Kiefer Sutherland and Josh Holloway are reportedly being lined-up to appear in the upcoming reimagining of Dallas. TNT announced plans last month to bring back the classic US soap opera based around a powerful Texan oil family. And that Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy are believed to be on board to reprise their roles as JR and Bobby Ewing respectively. 
The new version will apparently focus on John Ross, JR's son and Christopher, Bobby and Pam Ewing's adopted son. 24 star Sutherland and Lost heart-throb Holloway have been linked to the roles of the two brothers, while Ghost Whisperer's Jennifer Love Hewitt and Heroes' Ali Larter are under consideration to play their respective partners. According to the Daily Scum Mail anyway. Where they got this information from, they don't say. TNT's Michael Wright recently said: 'This is not a remake as much as a continuation. It takes the next generation of Ewings and continues the battle.'
For the first time in almost a month, a terrestrial TV show achieved a worse AI score than Daybreak when last Wednesday's, if you will mockumentary, Trinny and Susannah: From Boom to Bust on Channel 4 got a score of a mere fifty eight. Fifty eight? Jesus, you get fifty eight if you've spelled the names right in the title. Well done Channel 4! You now appear to have your very own versions of Adrian and Christine - and you didn't even have to poach them directly from the Beeb, they came via a (very amusing) sacking from ITV.
Lest we thought Daybreak can start cracking open the champagne as a consequence of this, however, it should be noted that it's own weekly figures were a still quite appalling - sixty five, sixty one, sixty one, sixty three, sixty three. Remember, anything under sixty five is considered 'poor.' You're up to the high seventies before you even reach 'average.' Of course, Adrian and Christine weren't presenting the show last Wednesday and Thursday - Kate Garraway and the brilliantly named Dan Lobb were filling in - so these figures would appear to suggest that Daybreak is equally unpopular, no matter who's presenting it. My thanks to Steve and Matt over at Gallifrey Base for additional comedy material.
The creator of the video game Grand Theft Auto has accepted 'substantial', albeit undisclosed, libel damages over an 'entirely false' story that it was planning a version based on gunman Raoul Moat. Take 2 Inc (Rockstar Games) had brought the High Court proceedings over an article and leader in the Daily Lies in July.
Its solicitor, Melanie Hart, told Mr Justice Tugendhat in London that the story claimed the new game - Grand Theft Auto: Rothbury - would be based on the tragedy which culminated in the events in the Northumberland village. She said that the newspaper solicited and published quotes from third parties, including one from a grieving relative of a victim of Moat, in which the alleged plan to create such a game was described as 'sick' and deplored in the strongest terms. In the leader, the newspaper commented that the people behind the production of the game were 'questionable idiots' who were making money out of other people's misery. When the piece was, quickly, exposed as wholly without foundation, the author of the piece - one Jerry Lawton - used his Facebook page to say that he was 'baffled' by the strong reaction it had caused. Hart said that Express Newspapers admitted it did not approach the company for either confirmation that such plans even existed or a comment before publication. 'The defendant now accepts that Rockstar Games never had any intention to create such a video game at any time. The story was entirely false.' She added that the newspaper had agreed to pay what were described as 'substantial damages' and the company's legal costs. Clare Kissin, for Express Newspapers, said it accepted that the allegations were untrue and apologised for the upset and damage caused as a result of its publication. Remarkably, Jerry Lawton himself is still employed by the newspaper and is currently writing reports about Wayne and Coleen's marriage. The veracity of which, this blogger leaves entirely up to you, dear blog reader.
Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed some of his hopes for the upcoming second series. 'I'd love Irene Adler to crop up,' Cumberbatch told Collider. 'I'd [also] love The Hound of the Baskervilles to crop up. There's all sorts of things that I'd love to do, or characters that I'd love to be involved.' However, the actor admitted that he is keen for the show to explore new ideas and storylines. 'Some of the plot borrowings and deductions, the characters, their relationships and the detail of their lives is very much drawn from the original because there would be no point [in] messing with what ain't broke,' he explained. 'But as far as adventures go, I think they can definitely take it into a new realm. I'm excited about doing things that fans expect, as well as letting their imagination have free rein and going new places with it.'
Paul Merton is to make a new TV documentary about Fifties comedian Arthur Haynes. Haynes was one of the first comedy stars of ITV, but he died in 1965, aged fifty one, and little footage of his shows – which usually went out live – has survived. However, some unseen footage has been unearthed for the BBC4 programme. Merton will be working with his Just A Minute foil Nicholas Parsons on the show.
Parsons was Haynes's straight man, but was fired shortly before Haynes died because, Parsons believes, the comic was perturbed by the attention his straight man was getting. The Arthur Haynes Show – seen at the time as ITV's answer to Hancock's Half Hour – ran for one hundred and fifty eight episodes over fifteen series making Haynes one of the best-paid entertainers of his day. Merton – who fronted a Channel 4 Heroes Of Comedy documentary about Haynes fifteen years ago – will interview Parsons in front of a studio audience about the life and times of the show and its star. BBC4 controller Richard Klein said: 'Haynes performed live mostly but we've found some old footage that hasn't been seen before. Six of his shows were recorded for export to Australia.'
Steven Moffat has revealed that his son is not keen on the working title for the first episode of next year's Doctor Who. The executive producer, who once posted a YouTube video of his son interviewing him, claimed that his child was unimpressed with the name of his second series opener. Moffat wrote on Twitter:
'Told my son the title of episode one of the next run of Dr Who. A pause. "I think we can do better, Daddy." Then: "We need clever. Not cheesy."' Never work with children or animals, Steven. Meanwhile, Neil Gaiman has revealed further details of his own upcoming Doctor Who episode. It was previously confirmed that former Coronation Street actress Suranne Jones has been cast as a young woman named Idris. Gaiman apparently told reporters at the recent New Yorker festival that the character 'may be an old friend of the Doctor's with a new face.' The writer also admitted that Doctor Who is part of his 'internal landscape' and revealed that his script takes inspiration from Patrick Troughton's final story as the Doctor, first broadcast in 1969. 'At one point, I steal a plot from an old episode called The War Games,' he said.
Tracy Barlow will make her return to Coronation Street on Christmas Eve, it has been confirmed. The character - played by Kate Ford - was last seen in May, when she made a failed attempt to get her fifteen-year jail sentence for murder cut by testifying in court against former neighbour Gail McIntyre. Show bosses had always planned for Tracy to make a full-time comeback by the end of the year, but the exact time of her return had been kept under wraps until now. Speaking to the Daily Lies Sunday, producer Phil Collinson revealed that a plot twist will see Tracy get out of pokey - to the surprise of her family and the rest of the Street's residents. Collinson explained:
'Tracy will be back on Christmas Eve and, as you can imagine, she is the last person who everyone is expecting to see. Her family have no idea she's been let out, so they are completely shocked. But how she gets out of prison is something we want to keep a secret.' He added: 'I'm really excited about all the trouble she'll cause. She's always loved Steve McDonald and the fact that they have a child together means that they will always have a bond. It's going to be interesting to see how Becky copes. And then there's also the small matter of Gail. She was nearly jailed because of Tracy's false testimony, so there will be quite a bit going on between them. The Street will still be getting over the tram crash. And then Tracy's back - which will bring its own disaster for some of the characters.'
Yer Keith Telly Topping's sincere thanks go to his good friend Deborah who, after my spirited rant about what a bunch of cheb-end comments I felt Victoria Wood had made publicly last week noted that 'Victoria Wood is a national institution.' Before adding: 'So, she must clearly be outsourced, immediately.' Yer Keith Telly Topping totally agrees, Debs.
Top Gear presenter and all-round thorough chap James May is to appear in his first TV advertising campaign after signing up to be the face of the beer brand London Pride. May will appear in a series of TV adverts, the first the brand has run in three years, which will be broadcast from 12 October until late November. John Roberts, managing director of Fuller's Beer Company, said May was the perfect brand ambassador because he is a 'seasoned beer drinker. He recognises the quality and craftsmanship that goes into the creation of London Pride,' he said. Plus, the money you're paying him is pretty good, I'm guessing.
'James is a great fit for the brand,' said David Spencer, marketing manager for London Pride. 'He loves beer, his favourite beer really is London Pride and it's his local pint as well, brewed in Chiswick round the corner from his house. We are confident that James' fame and popularity will bring a British classic like London Pride to a new, broader audience.' The TV campaign is the first London Pride has run since 2007 and marks a distinct departure from previous marketing strategy which focused purely on the quality of the ingredients used. The TV campaign has been filmed in 'landmark' Fuller's pubs across London and take a 'wry and witty look at James's love of London Pride.' May has also signed up to host an 'online tour' of the family business's brewery, a Fuller's pub quiz and a tutored beer tasting. These will be hosted on the London Pride Facebook site.
Lord Alan Sugar will no longer work as the Business and Enterprise Tsar for the government, it has been revealed. Although, the fact that he hadn't done any obvious Tsaring since the election in May was, frankly, a bit of a giveaway. The bullyboy businessman and creator of the world's second most popular satellite dish (when there were only two on the market), who stars in The Apprentice, admitted that David Cameron didn't require his services once the coalition government was formed. He told the Sunday Mirror: 'After the election No 10 got in touch and told me that my services were no longer required. I am happy to work with them but they don't want to work with me. It's a real shame.' Sugar was given a seat in the Lords last year by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to advise ministers. This meant that the new series of The Apprentice, which begins this Wednesday, had to be postponed to comply with the BBC's strict impartiality commitments.
The appetite for British television shows overseas defied the recession last year with export sales up nine per cent year-on-year to smash the one billion pound mark. Sales of UK series, such as Strictly Come Dancing, Wife Swap, Come Dine With Me, [spooks] and MasterChef, to foreign broadcasters earned a record £1.34bn for the UK economy in 2009. The annual UK TV Exports Survey, collated independently by TRP for the independent producers' trade body PACT, reveals that the biggest growth area for British programmes and formats was Australia and New Zealand for the second year – up thirty two per cent to one hundred and seventy million smackers. Localised versions of formats such as Top Gear and MasterChef have proved highly popular down under with MasterChef, made by Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine, setting a record last year for Australia's most watched non-sport TV show ever. Overall sales of formats, when a foreign TV company buys rights to a series such as Come Dine With Me and then makes the show itself, rose twenty five per cent. Meanwhile, the trend towards producing UK formats abroad – in which a foreign TV company buys the rights for a show but asks a UK-owned company to make a localised version – gathered pace last year with a rise in revenue to forty one million quid. The UK television industry's main customer is still the US, where British formats including American Idol (from Pop Idol) and Dancing With The Stars – the US version of Strictly Come Dancing – continue to pull in massive audiences.
Transatlantic sales accounted for thirty six per cent of total export revenue, with a growth in revenue to four hundred and eighty five million. The overall North American market is worth five hundred and forty six million with 'significant revenue contributions' from sales of videos and DVDs, formats, licensing and merchandising with, again, BBC brands such as Top Gear and Doctor Who selling heavily. America's appetite for the best of British appears to be insatiable: a US version of MasterChef, presented by Gordon Ramsay, proved successful and Simon Cowell's The X Factor is set to arrive in America next year. The survey also shows significant growth in other regions – Scandanavia up twenty per cent, Canada up twenty three per cent and Latin America up seventeen per cent. Eastern Europe was the only area to record a fall in sales, with revenue dropping by three per cent. '2009 was one of the toughest years for the media industry, so to see an increase in exports is testament to the popularity of British shows all around the world,' said Chris Bonney, a PACT council member and the managing director of the programme distributor Outright. 'For independent producers these revenues are increasingly vital as the domestic market gets squeezed by the reductions in the broadcasters' production budgets.' PACT says that booming sales of finished programming, the UK's largest source of TV income, accounted for forty three per cent of the increase in total revenue for British TV producers last year. 'The UK has an unrivalled reputation on the global stage for producing high-quality, creative and groundbreaking TV programming,' said Sir Andrew Cahn, the chief executive of UK Trade & Investment. 'TV formats such as Britain's Got Talent, Midsomer Murders and [spooks] continue to captivate and inspire new audiences, demonstrating the global reach and appeal of the UK TV industry.' Three cheers for our side, for once.
A judge has explained his controversial decision to refuse the banning of a book revealing the identity of Top Gear's The Stig. Mr Justice Morgan said he would not grant the BBC an injunction blocking Ben Collins's autobiography at a private hearing last month. The BBC claimed its publication would be a breach of confidentiality obligations.
But in a public ruling issued today, the judge said that the identity of Collins was already in the public domain due to press coverage. Morgan added that while Collins did owe a duty of confidentiality to the BBC, the identity of Top Gear's mystery driver was so generally accessible that it could no longer be described as confidential. He added that the press coverage, particularly in August when a Sunday Times story naming Collins as The Stig was widely followed up, had gone beyond speculation. Statements in the media about the identity of the mystery test driver would be understood by the public as statements of fact, the judge said. 'In the present case, the identity of Mr Collins as The Stig is in the public domain,' he added. 'If that has caused and/or will cause harm to the BBC, I do not see how any further harm will be caused to the BBC if Mr Collins is not allowed to publish his autobiography in time for the 2010 Christmas market.' So, to sum up then, your worship, a newspaper - owned by News Corp - publishes the secret identity of a character putting it in the public domain so that means it's perfectly legal for a publishing company - owned, wholly coincidentally, also by News Corp - to publish the same identity in a book despite this being a clear breach of existing confidentiality agreements signed by the individual involved? Sounds fair enough. Nothing remotely fishy or underhand about that whatsoever. I don't know what everybody's getting so worked up about.
Two young women who claim to have slept with Wayne Rooney for money have reportedly been 'snubbed' by I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! According to the Daily Lies, Jenny Thompson and Helen Wood approached producers offering to take part in the jungle-based reality series later this year.
However, a production 'source' allegedly told the newspaper: 'I'm A Celebrity ... is a successful format and doesn't need people like this. They're two trashy girls who are just not famous. They're fit - but not for a family show.' Considering that the Daily Lies itself appears to have been the originators of this story in the first place and were carrying 'quotes' which, they alleged, came from 'a show rep' which stated 'We'd love to get her on the new series' as recently as 13 September, once again, one simply had to wonder why anybody would believe anything that they read in the Daily Lies? I mean, they've got such a brilliant track record with regard to accuracy and truth, haven't they?
House's executive producer Katie Jacobs has revealed details of Amber Tamblyn's new role on the show. Tamblyn will star in the drama as medical student Martha Masters, who arrives at Princeton‑Plainsboro when Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) urges House (Hugh Laurie) to hire a woman for his team.
'Considering how horrific House is to doctors, just imagine him being your first mentor,' Jacobs told TV Guide. 'Her first challenge is can she stay on House's team?' However, Jacobs explained that she does not want Martha to begin a relationship too quickly and Jesse Spencer, who plays Chase, revealed that his character will not have a romance with her. 'She's too uptight for him and too much like what Cameron used to be,' he said. 'She comes in all wide-eyed and moralistic, and Chase loves watching House devour her. He takes her to the cleaners and it's hilarious.'
John Oliver has revealed that he has become engaged. The Daily Show correspondent proposed to his girlfriend of two years Kate Norley whilst on holiday in the Caribbean, according to People.
The British comedian met Norley - a veteran of the Iraq War - at the Republican National Convention in 2008, where Oliver was reporting and Norley was campaigning. She said: 'I was a medic in the army. It was difficult, but right now it's nice that I get to spend time with the love of my life.' Oliver added: 'It's the most emasculating thing I could possibly do to go out with someone who has actually done something valuable with their life.' The couple said that they plan to marry 'sometime next year.'
Tim Roth has revealed that Lie To Me will have more of a 'rogue element' this season. Speaking to TV Guide, Roth explained that his character Cal will sever his ties with the FBI. 'It's much more difficult for him to open doors and get inside places,' he said. 'So he has to resort to borderline illegal tactics and his own sense of mischief to get into a room. All of the stuff with Reynolds [Mekhi Phifer] was good and enjoyable, but it made things too easy for Lightman. Things are much more fun when it's difficult for him to get access.' However, executive producer Alexander Cary revealed that Cal's new tactics may get him into trouble. 'We are leaning into Lightman's general conflict with power and authority,' he said. 'In the first episode of season three, he goes too far. He sails extremely close to the wind.'
The Prime Minister's media adviser, Andy Coulson, personally listened to the intercepted voice-mail messages of public figures when he edited the News of the World, a senior - albeit anonymous - journalist who worked alongside him has said. The Gruinad Morning Star reports that Coulson has always denied knowing about any illegal activity by the journalists who worked for him, but an unidentified former executive from the paper told Channel 4 Dispatches that Coulson not only knew his reporters were using intercepted voice-mail but was also personally involved. 'Sometimes, they would say: "We've got a recording" and Andy would say: "Okay, bring it into my office and play it to me" or "Bring me, e-mail me a transcript of it,"' the journalist said. The allegation, due to be broadcast tomorrow night, goes far beyond earlier statements by Coulson's former colleagues.
Sean Hoare, a showbusiness reporter, told the New York Times Coulson had 'actively encouraged' him to intercept voice-mail. Paul McMullan, who handled investigations, told the Guardian that illegal activity was so widespread in the newsroom that Coulson must have known about it. Coulson has denied all the claims. Channel 4's anonymous 'witness', whose words are spoken by an actor in the programme, says: 'Andy was a very good editor. He was very conscientious and he wouldn't let stories pass unless he was sure they were correct. So, if the evidence that a reporter had was a recorded phone message, that would be what Andy would know about. So you'd have to say: "Yes, there's a recorded message." You go and either play it to him or show him a transcript of it, in order to satisfy him that you weren't going to get sued, that it wasn't made up.' In evidence to a House of Commons select committee last year, Coulson said he could not remember any instance of voice-mail being intercepted during his six years at the paper. He resigned in January 2007 after the tabloid's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, was jailed for listening to the voice-mails of three members of the royal household. 'I am absolutely sure that Clive's case was a very unfortunate rogue case,' he told the committee. Channel 4's 'witness' said: 'It was fairly common – not so common that everybody was doing it. That wasn't the case at all. But the people who did know how to do it would do it regularly.' Other journalists had expected to be drawn into the police investigation, the 'source' said, adding: 'There were huge rumours swirling every day of who they were coming for next and who was going to come and cart away this person, that person and the other. And then I think the feeling in the newsroom turned to surprise that nobody else was affected.' The programme includes claims that politicians and police have been cowed by fear of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which owns the News of the World. Adam Price, one of the MPs from the media select committee which last year investigated the phone-hacking scandal, described how he stopped voting to compel News International's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, to be called as a witness. 'I was told by a senior Conservative member of the committee, who I knew was in direct contact with executives at News International, that if we went for her, they would go for us – effectively that they would delve into our personal lives in order to punish them.' The Labour MP Tom Watson said he was threatened in 2006 after he called for Tony Blair to resign at a time when News International was supporting him. 'A very senior News International journalist told me that Rebekah would never forgive me for what I did and that she would pursue me through parliament for the rest of my time as an MP,' he said. Brian Paddick, a former deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard who is also taking the police to court, suggested that his former colleagues' decision to cut short their original investigation may have been influenced by their links with the News of the World. 'That relationship was well worth protecting. When you have something as big as this, where you're talking about potentially a large investigation involving illegal activity, you can see how potentially pressure could have been brought to bear,' he said. Dispatches raises an unresolved question over whether the officer who was in charge of the original investigation, the then assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, was himself a target of the News of the World. According to the Guardian, when Channel 4 asked him whether his name appeared anywhere in the evidence collected by his officers, he replied: 'I have never been told whether my own telephone was hacked.' Hayman now works for News International. The programme is presented by the columnist Peter Oborne, who writes for the Telegraph and is close to the Tory leadership. Oborne says in the programme that voters supported David Cameron in order to restore a sense of decency in politics. He continues: 'Instead, by hiring Andy Coulson, he has sanctioned the News of the World culture of impunity and got too close to the Rupert Murdoch power elite.'
Almost forty thousand people have joined a Facebook campaign calling for the return of X Factor hopeful Gamu Nhengu to the show. The eighteen-year-old, from Tillicoutry in Clackmannanshire, was rejected by judge Cheryl Cole despite being trailed as an early favourite to win the competition. Fans have reacted with anger to the decision which saw Katie Waisselsinger and Cher Lloyd go through to the next round instead. However, there are reports today that Gamu could appear as part of a 'wild card' feature. Internet reports - which appear to be little more than rumours at the present time - have suggested that four rejected acts could still be included in the live finals of the show with each mentor choosing one.
The European Court of Justice will this week hear a landmark case brought by a Portsmouth-based pub landlord, which could change the landscape of how sports broadcasting rights are sold across Europe. Five years ago, Karen Murphy tried to draw punters to her Portsmouth pub, The Red, White and Blue, by showing Premier League football matches on the TV. Instead, she found a cheaper means of screening English football - a subscription to a Greek satellite broadcaster, NOVA. This imported satellite card was around a tenth of the cost Karen was paying to BSkyB. She says that she's not the only publican saving money in this way:
'I think you'll find that most publicans will try and find another way of showing football. In fact quite a lot of them do. I think it's only the larger chains that can afford to pay the Sky prices. A lot of pubs have taken Sky out - they simply can't afford it.' However, using these foreign subscription cards puts publicans like Murphy in breach of UK copyright law, because the means by which they screen football is not via the authorised broadcaster - Sky Sports. As a result, Murphy was taken to court and ended up having to pay nearly eight thousand pounds in fines and costs after being caught by enforcers working on behalf of Football Association Premier League Limited - the private company which represents the broadcasting interests of the twenty English Premier League clubs. Five years on from her appearance in a magistrates court, she has taken her appeal all the way to the grand chamber of the European Court of Justice - a court reserved only for the most complex and important cases of European law. 'I think it's unjust. I think it's a greedy private company trying to dictate to the small people what they can and cannot do, purely for profit,' she told 5Live Investigates. 'The law needs changing. If I don't fight who is going to fight?' The case Murphy is taking to the ECJ is based on the concept of freedom of trade. She claims that by restricting her choice of satellite TV providers to a single broadcaster - BSkyB - the Premier League contravenes European Union principles of free movement of goods and services between member states of the EU. Furthermore, such practice also prevents free and open competition in the UK broadcast market. If Murphy wins, the future value of the Premier League's broadcasting rights could be undermined. The case continues.
A production at one of London's most critically acclaimed theatres has been suspended after an actor suffered an on-stage eye injury, reportedly from a fake gun. David Birrell is being treated in hospital following the accident during a matinee performance at London's Donmar Warehouse on Saturday.
A number of shows have now been cancelled but theatre bosses are hoping the production, Passion, will resume on Thursday. The play features the use of fake guns during one scene, although theatre chiefs said they are currently investigating how the incident occurred. A Donmar spokeswoman said: 'During the matinee performance of Passion on Saturday, David Birrell sustained an injury to his eye for which he is currently being treated in hospital. Our priorities are to David's well-being and recovery; and to theatregoers who have purchased tickets for performances in the coming days. We are cancelling the show Monday to Wednesday and then hope to resume performances from Thursday. We will, of course, refund patrons who are unable to see the production.' Birrell, who plays Colonel Ricci in the Stephen Sondheim musical, is reported to have been seen being taken from the theatre on a stretcher. The thirty five-year-old actor has appeared in West End hit Spamalot, as well as having guest roles in Midsomer Murders and Heartbeat.
Sir Tom Jones has revealed that he was once considered for the part of James Bond. The singer said that producers toyed with the idea of casting him as 007.
He told Smooth Radio his huge public profile as a singer at the time meant they decided against it. He said even to be linked with playing the special agent was 'definitely a big compliment.' Sir Tom, who recorded the theme for Thunderball in 1965, starring Sean Connery, did not make it clear at which point in his lengthy career he was up for the role.
A man has been jailed after disturbing his neighbours with impressions of sheep and other farmyard animals. According to German police, the forty nine-year-old continued baa-ing for up to twenty minutes at a time in the Bavarian town of Coburg, AFP reports.
Police said that the man, who had an extremely high blood-alcohol content, became 'unreasonable and aggressive' when asked to stop being such a silly bugger at around 10.45pm on Saturday night. He was charged with resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Police said that he would have a 'beastly hangover' after the incident. Who says that the Germans don't have a sense of humour?!
Katie Price has reportedly been advised to hire extra security ahead of her court appearance this week. Price and ex-husband Peter Andre are to appear in London's High Court on Thursday, where details of why the couple divorced last year are expected to be revealed. The Daily Lies has claimed that the former glamour model has been told to 'watch her back' from Andre fans, after her car was pelted with eggs on Friday.
The new version will apparently focus on John Ross, JR's son and Christopher, Bobby and Pam Ewing's adopted son. 24 star Sutherland and Lost heart-throb Holloway have been linked to the roles of the two brothers, while Ghost Whisperer's Jennifer Love Hewitt and Heroes' Ali Larter are under consideration to play their respective partners. According to the Daily Scum Mail anyway. Where they got this information from, they don't say. TNT's Michael Wright recently said: 'This is not a remake as much as a continuation. It takes the next generation of Ewings and continues the battle.'For the first time in almost a month, a terrestrial TV show achieved a worse AI score than Daybreak when last Wednesday's, if you will mockumentary, Trinny and Susannah: From Boom to Bust on Channel 4 got a score of a mere fifty eight. Fifty eight? Jesus, you get fifty eight if you've spelled the names right in the title. Well done Channel 4! You now appear to have your very own versions of Adrian and Christine - and you didn't even have to poach them directly from the Beeb, they came via a (very amusing) sacking from ITV.
Lest we thought Daybreak can start cracking open the champagne as a consequence of this, however, it should be noted that it's own weekly figures were a still quite appalling - sixty five, sixty one, sixty one, sixty three, sixty three. Remember, anything under sixty five is considered 'poor.' You're up to the high seventies before you even reach 'average.' Of course, Adrian and Christine weren't presenting the show last Wednesday and Thursday - Kate Garraway and the brilliantly named Dan Lobb were filling in - so these figures would appear to suggest that Daybreak is equally unpopular, no matter who's presenting it. My thanks to Steve and Matt over at Gallifrey Base for additional comedy material.The creator of the video game Grand Theft Auto has accepted 'substantial', albeit undisclosed, libel damages over an 'entirely false' story that it was planning a version based on gunman Raoul Moat. Take 2 Inc (Rockstar Games) had brought the High Court proceedings over an article and leader in the Daily Lies in July.
Its solicitor, Melanie Hart, told Mr Justice Tugendhat in London that the story claimed the new game - Grand Theft Auto: Rothbury - would be based on the tragedy which culminated in the events in the Northumberland village. She said that the newspaper solicited and published quotes from third parties, including one from a grieving relative of a victim of Moat, in which the alleged plan to create such a game was described as 'sick' and deplored in the strongest terms. In the leader, the newspaper commented that the people behind the production of the game were 'questionable idiots' who were making money out of other people's misery. When the piece was, quickly, exposed as wholly without foundation, the author of the piece - one Jerry Lawton - used his Facebook page to say that he was 'baffled' by the strong reaction it had caused. Hart said that Express Newspapers admitted it did not approach the company for either confirmation that such plans even existed or a comment before publication. 'The defendant now accepts that Rockstar Games never had any intention to create such a video game at any time. The story was entirely false.' She added that the newspaper had agreed to pay what were described as 'substantial damages' and the company's legal costs. Clare Kissin, for Express Newspapers, said it accepted that the allegations were untrue and apologised for the upset and damage caused as a result of its publication. Remarkably, Jerry Lawton himself is still employed by the newspaper and is currently writing reports about Wayne and Coleen's marriage. The veracity of which, this blogger leaves entirely up to you, dear blog reader.Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed some of his hopes for the upcoming second series. 'I'd love Irene Adler to crop up,' Cumberbatch told Collider. 'I'd [also] love The Hound of the Baskervilles to crop up. There's all sorts of things that I'd love to do, or characters that I'd love to be involved.' However, the actor admitted that he is keen for the show to explore new ideas and storylines. 'Some of the plot borrowings and deductions, the characters, their relationships and the detail of their lives is very much drawn from the original because there would be no point [in] messing with what ain't broke,' he explained. 'But as far as adventures go, I think they can definitely take it into a new realm. I'm excited about doing things that fans expect, as well as letting their imagination have free rein and going new places with it.'
Paul Merton is to make a new TV documentary about Fifties comedian Arthur Haynes. Haynes was one of the first comedy stars of ITV, but he died in 1965, aged fifty one, and little footage of his shows – which usually went out live – has survived. However, some unseen footage has been unearthed for the BBC4 programme. Merton will be working with his Just A Minute foil Nicholas Parsons on the show.
Parsons was Haynes's straight man, but was fired shortly before Haynes died because, Parsons believes, the comic was perturbed by the attention his straight man was getting. The Arthur Haynes Show – seen at the time as ITV's answer to Hancock's Half Hour – ran for one hundred and fifty eight episodes over fifteen series making Haynes one of the best-paid entertainers of his day. Merton – who fronted a Channel 4 Heroes Of Comedy documentary about Haynes fifteen years ago – will interview Parsons in front of a studio audience about the life and times of the show and its star. BBC4 controller Richard Klein said: 'Haynes performed live mostly but we've found some old footage that hasn't been seen before. Six of his shows were recorded for export to Australia.'Steven Moffat has revealed that his son is not keen on the working title for the first episode of next year's Doctor Who. The executive producer, who once posted a YouTube video of his son interviewing him, claimed that his child was unimpressed with the name of his second series opener. Moffat wrote on Twitter:
'Told my son the title of episode one of the next run of Dr Who. A pause. "I think we can do better, Daddy." Then: "We need clever. Not cheesy."' Never work with children or animals, Steven. Meanwhile, Neil Gaiman has revealed further details of his own upcoming Doctor Who episode. It was previously confirmed that former Coronation Street actress Suranne Jones has been cast as a young woman named Idris. Gaiman apparently told reporters at the recent New Yorker festival that the character 'may be an old friend of the Doctor's with a new face.' The writer also admitted that Doctor Who is part of his 'internal landscape' and revealed that his script takes inspiration from Patrick Troughton's final story as the Doctor, first broadcast in 1969. 'At one point, I steal a plot from an old episode called The War Games,' he said.Tracy Barlow will make her return to Coronation Street on Christmas Eve, it has been confirmed. The character - played by Kate Ford - was last seen in May, when she made a failed attempt to get her fifteen-year jail sentence for murder cut by testifying in court against former neighbour Gail McIntyre. Show bosses had always planned for Tracy to make a full-time comeback by the end of the year, but the exact time of her return had been kept under wraps until now. Speaking to the Daily Lies Sunday, producer Phil Collinson revealed that a plot twist will see Tracy get out of pokey - to the surprise of her family and the rest of the Street's residents. Collinson explained:
'Tracy will be back on Christmas Eve and, as you can imagine, she is the last person who everyone is expecting to see. Her family have no idea she's been let out, so they are completely shocked. But how she gets out of prison is something we want to keep a secret.' He added: 'I'm really excited about all the trouble she'll cause. She's always loved Steve McDonald and the fact that they have a child together means that they will always have a bond. It's going to be interesting to see how Becky copes. And then there's also the small matter of Gail. She was nearly jailed because of Tracy's false testimony, so there will be quite a bit going on between them. The Street will still be getting over the tram crash. And then Tracy's back - which will bring its own disaster for some of the characters.'Yer Keith Telly Topping's sincere thanks go to his good friend Deborah who, after my spirited rant about what a bunch of cheb-end comments I felt Victoria Wood had made publicly last week noted that 'Victoria Wood is a national institution.' Before adding: 'So, she must clearly be outsourced, immediately.' Yer Keith Telly Topping totally agrees, Debs.
Top Gear presenter and all-round thorough chap James May is to appear in his first TV advertising campaign after signing up to be the face of the beer brand London Pride. May will appear in a series of TV adverts, the first the brand has run in three years, which will be broadcast from 12 October until late November. John Roberts, managing director of Fuller's Beer Company, said May was the perfect brand ambassador because he is a 'seasoned beer drinker. He recognises the quality and craftsmanship that goes into the creation of London Pride,' he said. Plus, the money you're paying him is pretty good, I'm guessing.
'James is a great fit for the brand,' said David Spencer, marketing manager for London Pride. 'He loves beer, his favourite beer really is London Pride and it's his local pint as well, brewed in Chiswick round the corner from his house. We are confident that James' fame and popularity will bring a British classic like London Pride to a new, broader audience.' The TV campaign is the first London Pride has run since 2007 and marks a distinct departure from previous marketing strategy which focused purely on the quality of the ingredients used. The TV campaign has been filmed in 'landmark' Fuller's pubs across London and take a 'wry and witty look at James's love of London Pride.' May has also signed up to host an 'online tour' of the family business's brewery, a Fuller's pub quiz and a tutored beer tasting. These will be hosted on the London Pride Facebook site.Lord Alan Sugar will no longer work as the Business and Enterprise Tsar for the government, it has been revealed. Although, the fact that he hadn't done any obvious Tsaring since the election in May was, frankly, a bit of a giveaway. The bullyboy businessman and creator of the world's second most popular satellite dish (when there were only two on the market), who stars in The Apprentice, admitted that David Cameron didn't require his services once the coalition government was formed. He told the Sunday Mirror: 'After the election No 10 got in touch and told me that my services were no longer required. I am happy to work with them but they don't want to work with me. It's a real shame.' Sugar was given a seat in the Lords last year by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to advise ministers. This meant that the new series of The Apprentice, which begins this Wednesday, had to be postponed to comply with the BBC's strict impartiality commitments.
The appetite for British television shows overseas defied the recession last year with export sales up nine per cent year-on-year to smash the one billion pound mark. Sales of UK series, such as Strictly Come Dancing, Wife Swap, Come Dine With Me, [spooks] and MasterChef, to foreign broadcasters earned a record £1.34bn for the UK economy in 2009. The annual UK TV Exports Survey, collated independently by TRP for the independent producers' trade body PACT, reveals that the biggest growth area for British programmes and formats was Australia and New Zealand for the second year – up thirty two per cent to one hundred and seventy million smackers. Localised versions of formats such as Top Gear and MasterChef have proved highly popular down under with MasterChef, made by Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine, setting a record last year for Australia's most watched non-sport TV show ever. Overall sales of formats, when a foreign TV company buys rights to a series such as Come Dine With Me and then makes the show itself, rose twenty five per cent. Meanwhile, the trend towards producing UK formats abroad – in which a foreign TV company buys the rights for a show but asks a UK-owned company to make a localised version – gathered pace last year with a rise in revenue to forty one million quid. The UK television industry's main customer is still the US, where British formats including American Idol (from Pop Idol) and Dancing With The Stars – the US version of Strictly Come Dancing – continue to pull in massive audiences.
Transatlantic sales accounted for thirty six per cent of total export revenue, with a growth in revenue to four hundred and eighty five million. The overall North American market is worth five hundred and forty six million with 'significant revenue contributions' from sales of videos and DVDs, formats, licensing and merchandising with, again, BBC brands such as Top Gear and Doctor Who selling heavily. America's appetite for the best of British appears to be insatiable: a US version of MasterChef, presented by Gordon Ramsay, proved successful and Simon Cowell's The X Factor is set to arrive in America next year. The survey also shows significant growth in other regions – Scandanavia up twenty per cent, Canada up twenty three per cent and Latin America up seventeen per cent. Eastern Europe was the only area to record a fall in sales, with revenue dropping by three per cent. '2009 was one of the toughest years for the media industry, so to see an increase in exports is testament to the popularity of British shows all around the world,' said Chris Bonney, a PACT council member and the managing director of the programme distributor Outright. 'For independent producers these revenues are increasingly vital as the domestic market gets squeezed by the reductions in the broadcasters' production budgets.' PACT says that booming sales of finished programming, the UK's largest source of TV income, accounted for forty three per cent of the increase in total revenue for British TV producers last year. 'The UK has an unrivalled reputation on the global stage for producing high-quality, creative and groundbreaking TV programming,' said Sir Andrew Cahn, the chief executive of UK Trade & Investment. 'TV formats such as Britain's Got Talent, Midsomer Murders and [spooks] continue to captivate and inspire new audiences, demonstrating the global reach and appeal of the UK TV industry.' Three cheers for our side, for once.A judge has explained his controversial decision to refuse the banning of a book revealing the identity of Top Gear's The Stig. Mr Justice Morgan said he would not grant the BBC an injunction blocking Ben Collins's autobiography at a private hearing last month. The BBC claimed its publication would be a breach of confidentiality obligations.
But in a public ruling issued today, the judge said that the identity of Collins was already in the public domain due to press coverage. Morgan added that while Collins did owe a duty of confidentiality to the BBC, the identity of Top Gear's mystery driver was so generally accessible that it could no longer be described as confidential. He added that the press coverage, particularly in August when a Sunday Times story naming Collins as The Stig was widely followed up, had gone beyond speculation. Statements in the media about the identity of the mystery test driver would be understood by the public as statements of fact, the judge said. 'In the present case, the identity of Mr Collins as The Stig is in the public domain,' he added. 'If that has caused and/or will cause harm to the BBC, I do not see how any further harm will be caused to the BBC if Mr Collins is not allowed to publish his autobiography in time for the 2010 Christmas market.' So, to sum up then, your worship, a newspaper - owned by News Corp - publishes the secret identity of a character putting it in the public domain so that means it's perfectly legal for a publishing company - owned, wholly coincidentally, also by News Corp - to publish the same identity in a book despite this being a clear breach of existing confidentiality agreements signed by the individual involved? Sounds fair enough. Nothing remotely fishy or underhand about that whatsoever. I don't know what everybody's getting so worked up about.Two young women who claim to have slept with Wayne Rooney for money have reportedly been 'snubbed' by I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! According to the Daily Lies, Jenny Thompson and Helen Wood approached producers offering to take part in the jungle-based reality series later this year.
However, a production 'source' allegedly told the newspaper: 'I'm A Celebrity ... is a successful format and doesn't need people like this. They're two trashy girls who are just not famous. They're fit - but not for a family show.' Considering that the Daily Lies itself appears to have been the originators of this story in the first place and were carrying 'quotes' which, they alleged, came from 'a show rep' which stated 'We'd love to get her on the new series' as recently as 13 September, once again, one simply had to wonder why anybody would believe anything that they read in the Daily Lies? I mean, they've got such a brilliant track record with regard to accuracy and truth, haven't they?House's executive producer Katie Jacobs has revealed details of Amber Tamblyn's new role on the show. Tamblyn will star in the drama as medical student Martha Masters, who arrives at Princeton‑Plainsboro when Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) urges House (Hugh Laurie) to hire a woman for his team.
'Considering how horrific House is to doctors, just imagine him being your first mentor,' Jacobs told TV Guide. 'Her first challenge is can she stay on House's team?' However, Jacobs explained that she does not want Martha to begin a relationship too quickly and Jesse Spencer, who plays Chase, revealed that his character will not have a romance with her. 'She's too uptight for him and too much like what Cameron used to be,' he said. 'She comes in all wide-eyed and moralistic, and Chase loves watching House devour her. He takes her to the cleaners and it's hilarious.'John Oliver has revealed that he has become engaged. The Daily Show correspondent proposed to his girlfriend of two years Kate Norley whilst on holiday in the Caribbean, according to People.
The British comedian met Norley - a veteran of the Iraq War - at the Republican National Convention in 2008, where Oliver was reporting and Norley was campaigning. She said: 'I was a medic in the army. It was difficult, but right now it's nice that I get to spend time with the love of my life.' Oliver added: 'It's the most emasculating thing I could possibly do to go out with someone who has actually done something valuable with their life.' The couple said that they plan to marry 'sometime next year.'Tim Roth has revealed that Lie To Me will have more of a 'rogue element' this season. Speaking to TV Guide, Roth explained that his character Cal will sever his ties with the FBI. 'It's much more difficult for him to open doors and get inside places,' he said. 'So he has to resort to borderline illegal tactics and his own sense of mischief to get into a room. All of the stuff with Reynolds [Mekhi Phifer] was good and enjoyable, but it made things too easy for Lightman. Things are much more fun when it's difficult for him to get access.' However, executive producer Alexander Cary revealed that Cal's new tactics may get him into trouble. 'We are leaning into Lightman's general conflict with power and authority,' he said. 'In the first episode of season three, he goes too far. He sails extremely close to the wind.'
The Prime Minister's media adviser, Andy Coulson, personally listened to the intercepted voice-mail messages of public figures when he edited the News of the World, a senior - albeit anonymous - journalist who worked alongside him has said. The Gruinad Morning Star reports that Coulson has always denied knowing about any illegal activity by the journalists who worked for him, but an unidentified former executive from the paper told Channel 4 Dispatches that Coulson not only knew his reporters were using intercepted voice-mail but was also personally involved. 'Sometimes, they would say: "We've got a recording" and Andy would say: "Okay, bring it into my office and play it to me" or "Bring me, e-mail me a transcript of it,"' the journalist said. The allegation, due to be broadcast tomorrow night, goes far beyond earlier statements by Coulson's former colleagues.
Sean Hoare, a showbusiness reporter, told the New York Times Coulson had 'actively encouraged' him to intercept voice-mail. Paul McMullan, who handled investigations, told the Guardian that illegal activity was so widespread in the newsroom that Coulson must have known about it. Coulson has denied all the claims. Channel 4's anonymous 'witness', whose words are spoken by an actor in the programme, says: 'Andy was a very good editor. He was very conscientious and he wouldn't let stories pass unless he was sure they were correct. So, if the evidence that a reporter had was a recorded phone message, that would be what Andy would know about. So you'd have to say: "Yes, there's a recorded message." You go and either play it to him or show him a transcript of it, in order to satisfy him that you weren't going to get sued, that it wasn't made up.' In evidence to a House of Commons select committee last year, Coulson said he could not remember any instance of voice-mail being intercepted during his six years at the paper. He resigned in January 2007 after the tabloid's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, was jailed for listening to the voice-mails of three members of the royal household. 'I am absolutely sure that Clive's case was a very unfortunate rogue case,' he told the committee. Channel 4's 'witness' said: 'It was fairly common – not so common that everybody was doing it. That wasn't the case at all. But the people who did know how to do it would do it regularly.' Other journalists had expected to be drawn into the police investigation, the 'source' said, adding: 'There were huge rumours swirling every day of who they were coming for next and who was going to come and cart away this person, that person and the other. And then I think the feeling in the newsroom turned to surprise that nobody else was affected.' The programme includes claims that politicians and police have been cowed by fear of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which owns the News of the World. Adam Price, one of the MPs from the media select committee which last year investigated the phone-hacking scandal, described how he stopped voting to compel News International's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, to be called as a witness. 'I was told by a senior Conservative member of the committee, who I knew was in direct contact with executives at News International, that if we went for her, they would go for us – effectively that they would delve into our personal lives in order to punish them.' The Labour MP Tom Watson said he was threatened in 2006 after he called for Tony Blair to resign at a time when News International was supporting him. 'A very senior News International journalist told me that Rebekah would never forgive me for what I did and that she would pursue me through parliament for the rest of my time as an MP,' he said. Brian Paddick, a former deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard who is also taking the police to court, suggested that his former colleagues' decision to cut short their original investigation may have been influenced by their links with the News of the World. 'That relationship was well worth protecting. When you have something as big as this, where you're talking about potentially a large investigation involving illegal activity, you can see how potentially pressure could have been brought to bear,' he said. Dispatches raises an unresolved question over whether the officer who was in charge of the original investigation, the then assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, was himself a target of the News of the World. According to the Guardian, when Channel 4 asked him whether his name appeared anywhere in the evidence collected by his officers, he replied: 'I have never been told whether my own telephone was hacked.' Hayman now works for News International. The programme is presented by the columnist Peter Oborne, who writes for the Telegraph and is close to the Tory leadership. Oborne says in the programme that voters supported David Cameron in order to restore a sense of decency in politics. He continues: 'Instead, by hiring Andy Coulson, he has sanctioned the News of the World culture of impunity and got too close to the Rupert Murdoch power elite.'Almost forty thousand people have joined a Facebook campaign calling for the return of X Factor hopeful Gamu Nhengu to the show. The eighteen-year-old, from Tillicoutry in Clackmannanshire, was rejected by judge Cheryl Cole despite being trailed as an early favourite to win the competition. Fans have reacted with anger to the decision which saw Katie Waisselsinger and Cher Lloyd go through to the next round instead. However, there are reports today that Gamu could appear as part of a 'wild card' feature. Internet reports - which appear to be little more than rumours at the present time - have suggested that four rejected acts could still be included in the live finals of the show with each mentor choosing one.
The European Court of Justice will this week hear a landmark case brought by a Portsmouth-based pub landlord, which could change the landscape of how sports broadcasting rights are sold across Europe. Five years ago, Karen Murphy tried to draw punters to her Portsmouth pub, The Red, White and Blue, by showing Premier League football matches on the TV. Instead, she found a cheaper means of screening English football - a subscription to a Greek satellite broadcaster, NOVA. This imported satellite card was around a tenth of the cost Karen was paying to BSkyB. She says that she's not the only publican saving money in this way:
'I think you'll find that most publicans will try and find another way of showing football. In fact quite a lot of them do. I think it's only the larger chains that can afford to pay the Sky prices. A lot of pubs have taken Sky out - they simply can't afford it.' However, using these foreign subscription cards puts publicans like Murphy in breach of UK copyright law, because the means by which they screen football is not via the authorised broadcaster - Sky Sports. As a result, Murphy was taken to court and ended up having to pay nearly eight thousand pounds in fines and costs after being caught by enforcers working on behalf of Football Association Premier League Limited - the private company which represents the broadcasting interests of the twenty English Premier League clubs. Five years on from her appearance in a magistrates court, she has taken her appeal all the way to the grand chamber of the European Court of Justice - a court reserved only for the most complex and important cases of European law. 'I think it's unjust. I think it's a greedy private company trying to dictate to the small people what they can and cannot do, purely for profit,' she told 5Live Investigates. 'The law needs changing. If I don't fight who is going to fight?' The case Murphy is taking to the ECJ is based on the concept of freedom of trade. She claims that by restricting her choice of satellite TV providers to a single broadcaster - BSkyB - the Premier League contravenes European Union principles of free movement of goods and services between member states of the EU. Furthermore, such practice also prevents free and open competition in the UK broadcast market. If Murphy wins, the future value of the Premier League's broadcasting rights could be undermined. The case continues.A production at one of London's most critically acclaimed theatres has been suspended after an actor suffered an on-stage eye injury, reportedly from a fake gun. David Birrell is being treated in hospital following the accident during a matinee performance at London's Donmar Warehouse on Saturday.
A number of shows have now been cancelled but theatre bosses are hoping the production, Passion, will resume on Thursday. The play features the use of fake guns during one scene, although theatre chiefs said they are currently investigating how the incident occurred. A Donmar spokeswoman said: 'During the matinee performance of Passion on Saturday, David Birrell sustained an injury to his eye for which he is currently being treated in hospital. Our priorities are to David's well-being and recovery; and to theatregoers who have purchased tickets for performances in the coming days. We are cancelling the show Monday to Wednesday and then hope to resume performances from Thursday. We will, of course, refund patrons who are unable to see the production.' Birrell, who plays Colonel Ricci in the Stephen Sondheim musical, is reported to have been seen being taken from the theatre on a stretcher. The thirty five-year-old actor has appeared in West End hit Spamalot, as well as having guest roles in Midsomer Murders and Heartbeat.Sir Tom Jones has revealed that he was once considered for the part of James Bond. The singer said that producers toyed with the idea of casting him as 007.
He told Smooth Radio his huge public profile as a singer at the time meant they decided against it. He said even to be linked with playing the special agent was 'definitely a big compliment.' Sir Tom, who recorded the theme for Thunderball in 1965, starring Sean Connery, did not make it clear at which point in his lengthy career he was up for the role.A man has been jailed after disturbing his neighbours with impressions of sheep and other farmyard animals. According to German police, the forty nine-year-old continued baa-ing for up to twenty minutes at a time in the Bavarian town of Coburg, AFP reports.
Police said that the man, who had an extremely high blood-alcohol content, became 'unreasonable and aggressive' when asked to stop being such a silly bugger at around 10.45pm on Saturday night. He was charged with resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Police said that he would have a 'beastly hangover' after the incident. Who says that the Germans don't have a sense of humour?!Katie Price has reportedly been advised to hire extra security ahead of her court appearance this week. Price and ex-husband Peter Andre are to appear in London's High Court on Thursday, where details of why the couple divorced last year are expected to be revealed. The Daily Lies has claimed that the former glamour model has been told to 'watch her back' from Andre fans, after her car was pelted with eggs on Friday.
