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If there is anything that the co-creator of the universally popular Sherlock series should be good at, it's writing a British detective story. Following on from his work on Sherlock and Doctor Who, and following his acting appearances in both Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Mark Gatiss' latest writing project, the cozy crime story Bookish, has already been renewed for a second season.

Recently, it was rumored that filming on said second season would begin this summer, following the airing of Season 1 in mid-July. That now seems all the more likely, following confirmation via Instagram of the recent read-through of the Bookish Season 2 scripts. What's more, the caption on the post seems to confirm a first taste of when the second season will arrive, saying, "Today, we had a read through of the brilliant scripts for Bookish Series 2! Roll on 2026." For those yet to check Bookish out,...

Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss is the man behind many beloved shows. Whether it's his work onDoctor Who or as a part of the acclaimed comedy troupe The League of Gentlemen, Gatiss is one of the finest creative minds in the UK. Following his recent appearance in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and ahead of his role in Fantastic Four: First Steps, Gatiss' newest project on home soil has delivered a big new update, with fans finally receiving the synopsis for the upcoming Bookish.

A cozy British detective series with all the trimmings, Bookish will star Gatiss as an unconventional detective in Gabriel Book, an antiquarian bookshop owner living in 1946 post-war London. Alongside Gatiss, the series will include Bridgerton's Polly Walker, Connor Finch as Book's assistant Jack, Elliot Levey as Inspector Bliss, Blake Harrison as Sergeant Morris, Joely Richardson, Daniel Mays, and Paul McGann. "London, 1946, is the dynamic, dangerous and...

Sherlock fans, look away now. The British super-sleuth won’t be taking on new cases any time soon.

Speaking at the Italian Global Series Festival (Igsf), Sherlock creator Mark Gatiss was downbeat on the prospects of a return for the BBC show either for TV or as a film, saying: “Going back is often very difficult.”

Hopes for a new season or film had increased after Sue Vertue from the BBC’s producer, Hartswood Films, last year told Deadline there was a “future” for it, provided stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman would agree to a return.

However, when asked today why another season had not been produced, Gatiss replied: “Because Benedict and Martin didn’t want to do any more.”

The series starred Cumberbatch as titular master detective Sherlock Holmes and Freeman as his sidekick, Dr John Watson, and was based on the novels of Arthur Conan Doyle. Gatiss himself played Mycroft Holmes,...

Exclusive: Bookish buzz is building. The trailer for the crime drama shows Mark Gatiss’ character, the bookshop owner and sleuth Gabriel Book, speaking to a London police officer as they survey a crime scene. “Leave nothing out, especially if it’s salacious, gory, or vaguely scandalous,” Book tells Scotland Yard’s finest.

Bookish is for UKTV in the UK and PBS in the U.S. A raft of new international deals for the series have been closed by Beta Film, which is across international sales.

Max has snagged Australia rights, and public broadcasters Dr, Svt and Yle have taken it for Denmark, Sweden and Finland, respectively. Elsewhere, Filmin has taken Spain and Axn White has Germany. These come after an earlier round of presales, also first reported by Deadline.

The show is cozy crime, but with an edge, Gatiss told Deadline at a London Screenings preview of Bookish for buyers.

Book's Books is now open for business. The first trailer has just been released for Bookish, the much-anticipated British cozy crime drama from Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss, and it introduces a new, unconventional detective stepping in to help the police solve cases. In addition to creating the series, Gatiss stars as Gabriel Book, an antiquarian bookshop owner in 1946 post-war London who brings his knowledge from his extensive collection of books to offer a different angle on crime. Despite the danger, he dives headfirst into mystery with a system for solving murders that makes him the go-to guy for answers. Consisting of six episodes, the series is slated to air on UKTV's U&Alibi later this year.

The trailer immediately introduces the colorful world of Bookish as Book's wife, played by Bridgerton's Polly Walker, enters the store to inform him of a discovery in "suspicious circumstances," his favorite kind of circumstances.

Incoming Harry Potter actor John Lithgow says he wasn't prepared for the backlash he received after joining the cast of HBO's new series, and that he's "curious" to have a conversation with J.K. Rowling about it all. Lithgow has been tapped to play Albus Dumbledore in the fresh adaptation of Rowling's novels, which is set to hit the small screen next year. The series is drawing the ire of many in a way the films never did, thanks to Rowling's outspoken views on the transgender community, which date as far back as 2020.

Speaking with The Times of London about his portrayal of antisemitic children's author Roald Dahl in the stage play, Giant, the subject of Harry Potter inevitably came up. How could it not? Lithgow's appearance in the project has been garnering a ton of attention because, as he put it, it's probably "the last major role" he'll ever play.

The 2025 Olivier Awards, held Sunday at London’s Royal Albert Hall and hosted by Beverley Knight and Billy Porter, saw big wins for actors like John Lithgow, Lesley Manville and Imelda Staunton. Receiving three awards apiece, productions of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fiddler on the Roof and Giant also swept during the evening.

The event is internationally recognized as the highest British theater honors and celebrates the foremost performances onstage, the overseas equivalent to the U.S. Tony Awards.

Additional winners included productions Oedipus, Titanique, The Years and Festen, all of which won two prizes each.

The ceremony opened with a show-stopping performance of “Luck Be a Lady” from Guys & Dolls by hosts Knight and Porter, accompanied by the House Gospel Choir. Additional performances throughout the evening included snippets from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mj the Musical, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and Why Am I So Single?...

Exclusive: Mark Gatiss is suitably on-trend with Bookish. He created and stars in the upcoming series as Gabriel Book, an eccentric bookshop owner and expert sleuth who helps the police solve tricky cases. The show has contained stories – one crime plays out over two episodes – and there are lighthearted elements and something comforting about the cluttered antiquarian bookshop, situated in a picture-perfect historic London lane. There is pre-launch buzz and international buyers have already started snapping up the series.

This is cozy crime, but as the show unfolds, Gatiss’ writing reveals layers and wrinkles that give the series teeth.

“It’s become a bit of an instant cliche, ‘cozy crime’, but I don’t think it has to be,” Gatiss tells Deadline. “It can be welcoming, and this has period elements that people love, and they love a world where you can’t solve crimes with computers. But it’s...

Exclusive: Luke Thallon is in good company when it comes to playing Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Toby Stephens, Alex Jennings, David Tennant, and Paapa Essiedu are just a few of the actors who have taken on the melancholy royal for the RSC.

Ben Kingsley gave his Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon Upon Avon in 1975. When Richard Attenborough couldn’t decide who to cast to portray Mahatma Gandhi in his epic movie Gandhi, he remembered Kingsley’s interpretation of the Dane. The rest is Academy Award history.

Ben Kingsley in 1975 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Hamlet’. Jay Cocks Studio Collection/Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Now it’s Thallon’s turn.

He’s unknown outside of the theatre world. But within it, he’s celebrated and adored, because he can, seemingly effortlessly, take on any role from a young grabby and grubby Roman Abramovich in Peter Morgan’s play Patriots,...

Jared Harris is going full circle and returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in 34 years to play Claudius, the treacherous uncle in Hamlet. It is a play much-loved by his father Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies and Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott’s original 2000 Gladiator.

Harris said that when he and his brothers, thespian Jamie and director Damien, were kids, their stage-struck parents — dad Richard and mum Elizabeth Rees-Williams — would sit around the dinner table and discuss the productions they’d seen and “Dad would actually get up from the table and act them out for us boys.”

His father “adored” Hamlet and many of Shakespeare’s other plays. “I saw his version of [Laurence] Olivier’s death scene in Coriolanus quite a few times,” he chuckles from his hotel room in Iceland, where he’s shooting...

Mark Gatiss will co-write and star in Bookish, a crime drama for Alibi, and here are the details of the new show.

It’s been several years since the last project by The League Of Gentlemen, and there is as of yet so sign of any further adventures for Sherlock. However, in the intervening years, Mark Gatiss has kept himself busy with a number of projects, from his annual Mr James Ghost Story For Christmas films, collaborating with Steven Moffat again on Dracula and directing Moffat’s debut play The Unfriend.

His next television project will be Bookish, a crime drama for Alibi he wrote with Matthew Sweet.

The synopsis reads as follows:

London, 1946 is the dynamic, dangerous and chaotic setting for this stylish new detective drama, with the eccentric Gabriel Book (Gatiss) at the very heart of the story: a self-appointed consultant detective to the local police. The thousands...

Exclusive: Sherlock star Mark Gatiss is writing and starring in a British TV drama about a bookshop owner who helps police solve crimes.

Bookish will be a six-part series for UKTV crime drama network Alibi set in post-war London in 1946. Gatiss, the co-creator of BBC shows such as Sherlock and The League of Gentlemen and Netflix/BBC’s Dracula and actor in films including Operation Mincemeat and Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning, is the creator.

The series will follow Gabriel Book (Gatiss), an “erudite and unconventional” sleuth who cracks mysterious cases from his antiquated bookshop, using the thousands of books that line his shelves to provide him with the knowledge that he needs. Around him are a gathering of “loveable, damaged misfits who he informally protects, cajoles and mentors.”

Starring alongside Gatiss is Polly Walker (Bridgerton, Line of Duty), who plays Book’s colourful wife Trottie. She is charismatic and adventurous,...

The Olivier Award-winning West End revival of Cabaret is coming to Broadway: Producers announced that the acclaimed musical will begin previews at the August Wilson Theater in spring 2024.

Not confirmed: Whether the West End production’s original 2021 stars Eddie Redmayne (as the Emcee) or Jessie Buckley (as Sally Bowles) will make the move. Redmayne’s participation, in particular, has been widely speculated, prompted in part by his participation in this year’s Tony Awards tribute to Cabaret composer John Kander and actor Joel Grey, who played the Emcee in the original Broadway production as well as the 1972 movie version.

The West End revival – officially titled Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club – swept the 2022 Olivier Awards with seven wins including Best Musical Revival, Best Actor and Actress in a Musical (Redmayne and Buckley), and Best Director (Rebecca Frecknall). Supporting Actor and Actress in a Musical awards went to Elliot Levey and Liza Sadovy.

The top honorees at the 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards were plays that focused on cultures outside of London. “My Neighbour Totoro,” which is based on the beloved Japanese film of the same name from Studio Ghibli, won six trophies, the most of the night, including Best New Comedy, Director, and four craft categories. A revival of the American classic “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams claimed three: Best Play Revival and for lead Paul Mescal and featured player Anjana Vasan. Meanwhile, the British-based “Prima Facie,” which is set to bow on Broadway this month and will thus compete at the Tony Awards, took home two prizes for Best Play and for star Jodie Comer.

The only other productions to win more than one trophy were all musicals. “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” won two of the top prizes: Best Musical and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations. “Tammy Faye,...

Two new works based on existing material dominated the nominations for the 2023 Olivier Awards, the top theatre honor in Britain. “My Neighbour Totoro” and “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” lead the play and musical fields with nine and eight bids apiece. The former is a stage adaptation of the Studio Ghibli film of the same name, brought to life in a visually stunning production featuring impressive puppetry by Basil Twist. “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” uses songs from the Richard Hawley album and new material to tell the story of three families in a Sheffield housing complex.

Revivals had strong showings, too. Director Daniel Fish’s remounting of “Rodger & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!” and the Paul Mescal-led “A Streetcar Named Desire” netted seven and six nominations, respectively. This production of “Oklahoma!” previously played Broadway and received eight Tony Award nominations, including wins for Best Revival and Featured Actress...

A revival of Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret was the big winner at Sunday’s Olivier Awards in London. Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club scooped seven of the prestigious trophies, including Best Musical Revival and Best Actor and Actress in a Musical for Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley, respectively. Redmayne plays the Emcee while Buckley is Sally Bowles. (Scroll down for the full list of winners).

Held at the Royal Albert Hall, the Oliviers ceremony was the first time the event took place in person since the start of Covid. It was also an opportunity for host Jason Manford to get in some references to the recent Oscars ceremony scandal. According to the BBC, Manford appeared on stage before the proceedings began and quipped, “There will be moments where I’ve got to fill a bit of time when they’re changing the set, so I’ll come out...

The West End production of Cabaret featuring Eddie Redmayne leads the roster of 2022 Olivier Awards nominations released Tuesday, with the musical revival scoring 11 nominations.

Winners will be announced April 10 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, marking the first in-person ceremony for the Oliviers since Covid hit two years ago.

See the complete list of nominations below.

In addition to Redmayne, who was nominated in the Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as the Emcee, Cabaret was nominated for Best Musical Revival, as well as nods for actors Jessie Buckley, Liza Sadovy and Elliot Levey. Also nominated were the revival’s costume and scenic designs, sound design, choreography and lighting.

Sutton Foster, currently co-starring with Hugh Jackman in Broadway’s The Music Man, earned a Best Actress in a Musical nomination for her portrayal of Reno Sweeney in the West End revival of Anything Goes.

The complete list of...

Mia McKenna-Bruce, star of BBC and Netflix series “Get Even,” will headline Ella Greenwood’s “Smudged Smile,” a short film on teenage depression that kicks off a mental health anthology series.

Also starring are Elliot Levey (“Quiz”), Anna Acton (“Brassic”) and Priya Blackburn (“Bohemian Rhapsody”). Greenwood directs from a script by Hannah Westall.

McKenna-Bruce will play Zoe, a joyful teenager whose infectious zest for life elevates everyone around her. Her 16th birthday is coming up, and everything is going well in her world. But, struggling with her mental health whilst maintaining the goofy, happy image that everyone knows and loves, Zoe faces an inner turmoil that overshadows what is meant to be the most exciting night of her year.

The film is supported by teen mental health charity stem4. Greenwood is an ambassador for stem4 and is campaigning for better representation of mental health in the media.

Oriane Pick and...

Deep into the second episode of “Quiz,” a roomful of frustrated TV executives face some existential questions after watching a man seemingly bumble his way to winning the million pound jackpot on their fledgling hit, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. Did he cheat? Does finding loopholes in their system actually count as cheating? Is cheating on a game show technically, legally a crime? But again, and most importantly: did he cheat?

This question haunts “Quiz,” James Graham’s 3-episode series about the real life case of Charles and Diana Ingraham, a married couple whose time on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” eventually resulted in charges of deception and conspiracy. (They maintain their innocence to this day.) And yet, “Quiz” pointedly isn’t about finding the “truth” of the matter. Instead, it unravels the human desires, neuroses and outright stubbornness that made “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” such...

This Quiz review contains spoilers.

Quiz Episode 2

“People like us don’t deal with the police,” Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) tells her husband in episode two, adding with Clifford’s precise comic timing, “this is Wiltshire.”

It’s half a gag at the expense of cosy middle England, and half an insight into the part that class plays in this scandal. Risks are taken either by people with nothing to lose, or by people who have never lost. The Ingrams, wellies-and-Le Creuset types from comfortable backgrounds, look very much like the latter.

That’s partly why their concerted efforts (whether judged as criminal or not) to take cash from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? feel egregious. Like that of Judith Keppel, the show’s first millionaire, granddaughter of an Earl and third cousin to the Duchess of Cornwall, any win by them would be tough to celebrate. Line it up with expenses-fiddling,...

Dominic Cooke, the film and theater director whose projects include recent Sundance premiere Ironbark, is re-teaming with former Royal Court exec Kate Horton to launch Fictionhouse, a banner for producing film, theater and TV.

The company’s debut project will be Good, C. P. Taylor’s stage play that will star David Tennant and is set to launch in London’s West End in October this year. Cooke is directing the play, which will also star Fenella Woolgar and Elliot Levey and will run at the Playhouse Theatre.

Cooke and Horton previously worked together as Artistic Director and Executive Director as the Royal Court theater, producing more than 100 plays.

“Dominic is one of the UK’s all-time great theatre directors. I am really inspired and delighted to finally get a chance to work with him, and especially on a wonderful play like C P Taylor’s Good – a fantastic bit...

Doctor Who‘s Peter Capaldi and Mark Gatiss were both last seen on the show back in 2017’s Christmas special “Twice Upon a Time,” but they’ll be teaming up again this yuletide for a chilling new ghost story.

Gatiss, who’s also the co-creator of Sherlock alongside former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, has penned Martin’s Close, a 30-minute adaptation of a classic tale from Victorian horror author M.R. James that’s set to arrive on the BBC this December. James’ story is presented as a record of the trial of John Martin, a man accused of killing his lover, who may just be haunted by her vengeful spirit.

The Twelfth Doctor himself will feature in the cast as barrister Dolben. He’ll be joined by Wilf Scolding, Simon Williams, Sara Crowe, Fisayo Akinade and Elliot Levey. Martin’s Close follows on from 2018’s The Dead Room, an...

Peter Capaldi is to star in a Mark Gatiss-penned ghost story for the BBC. The Doctor Who star is to feature in Martin’s Close, an adaptation of the M.R. James story, for BBC Four alongside Wilf Scolding, Simon Williams, Sara Crowe, Fisayo Akinade and Elliot Levey.

Written by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Gatiss, who also starred in Game of Thrones, the story follows the murder trial of John Martin. It is presented as a report of the trial in 1684, where Martin has been accused of murdering a young girl named Ann Clark, with whom he had a one-sided romance. The prosecution presents the case that Martin murdered Ann Clark, because she ruined a good marriage proposal for him. During the trial, an event is described in which Martin acted in a guilty manner when confronted with a possible apparition of the girl. In the end, Martin...

"This is our lifeline!" Cinedigm has released another new trailer for a survival thriller titled The Chamber, which first premiered at the Horror Channel FrightFest in 2017. We actually featured a trailer for this one year ago, but it's just now finally getting a release in February. The film is about a Special Ops team that takes a small submersible craft (read: submarine) beneath the Yellow Sea off the coast of North Korea. Some things go wrong, and they end up trapped underwater in a tiny "chamber" - hence the title. The cast includes Charlotte Salt, Johannes Kuhnke, Christian Hillborg, and Elliot Levey. I'm still not really too sure what to make of this, and the release delay seems like a sign it isn't that great. But you never know. Dive in. Here's the second official trailer (+ poster) for Ben Parker's The Chamber, direct from YouTube: You can still...

Stars: Johannes Kuhnke, Charlotte Salt, James McArdle, Elliott Levey | Written and Directed by Ben Parker

When submarine pilot Mats (Johannes Kuhnke) is approached by a low-rent Donald Pleasence to take a three-man Special Ops team deep into contested waters near the 38th Parallel, he’s understandably sceptical. Leading the mysterious trio is “Red” Edwards (Charlotte Salt), who’s joined by the belligerent Parks (James McArdle) and the gentle Denholm (Elliott Levey).

While submerged, the top ship is boarded, and suddenly the four explorers are trapped together in the underwater chamber. To add vinegar to the wound, catastrophe strikes and they start taking on water. Tensions fray. Clichéd dialogue is exchanged. Who, if anyone, will emerge alive?

The Chamber is the feature debut for writer-director Ben Parker, and it’s a pretty standard micro-budget setup: a high-concept thriller almost entirely confined to a single set. Sadly, it’s a bit of...

"If you do this, we're dead. We're all dead!" The first official trailer has debuted for an indie survival thriller titled The Chamber, which first premiered at the Horror Channel FrightFest last year. The film is about a Special Ops team that takes a small submersible craft (read: submarine) beneath the Yellow Sea off the coast of North Korea. Some things go wrong, and they end up trapped underwater in a tiny "chamber" - hence the title. The cast includes Charlotte Salt, Johannes Kuhnke, Christian Hillborg and Elliot Levey. I'm not sure what to make of this. The footage is a bit confusing - I can't tell if it's some weird creature or alien under the water, or something the North Koreans put down there, or their own screw up that trapped them. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Ben Parker's The Chamber, direct from YouTube: A claustrophobic...

StudioCanal have released the official UK trailer for the claustrophobic suspenseful thriller The Chamber, which stars Johannes Kuhnke, Charlotte Salt, James McArdle, and Elliot Levey.

The Chamber is a claustrophobic survival thriller set beneath the Yellow Sea where the pilot of a small submersible craft and a three-man Special Ops team become trapped underwater in a fight for survival. Stars Johannes Kuhnke (Force Majeure) and Charlotte Salt (The Musketeers) as the pilot and leader of the crew who must fight for their lives and against each other as the water rises and air supply runs out. Includes a haunting, atmospheric score by James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers (in his first work for film), which adds to the claustrophobic tension of this taut survival thriller.

The feature film debut of writer/director Ben Parker, The Chamber will be released in cinemas on 10th March 2017; and on DVD, Blu-ray...

The young adult phenomenon Fallen is finally coming to the big screen, with Relativity Media debuting the first trailer for this adaptation. The studio, which has recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, hasn't set a release date for this fantasy adventure quite yet, but Relativity's Ryan Kavanaugh asked fans of the franchise in a series of tweets to retweet the trailer, so the company could gauge the response to the first footage. The executive is asking for at least 500,000 retweets, "so we can see how many fans there really are out there."

Based on the worldwide bestselling book series, Fallen is seen through the eyes of Lucinda "Luce" Price (Addison Timlin), a strong-willed seventeen-year-old living a seemingly ordinary life until she is accused of a crime she didn't commit. Sent off to the imposing Sword & Cross reform school, Luce finds herself being courted by two young men to whom she feels oddly connected.

Johannes Bah Kuhnke leads the underwater thriller about a special ops unit that travels to the bottom of the Yellow Sea.

Studiocanal has picked up Ben Parker’s The Chamber ahead of its world premiere at FrightFest in August this year.

The film marks Parker’s directorial debut following his 2011 short Shifter, which played at FrightFest in 2011 as well as Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

Force Majeure actor Johannes Bah Kuhnke leads the story of an elite special ops unit that commanders a submersible research vessel to locate a mysterious item at the bottom of the Yellow Sea.

Also starring are Charlotte Salt (The Musketeers), James McArdle (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), and Elliot Levey (The Lady In The Van).

Producers are Jen Handorf and Paul Higgins. Studiocanal’s head of international creative marketing Hugh Spearing is executive producer.

Financing came from Fields Park Media Partners, Ffilm Cymru Wales and Great Point Media. Shooting took place...

Johannes Bah Kuhnke stars in underwater thriller.

Shooting has begun in Wales this week on underwater thriller The Chamber, starring Swedish actor Johannes Bah Kuhnke in his first film role since his international breakthrough performance in family drama Force Majeure.

The Chamber also stars Charlotte Salt (The Musketeers), James McArdle (The James Plays), and Elliot Levey (The Lady In The Van).

The Chamber of the title is a special ops unit, which commandeer a commercial research vessel and it’s submersible to locate a mysterious item at the bottom of the Yellow Sea. When an explosion causes the sub to overturn and take on water, the crew begins to understand that not all of them will escape and a fight for survival ensues.

It marks the first feature of Ben Parker who previously made the short Shifter, which played at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. Producers are Jen Handorf and Paul Higgins, and executive...

Based on the worldwide bestselling book series, Fallen is seen through the eyes of Lucinda "Luce" Price, a strong-willed seventeen-year-old living a seemingly ordinary life until she is accused of a crime she didn't commit. Sent off to the imposing Sword & Cross reform school, Luce finds herself being courted by two young men to whom she feels oddly connected. Isolated and haunted by strange visions, Luce begins to unravel the secrets of her past and discovers the two men are fallen angels, competing for her love for centuries. Luce must choose where her feelings lie, pitting Heaven against Hell in an epic battle over true love.

Fallen stars Addison Timlin, Jeremy Irvine, Harrison Gilbertson alongside Joely Richardson. Rounding out the cast are Lola Kirke along with Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Daisy Head, Hermione Corfield and Malachi Kirby.

Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks (The Lucky One) will direct from a script by Michael Ross.

Donmar; Aldwych, London; Crucible, Sheffield

Tom Hiddleston's Coriolanus is blazing but bleak, and there's as little love in a 60s sex scandal as there was in Dickens's London

The first time I saw Tom Hiddleston act was at the Donmar six years ago. He was 26, a doleful Cassio to Chiwetel Ejiofor's Othello, and he made a small part look essential. Now he takes centre stage as a blazing Coriolanus. Blazing but bleak. He is the ideal combination of emotional reserve and physical bravura.

Reserve has always been one of the problems of this difficult play. Where do spectators put their trust? The play's martial hero treats the audience as he does the populace – don't say plebs – he despises. He will not show his wounds to the public in order to get their vote. He will not let spectators into his thoughts with a soliloquy.

A couple of years...

Watch the first-look trailer and see images from Da Vinci's Demons from David S. Goyer Starz has sent along 3 images and the trailer for the series created by Batman Begins scribe David S. Goyer. The original series will have its premiere on Starz in Spring, 2013 and stars Tom Riley (Monroe, I Want Candy), as the title character in the historical fantasy, following the ‘untold’ story of the world's greatest genius during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. Brilliant and passionate, the twenty-five year old Leonardo Da Vinci is an artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist. As a free thinker, with intellect and talents that are almost superhuman, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time. He begins to not only see the future, but invent it. Also in the cast are Lara Pulver, Tom Bateman, Hera Hilmar, Elliot Levey, Ross O'Hennessey and Nick Dunning.

Watch the first-look trailer and see images from Da Vinci's Demons from David S. Goyer Starz has sent along 3 images and the trailer for the series created by Batman Begins scribe David S. Goyer. The original series will have its premiere on Starz in Spring, 2013 and stars Tom Riley (Monroe, I Want Candy), as the title character in the historical fantasy, following the ‘untold’ story of the world's greatest genius during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. Brilliant and passionate, the twenty-five year old Leonardo Da Vinci is an artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist. As a free thinker, with intellect and talents that are almost superhuman, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time. He begins to not only see the future, but invent it. Also in the cast are Lara Pulver, Tom Bateman, Hera Hilmar, Elliot Levey, Ross O'Hennessey and Nick Dunning.

Check out a quickie 30-second promo for “Blade” and “Batman” writer David Goyer’s latest venture, the original TV series “Da Vinci’s Demons”, which will star Tom Riley as the do-it-all genius Leonardo Da Vinci. The show will chronicle Da Vinci during his ’20s as a “artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist” who bucks the system and “invents” the future, whatever that means. The promo doesn’t offer up any footage, so it’s anybody’s guess what we’re getting here in terms of visuals, tone, and what have you. In a world where thought and faith are controlled, Leonardo Da Vinci fights to set knowledge free. The tortured genius defies authority and hurls himself into the future, forever changing the fate of mankind. “Da Vinci’s Demons” also stars Andrew Brooke, Gregg Chillin, Elliot Cowan, Laura Haddock, and Elliot Levey. Da Vinci does what Da Vinci...