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DVDs in the Works

DVDs in the Works is a sneak peek at highlights in BBC Video's future schedule as well as relevant entertainment news. However, as the Scottish poet once said, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley." That's our (and Robbie Burns') way of saying that the titles discussed here may or may not eventually see the light of day, due to circumstances beyond our control.

Last Updated: Thursday November 5, 2009

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David Tennant to film American TV pilot

Earlier today BBCNews.com reported that David Tennant, who winds up his run on Doctor Who around the end of the year, has already lined up a starring role in a pilot for an American TV series! Click on the link for the full story.

David Tennant to make US TV debut

Posted: Thursday November 5, 2009

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Photo© Stephen Dalton/NHPA

Life "as you've never seen it before"

Yes, that phrase may be familiar to you from our Planet Earth promos, and you may wonder how many times we can use it. Well, the world is wide, and the BBC Natural History Unit keeps finding ways to film things we have never seen before. Literally. Just look at the promo below. Life is a ten-part nature series intended to follow on from Planet Earth with even more excitement, new revelations and stunning screen 'firsts.' How is that possible? Well, it takes four years, 3000 days of filming in remote, unspoiled habitats all over the world, and David Attenborough. Who else but the BBC would do it, and do it so well? This time the focus will be on the glorious diversity of living things, and on the astonishing tactics they have developed to stay alive. This is what high-def was made for! Don't miss the premiere on the Discovery Channel this spring, and keep your eye out for the Blu-ray and DVD. This is a collection you'll want to own and share with friends and family.

Posted:Thursday October 29, 2009

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Sharpe’s even sharper in Blu-ray

If you're a fan of Sean Bean's swashbuckling Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe, there's great news. Bean returns for his sixteenth adventure in Sharpe's Peril. And we know you costume drama fans have been putting off replacing your aging DVD player with a Blu-ray, so even better news is that Sharpe's Peril and Sharpe's Challenge (2006) will both be available on Blu-ray as well as standard DVD. Plus, did you know that high-end Blu-ray players will automatically bring the picture quality up to near HD? So your older Sharpe's adventures (and just about everything else) will be just a little...er... Sharpe-er.

UPDATE: Stephen Fry's Kingdom

It turns out we were let down by one of our sources, and the first release of Stephen Fry's Kingdom, available now, is actually Season Two. Why would someone release Season Two first? Rights for Season One and Season Two ended up with two different companies. So who wasn't on the ball about releasing the season they had? Ooops! That would be us. We're in the process of trying to iron this out and hope to share some good news with you Stephen Fry fans about the release of Season One next year. In the meantime, Stephen Fry is equally delightful in the already available Season Two.

Posted: Friday October 23, 2009

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Dalziel and Pascoe reporting for duty… Judge John Deed presiding

Every week our inbox is filled with requests for DVD releases of Dalziel and Pascoe and Judge John Deed. Well, you can stop emailing because starting in the first half of next year we'll be releasing the first season of each. You may remember Dalziel and Pascoe from the days when A&E wasn't the home to the Gottis and reruns of the Sopranos. Based on Reginald Hill's long-running Yorkshire-based mysteries, the series stars Warren Clarke as the curmudgeonly Superintendant Andy Dalziel ("Dee-El," pronounced as the English are sometimes wont, with most of the letters swallowed). Playing Inspector Peter Pascoe, the other half of the irresistible chalk-and-cheese relationship, is the dishy Colin Buchanan.

Judge John Deed is Martin Shaw's longest running series since The Professionals. With cases ripped from the headlines, and a messy private life the tabloids would eat up, Deed is a High Court judge with a difference. Beneath the traditional trappings of red robes and white wig is a self-made man with an uncompromising passion for justice, a casual contempt for the system, and a no-questions-asked interest in the opposite sex.

Posted: Monday October 19, 2009

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Rupert Penry-Jones tackles The 39 Steps

To those who wonder why anyone would dare to remake The 39 Steps, the thriller that clinched Alfred Hitchcock's international reputation, we have just three words in reply: Rupert Penry-Jones. The action credentials he established as Adam Carter in MI-5 and his extensive experience in period drama make him the ideal leading man to play Richard Hannay. (Actually, there were two previous remakes: in 1959 with Kenneth More and in 1978 with Robert Powell.) This version returns to the spirit of the original novel by setting the action in the days leading up to World War I. However, it keeps the original film's invention of a prickly love interest, played this time by Lydia Leonard (The Line of Beauty) as an opinionated suffragette named Victoria Sinclair. We just finished watching it and promise a good solid romp in stunning Scottish locations. Note that Hitchcock's idea for the plane chase in North by Northwest clearly had its roots in John Buchan's novel, though the influence may have been subconscious. For those who'd like to revisit the 1935 Hitchcock film starring Robert Donat (Goodbye Mr. Chips) and Madeleine Carroll, Criterion has recently released their expertly restored DVD as a popularly priced single, which will be available for ordering soon.

Posted: Thursday October 8, 2009

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BBC America’s favorite housemates

Ever since Being Human premiered this summer on BBC America, we have been besieged with requests for the Season 1 DVD. We are happy to relay the news that the various rights issues have been resolved, and DVDs and Blu-rays are in the works, though probably not until mid 2010. In the meantime, why not catch up with woeful werewolf Russell Tovey's work in The History Boys and Little Dorrit? And sexy vampire Aiden Turner has recently stirred hearts and dropped trou frequently as the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti in the BBC miniseries Desperate Romantics, which we hope will reach these shores next year.

Posted: Thursday October 1, 2009

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Primeval Rescued from Extinction

In 2011 we predict that anomalies will open up again all over Britain. That's when the first of seven new Primeval episodes, specially commissioned by BBC America, among others, will be ready to air, and the prehistoric pot luck will resume its much-loved place on BBC America and BBC Video's schedules. A five-episode season will follow in 2012.

BBC News Link

Posted: Wednesday September 30, 2009

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Curiouser and curiouser…

In the glorious English summer of 1966, Jonathan Miller directed a version of Alice in Wonderland that has become legendary - legendary for its cast, which includes John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, Leo McKern and Alan Bennett, and legendary for its unorthodox approach. There's a Ravi Shankar score (which may have triggered psychedelic associations), but actually the film is slavishly faithful to the book's text. It's just that the fantasy characters we know so well from the book's illustrations have changed back to their Victorian archetypes. So the Queen and King of Hearts (Alison Leggat, Peter Sellers) are now Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the Knave is one of the less productive members of their large brood. Searching for a suitable face for the Duchess, Miller needed to look no further than Leo McKern. Miller's partners from Beyond the Fringe, Peter Cook and Alan Bennett, show up as the Mad Hatter and the Mouse who tells the dry historical tale, respectively. Michael Redgrave, who balked at the notion of literally impersonating a caterpillar, was delighted to hear that he was to match wits with Alice (Anne-Marie Mallik) while sitting comfortably in Sir John Soane's Museum. Look for the DVD early next year. For extras, we are pursuing Dennis Potter's 1965 teleplay Alice, starring George Baker and Deborah Watling, which tells the poignant story behind the book. This play became the basis for Potter's 1985 film Dreamchild.

Posted: Thursday September 24, 2009

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Congratulations to BBC winners!

The way the Emmys are presented these days, it's easy to lose track of the score, but we were counting! It turns out that our Little Dorrit was the most honored program of the year, with a total of seven Emmys. Besides the four Creative Arts awards previously announced, it won Outstanding Miniseries, and clinched crucial awards for screenwriter Andrew Davies and director Dearbhla Walsh. And while you are checking it out, look out for Bleak House, from the same writer, which reset the standards for BBC Dickens miniseries when it aired in 2005. Congratulations also to Brendan Gleeson (best known as Harry Potter's Professor "Mad-Eye" Moody) who won for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the BBC/HBO co-production Into the Storm.

Posted: Monday September 21, 2009

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BBC at the Emmy Awards

This Sunday, September 20th, is Emmy night, and we're excited about the BBC productions in the running. Little Dorrit with 11 nominations is up for Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Writing (Andrew Davies) and Outstanding Directing (Dearbhla Walsh). The miniseries has already received four Creative Arts Emmys for Outstanding Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes and Casting. Two of the cast, Tom Courtenay and Andy Serkis, are vying for the Outstanding Supporting Actor Award. Into the Storm received 14 nominations including Outstanding Made-for-TV movie, Outstanding Writing (Hugh Whitemore) and Outstanding Directing (Thaddeus O'Sullivan). Brendan Gleeson, Len Cariou and Janet McTeer are all in the running for acting Emmys. This year saw the eagerly awaited television debuts of two detectives from popular fiction in Wallander (starring Emmy-nominated Kenneth Branagh) and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Both series garnered Emmy nods. We're happy to report that three of these fine productions are already available to watch on DVD, and that Into the Storm will be out in time for Christmas.

Posted: Thursday September 18, 2009

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New and improved Top Gear DVDs

Some of our fans told us the first full-season release of Top Gear on DVD was a bit too much like a spin in a reasonably priced car. Well, our next two releases should register in the Cool to Sub-zero range. For starters, both Top Gear 11 and Top Gear 12 DVDs will retain the full 58-minute episode lengths known and loved by British audiences, and much envied by American audiences. Top Gear 12 will also include our first - and we hope not last -- Top Gear extras: commentary on the Vietnam special, deleted scenes, a director's cut of the Botswana special with commentary and more deleted scenes. Both DVDs are on track for early next year.

Posted: Thursday September 17, 2009

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Look Around You

Greetings from the Spaced-time continuum! We’re working on a shamefully-late release of the first series of Look Around You, a Pythonesque send-up of educational films that first aired on the BBC in 2002. Each episode covers an important learning module, such as Ghosts and Sulphur, with silly puns, absurd experiments, and lots and lots of pencils. What’s the Spaced connection? Co-creators Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz met on the set of Spaced. Popper had commissioned the series for Channel 4 and Serafinowicz played Pegg’s arch-nemesis Duane Benzie. Look Around You is looking to release in spring of 2010. If you can’t wait, you can watch it on Adult Swim now, but we’ll have plenty of extras to tempt you back to the DVD.

Posted: Monday August 24, 2009

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Richard Armitage joins MI-5!

Those of us who have thrilled to Richard Armitage's smoldering (yet manly) presence in Robin Hood, North and South and even Shakespeare Retold were excited to learn he'd joined MI-5 for its seventh season. And we can now confirm we're releasing this season, never before broadcast in the US, on DVD early next year. Armitage plays Lucas North, an MI-5 officer who has spent eight years in a Russian prison (hence the cool tattoos). Lucas is anxious to get back in action, but even his old friend Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) doubts his reliability. Expect more super-smart stories and nail-biting action from this long-running favorite. We're already on the edge of our seats!

Posted: Thursday August 13, 2009

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Russell T Davies says goodbye to the TARDIS

Here at BBC America we're just back from Comic-Con where we rolled out our biggest Doctor Who talents including writer-producer Russell T Davies, star David Tennant and director Euros Lyn. Russell and David's visit to Comic-Con - their first - came as they wrapped up their final episodes of all time (for now!). Please click through to see a fun interview Russell recently gave after Doctor Who Specials wrapped. Watch until the end for a quick preview of the penultimate David Tennant story "Waters of Mars."

There's a great deal to look forward to from David Tennant in the coming months. In addition to the three exciting Doctor Who specials at the end of this year, David will also make a guest appearance as the Doctor in the upcoming third season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. But the pièce de résistance is the news that his recent performance as Hamlet (which quickly sold out in London) has been picked up for the next season of PBS' Great Performances. Look for the DVD sometime next year.

Posted: Tuesday August 4, 2009

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First Contact with the Eleventh Doctor

Filming on Doctor Who Season Five is officially underway in Cardiff, and Matt Smith has been spotted in his soon-to-be-imitated outfit of tweed jacket, bow tie, rolled up trousers and black boots. (Hmmm. That's not a clip-on, is it?)

There are changes behind the scenes, too, as Steven Moffat takes over from Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer. Besides writing some of the best new Who stories ("The Empty Child," "Blink," "Silence in the Library"), he created and wrote the now classic BBC America sitcom Coupling.

Too many changes at once? Piers Wenger, executive producer and head of drama at BBC Wales opines: "There's a strange and perfect alchemy between Steven and Matt Smith and the next few months are going to be riveting as that relationship starts to emerge on screen. Steven always says he's been waiting to do this job since he was seven. But it's actually the Doctor who has been waiting for him."

Shown with Matt is Karen Gillen, who plays the Time Lord's new companion Amy Pond. She previously played the soothsayer in Season Four's "The Fires of Pompeii."

Posted: Monday July 20, 2009

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Fawlty Towers Remastered

Thirty years have passed since Fawlty Towers wrapped, and we're celebrating this milestone with a loving restoration of the series which has been called "the Sistine Chapel of sitcoms." This time round, John Cleese has recorded brand new commentaries for every single great episode, and there are new interviews from when the cast got together last spring, including the first time Cleese's co-writer and former wife, Connie Booth, has spoken on the record about the series. Releasing October 20th.

Posted: Friday July 17, 2009

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Torchwood in your mind’s eye

If this year's short Torchwood season leaves you wanting more, BBC Radio has the goods. Coming this fall, Torchwood: The Radio Adventures stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd in three brand new stories -- "Asylum", "Golden Age", and "The Dead Line"-- that slot into time between Season Two and Children of Earth. "Asylum" upends the notion that anyone coming through the Rift is a threat to humankind. "Golden Age" takes us to Torchwood India and shows us what they've been up to in the 80 years since Captain Jack shut that outpost down, and don't answer the phone in "The Dead Line" - not even Captain Jack is immune.
Of doing a 21st century show in the decidedly retro medium of radio, John Barrowman said: "We did them over the course of three days. It was brilliant - in and out. But funnily enough, it sometimes feels more stressful than being on a TV set, because you have to be in scene after scene. You might stay in the room for four hours while other people come and go, because your character is in every scene. You're reading it from the page, of course, though that's not always a good thing. But I hope we do more of them. I really do."
Barrowman, who had just finished his UK concert tour (for those of you who don't know he is an accomplished West End singer and dancer), added "I will never tire of hearing a kid in a supermarket saying, "I love you, Captain Jack." I will never tire of that."

Posted: Wednesday July 8, 2009

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