BB FANS

EX-Corrie star Gaynor Faye is joining Emmerdale as Declan Macey's ambitious and intimidating sister Megan. Sun

Coranation Street Star Betty Driver Dies



Coronation Street favourite Betty Driver has died at the age of 91.

An ITV spokesman said she "died peacefully in hospital" in the early hours of Saturday.

She had played the role of Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams (Turpin) in the soap for 42 years.

The actress had been in hospital for six weeks. She had also been unwell earlier in the year and was treated for a chest infection in 2010.

The ITV spokesman said: "She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her."

HuffPost

Sky - £295m Profit

BSkyB announced today that it gained 77,000 additional customers in the three months to the end of September, helping operating profits rise by 16% to £295m.

The broadcaster said that it had seen strong loyalty among its existing customers - despite spending pressure on consumers.

"We continue to deliver strong financial results and good growth in customers and products," said Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB chief executive.

"In tough market conditions, our move to more broadly based growth and multiple products is serving us well."

BSkyB said it was pleased with a particularly strong quarter for programming, with a big focus on its entertainment offering.

Darroch said: "In particular, customers can look forward to more outstanding TV as we step-change our investment in new British comedy and drama, begin coverage of Formula 1 and continue to offer the best US shows like Glee, Terra Nova and Boardwalk Empire."

The company also updated investors on its move to bundle services for customers.

It said 2.9 million customers now take its TV, Broadband and telephone services – a rise of 29%.

BSkyB's latest results come after a quarter that saw a takeover attempt by its largest shareholder News Corp thwarted following revelations over the phone-hacking scandal.



BBC One Daytime Drama Returns

BBC One's daytime series Moving On, created by writer Jimmy McGovern, is to return with five standalone films.

Stars include Fay Ripley, Reece Dinsdale, Paul Rhys, Alastair McKenzie, Christine Bottomley, Dean Lennox Kelly, Ben Daniels, Eva Pope, Sally Philips, Warren Brown and Rob James Collier.

The series was filmed on location in and around Liverpool by Liverpool-based company LA Productions. The series explores contemporary issues, from gambling addiction and the lot of a soldier's wife to infertility, teenage depression and gentrification – all linked by the common theme of characters who reach a turning point in life and then move on.

Liam Keelan, Controller of BBC Daytime and Executive Producer for the BBC, said: "It's very exciting to have such a high profile cast for this series again and it will be something really special for our viewers to look forward to."


Paul Nicholls Joins Law & Order

Paul Nicholls is to join the cast of ITV1's long-running drama Law & Order: UK for series six which will air in the New Year.

Nicholls will play DS Sam Casey, a headstrong young officer with a strong sense of justice brought in to investigate the shooting of DS Matt Devlin.

Nicholls joins the cast, including Bradley Walsh, Harriet Walter, Freema Agyeman, Peter Davison and Dominic Rowan.

The latest seven part series sees the police and legal teams facing a shocking crime captured on video, up against the clock in the search for a hostage, and exposing a tragic, medical cover-up. Cases are reopened, the past threatens to catch up with Ronnie (Walsh) and careers are on the line…

Guest stars join the cast for series six including Tamzin Outhwaite, Toby Stephens, Eva Pope, Luke Roberts and Tim McInnerny.

October 17 2011 - waveguide.co.uk

Betty Driver's Funeral

Hundreds are expected to attend the funeral of Coronation Street star Betty Driver on Saturday.

The service will be held at St Ann's Church in St Ann's Square, Manchester city centre from 11.30.

Coronation Street cast members, past and present, are expected to attend.

waveguide.co.uk

Documentary Award For John Pilger

Pioneering film-maker John Pilger is to be honoured for his achievements with one of the highest accolades in the British documentary world.

Pilger is well known for his hard-hitting and controversial documentaries of the 1970s but continues to make films.

The Australian-born journalist - who made his name when he moved to the UK in the 1960s - is to be rewarded for his outstanding contribution at the annual awards of the Grierson Trust next month.

Among his best-known films are the Vietnam documentary The Quiet Mutiny, exposing the rebellion within the US army at the time of the Vietnam war, and Cambodia Year Zero, credited with exposing the horrors of the Pol Pot regime.

Pilger, who has made 58 films, has previously been awarded a TV Bafta for his work and has twice been named journalist of the year.

Dawn Airey, who chairs the Grierson Trust, said: "He is one of the world's great documentary producers. His work has uncovered atrocity, probed the underbelly of society, sparked controversy and challenged the heart of democracy."

Pilger, 72, will be handed the Honda Grierson Trustees' Award at the Trust's ceremony on November 1. The awards were established in 1972 to celebrate documentary makers.

waveguide.co.uk

Rugby star Phil Vickery wins celebrity MasterChef

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After six weeks of culinary challenges, including catering for the cast of Spooks and cooking a three-course lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant, Vickery, 35, beat finalists Kirsty Wark, the broadcaster, and the actor Nick Pickard.

The contestants' final task was to prepare a three-course meal for the judges of the BBC 1 series, John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

Vickery cooked a winning menu consisting of a starter of scallops with black pudding, pea shoots, crispy Parma ham and apple puree, followed by a main of fillet of lamb with baby carrots, asparagus wrapped in mint and Parma ham and fondant potatoes.

His pudding was an orange and chocolate bread and butter pudding served with clotted cream.

On winning the 2011 celebrity MasterChef title, Vickery said: "I'm absolutely gobsmacked, I can't believe it. I dreamed of winning MasterChef but literally it was just a dream.

Telegraph

Bond Is Back: Name Of New 007 Film Revealed Sky

Youtube


Adapted from Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir Another Bulls-t Night in Suck City,

Sir Cliff Hits Out at Radio Station Snub

Sir Cliff Richard has blasted a new 1960s radio station for banning his hits - and accused programme bosses of "lying to the public" by erasing him from history.

The 71-year-old - whose Christmas single Millennium Prayer topped the charts in 1999 despite scant airplay - has been barred from the playlist of new service Absolute Radio 60s.

The station - which launches on November 22 and describes itself as "Home of The Beatles, Stones and Motown" - claimed Sir Cliff's songs were not cool enough to make the cut.

DJ Pete Mitchell said: "His songs don't fit the cool sound of the swinging sixties we're trying to create on our new station.

"We believe timeless acts of the decade that remain relevant today are The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors and The Who, not Sir Cliff."

However, the Summer Holiday singer said: "What they're doing is they're lying to themselves, and more importantly they're lying to the public.

"You cannot count me out. I sold more singles in the UK than The Beatles did, and more singles than any other artist on the planet, in Britain."

He added: "They can do that if they want to, there's nothing I can do. But what they're forgetting is that The Beatles didn't start it here - I started five years before the Beatles."

The new station is a sister service for Absolute Radio.

Sir Cliff - who is currently promoting his new DVD, Cliff Richard The Soulicious Tour Live At The 02 - revealed that despite the furore surrounding his last festive song, he would be happy to bring out another Christmas track.

waveguide.co.uk

Nick Hewer announced as new Countdown host
The Apprentice sidekick takes over the C4 quiz in January


Channel 4's long-running words and numbers quiz Countdown has made a surprise choice for its new host: Nick Hewer, previously known as Alan Sugar's adviser on BBC1's The Apprentice, will take over from Jeff Stelling in the new year.

Hewer's first appearance will be on 9 January. Co-presenter Rachel Riley and "Dictionary Corner" expert Susie Dent will remain on the programme.

In May, Stelling announced his intention to quit the afternoon quiz at the end of 2011, citing a desire to devote more time to hosting live football on Sky Sports. Since then, fans have speculated about who would replace him, with Gyles Brandreth, Rory Bremner, Stephen Fry, Sue Barker, Terry Wogan and, when it was thought he might have a change of heart, Stelling himself all mooted as possible presenters for 2012.

Virtually nobody had considered Hewer – a long-term employee of Lord Sugar and a fixture on The Apprentice since its debut in 2005, but not a TV presenter by trade – for the job.

"I'm flattered to have been asked to present such an iconic programme and will work hard to justify sitting in the same seat as such great talents as Jeff Stelling, Des O'Connor and of course the great Richard Whiteley," Hewer said.

"It's particularly fitting that I should be doing this now as my spelling has started to slip quite badly. I used to be able spell chrysanthemum."

(As a 13-letter word, "chrysanthemum" would of course be ineligible in Countdown, where even the fiendish Conundrum is only nine letters long.)

Countdown – a no-frills test of vocabulary and arithmetic – was the first programme to be shown on Channel 4 when it began broadcasting in 1982. Richard Whiteley hosted it until his death in 2005. The show has struggled to replace Whiteley, with Des Lynam and Des O'Connor both lasting less than two years in the chair before Stelling's arrival in 2009.

Countdown executive producer Peter Gwyn said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Nick has agreed to take the Countdown chair, and I can't wait to see him bring his unique style and humour to this iconic format.

"With Nick at the helm and our 30th birthday next year, we've got some very exciting times ahead for Countdown viewers."
Radiotimes

TalkSport set for ad revenue rise in bumper Christmas runup

UTV Media expects radio business to counter significant seasonal decline in TV business Guardian

BBC and HBO line up Wolf Hall drama

Four-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's historical novel would be broadcast on BBC2 Guardian

Fans of Hilary Mantel will be delighted to hear that she is planning a Tudor trilogy - following on from Wolf Hall there will be a second novel [ Bring up the Bodies ] published by Fourth Estate in Mayin 2012 that will focus on the downfall of Anne Boleyn.

A third novel [ The Mirror & the Light ] will continue Cromwell's story until his execution in 1540.

Jonathan Ross To Stay With ITV

Jonathan Ross has agreed a new contract with ITV1, which will see him front a further three series of his chat show.

Ross, who moved from the to ITV in 2010, attracted an average audience of 4.1 million during his first series, which began in September.

"I am thrilled to be signing again for ITV," he said in a statement.

Ross's new contract will see him present three 10-part series in 2012 and 2013, plus Christmas specials.

"It's like that stage in a relationship when you've been leaving a few clothes over every time you stay, and they finally give you a door key," Ross said, on his renewal.

Elaine Bedell, ITV's director of entertainment and comedy, said: "Jonathan remains one of the biggest talents on UK television and his first series for us shows that our ITV audience has enthusiastically welcomed him back to our television screens, doing what he does best."



Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew Goode are to star in a new BBC drama, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Stephen Poliakoff.

Ejiofor was seen in police drama The Shadow Line and won an Olivier award for his portrayal of Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in 2008.

Goode's credits include Watchmen, A Single Man and Cemetery Junction.

The 1930s set Dancing On The Edge will follow a black jazz band in London. It will be broadcast on BBC Two next year.

Anthony Head and Caroline Quentin will also appear in the five-part series.

Filming has begun in London and Birmingham, with co-stars including Jacqueline Bisset and Tom Hughes.

Acclaimed playwright and dramatist Poliakoff has written numerous dramas for the BBC, including Capturing Mary and Joe's Palace.



International Emmy Awards

British TV productions have won five awards at the International Emmys in the US, including best actress for Julie Walters.

She was honoured for her Bafta-winning portrayal of Mo Mowlam in Channel 4's Mo, a biopic about the late politician.

Christopher Eccleston was named best actor for his role in Jimmy McGovern's Accused on BBC One, which also won best drama series.

Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne won best arts programme.

Twenty Twenty also won the non-scripted entertainment award for The World's Strictest Parents, which aired on BBC Three.

Chile won its first international Emmy for children's programme, What Is Your Dream?

Belgium won best comedy series for Benidorm Bastards, a hidden camera show that follows seven elderly people playing tricks on young people.

Canada picked up the best documentary prize for Life with Murder, about a family torn apart when a 20-year-old is charged with the murder of his 19-year-old sister.

Swedish crime drama, Millennium, won best TV movie or mini-series and Portugal won the prize for best telenovela - a limited-run serial drama popular in Latin American - for Blood Ties.

The International Emmys celebrate TV production outside the US.

waveguide.co.uk

No More TV For Hugh Laurie

After playing Dr. Gregory House for eight seasons, Hugh Laurie wants to call it quits.

The British actor said that once House has completed his run, he wants to retire from TV roles.

Laurie said: "I think I have been rather spoiled here [in America]. I can't imagine there will be another one quite like this. And I think I am extremely lucky to have had the one shot that I have had at it, and I wouldn't go looking for lightning to strike twice."

The actor has received two Golden Globes and several Emmy nods as House.

Laurie also stated that he is interested in behind the scenes work, such as writing, producing, and directing in the near future.

Fox has not yet announced if House will be renewed for a ninth season.

Laurie's contract is up after season eight.

waveguide.co.uk

Women-free BBC's Sports Personality shortlist sparks widespread backlash Guardian