SPECIAL BRANCH COMPLETE SERIES ONE

Derren Nesbitt may not be quite so well remembered now but back in the day he was very much the popular action man, cast in the same mould as Patrick McGoohan he was at the height of his powers when he starred in the first series of Thames classic Special Branch and funnily enough the Special Branch that most people will probably remember, that of the Patrick Mower and George Sewell era of kick down the door first and ask questions later era is a different kind of show altogether, much more of a police/spy procedural than a thick ear show.

Nesbitt is the lead as Inspector Jordan and for the time was something of an original, his maverick womanising ways might be the stuff of every genre show you see now but back in 1969 he was leading the field somewhat, his immediate superior was initially Superintendant Eden (Wensley Pithey) (he
appears in the first seven episodes before being replaced by Fulton McKay's Inman).

Like all classic TV drama re-watched today the pace is much slower and all the better for it, scripts are allowed to breathe (for example the first ten minutes of the brilliant first episode Troika take place around the table in the briefing room) and the production team actually allow for the fact that intelligent viewers might be watching rather than the jump cut zoom around all style and no substance that makes up modern TV.

Distributor: Network DVD

Certificate: PG | Region: 2 | 4 disc set | 700 minutes

Extras: No

cast
Derren Nesbitt, Fulton McKay, Wensley Pithey, Jennifer Wilson

The Galvanized Film Group Acquires Film Rights to Tracy Chevalier’s novel Remarkable Creatures

Heather Ogilvie (Galvanized Film Group) has acquired the option to produce a feature film based on Tracy Chevalier’s novel Remarkable Creatures and will partner with Icon Film Distribution to bring it to the big screen. Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi (Shine, Mao’s Last Dancer, The Notebook) will adapt the book, which was published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2009. Tracy Chevalier is the author of five previous novels, including the international bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Virgin Blue, Falling Angels, The Lady and the Unicorn and Burning Bright. ‘I’m thrilled Tracy has entrusted to us the exciting task of adapting her wonderful novel for the screen,’ Heather said. ‘Icon Films have endorsed our conviction that this book will result in an outstanding movie by partnering with us to accelerate its development. Jan Sardi is a gifted, sensitive scriptwriter, and we’re confident he’ll deliver a script that more than lives up to our expectations.’ Tracy comments, ‘I think a

DOC MARTIN SEASON THREE EPISODE FIVE

Former Coronation Street actress Denise Black dyed her hair bright red to star in tonight’s episode of Doc Martin. “I play Dawn Lamb, the mother of the doctor’s receptionist, Pauline. Dawn is brash and boho, so I dyed my hair red exclusively for the role,” Denise explains. But the dramatic colour change didn’t go quite as Denise had planned. “I volunteered to come on set a day early because after I had dyed my hair the colour was rather robust. The make up artists looked stunned. ”A Corrie fan who saw me when I was walking around Cornwall during filming screamed when she saw the colour of my hair.” In the fifth episode of the third season which airs tonight on ITV1 @ 9.00pm will the course of true love run smooth for the star crossed couple Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) and school headmistress Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz) as they go on their first date? It is the perfect spot for romance: being serenaded with classical music at a concert in the stunning grounds of a country hou

ELAINE CASSIDY ON A ROOM WITH A VIEW

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