Man Down
BAFTA events

What TV’s on at BAFTA in July 2017? Including Man Down

New feature, guys. I’ve just noticed that BAFTA TV showings are open to the public now – you can buy tickets to them and everything. Not only that, but they happen all over the UK, so even you non-London types can go.

So every month, I’ll be flagging up what TV BAFTA will be showing, just like I do with the BFI. Not much this month, mind, and it’s in London, too, but at least it’s something.

Monday, 31 July 2017

6:45pm Princess Anne Theatre, BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London

Preview: Man Down + Q&A with writer and star Greg Davies
An Avalon production: Producer, Jane Wallbank; Director, Al Campbell; Executive Producers, Richard Allen-Turner, James Taylor and Jon Thoday. Commissioned by Fiona McDermott, Head of Comedy at Channel 4. Man Down will be aired on C4 in August

A preview of the fourth series of critically acclaimed Channel 4 sitcom, written by and starring Greg Davies (Cuckoo, The Inbetweeners).
Dan (Davies) is a childish idiot trapped in an adult’s life and locked in a soft-focus dream of his impending fatherhood. He’s quit his much-hated job as a teacher and is applying his unique work ethic to another, more earthy profession. With Aunt Nesta (Stephanie Cole) and his Mum (Gwyneth Powell) now in a retirement village burning through his inheritance, Dan is on an increasingly desperate hunt to find a new home for his soon-to-be family. Helped by his oldest friends – uptight financial advisor Brian (Mike Wozniak) and serial ‘entrepreneur’ Jo (Roisin Conaty) – can Dan finally grow up into the man he hopes to be?

Buy tickets

Members’ booking: June 28 from 9.30am
Public booking: June 30 from 12.00pm

Prices

BAFTA Members/Guests: Free
Public: £7.50

Tickets will be available to collect from reception

Amazon's Comrade Detective
Airdates

When’s that show you mentioned starting again, TMINE? Including Salvation, Comrade Detective and She’s Gotta Have It

Every Friday, I let you know the latest announcements about when new, imported TV shows will finally be arriving on UK screens

We’ve one acquisition this week and that’s CBS (US)’s forthcoming summer show, Salvation, with episodes set to air on Amazon (UK) four days after they air in the US. “The suspense thriller series follows a tech superstar and an MIT graduate who discover an asteroid will destroy Earth in six months.” So basically a sequel to No Tomorrow?

Anyway, that debuts on CBS on July 12 at 9pm ET/PT, so presumably we’ll be getting episodes starting July 16.

Another show coming to Amazon, this time an Amazon original, is Comrade Detective. This sounds potentially both very daft and very funny, since it features a faux Romanian 80s detective cop drama, all shot in Romania and with Romanian dialogue but dubbed by Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well as the equally stellar likes of Jenny Slate, Chloë Sevigny, Jake Johnson, Jason Mantzoukas, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Kim Basinger, Mahershala Ali, Tracey Letts, Bobby Cannavale, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton Duplass, Jerrod Carmichael, Bo Burnham and John Early:

In the thick of 1980’s Cold War hysteria, the Romanian government created the country’s most popular and longest-running series, Comrade Detective, a sleek and gritty police show that not only entertained its citizens but also promoted Communist ideals and inspired a deep nationalism. The action-packed and blood-soaked first season finds Detectives Gregor Anghel (Killing Time‘s Florin Piersic Jr) and Iosef Baciu (The Devil Inside‘sCorneliu Ulici) investigating the murder of fellow officer Nikita Ionesco and, in the process, unraveling a subversive plot to destroy their country that is fueled by – what else – but the greatest enemy: Capitalism. Though the beloved show was sadly forgotten about after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it has been rediscovered and digitally remastered now with its main heroes voiced by Tatum and Gordon-Levitt. Comrade Detective is a true portal into a time and place and a powerful reminder of what art can be – and it is now ready to be seen by the modern world on a larger scale than ever before.

Amazon’s releasing that August 4.

Last but not least, we have Netflix’s series adaptation of Spike Lee’s seminal 1986 movie She’s Gotta Have It. Importantly, Lee has not only created and produced the show, he’s directed all 10 episodes. An update of the 1986 film, Brooklyn-based artist Nola Darling, a 20-something struggling to define herself and divide her time amongst her friends, her job and her three lovers: Greer Childs, Jamie Overstreet and Mars Blackmon. Air date is November 23, so you might have to suspend your Doctor Who birthday celebrations.

Rai1's Missing
News

News: Sense8 finale; Amazon acquires Salvation; live-action Jetsons series; + more

Internet TV

European TV

International TV

  • AXN green lights: series of small-town actor-cop procedural Carter, with Jerry O’Connell and Sydney Tamiia Poitier

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

Weekly Wonder Woman
Weekly Wonder Woman

Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman #25, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman #5, Justice League #23, Trinity #10, Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil #1.

Yes, it’s Weekly Wonder Woman – keeping you up to date on pretty much anything involving DC Comics’ premier superheroine, apart from children’s wear

The observant will notice that it’s a Thursday instead of one of the other days that WWW normally arrives in your browser. That’s because:

  1. I’m usually not that busy on a Thursday
  2. DC’s comics all come out on Wednesday, so I might actually be almost topical if WWW is on a Thursday

Genius, hey? Let’s see how long I can keep it up for.

Anyway, with the movie now in its third week of release, news and promos are dying down. Nevertheless, it has now passed the $600m worldwide box office mark and become the highest-grossing live action movie ever directed by a woman. Which warms the cockles of my heart, of course, even if it has a little way to go to catch up with Beauty and the Beast to take this year’s box office crown.

Dancing Gal Gadot

So, with nothing new to report from the comics world or anywhere else and with our new Thursday “Let’s steal it from Thor day” schedule in place, let’s go and look at both last week’s and this week’s new releases. We have Greg Rucka signing off properly with Wonder Woman #25, a definite uptick in quality with Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman #5, and a definite downtick in Justice League #23 and Trinity #10. 

Last but not least, we also have a somewhat unexpected crossover in the form of Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil #1. No, really. You should see the Batman/Elmer Fudd crossover…

Elmer Fudd and Batman

Continue reading “Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman #25, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman #5, Justice League #23, Trinity #10, Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil #1.”

News: Tales of the City revival; ITV/Amazon’s Vanity Fair; Drifters cancelled; White Gold renewed; + more

Internet TV

  • Ne-Yo, Naya Rivera and Faizon Love to star in YouTube Red’s Step Up: High Water
  • Netflix developing: revival of PBS/Showtime’s Tales of the City, with Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis

International TV

UK TV

UK TV show casting

New UK TV show casting

  • Nicola Walker, Meera Syal, Stephen Mangan, Stephen Tompkinson et al to star in BBC One’s The Split

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV show casting