Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Many TV programmes have found their resources slashed over the last couple of years, and the results of that are starting to manifest themselves on our screens. Expect to see more British and American co-productions (such as the upcoming Episodes and the hotly anticipated fourth series of Torchwood) and shorter runs for some returning series (the new series of Lark Rise to Candleford, for example, has been cut down to six episodes). Programmes with ensemble casts may adopt the Chuck technique of having main characters absent for whole episodes, although Chuck is also a prime example of how clever show-makers can make the most of a relatively small budget.
Apart from the now-departed Big Brother, the scheduling of the major reality programmes on our screens looks like it’s going to remain pretty unaltered. Dancing On Ice kicks off soon, but things will really get started with Britain’s Got Talent in the spring, as Amanda Holden is joined on the judging panel by Michael McIntyre and the Hoff himself. Later in the year, The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing will take us through the cold autumn nights into winter, although rumours abound of further changes to the X Factor judges’ line-up due to the debut of an American version of the programme.
A couple of programmes that made strong debuts in 2010 should be back on our screens at some stage this year: period drama phenomenon Downton Abbey will return for an eight-part series in the autumn, while a further three episodes of Sherlock are being filmed from May. We’ll also never be more than a few months away from a new episode of Doctor Who in 2011, as the sixth series is being split: the seven-episode first half will culminate in a cliff-hanger that will be resolved when the programme returns in the autumn for six more episodes. After over 20 years in the role, David Suchet’s time as Hercule Poirot will come to an end later this year, but in the immediate future we have the returns of Skins, my favourite Being Human and my mum’s favourite Lark Rise to Candleford to look forward to.
Following last year’s star-studded second series of Moving On and the critical acclaim for The Indian Doctor, the BBC have continued their move to improve their programming output of daytime TV. Amidst ever-increasing ratings, Doctors will marks its 2000th episode in February with an hour-long episode, while patchy period drama Land Girls is returning later this month with five more episodes. New drama 32, Brinkburn Street will move between 1931 and the present day as it looks at two generations of the same family living in the same terraced house in Manchester.
One-off dramas based on real events have produced firm successes for the BBC over the last few years, and the trend is already being continued this year with Hattie and United. John Simm and Jim Broadbent, who are undoubtedly two of the finest actors working in Britain today, will star as father and son in three-part psychological thriller The Exile. But the thing I’m looking forward to most of all is screenwriter extraordinaire Andrew Davies’s adaptation of Winifred Holtby’s novel South Riding. This tale of female strength and unexpected love in the 1930s stars two of my absolute favourite actors, Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrissey, and should be a real treat.
I'm very much looking forward to Hattie. Ruth Jones is a surprisingly spectacular straight actress and looks so much the part in the publicity photos.
Can't wait for Being Human! Hope they get Annie back soon as she adds much needed humour to proceedings. I also hope that Torchwood doesn't become too Americanised.
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