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Directed by Academy Award nominee Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and written by Academy Award nominee Jeff Pope (Philomena), the Steve Coogan-starring dramedy The Penguin Lessons has the caliber of talent behind and in front of the camera to be a great film. It definitely doesn’t reach the level of greatness, but if you are willing to look past the movie’s flaws and enjoy it as a lighthearted, not-too-meaningful picture, it’s hard not to be won over by its charms.

The Penguin Lessons Review

Based on Tom Michell’s memoir, The Penguin Lessons tells the story of an English schoolteacher at a boarding school in Argentina whose life is changed after he adopts a penguin. Despite being based on a true story, the film does feel a bit comfortable in its tropes; however, it does break its formula in just enough ways that it feels worth your time as a crowd-pleaser.

There are two things that can make any movie better: Steve Coogan and penguins.

Fortunately, and not surprisingly considering its title, The Penguin Lessons features both. Well, at least one penguin, who goes by the name Juan Salvador. But he’s more than enough. He’s Coogan’s best onscreen partner since Rob Brydon in the Trip movies.

Loosely based on a memoir by Tom Michell, the film takes place in 1976 in Buenos Aires, where teacher Tom (Coogan) arrives to teach English to teenage students at a tony private school. His timing wasn’t exactly fortuitous, as not long after he gets there the country is rocked by a military coup, with people disappearing subsequently.

Not that any of the tumult affects Tom, who soon embarks on a weekend getaway to Uruguay with his Swedish colleague (Bjorn Gustafsson, priceless), where he enjoys a flirtation with a local woman. Walking together on the beach,...

It’s not hard to imagine plenty of moviegoers enjoying a comedy where wry English actor Steve Coogan plays a teacher who inspires a class of spoiled boarding school students with the help of his pet penguin. Nor is it hard to imagine moviegoers being riveted by a political drama about Argentina’s notorious Dirty War, during which a vicious military junta overthrew President Isabel Perón's government in 1976 and sent death squads to kill a reported 30,000 dissidents. However, it is hard to imagine moviegoers embracing, to any memorable degree, The Penguin Lessons, which attempts to gently combine those two things, but does so in a manner that is rarely smooth, which was probably inevitable considering these narrative extremes.

The surprising part is that The Penguin Lessons is based on a true story. Tom Michell was in his 20s when he accepted a job as an English professor at a Buenos Aires boarding school.

World premieres from Angelina Jolie, Mike Leigh, David Mackenzie, Edward Burns, Uberto Pasolini, Peter Cattaneo, and Rachel Morrison among the Gala and Special Presentation titles unveiled by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) today (July 22).

Hard Truths is a rare TIFF premiere for Leigh after the UK auteur’s last film Peterloo debuted in Venice in 2018, while Mr. Turner in 2014 and Another Year in 2010 both premiered in Cannes. Cornerstone represents sales and Bleecker Street will handle US distributon on the film, which stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Secrets And Lies.

Pasolini’s The Return marks his follow-up to Venice 2020 entry Nowhere Special...

Steve Coogan’s 2022 film about the search for King Richard III’s remains was defamatory to a man portrayed by actor Lee Ingleby, a UK High Court judge has ruled.

Richard Taylor, a former employee at the University of Leicester, is suing the producers of The Lost King, including Coogan, his production company Baby Cow, and distributor Pathe.

Taylor was awarded a preliminary judgment in his favor on Friday, meaning his case can proceed to a full trial, during which Coogan, BBC Studios-owned Baby Cow, and Pathe will defend the portrayal.

Written by Coogan and Jeff Pope, The Lost King depicted Phillipa Langley’s (Sally Hawkins) search to find the controversial king’s skeleton under a car park in Leicester.

Taylor argued that he was painted as being “devious” in “manipulating the public presentation of information about the find, so as unjustly to conceal Philippa Langley’s true role,...

A UK high court judge ruled the portrayal of a real-life character in Stephen Frears’ 2022 film The Lost King is defamatory at a preliminary hearing on Friday (June 14).

Steve Coogan, his production company Baby Cow and the film’s producer and distributor Pathe Productions are being sued by former University of Leicester employee Richard Taylor, who is played by Lee Ingleby in the film.

Coogan produced and co-wrote the script alongside Jeff Pope, and also starred in the film. The Lost King tells the story of how amateur historian Philippa Langley (played by Sally Hawkins) discovered the remains of Richard...

A snapshot of the film and high-end TV projects shooting in the UK and Ireland.

Screen reveals a snapshot of the latest high-end TV and film productions shooting in the UK for the big studios and streamers.

Productions that are still on hold following the SAG-AFTRA strike are noted.

Please contact us here to add or update changes to the following or new productions taking place in the UK.

Films

How To Train Your Dragon

Live-action remake of the 2010 animation about a hapless Viking who befriends a dragon.

Dir: Dean DeBlois

Production company: Universal, Marc Platt

Where: Titanic Studios,...

Exclusive: Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) has joined two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan in feature drama The Penguin Lessons, which recently wrapped in Spain.

Lionsgate UK has newly boarded the movie as distributor. Two-time Oscar nominee Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) directs for LA and London-based management and production firm 42, with whom he collaborated on Military Wives.

Vivian El Jaber, Bjorn Gustafsson, Alfonsina Carrocio, Micaela Breque, Tomas Pozzi and Ramiro Blas round out the cast.

Based on the successful book of the same name by Tom Michell, the film charts the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. However, when he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil slicked beach, his life is turned upside down...

Learn the untold story of Cary Grant's troubled childhood and the challenges he overcame to become a Hollywood icon. Jason Isaacs leads an incredible cast in this moving and emotional miniseries that delves into Grant's complicated legacy. Based on Jennifer Grant's book, this drama explores the truth behind Archie Leach and his transformation into the charismatic Cary Grant.

Learn the origins of one of Hollywood's earliest legends with Archie. The four-part miniseries explores the life story of Cary Grant, originally born as Archie Leach, who rose from a traumatic childhood in early 1900s Bristol, England and overcame a number of challenges to become an iconic actor renowned for his roles in the likes of His Girl Friday and North by Northwest, among many others.

Jason Isaacs leads the ensemble Archie cast as Cary Grant alongside Dainton Anderson, Oaklee Pendergast and Calam Lynch as younger versions of Archie, Harriest Walter as his mother Elsie,...

Archie is a miniseries executive produced by Dyan Cannon and Jennifer Grant that explores the true story of Cary Grant's rise to Hollywood stardom and his difficult personal life. Jason Isaacs leads the cast as Cary Grant and discusses the challenges of portraying such an iconic figure. Dyan Cannon and Jason Isaacs discuss the emotional depth of the miniseries and how it delves into the true, complicated nature of Cary Grant.

Dyan Cannon and Jennifer Grant are opening up about their family's legacy in Archie. Executive produced by the mother-daughter duo, the show explores the true story of Cary Grant and his rise from a troubled childhood as Archie Leach in 1900s Bristol, England to becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars. The miniseries also offers a look at his difficult personal life, including his tumultuous relationship with fellow movie star Dyan Cannon, with whom he'd birth his sole child.

Dyan Cannon, ex-wife of Cary Grant, and actor Jason Isaacs spoke about the new series Archie and how they were both able to learn new insights into Grant’s life.

Cannon explained to uInterview founder Erik Meers that the series started when director Jeff Pope approached her ten years ago after reading her novel.

“He read my book Dear Cary,” she recalled. “And said let’s make a movie, let’s option your book. I said let’s talk about what that would be, we did. And it’s evolved into a four-hour miniseries because ultimately he felt that an hour and a half couldn’t capture the fullness of what this life was.”

Isaacs, who plays Grant in the show, shared that he learned Grant’s true character and how that is different from the public’s view of him.

“All those adjectives that have been applied to him,...

Fittingly for a series in which everybody seems to be engaging in some form of Classic Hollywood cosplay, the Rosebud moment in BritBox’s Archie is delivered by an actor playing comedy icon Danny Kaye.

Affecting a stereotypical German therapist accent — accents on top of accents on top of accents is the Archie way — Kaye cautions young Dyan Cannon (Laura Aikman) that her relationship with the more seasoned Cary Grant (Jason Isaacs) is destined for complications with the warning, “Men who have difficult relationships with their mothers always carry it over to the women that they love.”

There’s no reason for Kaye to make such an observation if he hasn’t been watching the two previous hours of Jeff Pope’s four-episode production. But for the series’ actual audience, his analysis will come across as both obvious and superficial — a bit like Archie itself.

Ultimately, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

"Archie," a TV series about Cary Grant, is now available for streaming on BritBox on December 7, 2023. The miniseries consists of four episodes, with each episode exploring different aspects of Grant's life and career. Reviews praise Jason Isaacs' portrayal of Cary Grant and appreciate the show's balanced depiction of Grant's personal life.

Archie, a TV series about the life of Cary Grant, will soon be available for streaming. The television drama comes from Jeff Pope, British television producer and screenwriter of See No Evil: The Moors Murders fame, with Paul Andrew Williams at the helm, and it stars Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs in the lead role as Cary Grant. The miniseries draws inspiration from Dyan Cannon’s memoir Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant, published back in 2011, and takes viewers on a journey of Cary Grant’s life, focusing both on his personal life and his acting career.

Born Archibald Alec Leach,...

“You can’t create a character like Cary Grant,” says Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jeff Pope (Philomena) of the Hollywood legend, the subject of BritBox’s four-part biodrama Archie. The debonair actor’s ascension from an impoverished English lad, born Archibald Leach in 1904, to movie stardom in films like The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, and North by Northwest is dramatic enough. Add to that Grant’s startling discovery when he was a rising star in the 1930s that the mother he thought had died when he was a boy was actually living in a mental institution and you have, according to Pope, “some story that Dickens might have created.” Starring Jason Isaacs — who donned prosthetics to give him Grant’s dimpled chin — the series jumps between three timelines: the ’60s, when Grant wed the much-younger Dyan Cannon and gave up acting to raise his only child, Jennifer; the ’80s, when he...

As the streaming landscape continues to readjust after a turbulent few years, some platforms are riding the wave more comfortably than others. A case in point is SVOD service BritBox International, which was founded in 2017 as a joint venture by U.K. broadcasters ITV and BBC.

Available in eight markets outside the U.K. including the U.S., Canada and Australia, BritBox offers a uniquely specific output: namely, British content for international audiences. (A sister service with the same name operated solely by ITV is available in the U.K.).

In terms of genre, there’s everything from drama to soaps plus crime, comedy and what BritBox CEO Reemah Sakaan calls “British pastimes,” meaning shows about things like antiques and gardening. The streamer also boasts its own original content, such as upcoming Cary Grant biopic “Archie,” which stars Jason Isaacs (“Harry Potter”) as the Hollywood legend.

“You look for real British specificity in the storytelling,...

A snapshot of the film and high-end TV projects shooting in the UK and Ireland.

Screen reveals a snapshot of the latest high-end TV and film productions shooting in the UK for the big studios and streamers. Productions on hold due to the SAG-AFTRA strike are only noted once confirmed. Please contact us here to add or update changes to the following or new productions taking place in the UK.

Films

Deadpool 3

The third instalment in the comedic superhero franchise, this time joined by Wolverine.

Dir: Shawn Levy

Production company: Marvel Studios

Where: Pinewood Studios

When: May - July,...

The origin of one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars is a story stranger than fiction.

Cary Grant, who appeared in movies including “To Catch a Thief” opposite Grace Kelly, was born Archibald Leach in 1904 to an abusive father in the sleepy city of Bristol, England. While he was a child, Grant’s mother was secretly committed to a mental health hospital and publicly declared dead. The actor only found out she was still alive when he was 31 years old.

Grant is now the subject of “Archie,” a four-part biopic from “Philomena” writer Jeff Pope, made with the cooperation of his ex-wife Dyan Cannon and daughter Jennifer Grant. The series charts the actor’s rise to fame, his struggle with his demons and his relationships with the most important women in his life.

“It was Dyan who told me in much greater detail than you can find anywhere about the whole thing with his mother,...

Jason Isaacs is no stranger to transforming himself on-screen. There’s his straight-talking Soviet Field Marshal Zhukov in :a[The Death Of Stalin]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/death-stalin-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, his sinister, kidnap-happy scientist Hap in The Oa – and, of course, who could forget the long, platinum locks of his Lucius Malfoy in the :a[Harry Potter movies]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/every-harry-potter-movie-ranked/' target='blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}? But Isaacs is undergoing perhaps his biggest _physical transformation yet to play Hollywood legend Cary Grant in new series Archie. With the title inspired by Grant’s birth name Archibald Alexander Leach, and written by :a[Philomena]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/philomena-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} scribe Jeff Pope, it’s a biographical drama which will explore the acting icon’s extraordinary life story, from his troubled childhood...

The life of Hollywood icon Cary Grant is getting the small-screen treatment in Archie, a four-part drama from BritBox and Itvx. Deadline has more first-look photos of Jason Isaacs as Grant below.

Jason Isaacs as Cary Grant

The series will air in November on ITV in the UK, and in December on BritBox in all its territories: North America, Australia, South Africa and the Nordics.

From writer Jeff Pope and director Paul Andrew Williams, Archie narrates the story of a young Grant’s (born Archibald Alexander Leach) troubled childhood and how extreme poverty, his father’s adultery and the loss of his older brother, John, tore the family apart and sent his loving mother into a downward spiral of grief and depression.

Isaacs will get some assistance in bringing Grant the Bristol, England-born actor to life. Dainton Anderson, Calam Lynch and Oaklee Pendergast play young versions of Archie Leach.

The...

The BBC’s controversial Jimmy Savile drama The Reckoning will be handed its long-awaited premiere in the autumn, while it has unveiled more cast and a first-look image.

Joining Coogan are BAFTA-winner Gemma Jones (Marvellous), Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley), Mark Lewis Jones (Outlander) and Mark Stanley (Happy Valley).

The BBC has also unveiled a first-look image (top), in which Coogan portraying the posthumously-outed serial sex offender can be seen smoking one of his famous cigars ponderously staring out the window.

Produced by ITV Studios, penned by Neil McKay and EP’d by Jeff Pope, the four-part series will trace Savile’s life through the decades. He was one of the BBC’s most popular presenters when alive but in death was outed as using his involvement in multiple organizations, such as the BBC, hospitals, prisons, and charities, to legitimise himself, forging friendships in showbusiness, politics, journalism, the Catholic Church and...

Exclusive: Netflix is to shine a spotlight on one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals, the Corby poisonings, via a drama series starring Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood, departing Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker and Robert Carlyle.

Rory Kinnear and Corby native Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey) have also boarded Toxic Town, which is being penned by His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne and tells of the scandalous toxic waste spillages in Corby and the ensuing legal battle that has been dubbed the ‘British Erin Brokovich.’ Production will commence later this month in the UK under an Equity contract, meaning the show will not fall foul of the U.S. labor strikes.

The four-part series comes from Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ Netflix-backed Black Mirror producer Broke & Bones, with Jones set to EP alongside Thorne and director Minkie Spiro (Better Call Saul).

Toxic Town follows the tragic toxic...

The murder mystery is halfway through its chapters on Cruel Summer Season 2, and we're getting deep into the many suspects at play.

Jeff Pope, the movie-obsessed filmmaker with a burning crush on Megan, is one of those individuals. Jeff seemed like a nice guy in love during the summer of 1999, but his future animosity against Megan and Isabella left us with plenty of questions. We can't rule him or his blackmail scene out yet.

Nile Bullock, who plays Jeff, is setting the record straight about the love and suspicions of his character,

Below, we chatted with Bullock about his time filming Cruel Summer, why Jeff changed drastically between the months, and his connection to the murder mystery. Plus, he teased a bit about what's to come for Jeff.

Check out the interview below!

How does it feel playing Jeff Pope on Cruel Summer Season 2?

Oh my gosh, it feels like a range of different emotions.

‘Girls Of The Sun’ filmmaker Eva Husson will direct the five-part series

Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street Productions is teaming with Tanya Seghatchian and John Woodward’s UK outfit Brightstar to produce a five-part series called Playdate based on Alex Dahl’s novel of the same name for Disney+ UK. French filmmaker Eva Husson, whose credits include Cannes 2021 title Girls Of The Sun, will direct.

Playdate tells the story of a mother-of-two whose world is turned upside down when she agrees to let her nine-year-old daughter have a sleepover at her new best friend’s house. When she goes to...

Exclusive: Disney+ is moving into the contemporary UK thriller space with the greenlight of a series based on Alex Dahl’s parents-worst-nightmare novel Playdate.

The Power of the Dog and It’s a Sin producers Tanya Seghatchian, John Woodward and Nicola Shindler are combining to produce the five-parter, which comes from the decorated trio’s Brightstar and Quay Street Productions and will commence filming in the UK and France over the summer. Palme d’Or nominee Eva Husson is directing and Hijack’s Catherine Moulton is writing. Casting is yet to be announced.

In Playdate, a seemingly ordinary decision turns the world of Elisa, mum to two young kids, upside down. When Elisa’s nine-year-old daughter asks to go on an overnight playdate with her new best friend, Elisa agrees. But when she says goodnight to her daughter, she has no idea that she is about to be thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare,...

The dramatised series has de Menezes’ parents and relatives as consultants.

Production will begin in 2023 on Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, a limited Disney+ drama series from Philomena and Stan and Ollie writer Jeff Pope.

Set immediately after the 2005 London bombings, the UK original series will focus on the manhunt for a ground of would-be terrorists and the killing of innocent Brazilian de Menezes, after he is mistaken as a suspect. Pope is writing and is an executive producer on the series.

de Menezes’ parents and other relatives are among the consultants for the series. It is...

New ‘Neighbours’ As Reprieved Series Prepares Return

The return of long-running Australian soap “Neighbours” will see a new family, the Varga-Murphys, featuring mums, Remi (Naomi Rukavina) and Cara (Sara West) and teenage sons, JJ (Riley Bryant) and Dex (Marley Williams), moving to the iconic Ramsay Street.

West said: “Cara has a bold, impassioned love for her family and I love that her intentions have, so far, always been good. I hope having the Varga-Murphys on telly will help better reflect the beautiful Lgbtqia+ community that I’m proud to be a part of and I can’t wait to share the family with you.”

Rukavina added: “As a stalwart of Australian drama television, the show is on the front foot of showcasing diverse and real representations of Australian families, not in a tokenistic way.”

“Neighbours,” produced by Fremantle, will premiere for free, exclusively on Amazon Freevee in the U.K.

Disney+ is making a drama about Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazillian national shot in the UK as police hunted down a group of terrorists.

Philomena writer Jeff Pope is behind Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, which is being produced by ITV Studios-backed Etta Pictures.

Set immediately after the London bombings in 2005, the series will focus on the manhunt for a group of would-be terrorists and the tragic killing of the innocent Brazillian, after he was mistaken as a suspect. His 2005 murder is seen as one of the great British miscarriages of justice and the Met Police was found guilty in 2007, with Commissioner Ian Blair resigning shortly afterwards. De Menezes’ parents and other relatives are among those serving as consultants for the series.

The series will be directed by BAFTA award-winning Paul Andrew Williams (A Confession) and produced by BAFTA award-winner Kwadjo Dajan (Appropriate Adult...

Exclusive: Prime Video’s Hitchcockian thriller Holland, Michigan continues to round out its cast with the addition of Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Lennon Parham (Minx), Isaac Krasner (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) and Jeff Pope (Interview with the Vampire).

The quartet joins an ensemble that also includes Nicole Kidman, Gael García Bernal, Matthew Macfadyen and Jude Hill, as we told you first.

The film helmed by Mimi Cave (Fresh) stems from a script by Andrew Sodroski which topped the Black List in 2013. It tells the story of a Midwestern housewife who uncovers a dark secret on the part of her husband, after coming to suspect that he’s having an affair.

Kidman and Per Saari are producing for Blossom Films, alongside 42’s Peter Dealbert, and Churchill Films’ Kate Churchill. The forthcoming film will stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Sennott broke out with her...

We don't have to wonder if Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire will be cancelled right now. The series was renewed for a second season before the series even premiered. Will the AMC execs end up regretting this decision once they see the ratings, or does this adaptation have many years of renewals in its future? Stay tuned.

A dark fantasy series, the Interview with the Vampire TV show stars Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Bailey Bass, and Eric Bogosian. Recurring performers include Assad Zaman, Steven Norfleet, Kalyne Coleman, Rae Dawn Chong, Jeff Pope, Chris Stack, Rachel Handler, John Dimaggio, Dana Gourrier, Christian Robinson, and Maura Grace Athari. The story follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Reid), and Claudia (Bass) in a tale of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel...

Vulture Watch

Be careful what you wish for, Louis. Has Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire been cancelled or renewed for a second season on AMC? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Interview with the Vampire, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?  

What's This TV Show About?

Airing on the AMC cable channel, Interview with the Vampire stars Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Bailey Bass, and Eric Bogosian. Recurring performers include Assad Zaman, Steven Norfleet, Kalyne Coleman, Rae Dawn Chong, Jeff Pope, Chris Stack, Rachel Handler, John Dimaggio, Dana Gourrier, Christian Robinson, and Maura Grace Athari. The story follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt...

Exclusive: Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer’s book To Catch a King is to be adapted by Philomena and The Lost King duo Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope.

Coogan’s BBC Studios-backed indie Baby Cow won the option for the rights to the book and he will co-write with Pope, with the pair having recently penned Stephen Frears-directed The Lost King set for release later this year.

Spencer’s 2017 book, his seventh, tells the story of the 21-year-old King Charles II’s run from Oliver Cromwell’s army, who had overthrown the monarchy and publicly executed Charles’s father. Based on the account given by King Charles II along with letters and diaries, it tells of how the monarch succeeded in evading the Parliamentary troops by means of deception and disguise, including infamously hiding in an oak tree as the troops passed by below.

Coogan described To...

Steve Coogan (Philomena) has been cast as Jimmy Savile in BBC One drama The Reckoning.

Savile rose from working-class origins to become one of the biggest stars of British television, but faced rumors of misconduct during his career. After his death in 2011, the full extent of his crimes, which included sexually abusing hundreds of child victims, were revealed.

The controversial TV project, first revealed in October last year, comes from Neil McKay and executive producer Jeff Pope (The Moorside) and is produced by ITV Studios. It will be directed by Sandra Goldbacher (Ordeal by Innocence).

The team said they are working closely with people whose lives were impacted by Savile to ensure their stories are told with sensitivity and respect. It will look into the way Saville used his celebrity and powerful connections to conceal his wrongdoings and to hide in plain sight.

“To play Jimmy Savile was not a decision I took lightly.

Richard Ayoade will host the Bafta TV Awards for the first time on July 31.

Chernobyl leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards, which were postponed from May to July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sky/HBO mini-series is up for 14 awards (11 craft and three television), including Jarred Harris for leading actor, Stellan Skarsgard for supporting actor and best mini-series.

The Crown has the next highest number of nominations with seven, including drama series, Josh O’Connor for supporting actor and Helena Bonham Carter for supporting actress.

Fleabag and Giri/Haji both have six nominations.

A Confession is a compelling drama import from the UK that begins airing on streamer Britbox today.

While I gave it a quick nod in our weekly What to Watch suggestions, I'd be remiss if I didn't sing its praises with a bit more substance.

Time and again, I take a stand for dramas from across the pond or down under. A lot of programming foreign to the Us is quite good, but it's just easier, with my particular viewing habits, to watch those filmed predominantly in the English language.

As we're right in the middle of annual upfronts, the stark realization should be hitting some of you that there the pickings will be quite slim well into fall 2021. And, frankly, it's just a guess that we'll finally find a new normal in the entertainment industry that will allow our favorites to return and new shows to get underway.

That...

The Fosters and Good Trouble co-creator Joanna Johnson has teamed up with Anonymous Content to produce limited scripted series Love in the Time of Corona for Freeform.

The four-part romantic comedy takes a look at the search for love, sex and connection during this time of social distancing.

The series will follow several interwoven stories with an ensemble of characters who are sheltering in their homes, some of whom are wondering if a hook-up with a roommate can ever be casual, while another is kicking herself for deciding to isolate with an ex.

Love in the Time of Corona will be filmed using remote technologies while using homes of the talent as the backdrop to the stories.

It is the latest scripted series to be produced under the Covid-19 production shutdown, including Jenji Kohan’s Netflix series Social Distance, Jeff Pope’s British series Isolation Stories, which will air on BritBox,...

They say write what you know, and in Jeff Pope’s case, he knew coronavirus was an unwelcome intruder on his home. The BAFTA-winning producer of Stan & Ollie was laid low by the dastardly disease with his family, and although it was not so serious as to warrant a trip to hospital, it was profound enough to inspire Pope into making a drama about the experience.

His idea was simple: an anthology series of short stories about people coping with Covid-19 while being confined to their homes. The execution was far from simple, however, with the rulebook on writing, casting, filming and post-production ripped to shreds by strict social distancing measures. Oh, and there was the small complicating factor of having to rapidly deliver the series at the heart of lockdown so it didn’t lose any of its topical potency.

Executive producer Tom Dunbar says Isolation Stories has been...

ITV has set the cast for its Isolation Stories, a series of short lockdown dramas executive produced by Jeff Pope, the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated producer behind Stan & Ollie.

Each of the four, 15-minute episodes in the ITV Studios-produced series is written and performed by established British drama talent and reflect on how the coronavirus pandemic has changed lives in a thought-provoking and humorous way.

BAFTA-winning actress Sheridan Smith (Cilla) will star in the first episode, Mel, in which she plays a heavily pregnant woman who will have to give birth without the married father of her child, who is self-isolating with his family. It is written...

Jeff Pope, the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated producer behind Stan & Ollie, is to make a series of coronavirus-inspired Isolation Stories for ITV.

Through his ITV Studios drama label he will oversee four, 15-minute episodes, which will be written and performed by established British drama talent and reflect on how the pandemic has changed lives in a thought-provoking and humorous way.

Pope has penned one of the episodes himself, while Gaby Chiappe (The Level), Neil McKay (The Moorside) and William Ivory (Torvill & Dean) have also written an episode each. Paul Whittington (White House Farm) and Paul Andrew Williams (A Confession) are attached as directors.

Casting is yet to be announced, but the actors...

U.K. broadcaster ITV has ordered a series of lockdown-related short dramas from Oscar-nominated writer and producer Jeff Pope (Stan & Ollie, Philomena).

Isolation Stories, to be produced by Pope's Factual Drama label, part of ITV Studios, will comprise four 15-minute episodes. The cast is yet to be announced.

Each episode, written by award-winning screenwriters and assembled in conditions that the production team has never faced before, will reflect what families are going through after weeks of lockdown, featuring moments that are funny, sad, heartwarming and poignant.

Pope is executive producing the series along with Tom Dunbar (A Confession) and ...

ITV Studios Global Entertainment has racked up pre-sales for its leading Mipcom title “Noughts and Crosses”, and has unveiled a number of other deals on its drama slate.

“Noughts and Crosses” has been acquired by M-Net in Africa, Russia’s More TV, Tvnz in New Zealand and on BBC First across Benelux prior to its launch on BBC One in the U.K. next year.

Based on Malorie Blackman’s novel of the same name, “Noughts and Crosses,” is a love story set in a parallel 21st century Britain, where black people – Crosses – are the ruling race while white people – Noughts – are the lower class. It’s produced for the BBC by ITV-owned Victoria producer Mammoth Screen.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment managing director Ruth Berry said: “I believe Noughts & Crosses is a brand-defining piece of television and I’m delighted that broadcasters across the world are already coming on board.

China’s Huanxi Premium has acquired BBC drama World On Fire as ITV Studios Global Entertainment unveils a raft of sales at Mipcom.

The Chinese platform is one of a number of sales for the Helen Hunt-fronted drama, which will air on PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. The Mammoth Screen drama has also been picked up by Rtl in Germany, Telefonica in Spain and BBC First across Australia and Benelux, as well as Roadshow in Australia and in Korea on Channel A for linear and KT Corp for Svod.

Separately, Noughts and Crosses, the adaptation of the Malorie Blackman novel, has been bought by M-Net in Africa, Russia’s More TV, Tvnz in New Zealand and on BBC First across Benelux prior to its launch on BBC One in the UK next year.

Martin Freeman factual drama A Confession, written by the Oscar-nominated Jeff Pope and has been sold to Seven in Australia,...

"A man can only see so much darkness before he goes blind..." Rlje Films has released an official trailer for an indie crime thriller titled Into The Ashes, the latest from filmmaker Aaron Harvey. Described as reminiscent of "hard-boiled action/thrillers from the '70s/'80s", Into The Ashes is about an ex-con trying to settle down in rural Alabama who believes he has escaped his violent past, only to find his old crew hasn’t forgotten about him or the money he stole. And they don't want to let him get away. Sounds a lot like every other gritty rural crime thriller, and it looks like every other one, too. Starring Luke Grimes as Nick, along with Frank Grillo, Marguerite Moreau, Robert Taylor, James Badge Dale, Brady Smith, Andrea Frankle, Rob Mello, Scott Peat, David Maldonado, David Cade, and Jeff Pope. The best part of this is Grillo...

British presenter Danny Baker has been sacked by the BBC after posting a picture of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee and the words “Royal Baby leaves hospital.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry – the duke and duchess of Sussex – showed off their newborn son to the media for the first time Wednesday. The baby, whom they have named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, is seventh in line to the throne. Markle is biracial, and her mother, Doria Ragland, who was shown in some of the photos released by the family, is African-American.

Baker denied that his tweet, which he has deleted, was racist, and apologized for what he said was a misinterpreted joke about “Royals vs circus animals in posh clothes.”

He was promptly fired by the BBC on Thursday. Baker has a show on BBC radio and has made numerous TV appearance over the years on TV in Britain, where he is a household name.

Roma wins best film and best director, The Favourite wins seven awards including best actress for Olivia Colman.

Roma took home best film at the 2019 Baftas, as well as best foreign film, best director and best cinematography.

The Favourite won the most awards in total, seven, including best actress for Olivia Colman.

The ceremony took place on Feb 10 at the Royal Albert Hall and was hosted by Joanna Lumley for a second time.

The full list of winners Best Film BLACKkKLANSMAN Jason Blum, Spike Lee, Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele The Favourite Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Lee Magiday Green Book Jim Burke,...

The 2019 BAFTA Award winners have been announced!

The most nominated film of the event, The Favourite, was predictably the night’s big winner, netting seven wins including leading actress for Olivia Colman, supporting actress for Rachel Weisz and outstanding British film. Netflix’s Roma beat out The Favourite for best film as well as best director for Alfonso Cuaron.

Elsewhere, Rami Malek won in the leading actor category for his performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, while Green Book‘s Mahershala Ali was recognized as the best supporting actor. Both are considered front-runners at the upcoming 91st Academy Awards,...

The 2019 Bafta Awards are taking place tonight at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The 2019 Bafta Awards are taking place tonight (10 Feb) at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page and on Twitter as they are announced.

The ceremony starts at 18:45 UK time and finishes at approximately 21:30, with Joanna Lumley hosting for a second time.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ historical drama The Favourite leads the way with 12 nominations. Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma and A Star Is Born follow on seven. Vice has six, BlacKkKlansman has five, with Cold War and Green Book on four each.

“Best of British” streaming service BritBox is making further moves into original production, announcing a new multi-series collaboration with Oscar-nominated writer-producer Jeff Pope during its Television Critics Association panel on Saturday. BritBox will co-produce Pope’s new dramas “The Barking Murders” and “The Hatton Garden Heist” with the BBC.

“The Barking Murders” stars Stephen Merchant, Sheridan Smith and Jaime Winstone and is written by Neil McKay, who previously collaborated with Pope on 2017’s “The Moorside,” also starring Smith, and 2011 miniseries “Appropriate Adult.” The three-part factual drama, executive produced by Pope, focuses on the families of the victims of a convicted serial killer (Merchant). It is scheduled to start filming this spring and will air on BBC One in the U.K.

Written and created by Pope, “The Hatton Garden Heist” stars Timothy Spall in a crime drama that provides an inside look at the infamous London jewelry heist. The 2015 robbery...

BritBox, the British-centric niche streaming service from BBC and ITV, announced a new partnership with writer-producer Jeff Pope on Saturday to produce two new series starring Stephen Merchant (“The Office”) and Harry Potter series alum Timothy Spall.

Merchant, who directed the upcoming WWE feature “Fighting With My Family,” will star in one series as convicted serial killer Stephen Port, who received a life sentence in 2016 after being found guilty for the rape and murder of multiple men.

The series, written by Neil McKay with the working title “The Barking Murders,” focuses on the families of the victims.

Also Read: Woody Allen Sues Amazon Studios for $68 Million for Breach of Film Deal

Pope, an Oscar nominee for co-scripting the 2013 drama “Philomena,” will also co-produce “The Hatton Garden Heist,” which was created and written by Pope and will star Timothy Spall (“Harry Potter”).

“Throughout the past year BritBox has continued to thrive in an increasingly competitive space,...

BritBox, the U.S. streaming service operated by ITV and BBC Studios, has boarded two British crime dramas from Jeff Pope – The Barking Murders (w/t) and Timothy Spall-fronted The Hatton Garden Heist.

The digital platform, which recently surpassed the half million subscriber mark, revealed the new originals at TCA.

The Office co-creator and Hello Ladies star Stephen Merchant will star in The Barking Murders with The Huntsman: Winter’s War and Cleaning Up star Sheridan Smith and Donkey Punch star Jaime Winstone. The BBC One drama tells the story of the notorious Essex crime spree. Merchant plays serial rapist and killer Stephen Port, while Smith plays Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, his first victim. Winstone, daughter of Ray Winstone, plays Donna Taylor, sister of victim Jack Taylor.

Meanwhile, The Hatton Garden Heist is a four-part drama that takes a look inside the London jewelry heist. The ITV series,...

The Office co-creator and Hello Ladies star Stephen Merchant will topline British crime drama The Barking Murders.

Merchant, who is also starring in forthcoming wrestling feature Fighting with My Family, will star alongside The Huntsman: Winter’s War and Cleaning Up star Sheridan Smith and Donkey Punch star Jaime Winstone in the factual drama. Deadline understands a U.S. deal is set to be revealed imminently. The series, which will commence filming this spring, is written by Jeff Pope and Neil McKay, the team behind The Moorside and Appropriate Adult.

The BBC One drama tells the story of the notorious Essex crime spree. Merchant plays serial rapist and killer Stephen Port, while Smith plays Sarah Sak, the mother of Anthony Walgate, his first victim. Winstone, daughter of Ray Winstone, plays Donna Taylor, sister of victim Jack Taylor.

The series, which is directed by David Blair (Reg), tell the story from the point of view of the families of Port’s victims...