“ALL three women in this drama are recognisable to the audience.” Anna Friel talking to me close to […]
Kudos
“IT’S very important that Sidney has seen death. That he knows death.
“I remember my father said to me once:
‘I don’t suppose you’ve buried many of your friends?’
“Which is a very shocking sentence.”
Author James Runcie, son of the late Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, talking about his creation Sidney Chambers.
Grantchester is a new six-part series starting on ITV at 9pm on Monday (October 6).
Starring James Norton as Sidney.
Totally transformed from his no doubt future award-winning role as psychopath Tommy Lee Royce in BBC1’s Happy Valley.
(Now with Part Two and new pics – scroll down – ahead of episode two tonight…Wed Nov 21.)
THE welcome clatter of typewriters is back in town tonight with the return of The Hour.
Set in 1957, the second BBC2 series is a step up from the acclaimed first season with the confidence to be even bigger and bolder in its storytelling and settings.
Presenter Hector Madden (Dominic West) is dining out – and more – on his national celebrity while producer Bel Rowley (Romola Garai) does all the work back at the BBC.
The deliciously dry Lix (Anna Chancellor) remains on the foreign beat and knows a lot more than she cares to tell, still clutching a glass of Scotch at all times of the day.
And just what is her link to the intriguing and ever so slightly OCD new Head of News Randall Brown, played by Peter Capaldi?
There’s a dramatic re-appearance for Freddie, played by new Bond star Ben Whishaw, who was fired in the first series.
And an unexpected new direction has been cooked up for Hector’s frustrated wife Marnie (Oona Chaplin).
(Spoiler alert: Do not read further if you have yet to watch the final episode)
“HARRY Pearce…”
The poignant last ever episode of Spooks has just finished.
There will be no more.
Nicola Walker summed up my feelings in an interview this week when she said:
“The storyline for this last series is the right ending for the show.
“I don’t know if it’s going to please everybody but it’s a very clever and grown up end point.”
HARRY and Ruth are sitting together on a park bench.
Ruth: “Do you know what it’s like to feel something for someone and then one day realise you don’t even know them?”
Harry: “You do know me. You know all the important things.”
Spooks series 10, episode four.
In which we learn battle-weary Sir Harry has so many more secrets.
“NOT while I still draw breath.”
Sir Harry Pearce is a joy to behold in the first episode of the last ever series of Spooks.
With just six hours left before we say goodbye, the writers of our favourite spy drama appear intent on celebrating the man who has been there from the very start.
Or perhaps more accurately, a skilled actor by the name of Peter Firth.
“IT does go out with a fantastic bang. Ruth and Harry’s conclusion is sensational and there are some surprises for the loyal fans.”
“I just don’t want it to get tired and old.”
“We kill off our characters all the time in their prime. The show’s got to be killed off in its prime as well.”
Three quotes from Jane Featherstone live on the BBC1 Breakfast sofa around 8:40am today.
IT’S been an open secret for some time that Spooks had come to the end of its long and winding road.
Today came final confirmation that series 10, due on screen next month (September), will be the last.
You can read the full official press release at the end of this blog.
The end came as no surprise to fans of the BBC1 show, who were left wondering why the BBC and production company Kudos had left it so long to confirm what everyone knew.
With Kudos said to have taken the decision themselves to end the series and move on to other things, including an already announced (Jan 2011) new eight-part BBC1 spy drama series called Morton.
Rather than the BBC wielding the axe.
Chief Executive Jane Featherstone said today: “We have always wanted to end Spooks on a high, but never knew when that time would be.
“Harry Pearce, played by the wonderful Peter Firth, has always been at the heart of the show and this series focuses on Harry’s past, bringing his tumultuous relationship with Ruth to a head. As we near completion of this year’s show, I’m sorry to say but it feels this series is a fitting end to a much-loved show.
“It’s very tempting to keep going, and we have had on-going conversations with our partners at the BBC about it, but the heart of the show has become those two characters and I feel they own it. We’ve followed the arc of their personal story and I think they’ve brought us to a natural end, which you will all see played out later this year.”
There was already speculation that Spooks was nearing the end of the road when I spoke to Peter Firth (Harry Pearce) in early February.
Life of Wylie 