CAROLINE CATZ ON DOC MARTIN

Caroline Catz found the perfect way to unwind after a day’s filming on Doc Martin by joining the Port Isaac rowing team.

“I went out with the Port Isaac rowing team in the gig in the evenings after work which was great. We rowed out from the harbour right out to sea.

“I had to be right at the back so I didn’t smash my oar with someone else. I am an absolute learner and I was petrified by these giant pieces of oak- the oars.

“When someone pushes the boat off you have to hold your oar up in the air before you put it in the sea. But I was so scared I was going to bash someone over the head with my oar. They are so heavy, it feels like you are holding a tree.

“It is really hard work, tough on your arms and wrists. It is fantastic exercise, but it is also very relaxing. The first time I went I was so petrified I was just looking at the oar all the time, trying to keep it in rhythm, so not looking around.

“I had always wondered what Port Isaac looked like from the sea, and to travel along the coast on the sea. I had never done rowing before.

“When it is flat and still it is fine, but when there is any kind of choppiness in the sea that makes it really difficult, you are fighting to keep the oar in the water.”

“The sea needs to be respected. I felt really safe with the rowing team. Those people know the water so well they really know what they are doing. You knew you were in really safe hands.

“The rowing team is made up of local people and has been going since the late 80s. There has always been a tradition of each fishing village having a gig. Traditionally they were like pilot boats to steer the boats into harbour.

Caroline’s invitation to join the rowing team came when she was shopping in the surfers’ shop in Port Isaac.

“It was a beautiful evening and someone came into the shop to say they were short of people for the gig, and the owner of the shop asked if I wanted to go.

“I had watched the team go out and admired them, so I jumped at the chance.”

Caroline also caught the surfing bug while she was in Cornwall. She joined members of the crew on their evening trips to the surfers’ paradise of Polzeath. But the first time she went out on the waves nearly proved disastrous.

“I bought a wet suit and a wooden boogie board. The first time I went out I got myself into a bit of a muddle and went out a bit too deep.

“A giant wave came up from behind me and knocked me over. The boogie board jammed into the sea bed and I got smashed on top of it, right across my middle.

“The crew who were with me were looking at me with absolute horror on their faces. They said I went white and got up spluttering and crawled to the shore. It didn’t put me off, but I did buy a nice new foam board to replace the old wooden one.”

Caroline says part of the joy of filming Doc Martin is being able to enjoy a whole new life style.

“It was great spending three and a half months living by the sea. I enjoyed being out of London. It is just such a different existence. It has a completely different rhythm to it, driven by what the sea is doing rather than whether the Tube has broken down. The house I stay in when I am filming looks right out to sea

“I couldn’t envisage living somewhere like Portwenn though, it’s a bit too small for me.”

Caroline was however wooed by the different lifestyle, and was persuaded to sell her car and buy a camper van for family holidays.

“I’ve enjoyed being out of London so much and being near the sea, and I had seen these fantastic camper vans driving around Cornwall, so I decided to sell the car and buy one.

“The idea is we can leave London for a holiday when we want to. It is very exciting.”

Caroline’s character in Doc Martin, headmistress, Louisa Glasson, is highly unlikely to leave the Cornish hamlet of Portwenn. Her dreams remain focussed on a future with Dr Martin Ellingham.

Despite the doctor’s curmudgeonly manner and complete lack of romance, Louisa is still determined to have a relationship with him. Her persistence appears to be paying off at last.


“I admire her determination. She is determined because she is genuinely in love with him and she thinks it is not happening because of something about his personality that somehow she will change.
“I think there is a slight belief that she might be able to do that; that he will become more what she wants him to be when they are together. It is a classic mistake that people make: that belief you can change people.

“She wants to have a relationship with him, and she has accepted he is socially inept. But whenever she takes steps to get them together something goes wrong. It is heartbreaking for her.”

The arrival of a glamorous new woman in Portwenn who is vying for the Doctor’s attention galvanises Louisa into action. She invites the doctor to a romantic evening of classical music.

Prompted by the sense of romance in the air Louisa seizes her chance to demonstrate how she feels.

“The date at the concert goes very well. It is very romantic, the doc takes Louisa’s hand and it’s all looking quite promising. She initiates a kiss. After the kiss the doc starts to say something. Louisa urges him not to ruin the moment, but of course he manages to. For Louisa that is a really heartbreaking moment because that is when she realises she has been attempting to chase something that is never going to work.”

Louisa storms off believing there is no hope for their relationship. But she’s in for a big surprise when the doctor proposes to her just after he has saved her friend’s life.

“Louisa is in awe at how Martin has been able to bring her friend back to life. As he is leaving her house he stops in the doorway, and out of the blue asks her to marry him.

“She says yes, of course. She has been waiting three years for this moment. A drink would have done!

“It would be great to see them get together at last. We will have to see what happens…..”

Since filming the Doc Martin Christmas special last year, Caroline has taken the opportunity to spend time her baby daughter Honor and son Sonny.

Caroline’s recent television credits include The Vice, In Denial of Murder, Real Men, The Bill, Preston Front, Look Me In The Eye and The Guilty.

BAFTA HISTORY

HISTORY OF BAFTA

Notable Occurances
Notable hosts- Stephen Fry, 6 years (2001-06)
Jonathan Ross, 2 years (1999, 2007)

• The classic 1962 film Lawrence Of Arabia was voted the best Bafta winner from the last 60 years by members of the academy
• The first awards, designed by Henry Moore, were statues in the form of a large, bronze, seated lady valued at UK £550 each at the time, but of great value today
• In 1955 a small work, a trophy mask, was commissioned by Andrew Miller-Jones of the [then] Guild of Television Producers, which later merged with the British Film Academy to become BAFTA
•
First Presenter- Edith Evans, 7 years (1954-51)
In 1992 a controversial selection was made in the Best Drama Serial category, when Prime Suspect beat G.B.H. to win the award. Following the ceremony, four of the seven voting members of the jury signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for G.B.H. to win. Irene Shubik, who as chairman did not cast a vote, refused to publicly comment on the affair, but BAFTA Chairman Richard Price stated that the ballot papers passed on to him by Shubik had shown four votes for Prime Suspect and three for G.B.H.. Price claimed that the ballot papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed. No blame was ever attached to Shubik by the four judges, and it was to her that they had initially turned to raise the apparent discrepancy with BAFTA.


Brief History of BAFTA

• Formed 1947 as The British Film Academy by Sir Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Roger Manvell, Anthony Asquith, Michael Balcon, Frank Launder, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger and Paul Rotha, with fellow founder David Lean becoming the first chairman

• Merged with The Guild of Television and Film Producers and Directors in 1958 to form The Society of Film and Television Arts

• In 1976 became known as The British Academy of Film and Television Arts

• BAFTA/LA holds its own awards show each year

Important dates of BAFTA

1. 1947, British Film Academy founded (BFA)

2. 1953, Guild of Television Producers and Directors founded (GTPD)

3. 1958, BFA and GTPD merge to become The Society of Film and Television Arts

4. 1962, Prince Philip becomes the academy’s first president

5. 1971, Alfred Hitchcock is awarded first academy fellowship

6. 1973, Princess Royal becomes new president

7. 1976, SFTA becomes The British Academy of Film and Television Arts

8. 1976, Richard Cawston appointed new chairman

9. 1998, First year of separate awards ceremonies for TV and Film

10. 2000, Television Craft Awards has first year as a separate event

11. 2001, Lord Attenborough is appointed new president


BAFTA Participants

This year’s BAFTA awards are celebrating their 60th birthday and to commemorate this they have invited a host of past and present BAFTA winners who represent the decades of BAFTA gone by.


The Noughties

The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at no 42 is an innovative combination of the sitcom and the chat show. It follows The Kumars who are an Asian family that host a variety of guests from their front room. Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal were both nominated in 2003 for Best Entertainment Performance and the show was nominated twice for Best Programme or Series in 2002 and 2003.

Halle Berry
Multi-award winning Hollywood actress Halle Berry was nominated for a BAFTA for her role as widowed waitress Lecticia Musgrove in the film Monster’s Ball in 2003.

The musical/film Billy Elliott
Billy Elliot tells the emotional story of a young, working class boy who secretly chooses ballet slippers over boxing cloves, unbeknownst to his father. The film was nominated for, and won, several BAFTAs and its leading actor Jamie Bell won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

Ricky Gervais
Comedian Ricky Gervais is best known for his dry humour and wit. His stand-up shows are sell-outs and his writing and directing talents, along with friend and colleague Stephen Merchant, are behind the success of the TV series The Office and Extras. He’s been nominated for a massive 10 BAFTAs and won seven of those for both his performances and writing skills.

The 80s, 90s and Noughties

Victoria Wood
Comedian Victoria Wood possesses a host of talents from actress and writer to composer and producer. She has been nominated for a record 12 BAFTAs to date reflecting her many roles in both drama and comedy.

Coronation Street – programme
Fifteen times nominated soap Coronation Street has been presented with the award for Best Continuing Drama and Best Soap more than just a few times and this years Happy Birthday BAFTA celebration will see cast members from the previous five years reunited.

The 80s and 90s

Sir Ben Kingsley
Critically acclaimed actor Sir Ben Kingsley has been nominated four times for a BAFTA. He was awarded both Best Actor and Best Newcomer for his debut film role in Ghandi (1982).

The 70s
Stanley Baxter Glaswegian comedian and impressionist Stanley Baxter is a three times BAFTA nominee in the Best Light Entertainment category winning in 1975 with his series The Stanley Baxter Moving Picture Show.

Ronnie Corbett (OBE)
Ronnie Corbett, stand-up comic, actor, presenter and one half of comedy genius double The Two Ronnies, won his first BAFTA in 1971 for Best Light Entertainment Performance in No, That’s Me Over There! He shared a further four nominations with Ronnie Barker for The Two Ronnies for Best Light Entertainment Performance. They won the BAFTA for this category in 1972.
Morecambe and Wise/Armstrong and Miller
Comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise collected five consecutive BAFTAs (1970-1974) for Best Light Entertainment Performance for their sketch show The Morecambe and Wise Show. At Happy Birthday BAFTA funnymen Armstrong and Miller will be performing a classic Morecambe and Wise tribute sketch.

Upstairs Downstairs, as a programme.
1970s filmed period drama Upstairs, Downstairs was set in a London Edwardian town house in the 1930s and depicted the lives of the servants ‘downstairs’ and their superiors ‘upstairs’. The TV series was nominated for an impressive nine BAFTAs for the time that it ran for and won the awards for Best Drama Production in 1972 and Best Drama Series/Serial in 1974. This years BAFTAs will see 11 of the cast re-united, including Jean Marsh and Pauline Collins.

Cabaret – film
Following the 1966 legendary Broadway production of Cabaret, the musical film version was released in 1972 and was a huge success. The film starred Liza Minnelli as the leading lady Sally Bowles and was directed by Bob Fosse and was nominated for an astonishing 11 BAFTAs in 1973, winning 7 of those which included Best Film, Best Soundtrack and Best Actress.

Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli has graced both the stage and the big screen during her career and has numerous successful albums to her name. Her part as ‘Pookie’ Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Promising Newcomer and in 1973 she won the BATFA for Best Actress for her lead role in the smash hit musical Cabaret.

The 60s

Rita Tushingham
Rita Tushingham, British actress and 60s icon, has three BAFTA nominations to her name winning Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for A Taste of Honey in 1961.

JOANNA LUMLEY ON HOSTING THE BAFTAS

What are you looking forward to about the evening of BAFTA celebration?

“It’s going to be a fabulous night of entertainment, which I can’t wait to be around and of course I get to work with the absolutely lovely Michael Parkinson.

“The event itself is going to be spectacular but myself and Michael will just be these (hopefully entertaining) links between wonderful acts and variety pieces. I’m so excited to be working with Michael; I adore him and his show.”

Who are your favourite BAFTA winners?
“I don’t think people should measure themselves by award ceremonies, it’s absolutely lovely to get an award but we have so much great talent out there not everyone can win which is such a shame. It’s an honour to win an award but you shouldn’t be upset if you don’t.

“Sometimes I watch ceremonies and if they have 6 strong contenders you just wish everyone could win an award as all the performances are top notch. Don’t get me wrong it’s such a huge honour to win but you shouldn’t be bitterly disappointed if you don’t. Winning is like a Christmas star on your head.”

With tributes to classic programmes like Upstairs Downstairs what other programme would you like to see remade?

“All the shows I would love to get re-made are the classic shows that sadly no longer have the cast members alive. I would love to see a Porridge reunion but the lovely Richard Beckinsale and Ronnie Barker are no longer with us.

“I always think that sometimes the audience like to remember us as we were as opposed to now - much older – I’d hate the thought of someone saying to me “Didn’t you used to be Joanna Lumley,” which thankfully hasn’t happened yet!”

What does it mean to win a BAFTA?
“As I mentioned before, it’s such a huge honour to win a BAFTA but you shouldn’t be sad or disappointed if you don’t as they only have a limited amount of awards and not everyone can have their fantastic work honoured at once.

“I keep my BAFTA in my study, I won three awards: a special achievement for The Avengers and two for Ab Fab. I adore them and it’s such an honour to have them.

“I think the most amazing thing about British Television is the archive collection. We properly have the best television in the world in our archives – such amazing shows – Porridge, Morecombe and Wise, Jewel in the Crown, old Parkinson etc.

“I think television has changed so much now in the sense that people can watch it in such different ways (online, phone, DVD etc) that we’ve lost that ‘event feel’ to shows, in which the whole family sit down and watch together, those great 28 million viewers that Morecombe and Wise you used to get and then the day after everyone would talk about shows. It is such a shame but things change and move on.”

What have you got coming up?
“I’ve just finished a lovely film called Boogie Woogie, which was a joy to film. I play Christopher Lee’s wife, we also had Gillian Anderson, Alun Cumming starring to name a few.
“I’m also about to go off to India with my gorgeous husband to write a special feature for a magazine which I’m very excited about.”

7 NEW GIVEWAYS

Just posted over at our parent site Memorable TV we have seven great new giveaways for your delectation and delight.

The Adventures of Aquaman
Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Voyagers The Complete Series
Nicole Kidman in Fur
Who the $%^& is JAckson Pollack
Jimmy Carr Comedian

Don't miss them!!

THE GREEN GREEN GRASS Season Three Episode Two

Hard to believe that this show is now in it's third season, it's like a throwback to the dark days of the mid 1980's, if it wasn't a spin off from the venerable Only Fools and Horses then it is doubtful this would have even got as far as episode three. The series returns 2 November but here we look ahead to episode 2 broadcasting 9 November on BBC1 @ 8.30pm.

For once, Boycie and Tyler are united in their desperation to avoid a visit to Marlene's mum, Dora, as John Sullivan's hit comedy continues. "I'd rather superglue my face to the table," complains Boycie, who knows that Dora can't stand him. Poor Tyler is also sick of his grandma treating him like a two-year-old.

But Marlene is insistent, as it's three years since she's seen her mum. So, while Boycie and Tyler reluctantly join her in the car for the drive to Bournemouth, they leave behind a moping Bryan and a worried Elgin, Jed and Mrs Cakeworthy.

It's the anniversary of his fourth engagement to Myrtle, meanwhile, and Bryan is heartbroken. Elgin, Jed and Mrs Cakeworthy recognise the signs – Bryan is singing to the cows. They decide to try and help and sign Bryan up to an online dating agency – farmersfanciers.com – packed with "beautiful, charismatic, vivacious and desperate women." He soon turns out to be an instant hit with Steamy Stella.

Later, on arrival in Bournemouth, Dora is furious that Marlene has brought Boycie with her, as she was hoping for a weekend with just her daughter and grandson. While Marlene cooks up a storm in the kitchen, Dora soon cooks up a plan to get rid of Boycie.

John Challis plays Boycie, Jack Doolan plays Tyler, June Whitfield plays Dora, Sue Holderness plays Marlene, David Ross plays Elgin, Peter Hepplethwaite plays Jed, Ella Kenion plays Mrs Cakeworthy and Ivan Kaye plays Bryan.

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane

The start of another excellent two part story on BBC1 Monday 5 November @ 5.00pm, Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane. In this fourth tale (broadcast as usual over the course of two episodes) Sarah Jane mysteriously disappears – just as a huge meteor threatens to crash straight into Earth. When Maria wakes up one morning it's as though Sarah Jane – and Luke – never existed. Living across the road in Sarah Jane's house is a woman called Andrea. And, with the attic empty and Mr Smith nowhere to be seen, every other trace of Sarah Jane has vanished – and Maria is the only one able to remember her.

With the mysterious, hooded figure of the Trickster haunting Bannerman Road and the alien Graske meddling in time, Maria sets out to discover whatever happened to Sarah Jane. But as her journey takes her back to 1964, will she be able to find Sarah Jane in time to stop the meteor from destroying the world?

Sarah Jane Smith is played by Elisabeth Sladen, Maria Jackson by Yasmin Paige, Luke Smith by Thomas Knight and Clyde by Daniel Anthony. Jane Asher guest stars as Andrea Watson.

ROBIN HOOD SEASON TWO EPISODE FIVE

Airing this Saturday on BBC One is the fifth episode (can't believe we are upto episode five already) of the great fun that is this new take on an old favourite.

In it a horrified Robin realises that his plan to capture the Sheriff's spy, Henry of Lewes (played by David Bamber), has failed because he has a traitor in his gang. Fearing for Marian's safety in the castle, Robin sets about rooting out the turncoat. His only clue is supplied by Marian: the spy's meeting place is located at the Trip To Jerusalem Inn, where the traitor outlaw sells his secrets to Gisborne.

With two missions to complete Robin is relieved when Henry of Lewes arrives at the castle unconscious, his vital information about the King's landing sites remaining a mystery. Robin infiltrates the castle to silence Henry, but help arrives in the shape of harridan wise-woman Matilda, tasked by the Sheriff to nurse Henry to health. Asking Robin to look after her heavily pregnant daughter, Matilda promises that she'll silence Henry using special herbs, but doesn't bargain upon the Sheriff making the connection with Robin Hood and putting her life in mortal peril...

Robin returns to the forest with Matilda's daughter, to a confused and hurt gang: they resent being suspected of treachery and it takes all of Robin's leadership skills to rally his outlaws into helping Rosa.

But then Marian arrives, reporting that Matilda is about to be tried for witchcraft. The race is on to rescue her before she drowns. Can Robin trust his gang to save the lives at stake as well as silencing Henry? As Robin well knows, there is a spy in his gang who needs catching before this day is out.

THE ADVENTURES OF AQUAMAN - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

This children's animated fantasy from the great Filmation company is just released on DVD by Warner Home Entertainment. Over on the main site we have three copies to win

After being born to a woman from Atlantis and a lighthouse keeper Aquaman controls all the creatures of the sea. Aquaman's adventures formed part of the Superman-Aquaman hour. Aquaman was known as "King of the Seven Seas" and initial segments of this show were seen within Superman during 1967 before this starring show emerged.

Aquaman could live underwater and used brainwaves to communicate with the creatures of the sea, he even had his own Seahorse called Storm. Aquaman was married to Mera and had a son called Aqualad aka Tadpole.

THE LAST DETECTIVE SEASONS TWO AND THREE

Seasons two and three / reg 4 / out now
Based on the character created by Leslie Thomas this new release from Time Life stars Peter Davison as Detective Constable Dangerous Davies, a middle aged copper who only gets the cases nobody else wants. Season one had mostly been based on Thomas's original novels but season two and three are fresh stories.

This is a surprisingly good series that whilst obviously having to make changes to the Davies character to bring it up to date still manages to stay true to the flavour of Thomas’s original material, combining as it does, proper who-dunnit material and humorous moments.Especially worthy of note is the relationship between Davison’s Dangerous and Sean Hughes’s Mod who is Dangerous’s best friend, in the books Mod is a chubby middle aged Welshman whilst here he becomes a rake thin Irishman, obviously this doesn’t detract in any way from the series as most viewers won’t necessarily be aware of the source material.

Guest stars include the likes of Emma Amos (as Dangerous’s ex wife), Rob Spendlove, David Troughton, Joanne Froggatt, Ingrid Lacey, Sian Phillips, Stephen Tompkinson, Tony Slattery and Hugo Speer. More sedate than some of today's overly violent crime drama fare Dangerous Davies is a very welcome addition to the detective drama ranks.

ROSEMARY AND THYME Seasons 1 to 3

Time Life / region 4 / out now
This fun and unusually premised detective series is being released on DVD by Time Life.

Mixing gardening tips (the series was filmed at some of the most beautiful gardens to be found in Surrey and Hampshire) and murder investigations the show stars Felicity Kendal as plant biologist Rosemary Boxer and Pam Ferris as ex policewoman Laura Thyme.

The two have teamed up to start their own garden design business but manage to find murder and mystery at every turn.

The series is great fun, easy on the eye and easy on the brain too, it doesn’t take itself too seriously (the criminals are never that difficult to spot). Also Kendal and Ferris work well together and the characters they play are certainly more interested in the gardens they are working on than sleuthing but find that murder just follows them around.Besides looking good there are also some quality guest stars appearing too including the likes of Abigail Cruttenden, Eamon Boland, Michael Cochrane and Beatie Edney. Also worthy of mention is the beautiful rendering of the theme tune (yes of course it’s Scarborough Fair) performed by the world class guiatrist John Williams. Definitely a case of Murder Most Floral.



Extras include a nice behind the scenes featurette.

JEEVES AND WOOSTER SEASON ONE

Time Life / reg 4 / no extras

Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robert Daws

When ITV first announced that it was making a big budget series based on P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books and it would be starring so called alternative comics Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie fans were apprehensive to say the least but of course no one need have worried as the series turned out to be one sublime joy from start to finish.

Time Life are now releasing the series on DVD, series one now available. It's the 1920's, the roaring twenties in fact, a time when the wealthy set spent their time generally living it up and giving Paris Hilton a run for her money. Bertie Wooster (a role Laurie was made to play, which he does to perfection) is not overly blessed in the braincell department and seems to lurch from one crisis to another, more often than not inspired by Aunt Agatha's plans to get him married off, of course he can always rely on his butler Jeeves (an equally superb performance from Stephen Fry) to get him out of the trouble.

A wonderfully enjoyable series, marvellously shot and a top notch cast, its quite funny to note how over the run of the series the supporting characters would more often than not be played by different actors from episode to episode, not that that matters a jot of course.

In a word - sumptuous.

WATERLOO ROAD SEASON THREE EPISODE FIVE

Waterloo Road continues with its third season, episode five sees a day of heartbreak at Waterloo Road with Donte is on the warpath after finding Chlo and Brett in bed together. Unable to find Brett, Donte takes out his frustrations in the school car park.

News of Chlo and Brett travels fast and Chlo is desperate to tell Mika about her and Brett before someone else does – but she's too late. Donte confronts Chlo and Mika and he reveals the awful truth. Chlo feels sick – what has she done? Mika and Donte hate her and her friends won't talk to her.

Donte pays Brett a visit and beats him up. Chlo finds Brett nursing his wounds and pleads with him not to report Donte to the police. Feeling isolated, Chlo returns home and packs her bags – life just can't get any worse.

Meanwhile, Jack takes Davina out for lunch. He's determined to "do the right thing" and confess about his one-night stand with Steph, but loses his nerve.

He can't tell Davina the truth; she means too much to him. Unfortunately for Jack, a misunderstanding in the staff room takes matters out of his hands and Davina finds out. Can Jack hold on to the true love of his life?

Tom returns home to find Mika in a distressed state and Chlo nowhere to be seen. It's soon clear Chlo has run away. Mika says she couldn't care less – as far as she's concerned it's good riddance.

Chlo, meanwhile, is in a café being "befriended" by Lucy, who is only too happy to look after Chlo in her hour of need...

Donte is played by Adam Thomas, Chlo by Katie Griffiths, Brett by Tom Payne, Mika by Lauren Drummond, Jack by Jason Merrells, Davina by Christine Tremarco, Steph by Denise Welch, Tom by Jason Done and Lucy by Emma Hartley-Miller, with Neil Morrissey as Eddie Lawson and Lauren Thomas as Aleesha.

BRITZ

Written and directed by BAFTA award-winning Peter Kosminsky, Britz is a gripping two-part thriller about a young brother and sister, both British-born and Muslim, who are pulled in radically different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post 9/11 Britain.

Part one follows the story of Sohail (Riz Ahmed - The Road to Guantanamo ). A young Muslim Brit, Sohail is ambitious and university educated. His desire to assimilate into every aspect of contemporary British culture sees him driven into the open arms of MI5 where his first assignment is to help track down a terrorist cell linked to the July 7th London bombers. The enquiry leads him back to his own community in Bradford where no one, not even his closest friends, is above suspicion. Unsure if he is being used to entrap his own, Sohail is forced to question where his loyalties really lie, with the Pakistani Muslim community or with the country of his birth, England.

Part two follows the story of Nasima (Manjinder Virk). Unlike her brother, Nasima, a medical student in Leeds, is deeply suspicious of the British establishment and spends much of her time campaigning against repressive government policies.

She witnesses at first-hand the relentless targeting of her Muslim neighbours and finds herself increasingly alienated by the British Government's domestic policy. The turning point is when her best friend kills herself after being abused while under arrest for innocently falling foul of the new anti-terror laws. Nasima is not only forced to question her liberal views, she is left feeling so angry at and estranged from the country of her birth, that she embarks on an extraordinary journey that eventually takes her to a terrorist training camp in north-west Pakistan.

Britz airs 31 Oct and 1 Nov on Channel 4 @ 9.00pm each night.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE ON MY BOY JACK

Daniel was not only drawn to the powerful story at the heart of My Boy Jack, but also the chance to play a character who represents such a tragic and human part of World War I history, a period he has always been fascinated by.

“The story was the first thing that attracted me to this project. It’s tragic and beautifully written. I think the strength of the story is the key thing that draws anybody to a drama. You can have a good character to play, but it doesn’t amount to anything if it’s a weak story.

“On this occasion I was lucky enough to get that combination - an amazing character to play in just a phenomenal story. I’ve also had a relatively long-running fascination with World War 1. I think this comes from growing up surrounded by films and books inspired by that time – I consumed everything including the last series of Blackadder.

“All war is, to a certain extent, beyond anyone’s imagination, but particularly what it must have felt like to be ‘in the trenches’. These were probably some of the worst conditions any human has had to deal with, certainly in the 20th century. You feel compelled to learn about it so that the people who went through it don’t just fade away into the past, and hopefully this will help ensure that people never experience those dreadful conditions again.

‘Those conditions’ were recreated to the last detail in Ireland’s County Wicklow, as Daniel and his co-stars spent six days in trenches filled with mud, smoke and rats, lashed by powerful rain machines. Over the top was No Man’s Land, scattered with explosives and eerily realistic prosthetics of soldiers who hadn’t quite made it to safety.

“To recreate the WW1 trenches was an amazing experience. The moment we drove up to this field in Ireland and opened the door, we were suddenly in No Man’s Land - it was really haunting and strange and eerie. Maybe I’m romanticising, but there’s a certain energy that develops when you’re standing, filthy and absolutely soaked to the skin, in a trench: the camaraderie that developed between everybody was so great you can only imagine what it must have been like in the real thing.

“It was actually incredibly exhilarating to be in the middle of it. We’d all be sitting there in the rain and mud chatting to each other before a take and then we’d get up and dash through explosions, which were going off on all sides of us. There were markers dotted across this battlefield where the explosions were and then we’d start filming and they’d take them away and start the rain machines, so our vision would be reduced by about 70%. Also, the rain does something to performance. Bryan Kirk, the director, says that when it’s raining that heavily there’s a level of intensity that almost can’t be gained any other way. When you have to compete with the rain and still be able to communicate with each other, the level of intensity in your performance soars. And the water in those rain machines seems a lot colder and a lot harder than the rain you get from normal clouds.

“It wasn’t so much the physical side of filming which was difficult - you just get on with it - it was having the mental stamina to deal with the cold and the rain. It was pretty intense. People were offering blankets and tea and we were loath to take them because, in a strange way, all of that cold and discomfort really, really helps the performance.

“It helps you to get into character, experiencing an element of what they must have felt. I suppose the hardest thing about it was being able to keep up with the pace of filming as well. It’s a pace of filming that I’m totally not used to. On Harry Potter, which is obviously the main thing I’ve been doing for the past seven years, we’ll do maybe two scenes a day, most likely just the one, whereas on My Boy Jack we’d be doing about five or six.

“When I was in all of them, they were very long days. But I quite like throwing myself into things and if you’re prepared and you turn up on time and learn the lines for all the scenes that day then you shouldn’t really have a problem. The only time I struggled was on one particular scene where we all had to do press-ups and Jack, as the leader of his platoon, has to do press-ups to the last while everyone falls down around him. It meant that some people would do two press-ups in a take and then fall down, some people would do five and then fall down, some would maybe get up to ten…but I had to do about 20 each take! I know that doesn’t sound like a lot but after 10 or so takes your arms are absolutely wrecked.”

Jack Kipling’s determination to join the forces in the face of adversity is what Daniel likes most about his character, especially as it has enabled him to follow Jack’s rites of passage journey with a maturity he has not yet himself played on screen.

“Jack is rebuffed twice by two different medical boards but he doesn’t give up hope. If his dad hadn’t found a way in for him I have no doubt he probably would have tried to join the ranks, although in Jack’s social class that’s probably almost as bad as not going to war at all. Jack does go through a great deal but one of the things which makes him such a loveable character is that he isn’t deterred.
“I hope people realise Jack is not just going because his father wants him to go - he is absolutely going for himself and he genuinely wants to be in the thick of it. He wants the navy more than anything because he and his father were totally obsessed with the navy but, more than that, he just wants to be out there fighting, as I think most people did. To be at home and to be viewed as unfit to fight was such a deeply humiliating experience.

“Obviously we can’t speculate too much as to Jack and Rudyard’s relationship, but my impression is that Jack looked up to his father and was proud to be his son, not for his celebrity but for who he was with Jack. There’s a line in the film where Jack says he’s never read The Jungle Books, which are his father’s most celebrated works. I suppose he just took it for granted that he was his dad and that was that: being a writer was just his job.

“Equally, though, I think Jack felt suffocated by his dad and by their house. He just desperately wanted to get away and prove to himself that he could become his own man. On one level you’re tempted to say that Jack and Rudyard are very similar but on another you feel that Jack really wants to break away from those similarities.

“There’s something very appealing about the character of Jack. He’s very likeable: he wasn’t particularly academic at school but he was very, very charismatic and he was a really great leader. I had to work hard though to get into Jack’s skin because the concept of a teenager didn’t really exist then as it does now. I think you were either an adult or you were at school. But Jack’s in quite a unique place in that he suddenly goes from being a boy, who is a great supporter of his father, to wanting to become his own man. He certainly becomes a man, commanding and leading men a lot older than him, and I had to show how he suddenly developed that maturity and make it believable.

“That was quite hard for me because I still haven’t grown up to the extent that Jack has in the film. I had to act older than I am, which is much harder than acting younger I think. But when you like a character, no matter how hard it is to get under his skin, it becomes a lot more enjoyable because it’s a pleasure getting to know him better. As long as I keep doing work like this and having a good time doing interesting things, I think you’ve got to give everything a go and just see how you fare. Sometimes it will come off and it will be great and sometimes it won’t and it’ll be horrible but at least I’ll have tried. I think, and hope, this is in the former category though.

“Although Jack was still really only a boy, he could command real authority. That’s just the way it was then. If you were of a certain class, you went to military college and you’d be expected to be an officer by the time you were about 18. I don’t know about the military today but presumably it’s pretty similar. You still have 18-year-old boys leading men and going to war. It’s fairly shocking, but equally that’s the way it was then and I suppose nothing changes in war, so it’s to be expected in a sad way.”

As well as being a challenge, My Boy Jack also gave Daniel a greater understanding of war, although he admits he will only ever understand a fraction of what it means to those in the thick of it.

“War, especially the First World War, is such a huge experience that no one now can hope to have a true understanding of what it was like. Even now, having done this film, I feel a closeness to WW1 and to the people who fought in it, but I don’t think I could ever have a real understanding of what they went through.

“I tried to think my way into Jack’s head but there’s only so far you can go. There was a moment during filming where it did suddenly occur to us that the film is so relevant, given the current situation. And so I hope it will be able to touch people and move them. We don’t point the finger at Rudyard for sending his son to the front, we just show that terrible paradox within any family during a world war. No one ever wants anyone to have to go to war, but then if no one ever does, what terrible powers could rise up?

“There is no wrong or right answer, unfortunately. But I think the story will certainly resonate with people, people possibly serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. I’m not sure there are any countries which have not been involved in wars at some point in history. I think somewhere along the line young men from every country around the world have gone off and died for whatever cause, so I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t appeal to people in America or Australia or Japan or Canada or anywhere else.”

The amount of research that went into the film’s characters, the closeness between the leading actors, and the fact that Daniel did the very same walk Jack Kipling himself did when he left Bateman’s to go to France, made the experience all the more real.

“I think what David (Haig) has done is just amazing - it’s a labour of love and he has been labouring at it for such a long time. He knows every character, particularly Rudyard, inside out, and I have to say he was an absolute pleasure to work with. Especially when we’d suddenly look at each other and realise we could actually pass for father and son.

“The amount of research Kim (Cattrall) did since becoming involved could possibly even rival David’s - she was amazing. But the best thing was that there was a genuine family atmosphere between me, David, Kim and Carey (Mulligan), which was lovely to be around as it made the whole experience feel very, very real.

“On the last day of the shoot we filmed the scene where Jack leaves home to go to war, which we filmed at Bateman’s on what would have been, had he lived, Jack’s 110th birthday. To be filming that scene on the day he was born was amazing. What was more significant was to do what would have been the same walk Jack did up the same pathway to leave for war. In the archway of the door of the house, Jack had inscribed his initials and every time I walked out of the door to do a take, I walked right past them. That was a particularly moving moment for me. To see those initials was so sad and poignant, especially knowing what we know now.”

COMEDY SHOWCASE: FREE AGENTS 5/6

Alex (Stephen Mangan) has a lot to be thankful for. His health, for example. Growing up in Twickenham rather than, say, Baghdad. And the tiny sofa in his poky office, he's pretty thankful for that as he's been calling it home ever since he left his wife and children. Stuck in the middle of a painful divorce, Alex is clinging on to his job at successful talent agency TMA, run by his sex-obsessed, cocksure and roguish boss, Stephen (Anthony Head).

He's penniless, homeless and last week he burst into tears in Sainsbury's because for a second he imagined he saw his kids by the meat counter. Helen (Sharon Horgan) is coping really well with the after-effects of her own personal trauma. It's almost a year since her boyfriend dropped dead, just months before their wedding. But time has passed, she has a nice flat and, unlike Alex, she's successful at her job in the talent agency. She's getting her act together. She's just wishing she hadn't celebrated the anniversary of her fiance's death by sleeping with Alex.

Free Agents is a dark, poignant comedy, an on-but-mostly-off romance about a couple who might just have a future if they can ever shake off their pasts. Starring Stephen Mangan, Sharon Horgan, Anthony Head, Frances Tomelty and Nick Barber.

Channel 4 / Friday 9 November @ 10.30pm

RIVER COTTAGE: GONE FISHING 1/3

Fish 'n' Chips. Where would the British seaside be without this iconic meal? Fish is one of the UK's favourite foods and the benefits of eating it regularly are widely reported. From sardines to smoked salmon to scampi, fish takes pride of place on Britain's menus and still rates as one of the UK's favourite dishes. Yet with diminishing fish stocks, there's a crisis at sea.

So what's a fish lover to do? Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall begins an investigative culinary journey around the British Isles to tackle this in River Cottage: Gone Fishing . Hoping to discover alternative, delicious and sustainable seafood that fishmongers should be selling and we should be eating, Hugh's fish fact-finding foray begins in the Channel Islands. Aside from the fish that he tempts fans with, he too nearly becomes dinner to one hungry shark. Armed with rod, line and an adventurous palate, and with plenty of help from local fish fanciers, Hugh discovers a vast array of underrated seafood and some great ways of making it taste fantastic.

Producer: Ben Roy / Channel 4 / Thursday 8 Nov @ 8.00pm

DID BARRY GEORGE KILL JILL DANDO?

In 2002 Channel 4's Cutting Edge broadcast the first programme raising doubts about the conviction of Barry George for the murder of television presenter Jill Dando. He was convicted in July 2001 and lost an appeal a year later. Following the programme his family and supporters submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to have the case re-examined.

Five years later, with Barry George still protesting his innocence, the CCRC has referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. Their ground is that a much-remembered microscopic piece of forensic evidence - a gunshot particle allegedly in the pocket of his coat - cannot carry the evidential weight given it at George's trial. On the eve of a new appeal which could set him free, the team behind the first Cutting Edge returns to the case to tell the story behind the latest dramatic twist in one of Britain's greatest murder mysteries ever.

Director: James Cohen / Channel 4 / Sunday 4 November @ 9.00pm

SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE 1/6: Earth Movers

Sunday 4 November / Channel 4 @ 5.45pm

Robert Llewellyn and Lisa Rogers are back after a summer break with the semi-final showdowns. After the mechanical mayhem of the early knockout rounds, only four teams remain in this year's competition, all of them dreaming of being crowned Scrapheap Challenge Champions. Large-scale construction projects are the inspiration for the first of this year's semi-finals.

Devon surfers The Beach Bums and Norfolk fire-fighters The Extinguishers will need every ounce of strength and enthusiasm as they take on one of the biggest builds in Scrapheap history. They have just ten hours to build giant earth-moving machines capable of shifting hundreds of kilos of soil and gravel. It's a mammoth task, but which team will claim victory?

Producer: Ian Thomas

DOC MARTIN SEASON THREE FINAL EPISODE

This entertaining comedy drama series comes to close on ITV1 on Monday 5 November @ 9.00pm and it's the wedding day for Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) and Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz).

It’s business as usual for Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes), even though it's his wedding day. He opens the surgery as normal to a stream of patients, including one of the bridesmaids.

Louisa Glasson’s (Caroline Catz) best friend Isobel (Amanda Abbington), who is heavily pregnant, is hit in the eye with a party popper as Roger Fenn (Jeff Rawle), who is giving Louisa away, raises a toast to the bride to be. The doctor prescribes eye-drops, and a patch to cover the injury. An eye patch with a bridesmaid’s dress is not a good look.

Martin manages to offend the local vicar (David Ryall) who is due to conduct the wedding ceremony by suggesting he has a drink problem. But when he goes to the church to try to placate the vicar, Martin catches him red handed with a bottle of whisky.

The vicar stumbles as Martin tries to take the bottle away from him, falls over, and fractures his pelvis. As the ambulance takes the vicar to hospital, Martin is left with the dilemma of finding a replacement vicar with just three hours to go to the wedding.

Pauline (Katherine Parkinson) suggests he could try contacting the former vicar of Delabole, Mr Porter (David Bamber). The retired cleric now lives on a farm, and is almost as curmudgeonly as the doctor. Mr Porter strikes a deal with the doctor. He will conduct the wedding ceremony if Martin will examine his sick pig. There’s no choice for Martin as he dons his surgical gloves.

Bert (Ian McNeice) and Al Large (Joe Absolom) are putting the finishing touches to the wedding banquet when disaster strikes. A burst pipe floods the restaurant where the reception is to be held. Bert appeals to an old mate to help him to save the day and loan him a marquee. The only problem is the marquee looks more like a circus tent.

Could anything more go wrong with the preparations? Portwenn’s zealous policeman PC Joe Penhale (John Marquez) locks up the village florist, Charlie Briggs (Andy Pointon), for trying to steal a bike. But his enthusiasm for cracking crime means that all the flowers for the wedding are locked up in the florist’s shop. Aunt Joan appeals to the police constable to free Charlie, but he refuses. But in a surprising move PC Penhale, breaks open the shop door himself, allowing Aunt Joan to collect the flowers.

With less than an hour to go to the ceremony, Isobel goes into labour. Martin is summoned by Louisa and, on a windswept hill top above Portwenn, he delivers a healthy baby boy.

Now it’s a race against time for Martin and Louisa to get to the church on time. Dressed in their wedding finery in their respective homes, they reflect on the commitment they are about to make. Meanwhile the vicar and the guests are at the church awaiting their arrival…..

THE GREAT PRETENDER

From Monday 5 November 2007, weekdays @ 5.00pm

Chris Tarrant will be hosting his first daytime quiz show ,The Great Pretender. It's a test of general knowledge, but it’s also a battle of bluff and pretence.

The Great Pretender is a test of general knowledge, but it’s also a battle of bluffing, double bluffing, masking your own intelligence, discerning others’, and keeping up the great pretence.

In The Great Pretender one person will win the prize money before they’re even The Great Pretender is part quiz, part psychological face-off, a game of nerves where winning is only half the battle.

Six ordinary members of the public compete in each show, they all look trustworthy, but looks can be deceptive.

The question rounds start the show with correct answers gaining cash for the prize pot, but the contestants don’t know if they or the others have answered the question correctly, only the viewers will have the full picture.

At the end of the question rounds, Chris reveals to the players individually whether they are the winner or not. The winner then has to persuade the others that someone else has won. With paranoia raging and contestants searching for any little clue, it’s a huge challenge.

Each show climaxes with the players voting for the person they think has won. If correct, they share the prize pot and the winner leaves with nothing. But if they get it wrong, then winner takes all.

From the moment contestants start playing, they’d better start pretending…

ANDREW DAVIES ON A ROOM WITH A VIEW

Andrew Davies was inspired to create a new layer of narrative in his new adaptation of A Room With A View (ITV1 Sunday 4 November) after discovering EM Forster’s rethinking of his story.

“Forster himself wrote a little postscript in 1958, 50 years after writing the book, imagining what might have happened to the characters. He imagined George Emerson visiting Florence after the Second World War, looking for the Bertolini boarding house. That got me thinking and, since it's so much Lucy's story, I imagined Lucy revisiting Florence after the First World War, to recapture her happiest memories. So the whole thing becomes Lucy's memory of that crucial point in her life and it also gives us the opportunity to add a new ending, after the ending in the book.”

Another inspiration that came to Andrew during the writing process was the casting of the Emersons.

He explains: “I'm so pleased with myself for thinking of Tim and Rafe Spall as Mr Emerson and his son George. The idea came to me when I was about halfway through the script when I suddenly realised I was imagining them in the parts as I was writing, and this is something that rarely happens to me. I'd worked with Rafe before - he was brilliant in the Chatterley Affair - and, of course, I had long admired Tim's work and hoped I'd have him in something of mine one day.

We were very lucky to find them both available at the same time. It was a joy to see them together. They'd never worked together before, but they are a very close dad and son, and that comes through so powerfully in the performances.”

PARKINSON

Good old Parky is apparently hanging up his interviewing hat after this series (Saturdays @ 10.45pm) and this week he is joined by Emmy award-winning actor, Ray Winstone, who will be talking about the release of his latest film ‘Beowulf’, while
legendary comedy sketch duo, Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders, will be reflecting on their 20 years together.

Completing the line up, and best known for his role as Harry Potter, is film, television and stage actor Daniel Radcliffe, who will be talking about his latest role in ITV1’s drama ‘My Boy Jack’. Providing this week's music is American soul singer, Jamie Davis.

During his last series Parkinson spoke to luminaries including Gene Wilder, Joan Rivers, Orlando Bloom, Robin Williams, Patrick Stewart, James Nesbitt, David Attenborough, Piers Morgan and George Michael.

Parkinson has also proved to be the show of choice for many of the world’s best music talents. The previous series saw exclusive performances from some of the biggest names in the business including, Michael Buble(who actually surprised us with his sense of humour), Russell Watson, Travis, Joe Cocker, Scissor Sisters and Amy Winehouse.

SATURDAY NIGHT DIVAS

This one off special, hosted by Myleene Klass, showcases some great female singing talent and brings viewers a sassy, sexy and spectacular television event. Airing on ITV1 on Saturday 3 Nov @ 9.10pm the show features Celine Dion (still there are some good acts on too!), Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez, Girls Aloud, Leona Lewis, Jameila, Natasha Bedingfield and Chaka Khan. In the show, the divas will celebrate all things ‘woman’ by performing some of their classic tracks that we all know and love.

In association with four of the UK’s top Breast Cancer charities, Saturday Night Divas marks the conclusion of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a specially invited audience of fundraisers and campaigners coming together for this unique celebration.

The studio sets will look to the originality and sexiness of Moulin Rouge to ensure the production value of the show brings a completely fresh look to Saturday night TV.

Viewers can expect a jaw dropping performance from Girls Aloud in their sexiest outfits yet, Celine Dion to prove what makes her one of the most popular and biggest selling artists in the world, and Alicia Keys to bring style and sass to the proceedings.

ALL STAR FAMILY FORTUNES

Good to see there is still life in this old chestnut, even if it is having to rely on the vapid world of celebrity for its kicks these days. The show is on ITV1 Saturdays @ 8.25pm. Still hosted by Vernon Kay, who does a surprisingly good job of it actually, this series sees celebrities and their families competing for the top prize of £30,000, but only if they get more than 200 points and all of the top answers.

This series also adds a ‘through the keyhole’ element where the viewer gets to see around the celebs’ houses and guess whose home it is. Episode two (which airs 3 November) is the battle of the TV presenters – Dancing On Ice’s Holly Willougby versus This Morning’s Eamonn Holmes. Holly, who is playing for the James Baldwin Trust, teams up with her Mother, Father, husband Dan and her sister Kelly. Eamonn thinks that an all male team will take him to victory and picks his four brothers from Belfast to play. Eamonn is playing for The Bubble Foundation charity.

BLOOD RUSH

A promising twist on the standard crime drama is what new two part BBC drama Blood Rush, now in production, promises to bring us. Starring Louise Lombard, Lyndsey Marshal and Danny Dyer and created by Waking the Dead's Barbara Machin Blood Rush follows a crime teams attempt to track down a killer.

What makes this different though is the way the drama shifts and unfolds through multiple perspectives and forwards and backwards in time. Lombard plays Kay Rousseau who is in charge of the crime team and dealing with some strong personal issues in her home life. Lyndsey Marshal plays the forensic scientist assigned to the case and Dyer is Rousseau's loyal second in command. The case becomes personal when the killer becomes obsessed with one of the team.

Blood Rush is filming now in Bristol.

RICHARD COYLE ON TWHISTLEBLOWERS

Richard Coyle is very quietly setting about becoming one of the best known actors on UK TV these days, here he talks about the character he plays on ITV1 The Whistleblowers.

When we meet Ben he is unhappy in many ways with his life and the way things have turned out. He’s unfulfilled. He’s volatile and excitable and always has been: that’s his nature. But I think his personality has clashed with his job as a personal injury lawyer. Being a lawyer requires a cool and collected head. Ben kicks against that, and when he sees Mohammed Agiza it drives him to do the first truly spontaneous thing he has ever done.

Ben’s a man who needs to flower, and I think he does that throughout the series. The whistleblowing agency is a way for him to start to live. It’s like he suddenly finds a conscience. He finds something inside himself, a curiosity and a sense of belonging – and that’s what drives him.

I was attracted to the fact that it was a Tony Marchant script and I love his work. And I hadn’t read anything like it. It reminded me of those great 1970s conspiracy movies. Those are my favourite films and that’s my favourite period in film-making, so to get a sense of that from the script was terrific. When I met the director and he said that was how he wanted to shoot it too, I was really excited. I’ve tried to show the dilemma you would face as a human being in Ben’s situation – what would you do if you met a terror suspect? I was interested in examining the prejudices and preconceptions we have. If you read in the media about a terror suspect, do you immediately write them off as a terrorist?

I would like to think I’d be open-minded enough to challenge that prejudice myself. Then the question is why do you do something heroic - is it to be good or is it because you get something out of it? Are you only ever brave if there is a payout or if there is a reward for being brave? Or is truly being brave when you do it with no expectation of reward? I think that’s getting to the core of who you really are. Hopefully, I would have done the right thing. But that’s what Tony writes so well - he puts you right on the line between what’s right and what’s wrong.

All of the moral dilemmas in the series are, in one way or another, pretty gut wrenching. For Ben, I think part of his journey is learning how to empathise with the whistleblowers and not to see it just as an exciting game. I think it particularly hits home when one of them tries to commit suicide to escape their situation – it becomes very real all of a sudden. I think you’d have to be so hard-hearted not to be a little bit wrenched by all of the situations. The key has been to understand why Ben and Alisha fight each time, because they are not superhuman. But in each case there is something which triggers them and makes it appeal on some personal level.

In the face of impossible odds they pursue these cases because it is personal, whether it’s because one of them has been physically attacked or because they can identify with someone’s actual situation. I’m glad that sometimes the outcome is ambiguous. I think it’s right that the cases don’t always have a happy ending. We don’t have all the answers, and we do make mistakes. Some people do get away with it - it’s realistic. You can’t suddenly bring down the whole education system or an environment agency but you can score a small victory in some way. I think that is part of the message - that it’s important to make these small victories. Without sounding too cynical, the good guys don’t always win – and sometimes the bad guys do ruin good people’s lives.

There are a lot of detectives in television who try to be very wry and knowing and a bit too clever for their own good. I don’t want to be po-faced and earnest - it’s not real and I don’t buy it. We can empathise with Ben and Alisha because they are real. They are clearly very much in love, and they compliment each other. Ben is a bit more gung ho than Alisha but I think that’s a good thing for them. Add to Ben and Alisha’s relationship the subject matter, and the whole tone of the series is quite different. It would be easy to sideline Ben and Alisha in favour of the whistleblowers each week, but we see that their journey continues and that they are learning from their mistakes throughout the series. I like the fact that they are not superhuman. You can admire Jack Bauer and look up to him, whereas I think you identify with Ben or Alisha as ordinary people. You can actually put yourself in their situation.

COMING UP

Coming Up, the anthology series for emerging talent is now in it's seventh year would you blieve, a new batch of 8 half hour dramas airs this November on Channel 4.

This year’s films range from quirky love stories and dark comedies to emotional dramas and modern ghost stories. Highlights include The Spastic King written by Jack Thorne, directed by Peter Mackie Burns; Man in a Box written by Alecky Blythe, directed by Yann Demange and Imprints written by Kate Hardie, directed by Amanda Boyle. Cast includes Peter Capaldi, Jason Watkins, Neil Dudgeon and Heather Craney.

Coming Up is the only talent scheme in the UK for emerging writers and directors with a guaranteed network TV broadcast. The careers of Coming Up alumni show how much can be achieved: Andrea Arnold (Bed Bugs, Coming Up 2003) went on to win a BAFTA for Red Road and the Best Short Film Oscar for Wasp, and Paul Andrew Williams (Naked, Coming Up 2003] went on to write and direct the award-winning film London to Brighton.

DON'T BLAME THE BUILDERS

Coming to Channel 4 in November is Don't Blame The Builders and we all know getting the builders in – like your wedding day or having a baby – can be one of the most stressful experiences of your life. Each year, more than 100,000 building jobs in the UK go horribly wrong. As a nation we’re always quick to blame the builders, but is it always their fault?

Don’t Blame the Builders explores how domestic building problems arise when builders from hell meet their match in homeowners from hell. In each episode, building expert Jeff Howell, mediates between a builder and a client at war. His aim – to bring the two sides together and get the job back on track.

What do you do when your builder stops taking your calls, has walked off with your £45,000 renovation project, or left your dream home uninhabitable?

With the owners at breaking point, it’s down to Jeff to help overcome their problems and get the job finished.

THIS IS CIVILISATION

Channel 4 / coming soon

Inspired by Lord Clark’s landmark TV series, Civilisation, this new four-part series follows artist and critic Matthew Collings as he makes a personal selection of the greatest artistic moments and monuments of history – from the ancient Greeks to modern times – to examine how they have shaped our world.

Collings embarks on an epic journey, to stunning locations across Europe, Egypt, China and the United States, to explore the changing and often complicated ways in which cultures of the past have shaped our civilisation. In doing so, he offers a unique perspective on today’s social and political issues.

Programme One looks at the classical past and the influence that religion has played in all aspects of art. Programme Two explores the changing ways that artists have expressed human emotions through their canvases and creations. The penultimate film examines the impact of the Industrial Revolution on ideas about art, nature and society; while the series concludes with the story of modernism – bringing civilisation through to the present day.

COUNTDOWN'S 25TH BIRTHDAY

In honour of Countdown's 25th anniversary we bring you a collection of slightly interesting facts about the daytime quiz show.

With the words 'as the countdown to the launch of a new channel ends, a new Countdown begins', Richard Whiteley was the first person to appear on Channel 4 as it went to air on 2 November, 1982. The late Richard Whiteley presented Countdown for 23 years, from its launch in 1982 until 2005.

Carol Vorderman was the first woman to be seen on Channel 4, as she also made her debut on 2nd November 1982 as Countdown's resident statistician.

Since 1982, the Countdown clock music has played over 27,000 times

Countdown was voted Channel 4's Best Show of All Time by viewers in a 2003 poll published in the Radio Times.

Countdown was honoured in July 2004 with a House of Commons reception in recognition of the series' contribution to promoting literacy and numeracy.

James Squires was only eight years old when he became a Countdown winner and Bertha Bourne was 87 when she had her moment of glory in 1993.

Harvey Freeman was the ultimate Countdowner - undefeated after nineteen games.

Recordings were once delayed when an over-exuberant male member of the audience decided to perform a streak across the studio floor.

The lowest winning word ever scored is 3, By Lester Mark in 1999, and the lowest winning score is 21 points, achieved by Peter Hutchings, also in 1999.

One of the most extraordinary 9-letter words ever was myoglobin, a red protein which stores oxygen in muscle cells - which Scotsman Michael Calder got

in the first round of his series final - he went on to become champion.

THE MAKING OF THE RELIEF OF BELSEN...

Channel 4's major new drama documentary about the relieving of one of the most notorious concentration of world war II is truly compelling and heartbreaking.

Award-winning historical-drama director Justin Hardy doesn’t believe in the re-hashing of literary classics as a basis for television drama. He is a firm believer in the notion that truth really is stranger than fiction and that in all our collective pasts are stories that are rich enough to make us laugh and make us cry.

“I’ve always believed that history throws up fantastic stories and that they can be brought shockingly to life for television by paying close attention to original primary sources,” says Justin.

In this case, the original sources are the diaries, news footage, records and personal testimony of the key personnel behind the relief of Belsen.

“The Belsen story has been told hundreds of times but has never really focused on the unsung heroes behind the relief effort,” explains Justin.

“These were ordinary people, thrown into an extraordinary and horrific situation, who had to overcome enormous hurdles and dilemmas in order to save thousands of lives.

“I was fascinated by the accounts. They showed people doing their best to make a difference against the odds and being heroes before the rest of the world even knew there was an emergency unfolding”.

But what were the challenges of making a film about such an incredibly sensitive and emotive subject and featuring real people?

“I felt a huge burden of responsibility,” admits producer Sue Horth. “Not only to the facts of the story – which are controversial enough – but to the survivors and personnel whose experiences we’d be putting on screen. It was critical that we stay true to the spirit of the sources and their authors, and hat we defer to the original archive as often as we could.

“But our biggest problem was that we had eight boxes of primary sources to choose from and hundreds of potential characters to squeeze into a two hour film.”

“We knew Lt Col Johnston was at the centre of all the decision-making, but when we realised his five medical reports took us right through the critical month after liberation, climaxing with the burning of the huts and his exhausted units being relieved, we knew we had our structure, and our hero.”

The Relief of Belsen has a distinctly modern visual feel. What was the thinking behind this?

“The archive was really the key”, explains Justin. “Once we’d taken the decision to avoid recreating the horror camp itself, we knew we’d need a style that would complement the original footage. And I realised that we could apply the real cameramen’s observational style to our own film.

“We asked ourselves: What if one of those real-life cameramen had chosen to stay behind at camp 2, and follow the behind-the-scenes story instead? We gave our fictional cameraman a name – Aidan – and throughout the scripting process, kept asking ourselves, what would Aidan have seen?

“It gives the film an immediacy and authenticity that it deserves”, adds Sue Horth. “But we were only following the model set by those original army cameramen, whose rushes can still be viewed at the Imperial War Museum.”

The film goes into fascinating detail about the medical and nursing care. Were the Wellcome Trust involved in this aspect of the story?

“We couldn’t have made this film without the assistance of the Wellcome,” says Sue. “After our partnership on ‘Trafalgar Battle Surgeon’ we were keen to make another battlefield emergency film and they came on board immediately for Belsen. Not only are many of the primary sources held at the Wellcome archives, but many of the key scientific personnel, particularly the nutritionists, were connected with the Wellcome Trust.”

Dr Anthony Woods, Head of Medicine Society and History Grants at the Wellcome Trust adds: "We are delighted that this collaboration has proven such a huge success in telling the untold stories of those involved in groundbreaking events at Belsen. The Wellcome Trust remains committed to funding projects to encourage public interest in the history of medicine, this film is no exception."

Justin Hardy has carved an award-winning niche in the field of factual drama, combining an eye for dramatic story-telling with a passion for historical truth. His critically-acclaimed films include A Harlot’s Progress, Trafalgar Battle Surgeon, Invitation to a Hanging, The Peterloo Massacre, Princes in the Tower, Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance, The Great Plague, Georgiana: The People’s Duchess and The Last Dragon.

LOTS OF NEW REVIEWS AND GIVEAWAYS

Over on the parent site Memorable TV We have a whole heap of new giveaways from the Ultimate X-Filesbox set to Avatar, from classic movies to an acting masterclass from Australia's finest. We also have plenty of new DVD Reviews to look at.

THE BIG FAT ANNIVERSARY QUIZ

Channel 4 are celebrating their 25 anniversary this November and have a whole range of themed programmes airing, one of the highlights is sure to be THE BIG FAT ANNIVERSARY QUIZ showing on Friday 2 November @ 10.00pm, Host Jimmy Carr and celebrity team-mates Frank Skinner, Jack Dee, Alan Carr, David Mitchell, Carol Vorderman and Richard Ayoade get on board for a special edition of Channel 4's legendary annual star-studded entertainment fest, The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz .

As the celebrities battle it out to see who remembers most about the last 25 years of Channel 4, they'll be visited by a string of secret and seriously A-list guests to help them along, including Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Ross, Quentin Tarantino and Vic Reeves. Which team will be crowned the champions, winning not only the trophy but the chance to prove themselves worthy in the return of one of the most fondly remembered climaxes to a Channel 4 show? So sit back with your friends and family, play along at home and see how your scores measure up!

Executive Producer: Jonathan Ross / Producer: Jane Goldman / A Hot Sauce production for Channel 4

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS - STARTERS

Season one continues with episode five of this pacey action drama series on ITV1 this Thursday 25 October @ 9.00pm.
In Starters The story starts for Ben and Alisha when they are visited by Thorpe, an MP and ex-alcoholic who is chairing a select committee calling for a ban on all alcohol advertising and targeting big drinks companies like Griffin Distillers. He wants their help coaxing out a whistleblower. He has a name of a Griffin employee, James Connolly but wants them to check out if he will be a good witness for the committee.

They decide to meet Connolly and disappointed when he turns out to be a conspiracy theorist who is more interested in telling them how the alcohol industry destroyed the rave scene than giving them any concrete evidence about Griffin’s bad marketing practises. He also tells them he has just been sacked. However he does give them another name of someone who had a problem with Griffin’s marketing, Helen Errol.

Alisha and Kenny track Errol down and find that Errol now runs an alcohol research centre, with a rehab facility for teenagers. Alisha is challenges her about Griffin but Errol says she doesn’t know anything and she has nothing to do with them anymore.

Meanwhile with so much at stake for Griffin they send their top lobbyist, Chris Clayson to neutralise Ben and Alisha. Clayson takes Ben out for lunch and it is clear from his not so veiled threats that Griffin is worried. Hacking into Errol’s email Ben, Alisha and Kenny are shocked to discover that Errol and Clayson are going out. Even more intriguingly Kenny tells them that someone else is hacking into Errol’s emails; they discuss who would be interested in her data about teenage drinking…and realise Griffin are using it to market alcohol to them more successfully.

Clayson is also putting the pressure on Thorpe, threatening to close a large bottling plant in his constituency if he goes ahead with his select committee. Does he really want to be responsible for mass unemployment in his area? When Thorpe stands up to him it is clear that Clayson is rattled, as he is under an enormous amount of pressure from Griffin. He is also experiencing problems in his personal life as he has discovered that his 13 year daughter is drinking. And things are about to get even worse for him when Ben and Alisha tell Errol about Griffin stealing her data and they all come round to confront him.

Ben and Alisha realise that they need proof that Griffin are passing Errol’s data onto their advertising agency and with Kenny’s help bug the agency boss’s office. With evidence on tape they return to Thorpe and give it to him to use in his select committee. However once they have left, Clayson delivers his final blow and blackmails Thorpe over a hit and run incident in his past. Thorpe backs down and Ben and Alisha feel totally betrayed.

Events are turned on their head when Clayson is called to the hospital and finds Emma having her stomach pumped. When Ben confronts him about what Griffin are doing Clayson tells him that he thinks what happened to Emma is his fault, no one else’s but it is clear Ben’s attack against Griffin has had an effect

Next day Clayson starts his new job as a manager at Griffin, meeting his boss on the stairs it is clear they are extremely happy for him. Clayson leaves the building to go to lunch and we reveal Ben, Alisha and Kenny are there and Clayson has brought files that will prove that Griffin is marketing to underage drinkers. He is their insider.

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 house. It all looks so promising; they are even holding hands in front of everybody! Surely Louisa must win her man.

Louisa seizes the opportunity of a quiet moment away from the crowds for a romantic kiss. But the clumsy doctor manages to ruin the moment with an inappropriate remark.

It is the final straw for Louisa. She has tried so hard to win the doctor, but he doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. She ends their affair, leaving Martin shell shocked.

The break -up hits Martin harder than he anticipated. He can’t concentrate on anything. But there’s one more chance to redeem himself when he gets an urgent call for help from Louisa to treat her friend Holly (Lucy Robinson).

Holly has injured her back when out walking in Portwenn and has been forced to recuperate at Louisa’s house. Defying doctor’s orders she gets out of bed, and collapses, cutting herself badly on a bottle.

Holly’s condition takes a dramatic turn for the worse when she has an allergic reaction to morphine, and the doctor has to act quickly to save her life.

Louisa cannot hide her admiration for the doctor’s professionalism and composure. He is her hero again.

As Martin leaves Louisa’s house he realises he could lose Louisa for ever. He pauses on the doorstep and asks her to marry him. The proposal is a bolt out of the blue for Louisa who had given up all hope of a relationship. But she says yes.

Meanwhile Al Large (Joe Absolom) is increasingly worried about his girlfriend Pauline (Katherine Parkinson). Her addiction to gambling is having disastrous repercussions, and the first casualty is her beloved shiny red moped. She’s heartbroken to see it re-possessed because she can’t meet the repayments. Her problems are made worse by the arrival of her disapproving mother Dawn (Denise Black). Martin tells Pauline she has to get help for her addiction or risk losing her job.

NEIL PEARSON ON FRANKENSTEIN

Neil Pearson has to be one of the UK’s best known and most popular actors whose varied C.V includes roles across a variety of genres from comedies such as Trevor’s World of Sport, and the classic Drop the Dead Donkey to heavyweight thrillers such as the Kindness of Strangers and The State Within. Now with Frankenstein, he turns his hand to horror. Speaking about his latest on screen role Pearson says:

“Waldman runs the lab at which Victoria is conducting her research; a brilliant scientist, she is pushing at the limits of what is ethically acceptable and he is very much there to supervise and be supportive.

However he is always mindful of the fact that he has a job to do and that’s where the difficulty lies for him. On the one hand he’s keen to see where the work of his most brilliant scientist will lead and on the other hand he has to look over his shoulder at his own employers and make sure that he keeps both sides happy. Waldman is very much caught between the proverbial rock and hard place.”

Having read Shelley’s original what would he say are the over-riding themes explored in the novel that have ensured its longevity and our continued fascination with it?

“I think it’s a work which transcends its own time and speaks to successive generations. Obviously with scientific advances taking place at the speed they are today it remains just as relevant now as at the start of the nineteenth century. The Victorians were making so many advances in so many fields; the arts, engineering, medicine and of course science.

It was an extraordinary time in history, and then as now, there was curiosity and wonder but also a deep rooted concern about where these huge scientific advances would lead. And I think that really comes across in Jed’s adaptation.”

He goes on to explain,

“Of course, there should be a healthy review of where science is going at any particular juncture but ignorance breeds fear. The assumption by the lay community at times that scientists are evil geniuses with nothing but bad in their hearts is clearly ridiculous, but what Shelley is writing about still persists today.

Whenever a tabloid reports on a scientist whose research they disapprove of, the word Frankenstein comes up. It’s a word that’s passed into our language and we know what it means and there are very few of those, Orwellian is another one. We know what we mean when we talk about Frankenstein scientists and the word itself taps into something into the psyche of our species that makes us afraid.”

Discussing this modern telling of Shelley’s classic, when asked if he feels with Frankenstein now a woman, a natural creator of life, and the nature of the research on which this is based, does he feel it somehow makes the possibility of the monster seem more plausible?

“Well I don’t think the sex of the geneticist has anything to do with it really. I think that war is won; there are brilliant minds and less than brilliant minds and they exist in both sexes. But in terms of the research, yes I do. For instance, I’m looking at the front page of The Guardian today and it says ‘Human-animal embryo study wins approval.’

With cloning, the deconstruction of the genome and with these tremendous advances in genetics, I think yes, Jed’s setting absolutely makes you feel that what Victoria creates is entirely feasible.

And of course where there is such advancement, there is also an ethical consideration and with that comes fear. So I really can’t think of a more timely moment for this drama. And the thing is I don’t think Jed has merely adapted the original, he’s completely updated it and placed it within our own social media and consequently, I think it works extremely well.”

He continues:

“This is a recognisable world, set only slightly in the future. Unfortunately it seems to be a world where no ones has read Frankenstein which could have saved a great deal of unpleasantness but apart form that obvious omission, I think Jed’s done a fabulous job” he laughs “I had a good time on it, apart form the fact that I had to spend an entire bank holiday getting pissed on by torrential rain, red rain in the middle of the night!”

When asked about the red rain, Pearson goes on to explain:

“As this version set not too far in the future, the climate has gone even stranger than it has so far! As it comes down, the rain is interacting with the dust in the atmosphere from a huge volcanic eruption. So when the heavens open, all looks extremely filmic and horribly portentous!”

Not only will visual effects be used to portray dramatic shifts in our climate on screen, but the all important monster, will be in part, a CGI creation. How did Neil find working with the effects team?

“With visual effects, unless you’re being suspended in mid-air in front of a blue screen or something, it really doesn’t affect the cast. Its only special effects like explosions, setting things on fire and car chases that have a real impact on the way you work.

When it comes to CGI stuff it’s not really a work of self-preservation but a work of imagination. You need to have a clear idea of what the final frame will look like because an awful lot of the composition of each frame goes on after you have gone home. But these guys are incredibly skilled and Jed had an extremely clear idea of what everything was going to look like so it makes the whole process easier.

When I saw the prosthetics that Julian Bleach, the actor playing the monster was hidden under I was astonished. I’ve never actually seen him outside of the prosthetics; I’m assuming they’re extensive, but since they were so well done it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he really was that misshapen!

I think he came in at about four in the morning and was ready to work at noon and then it took another two hours to get it off him, so time to change your agent I think Julian!”

FRANKENSTEIN

Not to be missed this Wednesday (24 October @ 9.00pm on ITV1) is this fantastic scifi tinged near future retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

In 1816, the Year Without Summer, a volcanic eruption filled the sky with ash. The world became dark and cold. That year Mary Shelley conceived of a story of a scientist who created a monster…

At an unspecified time in the near future, the earth’s climate has changed and as water mixes with the volcanic ash in the atmosphere, the rain runs red.

While a storm rages overhead, Dr Victoria Frankenstein sits by the hospital bed of her dying son William, where doctors tell her to prepare for the worst.

Brilliant and committed, Frankenstein is a scientist conducting highly controversial work in the field of stem cell research and medical biotechnology at The Windmill Research Building. Overseen by Professor Andrew Waldman (Neil Pearson) her latest research programme, the Universal Xenograft Project is pushing her and her assistant Ed Gore (Benedict Wong) to the very limits of their abilities. But their efforts are not going un-noticed.

So ground breaking are the possible results, their work is attracting attention from a number of quarters: the mysterious Professor Pretorius (Lindsay Duncan) meets with Waldman and Frankenstein to get an update on the stage at which the project is at. During the meeting it is clear that she has ultimate control over the research and has the power to close it down. Frankenstein is also approached by another party, someone who has a more personal interest in the Dr and her work; her ex-husband Dr Henry Clerval (James Purefoy).

Handsome, intelligent and deeply flawed, Clerval also works within the field of stem cell research. But where his ex-wife conducts her research for the public sector, his motivation is purely monetary and results are handed over to the private sector. Still harbouring a deep love for his ex-wife, he is genuinely concerned for Victoria and their terminally ill son; she feels, however, that his interest stems from a desire to sell her findings to the highest bidder and rejects his pleas to help her.

Convinced that the UX project is William’s last chance for survival and maddened by grief and desperation, Victoria secretly takes a sample of his blood and incorporates it into the programme. She tells no-one of what she has done.

In the confines of a purpose built tank in the Graft Lab, the cells grow at an extraordinarily accelerated rate. As the cells diversify, mutate and re-form, Ed is
astonished by their progression. When he notes the presence of what can only be a human tooth within the tank, he alerts Waldman. The two men confront her and the three then view X-Rays of the internal activity. They reveal a large mass of organs and tissue and as she peers into the tank an eye opens inside. Victoria realises with horror that she is no longer in control of the experiment; that the UX is breeding its own bio-organism and it’s alive!

At the same time, a late night call from the hospital delivers the news she has so feared; William has passed away and she is too late. As Clerval and Victoria bury their son, Waldman tells the exhausted scientist to take time off to grieve. With the experiment out of control she asks that he and Ed terminate the UX project in her absence.

Waldman ignores Victoria’s plea’s and brings in Pretorius. She immediately acknowledges the extraordinary significance of Frankenstein’s experiment. A scientist too, she is unable to resist the possibilities; ignoring all protocol she instructs the men to continue with the UX project in Victoria’s absence.

When Frankenstein finally returns to work, she is horrified to see that her experiment is still live. As she argues with Waldman in his office about the termination of the UX, fate intervenes. While a storm rages overhead, the lab experiences a power cut and as the machinery powers down, the tank empties it’s highly secret contents on to the floor of the lab. In amongst the mess of blood and tissue a deformed figure escapes unseen into the night.

POPPY SHAKESPEARE

Naomie Harris and Anna Maxwell Martin are to star in Poppy Shakespeare, a darkly comic single drama for Channel 4. Based on the best-selling novel by Clare Allan, Poppy Shakespeare is a ninety minute dark comedy drama for Channel 4 from the producer of Film4’s Oscar winning film The Last King of Scotland, Charles Steel.

Poppy Shakespeare is a candid look at life from the perspective of a patient on the psychiatric ward of a North London day hospital.

TORCHWOOD SEASON TWO NEWS

More news on the second season of this Who spin off, Freema Agyeman will appear midway through the season for three episodes as Martha Jones, teaming up once more with Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) to investigate some strange deaths in the heart of Cardiff.

Time has moved on a little since Martha journeyed with the doctor and she is now a fully qualified doctor herself and is able to use her medical skills and skills learnt with the Doctor to the Torchwood hub.

Pictured here as she steps into the Hub for the first time, a more grown up and worldly-wise Martha brings her medical knowledge and the expertise learnt during her travels with The Doctor to help Torchwood do battle against an alien threat. Martha will reappear in the TARDIS though duiring season four, although the extent of her role is not yet known.

Besides Freema the Torchwood producers have lined up quite a raft of high quality guest stars for the second season including Richard Briers as a sinister milionaire called Parker, also set to appear are Alan Dale and James Marsters (of Buffy).

Season two is set to debut on BBC-2 in the early part of 2008.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY SEASON THREE

One of the better remembered sitcoms of the 1960's was The Addams Family with its gruesome tales of the seriously ooky family, 20th Century Fox are currently releasing the series on DVD and season three is released on 31 October, to celebrate we have four copies of the box set to give away. The 3 disc set not only includes all 21 episodes from the season but some fun scene commentaries from Thing and Cousin Itt, an audio commentary from The Addams Chronicles author Stephen Cox and some tombstone trivia.

For full details on the comp have a look at
Addams Family Season Three Giveaway

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE

Network DVD are releasing the whole three seasons of Mind Your Language in a 4-disc set containing all 29 episodes complete and uncut.

Barry Evans (Doctor in the House) stars as hapless English teacher Mr. Jeremy Brown in this classic LWT sitcom. The series follows Mr Brown’s often frustrated attempts to teach English as a foreign language to a diverse class of adult students. MIND YOUR LANGUAGE features an energetic and likeable cast, which includes Zara Nutley (Never the Twain) as stern principal Miss. Courtney and Robert Lee (The Chinese Detective), Jamila Massey (EastEnders), Francoise Pascal (Eastenders) and Anna Bergman (Fanny & Alexander) are amongst the students.

Created by well established comedy writer Vince Powell (Bless This House, Love Thy Neighbour) and directed by Stuart Allen (On the Buses), MIND YOUR LANGUAGE was incredibly popular throughout its three series run and gained a huge worldwide following.

The show has languished in the vaults for years despite being on many peoples favourite shows list because of what has been deemed its stereotyped foreigners so hopefully this release will give everyone the opportunity to simply enjoy the humour of the show once more.

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

One of the most heart rending tales of the second world war has to be that of The Diary of Anne Frank, the 13 year old Dutch girl who was forced into hiding with her family when the Nazi's occupied the country. BBC One have a new adaptation in the works that will be shown in the early part of 2008 across five consecutive nights.

The respected Deborah Moggach is writing the script and Anne will be played by young actress Ellie Kendrick. Anne Frank started to write her diary on her
13th birthday in June 1942 – just two weeks before she and her family were forced to go into hiding in Nazi occupied Holland.

Written from the cramped conditions of an annexe in her father's spice warehouse, Anne's poignant, feisty and often very funny account of her life over a two year period has become the most widely read piece of non-fiction apart from the Bible.

The cast also includes Iain Glen, Tamsin Greig, Felicity Jones and Lesley Sharp

JACK FROST RETURNS

Jack is back, A Touch of Frost returns for another one off production. ITV have confirmed that filming is now underway on a new episode of Frost called In
The Public Interest, teamed with the ever faithful Detective Sergeant George Toolan (Played by John Lyons who we always feel works the best alongside bacon butty munching Jack).

The episode sounds a scary one as Jack and George investigate what looks to be a case of satanic ritual - three male bodies discovered in local woods and arranged in a triangle, as Jack begins digging into the murder he discovers that local bigwig James Callum (the excellent Adrian Lukis) may well be involved.

In the Public Interest is currently in production in Leeds and will transmit on ITV1 in 2008. The cast also includes Bruce Alexander, Mel Martin, Tam Williams and Julia St. John.

KEN STOTT ON REBUS

One of the UK's most respected actors, Ken Stott was surely born to play Rebus, if you've ever read any of Ian Rankin's superb whodunnits then you'd know why he is so pleased to have Stott in the role, we caught up with the trawler dwelling actor recently.

Ken Stott has been taking things easy following nearly five months filming the new series of Rebus in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

After a month relaxing at his Italian second home in the idyllic Umbrian countryside he has now retreated to his new boat moored in the Isle of Skye.

"I have bought a motor boat but not the kind you might imagine – pointy at one end, white and only to be driven in sunglasses. This is a trawler design, built in the Isle of Lewis. Just a wee trawler but I love it," sighs Ken.

"I have always loved boats and loved the sea. I had a plan when I was 15 to go, with my chum Neil Fraser, down to Southampton and catch a boat to Casablanca. We thought we'd peel potatoes on board then jump ship to a merchant vessel to the Caribbean where we'd fish and sell our catch at market and live on the beach. That was the plan but I'm still waiting to do it."

However Ken admits he does catch the odd mackerel for tea.

"And nothing could be better than eating it on board your own trawler," he adds. "I'm lucky, I'm a good sailor, I never feel sea sick.. Maybe that's because my ancestors are from an island, Sicily and my great, great grandfather was a pescatore – a fish seller."

At the start of the new series Rebus is facing difficult times having been sent to Police Training College as a result of his behaviour.

Ken explains: "He is isolated on all sides in this episode and he tests people's patience to the limit. It's rather interesting how his relationship with Siobhan goes onto a knife edge but that the bond they share is much greater at the end of the day."

And Ken is proud of what they achieve in Resurrection Men, the first episode in the series.

"It's a departure from formulaic principles. We do try to steer away from the ordinary on Rebus because much of television does comply with these principles."
In another episode Rebus is called upon to investigate a series of murders in the Church of Scotland.

He says: "In Ian Rankin's books it is alluded to that Rebus has a religion of kinds. I have been thinking about his views on god and I believe it's more of a Pantheist argument. He can thank god but it's more semiotic, a figure of speech that appeals to his own sense of justice and what is right or wrong rather than thanking a god who lives on high and sees your every move.

"While investigating these murders he takes into account the fact that most religious people are in denial of what goes on in the name of religion and that is very important to the process."

Ken was delighted to be back working with his co-star Claire Price (DS Siobhan Clarke) in this series and, as she has recently passed her driving test, Rebus was looking forward to being driven around by his sergeant.

However Claire's careful driving techniques proved a little conservative for some scenes.

"The director asked us to drive around a line of cars and pull up in a little parking space as fast as I safely could. We decided I would drive as Claire drives very slowly but I'm afraid I scared her. As soon as action was called I zoomed round the corner and into the space. Claire was ashen and the director said I went so fast he didn't see me!" laughs Ken.

However his driving skills could come in handy very soon.

"My son Bill, who is at university in Glasgow, is learning to drive. He is taking professional lessons but I am a very patient passenger so I'd be happy to go out in the car with him. Only trouble is I drive an automatic."

One thing Ken doesn't have patience with are crossword puzzles and sudoku on set. "It drives me mad. It sucks all the energy from the work. It just takes too much concentration at a time when your thoughts should be on the job at hand – the filming."

Ken can be seen later this year in a new movie, Charlie Wilson's War with Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman in which he plays an Israeli arm's dealer.

BURN UP

Burn Up is a major new drama commission from the BBC that focuses on the very pressing issue of climate change.

Another production from the brilliant Kudos company and written by the Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, the two parter is due to air in 2008.

Starring US actors Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell as well as the UK's Rupert Penry-Jones (who seems to be in everything at the moment) Burn Up is a taut thriller that sees oil company executives, environmental activists and politicians collide in the battle between economic success and ecological responsibility.

Penry-Jones stars as Tom, who, having been named the new head of Arrow Oil, finds his life unravelling as he's pulled into a high-stakes game of power and international intrigue.

Campbell plays his colleague Holly, whose covert collaboration with environmentalists puts her in great jeopardy, and Whitford plays Tom's best friend Mack, a charismatic yet unscrupulous oil industry lobbyist.

We follow the trio's lives and loves as they hurtle towards a global climate change summit.

Shooting will take place in Calgary, Canada and London, UK.

DOCTOR WHO MORE SEASON FOUR CASTING NEWS

The excellent and well respected Sarah Lancashire is to appear in the first episode of the fourth season of Doctor Who as the woman, Miss Foster, who is the catalyst for reuniting the doctor with Catherine Tate's Donna Noble.

Sarah Lancashire said of the role: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be in Doctor Who. It's a brilliant episode and I'm looking forward to taking the Time Lord on."

The start of the new series will see Donna tracking down The Doctor during an alien emergency in modern-day London. Donna and The Doctor will also be travelling through time for an encounter with the legendary murder mystery novelist, Agatha Christie, and taking a trip to Pompeii.

Confirmed guest stars for the fourth season include Felicity Kendal, Fenella Woolgar, Tim McInnerny, Peter Capaldi, Phil Davis and Tracey Childs.

Freema Agyeman who has played Martha Jones, The Doctor's companion throughout the critically-acclaimed third series, will return to the show to join The Doctor and Donna mid-series.

The fourth series of Doctor Who is now in production and will hit BBC One in Spring 2008.

MARTIN CLUNES ON DOC MARTIN

Martin Clunes, who plays the irascible Dr Martin Ellingham in the popular ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin, has quietly over the last three years turned the character into one of the most watchable on the box, we spoke to him recently about the third season of the show, which airs on Mondays @ 9.00pm on the ITV Network.

Martin Clunes admits he was dreading having to put his life-saving skills to the test for an episode of the new series of Doc Martin.

Despite having learnt a lot about medical procedures from playing the grumpy Dr Martin Ellingham for the past three years, Martin has never had to resuscitate a patient on screen.

“In this series I had to do my first defibrillation. It was a big day in any TV doctor’s life,” says Martin.

“It was a big and nasty procedure. The defibrillation doesn’t work and the doc has to pound the patient’s chest to save her.

“I was dreading that day, and everyone was tense on set. We used a dummy to substitute for the actress who was the patient when I did the chest compressions because I wanted to be able to really pound. Every doctor says that is the one thing they hate seeing not being done correctly, so I wanted to get it right.

“You need two inches of compression to be effective, which is why ribs get broken all the time. You wouldn’t want me to do that on a real person. I tried, but she minded!

“We have a paramedic on set and our doctor adviser came down from London for the scene. He was very encouraging and was pleased with my performance.

“It was a quite frightening experience, and we were kneeling in a pool of blood as well, which wasn’t very nice.”

There’s heart problems of a totally different kind for the doctor in the new series as his on-off romance with headmistress Louisa Glasson looks set to blossom at last.

“The doc’s romance with Louisa is really going very well in its strange way.
They have proper dates that inevitably don’t go to plan.

“Then they have a big date at a classical music concert where a rather nasty friend of Louisa’s is performing.

“Louisa has invited the doctor to the concert and they are like a normal couple going out to an event. It is all going really well, until he lets himself down with a remark which proves to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She chucks him and storms off, leaving him in pieces.

“It really takes the wind out of his sails and makes him behave in a twisted way. He becomes absent minded, and is not concentrating on what he is doing.

“Then they are thrown together at the end when he has to treat Louisa’s best friend, who is staying at her house and is very ill.

“It dawns on him as he leaves the house that he could be walking out of the house for the last time, and it could be the end for them and nothing is going to be the same again, and he asks her to marry him.

“I am pleased that my character has got his act together and asked Louisa to marry him.

“He is still as grumpy as ever but he is also still as in love with Louisa as he ever was, if not more. He does kind of change a bit. He is who he is, at the end of the day. But he does dare to come out of his shell with her.”

After years of waiting for Martin to pop the question, Louisa can hardly believe he has proposed to her. But she doesn’t hesitate to accept his proposal, and immediately begins to plan their wedding.

Martin was delighted to return to Cornwall for nearly four months of filming.

“The crowds have got bigger since we started filming in Port Isaac. I know I don’t live here but I do feel a little bit more at home without feeling it is my home. Now we have acquaintances here, not just the people we work with, but the people in the local garage, and the shops. It is like the relationships I have with the people in the shops near where I live, where we are on first name terms.

“But people definitely come to Port Isaac with the express purpose of visiting the set of Doc Martin. They all come up and tell us that. These are people from New Zealand, Canada, Australia and some in America who have seen the series on DVDs.”

But not all the Doc Martin fans are respectful of local people’s properties and their need to lead a normal life.

“People have been peering in the windows of the house we use for the doctor's house and knocking on the door and asking “is he in”, Martin says.

“When we are filming the other side of the harbour you see people posing outside the house for pictures all day long. It is marked on the local tourist information for visitors as well as Doc Martin’s house. It is a lovely house with beautiful views.”

After filming finished in Cornwall Martin looked forward to spending time with his family in their new home in Dorset.

“We moved just three weeks after I came back from New Zealand where I filmed The Man Who Lost His Head, and I’ve just spent weekends at the new house since we started filming Doc Martin. So it is good to be home with my family again.

“I am going to ride my horse, which I bought when I came back from New Zealand. I have been having lessons but just riding him too is good.

“Riding in New Zealand with Philippa and Emily refuelled my interest in riding, and prompted me to buy my own horse.

“We have added to the family with another dog – a black Labrador puppy called Arthur Colin. We have two miniature Shetland ponies and we’d quite like to get some more of those. It would be fun to breed some. We are determined to have something born at home.”

Martin’s next project is a documentary for ITV1, The History of Dogs.

“The History of Dogs is just that: it is a global subject not a sort of us English and their dogs,” explains Martin.

“It looks at the wild dogs of East Africa, wolves in Alaska, dogs in Italy, the different breeds that are bred specifically for different uses, Irish water spaniels and breeds that are dying out because there isn’t the necessity for them.

“We are also doing a book to accompany the documentary, and I am hoping to take the photos for it.”

Martin’s recent television credits include Losing It, William and Mary, Beauty and A is for Acid.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU SEASON ONE

"You are my sister. You're supposed to drive me crazy."

16 year old Holly is somewhat put out when her father takes a job in Japan, she decides to move in with her 28 year old older sister Valerie in New York City and is soon making a mess of Valeries carefully ordered life with her great career and wonderful boyfriend.

It's great to see this entertaining sitcom get a release, Amanda Bynes proving that for someone as young as she is she does have a proper sense of comedy timing and Jennie Garth gets the chance to put Beverly Hills 909210 behind her. There's a bit of a Laverne and Shirley vibe going on here too, many of the episodes revolve around Valerie's attempts to organize her love life and career (she works for and advertising agency) and Holly managing to create a fair bit of typical sitcom chaos. The other regulars in this first season are Valerie's boyfriend Jeff and Holly's best friend Gary (which also echoes the Laverne and Shirley theme).

There are plenty of laughs to be had across the 22 episodes featured in this three disc box set and although the only extras are a blooper reel What I Like About You is well worth spending some time with.

Distributor: Warner Home Entertainment
Certificate: Unrated | region 1 | 3 disc set
Extras: Yes

cast
Amanda Bynes, Jennie Garth, Simon Rex, Wesley Jonathan

WALKER TEXAS RANGER SEASON TWO

There's a great moment in recent Will Ferrell comedy Talledega Nights where he mentions his two boys Walker and Texas Ranger which while poking fun at the show also proves how fondly thought of the Norrister series is.

Chuck Norris had been making something of a B grade name for himself in martial arts flicks during the 1980's when he was given the chance to star in this crime drama series. Norris is Cordell 'Cord' Walker, a Texas Ranger working out of Dallas and partnered with the younger Jimmy Trivette (Gilyard), Trivette is all new technology and modern methods, totally at odds with Cords good old fashioned way of dealing with criminals, knocking seven shades of you know what out of them. Also on the scene is assistant DA Alex Cahill (Sheree J Wilson).

It's all hugely entertaining of course and spread over 23 episodes on 7 discs and is for sure dead pan Chuck's finest moment and although there are violent moments its always quite cartoonish and never glorying in it.

Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
Certificate: M | region 4 | 7 disc set
Extras: No

cast
Chuck Norris, Sheree J. Wilson, Clarence Gilyard Jr, Floyd Westerman, Noble Willingham

TWIN PEAKS SEASON TWO

In the early 1990's there was really only one show worth watching, the mysterious, compelling, beguiling and impenetrable walk through the mind of David Lynch that was Twin Peaks. Paramoount have just released its second season (available in two separate box sets) and its just as hard to fathom out now as it was back then. Ostensibly the series follows FBI agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) who is in Twin Peaks ( a small town near the Canadian border) to investigate the murder of 17 year old home coming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Cooper stirs up a real hornets nest of sex and eccentricities, seemingly everyone in the town is a potential suspect or implicated in some way although its no real; surprise when the killer is revealed midway through this second season.

Resolutely non linear, flashbacks are plentiful and the narrative is quite often deliberately obfuscating, which of course is something of a trait of the vague Lynch. Its also extremely quirky with notorious touches such as the log lady (a log carrying lady who appears in most episodes) and Coopers tape recorded reports to his unseen secretary.

The ending of the show also veers straight off the map with Cooper being drawn to the Black Lodge, a place seemingly outside of reality where he is able to meet dead people as well as his own soul and also confront his nemesis, his former partner Windom Earle who has gone insane and begun a killing spree.

Hard to classify and a show that keeps you watching every minute its on Twin Peaks has lost none of its power and still stands up very strongly today.

Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
Certificate: M | region 4 | 2 x 3 disc box sets available to buy separately
Extras: No

cast
Kyle MacLachlan, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joan Chen, Madchen Amick, Ray Wise, Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn

SHAUN THE SHEEP - SHAPE UP WITH SHAUN

Why be part of the flock when you can rise above it all, well thats what Shaun the Sheep thinks anyway; Welcome to Aardman Animation's rollickly good new pre school series Shaun the Sheep. Kings of stop frame animation, the studios are also home to Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts and Chicken Run, Aardman have come up with another winner here.

This new release from Roadshow features 8 episodes of mayhem as Shaun runs rings around sheepdog Bitzer and drags the rest of the flock into his adventures, the stories themselves are nicely small scale but full of spots of great comic invention such as when Shaun goes on a commando raid to the farmers bathroom to get hot water after being forced to go through a cold sheep dip.

The stories are actually mostly silent too so the appeal factor heads across the board and besides Shaun the other characters include Shirley the enormous sheep who thinks about nothing but eating, Timmy the baby lamb and the naughty pigs.

An entertaining series that definitely appeals, its also another kids show with a great theme tune sung by Vic Reeves of all people.

Well worth checking out.

Distributor: Roadshow Home Entertainment
Certificate: G | region 4
Extras: No

cast
Shaun and friends

VICORIA WOOD AS SEEN ON TV

After having made her breakthrough on New Faces and appeared on That's Life Victoria Wood had latterly been writing comic plays for ITV, she then moved into what would be her forte, the sketch show, after a well received series called Wood and Walters (co-starring Julie Walters) Wood headed off to the BBC for the now legendary As Seen on TV.

A hilarious mix of opening stand up (always of the minutiae of daily life kind), songs, sketches and the faux soap Acorn Antiques. Over the course of two series and one Christmas special (all included here) and armed with her own rep company of players (including the likes of Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Susie Blake and Duncan Preston) Wood became the most important female comic in the UK and easily the funniest.

There is so much comedic gold here and it hasn't dated at all from Patricia Routledge's fruity monologues as Kitty, Susie Blake's bored continuity announcer and best of all Acorn Antiques which plunders the style (or lack of it) of Crossroads to great effect. There is an edition in every episode and absolutely nothing happens but its hilarious and like Crossroads its full of shaking scenery, mistakes within the script and things going wrong.

Add to this some brilliant fake documentaries and a couple of funny/touching songs per episode and you are in for a real treat. We've long since worn out our taped off the telly videos so to have them pristine on DVD is brilliant.

Not to be missed tv at its best.

Distributor: 2 Entertain
Certificate: 15 | region 2 | 2 disc set
Extras: Yes

cast
Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Denis Lawson, Celia Imrie, Maureen Lipman, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake, Patricia Routledge

7 GREAT NEW GIVEAWAYS

we have a veritable plethora of giveaways just started over at our headquarters Memorable TV
7 in total ranging from South Park to MTV Cribs, movie comedy Miami 911, horror with Dead Silence and the ultimate Angel collectors box.

THE MAN FROM UNCLE THE COMPLETE SERIES

Time Life have an absolutely massive 41 disc DVD collection of the entire Man From Uncle series on 27 November that is clearly going to set a new standard in dvd releases.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. super-sized collection, specially packaged in a silver “attaché case,” contains every original, unedited episode from all four seasons of the series – a total of 105 episodes packaged in a magnificent collector’s boxed set. Series co-stars Vaughn and McCallum sat down for the

first time in over 20 years for the 90 minute interview included in the newly produced bonus features. An additional fifteen interviews with U.N.C.L.E. production crew members, fans and experts, including directors Richard Donner and Joseph Sargent and writers Dean Hargrove and Peter Allan Fields, are also featured in the generous amount of DVD extras. Nine original featurettes boast an amazing array of rare clips and memorabilia, including behind-the-scenes footage of guest star and Hollywood legend Joan Crawford, one of many notable guest stars to appear throughout the series, among them Vincent Price, Kurt Russell, and William Shatner with Leonard Nimoy two years prior to Star Trek. An “Art and Artifacts” featurette highlights set
designs and blueprints, scripts, production memos and more. Several featurettes explain the history and divulge little known information about the series,
others showcase the innovative gadgets, vehicles and wardrobe, and the unique music created specifically for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. James Bond creator Ian Fleming was involved in the early development of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and came up with the name "Napoleon Solo." Fleming's hand-written notes about U.N.C.L.E. lots and characters are included in the bonus features of the DVD set.

FALLOUT

In Production.

Channel 4 has commissioned award-winning playwright Roy Williams to adapt his acclaimed play Fallout as a single drama to TX in spring 2008 on Channel 4. Set in London, the drama will star Lennie James (Jericho, C4’s Buried) as Joe, a policeman returning to the estate he grew up on to investigate the murder of a black teenager. The drama will be directed by leading theatre director Ian Rickson (previously Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre) in his television debut and will be made by Company Pictures.

Williams’ script goes to the heart of the terrifying rise in high-profile gun and knife killings involving teenagers that has rocked Britain and particularly London this year.

When 16 year old, Kwame (Lanre Malaolu), is stabbed to death by a local gang, the lives, feelings and fears of the young perpetrators and the police officers investigating the crime are exposed in full. At a time when it has never been more important to understand why some of our youth would arm themselves and commit devastating acts of violence, Williams is unflinching in capturing the culture and circumstances that are wrecking young lives.

Fallout was written as a passionate and powerful reflection on race, law and order in the aftermath of the Stephen Lawrence and Damilola Taylor cases and has been rewritten in light of the recent escalation in youth violence. It was revealed earlier this month that the number of young people prosecuted for firearms offences has risen by 20 per cent in the past five years.

THE LIBRARIANS

Australia / ABC Network from 31 October @ 9.30pm

A wickedly funny new comedy series begins on the ABC at the end of the month, doing for Libraries what Summer Heights High did for High School.

Created by and starring husband and wife team Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope, The Librarians sees Robyn playing head librarian Frances O'Brien, a devout catholic and very highly strung individual who has her cosy little work place turned around when she gives her best friend Christine (Roz Hammond) a job after she gets in trouble with the law. Alongside these are the usual bunch of sitcom misfits but the cast and playing is top notch, from the briliant Bob Franklin to Kim Gyngell and newcomer Keith Brockett.

Definitely one to put a good book down for.

VAN DER VALK THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

Released by Network / 29 October

Barry Foster as dutch detective Van Der Valk has become one of the most well remembered of all TV Tecs, a huge hit when it first appeared in the early seventies, especially with its super catchy theme tune, Eye Level, which became a top chart hit, VDV despite only running for five series across many years has stood the test of time. Network are releasing a briliant 11 disc box set of the entire series on the 29 October 2007.

Van Der Valk is head of the CID in Amsterdam, where he is teamed with Inspector Johnny Kroon (played by Michael Latimer) and their cases include all the usual suspects of murders, blackmail, missing persons and other dodgy crimes that come their way.

Unlike most detective Van has a happy home life with his loving wife Arlette, the character was created by Nicholas Freeling with much input from the utch police. It's a classic series and well worth having on DVD.

THE SWEENEY THE COMPLETE SERIES

29 October 2007 / Network DVD

Quite frankly if you ask anyone in their 30's or older to name their favourite shows then The Sweeney is going to be right up there for most people. Starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as distinctly not by the book coppers working in the Flying Squad during the hard days of the 1970's this is TV entertainment at its best.

Network, who all TV fans should prostrate themselves on at least a weekly basis, have once again shown how it should be done with the forthcoming release of all 53 episodes of The Sweeney as well as the pilot film Regan and the two big screen outings Sweeney!(1977) and Sweeney 2(1979).

A truly groundbreaking series, where Z Cars had shown a side of the force that we hadn't seen before The Sweeney showed a side of the police that the Met very probably didn't want us to see. It's also been hugely inlfluential down the years too. Let's face the recent hit Life on Mars would not exist if it wasn't for the Sweeney.

This is another, along side their Prisoner box set, must have release and one of the contenders for box set of the year surely.

THE TUDORS EPISODE TWO

BBC Two are airing this very sexy Showtime series at the moment, with episode going out on Friday October 12 @ 9.00pm. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays a young and vibrant Henry VIII and the excellent cast also includes Sam Neill and Jeremy Northam.

In episode 2 Henry and his court arrive at the impressive Val D'Or in France, where The Field of the Cloth of Gold summit is to take place.

While the treaty is foremost in the minds of both Henry and his cousin, Francis I, it soon becomes impossible to miss the rivalry lurking just below the surface - despite the encouraging start. But, as their practical jokes and jibing escalate, will Henry let his temper ruin all their efforts.

On learning that Spain's King Charles V has been elected Holy Roman Emperor, and consequently that his wealth and dominions have vastly increased, Henry instructs Wolsey to begin making arrangements for an alliance that excludes the French - unaware that it may jeopardise the Cardinal's plan to be elected Pope.

As the Pope lies dying in Rome, and news that Henry plans to break the treaty with France reaches the Bishops, Wolsey watches helplessly as his hopes of becoming the new Pontiff fade away. Refreshed by the Cardinal's news from Spain, Henry begins making plans to reclaim France as part of his empire.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is King Henry VIII / Sam Neill is Cardinal Thomas Wolsey / Nick Dunning is Sir Thomas Boleyn / Steven Waddington is Buckingham / Jeremy Northam is Sir Thomas More / Henry Cavill is Charles Brandon.

BEST OF HEY DAD VOLUME ONE

One of Australia's best remembered sitcoms, Hey Dad at last gets the DVD treatment with 13 episodes from across the show. Created by Gary Reilly who had previously hit big with Kingswood Country this time featured a widowed father bringing up his three young children. While this is pretty much standard American sitcom fare we hadn't really seen the situation domestically overly.

Robert Hughes plays Martin Kelly who is running his architects business from home and trying to juggle that with the demands of three growing kids Simon (Christopher Mayer), Debbie (Simone Buchanan) and Jenny (Sarah Monahan), in typical sitcom fashion though help is at hand in the shape of Betty (Julie McGregor), a relative of Martin's wife who not only helps around the house but also helps Martin with his business too. One other mainstay of the series is Simon's best mate Nudge (Christopher Truswell) who ended up becoming the real star of the show, a typical teenager Nudge spends most of his time eating the Kelly's out of house and home.

Whilst Hey Dad doesn't break any sitcom barriers, it is always fun to watch and all kudos to Shock for allowing us to reacquaint our selves with the series.

The episodes featured on the two disc set are
Trees Company | A Losing Battle | The Girl on the Cutting Room Floor | The Late Miss Kelly | A Question of Royalty | Generation Scrap | May the Farce Be With You | Three's A Crowd | For The Love of Martin | Kissing Cousins | Betty's Better Letterhead | The Double Date | The Beat Goes Wrong

Distributor: Shock
Certificate: G | region 4 | 2 disc set
Extras: No

cast
Robert Hughes, Julie McGregor, Christopher Mayer, Simone Buchanan, Sarah Monahan, Chris Truswell

VIVIENNE VYLE EPISODE TWO

BBC 2 / Thursday October 11 @ 9.00pm

A new Jennifer Saunders comedy is always something to look forward to, the second episode of her new series about a daytime talk show host contains much hilarity. As always with Saunders too it is the dark underbelly she casually exposes that moves her work into another realm almost. The casting too is once again spot on, with roles for the fabulous Miranda Richardson and the under rated Brian Conley.

In the second episode Vivienne is inspired by rival Chris Connor's seamless interaction with his audience and attempts the same with her own spectators, much to the chagrin of producer Helena. The hunch is right as Vivienne is met with a wall of silence. After a disastrous promo meeting, Vivienne fires her
marketeers and calls in the aid of her much-trusted PR, the transgender Miriam, to implement tactics. Her first port of call under Miriam's direction is to visit and "touch" her real fans, as she makes a guest appearance at the local Macro ? to the great distress of her ever-loyal husband, Jared.
/Conleth Hill plays Jared

WATERLOO ROAD SEASON THREE EPISODE ONE

BBC 1 / Thursday 11 October @ 8.00pm

It's back for a third season and a mammoth 20 episodes, the staff at Waterloo Road have some major issues to deal with in this first episode, headmaster Jack especially struggling to come to terms with the murder of drama teacher Izzie Redpath, the school itself is busy promoting its inclusion policy which states that no matter the abilities of a child or its personal circumstance it will be welcome at WR.

On the staff front there are several changes, not least the depature of Andrew Trenaman and the arrival of new deputy head in his stead Eddie Lawson (Neil Morrissey - on whom we shall reserve judgement but he doesn't seem natural teacher material to us), as well as fresh from college teacher Jasmine Koreshi (Shabana Bakhsh) and new drama teach Matt Wilding (Chris Geere).

Steph Haydock, meanwhile, is relishing her new position as head of pastoral care, but disaster looms as a new inclusion pupil, Karla Bentham, who has Asperger's syndrome, is placed in her less-than-capable hands. Utter chaos ensues when English teacher Grantly Budgen is on the receiving end of one of Karla's violent outbursts.

IT'S ADAM AND SHELLEY episode 2

BBC3 / Monday 8 October @ 9.30pm

The new sketch comedy show fronted by brother and sister team Adam and Shelley Longworth continues on BBC3, it's the usual mixture of surreal haracters and some truly inspired moments.

Key characters include Aussie scientists Brett and Shane, who test out an undisclosed smoking liquid, tequila style; Goth siblings Jake and Tilly, who terrorise

a "really old" woman on a bus and make her cry; Elsie, who takes her frustration out on a customer's bikini line; and the Toxic Twins, who go on a pub crawl, and take advantage of happy hour.

Elsewhere, Carlos tries to sell his sister to a blind man, rather than give him £1 for charity; Bruce and Lucky Lee "help" a woman whose nephew is drowning in a river by using their combination of rubbish magic and karaoke; bickering siblings Alex and Sadie tackle the world of bomb disposal; inappropriately close siblings The Amazing Brindizis check in to their hotel; and ageing ravers have a sing-song mash-up with the aid of a heart monitor and some illegal drugs.

Whilst never quite scaling the heights of perfectness reaches by some, there is enough of that slightly uncomfortable feeling given off to make you keep watching.

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES - Eye of the Gorgon

UK / BBC1 8 October @ 5.00pm

Well we seemed to have a wait a long time for the series to arrive after the Christmas special but its been certainly worth it, Eye of the Gorgon is another scary entry which sees Sarah Jane and her young companions investigating some ghostly goings on at the local Lavender Lawns rest home, in the second two-part story of the adventure filled series.

With several residents claiming to have seen the ghostly figure of a nun, Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde pay the home a visit to find out what's going on. They soon discover that there is more to the story when Luke is entrusted with a mysterious alien talisman by Mrs Bea Nelson-Stanley, a resident at the home who knows a thing or two about aliens.

As the mystery unravels, the gang learn that the ghostly nun is, in fact, part of an order protecting the Gorgon ? a scary alien creature who can turn her victims to stone with just one look. With the talisman an important part of the Gorgon's plans for Earth, can Sarah Jane and the gang stop her, and avoid her deadly gaze?

Sarah Jane Smith is played by Elisabeth Sladen / Luke Smith by Thomas Knight / Clyde by Daniel Anthony / Mrs Bea Nelson-Stanley by Phyllida Law
and Maria Jackson by Yasmin Paige.

SUMMER HEIGHTS HIGH

Chris Lilley's new 8 part series Summer Height's High is superb and its on the ABC Network Wednedays @ 9.30pm. Following on from the superlative We Can Be Heroes, SHH is the same, if you will, mockumentary (kudos to Spinal Tap!), but set in the environs of a typical Australian High School. Ja'mie King from Heroes makes a welcome return here as an exchange student but new characters include Tongan troublemaker Jonah Takalua, a boy with problems thats for sure, one of which would seem to be an undisclosed case of tourettes. There is also Mr G, the drama teacher who believes he is a real star and spends of his lessons putting on shows for his class, starring himself of course.

Lilley has to be the funniest man working in Australian Television today, apart from Ugly Dave Gray of course, Heights is frequently hilarious and quite often foul mouthed, the cast drop the big F more times than the characters in a Scorcese flick (which of course makes it even more like a real High School).

Clearly going to one of the contenders for Show of the Year and not to be missed.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS Season Two Episode Four

UK / BBC Three / Sunday October @ 9.00pm

This well liked comedy drama series continues with episode four, Murray is desperate to keep a lid on Ashley's (Sinead Moynihan) affair and goes into PR
overdrive, making Ben sign off from work and lay low.

On the day the family says its final farewells to Tiggsy, a grieving Webb family moves into the house of Pauline's dreams, with mixed emotions. Ashley's

casting at Chanel means she's the official landlord, but with a huge mortgage, a beaten-up boyfriend and a family at logger heads, she is already fragile

and questions if this is the life she really wants.

Meanwhile, the secret's out as Terry learns the truth about how his wife really got her hands on the new house, driving even more of a wedge between them, and life in the dream home has now become a cacophony of door-slamming and raging arguments.

STRICTLY COME DANCING SERIES FIVE

Back for a fifth series and it always amazes me how willing those taking part are to protstrate themselves before the fickleness of the TV audience, as always its a mixture of faded once weres and up and coming desperately wannabes, of course the real star of the show is old Brucie himself.

The full line up is
Girls: actress Stephanie Beacham; model, actress and TV
presenter Kelly Brook; actress Letitia Dean; singer, songwriter and
presenter Alesha Dixon; TV presenter Kate Garraway; model and
photographer Penny Lancaster-Stewart; and TV presenter Gabby Logan.

Boys: TV presenter and ex-footballer John Barnes;
actors Brian Capron and Matt Di Angelo; TV presenters Gethin Jones and
Dominic Littlewood; former rugby player Kenny Logan; and snooker legend
Willie Thorne.

Judges Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips and Bruno Tonioli also return to cast a professional eye over the competitors' performances.

ROBIN HOOD - SISTER HOOD

Season Two Episode One / BBC One Soon

One of the best series of last year returns to BBC1 for more tales of action and adventure in the woods of Sherwood. All of the cast are back with Jonas Armstrong as Robin and the gang have a brand new camp, things get off to a firey start when Knighton Hall is razed to the ground and Marion and her father are placed under arrest at the castle.

Things in the camp get edgy as the state of Nottingham gets worse, Allan A Dale becomes agitated. He wants more and a distracted Robin cannot reassure him. He's too busy preparing to rescue two girls and their pretty mother, Rose, as well as formulating a plan to help Marian ? so Allan goes AWOL, determined to make his own way in the world.

Allan's trickery lands him in the castle dungeons where he discovers that Rose is in reality the Sheriff's sister and that she has laid a trap for Robin.

The walls are closing in around the gang as the Sheriff has formulated a devastating new campaign "Shah Mat" conspiring with Prince John to overthrow King Richard. Only with the help of Marian and the outlaws can Robin defeat the Black Knights.

But, even when Robin and the outlaws escape with their lives, they are no longer safe, Allan has changed allegiance and agrees to spy for Gisborne. From now on, the heroes must rethink their strategy to take the Sheriff on at his own game.

Robin Hood is played by Jonas Armstrong / Marian by Lucy Griffiths / Allan A Dale by Joe Armstrong / Rose by Sara Stewart / The Sheriff of Nottingham
by Keith Allen / Sir Guy of Gisborne by Richard Armitage / Much by Sam Troughton and Will Scarlett by Harry Lloyd.

REBUS IS BACK

UK / ITV1 Network / Friday 12 October @ 9.00pm
The brilliant Ken Stott is back as Inspector John Rebus in four new feature-length television adaptations of Rebus based on Ian Rankin’s best selling novels.

In the first gruesome story the Moderator elect of the Church of Scotland, Derek Brady, is found naked in a car with his throat cut. Next to him is a female passenger in a similar state. The car is discovered in a park notorious for being used by lovers.

Rebus (Ken Stott), meanwhile, is visiting an elderly ex-colleague. Ken Flatley (Andrew Neil) was his first station sergeant but is now in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and is convinced that some members of staff at his nursing home are trying to poison him. On receiving news of the murders, Rebus cuts his visit short; nevertheless assuring Flatley he’ll investigate his concerns.

DS Siobhan Clarke (Claire Price) is already at the crime scene when Rebus arrives. The female passenger is identified as Iris Steele, wife of scrap merchant Tommy (Lorcan Cranitch). Initially, he seems the obvious first port of call – jealous husband kills his wife and rival in a vengeful rage - but whilst Tommy is certainly a nasty piece of work, Rebus is unconvinced that he’s responsible for the murders.

Brady’s widow, Alice (Cara Kelly) seems completely bemused by his murder. She knew Iris Steele, but totally refutes the suggestion that her husband may have been an adulterer. The outgoing moderator Reverend Carson (Michael Carter), is also at the Brady house. An imposing religious presence, he too is dismissive of talk of affairs, and is adamant that Derek was a decent, upstanding member of the community.

At a press conference on the murder enquiry, Rebus is approached by young reporter Jean Munro (Hannah Donaldson) keen to get a lead. Admiring her persistence after she successfully tails him to the Oxford Bar, Rebus throws her a bone in the shape of Flatley’s nursing home poisoning allegations.

Back in the incident room fresh theories abound. Was Brady attacked for taking any particularly extreme religious stances on issues of morality? At the general assembly, Rebus talks to Andrew McLeod (John Stahl) one of the men responsible for vetting potential candidates for the moderatorship. McLeod is quick in his assurances that Brady was no better or worse than the next man, but Rebus can’t help but think he’s holding something back.

With the case at a relative impasse, Rebus persuades a reticent CSI Gill Templer (Jennifer Black) to join him in a visit to Ken Flatley. Although confused, Flatley notices Rebus on the news broadcast of the press conference and seems to recognise the photo of Iris Steele, although something appears to be bothering him about her – it’s as if the name doesn’t quite fit the picture.

The impasse is broken when one of the rival candidates for the moderatorship is murdered. As with the previous victims, Andrew Mason (Sandy Welch) is found in his car with his throat slit. In an even more sinister turn, it appears that this murder was reported in a crank call to a local radio station. Could the DJ, Michael Walker (Ewan Stewart) shed some light on the proceedings?

As the investigation comes to a head, the church’s tendency to deal with matters internally, and protect its own comes back to haunt it. Secrets and lies hidden for years start to unravel with fatal consequences.

Written by Colin Bateman / Directed by Morag Fullarton

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS

UK / ITV / Thursday 11 October @ 9.00pm
The new thriller series continues.

Ben and Alisha are drawn into a school negligence case when Sean Knowles, a teacher from a chaotic comprehensive school called William Allen’s, comes to them for help. A teenage boy, Jamie Hillcott, has killed himself and the teacher blames the unchecked bullying and chronic mismanagement at William Allen’s.

It seems Jamie’s bereft mother Linda is too shell-shocked to take up the fight. Jamie had only been at William Allen’s for a short while, having been expelled from his previous school, the recently established City Academy, St Justin’s. Linda tells them Jamie had been suffering from medically diagnosed depression. She begged St Justin’s to help him but instead they turned him out, insisting he passed all psychological testing. He was merely ‘a delinquent’. A friend of Jamie’s, Anthony Gardiner, is keen to help expose the truth. Painfully aware that he is under the steely glare of head-teacher Helen Millard, Anthony’s mother Pam – a teacher at St Justin’s – is anxious that he does not jeopardise her position, despite the fact that she is an old friend of Linda’s.

Realising that they have been asked to look into the wrong school, Ben goes undercover as an applicant for a teaching job at St Justin’s. He is amazed when he is offered a job, effective immediately, on the strength of a single mock lesson. Alisha, meanwhile, is on the trail of the promised £2 million investment into the school from its sponsor, David Durrell. It appears he’s much more interested in a possible knighthood and pushing his creationist ideals onto the next generation than offering a safe environment for children to learn. In fact, as Ben’s theft of a school budget proves, more is spent on PR for the school than the pupils themselves.

As Ben embarks on his new job at St Justin’s, Alisha has a bombshell of her own to reveal – she is pregnant. Ben’s emotions hover between delighted and apprehensive, and so he throws himself into his undercover work at the school. He quickly discovers a place of performance related pay schemes and extreme creationist teachings. Alisha and Kenny, meanwhile, discover that Sean Knowles was paid by Durrell’s PR firm to publicly discredit William Allen’s. Durrell has set his sights on taking over the failing comprehensive, the final LEA controlled school in the area.

When Ben finally stumbles across a system of covert selection which expels ‘expensive’ children - children with special needs or low performers - the race is on to get the evidence Linda requires to get justice for Jamie. Aided and empowered by Ben and Alisha’s support, Linda works tirelessly to set up a parents’ action group, campaigning to ensure that what happened to her child won’t happen to anyone else’s.

The three of them are fighting a losing battle, until Pam’s conscience gets the better of her. She agrees to provide Linda, Ben and Alisha with the evidence they finally need to expose the reason children like Jamie Hillcott are being driven to desperation by a school which favours impressive league tables over child welfare…

COMEDY SHOWCASE EPISODE 2: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

UK / Channel 4 / 1x35 minutes / Friday 12 October @ 10.30pm
Penned by Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, Ladies and Gentlemen follows the single lives and awkward loves of a group of 30-something friends who share a house in London. Oh, and it's 1865. Horatio (Darren Boyd) is the youngest son of a Baron, a man incapable of earning a living who gets by because of his superior social position. Freddie (Reece Shearsmith) is a middle-class clerk in a dead-end job who is obsessed with status and manners. Jack (Adam Buxton) is a doctor and a serial romantic - there isn't a woman in London who he hasn't tried to become engaged to. Alice (Lucy Punch) is Horatio's lover, far cleverer than he is but still not as clever as she thinks she is.

Louisa (Rosie Cavaliero) is the less attractive sister of Alice, and resolutely left on the shelf despite her youth. Finally, Emily (Cara Horgan) is the fairly incompetent but pretty maid who Freddie continually lusts after but can never bring himself to do anything about. When Horatio's uncle dies and the entire estate is left to him, Horatio suddenly finds himself the number-one suspect for murder. Did Horatio purposely kill his uncle to get his hands on the estate? Or was it his cousin, the daughter of his dead uncle, the beautiful Elizabeth (Christina Cole), who was recently betrothed to his friend and flatmate Jack?

Ladies and Gentlemen is the second episode in Channel 4's Comedy Showcase season - six new 30-minute specials starring some of the UK's best established and up-and-coming comedic talent.

Writers: Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong / Directors: Becky Martin, Phil Bowker / Producer: Derrin Schlesinger

DOC MARTIN SEASON THREE EPISODE THREE

UK / ITV 1 Network / Monday 8 October 2007 @ 9.00pm

This entertaining, Martin Clunes led, series continues, there is a new family in Portwenn who are causing an unwelcome distruption to Doc Martin and the other villagers. Guest starring Karl Theobald, Amy Marston.

A family of city slickers seeking a new life by the sea look set to disrupt the tranquillity of Portwenn.

Anthony (Karl Theobald) and Terri Oakwood (Amy Marston) and their son Sam (James Cronin) move in next door to Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz) having bought their house from recently widowed Mrs Averill. The family is somewhat unconventional in their lifestyle and their arrival upsets Louisa, Martin (Martin Clunes) and the other locals.

They manage to gatecrash an intimate dinner Louisa has prepared for her and Martin. With their romantic dinner plans ruined, the disgruntled doctor decides to make a hasty exit leaving Louisa to deal with the neighbours from hell.

During the move from her old house, Mrs Averill (Eileen Essell) has lost her cat. She’s lonely without her pet. Desperate for company, she is reluctant to leave the surgery when she goes to see the doctor suffering from a rash. Thinking she is suffering from eczema, Doc Martin sends her away with ointment and very little sympathy.

When a student faints at school, Louisa is worried that he might have measles. Although Martin diagnoses Slapped Cheek, he and Louisa begin an argument about the MMR vaccine. Their argument is broken by the sound of the school bell, but tension between the two remains.

A car vandal is on the loose in Portwenn. Cars belonging to the doctor, his Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole) and Bert Large (Ian McNeice) have all been damaged. The doctor reports the vandalism to PC Penhale, but he seems strangely reluctant to investigate. He has to confess he is suffering from agrophobia and can’t leave the police station.

Martin catches the culprit red-handed scratching another car, and chases him through the village back to his home. The vandal is Sam Oakwood. Martin confronts the Oakwoods about their son’s behaviour, but they are unmoved.

Meanwhile, Mrs Averill still can’t find her cat, her rash hasn’t cleared up, and to make matters worse she starts coughing up blood. Doc Martin has a suspicion that Mrs Averill may have lung cancer, but following tests discovers she has tuberculosis.

At first, Martin is baffled as to where she might have caught the disease, but when young Sam Oakwood also becomes ill, Martin uncovers the truth. The source of the tuberculosis has been sleeping in Sam’s bedroom all along…

THE MERSEY SOUND

There's a great South Bank Show coming up Sunday 7 October @ 10.45pm celebrating the Mersey Sound, the book of poetry which shifted poetry from the dusty shelves of acadame into thousands of sitting rooms and onto thousands of stages. The poets involved, Roger McGough, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten have been speaking to us through poetry ever since.

The film paints a vivid picture of an extraordinary English city, Liverpool, and an extraordinary time when the Arts led the way in a cultural and social breakout which energized the Nation, changed the shape of behaviour for generations to come, and made life fun!

Forty years on, Roger McGough and Brian Patten (and the memory of Adrian Henri) give a special reading at the Queen Elizabeth Hall of The Mersey Sound.

They then re-visit their favourite haunts with a tour of “their” Liverpool, the Bohemian enclave that was Liverpool 8 in the ‘60s, now Toxteth. On stage at the Liverpool Everyman, Melvyn Bragg talks to Roger and Brian and discuss memories of Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, of Allan Ginsberg asleep in the bath – and, of course, the poetry that made their names, from The Mersey Sound to their writing for children.

Contributors include: Catherine Marcangeli – Art Historian & partner to the late-Adrian Henri; Mike McCartney – Musician, formerly a member off the Scaffold; Willie Russell – playwright; John Gorman – Musician, formerly a member off the Scaffold; Andy Roberts – Composer & Musician; Adrian Mitchell – Poet & Dramatist.

With some classic archive footage and music, this South Bank Show evokes the zest and irreverence of the sixties and the upcoming Summer Of Love. This was The Mersey Sound.

MILLIONAIRE'S MISSION EPISODE 4

It's the final episode of this series that hopes to make a difference, eight British business leaders, with a combined fortune of over £600 million, have been living in a remote farming community in southern Uganda at the request of aid agency World Vision. They've accepted a challenge to develop innovative ways to tackle poverty in the area. And to help get their ideas off the ground, they have each donated £15,000 to a joint fund. In this final episode, the entrepreneurs are about to head home after three weeks of hard work. So far they've built a potentially money-spinning hotel to encourage tourists to this remote region, installed electricity in the local maternity ward, and set up water schemes for school children. To the last, they're still trying to find ways to help the villagers make money. Two members of the group, Pepita Diamand and Yvonne Thompson, hit on another big idea to help local women turn their hobby into a business.

The others get busy filming an advert they can broadcast back in the UK to attract tourists to their hotel. Meanwhile, Shahid Azeem makes an emergency dash to hospital to help save a pregnant mother and her unborn baby. When it's time to say goodbye to the village, these usually hard-headed business leaders are reduced to tears. But their departure isn't the end of the story. Three months after leaving Uganda, the entrepreneurs return to check up on their projects. Will they have succeeded in changing lives for ever, or will their mission turn out to have been a total failure?

Director: James Bainbridge / Series Producer: Tamara Abood / Executive Producer: Tanya Shaw

SKINS DOUBLE BILL

There's a double bill of episodes wrapping the hyper real teen drama Skins this week from 10.00pm on Tuesday
Episode 8 - Has nobody noticed that Tony's little sister Effy (Kaya Scodelario) never utters a word? Has nobody ever noticed that this 14-year-old schoolgirl sneaks out at night? No-one apart from Tony (Nicholas Hoult), that is. But then Tony doesn't give a damn about anybody or anything, except his little sister.

Episode 9 - It's Anwar's (Dev Patel) birthday party, yet no-one is in the mood to celebrate. Sid (Mike Bailey) thinks he's got his act together, but when he tries to tell Cassie (Hannah Murray) how he feels he ends up in a padded cell. Tony (Nicholas Hoult) is also in the mood to make up, but it seems his luck has run out too. There are scores to be settled. And settled they are, with some unexpected yet dangerously wonderful consequences.

BUILDING OF THE YEAR

THE 2007 RIBA STIRLING PRIZE

UK / Channel 4 / 65 minutes / Saturday 6 October @ 8.00pm

Which building will win the year's most prestigious award in UK architecture? Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud hosts live coverage of the RIBA Stirling Prize announcement from the Roundhouse in Camden, North London. The architect who designed the winning building will be announced live and will walk away with a £20,000 prize. Kevin pays each of the six short-listed buildings a visit to discover their stories. He meets the people who use them as well as those who built them, finding out about the challenges the architects faced in turning their designs into reality.

The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize will be chosen by a team of judges: Tom Bloxham MBE, chair of Urban Splash, Alain de Botton, author and philosopher, Louisa Hutton, architect, Kieran Long, editor of The Architects' Journal , and Sunand Prasad, architect and RIBA president-elect. Previous winners of the title include 30, St Mary Axe, London and the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Last year's winner was Barajas Airport in Madrid. But which design will the judges single out as having made the most significant impact in architecture this year? The selection, as ever, is broad and includes a modern theatre, a redeveloped railway station and a museum of modern literature. This year's nominees are the America's Cup Building in Valencia, the Casa da Musica in Porto, the Dresden Station Redevelopment, the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar, the Savill Building in Windsor and the Young Vic Theatre in London.


Produced and Directed by Ned Williams

REBECCA HALL ON JOE'S PALACE

Rebecca Hall was delighted to be offered the role of the woman who helps the billionaire Elliot (Michael Gambon) discover his family's secret past in Joe's Palace.

"I was just thrilled," beams the actress, who at the age of just 25 is already building a substantial reputation for herself.

"I've always been a huge fan of Stephen Poliakoff, and I was bowled over when he asked me to appear in Joe's Palace. This script seems to have an incredibly spare use of language, and yet it's so rich and intriguing. There is so much going on, he has an incredibly poetic way with prose."

The relationship between Rebecca's character and Michael's is particularly intriguing.

According to Rebecca – who has also starred in Starter For Ten; Wide Sargasso Sea; The Prestige; and will soon be seen as Winifred, Eddington's (David Tennant) sister in the BBC Two/HBO film, Einstein And Eddington – "she's an average North London girl who works in Elliot's local deli. One of his few pleasures in life is sampling produce from the deli so, by association, he develops an interest in the girl who works there.

"When he asks her to do a job she's totally unqualified for, researching his father's finances, she reacts with bemusement and fascination. She's incredibly independent and strong-willed, and nothing phases her.

"She's innately intelligent, is assertive and knows her own mind, which is reflected in her choice of outfits and jewellery. She has the slight arrogance and lack of fear that is characteristic of youth. So she just says, 'yeah, why not?'"

The actress, who is the daughter of director Peter Hall and opera singer Maria Ewing, carries on: "She and Joe are young, untainted people who open Elliot up and teach him things about himself. He learns from her about history but also about how to enjoy interaction with other people. He is able to be social with her in a way that he is incapable of with anyone else."

Rebecca relished collaborating with Michael: "I'd never worked with him before, but it was too good an offer to resist. I just had to do it. Even when I was reading the script, I could hear in my head Michael's rich voice saying the lines.

"I was not disappointed. Acting opposite him, you see just what a master he is," continues Rebecca, who has recently completed filming opposite Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz in Woody Allen's as yet untitled Spanish movie.

"Working with Michael was everything I'd hoped," enthuses the very bright actress, who studied English at Cambridge University.

"He's wonderful to work with, so skilled and relaxed and generous. Film acting is all about listening, so if you're fascinated by someone else, which, with Michael, you always are, then that makes your job an awful lot easier! You can just sit back and enjoy it. When you're acting alongside him, you can't help but raise your game."

DANNY LEE WYNTER ON JOE'S PALACE

Danny Lee Wynter, who plays the title role in Joe's Palace, can hardly believe what has happened to him over the last year. "Just four months ago, I graduated from the LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), and now I'm starring in a Stephen Poliakoff film," he declares, unable to keep the smile off his face. "It's incredible!"

He still remembers the moment when he heard that he had won the role of Joe, the caretaker of a grand house owned by a reclusive billionaire, Elliot (Michael Gambon). The call came after the most testing set of auditions of Danny's life.

"The final audition was Stephen and myself in a room for four hours, but as I left the room I wasn't convinced it had gone that well. Then, three days later, I was rung by my agent and told I had got the job. My reaction? I fell silent on the phone to my agent, that's the first time that's ever happened!"

Danny, who also stars opposite Dame Maggie Smith in the BBC Two film, Capturing Mary, was delighted to be able to get his teeth into such a meaty part. Joe is at the core of the action in the first film.

He helps Elliot get to the root of the mystery surrounding the origins of his father's wealth, and he also facilitates the affair between a charismatic, ambitious politician, Richard (Rupert Penry-Jones) and his beautiful lover, Charlotte (Kelly Reilly).

According to Danny: "The two films are about a young man who goes on a journey. At the start of Joe's Palace, he is incredibly forthright. He sees everything in black and white. But by the end of the first film, he has grown up a lot.

"He learns a great deal from both Elliot and Charlotte. Elliot is at the heart of Joe's development, they have a very rewarding relationship, but every person Joe encounters helps him to grow. The great thing is, he's incredibly curious about everything. He finds everything around him fascinating."

Danny also reckons that Joe, who comes from a council estate and whose mother is a cleaner, has a profound relationship with the house that he is looking after. This mansion sits at the heart of this story, its significance is underlined by the title of the drama.

"The house itself is a major character in Joe's Palace. It's an empty vessel which holds a lot of unanswered questions, both about the past and the present.

"Just as he latches onto the loneliness of Charlotte and Elliot, he latches onto the loneliness of the house. He finds it an extraordinary place to explore, and being there gives Joe a great sense of responsibility."

Danny is in awe of the cool way in which Joe takes on that responsibility.

"Everything in this world is alien to Joe, he comes from a completely different class, culture and age, so the responsibility bestowed upon him is enormous. But, unlike me, he just takes it in his stride. He's not fussed about anything. He just lets it happen. This young man just says, 'ok, I'll deal with that'.

"Even when this 17-year-old boy is asked to go for dinner with his boss, Elliot, a prospect that should be quite terrifying, he simply says 'no problem'. That equanimity, which comes naturally to Joe, is very intriguing."

Danny, who has previously played a part in Trial & Retribution, says that the fact that Joe is not of their world helps him to be relaxed in the presence of the great and the good.

"He's an outsider and doesn't have to apologise for himself. He's a very self-contained character. He is never obliged to dig deeper or ponder issues which he can't do anything about. That's not worth his time. He's much more interested in observing than participating."

All the same, the actor adds, he does get embroiled with two characters.

"He finds himself inexorably drawn to both Elliot and Charlotte because they're both lonely people who have great regrets about their lives. Unconsciously, he seeks out their loneliness because they're isolated souls. In contrast to Joe, they're very emotional people and they take him under their wings. They feel a great affinity with this other outsider."

Danny expands on Joe's relationship with Elliot: "Elliot sees a lot of himself in this young man. He sees someone who needs to be cared for and nurtured. He feels it's his duty to give something back to the world by taking on this bright young man. For his part, Joe sees Elliot as a father figure. He comes from a single-parent family and doesn't have a relationship with his father, so Elliot fills that gap."

Danny concludes by paying tribute to Michael: "He's the most marvellous actor, humour and intelligence pour out of him. He's always been a hero of mine, in fact, he was someone who made me want to act in the first place.

"I was an usher at the Royal Court Theatre for five years, I only gave it up to do Joe's Palace. I remember sitting through 32 performances of Caryl Churchill's A Number, which Michael was starring in.

"I didn't have to watch every show, but I wanted to. I was just mesmerised by what Michael was doing on stage. Never in a million years did I imagine I'd end up playing opposite in a film with him! I have to keep pinching myself. This has been a dream job!"

WISH ME LUCK THE COMPLETE SERIES

Distributor: Network
Certificate: 12 | region 2 | 6 disc set
Extras: No

cast
Kate Buffery, Suzanna Hamilton, Julian Glover, Michael J Jackson, Jane Asher, Warren Clarke, Terence Hardiman

This thoroughly excellent late 1980s world war II drama gets all three of its series released in a 6 disc set by Network this month. Drawing comparisons with such shows as Secret Army and Manhunt the series stars Kate Buffery (in her first big lead role) as 20 some thing Liz Graniger, she has a five year old daughter and her husband is away fighting overseas.

Determined to do her bit she responds to an appeal by the SOE (Special Operations Executive aka The Outfit) who are looking for fluent French speakers, Liz is teamed up with younger cockney Matty Firman and together the pair are dropped behind enemy lines to help co-ordinate the resistance.

Their boss is Colonel James Cad Cadogan and others on the team include Oxford Grad Faith Ashley and teenage Lois Mountjoy, over in France the girls mostly work with baronets son Kit Vanston and resistance worker Claudine.

Warren Clarke also appears as head of the German forces Colonel Krieger although he is later replaced by General Stuckler.
Like Secret Army this is one very tense series especially as we come to know the characters and its also brilliant to be able to follow a series right the way through from beginning to conclusion.

RUPERT PENRY-JONES INTERVIEWED

Rupert Penry-Jones plays Richard Reece in Stephen Poliakoff's major new drama Joe's Palace on BBC-1 soon. Poliakoff is one of the UK's most respected writers and Rupert jumped at the chance to appear in one of his productions.

When asked what attracted him to Joe's Palace, Rupert replies: "Stephen Poliakoff. It's as simple as that," smiles the actor, who plays Richard, the dashing cabinet minister who conducts a passionate affair with a married woman called Charlotte (Kelly Reilly) in the house at the core of the film. "I said 'yes' before I'd even read it! He's someone I know I will always want to work with. He's just brilliant."

Rupert, who is best known for his starring role as Adam Carter in BBC One's hit espionage drama Spooks, goes on to explain what makes collaborating with Stephen such an irresistible proposition.

"I've been in Stephen's Sweet Panic, and he's just got an incredible mind. His take on urban life is fantastic. He endows London with such mystery, he turns it into a magical place.

"Also, he writes the most compelling characters. Every single person in a Stephen Poliakoff drama is worth playing. That's why he always manages to recruit such wonderful casts. Even if you're only in two scenes, you know they'll be crucial to the drama.

"You also know that Stephen will direct them with absolute integrity. Because he has total artistic control on his projects, you can be sure he won't be pushed around by people who don't have a creative bone in their bodies. With Stephen, you are involved in something creative rather than mere entertainment. That's very rare in television nowadays."

Rupert, who has also given fine performances in Casanova, Krakatoa: The Last Days, Cambridge Spies, Charlotte Grey, North Square, Poirot, Match Point,

Hilary And Jackie and The Student Prince, explains more about his character. "Richard is a young hotshot member of the Cabinet who leads a very fast nd exciting life.

"He never has time to stop and think about anything. His way of surviving is by having dalliances with various women and taking risks. His thinking is, 'if I
stopped doing this, I'd stop being able to do anything'. Other people relax by shopping or going on holiday. Richard relaxes by sleeping with different women.

"He has a beautiful wife at home whom he loves, but these affairs have nothing to do with that. He enjoys the frisson of sailing close to the wind; he needs to keep taking these risks in order to feel alive. He has effortless confidence, some people are just like that.

"He's the sort of person who has the balls to ask people the questions no one else would ever dare ask, like 'can I use your house to conduct an affair?'

He'd go up to a famous person and ask him out for dinner. Richard is bold and he seems happy, but actually he has a very lonely existence."

The actor, who played Captain Wentworth in Persuasion earlier this year, was also intrigued by the idea of the house being a third character in this film.

"The house is the lead in Joe's Palace – especially in a vast city like London, there are lots of properties you look at and think, 'I wonder what goes on in
there?' This house is based on a building Stephen grew up near in central London.

"The idea of a house being a living thing with a history going back decades is fascinating. This house affects all the people who come through it. It touches people and stays with them for their whole lives. The mansion is an incredibly evocative place, replete with memories."

The house certainly has a major effect on Richard. According to Rupert: "Initially, Richard and Charlotte bring a breath of fresh air into the house. They suddenly bring the house to life.

"And in the house, Richard gets close to people like Joe who he would never become friendly with elsewhere. But the house also makes Richard stop and think, and he finds that unsettling. So he stops coming, he's a person who has to keep moving."

Rupert finishes by praising his co-star, Kelly Reilly: "She's great," the actor enthuses.

"We were already friends before this film. We played lovers in a Poirot and had appeared together in a show at the Milan Fashion Festival. It's always difficult doing sex scenes, but the fact that Kelly and I had played lovers before made it easier. We shot all the scenes in one day and had a real laugh.

You have to laugh making those scenes, otherwise they're just excruciatingly painful!"

NOTES FROM THE UNDERBELLY

Director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld and producers Kim and Eric Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men) bring a comic take on life’s greatest adventure – parenthood. This ensemble comedy proves that surviving the politics of pregnancy and maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be just as demanding as raising a child.Andrew (Peter Cambor) and Lauren (Jennifer Westfeldt,) have just found out they're going to have a baby, and they’re having a difficult time following rule number one – keeping it a secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teetotaler at cocktail parties, and going to the OBGYN are all difficult to keep from family and close friends.Surrounding Andrew and Lauren as they embark on their journey is a close-knit circle of friends -- all of whom have varying opinions, experience and advice on starting a family. Julie (Melanie Paxson) and Eric (Sunkrish Bala), also in the family way for the first time, are the overly excited, slightly obnoxious expectant parents that Andrew and Lauren never want to become. Lauren’s best friend, Cooper (Rachael Harris), is a divorce attorney and career woman who is skeptical of marriage altogether, and will do her best to keep Lauren from becoming another member of the mommy cult.

Andrew’s buddy, Danny (Michael Weaver), is an immature child in his own right, whose chief concern is meeting hot women. Can Andrew and Lauren juggle the freedom and spontaneity of their old lives and the responsibility of their new ones? Will they be able to straddle the worlds of their carefree single friends and the ever-changing world of their married ones?Andrew will narrate each episode, giving his wry and often sarcastic interpretation of the events that are going on around him. Lauren may be getting the stretch marks, but Andrew has to pretend that he doesn’t notice them. Through it all, Andrew and Lauren come to learn that what's best for the child could be the easiest part... maintaining your relationships with family and friends might be the real challenge.Notes from the Underbelly stars Jennifer Westfeldt as Lauren, Peter Cambor as Andrew, Michael Weaver as Danny, Rachael Harris as Cooper, Melanie Paxson as Julie and Sunkrish Bala as Eric Based on Risa Green’s novel of the same name, Notes from the Underbelly was created by Stacy Traub (Kitchen Confidential.) Traub, Barry Sonnenfeld, Kim Tannenbaum and Eric Tannenbaum serve as executive producers. The series is from The Tannenbaum Company, Hill Three Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

JASON MERRELLS INTERVIEWED

Jason Merrells plays Jack Rimmer in the BBC's Waterloo Road, the drama about a modern day, progressive comprehensive school. Jason, has, over the last few years, become one of the brightest lights on the British TV scene. We caught up with him recently to talk about the third season of the show.

What happened to Jack at the end of the last series?

"He was struggling to help save Izzie, who had been stabbed. He also saved the school from Jerry's Creationist ideology."

Do you think Jack's experiences have changed him at all?

"He is more determined than ever to turn Waterloo Road around and make it a success."

Do you think Jack's relationship with Davina will last, or is Steph still in with a chance?

"Steph will always be waiting in the wings for Jack, and he will occasionally take her on. He is however, head over heels with Davina and wants to spend the rest of his life with her."

Jack's still reeling from the death of Izzie – how does this impact on his day-to-day job?

"He blames himself for Izzie's death, believing he could have done more to save her. But, with the love and support of Davina, plus a large supply of anti-depressants, he can keep afloat."

How does Jack and Tom's relationship fare in this series?

"Jack feels guilty about the death of Izzie and truly wants to get on with Tom, although he's having none of it."

How does Jack and Eddie's relationship develop?

"Eventually, they develop a mutual respect for one another."

On the theme of inclusion this series, should pupils with different needs and abilities be educated within the mainstream system?

"Where possible, yes, I think they should."

Do you think it is important for television programmes to illustrate these issues, especially within education?

"Yes, I think it's important to bring these issues to the wider audience."

What is your favourite storyline this series?

"It has to be Jack's novel use of the school budget to attract gifted and talented kids, and his developing relationship with Davina."

What have you enjoyed most about recording Waterloo Road?

"The cast are great, and we have had a real laugh filming the series."

Do you have any other projects lined up?

"I'm going to be touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company – I'll be playing Antipholus of Syracuse, in The Comedy Of Errors."

What goes through your mind when you think of school?

"It was grim, actually, and I don't really miss it at all!"

Where did you go to school?

"I went to Buckhurst Hill County High School for boys – it was a comprehensive school."

Do you have any siblings and, if so, did you all go to the same school?

"I was at school with my brother; he was older, so it helped me a lot, initially."

What other memories do you have from school?

"I enjoyed my English classes, and bunking off, too!"

Did you have any inspiring teachers at school?

"My English teacher, Mr Patrick."

Since playing the role of Jack, do you have a better understanding of teaching and the education system?

"Yes, I have much more respect for teachers now – I think it's a very difficult job."

Would you ever consider a career in teaching?

"No, I don't think so. It doesn't appeal to me as a job."

If you were allowed to take a souvenir away from Waterloo Road, what would it be?

"Jack has a small desktop figurine of a Spartan athlete that has been on his desk since the very beginning, and it has become a bit of a running joke. So,
I'd like to take that."

Are you enjoying living and working around Manchester while filming Waterloo Road?

"Yes, I am, and it has become my second home. I've been to Old Trafford and the Pennines, too."

WATERLOO ROAD - BACK FOR A THIRD SEASON

BBC1 / Thursdays @ 8.00pm
The popular school drama is back for a third term soon on BBC 1, Jason Merrells is still there as headmaster Jack Rimmer but Angela Griffin and Jamie Glover as Kim and Andrew are gone, their characters busy in Rwanda. Which means of course there is a new deputy head in the shape of Neil Morrissey as Eddie Lawson.



As the series returns the school is firmly in the spotlight following the murder of drama teacher Izzie Redpath (Jill Halfpenny). Although head teacher Jack Rimmer (Jason Merrells) won a national bravery award, he secretly blames himself for Izzie's death.



This, together with his drive and determination to improve exam results, leads Jack into taking a high-risk approach to secure the school's future success.

It's with the love and support of Davina Shackleton (Christina Tremarco) that Jack's able to strive – until he pushes that love one step too far.



Meanwhile, Tom (Jason Done) is reeling from the loss of Izzie and also blames Jack for her death, whilst struggling to maintain a normal life playing single dad to Chlo (Katie Griffiths) and Mika (Lauren Drummond).



To add to his problems, Chlo and Donte (Adam Thomas) are set on tying the knot – the beginning of a testing journey which leads to a trail of broken hearts.



Waterloo Road is on mission to embrace its policy on inclusion: no matter the circumstances or abilities, all kids are welcome at the school – resulting in a

host of new faces among the pupils including Karla Bentham (Jessica Baglow), an Asperger's sufferer. Karla has an uncanny knack of creating mayhem and Grantly Budgen (Philip Martin Brown) is first to be on the receiving end.



Davina Shackleton, now a teaching assistant, has the task of supporting Karla and taking time to understand her needs. Unfortunately, not everyone in the school, both pupils and teachers, are as tolerant.



The new Deputy Head, Eddie Lawson, is an excellent teacher who earns the respect of nearly all of his colleagues. Eddie's desire to do things by the book soon brings him into conflict with Jack, however, who has a reputation for cutting corners. Eddie is now single, following a recent divorce, but, with the arrival of a new member of staff, sparks are soon starting to fly.



Elsewhere, new drama teacher Matt Walker (Chris Geere) plans to grab the headlines with the school's first musical, Park Side Story. Matt's popular with staff and pupils, but he has a secret which he feels he can't divulge. However, following an incident that leaves him hospitalised, he has no option but to reveal all.



In her new role, caring, but inept, Steph Haydock continues to lurch from one gaffe to the next, although her heart is in the right place. Steph is still trying to find love, and has her sights set on both Jack and Matt.



Meanwhile, work-shy Grantly is delighted to have new rookie Jasmine Koreshi (Shabana Bakhsh) to foist his dirty work upon. He also has several problems at home that eventually spill over into his working life.

THE BARCHESTER CHRONICLES

UK / BBC2 / x50 minute episodes / Broadcast 10 November - 22 December 1982

Writer: Alan Plater / Novels: Anthony Trollope / Theme Music: Derek Bourgeois / Producer: Jonathan Powell

Period drama serial. Joyful adaptations of two 19th century Trollope novels, The Warden and Barchester Towers. Friendly and mild mannered Reverend Septimus Harding is living something of a secret life in that he is embezzling funds from the town hospital. Trouble starts when the local doctor discovers what is going on, later in the series the focus shifts to the story of the Bishop who is to be replaced.

Arthur Lowe was first choice for the role of Septimus but died before filming could take place.

cast
DONALD PLEASENCE as Reverend Septimus Harding / NIGEL HAWTHORNE as Dr Grantly / ANGELA PLEASENCE as Susan Grantly / DAVID GWILLIM as John Bold / JANET MAW as Eleanor Harding / JOSEPH O'CONNOR as Bunce / ALAN RICKMAN as Reverend Obediah Slope / JOHN RINGHAM as Finney

FIVE DAYS

FIVE DAYS is a brilliant HBO - BBC five part serial that is currently airing on HBO, te thriller follows the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful young mother and her two children in the family-friendly suburbs of Hertfordshire, outside of London. Focusing on the day of the woman’s vanishing and four random days that follow, the story traces the ripple effects when a family’s life-altering trauma becomes not only a complex police investigation, but ripe fodder for tabloid headlines.

Superb viewing and incredibly suspenseful Five Days stars Nikki Amuka-Bird, Hugh Bonneville, Charlie Creed-Miles, Phil Davis, Patrick Malahide, Janet McTeer, David Oyelowo, Sarah Smart, Penelope Wilton and Edward Woodward.

If you missed the first episode you can view it online at
Five Days Online

TIME TEAM SPECIAL - BRITAINS DROWNED WORLD

Until 8,000 years ago Britain was part of the European continent. The ice melted and the seas rose for several thousand years, shrinking the land that joined us to The Netherlands and Denmark. But the final bridge only disappeared in 6000BC. Tony Robinson and the Time Team piece together the story of Britain's drowned world: the land, far bigger than England is today, lost when the North Sea and the English Channel were formed in a huge, 10,000-year flood.

Archaeologists have just discovered that humans were here as far back as 700,000 years ago; until recently it was thought to be little more than half that time. For 690,000 of those 700,000 years, it seems likely that those people were living just on the edge of Britain as it is known today, mostly on the land that was drowned, and is now the bottom of the sea. Scientists are only just beginning to realise that the key to understanding our early ancestors may be on the seabed.

Travelling back and forth to The Netherlands and round the coast, Tony and the Team discover vast mammoth bones, tiger teeth and lion jaws, as well as human skulls, fine worked tools and even a hunter-gatherer campsite. Revolutionary high-tech analysis reveals a picture of a fertile and attractive land now lost for ever: lost, of course, because of climate change. How did our ancestors adapt when the rising sea stole their land?

Britain has been through many temperature cycles. At times ice sheets two kilometres thick covered the country; at others temperatures soared, melting the ice. Such a dramatic temperature rise happened when the North Sea and English Channel formed, around 8,000 years ago.

In at least eight warm periods, the human species has attempted to colonise Britain. The current colonisation, in which we live, is probably the longest and most successful.

But it is clear from finds, especially in the Netherlands, that the land now under the North Sea would have been a lush paradise in warm periods. There were many rivers on what is now the sea bed; the gravel industry hunts down these river beds and dredges thousands of tonnes. Their information helps scientists plot these rivers.

There are a number of digs and dives round the country - many funded by English Heritage and supported by a levy on the gravel industry - that are beginning to explore the story of early man in some detail.

The one which produced the 700,000-year-old finds is at Happisburgh in Norfolk. Others are at Starr Carr in Yorkshire and underwater in the Solent.

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