DOCTOR HOW

[21.20 - French Time] Matt Smith will return as The Doctor for a sixth series of Doctor Who in 2011, preceded by a Christmas special for this year - written by showrunner Steven Moffat.

Filming of series five wraps this Saturday ahead of transmission on BBC One at Easter. Shooting of the special and the 13-episode series six will begin early July in Cardiff (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/s7/doctor-who/news/a209476/doctor-who-confirmed-for-xmas-sixth-series.html).

The first episode of the Matt Smith/Steven Moffat era will be aired on April 3 at a time when both British television fiction and the BBC are at the parting of the ways. Increasing pressure on budgets weighs on dramas, with the Beeb and its commercial rival ITV struggling to maintain the quality of their respectives drama outputs in a rough economic climate.

Not only British indie production sector complains about budget cuts made by the Corporation, not only major BBC hits like Hustle now appear affected by these cuts, but the future of the BBC itself (with its commercial branch BBC Worldwide) is among the debates of the upcoming general election in the UK.

Doctor Who is the Beeb's flagship franchise and we'll see very soon if BBC drama budget cuts impact in some way or another the awaited fifth series. « I’ve now seen four or five episodes of the new Doctor Who and it’s bigger and better than ever, » said Ben Stephenson, the BBC’s controller of drama, to The Daily Telegraph in January. « The minute that those cuts affect how it looks then I agree that there’s something we need to do. » (1)

The show and its stars, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will begin a UK tour later this month in order to introduce Eleventh Doctor and his companion to fans.

(1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6976497/Ben-Stephenson-BBC-One-dramas-dont-just-need-to-chase-ratings.html

Update (March 19): New trailer, thanks to Digital Spy (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/s7/doctor-who/news/a209692/the-second-who-series-five-trailer.html).

BBC DRAMA LINEUP WINTER/SPRING 2010

[13.25 - French Time] Ben Stephenson, the controller of BBC drama commissioning, unveiled today the BBC's winter and spring 2010 drama lineup. But it seems that several long-running dramas will get the axe in order to make room for these new programmes, reports Maggie Brown for The Guardian.

There's no public list of the concerned shows for the moment but The Guardian writes that Holby City, Casualty, Waterloo Road and New Tricks - don't mess with Dennis Waterman - are thought to be safe (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/13/bbc-drama-ben-stephenson). Spooks will likely get a ninth series and the boring British version of Wallander has been recommissioned for a third series. I want a crossover where Section D of Thames House gets a suicide mission in Sweden.

Here are some of the dramas announced (BBC One if not precised otherwise):

- Luther: One of the most awaited by many specialists and TV buffs, because it's written by Neil Cross (The Fixer) and it stars Idris Elba (The Wire) as John Luther. Luther is described as "a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can't always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/comingup/luther/).

Each episode of Luther (6 x 60-minute) focuses on the psychological duel between the detective and the criminal - the murderer's identity being known from the start. The Mentalist/Cracker/The Wire shaken not stirred?

- The Silence: A four-part drama from Australian writer Fiona Seres about a deaf 18-year old girl (severely deaf actress Genevieve Barr in her first major role) who witnesses the murder of a policewoman. Douglas Henshall (Primeval, Collision) plays her uncle - a homicide detective - and Dervla Kirwan plays her aunt. I hope it's not Mute Witness - The TV series because strictly on paper it looks interesting.

- The Deep: a five-part thriller starring James Nesbitt (Murphy's Law, Jekyll), Minnie Driver and Goran Visnjic (ER). The action follows the crew of an oceanographer's submarine below the Arctic ice. For James Nesbitt only.

There's of course the eagerly awaited series 31, er... series 1... I mean series 5 of Doctor Who, and the third series of Ashes to Ashes. Billie Piper stars in A Passionate Woman, written and produced by Kay Mellor (I guess Freema Agyeman or Lenora Crichlow were unavailable).

According to Maggie Brown a third series of Being Human has been commissioned by BBC Three for next autumn (which is great news). And the channel will show Lip Service (a Kudos production) about the lives of four young lesbians in Glasgow.

And BBC Four has Christopher Eccleston as John Lennon in one-off drama Lennon Naked. He looks fantastic as Lennon. Sometimes one-off dramas are more interesting than commissioned series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrjWZzIpNrE&feature=player_embedded (Promo)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/13/bbc-drama-ben-stephenson
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/bbc-unveils-drama-line-up/5009587.article?referrer=RSS

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2010/01/five-goes-mad-in-cardiff.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/07/old-dogs-with-8-million-new-tricks.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/11/working-class-hero.html

OLD DOGS WITH 8 MILLION NEW TRICKS

Ageism seems to be amongst the latest issues tormenting the BBC these days, with the expenses of its executives (1) and the state of its dramas - catalyzed by the debate between eminent producer Tony Garnett and Ben Stephenson, the controller of BBC drama commissioning (2). After the controversial replacement of Arlene Phillips, 66, a veteran choreographer, by pop star Alesha Dixon, 30, as a judge in the popular Strictly Come Dancing show (3), the return of the acclaimed New Tricks on BBC1 for a sixth series comes with an unsuspected irony.

Launched in 2003 with a pilot episode and shown since 2004, New Tricks is a "cold case" comedy/drama show with a difference. Headed by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, played by Amanda Redman, UCOS (Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad) is a very special unit composed of retired and burnout aged police officers: Jack Halford (James Bolam, of the Likely Lads fame) - haunted by the death of his beloved wife, Gerry Standing (the legendary Dennis Waterman) - a gambler and a ladies man with three ex-wives and three daughters, and Brian Lane (the wonderful character actor Alun Armstrong) - a recovering alcoholic with OCD.

Both the humour and the sensibility of New Tricks come from the simple idea of these men coping with their personal demons but proving you "can't teach old dogs new tricks" when they're back to the job. And they are with virtuosity but also with a total lack of discipline and professional orthodoxy, plus the weaknesses of age (but the strength of experience). The ensemble cast of this great show is solid and it's a treat to watch British television legend Dennis Waterman (the original Minder) ageing well in the shoes of John Thaw - his former "Guv" in The Sweeney.

Faithful to his own myth, Waterman sings It's alright, "da feem toon" (as his parody by comedian David Walliams would say in Little Britain) of the show. Unfortunately French viewers were deprived of the song when New Tricks arrived on French public channel France 3 in 2008, with It's alright replaced by Rien n'est écrit, a song in French performed by Murray Head (whose brother Anthony played in one episode). With all the respect due to the talented Murray Head, say it ain't so, Joe please... (sorry, couldn't help).

The sixth series of New Tricks, launched with more than 8 million viewers on July 16, claimed 34% share in 9pm slot, beating nearest rival by more than 4 million viewers (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/17/bbc1-new-tricks-tv-ratings). In many respects the ratings of the series premiere echo with a poetic irony not only to the Arlene Phillips replacement but also to the "Hollyoaksing" of the cast of Doctor Who - Matt Smith (the new Doctor) being 26 and Karen Gillan, the Doctor's new assistant, 21.

New Tricks star Amanda Redman, 49, fears she could lose out on top jobs because of her age, in the wake of the Phillips situation (http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/07/14/exclusive-new-tricks-star-amanda-redman-fears-the-sack-after-bbc-ageism-row-115875-21518495/). This would be a terrible mistake because Redman is all charm, class and talent. Anyway the Beeb can argue that the main character of its flagship franchise is 905 years old, which is far far more older than the Strictly Come Dancing iconic presenter Bruce "Brucie" Forsyth, 81.

« It's alright, its OK
It doesnt matter if you're old and grey... »
(Dennis Waterman, the Guv of British television)

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/17/bbc-expenses-christmas-dinner-flowers
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2009/jul/15/tony-garnett-bbc-drama + http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/15/tony-garnett-email-bbc-drama + http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2009/jul/16/ben-stephenson-tony-garner
(3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/5844671/Strictly-Come-Dancings-Arlene-Phillips-is-a-victim-of-ageism-says-Harriet-Harman.html