European TV

News and reviews about European TV

Friday’s “E4 enters Suburgatory, futuristic Zorro, Fry goes to the Globe, and Malin Akerman” news

17 February 2012 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Film

  • Community‘s Gillian Jacobs joins Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey in Burt Wonderstone
  • Trailer for Wanderlust with Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Alan Alda and Marlin Akerman
  • Gael Garcia Bernal to play futuristic Zorro

Radio

Theatre

British TV

  • E4 acquires Suburgatory
  • SyFy acquires Todd & The Book of Pure Evil
  • Dirk Gently details
  • Brian Cox (no, not that one) to star in Bob Servant Independent for BBC Four
  • UK Gold to invest millions in original content [subscription required]

French TV

  • TF1’s revenue static, profits drop 20%

US TV

Classic TV

Nostalgia corner: Treasure Hunt (1982-89, 2002-03) and Interceptor (1989-90)

16 February 2012 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Treasure Hunt

Back in the early days of Channel 4, the urgent need for ideas to fill an entire network full of programming was clear. Despite all the preparation time and work, you don’t just create seven days of year-round programming out of nothing. So, Channel 4 looked around the world for formats it could use.

For game shows, there was a problem: ITV had pretty much sown up the US format-acquisition market, taking everything from Family Fortunes and The Price is Right. So Channel 4 had the interesting idea of plundering French TV for formats.

Like Countdown? Think it’s British? Then gasp in awe at the original show, Des chiffres et des lettres, at 47 years old the oldest TV programme on French TV and one of the longest-running game shows in the world:

Another fondly remembered Channel 4 game show that started at the same time also originated on French TV. Treasure Hunt began life as La Chasse au Trésor (and eventually La Chasse aux Trésors) on Antenne 2:

In it, a bunch of people back in a studio solved clues that would lead to treasure. They themselves didn’t do the hunting: that was up to a guy in a helicopter who followed their instructions. And here in the UK, with Treasure Hunt we got more or less the same thing, with former newsreader Kenneth Kendall helping a motley collection of contestants back in a studio to solve clues, all while ‘a skyrunner’ went out in a helicopter, usually in the UK, sometimes in exotic locations like Australia, to find the next clue and eventually the treasure.

That skyrunner – Anneka Rice, the possessor of one of the most famous, award-winning bottoms on British TV. Here are the very familiar titles.

Continue reading “Nostalgia corner: Treasure Hunt (1982-89, 2002-03) and Interceptor (1989-90)”

Thursday’s “US Braquo remake, Shatner’s World and new BBC dramas” news

12 January 2012 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Theater

British TV

  • Tuesday ratings: Body of Proof starts with 1.7m viewers on Channel 5
  • 61% of BBC shows are repeats
  • Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid to star in rom-com Antony and Cleopatra
  • Dennis Lawson joins New Tricks
  • Sean Bean to star in The Accused
  • BBC announces five new dramas including The Moonstone, Truckers, War of the Roses, Room on the Broom and The Secret of Crickley Hall, casts Hayley Atwell in Restless, renews Death in Paradise for a second series
  • Victoria Wood to write another 90-minute film for BBC1 [subscription required]
  • Channel 4 to launch a repeats channel? [subscription required]
  • BSkyB axes Current TV

US TV

A new event for fans of French and British TV: Totally Serialized

19 December 2011 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Well, here’s exciting (no, really, genuinely exciting):

From 19 to 22 January, the Institut français will hold its first ever French and British TV Series Festival. TV fanatics, enthusiasts and newcomers will be able to discover the cream of French and British TV series with the most amazing actors, screenwriters and directors in attendance. It’s time to get totally serialized!

The UK premiere of eagely awaited hit TV Show Borgia, attended by actor Mark Ryder, will kick off the festival. Other highlights include a very special premiere of the first episode of Inside Men, the new BBC One TV Drama, followed by a Q&A with writer Tony Basgallop, a screening of Spiral with the screenwriters Anne Landois and Eric de Barahir, an exclusive screening of the first episode of Shane Meadows’s This is England ’88, in the presence of members of the cast and all-night marathon of Season 3 of Misfits with the cast also attending. Maverick French TV Shows such as Platane, with a Q&A with co-screenwriter Hafid F. Benamar, and Hard, a comedy about the porn world are also lined-up as well as comedies such as The Invincibles and the hit TV show Desperate Parents introduced by actress Valérie Bonneton.

Gangsters and cops will wrap up the festival on Sunday notably with Tony’s Revenge and the dark and gritty Braquo. A panel discussion on ‘How to Write a TV Show’ completes the programme, gathering majors screenwriters such as Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), Paula Milne (Small Island, The Politician’s Wife), Anne Landois and Eric de Barahir (Spiral).

You can find out more here, and there’s also a schedule of events. And for those who aren’t going, apparently Death in Paradise will be broadcast on BBC1 and Borgia will be shown on Netflix UK in 2012. Yes, there’s going to be a Netflix UK in 2012. Interesting. And I’ll be even more interested to see if Borgia is better than snore-fest The Borgias.

I’m probably going to be camped out in the Institute for most of this.

Tuesday’s “movie Conchords?” news

29 November 2011 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Film

Theatre

  • Zach Braff to star in All New People at the Duke of York

French TV

US TV