, including bits and bobs on Downton Abbey, The Paradise, Sherlock, Luther, Doctor Who, Skins, The Hour and more!

Happy weekend, Telly Visions readers! For those of us who are East Coasters preparing to hunker down for Hurricane Sandy – everyone be safe and take care of yourselves and your neighbors! This seems like an extremely serious storm, so let's all treat it as such! (Though really, this feeling that I'm just sitting around waitng for the power to go out is the worst!)

And, you know, if you’re busy bookmarking things to read once your power goes out, here is a handy dandy pile of fun things to read, courtesy of our News Roundup. Click through for a bunch of goodies from all around the world of British entertainment, including Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Parade’s End, Miranda, Doctor Who, The Hour, The Great British Bakeoff, Made in Chelsea and lots more.