News

Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle has been made a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Tuttle, who presided over her first festival in Berlin this year, is recognised for services to film. She previously led the BFI London Film Festival for five years.

Festival and film world MBE honourees also include Lisa-Marie Tonelli, founder and festival director of North East Film Festival, for services to film and charity; and Paul Cotgrove, founder of Southend-on-Sea Film Festival and Horror-On-Sea Film Festival, for services to film and British film heritage.

Allison Dowzell, managing director of Screen Alliance Wales,...

Oscar winner Gary Oldman will receive a knighthood and Bafta fellow Samantha Morton an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list.

Oldman, 67, is honoured for his services to drama. He won the lead actor Academy Award in 2018 for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and his celebrated roles include Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, and spy master Jackson Lamb in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses.

The British star broke out in 1986 with his portrayal of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy. He portrayed Dracula for Francis Ford Coppola in the 1992 film of that name,...

Maleah Joi Moon has become the 101st performer to win a Tony Award for their first outing on a Broadway stage for her performance in the musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”

She won Best Actress in a Musical at the 77th Tony Awards for portraying Ali, a 17-year-old girl searching for her place in the world while living in the titular New York City neighborhood and also being restrained by her overbearing mother. She is the 10th person to win the category for her Broadway debut. She joins:

Elizabeth Seal, “Irma La Douce” (1961)

Anna Maria Alberghetti, “Carnival” (1962)

Liza Minnelli, “Flora the Red Menace” (1965)

Leslie Uggams, “Hallelujah, Baby” (1968)

Alexis Smith, “Follies” (1972)

Natalia Makarova, “On Your Toes” (1983)

Lea Salonga, “Miss Saigon” (1991)

Catherine Zeta-Jones, “A Little Night Music” (2010)

Cynthia Erivo, “The Color Purple” (2016)

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Other performers who pulled off this accomplishment in recent years include...

Samantha Morton takes on a haunting role as reverend Jack Brooks in Paramount+'s new horror thriller, The Burning Girls. The series follows a reverend and her daughter as they move to Chapel Croft in search of a fresh start, only to uncover dark secrets that turn their lives into a nightmare. Morton's extensive career in film and television includes acclaimed films and memorable roles, establishing her as a British actress with a powerful legacy.

Samantha Morton plays reverend Jack Brooks in the first look trailer for The Burning Girls, the new horror thriller from Paramount+, which premieres on October 19.

As she prepares to return as Catherine de' Medici in the second season of The Serpent Queen, Morton puts royalty aside to become a haunted vicar in the new series from Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren. Based on the novel by C.J. Tudor, the story follows a reverend and her daughter,...

Sometimes, a new vicar arrives in a village and it's all sweet weirdoes and running jokes, like in The Vicar Of Dibley. But when Samantha Morton_ vibes. And we have an exclusive look at the trailer…

Adapted from Cj Tudor's novel, the show sees Morton’s Reverend Jack Brooks and her daughter Flo arriving in the village seeking a fresh start.

They soon find it's rife with conspiracies and secrets, and that uncovering the truth can be deadly in a community with a bloody past. The villagers are commemorating the death of two young Protestant martyrs who were betrayed and burned at the stake five hundred years ago by creating dolls and tossing them into fire – but it seems like the past isn't willing to stay buried…

The Burning Girls also features the likes of Paul Bradley, Janie Dee, Jane Lapotaire, John Macmillan, Rupert Graves, Elodie Grace Orkin, Safia Oakley-Green,...

Jodie Comer has become the 100th performer to win a Tony Award for their Broadway debut for her performance in the play, “Prima Facie.”

She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:

SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories

Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)

Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)

Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)

Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)

Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)

Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)

Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)

Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)

Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)

Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)

Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...

Multi-award-winning British actress Samantha Morton, and Ruby Stokes appear in the first set of spine-chilling images for Paramount+’s upcoming horror-thriller series “The Burning Girls”.

Morton will star as Reverend Jack Brooks — a single parent haunted by a tragedy from her previous church, who bears the onus of her husband’s death — while Stokes stars as Jack’s 15-year-old daughter Flo — a teenager who marches to the beat of her own drum.

“Set in Chapel Croft, a village haunted by a dark and turbulent history, ‘The Burning Girls’ sees Reverend Jack Brooks and her daughter Flo arrive in the hope of a fresh start. They soon find a village rife with conspiracies and secrets where uncovering the truth can be deadly in a community with a bloody past,” as per the logline.

Read More: ‘The Crowded Room’ Trailer: Tom Holland’s Past Unravels In Psychological Thriller Series

Jack Brooks, played by Samantha Morton,...

Exclusive: Athens-based audiovisual group Tanweer is expanding its business into world sales of local language content, kicking off with an augural slate at the EFM.

The new operation will be headed by Tanweer Senior Vice President Aruzia Khan and executive Eliana Eliopoulos, who will both be on the ground in Berlin.

Until now, Tanweer has been primarily focused on production at home and buying rights for its home territory of Greece as well as satellite arms in Turkey, India and the Middle East.

The inaugural sales slate includes the epic 32-episode historical drama series Red River, recounting the Ottoman persecution of the Greek community living in the region of Pontus in northeastern Anatolia in the early 20th Century.

Directed by veteran Greek director Manousos Manousakis, the show is adapted from Charis Tsirkinidis’s novel of the same name. The 4M production is billed as the most expensive in the history of Greek television.

Awkwardly plotted but chilling just the same, this beautifully-filmed tale of Victorian experimentation with death has nightmarish qualities that won’t go away. Class actors Robert Stephens, Robert Powell & Jane Lapotaire bring believability to a deadly-serious idea that scores the ‘phantom-trapping’ concept years before Ghostbusters. The cinematographer was Freddie Young; both versions are included, along with a commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.

The Asphyx

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 98, 86 min. / Street Date January 31, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Robert Stephens, Robert Powell, Jane Lapotaire, Fiona Walker, Ralph Arliss.

Cinematography: Freddie Young

Production Designer: John Stoll

Costume Design: Evelyn Gibbs

Film Editor: Maxine Julius

Original Music: Bill McGuffie

Written by Brian Comport, from an idea by Christina and Laurence Beers

Produced by John Brittany

Directed by Peter Newbrook

The Asphyx is a strangely disturbing horror film with a consistently morbid theme. Despite its web of borrowed ideas and forced ironies,...

Distributor Fathom Events will showcase critically acclaimed Greek war drama “Smyrna” on 700 screens in the U.S. as a one-night-only event on December 8. The limited wide release will raise the profile of the highest-budgeted production in the history of Greek cinema.

The film depicts the 1922 catastrophe at the end of the Greco-Turkish war that destroyed much of the city of Smyrna on Turkey’s Aegean coast, resulting in a monumental refugee crisis. The disaster and the events leading up to it are filtered through the eyes and experiences of a family living in Smyrna.

In anticipation of the one-time wide release, a special screening of the film will take place on November 29th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City under the auspices of the Greek Permanent Mission to the U.S. It will also be screened at the European Parliament in Brussels on January 11, 2023, as well...

Exclusive: Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead) is to lead Paramount+’s Burning Girls alongside Bridgerton star Ruby Stokes, Deadline can reveal.

The show from Marcella producer Buccaneer Media, which is adapted from a C.J. Tudor novel, has entered production and follows a village haunted by a dark and turbulent history.

Morton will play Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent haunted by a tragedy from her previous church and who bears the onus of her husband’s death. Stokes is her daughter Flo, a teenager who marches to the beat of her own drum. Both arrive in Chapel Croft in the hope of a fresh start, however, they soon find the village rife with conspiracies and secrets.

The thriller was one of Paramount+’s first UK commissions and the streamer has since ordered The Doll Factory, also from Buccaneer, an adaptation of Elizabeth Macneal’s Sunday Times bestselling novel.

The Burning Girls...

The debut film by Yorgos Gousis won prizes for best film first-time director, screenplay and actress.

Newcomer Yorgos Gousis’s Magnetic Fields and Grigoris Karantinakis’ second film Smyrna have dominated the 2022 Iris film awards of the Hellenic Film Academy.

Magnetic Fields won for best film, first- time director, screenplay and best actress prizes, while Smyrna was awarded the trophies for best cinematography, production design and costume design.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Magnetic Fields is a road movie about a man and a woman who have met by chance on a boat and decide to stick together...

Myles Frost became the latest addition to the list of people who have taken home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. His win makes him the 98th member of this particular winners’ club.

Frost, who won Best Actor in a Musical for playing Michael Jackson in “Mj,” is the 13th person to win that category for their first time stepping into a character on a Broadway stage. He joins:

Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” (1950)

Robert Alda, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)

Robert Lindsay, “Me and My Girl” (1987)

Brent Carver, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993)

Alan Cumming, “Cabaret” (1998)

Hugh Jackman, “The Boy From Oz” (2004)

John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys” (2006)

Paulo Szot, “South Pacific” (2008)

David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint nomination), “Billy Elliot” (2009)

Douglas Hodge, “La Cage aux Folles” (2010)

See 2022 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 categories

Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that have...

“Schitt’s Creek” is the big winner at the 17th Annual Gold Derby TV Awards honoring the best television that aired during the June 2019 through May 2020 season. And not only did it win, it achieved a remarkable sweep. Watch our video announcement above, and scroll down to see who won in all 30 categories decided by more than 2,000 registered users, who are some of the best informed TV fans on the web.

The Pop TV comedy was nominated nine times and won six: Best Comedy Series, Best Comedy Episode for the series finale “Happy Ending” and an unprecedented sweep of the four main comedy acting races for lead stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara and supporting players Dan Levy and Annie Murphy. It only lost two categories it was nominated in: Dustin Milligan was nominated for Best Comedy Guest Actor but our users picked Eddie Murphy (“Saturday Night Live”). And “Succession” bested...

Rebecca, an important piece of psychological drama literature famously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film, is about to be reinvented as a Netflix feature starring Lily James and Armie Hammer.

Director Ben Wheatley updates this classic story of a young newlywed to an aristocrat, finding herself in the shadow of his recently-deceased first wife, with whom the estate’s housekeeper has a dangerous obsession. Now, the new movie has a release date firmly set, and you can check out its first official images (which you can view below).

Rebecca Netflix Release Date

Rebecca is set to hit Netflix on Wednesday, October 21.

Rebecca Netflix Story

“After a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo with handsome widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), a newly married young woman (Lily James) arrives at Manderley, her new husband’s imposing family estate on a windswept English coast. Naive and inexperienced, she begins to settle into the trappings of her new life,...

Two years ago, Ron Cephas Jones was part of Emmy history when the four guest acting categories went to Black actors for the first time. And he could enter the record books again as our odds are forecasting a second guest sweep by Black performers.

Jones is predicted to win Best Drama Guest Actor again for “This Is Us,” the same show for which he prevailed in 2018. Cicely Tyson is the favorite in Best Drama Guest Actress as she seeks her fifth bid for “How to Get Away with Murder.” On the comedy side, Eddie Murphy (“Saturday Night Live”) and Maya Rudolph (“The Good Place”) are out in front.

In 2018, Jones won alongside Samira Wiley (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) in drama guest actress, Tiffany Haddish (“Saturday Night Live”) in comedy guest actress and Katt Williams (“Atlanta”) in comedy guest actor.

The guest categories have all crowned multiple Black winners before, but...

“The Crown” won eight Emmys out of 26 nominations over the course of its first two seasons, and it’s a two-time contender for Best Drama Series, but in a way season three wipes the slate clean. Inspired by the life and reign of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, the Netflix drama replaced its core cast as their characters aged into a new stage of their lives. Will this new era resonate with voters as much as the last one did? Scroll down to see the show’s 27 entries on this year’s ballots ranging from Best Drama to Best Special Visual Effects.

Claire Foy played Elizabeth in seasons one and two, winning Best Drama Actress in 2018. Stepping in to fill her shoes this year is Olivia Colman, and this isn’t her first time as an awards contender for playing a British queen. She won an Oscar for Best...

In a Gold Derby exclusive, we have learned the category placements of the key Emmy Awards contenders for Netflix. For this season, the streamer has returning hits “After Life” (Ricky Gervais), “Black Mirror” (Andrew Scott), “The Crown”, “Dead to Me”, “Glow” (Alison Brie), “The Kominsky Method” (Michael Douglas), “Ozark”, “Stranger Things” (Winona Ryder) as part of their 2020 campaign. Newcomers include “#blackAF” (Kenya Barris), “Living with Yourself” (Paul Rudd), “The Politician”, “Space Force” (Steve Carell) and “The Witcher” (Henry Cavill).

Below, the list of Netflix lead, supporting and guest submissions for their comedy, drama, TV movies and limited series. We’ve also got the full list of titles for variety, reality and other major genres. More names might be added by the studio on the final Emmy ballot. Also note that performers not included on this list may well be submitted by their personal reps.

13 Reasons Why

Drama Series

Drama Actor...

“It is definitely a magic element of the show,” declares Tobias Menzies about how Netflix’s period drama “The Crown” portrays the British royal family in revealing and vulnerable moments that provide insight into these very public personalities.

“I felt instinctively that if it was too much a work of mimicry, that would be probably quite irritating to watch maybe for ten hours,” he jokes. “It was about getting a balance of getting close enough to them so that you feel like you are having breakfast with Phillip and the Queen.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Menzies above.

See Josh O’Connor Interview: ‘The Crown’

After two seasons in which “The Crown” focused on the early years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign as monarch, the series returned late last year with a new cast in the spotlight. Oscar winner Olivia Colman replaced Emmy winner Claire Foy as the Queen,...

“The Handmaid’s Tale” has dominated the drama guest acting races at the Emmys of late, winning both categories last year for Cherry Jones and Bradley Whitford. Now that the Hulu hit is back in the running with another slew of contenders, will it run both categories once again, or can other shows break through? I joined Gold Derby contributors Riley Chow and Kevin Jacobsen to discuss this very question in our most recent slugfest (watch above).

“I don’t think there is a clear front-runner,” Jacobsen says about the race for Best Drama Guest Actor. Currently, he’s betting on Charles Dance for his portrayal of Lord Mountbatten in the third season of “The Crown.” Although he isn’t at the top of my predictions, I agree that he’s probably “the safest bet [for a nomination] at the moment,” following “The Crown’s” triumph for best drama ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Can Olivia Colman fill Claire Foy's royal shoes in the third season of The Crown TV show on Netflix? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like The Crown is cancelled or renewed for season four. Netflix and other streaming platforms, however, collect their own data. If you've been watching this TV series, we'd love to know how you feel about the third season episodes of The Crown here.

Streaming on the Netflix paid subscription platform, season three of The Crown stars Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Daniels, Jason Watkins, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty, Jane Lapotaire, Charles Dance, Josh O'Connor, Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Maloney, Emerald Fennell, and Andrew Buchan. The historical drama unfolds during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Colman) of the United Kingdom. Covering the events between 1964 and 1977, Elizabeth faces a rapidly changing Britain,...

Vulture Watch

How will Elizabeth and her family face the challenges ahead? Has The Crown TV show been cancelled or renewed for a fourth season on Netflix? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of The Crown, season four. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?  

What's This TV Show About?

Streaming on the Netflix paid subscription platform, season three of The Crown stars Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Daniels, Jason Watkins, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty, Jane Lapotaire, Charles Dance, Josh O'Connor, Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Maloney, Emerald Fennell, and Andrew Buchan. The historical drama unfolds during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Colman) of the United Kingdom. Covering the events between 1964 and 1977, Elizabeth faces a rapidly...

The Crown Season 3 premieres on Netflix on Sunday, November 17.

That's an interesting date for a Netflix premiere, but I can only assume Sunday is getting attention because it tends to house some of television's most prestigious offerings.

And The Crown is not only the most prestige programs on the streamer but one of the most lavish productions available on the small screen.

One of the most significant changes for the new season comes from the casting changes as the characters move into new life phases.

Viewers were quite taken with the original cast of The Crown, but the new arrivals make a seamless transition and take their counterparts to new levels.

Oscar-winner Olivia Colman is an inspired choice to don Elizabeth's heavy crown, and while I fully expect she'll get recognized for her performance come awards season, she's got quite capable company joining her royal family.

Outlander's Tobias Menzies...

One of the most exemplary scenes of “The Crown,” both in its upcoming third season and of the series overall, concerns a royally botched television appearance. Hoping to prove to the country that they’re “perfectly normal people,” Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) and her family agree to be part of a documentary about their daily lives, which in turn only proves just how extravagant and far removed from reality they truly are. Taking in the ensuing criticism, Elizabeth only barely contains her fury that anyone should suggest they don’t “wake up in the morning, go to bed at night…work, get tired, get colds” like anyone else. But as her new prime minister, Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins), gently suggests, that’s not enough — and not the point at all. “They don’t want you to be normal,” he says of her constituents. “We don’t know what we want,...

For only the third time this decade, none of the acting winners at this year’s Tony Awards did so for their Broadway debut. This is the 21st time that this has happened over the 73-year history of these top theater honors. Most of the winners were actually on the opposite end of the spectrum, winning for the first time after years of Broadway experience and several nominations to their name including André De Shields, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Stephanie J. Block. Check out the complete list of winners here.

The previous instances of Broadway debuts being shut out at the Tonys were in: 1948, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2001-2003, 2012 and 2017.

Below, you can see the names of all 96 people who have won Tonys for their debut on the Great White Way.

SEE2019 Tony Awards: Best Musical ‘Hadestown’ sweeps with 8 wins, ‘The Ferryman’ takes Best Play

Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners

Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons” (1962)

Cliff Gorman,...

Ari’el Stachel became the latest person to take home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. This victory puts him in a freshman club that now has 96 members. Watch him discuss his victory in the Tonys press room in the video above.

Stachel, who won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Haled in “The Band’s Visit,” is the ninth person to claim that particular honor for his first Broadway outing. He joins:

Harry Belafonte, “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” (1954)

Sydney Chaplin, “Bells are Ringing” (1957)

Frankie Michaels, “Mame” (1966)

Wilson Jermaine Heredia, “Rent” (1996)

Dan Fogler, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (2005)

Levi Kreis, “Million Dollar Quartet” (2010)

John Larroquette, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (2011)

Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton” (2016)

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Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that claimed Tony Awards.

Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners

Paul Scofield,...

Glenda Jackson is almost certain to win her first Tony Award on Sunday for her acclaimed performance in the first Broadway production of Edward Albee’s 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Three Tall Women.” She will become the 24th performer to win the Triple Crown of show business awards and cap off a comeback after an absence of almost a quarter of a century.

Jackson walked away from acting in 1992 to began a second career in politics, winning election to the British parliament. Yes, Ronald Reagan did the same thing but he had never reached the level of acclaim and success that Jackson had in Hollywood.

She is one of only 14 two-time Best Actress Oscar winners and she pulled off this double act in just four years. What makes that even more surprising is that she expressed a certain disdain for awards and didn’t attend any of the four Academy Awards...

Nicolas Roeg's bizarre blend of high drama, searing sex and over-the-top brutality waited a year, only to be given a tiny American release. It then dropped out of sight. We're now in a better position to appreciate the show's great actors - especially Theresa Russell, the boldest and bravest actress of the 1980s. Eureka Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition Small>1983 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Ship Date May 10, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer, Jane Lapotaire, Mickey Rourke, Ed Lauter, Joe Pesci, Helena Kallianiotes, Corin Redgrave, Joe Spinell, Frank Pesce, Timothy Scott. Cinematography Alex Thomson Production Designer Michael Seymour Film Editor Tony Lawson Original Music Stanley Myers Written by Paul Mayersberg from a book by Marshall Houts Produced by Jeremy Thomas Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

I remember Nicolas Roeg's Eureka as being one of the biggest busts of the 1980s.

ITV has unveiled new pictures from the forthcoming Downton Abbey Christmas special.

The two-hour episode will rejoin the Crawley household in the early autumn of 1924 as they visit Rose's father-in-law Lord Sinderby at Brancaster Castle for grouse shooting season.

Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, Braveheart) and BAFTA nominee Jane Lapotaire (Blind Justice, Shooting Fish) will join the regular cast.

Hugh Bonneville - who plays Lord Grantham - has confirmed that this year's special will have a winter theme, with festive events taking place.

In an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Bonneville also described the plot of the special as "very heart-warming".

Meanwhile, George Clooney will feature in a comedy skit of the ITV period drama for the channel's Text Santa telethon event on December.

A preview of Clooney's special appearance was released last week.

Downton Abbey's Christmas special will air on Christmas Day at 9pm on ITV.

ITV has announced details of this year's Downton Abbey Christmas Day episode.

The two-hour episode will rejoin the Crawley household in the early autumn of 1924 and sees Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, Braveheart) and BAFTA nominee Jane Lapotaire (Blind Justice, Shooting Fish) join the cast.

Armstrong will play Stowell, the butler of Lady Rose's husband Atticus Aldridge and his family, while Lapotaire stars as the much-discussed Princess Irina, the lost wife of Prince Kuragin (played by Rade Sherbedgia).

The episode sees Rose's father-in-law Lord Sinderby rent out Brancaster Castle for grouse shooting season, inviting the Crawley family for a shooting party. It soon becomes apparent that butler Stowell has a serious axe to grind, while a scandalous secret threatens to ruin the holiday for everybody.

Back at Downton, where the servants are holding the fort, Bates is forced to take drastic measures in order to save his beloved wife Anna from...

Actors best known for their roles in TV and cinema are thrilling audiences and critics in plays full of violent, challenging action

The revered Kenneth Tynan, who reviewed theatre for the Observer in the 1950s and 1960s, said: "A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time." All the same, it can be hard to spot a golden age when you are in the middle of it. It seems probable, though, that the London stage is enjoying at least a golden winter.

Four British actors, each of them a household name across the world, are delighting theatre audiences in leading roles in four plays that are not obvious crowd pleasers: Coriolanus, Richard II, Henry V and a new musical version of the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho. The popularity of the leading men, two from the world of film, Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston,...

Lucan. co. ITV

ITV’s Lucan attempts to shed light on the baffling mystery surrounding the disappearance of Lord Lucan back in 1974. However, armchair sleuths were dealt a blow at the outset when a lengthy disclaimer appeared onscreen stating that some of the script is based on real events while the rest is … well either made up or just based on good guesswork. Ok, so if they were going to solve the mystery I suppose this story would have been on Newsnight rather than in the nightly drama slot. Consequently, it’s better to judge this as a piece of fiction rather than some kind of pseudo-documentary.

The action began back in 1958 as a party-pooping police patrol brought the curtain down on a secret gambling den run by John Aspinall (Christopher Eccleston). Aspinall is portrayed as bit of a crook who prides himself on his ability to swindle rich folk out of their inherited fortunes.

Screenwriter of British horror feature films such as The Asphyx and Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly

Brian Comport, who has died aged 74, was the screenwriter for the cult films Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970), The Fiend (1972) and The Asphyx (1973). Like so many others working in the British film industry during the last half century, he had ups and downs, but the horror feature films he wrote are widely regarded as classics of the genre.

His break into films came in 1967 when he was introduced to Norman Cohen, a film editor on his way to becoming a very successful director, who had acquired the film rights to Geoffrey Fletcher's delightful 1962 book The London Nobody Knows.

Cohen had secured James Mason to narrate the commentary, and Brian was engaged to provide the words. It was Brian's idea to have Mason walk and talk directly to the camera, making the film a...

Shakespeare The King’s Man. co. Athena

Kieran Kinsella

Shakespeare: The King’s Man is one of the most engaging scholarly documentaries that you are likely to watch. The three part series is written and presented by Columbia University Professor James Shapiro whose award winning book 1599 now serves as a prelude to this critically acclaimed expose of the story behind the Jacobean era Shakespeare plays. The hit movie Shakespeare in Love proved that the Bard could appeal to a mainstream audience that is more used to special effects and CGI than sonnets and soliloquies. However, that movie took huge liberties with the truth whereas Shakespeare: The King’s Man sticks to the facts whilst shedding new light on the previously unknown or ignored events and motivations that shaped Shakespeare’s plays.

James Shapiro was new to TV when BBC4 first broadcast this show in 2012. However, Shapiro has been teaching the...

Fascinated by stories of her mysterious estranged Uncle Silas and his portrait, Maud Ruthyn soon finds herself under his care when her father suddenly dies unexpectedly. With a blind devotion to her “Papa”, Maud is unwilling to believe unnerving rumours about her uncle and is unruffled by his challenging of her father's will. But as days pass on her Uncle's estate, Maud becomes a prisoner locked in a room and everyone seems to scheme against her. There are soon very few people she can trust, with the exception of the Gamekeeper's daughter, Peg; the inaccessible maid, Mary, and her equally difficult to reach, Aunt Monica.

Before her father's demise in the first episode, there are already signs life will not be easy for the young heiress. Cousin Monica's warning for Maud to not be frightened but “be on [her] guard” indicates there'll be a turn in events. The introduction of the...

The Olivier Awards -- London's equivalent to the Tony Awards -- were dominated by home-grown winners when the 33rd edition of the kudos unwrapped Sunday night in an event hosted by James Nesbitt at Grosvenor House.

Only one of the top awards went to an American production, as the 2006 Tony best musical champ "Jersey Boys" took the tuner prize. The show, which recounts the story of the Four Seasons using their songs, prevailed against only one other contender -- "Zorro," a telling of the old tale set to the music of the Gipsy Kings.

The 2008 Tony-winning best play "August: Osage County" was bested by Gregory Burke's drama "Black Watch," while its leading lady -- the Tony-winning Deanna Dunagan -- lost to Margaret Tyzack for a revival of "The Chalk Garden." That production of the 1955 Enid Bagnold psychological drama, which also won lighting design, originated at the Donmar Warehouse. That...