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The BBC is celebrating the art of the literary adaptation by screening a variety of classics on BBC Four. More details here.

The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.

It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.

The dramas are:

The Great Gatsby

Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.

Small Island

Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...

Brian Cox says Succession creator Jesse Armstrong was a “gentleman” to salute him during his acceptance speech at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards.

The celebrated HBO drama won the top drama prize, and Armstrong praised the show’s cast, creatives and crew then lauded Cox, “who the show was revolved around whether he was in it or not.”

Later at the HBO | Max Emmy afterparty at San Vicente Bungalows, Cox tells me he was “touched” by Armstrong singling him out. “Jesse’s a gentleman in an industry where there aren’t many of those,” he says.

Cox adds that the entire team deserved the praise. ”All of them. The drama series win belongs to each and every one of them.”

The acclaimed actor says he knew Succession would become a “cultural landmark” from the time he read Armstrong’s first script. “I was in no doubt that it would become a benchmark.

Brian Cox

Brian Cox is Emmy-nominated for his memorable work in HBO’s “Succession” as patriarch Logan Roy, the head of a ruthless and viewer-addictive family of power-brokers.

Cox, born in Dundee, Scotland, has created many memorable characters in his six-decade career, including roles in such works as HBO’s “Deadwood,” blockbuster films such as “Braveheart” and “Troy,” and cult faves like “Rushmore,” “Zodiac,” “Super Troopers” and “Adaptation.” He was also the screen’s first Hannibal Lecktor in Michael Mann’s 1986 “Manhunter.” (The film changed Thomas Harris’ spelling of Lecter in his book.)

The actor talks about important lessons he’s learned in life, from Michael Elliott, director Lindsay Anderson (“In Celebration”), and fellow Scottish actor Fulton Mackay. But the most important piece of advice he got was from his mother.

‘It’s a journey’

“When I was much younger, two directors who were major influences in my acting life...

Andrew Blair Sep 5, 2019

Andrew attempts to put his finger on those moments that make the Doctor incontrovertibly the Doctor...

This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who, including books and audioplays. It originally ran on Den of Geek UK.

You know the description "Doctor-ish," pertaining to the title character in the long-running BBC TV series Doctor Who? It feels slightly nebulous, defined circularly by virtue of literally anything they do potentially matching this description. Yet, I bet we all carry a vague notion of it, a gut feeling that certain acts and ways are Doctor-ish.

Rather than try to define this then find examples to support the definition, I’m going to list examples of behavior from each incarnation that I regard as Doctor-ish then leave everyone to come up with their own conclusions/reiterate their existing opinions. And so…

The First Doctor - The Aztecs - “Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged.

When is a private eye parody not a parody? Stephen Frears’ first feature strikes a delicate balance — its nearly absurd hardboiled lingo outdoes the spoofs, but the story and characters are pitched 100% straight. Albert Finney Is Eddie Ginley, surrounded by a pack of exciting, imaginatively cast actors.

Gumshoe

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1971 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 88 min. / / Street Date March 19, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Albert Finney, Billie Whitelaw, Frank Finlay, Janice Rule, Carolyn Seymour, Fulton Mackay, George Innes, George Silver, Bill Dean, Wendy Richard, Maureen Lipman, Neville Smith, Oscar James.

Cinematography: Chris Menges

Film Editor: Charles Rees

Original Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Written by Neville Smith

Produced by Michael Medwin, Albert Finney

Directed by Stephen Frears

At first one thinks it’s a parody, and not a very good one. Then we wonder if Albert Finney is simply taking his Humphrey Bogart imitation out for a walk, as when he...

Hi! And welcome to “sentences we never expected to write in a news story in 2015”. Today’s instance: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is attached to produce and star in the Fraggle Rock movie. It’s as if two pop-cultural titans suddenly formed an alliance. Three, if you chuck in tiny teamsters, the Doozers.This provides an unexpected boost to a project that has been struggling through development since its original announcement back in 2006. We’ve had word since then about new writers and scripts, with the likes of Ahmet Zappa originally involved in bringing the idea to life. Gordon-Levitt’s involvement appears to sweep the board clean and start fresh with new scriptwriters.Fans of the ‘80s Jim Henson show will know that Gobo, Wembley, Boober, Red and Mokey live in the titular underground caves, situated beneath a lighthouse captained by former Porridge star Fulton Mackay and his Muppet dog Sprocket.* Each week,...

Feature Alex Westthorp 28 Mar 2014 - 07:00

In a new series, Alex talks us through the film roles of the actors who've played the Doctor. First up, William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee...

We know them best as the twelve very different incarnations of the Doctor. But all the actors who've been the star of Doctor Who, being such good all-rounders in the first place, have also had film careers. Admittedly, some CVs are more impressive than others, but this retrospective attempts to pick out some of the many worthwhile films which have starred, featured or seen a fleeting cameo by the actors who would become (or had been) the Doctor.

William Hartnell was, above all else, a film star. He is by far the most prolific film actor of the main twelve to play the Time Lord. With over 70 films to his name, summarising Hartnell's film career is difficult at best.

Promised Land

Written by John Krasinski and Matt Damon, based on a story by Dave Eggers

Directed by Gus Van Sant

2012, USA, imdb, Josh Spiegel’s much more positive review

I walked out of the theatre disliking Promised Land and the more I reflect on the film, the less I like it.

On paper, there is a lot to love about the film: strong performances by John Krasinski and Matt Damon, supported by an excellent cast including Frances McDormand, Titus Welliver and Hal Halbrook; solid direction by Gus Van Sant, supported with gorgeous cinematography by Linus Sandgren and crisp editing by Billy Rich. And for a brief minute, during the impromptu debate between high school teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) and gas fracking advocate Steve Butler (Matt Damon), it seems like Promised Land has something to say about the death of nuance in political discourse, about the way that the...

W Stephen Gilbert writes: I first met Alastair Reid (obituary, 10 September) in 1972 when I was a trainee script editor at the BBC and shadowing a Penelope Mortimer play called Three's One under his direction. It was an awkward beast, centred on therapy sessions in which the analyst (the dapper Fulton Mackay) went unseen. Alastair got away with it – as I would now reckon – in the way he did much else, for he was he was fleet of foot, always pulling an eye-catching trick if he thought a script was flagging.

When later in the 70s I wrote about television, especially drama, in the London listings magazine Time Out, I would refer to Alastair in print as Flash Harry, which made him roar with laughter. I was thinking particularly of how he applied his inventiveness in his ghastly, lurid, modish feature Baby Love (1968).His later work matured into something lucid, judicious and humane.

A renowned Scottish actor and director, he regularly commentated on state occasions for BBC television

Tom Fleming, who has died of cancer aged 82, was an outstanding figure in the Scottish theatre of the second half of the 20th century, the first television "face" of Jesus of Nazareth in a 1953 mini-series, and well known as a BBC television and radio commentator at many royal and ceremonial occasions since he first broadcast, for the BBC, during the Queen's coronation in 1953.

He was a Baptist lay preacher, a deeply private man of great moral integrity and stature. This much was clear not only on stage but also as he spoke in his flawless, rich and velvety baritone voice at the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother. So assiduous was he in his properly felt sense of duty that he declined the invitation to appear in a play by Mikhail Bulgakov...