Archive | Welsh TV

An archive of blog entries about Welsh TV programmes and production.


April 25, 2013

Thursday's "Guillermo del Toro's Monster, Arte's Odysseus and Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing" news

Posted on April 25, 2013 | Post a comment | Bookmark and Share

Film casting

Trailers

  • Trailer for Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing
Canadian TV French TV

UK TV

US TV

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

  • Nat Faxon to star in Andrew Gurland's comedy pilot

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April 18, 2013

Review: Da Vinci's Demons 1x1 (Starz/FOX)

Posted on April 18, 2013 | Post a comment | Bookmark and Share

Da Vinci's Demons

In the US: Fridays, 9pm, Starz
In the UK: Fridays, 10pm, Fox. Starts 19th April

You might have thought the horror that was Torchwood: Miracle Day had ended. There's no more Torchwood, thanks to the series being so poorly received, even the majority of die-hard Torchwood fans couldn't bear any more episodes. Yet like that giant hole in the middle of the Earth, sucking the joy from life in that show's finale, so its legacy carries on.

That legacy is an alliance between BBC Worldwide and Starz aimed at creating yet more dramas as good as Torchwood: Miracle Day - yes, that good - and Da Vinci's Demons is its first bastard offspring. On paper, it might have seemed a good idea, with David Goyer, the co-writer of Batman Begins, crafting a historical fantasy series about the early life of Leonardo Da Vinci. The well known Renaissance polymath, he's popped up in enough shows over the years that he probably deserved a show of his own.

But in practice, it's not. Starz has tried to do historical shows before. It's had huge, deserved success with Spartacus; Magic City may just be nasty but it's a loving recreation of the 1950s Miami at the very least. Unfortunately, rather than aping either of those two shows, it's decided to go the Camelot route and produced a genre-busting show that marries Camelot's sex, nudity, poor action and complete bypass of virtually all history; the BBC's child-friendly but atrocious Merlin, Robin Hood and Bonekickers; the setting and political intrigue of The Borgias; the ridiculous conspiracy theories of The Da Vinci Code; and elements of movies ranging from Batman Begins to Hudson Hawk. Yes, the probably gay Florentine polymath Leonardo Da Vinci is actually a leather-jacket wearing shagger of women, prone to the occasional sword-fight with the local guards, who somehow gets mixed up with the magical secret society that is the Sons of Mithras, all while flying people around in his inventions.

And it's all filmed in Wales with an almost entirely British cast. Be proud. We made this.

Continue reading "Review: Da Vinci's Demons 1x1 (Starz/FOX)"

March 22, 2013

Friday's "Mary Tyler Moore reunion, F Murray Abraham: hitman & Karen Gillan heads to the US" news

Posted on March 22, 2013 | comments | Bookmark and Share

Doctor Who

  • Peter Jackson willing to direct Doctor Who for 1 Dalek
  • Matt Smith leaving after Christmas??
Comics
  • Neil Gaiman returns to Marvel, bringing Angela from Spawn along

Film

  • Seth Rogen to direct, produce and star in The Interview by Seth Rogen

Film casting

  • Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes, John Hurt, Rebecca Ferguson and Askel Hennie join Hercules
  • Gary Oldman joins Child 44
  • Maximiliano Hernandez to return for Captain America 2, Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde to star in Endless Love
Trailers

UK TV

  • Sky green lights: Mr Sloane, with Nick Frost, and Yonderland
  • …confirms third series for Moone Boy
  • S4C to develop more digital content
  • Only one in ten TV drama series directors are women
  • Clip from Life Too Short special

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV shows New US TV show casting

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