News

Film and high-end television (Hetv) production spend in the UK hit £5.6bn in 2024, with film production reaching £2.1bn, an increase of 56% on 2023.

The £5.6bn figure doesn’t match the 2022 record of £6.3bn, but is a 31% increase on the Hollywood strike-addled 2023, according to statistics released by the British Film Institute (BFI) today (February 6).

High-end TV production accounted for the lion’s share of the overall spend, reaching almost £3.4bn, an increase of 20% on 2023 and the third highest annual spend since tax relief was introduced in 2013, and 62% of the total spend.

This £3.4bn spend on Hetv includes £511m from 25 film productions made for streaming platforms,...

Film and TV production in the U.K., whose boom came to a grinding halt in 2023 amid the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, rebounded in 2024 and is officially ahead of pre-Covid levels for the first time since the pandemic.

According to the British Film Institute, the total spend on film and high-end TV production last year reached £5.6 billion ($6.9 billion), a 31% increase on 2023 when £4.23 billion ($5.37 billion) on 394 productions was spent, and £6.27 billion ($7.72 billion) in the year 2022.

U.K. production spend is counted in the statistics for the year in which principal photography started.

During 2024, 191 feature films started shooting in the U.K., compared with 207 in 2023, according to the BFI. Among them were Netflix’s Peaky Blinders movie and The Fantastic Four.

65% of total U.K. production spend on film was accounted for by productions from the five major U.S. studios and the three major U.S. steaming platforms (Netflix, Apple...

Exclusive: Daddy Issues has secured a second season on the BBC.

The series, starring BAFTA-winning Sex Education actress Aimee Lou Wood and The Walking Dead’s David Morrissey, will return after becoming the biggest comedy launch on BBC3 since 2022.

Created by Danielle Ward (Brassic), Season 1 of Daddy Issues followed Stockport-based Gemma (Lou Wood), who discovers she’s pregnant after a random hook-up.

With her sister Catherine (Sharon Rooney) in prison and her mum Davina (Susan Lynch) traveling around the world to find herself, Gemma had no choice but to turn to her hapless father Malcolm (Morrissey) for support.

Daddy Issues is produced by Fudge Park Productions, the company founded in 2015 by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, writers and creators of The Inbetweeners.

Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC, and Fiona Campbell, the BBC’s controller of youth audience, commissioned the second, six-part season alongside Seb Barwell.

The director...

The BBC will require all TV shows to hit 25% off-screen representation targets after spending double the amount it expected to spend on diverse content since 2021.

With the first three years of its much-discussed creative diversity commitments having come to an end, the corporation said today that it will up representation by 5 percentage points in terms of ethnic diversity, disability and socioeconomic diversity on all content. This reflects its success so far and is part of its bid to better portray the nation. By last year, 82% of its shows were hitting the previous 20% target, the BBC said.

Under the new commitment, indies will be asked to outline their plans to deliver the 25% target and how they will apply a new set of Inclusive Production Principles as part of the commissioning process. The BBC has said it will help with the process. The inclusive principles include areas like hair and make up...

Guz Khan has joined the cast of Riz Ahmed’s upcoming comedy series at Amazon Prime Video, Variety has learned.

The show was originally announced back in June. Ahmed is the writer, executive producer, co-showrunner, and star of the untitled half-hour series. Per the official logline, the show follows “Shah Latif (Ahmed), a struggling actor on the cusp of landing the role of a lifetime, only to find himself thrust into a full blown existential crisis and trippy conspiracy thriller all at the same time.”

Khan will appear in a series regular role, but exact character details are being kept under wraps.

Khan is best known for the series “Man Like Mobeen,” which has aired four seasons on BBC Three with a fifth on the way. Khan stars in the series and was also its co-creator and writer. His other TV credits include “Our Flag Means Death,” “The Gentlemen,” “Taskmaster,...

Guz Khan (Man Like Mobeen) has been cast as a series regular in the Untitled Riz Ahmed comedy series for Prime Video. Details regarding his character are under wraps.

The series follows Shah Latif (Ahmed), a struggling actor on the cusp of landing the role of a lifetime, only to find himself thrust into a full-blown existential crisis and trippy conspiracy thriller simultaneously. The show is set in London with production currently underway.

The untitled half-hour show is the first project from a deal between Prime Video and Oscar-nominee Ahmed’s Left Handed Films signed three years ago.

Ahmed executive produces alongside Allie Moore for Left Handed and Jake Fuller on behalf of Jax Media. Ben Karlin (Modern Family) executive produces and is showrunning with Ahmed. The series is produced by Jax Media and Amazon MGM Studios.

Khan is best known for creating, writing, and starring in four series of...

Usman Riaz’s Annecy selection “The Glassworker” has unveiled its first trailer. The film will also screen at the Cannes Film Market and has set a date for theatrical release in Pakistan.

The animated film will debut in Annecy’s Contrechamp strand. Targeting family audiences, the film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son. It is is the first hand-drawn animated feature from Pakistan.

The voice cast includes Art Malik (“Man Like Mobeen”), Sacha Dhawan (“Wolf”), Anjli Mohindra (“The Lazarus Project”) and Tony Jayawardena (“Ackley Bridge”). It...

Netflix, a top streaming service, produces diverse TV content, but quality can sometimes be sacrificed for quantity. Shows like "Champions," "Community," "Hoarders," and "Man Like Mobeen" are leaving Netflix soon, so catch them now. From canceled gym owner comedies to hoarding documentaries to British comedies, there's something for everyone on Netflix.

For years, Netflix has been one of the most popular streaming services, offering viewers tons of new content every month. Of course, Netflix has more competition than ever, as new streaming services debut every year and Disney+ and Prime Video continue to gain subscribers.

It's no wonder that Netflix has established itself as a go-to destination for most TV fans, offering diverse content ranging from teen love stories to thrillers. While many streaming services are actively producing TV shows regularly, Netflix does it in large numbers, occasionally sacrificing quality in the process.

Having said that, while Netflix releases numerous new TV shows every month,...

Each month, Netflix removes some of their content and March of 2024 is no exception.

If you don’t know, each and every month, Netflix has to remove certain titles from the streaming service, likely due to the expiration of various deals with studios.

This upcoming month, there will be a lot of removals, including 11 DC Universe movies. Head down to March 31, 2024 to see all the DC films being removed.

Keep reading to see the full list of titles being removed from Netflix in March of 2024…

Scroll down to see the full list of movies and television shows that are being removed from Netflix in March of 2024…

Leaving 3/1/24

Bee Movie

This Is Where I Leave You

Leaving 3/2/24

Lady Bird

Leaving 3/12/24

Miracle in Cell No. 7

Leaving 3/14/24

The Giver

Leaving 3/15/24

Get on Up

Savages

Leaving 3/17/24

The Cursed

Leaving 3/19/24

Carol

Leaving 3/29/24

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World

Leaving 3/30/24

Jackie Brown

John Wick...

Steve Coogan is reprising his iconic role of Alan Partridge for new spoof documentary And Did Those Feet… Here are the details.

The BBC has announced a new Alan Partridge series, which will take the form of a spoof documentary called And Did Those Feet… With Alan Partridge. It’s once again written by Steve Coogan and brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, with the latter also directing. The official description of the series reads as follows:

In his new documentary series – And Did Those Feet… With Alan Partridge – we follow the beloved and, to be fair, revered broadcaster as he reintegrates into life in Britain after a year working in Saudi Arabia. But what begins as a documentary about homecoming soon morphs into something more personal as Alan realises that the happiness he thought he’d feel at being back in Norwich just hasn’t materialised. Something’s missing.

We...

Exclusive: Steve Coogan is bringing a long-gestating Alan Partridge comedy doc series to the BBC.

Deadline can reveal that the beloved comedy icon’s latest show, And Did Those Feet.. With Alan Partridge, will see him travel around meeting locals, with the character having come in to some money after a trip to Saudi Arabia, as the ever-developing Partridge moves with the times.

BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie revealed the news to Deadline alongside a string of recommissions including for Diane Morgan’s Cunk with Netflix, Dreaming Whilst Black with Showtime, Greg Davies comedy The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen, along with a new show, Only Child, from the producer of Guilt.

Penned by long-time collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons and produced by Coogan and Sarah Monteith’s Baby Cow, And Did Those Feet… starts as a homecoming documentary but morphs into something more personal as the character realizes that...

Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey have been tapped for the lead roles in new BBC Studios comedy “Daddy Issues.”

Wood is best known for her turns in “Sex Education” and “Living” (the latter opposite Bill Nighy) while Morrissey has starred in “The Walking Dead,” where he played The Governor, and James Graham’s series “Sherwood.”

The duo are now set to play daughter and father in “Daddy Issues,” which follows the story of hard-partying Gemma (Wood), who lives for the weekend when she gets down to let down her hair in Manchester. But after a brief encounter on an airplane during a vacation to Portugal leaves her pregnant, Gemma finds her life turned upside down.

As well as coping with her pregnancy, she’s also got sad dad Malcolm (Morrissey) to contend with, who’s struggling to put his life back together after the collapse of his marriage — a...

United Agents is “conducting a full and thorough investigation” into one of the most prominent British comedy agents after she was called out for a spate of reposts and shares regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Kitty Laing, who is United’s Head of Comedy and represents the likes of Jamie Demetriou, Katherine Ryan and Nick Mohammed, was the subject of an X thread this morning by Oscar-nominated Borat Subsequent Moviefilm writer Lee Kern.

United said it was “made aware of social media posts by one of our senior agents this morning” and is “conducting a full and thorough investigation into this immediately.” “These are not the views of United Agents,” it added. Laing has apologized in the past few minutes.

In this morning’s lengthy thread, Kern highlighted a string of Laing’s reposts including one calling for Jews in Israel to be referred to as “settler paramilitaries”, another that refers...

It was announced today, 25th September, that Russell Howard launches his new podcast Wonderbox, produced by Avalon, on the 11th October 2023.

A Wonderbox is a place where you keep little reminders of what makes life worth living. Each week Russell will chat to a special guest about what they’d keep in their Wonderbox, recounting the most memorable and funniest moments of their lives.

Russell begins the series chatting with 2023 Emmy Award ‘Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics’ & Brit Awards ‘Best New Artist’ Nominated Sam Ryder plus BAFTA Nominated Munya Chawawa (Race Around Britain) in a special bumper double episode, followed by stars including Emmy Award winning John Oliver (Last Week Tonight), Jimmy Carr, Taylor Tomlinson, Jack Whitehall , Greg Davies , Guz Khan, Jen Brister, Jordan Gray and BAFTA Nominated Rachel Parris (Late Night Mash).

Russell Howard said “I love doing this podcast. I get interesting guests and I ask them what they love.

Exclusive: British comedian Russell Howard is launching a comedy podcast featuring the likes of John Oliver, Jimmy Carr and Taylor Tomlinson.

The stand-up, who has had his own specials on Netflix, will release the first episode of Wonderbox on October 11. The podcast launch coincides with the East Coast U.S. leg of Howard’s latest tour.

Avalon, which manages the comedian and writer, is producing. The format will see Howard discussing with special guests their ‘Wonderbox, which is “a place where you keep the little reminders that make life worth living.”

Each week, Howard will ask the guest about what they’d keep in their Wonderbox, recounting the most memorable and funny moments of their lives. Listen to the trailer below.

The series will begin with a conversation with Emmy-nominated singer Sam Ryder and BAFTA-nominated comedian Munya Chawawa (Race Around Britain) in a special bumper double episode.

Guests will include...

FX’s Breeders starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard will end with its upcoming fourth season. The network has set a July 31, 2023 premiere date for the popular half-hour comedy and confirmed the series will wrap up with season four.

Breeders debuted in March 2020, followed by season two in March 2021 and season three in May 2022. The upcoming fourth season will consist of 10 episodes, with the first two airing on July 31st. New episodes will arrive on Mondays at 10pm Et/Pt.

Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner Simon Blackwell created the series along with Emmy winner and DGA winner Chris Addison (Veep) and Emmy winner Martin Freeman (Sherlock). Blackwell serves as showrunner and executive produces with Addison, Freeman, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Toby Welch, and Michael Wiggs.

Chris Addison directs season four’s first five episodes. Ollie Parsons (Man Like Mobeen) directs the final five.

FX offered...

The Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard-led comedy “Breeders” will come to an end after four seasons.

The final, 10-episode season will premiere with its first two episodes on July 31 on FX, with every subsequent episode available each week. All episodes will be available to stream next day on Hulu.

Season 4 takes place five years after audiences last saw the Worsley family caught up in the dramatic events at the end of the previous season – Paul (Freeman) and Ally (Haggard) are on the verge of splitting up, Jim (Alun Armstrong) and Jackie (Joanna Bacon) are in turmoil and Luke (Oscar Kennedy) finds a new relationship and Ava (Zoë Athena) mends an old one.

Paul and Ally are faced with their biggest parenting challenge yet after a bombshell is dropped by Luke at Christmas dinner. Ava also experiences her own bombshell moment as she meets and immediately falls for Holly (Jessie Williams...

The Martin Freeman-Daisy Haggard FX/Sky comedy Breeders is ending after four seasons.

The unflinching show created by Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell in which Freeman and Haggard play Paul and Ally Worsley will premiere late next month on FX, Hulu and Sky before concluding over the summer. Having been greenlit last year, FX confirmed today that the fourth season will be Breeders’ last.

In Season 4, things will move five years on from when Paul and Ally were on the verge of splitting up. The pair then face their biggest parenting challenge as 18-year-old Luke (Oscar Kennedy) drops a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone’s lives forever. No longer in Luke’s shadow, 16-year-old Ava (Zoë Athena) experiences her own bombshell moment as she meets and immediately falls for the charismatic Holly (Jessie Williams), as Paul and Ally continue to try, fail and try...

The fourth season of “Breeders” will be the show’s last, FX has announced.

The news comes just one month before the premiere of Season 4, which debuts on the network July 31 with episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu. Starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard, the comedy about parenthood will pick up five years after the events of Season 3, which saw Freeman’s Paul and Haggard’s Ally on the brink of splitting up.

According to a press release, the fourth and final season of “Breeders” will bring “the biggest parenting challenge that Paul and Ally have ever faced, as 18-year-old Luke (Oscar Kennedy) drops a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone’s lives forever. No longer in Luke’s shadow, 16-year-old Ava (Zoë Athena) experiences her own bombshell moment as she meets and immediately falls for the charismatic Holly (Jessie Williams). Paul and Ally continue to try,...

If there’s one thing we’re not short of on this strange little island, it’s funny people. When life is good, we’re laughing. When things get weird, we’re laughing. And when everything falls apart, somehow we’re still laughing.

From top bants to gallows humour, you can always rely on the British to bring the LOLs, and from Charlie Chaplin through to Monty Python and Fleabag, British comedy seems to translate pretty well worldwide too, meaning there’s plenty on offer on Netflix.

So if you’re sick of rewatching the same old sitcoms and looking for fresh laughs, we recommend these British comedy hidden gems on Netflix:

[All the following are available on both US and UK Netflix, unless stated]

Lovesick

For most of us, an Std probably wouldn’t be our first choice for the basis of a sitcom, but that’s why Lovesick is so genius: it takes a usually no-laughing-matter concept and stuffs it full of refreshing honesty,...

He’s Mike in the hit BBC sitcom Ghosts. He’s a contestant on the latest series of Taskmaster. But perhaps most importantly, he’s the composer of the new hit song ‘One On A Barge Pole… For Meeee.’

Okay, so we slightly embellished that last fact, but Kiell Smith-Bynoe is Having A Bit Of A Moment right now, and fast becoming a household name. And it’s about bloody time.

Here’s where you can catch up on the wealth of existing Ksb goodness, from sitcoms to shorts to the unsung genius of his Channel 4 sketch show:

More Than Just Ghosts: Kiell is a Sitcom King

Yes, he’s probably best known for playing Mike – Alison’s lovable husband, Christmas Dinner-Maker Extraordinaire and co-owner of Button House – in Ghosts, but Kiell Smith-Bynoe’s sitcom chops go far beyond that. In fact, he’s had roles in many of the most celebrated,...

Ksi, the British YouTuber with more than 24M subscribers, has apologized and said he is taking a social media break after using a racial slur during his latest video.

Ksi has become known for being at the forefront of the YouTube boxing craze, but on Sunday evening appeared with his Sidemen friends in a video based on the UK game show Countdown.

In the letters and numbers game, players must create the longest word possible from a string of random vowels and consonants within a 30-second time limit.

Ksi, real name JJ Olatunji, created the word “p–i” from his selection of letters, an offensive abbreviation of Pakistan used to describe south Asians.

His Sidemen friends can be seen giggling at his word choice, but others were not amused after a clip Ksi’s slur went viral on Twitter, where users voiced outrage.

Nah @ksi you’re not funny man...

Peaky Blinders co-producer Tiger Aspect has a new managing director in Lucy Bedford, and has hired Gabriel Silver for a senior scripted role.

Bedford, formerly Head of Drama, will lead the Banijay UK indie creatively, working closely with Head of Comedy, David Simpson, and newly appointed Creative Director of Drama Silver.

Besides co-producing BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders with Caryn Mandabach productions, Tiger Aspect is behind Bad Education (BBC Three); Domina (Epix / Sky); Man Like Mobeen (BBC Three); Deep Fake Neighbour Wars (ITV X) and the upcoming Three Little Birds (ITV).

Bedford reports directly in Banijay UK CEO Patrick Holland and takes on her new role with immediate effect. She’ll with on commercial and operational business growth strategy with Chief Commercial Officer Zoe Brown and Chief Operating Officer Helen Wright.

She joined Tiger Aspect in 2014 as Executive Producer, having worked previously at Ecosse Films and Granada TV. Since then,...

Banijay company Tiger Aspect has promoted head of drama Lucy Bedford to managing director, reporting into Banijay U.K. CEO Patrick Holland.

Bedford, who takes up her new role immediately, has appointed Gabriel Silver, previously director of commissioning, drama at Sky studios, as creative director, drama.

Bedford will be responsible for the creative leadership of the business, working closely with head of comedy, David Simpson and Silver, to build the slate of the scripted indie whose credits include “Peaky Blinders,” “Bad Education,” “Domina,” “Man Like Mobeen” and the upcoming “Three Little Birds.”

Credits for Bedford, who has been instrumental in building up the drama slate and evolving the company’s drama strategy over the past three years, include “The Good Karma Hospital” and “Litvinenko.”

Working closely with writers and talent to further build the drama pipeline, Silver will help steer the overall strategic direction of Tiger Aspect’s drama slate...

Los Angeles and London-based management and production company 42 (“The Silent Twins”) has appointed former Netflix and Tiger Aspect Productions executive Ben Cavey (“Bad Education”) to the newly created role of head of comedy and entertainment.

Based in 42’s Los Angeles office, Cavey will spearhead the company’s expansion into the two genres, producing projects and managing talent across unscripted and scripted television and film. Cavey will also focus on developing projects under 42’s existing three-way production venture with management and production company 3 Arts Entertainment and Lionsgate Television, which includes a first-look deal with Lionsgate Television for the U.S. market.

Cavey has completed executive producing a special and season 4 of “Bad Education” for the BBC, the scripted comedy he originally co-created with Jack Whitehall. Between 2018 – 2022, Cavey was director of original comedy programming at Netflix, where he was responsible for comedy formats, including “Kevin Hart: Don’t F**K This Up,...

42 has made a big name hire. Former Netflix and Tiger Aspect Productions exec Ben Cavey is joining as Head of Comedy and Entertainment.

Cavey will be based in the UK- and U.S.-based firm’s LA office, growing its expanding group of managers and producers on the West Coast.

He’ll focus on expanding 42’s push into comedy and entertainment, producing projects and managing talent in scripted and unscripted TV and film. Cavey will also develop projects under 42’s three-way production venture with management and production company 3 Arts Entertainment and Lionsgate Television, which includes a first-look deal with Lionsgate Television for the U.S. market.

Last year, we revealed Lionsgate had taken a stake in 42 in a deal, in the process forming the three-way Jv also including Lionsgate subsidiary 3 Arts.

Cavey has just finished executive producing a special and season four of Jack Whitehall comedy Bad Education for the BBC.

The BBC has commissioned a Catherine Tate comedy, Scottish drama Mayflies starring Line of Duty star Martin Compston, show from BAFTA winners Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson, and fourth season of Man like Mobeen.

In Queen of Oz, Netflix’s Hard Cell creator will exec and star as Princess Georgiana, the black sheep of a fictional British Royal Family. On the back of her latest scandal, her father, the King, makes the unprecedented move of abdicating his Australian throne in favor of his daughter, with the hope she will take the responsibility.

Australian indie Lingo Pictures is producing and Endeavor Content is distributing worldwide. Filming will begin later this year in Australia and further casting will be announced in due course.

Mayflies starring Compston, who plays Di Arnott in Line of Duty, follows Tully Dawson (Tony Curran) and Jimmy’s (Compston) brilliant friendship. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them,...

The stakes are high for shows like “Mo,” Netflix’s new comedy series. For decades, TV and film in the West have followed mainstream political narratives, offering Muslims and Arabs of all faiths and none a narrow screen binary: you’re either a villain or a victim. In recent years, shows like A24’s “Ramy,” “Man Like Mobeen,” and “We Are Lady Parts” have been making great strides in changing that, offering much-maligned audiences the chance to see some of their own nuances reflected back at them (not to mention allowing often-typecast performers to play characters with more depth than Terrorist #7 or Woman with Headscarf).

Continue reading ‘Mo’ Review: Palestinian-American Comedy Led By ‘Ramy’s Mohammed Amer Finds Its Own Step at The Playlist.

Prepare to welcome back some TV favourites in 2022, and also to say goodbye to a fair few. Of the selection below, a clutch are due to end this year including Sky fantasy A Discovery of Witches, Northern Irish Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls, BBC crime drama Happy Valley, BBC thriller Killing Eve, BBC fantasy adaptation His Dark Materials, BBC comedy Man Like Mobeen, BBC gangster period drama Peaky Blinders and Netflix historical action drama The Last Kingdom. Some solace is here for fans of those last two, as both have been announced to be continuing with a feature film after the TV series comes to an end.

Take a look at the best of the British shows due to return in 2022 below. We’ll keep this list updated throughout the year as new recommissions and release dates are announced.

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 (January)

Last we saw Diana and Matthew,...

Leslie Jones and Nat Faxon have joined “Our Flag Means Death” as recurring guest stars.

The HBO Max original comedy series is loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his cushy lifestyle to become a pirate. Taika Waititi also stars as Blackbeard, history’s most feared and revered pirate.

Rounding out the ensemble cast are Ewen Bremmer, David Fane, Nathan Foad, Joel Fry, Samson Kayo, Guz Khan, Rory Kinnear, Matt Maher, Kristian Nairn, Con O’Neill and Vico Ortiz.

Jones, who is known for her roles in “Coming 2 America,” “Supermarket Sweep” and “Saturday Night Live,” is represented by CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman. Faxon, who has starred in “Your Friends from College,” “Married” and “Charlie’s Angels,” is represented by CAA and Artists First.

Bremner will appear as Buttons; Fane will play Fang; Foad (“Bloods...

The HBO Max pirate comedy series “Our Flag Means Death” has five new additions to its cast: Ewen Bremner, David Fane, Guz Khan, Matt Maher and Joel Fry, most recently seen in Disney’s “Cruella.” They will be joined alongside previously announced members Kristian Nairn, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill Vico Ortiz, and “Flight of the Conchords” alum and series lead Rhys Darby.

“Our Flag Means Death” is loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (Darby), a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate. The show was originally ordered at HBO Max in September 2020. The pirate comedy hails from writer, showrunner, and executive producer David Jenkins. Garrett Basch and Dan Halsted also serve as executive producers along with Taika Waititi, who will direct the pilot as well in addition to playing Blackbeard, history’s most infamous and feared buccaneer.

Trainspotting alum Ewen Bremner, David Fane, Joel Fry, Guz Khan and Matt Maher have joined the cast of HBO Max’s period comedy Our Flag Means Death. They join stars Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi in the series from writer David Jenkins (People of Earth), Garrett Basch (What We Do in the Shadows) and Dan Halsted.

Created by Jenkins, who also serves as showrunner, Our Flag Means Death is based loosely on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (Darby), a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate.

Bremner plays Buttons. Fane portrays Fang. Fry is Frenchie. Khan plays Ivan. Maher is Black Pete.

2020-21 HBO Max Pilots & Series Orders

The ensemble cast also includes Kristian Nairn, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill and Vico Ortiz.

The BAFTA Film Awards took place on April 11, and now the time has come for the BAFTA Television Awards to take centre stage. On April 27, the Virgin Media must-see moment award nominees were announced, which saw the likes of Gogglebox, Bridgerton, and Britain's Got Talent featured on the list.

On April 28, the full list of nominees were announced, with The Crown nominated for 10 awards, Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You nominated for eight awards, and Steve McQueen's Small Axe leading the charge with an impressive 15 nominations. On June 6, the full BAFTA Television Awards ceremony took place on BBC One, with I May Destroy You leading the charge after winning two awards.

Comedy Entertainment Programme:

Winner: The Big Narstie Show

Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe

Rob & Romesh Vs

The Ranganation

Daytime

Winner: The Great House Giveaway

Jimmy McGovern's Moving

Richard Osman's House Of

The Chase

Drama...

All change! No sooner had Mike Wozniak charmed the nation by undermining a vole, and put us all off our tea with his downstairs casserole, than it was all over. The current cohort of Taskmaster contestants have finished their last task, and it’s time for a new set of contenders. Please give a warm welcome to series 12 contestants: Desiree Burch, Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Alan Davies, Guz Khan and Morgana Robinson.

Series 12 is set to air at an unconfirmed date later this year on Taskmaster’s still-relatively new home of Channel 4. It’s “Coming Soon” according to the post-finale teaser.

Also arriving in 2021 is the show’s second Champion of Champions special miniseries. That one is set to welcome back the overall winners from series six to ten: Ed Gamble, Lou Sanders, Kerry Godliman, Liza Tarbuck and Richard Herring. If Taskmaster keeps going until series 25 then presumably they’ll be...

Shane Allen, BBC’s director of comedy, is leaving the broadcaster to team with recently departed head of comedy commissioning Kate Daughton to launch a new outfit.

Boffola Pictures Limited will specialize in scripted comedy and comedy drama and is backed by “Les Miserables” producer Lookout Point.

The BBC will begin recruitment immediately for a new director of comedy. Allen is due to leave in August. Kate Phillips, director of BBC entertainment, will oversee new scripted comedy commissioning decisions while Allen oversees ongoing productions and works on the BBC Comedy Association’s inaugural plans for a city of comedy, the appointment of a Young People’s Comedy Laureate and the TV re-boot of The New Comedy Awards.

At BBC Comedy, Allen commissioned a range of hits including “Fleabag,” “Man Like Mobeen,” “Detectorists,” “Peter Kay’s Car Share,” “This Country,” “The Young Offenders,” “Upstart Crow,” “Inside Number 9” and “Famalam.” During his tenure,...

Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston are to Line of Duty what the ravens are to the Tower of London; if they ever leave, the kingdom will surely fall. Luckily for us, those three are going nowhere for the new seven-episode run which is due to start on BBC One from Sunday the 21st of March at 9pm.

Superintendent Ted Hastings, Detective Inspector Kate Fleming and Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott will return as AC-12, investigating a brand new, possibly bent copper as played by Kelly Macdonald. Here’s what we know about her and the other new and familiar faces we can expect to see in series six.

Kelly Macdonald – Dci Joanne Davidson

Scottish Black Mirror, Boardwalk Empire and Trainspotting actor Kelly Macdonald will play “the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced” according to Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio. In the official press release, Dci Joanne Davidson...

BBC Three, the home of shows like “Fleabag” and “Normal People,” will return as a broadcast channel in January 2022, BBC said Tuesday. The younger-skewing brand has existed solely as digital offering since it was taken off the air in 2016.

As of next year, BBC will be using the relaunched BBC Three broadcast channel and the BBC iPlayer in tandem in an attempt “to grow our offer and deliver more value to younger audiences.” Conversation surrounding bringing back BBC Three as a broadcast channel began last May based on research that showed audience demand for the brand to have a linear platform.

Per the U.K. broadcast giant, “While the BBC does well with large parts of the younger audience – on average, young adults in the UK spend more media time per week (seven and a half hours) with BBC’s services than any other brand; our research identified a significant...

BBC Three is returning to UK TV screens. The channel is coming back to the air after pivoting to Ott back in 2015, the org confirmed today.

The move has been expected following hits on the platform such as Normal People and Fleabag. There was a campaign back in 2015 spearheaded by notable industry figures including Avalon’s Jon Thoday and Hat Trick’s Jimmy Mulville to reverse the BBC’s decision to put the channel online, and last year talks began about a return to linear.

The BBC’s Annual Plan 2020/21 published last year also outlined research that suggested there was public appetite for BBC Three’s programming to return to linear TV.

The broadcaster has committed to double the investment on BBC Three commissions over the next two years; it makes content aimed at the 16-34 age bracket.

The renewed channel will broadcast 7pm to 4am UK time each day.

BBC Three, the U.K. public broadcaster’s youth-skewing brand and the home of shows like “Fleabag” and “Normal People,” is returning as a broadcast channel.

The BBC on Tuesday confirmed that the brand, which has existed as a digital offering since early 2016 when it was taken off air, will be back on TV screens in January 2022. The move, which was first mooted in May, is underlined by research reflecting audience demand for the brand as a broadcast channel.

BBC Three will be targeted at audiences aged 16-34. The new channel, which shares bandwidth with children’s channel Cbbc, will broadcast from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. each day — the same hours the channel held before its closure in 2016. As a result, Cbbc’s broadcast hours will revert to closing at 7 p.m., as was the case before 2016. What’s different, however, is that BBC Three will now have a...

In today’s bulletin, Olivia Colman leads the cast of BBC’s pantomime “Cinderella”; season 3 of “Das Boot” commences production; Discovery Plus orders a Dutch adaptation of ITV Studios format “Sex Tape”; and Amazon India reveals Hindi-language anthology “Unpaused.”

Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) and Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) will headline a virtual version of popular Christmas pantomime “Cinderella,” on BBC Two.

“Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime,” is executive produced by Richard Curtis (“Love Actually”). Colman will make her pantomime debut as the fairy godmother while Taylor-Joy plays the title role. The cast also includes Guz Khan (“Man Like Mobeen”), Tom Hollander (“The Night Manager”), Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”), Rege-Jean Page (“Roots”), Jimmy Akingbola (“Rev”) Daisy May and Charlie Cooper (“This Country”).

The show is written by the Dawson Brothers, based on an original script by Ben Crocker, and directed by Matt Lipsey for Crook Productions. It airs on the BBC Dec.

‘The Crown’ stars Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter are to reunite for a very special, virtual version of ‘Cinderella’ as a host of famous faces from across the land will be gathering together for a fabulously festive treat as Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas comes to BBC Two.

Academy Award-winning acting royalty Colman will be making her panto debut as Fairy Godmother and will be joined by an all-star cast that includes Guz Khan as Buttons, Tom Hollander as Baron Hardup, Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Devilia, Anya Taylor-Joy as Cinderella, Rege-Jean Page as Prince Charming, Jimmy Akingbola as Dandini and actual real-life sister and brother Daisy May and Charlie Cooper (This Country) as The Evil Step Sisters.

Written by the Dawson Brothers, based on an original script by Ben Crocker, the hour-long ‘Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas’ will be a retelling of the timeless panto classic,...

Damian Kavanagh, the managing director of Peaky Blinders and Netflix’s Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father producer Tiger Aspect, is stepping down after nearly two years.

Kavanagh joined Tiger Aspect in 2019 after a spell running BBC Three, where he commissioned shows including Fleabag. His departure follows Tiger Aspect’s parent company Endemol Shine being acquired by Banijay.

Banijay UK’s executive chairman Peter Salmon said Kavanagh had resigned after the pair had engaged in a “fair bit” of discussion about his future. Kavanagh said he is leaving to pursue some “new adventures.”

“We will be very sorry to see him go, but I’m pleased to say that he has agreed to stay on until the end of November to help Lucinda and I with the transition to life post Dk,” Salmon said in a note to staff.

Kavanagh said: “It has been a real privilege to lead Tiger...

“Fleabag” creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is among the judges of ‘Screenshot,’ a competition seeking the next generation of comedy writer-performers for TV.

The competition is set up by “The Queen” actor Olivia Colman and “Landscaper” screenwriter Ed Sinclair’s South of the River Pictures and “Chernobyl” producer Sister Pictures.

Joining Waller-Bridge as judges are are fellow comedy writer-performers Colman, Lolly Adefope (“Ghosts”) and Rosie Jones (“Sex Education”), BBC head of comedy Kate Daughton (“Man Like Mobeen”), Channel 4 head of comedy Fiona McDermott (“Steth Lets Flats”), Sky commissioning editor Tilusha Ghelani (“Breeders”) and representatives from South of the River and Sister.

Theater producer and inclusion advocate Debo Adebayo will serve as competition producer.

The competition, a direct response to the impact Covid-19 has had on the performing arts, is open to applications from U.K.-based comedy writer-performers who already have a theater project developed or semi-developed, and have...

British comedy Stath Lets Flats is the little show that could. The Channel 4 comedy has had a pretty good few weeks – beating Fleabag twice at the BAFTA TV Awards on Friday.

The show follows an incompetent rental agent, played by creator Jamie Demetriou, who runs a Greek-Cypriot letting agency in London, owned by his father. It has echoes of the original BBC version of The Office or Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge character.

Demetriou, who played the bus suitor with big teeth in Fleabag’s first season, picked up a craft award for best comedy writing earlier this month, beating his former boss Phoebe Waller-Bridge among others, and on Friday he picked up best male performance in a comedy performance and best scripted comedy.

In the acting category, he beat out Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa, Man Like Mobeen’s Guz Khan and Home’s Yousse Kerkour, while in the scripted comedy category,...

That's a wrap on the Virgin Media 2020 British Academy Television Awards! For the occasion, actors gathered around their computers for a virtual award ceremony, hosted by the brilliant Richard Ayoade. Chernobyl bagged three awards: best actor for Jared Harris, best miniseries, and best costume design thanks to Odile Dicks-Mireaux. Stath Lets Flats also took home three awards: Jamie Demetriou for male performance in comedy program, scripted comedy, and comedy writer. The smash hit Gavin and Stacey Nessa Proposes to Smithy special won Virgin Media's must-see moment (voted for by the public) - here's hoping they don't leave us on that cliffhanger for too much longer.

Check out the full list of 2020 British Academy Television Award winners, ahead.

Leading Actress

Winner: Glenda Jackson, Elizabeth Is Missing

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve - BBC One

Glenda Jackson, Elizabeth Is Missing - BBC One

Suranne Jones, Gentleman Jack - BBC One

Samantha Morton, I...

Forever underlining the strangeness of the Primetime Emmy Awards calendar, the BAFTA TV Awards were held Friday, celebrating several previous Emmy winners and nominees, including HBO’s “Chernobyl,” Netflix’s “When They See Us,” in addition to Sian Clifford of Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag.”

Speaking of “Fleabag,” the BAFTA awards body appeared to officially end its lukewarm love affair with Phoebe Waller-Bridge before it truly began. The “Fleabag” creator and star was nominated for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme as well as Scripted Comedy and lost in both categories, in addition to losing out in the Best Writer — Comedy category at the BAFTA TV Craft awards announced earlier this month. The losses bring Waller-Bridge’s overall BAFTA TV record to 1-8, with her only win coming in Best Female Performance in a Comedy for the first season of “Fleabag.”

“Chernobyl,” which took home 10 Emmy Awards last September, nabbed...

BAFTA has heralded an improvement in the diversity of nominees for this year’s Television and Craft Awards.

This year’s shortlist, announced Thursday morning, has seen a 22% rise in nominees of color, said BAFTA.

New talent, in particular, has broken through, with nominations for “Sex Education‘s” Ncuti Gatwa (pictured), “Man Like Mobeen’s” Guz Khan and “Home’s” Youssef Kerkour in the male performance in a comedy category, and “Top Boy’s” Jasmine Jobson and “The End of the F***ing World’s” Naomi Ackie for best supporting actress.

Elsewhere, Gbemisola Ikumelo has two nominations — one for her performance in comedy “Famalam,” and another in the short-form category for “Brain in Gear.” Mo Gilligan is nominated for best entertainment performance for Channel 4’s “The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan” and “Top Boy” and “Pure” director Aneil Karia is nominated as a breakthrough talent in the Craft Awards.

On Friday the 31st of July, the Bafta TV 2020 awards will take place as a closed-studio socially distanced ceremony.

The event will be broadcast “as-live” on BBC One, with nominees invited to accept their awards virtually from first-time host Richard Ayoade, who will be corporeal but (possibly) presenting David Blaine-style from inside a giant glass box. There will be no virus-spreading handshakes or matey hugs. Acceptance speeches may well be comedy skits; it’s best to mentally prepare for such an eventuality.

Today’s TV award nominations were originally due to be announced on the 26th of April, with the ceremony taking place on the 17th of May, but were postponed due to Covid-19.

The Bafta Television Craft Award ceremony, presented by Stephen Mangan, will be streamed online on Friday the 17th of July. Those nominations, recognising the raft of off-screen talent in the UK and international television industry are available to see here.

Chernobyl is leading the pack for this year’s BAFTA TV Awards and BAFTA TV Craft Awards after the Sky and HBO drama scored 14 nominations, including best drama mini-series.

The nuclear disaster drama’s 14 nods mean it is the most-nominated show in BAFTA history alongside Killing Eve last year, which was also recognized in 14 categories. As well as best mini-series, there are individual nominations for Jared Harris as lead actor and Stellan Skarsgård as best supporting actor.

It secured more than double the nominations than the next best-performing show: Netflix drama The Crown. The Left Bank program’s seven nominations include best drama series. Meanwhile, Fleabag and Giri/Haji have six nominations apiece, while there are five nods for His Dark Materials and The Virtues and four for Killing Eve, Sex Education and Top Boy. Sister Pictures scooped 20 nominations in total for Chernobyl and Giri/Haji.

The nominations and awards...

With a third of the world’s population officially on lockdown (a number that is increasing every minute of every day), Netflix and other online services are experiencing an unprecedented surge in demand.

So much so, in fact, that Netflix and YouTube plan to reduce streaming quality across Europe for the next month in order to ease the strain on the Internet. These are strange times, indeed.

Be that as it may, today is April 1st, which means two things – 1) it’s April Fool’s Day, so the Internet is littered with prank videos and other shenanigans and 2) the Internet’s major streaming services have rolled out a fresh wave of content. Speaking of which, thanks to What’s On Netflix, below you’ll find a comprehensive list of all 83 titles that have been added to the online platform as of April 1st.

There are a few gems in here,...