JULIET Stevenson had some interesting things to say at the launch of her latest TV drama earlier this month.
“I think we should lead in television. I don’t think we should follow,” she said.
“I do think it’s a shame, the whole obsession with following what people want to see and then giving them more of that.
“Rather than saying, ‘Try this’.”
Juliet stars in three-part ITV1 drama Place Of Execution, which begins at 9pm on Monday.
You can read more about her and the drama in today’s MEN TV feature here.
She also spoke about her character – a documentary film-maker who has mostly put work first and her daughter second.
“It’s quite useful for women to see portraits of working women who aren’t manging brilliantly,” insisted Juliet.

PLENTY to talk about at a press day for new BBC1 drama series Survivors last week.
An embargo on the interviews means those of us who were there can’t yet write about what was said.
But I can say that among those who turned up to chat at BAFTA in London was writer and executive producer Adrian Hodges.
He was joined by cast members Julie Graham, Shaun Dingwall, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Phillip Rhys, Chahak Patel and Paterson Joseph.
Plus BBC Controller of Series and Serials Kate Harwood.
The six-part action adventure series, due on screen this autumn, is being filmed in and around Manchester.
After talking to us, the cast were heading back north to film episode six.

JUST back from a press launch and the end of an era.
Sir David Jason told us tonight that he is quitting his role as Detective Inspector Jack Frost.
He will play the iconic character for the final time next year after over 40 episodes of ITV’s A Touch of Frost.
David, 68, said the moment had come to hand in his police badge and retire the oldest detective on British television.
“It’s time to move on. Frost is getting a little long in the tooth – it’s time for Frost to hang up his coat and scarf.”
I asked him why he was planning his last ever case.
He replied: “You wouldn’t want me to play Frost in a wheelchair, would you?
“A sad day for us all,” he added after a screening at a central London hotel.

WILL Mellor ended up in tears when he went behind bars for his latest TV project.
The Stockport actor told me about his “harrowing” experience last month filming inside Dodds Prison, Barbados.
Will and the camera crew had to leave the jail each night when the prisoners were locked down.
But they spent the rest of the time inside.
You can read more in Saturday’s MEN news story here.
Some of Will’s quotes and extra details were squeezed out of the story.
He said: “I don’t know what I agree about the prison system and what works and what doesn’t work.
“But I thought I can’t have an opinion unless I go and see it for myself.”

THE jury is still out on BBC1’s major new Saturday night series Merlin.
But there was, naturally, plenty of enthusiasm for the 13-part drama at last night’s launch in London.
Some 500 cast, crew and media crammed into the BFI IMAX near Waterloo station for a screening of the first episode.
Then it was off to the eighth floor of The Oxo Tower with its panoramic views over the capital.
Aimed squarely at the family audience in the Doctor Who and Robin Hood slot, Merlin gives us a new twist on the Camelot legend.
Seeing the first episode on the giant IMAX screen didn’t actually do it any favours.
I’ll reserve my own judgement until I see it on a normal TV.
But it’s definitely Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings, with one or two seriously scary moments.

PAUL O’Grady has told how he almost missed out on his MBE.
He received the gong in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, announced in June.
About to return for a new series of his Channel 4 teatime chat show, Paul thought it was a joke.
“I got a letter,” he explains in an interview just released by C4.
“But I’ve got a weird friend who always sends me letters, looking really official, saying, ‘Dear Mr O’Grady, we have reason to believe you are running a brothel at weekends.’
Or, ‘Dear Mr O’Grady, this baby-farming has got to cease.’
“So I thought it was one of those. I thought it was quite a weak attempt.

IT’S always a pleasure to talk to talented people at the top of their game.
Raymond Blanc is one of the best chefs in the world.
But he told me recently that passion for food is simply not enough when you step into a kitchen.
He’s back on BBC2 at 8pm tonight with a second – and somewhat changed – series of The Restaurant.
There’s a second feature in today’s MEN about the nine new couples taking part.
The online version is here.
You can also read about them at the BBC site here.
“I’m looking for people who are passionate but passion is not enough,” Raymond said.

GOT the post-holiday September blues?
Then can I recommend a new TV double act to put a smile on your face?
Along with the rest of the cast who star in upcoming BBC3 Manchester comedy series Massive.
Ralf Little and Carl Rice play Danny and Seamus, best mates since they bonded over Oasis in 1994.
Inspired by local heroes, including Tony Wilson, Joy Division and The Happy Mondays, they are stuck in boring jobs, mainly involving filing.
Until Danny’s gran leaves him £10,000 in her will and they set up Shady Records.
The first two episodes are on BBC3 from 9pm this Sunday and are not to be missed.

SNOW Is about to fall on a freezing night in 1963 as a young girl goes missing on the moors.
Place of Execution is one of the best TV dramas I’ve seen this year.
Adapted from the novel by Stockport-based Val McDermid, it’s set in the same era as the Moors Murders.
But this is a very different story.
At the press launch in London yesterday we watched the first two episodes and interviewed stars Juliet Stevenson, Greg Wise and Lee Ingleby.
And even though I now know how this classy thriller ends, I can’t wait to see the third and final part.
Due on ITV1 later this month, the drama – set in both the past and present – took six years to bring to the screen.
It was made in Newcastle and Northumberland by Coastal Productions, the Tyneside-based company founded by Sandra Jobling and Robson Green.

IT’S aimed at the Harry Potter generation and hopes to cast a spell on family audiences.
New 13-part drama series Merlin updates the story of the sorceror of Arthurian legend for Saturday nights on BBC1.
Set in the mythical city of Camelot, the new twist on an old legend comes to our screens later this month.
But will fans of a certain sitcom recognise one of the older members of cast?
One Foot In The Grave star Richard Wilson plays Gaius, the wise physician who guides young Merlin.
“I knew I could not be a bald 70-year-old who looks like Victor Meldrew,” explains Richard.
“So I knew I had to do something, go for a new image.”
Which is why you’ll see him in a shoulder-length wig.