BFI events

Every month, TMINE lets you know what TV events the BFI is hosting

Russell Tovey and Julie Gardner talk Doctor Who

19 January 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

In advance of my Being Human preview, which should pop up either today or tomorrow depending on work, I thought I’d give you a few Doctor Who nuggets that emerged from the Q&A following the showing of the first episode at the BFI on Friday.

Present – as advertised – was Russell Tovey, who appeared in the Christmas special The Voyage of the Damned and was once tipped as a front-runner for the part of the Doctor by Russell T Davies no less, and Matthew Bouch, producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Also present, but not as advertised since it was originally going to be BBC3 controller Danny Cohen, was Julie Gardner, head of drama for BBC Wales and exec producer for Doctor Who.

There wasn’t that much said about Who, for obvious reasons, but a few little anecdotes emerged.

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Rutger Hauer and co come to the Southbank to talk about Blade Runner

16 January 2009 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Here’s exciting:

On the Edge of Blade Runner + Panel Discussion
Sat 21 Mar 13:50 NFT1
An in-depth examination of one of the most iconic sci-fi films of all time – written and presented by Mark Kermode, and featuring interviews with Rutger Hauer, Ridley Scott and Daryl Hannah among others – this provides a fascinating insight into the film’s production and is famed for finally settling the fierce debate that surrounded the plot twist for almost 20 years. Following the screening we host a panel discussion with special guests, including the producer of Blade Runner, Michael Deeley, and writers Will Brooker and Paul M Sammon.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut + Q&A with Rutger Hauer
Sat 21 Mar 17:00 NFT1
We are delighted to welcome Rutger Hauer, who brought a rare intensity to his iconic performance as lead replicant Roy Batty, to the BFI Southbank stage following this screening.

Booking information
The BFI Southbank is open to all. BFI members are entitled to a discount on all tickets.
BFI Southbank Box Office tel: 020 7928 3232.
Tickets are £12.50, concs £9.25. Members pay £1 less on any ticket.
Website www.bfi.org.uk/southbank

Off you go!

BFI events

Being Human: prequels, pilot, trailers and interviews

7 January 2009 Rob Buckley 17 Comments

Being Human – the vampire/werewolf/ghost flatshare drama that was piloted on BBC3 last year – is coming back as a six-part series soon. Hooray! It was absolutely brilliant. I’ll be off to the BFI’s preview screening of the first episode (together with a Q&A with the writer and star(s)) next Friday, so I’ll let you know what that was like afterwards – I hear it might just be the pilot episode with a new cast and made ‘less dark’, which would be a shame.

In the meantime, and to thrill you all, here are some videos: the first is a trailer for the series proper; the second is the entire pilot episode that someone has uploaded to YouTube; and the rest are prequels to the series, showing what each of the characters was like before they met each other – they’re shot in a Blair Witch/Ghostwatch vein and at least one might be too gruesome to be transmitted on TV (even BBC3), although you never know, so watch them while you can. The Annie one is very good, BTW.

It’s worth noting that the cast has changed, which is a bit disappointing, since Guy Flanagan was brilliant as Mitchell the vampire; Mitchell’s now played by Aidan Turner (The Clinic), while Annie, the comedy Northern ghost formerly played by Andrea Riseborough, is now played by Lenora Crichlow (Sugar Rush). The exception is Russell Tovey, who plays George the werewolf: he’ll be back for the series proper. There’s also a production blog containing interviews with the cast that you can check out.

Trailer

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February at the BFI

23 December 2008 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Time for our regular round-up of tele events at the BFI. February has a big TV season as well as a Q&A, so get your desk planner out now:

  • 5th: Law & Order: UK preview + Q&A with Chris Chibnall, Ben Daniels and Freema Agyeman
  • 23rd: Is Art Necessary? + Five Revolutionary Painters: Goya: Part of the Celebration of Kenneth Clark season
  • 26th: Picasso at the Tate + An Edwardian Childhood: Part of the Celebration of Kenneth Clark season

The season, TX in Ten: An Examination of Live TV Drama, is pretty long so I’m sticking it in its own section:

  • 2nd: Timeshift: Live on the Night + Monitor: Making The Bedmakers: Two documentaries about live television. Includes a Q&A with Timeshift director Bob Bayly following the screening
  • 2nd: It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer: The oldest surviving single TV drama. Stars Andre Morell and directed by Rudolph Cartier
  • 6th: Dixon of Dock Green: Roaring Boy + Z Cars: A Man Like Yourself
  • 6th: The Bill + debate: The live 20th anniversary episode of The Bill. The debate, chaired by Kwame Kwei Armah, will include Brian Blessed, Lisa Maxwell, David Rose and Sue Mather
  • 10th: The Quatermass Experiment (1953) + Timeshift: The Nigel Kneale Interviews: The two surviving episodes of the original version of The Quatermass Experiment, and a documentary about Quatermass writer Nigel Kneale. Followed by…
  • 10th: The Quatermass Experiment (2005) + Q&A: The BBC4 remake featuring Mark Gatiss and David Tennant. Followed by a Q&A with director Sam Miller
  • 12th: Live from Pebble Mill: The Battle of Waterloo and Redundant! Or the Wife’s Revenge: The second play, by Fay Weldon, sees the lights fail during the performance, yet the actors carry on anyway.
  • 12th: Armchair Theatre: A Night Out: Stars Tom Bell. Followed by a panel discussion including Susannah York and Billie Whitelaw
  • 16th: Armchair Theatre: Lena, O My Lena + Live from Pebble Mill: Cargo Kings
  • 16th: Armchair Theatre: The Emperor Jones + A Liverpool Nativity
  • 18th: Television Playhouse: Promenade + Live from Pebble Mill: Night Kids
  • 24th: Two episodes of Coronation Street, including the live 40th anniversary special. Also includes a clip from the only surviving episode of The Grove Family
  • 25th: Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps + panel discussion: The live episode of the show followed by a discussion including Will Mellor, Graham Duff and Stephen McCrum (exec producer, BBC Comedy)

Members’ priority postal booking opens 2 January
Members’ online and phone booking opens 8 January
Public booking opens 12 January

As always, visit the BFI web site for more details