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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Across the River and Into the Trees (Paula Ortiz)

Hemingway’s work across novels and short stories has been adapted for film countless times over, yet Across the River and Into the Trees has never properly been rendered onscreen. Until now. Written by Peter Flannery and directed by Paula Ortiz, here is a handsome film that is decidedly modest in its endeavor. The best thing going for it is Liev Schreiber as Colonel Richard Cantwell, the lead of the picture. Schreiber is one of those actors who has somehow always been underrated, despite being capable of playing nearly any kind of part. A kind boyfriend thrust into an impossible familial situation (The Daytrippers)? Check. Tough-but-fractured fixer living on the edge (Ray Donovan)? Check.

Ernest Hemingway’s last book was not well received when it first came out. Few critics called it terrible, but it wasn’t what most had expected of him – and one might be reminded of what initially happened to Beethoven’s Große Fugue, because herein lies the artist’s dilemma. To be successful, one should find a niche and stick with it. To produce work of real, lasting value, one must experiment and push boundaries. There’s a reason why the greatest talents – or the boldest – are never fully appreciated until after they’re dead.

Across The River And Into The Trees has grown in stature over time, so that this feels like the right time for it to make its way to the screen, with subtle adjustments by screenwriter Peter Flannery to ensure that those aspects very much of their time don’t distract from the overall effect. Capable of creating the necessary sense.

Liev Schreiber in Across The River And Into The Trees

There are many theories about how the magic gets into cinema, but in practice, a lot of it has to do with the right individuals coming together with the right projects. Ernest Hemingway’s final novel, Across The River And Into The Trees, was not as well received as he had hoped upon release, but it has been said that it just didn’t fit into that time. It feels much more apposite today, and it has found the right people to adapt it to the screen in writer Peter Flannery and director Paula Ortiz. This would be nothing, however, without the right performances.

Matilda De Angelis brings the perfect combination of youthful beauty, aristocratic elegance and shrewd intelligence to the character of Renata, the young woman whose attachment to the protagonist, Cantwell, bewilders him and gives him unexpected hope...

Ernest Hemingway’s final novel, Across the River and Into the Trees, isn’t exactly known to be among his best works, so it’s probably no surprise that it took quite a while for anyone to adapt it to the cinematic medium. Director Paula Ortiz’s adaptation is fine, if unremarkable, elevated by its excellent cast and impressive production values.

Across the River and Into the Trees Review

The film follows a US Army Colonel who receives a life-changing diagnosis but meets it with indifference, taking a sojourn through post-wwii Venice. Those familiar with Hemingway’s work won’t be surprised by what Across the River and Into the Trees has in store — it’s poignantly meditative and incredibly simple. However, there is an undeniable elegance in that simplicity that allows this to be a charming drama.

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In early 1950, Ernest Hemingway’s Across the River and Into the Trees was serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine before being published as a novel in September of that same year. It was panned. Hemingway was reportedly stung by the negative reception. Only two years later, he would tread similar existential ground (albeit with a very different setting and plot) to much more critical and commercial success with The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway was dead less than a decade later.

His work across novels and short stories has been adapted for film countless times over, yet Across the River and Into the Trees has never properly been rendered onscreen. Until now. Written by Peter Flannery and directed by Paula Ortiz, here is a handsome film that is decidedly modest in its endeavor. The best thing going for it is Liev Schreiber as Colonel Richard Cantwell, the lead of the picture.

Exclusive: Level 33 Entertainment has acquired distribution rights for the United States and Canada to Ernest Hemingway adaptation, Across The River And Into The Trees, starring Liev Schreiber (Spotlight), Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing), Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) and Danny Huston (Yellowstone).

The film, based on one of the last full-length novels published by Hemingway, is directed by Paula Ortiz (The Bride) and adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award winner Peter Flannery (The Devil’s Mistress). Producers include Robert MacLean (Man With A Gun), Kristin Roegner (The Expendables 3), and Michael Paletta (Above The Best).

Across The River And Into The Trees follows Richard Cantwell (Schreiber), an American Army Colonel in post-wwii Italy. Haunted by the war, Cantwell is a bona fide hero who faces news of his illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend a weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver (Hutcherson) to facilitate a...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best Adapted Screenplay Oppenheimer, from left: Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, 2023. © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Weekly Commentary: Cord Jefferson stands on the brink of potentially making history in the adapted screenplay category with “American Fiction,” potentially becoming only the second...

Bleecker Street has nabbed the North American rights to “Across the River and Into the Trees,” an upcoming movie starring Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”) and Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”). The film is directed by Paula Ortiz, who is best known for her work on “The Bride,” and is expected to debut in the fall of 2023 for a theatrical release.

An adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s last full-length novel that he published in his lifetime, the movie is set in post-World War II Italy. After American Army Colonel Richard Cantwell (Schreiber) survived the war and emerged as a war hero, he has to grapple with a new battle: his own illness. Determined to find some peace, he enlists a military driver to bring him to his old haunts in Venice. But as his plans unravel, a budding relationships with a young woman teaches him to hope again.

In addition to Schreiber and Hutcherson,...

Bleecker Street has landed North American rights to “Across the River and Into the Trees,” an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s last full-length novel.

Liev Schreiber and Josh Hutcherson will star in the film, which will release exclusively in theaters in the fall. News of the sale was announced at the Cannes Film Festival.

Paula Ortiz (“The Bride”) directed “Across the River and Into the Trees,” which takes place in post-wwii Italy. Schreiber plays American Army Colonel Richard Cantwell, a bona fide hero who remains haunted by the war. As he faces news of illness with stoic disregard, he’s determined to spend a week in quiet solitude and commandeers a military driver to facilitate a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As Cantwell’s plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a remarkable young woman begins to rekindle in him the hope of renewal.

Matilda De Angelis...

Exclusive autumn theatrical release planned for drama starring Liev Schreiber, Matilda De Angelis.

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Earnest Hemingway adaptation Across The River And Into The Trees starring Liev Schreiber, Matilda De Angelis, Josh Hutcherson and Danny Huston and plans an exclusive theatrical release in autumn.

Paula Ortiz (The Bride) directs from a screenplay by Peter Flannery (The Devil’s Mistress) based on Hemingway’s last full-length novel.

The story takes place in Italy after the Second World War as a cantankerous American Army colonel with a terminal heart condition encounters a remarkable young woman while on...

Bleecker Street has secured the North American rights to Across the River and Into the Trees from award-winning director Paula Ortiz (The Bride), which stars Liev Schreiber (Spotlight, Ray Donovan), Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing, Rose Island), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right, The Hunger Games), and Danny Huston (The Aviator, Succession).

The screenplay adaptation was written by BAFTA winner Peter Flannery (The Devil’s Mistress). Bleecker Street is planning a fall theatrical release.

Set in post-wwii Italy, American army colonel Richard Cantwell (Schreiber), haunted by the war, is a bona fide hero who faces news of his illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend a weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As Cantwell’s plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a remarkable young woman begins to rekindle in him the hope of renewal. Based...

Across The River And Into The Trees, the long-awaited Ernest Hemingway adaptation starring Liev Schreiber (Spotlight), Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) and Danny Huston (The Aviator), has set North American release plans with Bleecker Street. The film based on the last full-length novel published by Hemingway in his lifetime, which award-winner Paula Ortiz (The Bride) directed, will bow exclusively in theaters this fall.

Adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award winner Peter Flannery (The Devil’s Mistress), Across the River follows Richard Cantwell (Schreiber), an American Army Colonel in post-wwii Italy. Haunted by the war, Cantwell is a bona fide hero who faces news of his illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend a weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As Cantwell’s plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with...

Christopher Eccleston has revealed that he and ex-colleague and actor Mark Strong once hated each other.

The pair acted alongside each other in the Nineties BBC drama Our Friends in the North, but apparently didn’t let personal feelings get in the way of their professionalism.

The series aired in 1996 and also featured well-known actors including Daniel Craig, Gina McKee and David Bradley.

The series told the story of four friends living in Newcastle over 30 years and was adapted from a play written by Peter Flannery.

Eccleston played the character Nicky Hutchinson, while Strong played Tosker Cox, forming two of the main four characters.

‘We detested each other. We really did not like each other at all,” Ecceslton told the BBC about his relationship with Strong, in a recent interview.

“When we did the scenes together, that dislike which was key between Toscar and Niki was also put aside.”

He added: ‘We were professional,...

Exclusive: Deadline has your first look at the film Across the River and Into the Trees, starring six-time Golden Globe nominee Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), which is opening the Sun Valley Film Festival on March 30.

The drama from award-winning Spanish director Paula Ortiz (The Bride) is based on Ernest Hemingway’s last full-length novel of the same name, published in 1950. It tells the story of Colonel Richard Cantwell (Schreiber), a semi-autobiographical character partially based on Hemingway’s friend, Colonel Charles T. Lanham. Cantwell is a complex and conflicted character, wounded and damaged both physically and mentally by World War II, seeking inner peace, and trying to come to terms with his own mortality.

In post-war Italy, Cantwell finds himself a bona fide hero, facing news of his illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend a weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a visit to his old haunts in Venice.

When Brian O’Shea founded the worldwide film sales and finance company The Exchange in 2011, streaming was still in its infancy, release windows were numerous and robust and DVD pre-sales could still provide a big chunk of a movie’s budget. In the ensuing decade, the landscape has undergone a rapid series of dramatic shifts, but the L.A.-based company has survived and prospered, acquiring, financing and selling more than 200 films, with budgets ranging from $5 million to $90 million, including Universal’s “2 Guns,” starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg; Sundance Award-winners “The Spectacular Now” and “Obvious Child,” and doc “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.”

“We’ve had success in keeping all options open and maintaining relationships and building new relationships along the way,” says Nat McCormick, exec VP of worldwide distribution for The Exchange. “Always having our ear to the ground, we know how to best navigate things,...

Liev Schreiber leads cast of Matilda De Angelis, Danny Huston, Josh Hutcherson, Laura Morante.

Production has wrapped in Venice and the Veneto region in Italy on Tribune Pictures and The Exchange’s adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s final novel Across The River And Into The Trees starring Liev Schreiber.

The Exchange handles international sales at the virtual EFM and UTA Independent Film Group represents US rights.

Oscar-nominated Stuart Baird will edit the film with Kate Baird, with whom he worked on Skyfall.

Paula Ortiz directs from Peter Flannery’s adapted screenplay about a damaged American Army colonel seeking peace after the Second World War.

Danny Huston has joined the cast of Across the River and Into the Trees, the feature adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s final novel and New York Times bestseller, heading to Berlin’s virtual European Film Market with The Exchange.

Now in production in Venice, Italy, Huston joins six-time Golden Globe nominee Liev Schreiber, Josh Hutcherson and Italian actresses Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing) and Laura Morante (Cherry on the Cake, The Ball).

Produced by Robert MacLean of Tribune Pictures, the adapted screenplay by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Peter Flannery is being directed by award-winning Spanish director Paula Ortiz (The Bride) with director of photography Javier ...

Danny Huston has joined the cast of Across the River and Into the Trees, the feature adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s final novel and New York Times bestseller, heading to Berlin’s virtual European Film Market with The Exchange.

Now in production in Venice, Italy, Huston joins six-time Golden Globe nominee Liev Schreiber, Josh Hutcherson and Italian actresses Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing) and Laura Morante (Cherry on the Cake, The Ball).

Produced by Robert MacLean of Tribune Pictures, the adapted screenplay by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Peter Flannery is being directed by award-winning Spanish director Paula Ortiz (The Bride) with director of photography Javier ...

Josh Hutcherson and Italian thespian Sabrina Impacciatore have joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s “Across the River and Into the Trees,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Production companies Tribune Pictures and The Exchange are in pre-production in Italy. Hutcherson and Impacciatore are joining the previously announced cast of Liev Schreiber, Matilda De Angelis, Laura Morante and Giancarlo Giannini.

The producers are Robert MacLean of Tribune Pictures, John Smallcombe and Ken Gord. Spanish director Paula Ortiz is directing the adapted screenplay by Peter Flannery. The film is being produced in association with Jianmin Lv and Spring Era Films. William J. Immerman and Justin Raikes are the executive producers. Andrea Biscaro is the Italian line producer.

Schreiber will portray Colonel Richard Cantwell, a character partially based on Hemingway’s friend Colonel Charles T. Lanham. In the novel, published in 1950, Cantwell is duck hunting in Northern Italy during the...

Liev Schreiber will star in a movie adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “Across the River and Into the Trees.”

Tribune Pictures and The Exchange announced the project Monday and said production is planned to start in Venice, Italy, and the Veneto region under Covid-19 guidelines next month. “Across the River and Into the Trees” has the support of the Italian tax credit and will be introduced to buyers through The Exchange at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Virtual market, which opens Sept. 10.

Schreiber will portray Colonel Richard Cantwell, a character partially based on Hemingway’s friend Colonel Charles T. Lanham. In the novel, published in 1950, Cantwell is duck hunting in Northern Italy during the closing days of World War II and dealing with a star-crossed romance with a much younger woman, having been damaged both physically and mentally during World War I and trying to come to terms with his own mortality.

Liev Schreiber is attached to star in a big-screen adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “Across the River and Into the Trees,” Tribune Pictures and The Exchange announced Monday. The film will be introduced to buyers through The Exchange at the TIFF 2020 virtual market.

The film will start production in October in Venice, Italy, and the Veneto region under Covid-19 guidelines.

“Across the River and Into the Trees” was written by Hemingway in 1950 and spent seven weeks atop the New York Times best-seller list. It was initially serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine.

Schreiber will play Colonel Richard Cantwell, a semi-autobiographical character partially based on Hemingway’s friend Colonel Charles T. Lanham, a complex and conflicted character, wounded and damaged both physically and mentally by World War II who seeks inner peace and tries to come to terms with his own mortality.

Joining Schreiber are Italian actors Matilda De Angelis, Laura Morante and Giancarlo Giannini,...

Exclusive: Spotlight and Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber is attached to lead cast on the feature adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s Venice-set novel, Across The River And Into The Trees.

Also aboard to star are emerging Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (The Prize), Laura Morante (Cherry On The Cake), Javier Camara (Truman) and Oscar-nominated Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties).

Six-time Golden Globe nominee Schreiber will play Colonel Richard Cantwell, Hemingway’s semi-autobiographical lead character who is an American officer serving in Italy right after World War II, facing up to the news of his terminal illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend his weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a simple duck hunting trip and a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As his plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle in him the hope of renewal.

Stars: James Robinson, Maggie Bain, Jim Sturgeon, Siobhan Redmond, Gordon Kennedy, Corin Edgar Robert | Written by Geoff Dupuy-Holder, Alistair Rutherford | Directed by Magnus Wake

The feature debut of Scottish director Magnus Wake, Dark Sense is adapted from the First and Only, the best-selling novel by Peter Flannery. Unfortunately, whatever virtues the novel possessed have been rather lost in its translation to the screen, resulting in a supernatural thriller that fails to convince on a number of levels.

Set in present-day Edinburgh, the plot begins with young Simon (Corin Edgar Robert) experiencing a terrifying vision of a murderer killing a local priest. Arriving too late to stop the crime, Simon is traumatised, which blocks his psychic powers. However, years later, an older Simon (now played by Shane O’Meara) experiences another terrifying vision, this time of his own death at the hands of a serial killer wearing a black mask.

With...

American Animals and Three Identical Strangers outfit Raw has hired Sara Murray from UK producer Studio Lambert to serve in the newly created role of head of scripted TV.

Murray will be tasked with growing the company’s TV scripted division. At Studio Lambert, which like Raw is owned by All3Media, she was an executive producer on upcoming ten-part Amazon/Virgin Media series The Feed by Channing Powell

(The Walking Dead), and worked on shows including Girl On A Wire by Thomas Martin (Tin Star).

Raw’s TV scripted development slate includes projects with Clio Barnard, Lucy Kirkwood, Tom Edge and Juliette Towhidi, alongside Bart Layton’s first scripted TV commission. The firm is also currently in production on factual series for Netflix, CNN and Discovery.

Murray was previously script editor on Andrew Davies’ ITV drama Dr Zhivago, TV development producer on hit Channel4 series Top Boy by Ronan Bennett...

Imagine knowing the exact date and time you’re going to die, but not how? This is the premise of Dark Sense, a psychic thriller based on the bestselling novel First and Only by Peter Flannery. Look for the film on DVD and VOD beginning May 21st via Breaking Glass! Today, Dread Central is thrilled to […] The post Exclusive Trailer & Key Art for Dark Sense Based on International Bestseller First And Only appeared first on Dread Central.

Martin Shaw, who has headlined some of the most popular English dramas of the last half century, says he has the role of his career in “George Gently” as the title character, a police detective who struggles to find his footing after his wife is killed. The long-running British series is finally eligible for the Emmys thanks to the participation of the streaming service Acorn TV.

Back in 2007, Shaw had his pick of projects and was drawn to this loose adaptation of the Alan Hunter crime novels by the creative forces behind the scenes. “Peter Flannery has such a wonderful reputation. He’d won awards for ‘Our Friends in the North.’ His name first and foremost made me drive to London to meet. I read the first script and thought it was sensational.”

While the first 23 telefilms were set in the swinging 60s, the last two see Gently and company...

Wearing produced Boys from the Blackstuff, Pride and Prejudice, Edge of Darkness and many more.

Michael Wearing, producer of iconic television dramas including Boys from the Blackstuff and Edge of Darkness, has died aged 78 (reports Broadcast).

Wearing (right), who held a number of senior positions across drama at the BBC, died on Friday 5 May following a stroke. Wearing is survived by his three children, Sadie, Ella and Ben.

After studying anthropology at Newcastle University and a short career in the theatre, Wearing joined the BBC’s English regions drama department as a script editor in 1976.

Reporting to David Rose, who went on to become founder of Film 4, at the BBC’s Pebble Mill base in Birmingham, Wearing worked with writers including Alan Bleasdale and Ron Hutchinson on a number of Play for Today scripts.

He also worked on series including Stephen Davis’ Trouble With Gregory, which aired as part of BBC2’s Playhouse strand, Hutchinson’s six-part...

Rob Leane Jul 15, 2016

British crowdfunded films that sound brilliant, including a Ghostbusters documentary and loads of horror...

It's not easy to get an indie film made these days. Especially not through studios and traditional financial methods. That's why, all around the globe, crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter are becoming more and more popular among first-time/early career filmmakers.

We perused crowdfunding websites, and found loads of in-development British films that sound really interesting. Aiming to shed some light on these films that don't have the might of a major studio's marketing team behind them, here's our list of 25 upcoming British movies that have been crowdfunded, and could turn out to be brilliant...

Black Wolf

Harvey Eaton has been working in the advertising sector of filmmaking for years, and even directed legendary Spanish footballer Andrés Iniesta for a Powerade commercial once.

Black Wolf - a "short film about a woman terrorised by...

Former James Bond Pierce Brosnan is reteaming with his Goldeneye director Martin Campbell for a film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. THR reports that the two will reunite for Across The River and Into The Trees, the last novel Hemingway published in his lifetime. I've sadly never read a Hemingway novel (I know, I know), but here's how THR describes the plot:

BAFTA winner Peter Flannery and Oscar-nominated Michael Radford (Il Postino) wrote the script, which tells the story of an American officer serving in Italy right after World War II, facing news of his terminal illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend his weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a simple duck hunting trip and a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As his plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle in him the hope of renewal.

Delivering one of the best James Bond films with "Goldeneye" twenty years ago, actor Pierce Brosnan and director Martin Campbell are now reportedly re-teaming to tackle a film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1950 last full-length novel "Across the River and Into the Trees".

BAFTA winner Peter Flannery ("The Devil's Whore") and Oscar-nominee Michael Radford ("Il Postino") penned the adaptation of this story of an American officer (Brosnan) serving in Italy just after WW2.

Facing news of his terminal illness with stoicism, he commandeers a military driver to help visit his old haunts in Venice. As his plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle hope of renewal.

Robert MacLean, John Smallcombe, Kirstin Roegner and Claudia Bluemhuber will produce. Filming aims to begin in Italy in October. Brosnan and Campbell are currently working together on the Jackie Chan-led action thriller "The Foreigner" which is currently filming in London.

Christopher Eccleston has teased a possible return for Our Friends in the North.

The actor starred alongside Daniel Craig, Peter Vaughan and Mark Strong in the BBC Two series in 1996.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Eccleston said that it is one of his "great hopes" to film more episodes of the drama.

He explained: "I saw all the characters including Mary, Nicki, Tosker, Geordie as portraits of our writer, Peter Flannery.

"That's what great writers do, like Jimmy McGovern and Peter Flannery - they take aspects of their own personality and they characterise them, debates that they have in their head and their heart spill onto the paper.

"I'm very hopeful. I know that Peter Flannery has some plans for to revisit Our Friends in the North either by going earlier to the story of Peter Bourne's character, or Felix, or a little later.

"It's one of my great...

Jim Moir and Jody Latham have joined the cast of Inspector George Gently.

Moir - who is also known by his stage name Vic Reeves - will appear in the third episode of the drama's eighth series as a shady pawnbroker.

Meanwhile, Jody Latham (Shameless) will play Jonjo Burdon, described as a "skin head maniac", in the fourth and final episode of the series.

Inspector George Gently's eighth series will air on BBC One in early 2015, and is comprised of four feature-length episodes.

Sherlock's Louise Brealey, Emma Cunniffe, Anthony Flanagan, Adrian Bower, Paul Brennen, Danny Cunningham and Lucian Msamati will also feature in the new episodes.

Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby will return for the new series, which is set in Durham in 1969.

Written by Peter Flannery and based on Alan Hunter's novels, the drama follows the titular London inspector solving crimes in the north east of England.

Lesley Nicol is to appear in an upcoming episode of Inspector George Gently.

The Downton Abbey actress will feature in the second of four new episodes of the BBC One period drama next year.

The eighth series will take place in Durham in 1969.

Nicol is best known for playing cook Mrs Patmore in ITV drama Downton Abbey.

Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby will return for Inspector George Gently, scheduled to air in early 2015.

Written by Peter Flannery and based on Alan Hunter's novels, the drama follows the titular London inspector solving crimes in the north east of England in the late 1960s.

Acorn TV Review: Inspector George Gently– Blue For Bluebird

Filming is about to get underway for the eighth season of the popular BBC 60s era cop drama Inspector George Gently. Cast regulars Martin Shaw (Gently) and Lee Ingleby (Bacchus) return alongside Lisa McGrillis as Wpc Coles. The new series is set at the end of the tumultuous decade and you can expect to see plenty of new innovations including furry dice and police radios.

Writer Peter Flannery wrote the first two of the four feature-length stories that will air early next year. As production work gears up Flannery gave fans in insight into the new season. “As the 60s draw to a close the issues facing policing seem more relevant than ever. We’re looking at the way rape complaints are met by the police – and nothing much seems to have really changed there, except perhaps the terminology. And we...

Inspector George Gently will return for a new series on BBC One.

The period police drama starring Martin Shaw has been commissioned for four more episodes, according to Radio Times.

The new series will begin filming next week, before airing on BBC One in 2015.

Written by Peter Flannery and based on Alan Hunter's novels, the drama follows the titular London inspector solving crimes in the north east of England in the late 1960s. The new episodes will take place in 1969.

Lee Ingleby will also return as Gently's sidekick DS John Bacchus.

The actor will next be seen in BBC One's 1930s-based drama Our Zoo, which launches on Wednesday (September 3).

George Gently, Series 6

Created by Peter Flannery

Available Streaming on Acorn.TV

The police procedural is as old as television itself. Over the decades, pretty much every permutation of the genre has had its day in the sun, with the genre itself often changing as television progressed. From the original Golden Age classic Dragnet, to the increasingly serialized Hill Street Blues, to the grittier NYPD Blue and the modern era’s novelistic, realistic masterpiece The Wire, the genre shifts with each age, and reflects back on the society that produces it.

You may have noticed that all of the shows in the above paragraph were American productions, and in fact, most of the genre’s heights hail from this side of the pond. Yet the British have their own history of police shows (from Z-Cars, through Prime Suspect, and even last year’s Broadchurch) to draw from. George Gently, which just wrapped its sixth series,...

Review Louisa Mellor 1 Apr 2014 - 22:00

Peter Flannery's ambitious follow-up to The Devil's Whore gets off to an uneven but promising start...

This review contains spoilers.

“We’ve not forgotten the Devil’s Whore” said villainous Judge Jeffreys in a much-needed exposition scene in the New Worlds opener. With any luck, neither will have the viewers because tonight’s hour cut little slack for anyone dozing at the back.

More historical water had passed under the bridge between the 2008 Civil War drama and its follow-up than could comfortably fit onto a single context-setting slide, hence New Worlds providing three of them (a ‘previously on’ montage of the original’s knobbing and beheadings, while useful, wouldn’t really have been the done thing). Two decades of Restoration wig-wearing, colonisation and prole-subjugation had gone on since Angelica Fanshawe was left holding Edward Sexby’s baby at the end of The Devil’s Whore,...

Disney's Greatest Moments: Sky1, 8pm

To celebrate the first anniversary of the Sky Movies Disney channel, Sky presents a round-up of some of the best scenes from Disney films. The 30 moments were chosen by a public vote.

A host of famous faces contribute their thoughts including Tom Hanks, Bruce Forsyth, Kristen Bell, and Jeremy Irons.

New Worlds: Channel 4, 9pm

This sequel to Peter Flannery's 2008 Civil War drama The Devil's Whore opens tonight with the first of four parts.

The story unfolds in both Oxfordshire and Massachusetts in 1680. In England, the plot follows Beth (Freya Mavor), the daughter of Andrea Riseborough's character from the first serial, and her dangerous encounter with a rogue woodsman.

Meanwhile, across the pond, fugitive William Goffe helps the town fight off a hostile attack.

Co-written by Flannery, the show also stars Patrick Malahide, alongside The Fall and Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan.

Channel 4 has unveiled the trailer for its new historical drama New Worlds.

Game of Thrones actor Joe Dempsie, The Fall's Jamie Dornan, Beautiful Creatures actress Alice Englert and The White Queen star Freya Mavor take the lead roles in the new four-part series.

Game of Thrones, The Fall stars for Channel 4 drama New Worlds

Set during the Restoration period in the 1680s, New Worlds follows four young people on both sides of the Atlantic as they "commit their lives to a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency".

The series - written by Peter Flannery and Martine Brant and directed by Charles Martin - follows on from The Devil's Whore and rejoins the series character Angelica (Eve Best) as she strives to protect her daughter Beth (Mavor) from a country on the brink of chaos.

New Worlds premieres April 1 at 9pm on Channel 4.

Drama series will chronicle the lives of a group of friends and their families living in west London from 1968 to the present

Steve McQueen (right), the director of 12 Years a Slave, is developing a BBC drama billed as "epic in scope", about the experiences of the black community in west London from the late 1960s to the present.

McQueen, who was born in the area, told Friday's Daily Mail the drama will chronicle the lives of a group of friends and their families living in the area from 1968. "I don't think there has been a serious drama series in Britain with black people from all walks of life as the main protagonists," he said.

He said the drama will be "epic in scope" and planned to hold a series of workshops with actors to develop the concept. It could be filmed in 2015.

Talk of an ambitious drama following a group...

Channel 4 has announced the cast for its new historical drama New Worlds.

Game of Thrones actor Joe Dempsie, The Fall's Jamie Dornan, Beautiful Creatures actress Alice Englert and The White Queen star Freya Mavor take the lead roles in the new four-part series.

Set during the Restoration period in the 1680s, New Worlds follows four young people on both sides of the Atlantic as they "commit their lives to a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency".

The series - written by Peter Flannery and Martine Brant and directed by Charles Martin - follows on from The Devil's Whore and rejoins the series character Angelica (Eve Best) as she strives to protect her daughter Beth (Mavor) from a country on the brink of chaos.

Channel 4 Head of Drama Piers Wenger said: "New Worlds is a compelling four-part drama capturing the political struggles of the period following the...

Channel 4 has announced the cast set to star as young idealists in a major new four-part historical drama New Worlds.

Set in the turbulent 1680s, the drama takes place on both sides of the Atlantic, as two young men and two young women commit their lives to a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency. New Worlds is described as a gripping story of love and loss and the human price paid for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Scottish Skins actress Freya Mavor plays Beth, the daughter of Angelica, the Countess of Abingdon (played by Eve Best), sheltering at Fanshawe House from a country yet again on the brink of chaos under the tyrannical rule of Charles II. Freya (represented by Hamilton Hodell) can currently be seen in BBC historical drama The White Queen and stars in two Scotland-based films, Not Another Happy Ending and Dexter Fletcher's Sunshine on Leith.

BBC and ITV enraged the government with early portrayals of the conflict but it is being supplanted by recent conflicts

British TV deployed rapidly – and with frequent controversy – to attack the Falklands war as a subject. The assiduous historical website British Television Drama records, in the decade after the war, 10 dramas based on the conflict.

The BBC screened five plays within five years of the events, which may surprise those who now associate the corporation with editorial caution and at the time clearly astonished the Ministry of Defence, which made numerous objections and obstructed access to actual locations and equipment.

The earliest pieces were oblique, with Don Shaw's The Falklands Factor dramatising an 18th-century dispute over the islands, and Maggie Wadey's The Waiting War focusing on military and naval families. ITV also enraged the MoD and the government with a children's series, Jan Needle's A Game of Soldiers,...

Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.

Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.

Channel 4 has commissioned new shows from Skins creator Bryan Elsley and The Hour writer Abi Morgan. Elsley's nine-part drama is titled Dates and will focus on the complexities of modern relationships, with each episode focusing on a different date. Morgan's new project is a four-part thriller - Home Before Dark follows the hunt for a killer across London, Italy and America and explores the corrupting power of the internet. The broadcaster has also ordered a new historical drama with links to Peter Flannery's 2008 mini-series The Devil's Whore, which starred John Simm and Michael Fassbender. (more)...

George Gently

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Inspector George Gently returns to BBC One later this year with four all new feature length specials. Show creator Peter Flannery (Our Friends in the North) writes the first screenplay which centers around the brutal murder of a young aristocrat. The second of the four episodes Gently Northern Soul is written by David Kane (The Field of Blood) and it involves Enoch Powell and the racial issues that impacted Britain and much of the Western world during the late 1960s.

Martin Shaw resumes his role as George Gently while BBC regular Lee Ingleby (White Heat) returns as his street savvy sidekick Bacchus. Guest stars include Roger Lloyd Pak (Only Fools and Horses) and Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter). Filming is underway in the Durham area and the shows should air in the Fall.

Inspector George Gently is to return to BBC One for four new feature-length episodes. Martin Shaw will reprise his role as the passionate detective, with Lee Ingleby also returning as his sidekick John Bacchus. The four films will be set in 1968 - the first has been written by Peter Flannery and will feature guest performances from Roger Lloyd Pack (Only Fools and Horses) and Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter). 'Gently With Class' will follow Gently and Bacchus as they investigate the death of a young girl found in the passenger seat of an aristocrat's upturned car. Second film 'Gently Northern Soul' will focus on the racially-motivated murder of a young black girl. Written by David Kane (Sea Of Souls), the instalment will star Lenora Crichlow (Being Human), Eamonn (more)...

Our Friends In The North writer Peter Flannery recalls the difficult birth of his three-decade-spanning 'posh soap opera'

Long before he became Bond, Daniel Craig gave a raw, emotional performance as Geordie, a young man falling apart in Our Friends In The North. In an early scene set in 1964 he's so distressed by his alcoholic father that he headbutts him, cries his heart out and then hitchhikes to London to become Malcolm McDowell's dapper henchman. By the late-60s he looks bizarrely like a member of Slade, and by the time Thatcher has her hold on Britain in the 1980s, his world has fallen apart.

A desperately dramatic storyline in its own right, it's only one strand of a series of epic, multilayered stories in Our Friends. The 623-minute drama, which follows the lives of four friends from Newcastle between 1964 and 1995, is as moving now as it was when...

Martin Shaw will return to star in two new feature-length episodes of Inspector George Gently, it has been confirmed. Penned by Peter Flannery (Our Friends In The North) and Jimmy Gardner (This Life), the show will be filmed on location in Durham. Lee Ingleby also returns as Gently's sidekick Detective Sergeant John Bacchus. "It's now 15 years since the BBC filmed Our Friends In The North in and around Newcastle, so it's especially rewarding for me to be back on my home patch," said Flannery. "Fun though it was to film the earlier series in Dublin, I've long wanted the stories (more)...

London -- The BBC swept the board at the annual Royal Television Society awards Tuesday night, taking 14 gongs including best soap for “EastEnders” and best documentary for “The Fallen.”

“Mad Men,” the AMC show airing here on digital channel BBC4, was named best international program.

Channel 4’s “The Devil’s Whore,” a Company Pictures/Power production also proved a winner earning best drama series award and netting rising star Andrea Riseborough best actress award for her portrayal of a woman caught up in the political revolution of the English Civil War. The lavish drama also earned scribe Peter Flannery the best writer award.

The gong for best actor went to Ben Wishaw for his role in BBC1’s “Criminal Justice.”

“Harry Hill’s TV Burp” was the surprise winner in the hotly contested entertainment category, with the satirical show winning over entertainment juggernauts “Strictly Come Dancing” and “X Factor.” “Dancing,...