Hopelessly Devoted To Them

Matt Smith has revealed that he donned a fake beard to film scenes for an upcoming episode of Doctor Who. Details as to why The Doctor will have his fuzzy facial hair are yet to be revealed, but Smith told the Press Assocation that he would not have been able to grow his own beard for the episode given the timescale. 'It was a glued-on beard,' he admitted. 'I wouldn't be able to grow a full-on beard like that in time.' Smith added that it was particularly difficult to peel away the faux hair at the end of each day's shooting schedule. 'They had to remove it with a substance smelling like white turps,' he said. Meanwhile, two more actors have signed up for roles in the next series of Doctor Who. According to the website of agency, Gordon and French, former EastEnders actor Lee Ross will play the character 'Boatswain' in an upcoming episode. Presumably the Pirates of Cornwall episode starring Hugh Bonneville that's currently being filmed. Ross played Owen Turner on the BBC soap until 2009 and also featured as the slimy, Paco Rabanne-wearing DCI Litton in both Life On Mars and its follow-up Ashes to Ashes. In 2009, he appeared alongside Doctor Who star Matt Smith in BBC crime drama Moses Jones. Gordon and French also lists Ultimate Force star Danny Sapani as being involved in a future episode. The actor, who recently appeared in episodes of Garrow's Law and Misfits, will play a character named Colonel Manton. Whether Danny is in the same episode as Lee is, at this time, unknown.

Aaron Sorkin has revealed details of his new pilot for HBO. The project, which is currently called More As The Story Develops, focuses on the employees at a nightly cable news show. According to TV Guide, Sorkin explained that the show will have a similar style to his previous programmes. 'It'll be a new series for HBO that will take place behind the scenes - for a change - at a nightly news show, where they have made a decision to try to do the news well,' he said. 'I'm loving the idea of coming back to television and taking the same combination of idealism and romanticism and realism that made government sexy on The West Wing and seeing if we can't do the same with the news and journalism, which are held in at least as much contempt.' Sorkin explained that the show will be 'aspirational' and 'wish fulfilment' but added: 'They're going to lose as much as they're going to win. In other words, it's not going to be a fantasy. They're going to be trying to do well in a context where it's very difficult to do well when there are commercial concerns and political concerns and corporate concerns.' As well as The West Wing, teh greatest television show ever made that doesn't have the words 'Doctor' or 'Who in the title, Sorkin previously worked on two other television series about television Sports Night and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. He also wrote the movie screenplays for A Few Good Men and The American President and, more recently, The Social Network.

Fern Britton has signed up to host a new teatime chatshow. Fern, which will be broadcast every day, will feature a mixture of celebrities, entertainment and real-life stories. In each episode, Britton will talk to audience members about their experiences and will offer them advice. The celebrity guests appearing on the programme will also be encouraged to interact with the audience. Channel Four's head of daytime Helen Warner said: 'I have long been a fan of Fern and am thrilled that she is joining us at Channel Four. Whether she's interviewing ordinary people, Hollywood stars or prime ministers, there is no-one better than Fern. For me, she is the British answer to Oprah.' A glowing tribute from Helen, there. Personally, I think Fern Britton's about as entertaining as stewed diarrhoea but, you know, swings and roudabouts, innit? Meanwhile, Britton herself revealed that she is 'very excited' about the project, saying: 'I'm working with a great team and together we shall rise to the challenge.'

The producer of Lie To Me has confirmed that any potential fourth season will focus on the relationship between the characters of Cal Lightman and Gillian Foster. In Monday's episode, the season finale, the genius psychologist (played by Tim Roth) finally confessed his true feelings to his long-time partner (Kelli Williams). 'He said he loves Foster,' Alexander Cary told TV Guide. 'What we're doing is opening the door into an avenue of investigation of character.' However, Cary warned fans not to expect an immediate romance between the crime-solving pair. 'What we're not saying is [that] we're going to consummate that [relationship],' he insisted. Williams recently admitted that she is still she is still unsure if Foster and Lightman should get together. Fans of the show - including this blogger - are still eagerly awaiting news from FOX on whether the series has been recommissioned.

Channel Six, the company run by former Trinity Mirror chief executive Richard Horwood, will bid to run the proposed new national TV network that will form the 'spine' for lack of culture secretary the vile and odious Hunt's plan to deliver local news services. Horwood, who since December has indicated that Channel Six was likely to submit a bid, has been one of the few voices offering unqualified support for the vile and odious Hunt's local TV plans. Fair giving it some furious lick, so he was. It was a sight to see. Last month the vile and odious Hunt unveiled proposals for a new national TV network that will initially launch on digital terrestrial TV and called for expressions of interest to run the service by 1 March. Channel Six said that under its plan a network of about nine local affiliates would launch off the back of the national Freeview network – as well as on cable and satellite, if the vile and odious Hunt can hammer out an agreement with Sky and Virgin Media – by 2013. Horwood said that the plan, which has been 'fully costed by industry experts,' will see the network of local TV stations reach thirty nine by 2017. He said that Channel Six believed that it is possible to deliver services to areas that have more than two hundred thousand homes with levels of local programming of 'maybe two hours a day in the largest cities down to around fifteen minutes in less populated areas. Channel Six will be entirely funded by advertising, with the initial investment from our national and local partners – we are not asking the government for a penny of subsidy,' Horwood said. 'The support of a dedicated national network to share costs, maximise advertising revenues, and deliver an attractive schedule outside local service opt-outs is the only way proven to achieve this.' The vile and odious Hunt has said he will investigate whether 'must carry' obligations on BSkyB and Virgin Media are 'an appropriate measure' to ensure the widest reach possible for the new channel. The vile and odious Hunt intends to use legislation to ensure that the new Freeview channel secures a slot high up on digital TV electronic programme guides. In a report to the vile and odious Hunt from a group chaired by Lazard, investment banker Nicholas Shott forecast that a network of ten local TV services would have a combined annual cost base of around twenty million smackers. About five million in revenue would come from local advertising and a further fifteen million pounds from national advertising. In the BBC's licence fee settlement the corporation committed to providing start-up capital costs of up to twenty five million pounds in 2013-14 for up to twenty local TV services and up to five million pounds a year for ongoing funding for three years to acquire local TV content.

Outcasts' Daniel Mays has revealed more details about his character Cass Cromwell in the forthcoming BBC drama. He told SFX that security officer Cromwell is revealed as 'quite a dark character' in the eight-part series. 'He carries around with him a very dark past,' explained Mays. 'As the series unfolds, [you discover that] he's carrying around with him a very dark and quite disturbing secret.' The former Ashes to Ashes star explained that the series will serve as 'a story of redemption' for Cromwell. 'The best thing about playing him was just how layered he was,' he explained. 'More than any other character in the show, it's his second chance. Whereas other characters in the show are connected still to Earth and are longing for relatives to come to the planet.' The series' creator, Ben Richards, previously revealed that he is keen to make a second series of the SF drama.

Denise Van Outen and Matt Johnson have signed up to host Channel 5's entertainment news show OK! TV. The programme, which is replacing the wretched Live From Studio Five, will feature celebrity interviews, features about music and fashion, and gossip.

ABC has reportedly ordered a pilot of a series with the excellent working title Good Christian Bitches. The project landed at the network in September after a bidding war. Deadline says that it has now received a presentation order. The drama, which is based on a book by Kim Gatlin, has been described as 'Desperate Housewives meets Dallas' - so, that'd be Desperate Dallas, then? - and focuses on a recently-divorced mother who moves back to the neighbourhood where she grew up. The script has been penned by Steel Magnolias writer Robert Harling.

Ricky Gervais appears to have been caught out after somewhat presumptuously claiming he had been asked to host The Golden Globes Awards for a third time. Event organisers at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association quickly denied the comic's claim that they had invited him back. 'There is no truth to this rumour,' said president Philip Berk. 'We have not asked him to come back. Nice try, Ricky.' Writing in this week's Heat magazine, Gervais had claimed: 'The ratings went up again, and the organisers asked me to consider a third year. [But] I don't think I should. I don't know what I could do better. I certainly couldn't get more press for them, that's for sure. It was discussed on every news channel and chat show for weeks.' Gervais yesterday tried to square those comments with Berk's denial. On his blog, he said: 'You may have read that I am hosting next year's Golden Globes. This is not true. Not yet anyway' – conveniently ignoring the fact that it was his own article which sparked the rumours in the first place. He added: 'The TV show organisers said they were happy with everything and asked me to not rule out a third gig. However, it is not entirely up to them. The Hollywood Foreign Press and various other committees need to meet and agree. I have no idea if they want me back again. It depends whether they care about fifty delicate egos in the room or the two hundred million people watching at home who want a laugh.' The broadcast actually drew nearly seventeen million viewers to the NBC network, slightly more than the previous year's show. However, Gervais's jibes at the likes of Charlie Sheen, Hugh Hefner, Robert Downey Jr and Tim Allen were supposedly deemed controversial. Gervais later told The Hollywood Reporter that it was NBC's senior vice-president of special programming Doug Vaughan who had suggested he come back.

CBS has renewed NCIS for the 2011-2012 season. The network revealed in a press release on Wednesday that the show will return for its ninth season in the fall.

An advert for Yves Saint Laurent's Opium perfume which featured a woman who appeared to be under the influence of drugs has been banned by the advertising watchdog. The campaign for Belle d'Opium featured a woman who ran her finger along the inside of her forearm and in a second scene her 'body seized upwards while lying on the floor.' The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints from thirteen viewers that the advert was irresponsible and offensive because the woman's action simulated drug use. Trading company YSL Beaute said that the Opium fragrance had been a registered trademark in the UK since 1977 and the spin-off, Belle d'Opium, was about a woman that was 'addictive and seduced the viewer to become this addiction.' The company said that it was a responsible advertiser and did not intend to use drug imagery in the advert and that consumer research had shown that viewers had not interpreted it in that way. The ASA said that the image of the finger running down the woman's arm 'could be seen to simulate the injection of opiates into the body.' In addition the later scene, which included the woman writhing on the floor, could be seen to 'simulate the effect of drugs on the body.' The ASA banned the advert concluding that it was 'irresponsible and unacceptable for broadcast.'

Alan Titchmarsh has signed a new deal with ITV thought to be worth around eleven million pounds. And you thought the money Liverpool were paying for Andy Carroll was obscene, dear blog reader.

The prime minister has chosen a senior executive at BBC News to replace Andy Coulson as Director of Government Communications. Craig Oliver, Controller of English at BBC Global News, and a former editor of the BBC News at Six will take up his new post shortly. His job will be to lead efforts to sell David Cameron, the Coalition and the Conservative Party to the country. Yeah. Good luck with that, matey. Course, if he fails then that'll give the Scum Mail something else to whinge at the BBC about. So, double bonus. Oliver, forty one, was approached late last week by Andy Coulson who resigned from the post last month after pressure over the News of the World phone hacking scandal. The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said Oliver had no previous political involvement but had been approached by Coulson and had met the prime minister over the weekend. Cameron said he was 'very pleased' at the appointment: 'Craig has formidable experience as a broadcast journalist. He will do an excellent job in explaining and communicating the government's programme.' Oliver said: 'I'm delighted and privileged to be joining David Cameron and his team at such an exciting and challenging time. My background is broadcasting, but I know that newspapers play a crucial role and I look forward to talking with them. It's difficult to leave the BBC after working here for five fascinating years - but this is an opportunity I can't turn down.' In an e-mail to BBC staff, he said he was sad to be leaving the corporation. He added: 'I was approached about the role over the weekend, the first time I had been considered for it, and came to the conclusion that it will be an exciting and challenging opportunity.' BBC director of global news, Peter Horrocks praised Oliver but added: 'Given the crucial editorial independence of the BBC, Craig and I have agreed that he should end his duties at the BBC immediately.' Coulson, who quit as Downing Street's director of communications in January, was editor of the News of the World in 2007 when its royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for conspiracy to access phone messages. Coulson resigned but has denied any knowledge of Goodman's activities. A Press Complaints Commission investigation in May 2007 found no evidence that Coulson or anyone else at the paper had been aware of Goodman's activities. That month he became Cameron's director of communications. But in recent months his position came under pressure amid renewed newspaper investigations into the scale of phone hacking at the Sunday tabloid.

Miranda Hart and Harry Hill have been confirmed as part of this year's Comc Relief celebrations.

Gavin & Stacey actress Margaret John has died at the age of eighty four, it has been announced. John, who also starred in the BBC Wales comedy High Hopes, died in hospital in Swansea after a short illness. The actress, who received a Bafta Cymru Lifetime Achievement award in 2009, starred as neighbour Doris in the Barry-based BBC comedy. Gavin & Stacey co-star James Corden Tweeted: 'A great actress and an incredible lady. She will be missed.' Rob Brydon, who played Uncle Bryn in the series, also wrote: 'Just heard the terribly sad news that Margaret John has passed away. What a wonderful person she was, everyone on G&S adored her.' Fellow actress Ruth Madoc said: 'It's very sad news. Margaret John was a great Welsh icon - and an era has passed away with her. She had a wonderful sense of humour. We were part of the Taffia in London in the 60s - and I always looked up to her.' John appeared on stage in Calendar Girls in the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff last summer. Paying tribute, the venue hailed her 'a national treasure.' Welsh Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones said: 'She was one of our best-loved actresses and there was always a touch of humour or a glint of wickedness about her. It's a sad day but it was a life lived to the full and we are all the richer for having her.' Margaret's last appearance on screen was in the S4C drama Alys on Sunday night. Although known in recent years for her colourful one-liners in Gavin & Stacey, the actress had a long and distinguished career. Last year a special BBC Wales programme called Margaret John - National Treasure charting her career which spanned fifty years was broadcast on St David's Day. Born in Swansea, John left drama school in 1950. Her earlier career included a brief spell in Coronation Street in 1965 as well as a role in many of the classic TV series of the 1960s and 70s - Z Cars, Doctor Who (she was brilliant as Megan Jones in the 1968 six-parter Fury From The Deep), The Troubleshooters, Doomwatch, Dixon of Dock Green, Secret Army and Emmerdale Farm. John also starred in David Schwimmer's film comedy Run Fatboy Run (2007) and enjoyed recent appearances in medical dramas Casualty and Doctors, and the Welsh-set BBC drama Framed with Trevor Eve and Eve Myles. The late 1970s saw John starred for six years as Marian Owen in another soap opera, Crossroads, and from 1984 she was a regular in medical drama The District Nurse as Gwen Harris alongside fellow Welsh actor Nerys Hughes. In the 90s she starred in BBC Wales sit-com Satellite City. She played the part of Elsie Hepplewhite in the BBC Wales comedy High Hopes between 2002 and 2008, starring alongside Robert Blythe and Boyd Clack. John recently had a role in spoof valleys film comedy A Bit Of Tom Jones and an appearance in the second series of BBC3 drama Being Human. Last year the actress loaned her support to a twenty million pound scheme to reduce social loneliness among the elderly people in Wales. Her agent, Gemma McAvoy, said: 'Margaret worked tirelessly for charity; always happy to give her time and boundless energy to help others. She completed "the mile" for Sport Relief; performed with Only Men Aloud and stuffed money into John Barrowman's trousers for Children in Need and played drums for the Gavin & Stacey Comic Relief Barry Islands in the Stream sketch. 'Locally, Margaret worked with the PDSA, the George Thomas Hospice and was the face of the Big Lottery Fund AdvantAGE campaign which aimed to create social opportunities for older people, to name but a few examples. Professionally, Margaret was just as generous; consistently giving her time and expertise to help up and coming filmmakers.'

A twelve-year-old girl has been caught driving in her pyjamas. Most people drive in cars, of course but, hey, whatever. Police in the Schleswig-Holstein town of Neustadt, noticed a car being driven erratically in the early hours of Monday morning, The Local reports. Lübeck police spokesman Stefan Muhtz said: 'At about 1:45 am Monday morning police noticed a Kia sedan weaving through the street and braking intermittently. The officers decided to pull the car over, reckoning it was a drunk driver. This was not the case.' The car was in fact being driven by a pyjama-wearing twelve-year-old girl, who also had her half-sister of the same age in the car with her. The driver reportedly told police that she was visiting a nearby neighbourhood. Both girls were returned to their mother, who was asleep at home at the time.

The latest batch of yer actual Keith Telly Topping's 45(s) of the Day has its roots back in the early 1970s when movie soundtrack LPs were, like, all the rage. I can still remember Christmas 1972 when my big brother was given three of them as gifts. The ones containing this single.This single.And, indeed, this single. So, it's our Colin that I blame for a life-long love of movie soundtracks in the Telly Topping household, dear blog reader.

Oh Carroll! I Am But A Fool ...

There's a joke currently doing the rounds on the Internet. No, this one's clean and doesn't involve Richard Keys, don't worry. 'Shell-suits, trainers, Andy Carroll,' it begins. 'Mike Ashley has a long history of selling utter crap to Scousers.' It's not quite as good as the one about Fernando Torres's move from Liverpool to Chelsea collapsing after Torres's wife failed to agree personal terms with John Terry. But it does, undeniably, give a bit of brief light amusement to the situation. Actually, though, as with many football-related jokes, it's more than a bit unfair to both Scousers and to Andy Carroll himself - the lad is already a fine player with the potential to be so much more than that. At twenty one he can, if handled right and if he manages to keep himself out of nightclub fights and, you know, jail, go on to become the best Premiership striker of his generation and England's centre forward for the next decade. He certainly has the ability to. Liverpool have taken a colossal gamble paying thirty five million quid for a very young lad with raw talent but also with experience of just over forty premiership games (and a mere seventy minutes in an England shirt). But it's a gamble which could pay off massively. For Newcastle, Mike Ashley has taken an equally big gamble. If not bigger. It's virtually impossible to argue with the fact that thirty five million pounds for Carroll is too good a price to turn down. Hell, he's a good player, he might even be a great player in a few years, but he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the eighth most expensive footballer ever to walk the planet. If the eighteen million quid Villa paid Sunderland for Darren Bent looked daft money (and it did), then this is positively obscene. Especially in the middle of a recession. But, for all that, as you'll find repeated in all the bars and clubs around Tyneside this week, 'you can't play a big bag of money up front and expect to get twenty goals a season off it.' Ashley has, quite literally, tossed a coin in the air and speculated that a Newcastle side which has, frankly, somewhat over-achieved thus far this season still has enough about them not to get relegated. It's a calculated risk. The club are currently in ninth place in the Premiership and sit nine points above a relegation place with thirty points for twenty three games. Even without Carroll, they can score goals but they also have an unfortunate habit of letting them in at the other end in increasingly ludicrous ways. It's almost certainly a far better position than most United fans expected them to be in at this time of the season when it started back in August. Is it false? Some results suggest not, others that it is. But, still, realistically four more wins and maybe a couple of draws from their last fifteen games, in theory, should be more than enough to keep them up. It might take less than that - particularly with one or two clubs apparently in free-fall at the moment. Although this has been a very strange year in the Premiership in terms of everybody beating everybody else. In the past, several clubs have certainly found themselves in apparently 'nothing to worry about' positions such as this during the first week in February, only to find a quick run of four or five defeats in a row and, suddenly, they're back down struggling for their lives among the dead men at the wrong end of the table. Ashley's gamble, if it comes off, is that United survive this season with the (weakened) squad they have. If they do and, in the summer, they spend every single penny of that thirty five million knicker (plus a bit more from their next chunk of TV money and next year's season ticket sales) and bring in let's say three or four real quality eight to ten million pound signings (a striker, a right winger and a centre half are three positions they need filling, along with cover at left back) then selling Carroll is, perhaps, going to look like one of the best bits of business in the club's history. Or any club's history, come to that. Regardless of how he actually gets on at Anfield (and, I think it's fair to say as far as most Newcastle fans are concerned - aside from two games each year - we genuinely wish him all the very best for the future after what he did for us in the last eighteen months). As with so many things in football, the trick is to try to predict the future. If it comes off, you look like a genius. If it doesn't, you're a plank. For better or worse, the next three months are going to define Mike Ashley's entire ownership of Newcastle - everything that's gone before is the mere prelude. Two points about the Carroll transfer really trouble me, however. Firstly, it spectacularly undermines Alan Pardew's position as manager at Newcastle just at the point where most Toon fans were kind of coming around to a grudging acceptance of the bloke and even a mild warmth that he seemed to be making all of the right noises and producing some decent results - albeit, with Chris Hughton's team. For the last month Pardew has said, repeatedly, whenever asked by the press, that Carroll was going absolutely nowhere. That Carroll was one of a handful of players (Joey Barton, Enrique, Nolan, Steven Taylor, Ben Arfa) around whom Pardew wanted to build a side. Never once did he say 'Andy Carroll's not for sale ... unless we get stupid money offered, of course, in which case every man has his price.' Which I think most fans would have, with a heavy heart, accepted as the way of the world these days. Yesterday, Pardew was having to field some pretty awkward questions at his first post-transfer deadline day press conference. It was put to him that if fans can't trust him on this matter then why should they believe anything he has to say in the future. 'What can I say?' he replied meekly. 'We didn't force anybody to leave.' And that brings us to the second troublesome question. Did Carroll jump or was he pushed? A series of text messages between Carroll and the North East fanzine editor Steve Wraith on Monday afternoon, published in the national press yesterday, suggest that Carroll himself wanted to stay at Newcastle until the club made it clear they'd prefer the money. That's certainly the stance that Carroll himself has taken in his post-signing interviews. The club - through Pardew - have hotly denied this. Carroll claims that Derek Llambias asked him to hand in a written transfer request. The club deny this and say that it was Carroll himself who handed in the request without any prompting from them. (Interestingly, the text of the actual transfer request has not yet been made public.) So, essentially, either Andy Carroll is lying or Mike Ashley (via his various spokesmen, including Llambias and Pardew himself) is lying. Given the previous track record of Ashley, who has form infamously saying one thing to the fans and then doing exactly the opposite and claiming his original statements were mere 'public relations' (an entire industrial tribunal case was fought, and lost, over exactly that) lead many observers to know which side they believe. Watching the saga unfold on Sky Sports News on Monday afternoon was certianly a classic example of that curious modern TV-rolling-news phenomena, information and disinformation colliding head on and producing only confusion in their wake. For two hours mid-afternoon the broadcaster, in the guise of their North East correspondent David Craig, was confidently telling their viewers from a vantage point somewhere outside St James' Park that Craig's understanding was Newcastle had rejected Liverpool's overnight bid of thirty million pounds for Carroll. But they had let it be known to the Reds that an increased offer of thirty five million would be acceptable to them. Andy Carroll was, by all accounts, already on his way to Liverpool at that time (around 2pm) to discuss terms claimed Craig. When, actually, Carroll was in Alan Pardew's office just a couple of hundred yards from where Craig and his camera crew were standing, discussing whether he'd get a new contract or not. On that, pretty much everyone agrees. So who was telling Craig all this other stuff? Who told Sky that it had been 'intimated' Newcastle would accept a thirty five million pound bid? Somebody, somewhere, was sending out highly mixed signals. Within twenty minutes of it being announced that Newcastle had turned down Liverpool's 'increased' offer (which was described as 'thirty five million plus add-ons' and which happened at around about 4pm), Carroll's handing in of a transfer request was also announced - live on Sky - as was the statement that the club had, 'reluctantly', agreed to sell. If all of that doesn't sound like 'public relations' and - not unusually for Newcastle - particularly banal and unbelievable public relations at that, then nothing does. For what it's worth, despite their being a Tiding of Magpies involved, there are no black and white areas in this particular example of football gone mad. Newcastle, if they manage to keep themselves up, could - could, mark you - emerge a stronger better, more balanced side. Liverpool have signed a player with huge potential which might, long term, prove to be the start of something really special for them. Or, it could be the 2011 version of Peter Marinello. (That's a reference for all you fortysomethings out there!) Time will tell. In football, as in life, it usually does. Moscow Chelski FC have spent fifty million quid on Fernando Torres, a World Cup winner with astonishing natural goalscoring ability but someone who can be even more of a sulking child than the two they've got already, Anelka and Drogba. Only Happy Harry and Tottenham Hotshots appear to have lost out, but they've already got Steven Piennar so what they hell are they complaining about? The Andy Carroll transfer saga suggests that, on a day when football quite simply suffered from a manic overdose of ego-driven insanity, there remain only three proper certainties in life. Death, the rent man and the fact that being a Newcastle United fan is never, ever, dull!

Today's Keith Telly Topping's 45 of the Day, incidentally, concerns the subject of betrayal!It's a bit late for all that now, Neil, I'm afraid. He's gone!

Was It Really Murder? Were You Just Pretending? Lately I Have Heard You Are The Living End

The Beatles producer Sir George Martin has added his tribute to late composer John Barry, who died from a heart attack on Sunday. Martin told Channel Four News that Barry was 'probably our most famous film score writer.' He added: 'You could always identify John's scores. They were very dramatic. They leant themselves to the film in a way that enhanced everything. He was an extraordinary musician - very, very clever. Without John Barry there would be no James Bond theme, because the whole essence of that was the excitement, the drama, the orchestration.' David Arnold, Simon Le Bon and Mark Ronson are among the other musicians who have paid their respects to the Oscar winner.

Speaking of John Barry, the man with the Midas touch, you may have noticed that most national newspapers and media outlets like the BBC and ITN sought out quotes - as with the George Martin one above - from people who had actually worked with John: Don Black, David Arnold and Lulu were three of the most quoted. However, Britain's most widely-read free newspaper, Metro, went down a somewhat different route. They lazily trawled around the Internet rather than actually ringing up people for a comment. Thus, Metro's Tuesday morning edition - under the headline Music Genius Behind 007 Is Mourned - gave their readers the wisdom of Twittered comments from Stephen Fry and Mylenee Klass on the subject. Seriously. Klass' brief tribute was prefixed by the observation that she was a 'TV presenter and classically trained pianist' as though that were some form of justification for making her opinions on the death of John Barry more worthy than anyone who'd ever actually met him. As a textbook example of lazy journalism it's genuinely hard to beat.

Cult favourite James Marsters has married his long-time girlfriend, Patricia in Los Angeles. The couple were married in a civil ceremony two weeks ago and James recently announced the happy event during a convention appearance in New Orleans. Everyone at From The North sends the couple our best wishes for the future.

Emma Crosby has been announced as the new face of Channel Five News. As was rumoured last month, the former GMTV host will take over the 7pm slot from Natasha Kaplinsky, who left the broadcaster last year. Crosby will present her first bulletin on 14 February and will work alongside current Channel Five newsreader Matt Barbet, who will continue to front the 5pm show. Crosby said: 'I am hugely excited about joining the team. From the outset, Channel Five News have always enjoyed the reputation of offering viewers something a little bit different and I am over the moon to be a part of that. Matt and I studied at university together so I'm looking forward to the reunion too!' Channel Five News editor David Kermode said: 'I'm thrilled we have signed two of the brightest talents in the business to front our news programmes. Matt is already a familiar and trusted face for our viewers, having been Natasha's very successful stand-in for the last three years on our flagship show. Emma is already well-established on network television and will be a huge asset for us as we seek to build the profile of our 7pm programme.'

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings' Cheyenne has described the Channel Four show as 'a bit of a mickey-take.' Cheyenne appeared in an episode of the documentary, where she discussed the gypsy custom of 'grabbing' and was shown pushing off a male who was trying to win her affections by physically pinning her against a wall. Speaking about the incident, she told Star magazine: 'Some of it's a bit of a mickey-take, to be honest. It's been exaggerated. The whole "grabbing" thing, for instance - that was all blown out of proportion. It's not accurate at all. We wouldn't do the show again - afterwards, you get too much aggro. Even our own community said we're making ourselves look like idiots.'

Jeremy Paxman became the latest BBC presenter to utter the word 'cunt' live on air on Monday night, after the Newsnight anchor got in a tangle in a piece to camera on the subject of cuts. Not cunts, cuts. Presenting an item on the campaign group UK Uncut, Paxman added another letter to the word 'cuts', before suppressing a look of discombobulation and continuing with the piece. 'Supposing, though, some of the people who ought to be paying taxes so the cunts, cuts aren't so bad aren't actually doing so,' he said. Quality recovery, Paxo! The mistake follows a similar gaffe - in what could be described as an outbreak of cunts - by James Naughtie, who mangled the lack of culture secretary the vile and odious Hunt's surname on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The error was repeated less than an hour later by his fellow presenter Andrew Marr. Mind you, in those two particular cases, the use of the word was possibly deliberate. Last month, Olly Foster, host of the BBC's Sportsday programme, also accidentally swapped the beginning of former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona's surname for 'cunt' live on air. Discussing Paxman's slip, a BBC spokesman said: 'This was an unfortunate slip of the tongue and we apologise for any offence caused.'

Grandma's House, Simon Amstell's semi-autobiographical sitcom, has been commissioned for a second run on BBC2. Amstell and co-writer Dan Swimer are said to be currently working on six new scripts, which will be filmed towards the end of 2011. It is expected that Linda Bassett (Grandma), Rebecca Front (Tanya), Samantha Spiro (Auntie Liz) and James Smith (Clive) will all return for the second series, but the character of Simon's grandfather will be written out due to the death of actor Geoffrey Hutchings.

UKTV has said it will appeal a ruling that could force digital channel Dave to rebrand, after the broadcaster lost a trademark battle with a brand consultancy of the same name. Last week, the European Union's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market - the body tasked with overseeing all trademarks and designs - sided with London-based communications agency the Engine Group, owners of the Dave brand consultancy, in a legal wrangle with UKTV. The UKTV G2 channel was successfully rebranded as Dave in 2007, but the Engine Group has since waged a battle against UKTV's bid to secure a European trademark for the name. The situation was complicated as both firms operate from offices on London's Great Portland Street, which the Engine Group claims has increased confusion and hindered its ability to trade. OHIM's ruling permits UKTV to use the Dave branding for selected merchandising items, but it will not be able to continue using the title as a channel brand. In a statement, a UKTV spokeswoman confirmed that the broadcaster - jointly owned by Virgin Media and BBC Worldwide - would appeal the verdict. 'UKTV has been operating Dave, TV's "Home of Witty Banter," for four years and at no stage has there ever been any confusion between us and brand consultancy, Dave Soho,' she said. 'We run a very successful channel and they're a brand consultancy agency. We are appealing the decision and are confident of a favourable outcome.'

Michael McIntyre has reportedly reduced a nine-year-old contestant to tears after buzzing him out on Britain's Got Talent. Youngster David Knight was aiming to impress judges McIntyre, Amanda Holden and David Hasselhoff with his stand-up comedy routine in Birmingham, reports the Sun. However, when Knight revealed before he had even started his act that Harry Hill was his favourite comedian, McIntyre chose to hit his buzzer, prompting the child to start crying and insist: 'I was about to say you were my favourite!' McIntyre quickly added: 'It was a joke - but it wasn't one of my best.' Knight went on to impress the panel with his performance, after which McIntyre admitted: 'I'm sorry. You're a star in the making.' Hasselhoff also said: 'You are not only the best nine-year-old comedian I have seen, you are the best comedian. You belong on that stage. I've never seen anyone intimidate Michael like that. I love you for it.' McIntyre later said of Knight's reaction: 'He had bought a one-way ticket to tears. I thought I was going to have to jump on the stage. The buzzer is so loud! I hope they edit that out - I don't want to see him jumping out of his skin.' The thirty four-year-old comic also caused another hopeful to storm off the stage after buzzing him out during his audition. The judge added: 'He's not the father of the young comedian, is he? That family hates me.'

Alex Jones has reportedly agreed to compete on this year's Strictly Come Dancing. BBC 'bosses' are said to have been delighted with The ONE Show presenter since she took over from Christine Bleakley, and plan to raise her profile by booking her on the reality competition. According to a source, Jones's handling of former co-host Jason Manford's recent departure particularly impressed executive. The alleged 'insider' allegedly told the Sun: 'Alex has been a dream come true for The ONE Show. She held the whole thing together and everyone's grateful. Bosses think it's her time to shine.'

Vic Reeves has revealed that he is still hoping to work on a new Smell Of Reeves & Mortimer-style studio show with his comedy partner Bob Mortimer. The duo's TV work in recent years has centred on comedy panel show Shooting Stars, but Reeves told the Digital Spy website that he is keen to work on a show similar to their Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer and Bang, Bang It's Reeves And Mortimer formats. Speaking at the Loaded LAFTAs, he said: 'We want to do another studio show, but if [broadcasters] don't want us to do it, we'll just have to do it on our own somewhere.'

Mexico's ambassador in London has complained to the BBC over 'offensive, xenophobic and humiliating' comments made about his country on Top Gear. You kind of knew that was going to happen, didn't you, dear blog reader? This is a Tuesday after a Top Gear episode, somebody whinging about some aspect of it is as predictable as clockwork. And, of course, some hippy Communists at the Gruniad Morning Star thought this was, like, rilly worth a load of column inches making a fuss over. Expect the goose-stepping lice at the Daily Scum Mail and their ilk to be not far behind in expressing their outrage and discombobulation at this affront to humanity. God, Britain's journalists must absolutely hate it when Top Gear isn't on air; they have, quite literally, nothing to write about. Eduardo Medina Mora has written to the BBC about 'insults' made by Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May. The BBC did not comment but said it would respond directly to Mora. Reviewing the Mastretta on Sunday's show, Hammond said: 'Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat.' Clarkson said he was confident he would not receive any complaints about their comments because the Mexican ambassador 'would be asleep.' However, the ambassador did complain, and demanded an apology from the BBC. 'The presenters of the programme resorted to outrageous, vulgar and inexcusable insults to stir bigoted feelings against the Mexican people, their culture, as well as their official representative in the United Kingdom,' he wrote. 'These offensive, xenophobic and humiliating remarks only serve to reinforce negative stereotypes and perpetuate prejudice against Mexico and its people.'

Speaking of someone with a sense of humour bypass, Karl Pilkington has confirmed plans for a second series of Sky1's risible and irksome An Idiot Abroad. As if life isn't bad enough already. And then, there's people who'll try and convince you that there is a God.

The BBC has successfully fought off a High Court challenge to a broadcast of a documentary about climate change sceptics. Lord Monckton had applied to Mr Justice Tugendhat for an injunction stopping the programme being shown until it included his right of reply. He said that he felt he had been 'unreasonably treated and misled' and complained of breach of contract. He told the judge in London that he wanted the programme, Meet The Climate Sceptics, to include his five hundred words words or three minutes which, he said, was proportionate in the context of a sixty-minute film almost exclusively about him. He said: 'What I'm not trying to do is extinguish the BBC's right to freedom of speech. I was for many years myself a journalist and it is not appropriate to say a programme should not be broadcast. I am merely asking for a right to reply to which I say I am entitled.' Lord Monckton said it was the least remedy that would meet the case as the damage to his reputation would otherwise be 'grave.' Desmond Browne QC, for the BBC, production company Fresh One Productions Ltd and film maker Rupert Murray, said that changes had been made to the film in the light of Lord Monckton's concerns about accuracy and bias. He told the court that the October 2010 contract provided for absolute editorial control by Fresh One and the BBC, there had been advance publicity for the broadcast and it would be problematic to show it at another time. He said that an injunction should not be granted as, though 'dressed up' as a claim in contract, the real complaint was one of defamation. The judge refused the application on the basis that the agreement on which Lord Monckton relied lacked the clarity which he submitted it had. The 'balance of justice' also favoured its refusal, he added. The programme filmed Lord Monckton over past year as he travelled across Australia and the United States challenging the proposition that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes climate change and global warming.

Former EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton was charged for drink driving on Monday night. According to the Sun, the twenty one-year-old was stopped by police in the early hours of the morning in Belgravia. She was then, apparently, taken to a police station and booked for driving with excess alcohol. Lytton was pictured earlier in the evening on a night out in the West End.

Singer-turned-TV presenter and full-of-her-own-importance gobshite Myleene Klass says that she regrets revealing she was once propositioned by a married Hollywood star - and has vowed never to reveal the man's identity. The former Hear'Say singer claimed in September 2010 that a newlywed actor had asked her to sign 'some kind of sex contract' but she refused. It came just months after she alleged a movie producer offered to pay her for sex, and the revelations sparked a wave of gossip about the identity of the two men. Now Klass has admitted she rues ever making the second incident public - and insists she will never name the married actor involved. Unfortunately, like most people in the TV industry, Ms Klass is, simply, in love with the sound of her own voice and doesn't know when to shut up. She told Buzz magazine, 'That was so stupid of me. I've regretted mentioning it ever since - and before you ask, I will never reveal his name.'

Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler has proved he is still the sultan of swing to fortysomething middle class hippies, entertaining over five hundred thousand viewers with a BBC4 special - doubling the slot average for the broadcaster. Mark Knopfler: A Life in Songs broadcast on Friday examined the career of the guitarist across the 9pm hour, beating the digital channel's three month slot average of two hundred and sixty three thousand according to overnight BARB figures. The documentary was the most watched multichannel programme from 9.30pm to 10pm. BBC4 continued its celebration with Later Presents Mark Knopfler from 10pm to 11.10pm. Jools Holland presented a studio concert of Knopfler's from 1996 and recorded an average audience of five hundred and two thousand - again, double the slot average.

Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie are to leave their BBC Radio 2 evening show to present the weekday afternoon slot on BBC 6 Music. Radcliffe and Maconie's move to 6 Music is an effort by the BBC to further boost the digital station's audience, which has doubled over the last twelve months. Both DJs will retain a presence on Radio 2 – Radcliffe presenting a new late-night slot and Maconie fronting a fifty-part authored history of pop. They will be replaced by the risible Jo Whiley on the Radio 2 evening show. Whiley, who lost her weekday Radio 1 slot in 2009 to move to a weekend show, will leave Radio 1, bringing the curtain down on a seventeen-year career with the station which began brightly but ended wallowing in middle-of-the-road disappointment. 'I've loved working at Radio 1 for the past seventeen years. It's given me opportunities I could only have dreamt of,' said Whiley. 'As well as supporting my love of music, Radio 1 have also supported and accommodated me bringing three further children into the world, something, as a woman, I will always be grateful for.' Bob Shennan, the controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music, described Whiley as 'at the top of her game and a first-rate broadcaster with a great knowledge of music,' which proves that he knows nowt. 'I'm looking forward to her bringing her own brand of presenting to the Radio 2 evening schedule.' He added: 'This is another big moment in the history of 6 Music. Mark and Stuart's arrival will help us build on the phenomenal success of the past twelve months.' Radcliffe and Maconie have presented their Sony gold-winning Radio 2 weekday evening show since 2007, although it was cut back from four to three nights a week last year. The switch to the 1pm to 4pm slot on 6 Music, due to take place on 4 April, will inevitably mean a massive drop in the number of their listeners, Radio 2's audience more than ten times the average weekly reach for 6 Music. Radcliffe, who will present a new Tuesday late-night Radio 2 show, said: 'We feel like we have signed up to the future in a big way. The music policy of 6 is right up our street with its blend of heritage tracks and emerging new talent. We also look forward to stretching its musical remit even further by continuing to make our playlist as all embracing and eclectic as it has been on our evening show.'

A US woman has been arrested - for mooning the police officers who arrested her brother. Rita Zambrano, forty five, of Hamblen County Tennessee, saw police arresting her brother for driving offences. Cheeky. She allegedly turned around, dropped her pants and showed the officers her naked backside, reports the Knox News Sentinal. Ironically, she is still behind bars, charged with indecent exposure, while her brother Ronnie Waddell, forty four, has already been released on bail. Police officer David Gulley said that Waddell was arrested after officers saw him driving a car outside of his sister's apartment. As he and another officer cuffed Waddell, Gulley said that Zambrano stood in her doorway and harassed the officers. 'She was standing at her door and mooned me through the window on her front door,' Gulley said. He added that he was too busy to deal with Zambrano at the time, so he took Waddell to jail, then later issued a warrant for her arrest.

And so, dear blog reader, to yer actual Keith Telly Topping's 45(s) of the Day. Today, we celebrate the career of one of Britain's finest ever rockers, Dave Edmunds. Starting in the 1960s with a - fast - touch of the classics. Next, a Christmas number one, and an utter masterpiece.Dave also, famously did the second best cover version of 'Baby I Love You' ever. (Don't worry, dear blog reader, we'll get to The Ramones version eventually!) And, finally, with Rockpile, a stunning version of Elvis Costello's 'Girls Talk.'

She Calls My Name, Pulls My Train, No One Else Can Heal My Pain

Former Formula One commentator Murray Walker is to come out of retirement to feature in a theatre production based on a children's TV show. Roary The Racing Car is to come to life in a live show called Champion Of Champions. Walker will appear as an animated character, who will provide commentary to a race at the Silver Hatch track. The eight seven-year-old broadcasting legend joked that he felt he had 'achieved fame at last.' Champion of Champions starts its tour next month and will visit ninety venues. The show also features the voice of Peter Kay, who plays Big Chris, and will be narrated by Sir Stirling Moss. Executive producer Greg Lynn said: 'Walker's excitable commentary style was deemed perfect for the fast-paced adventures set at Silver Hatch race track. In true Murray format, the stage show is peppered with Murrayisms, and at eighty seven years, he's definitely still got it.'

It was one of the most successful TV marketing coups of the last decade - the rebranding of the little-watched digital channel UKTV G2 with the unlikely sobriquet, Dave. But now Dave may have to change its name again after its parent company UKTV was defeated in its efforts to register its identity as a trademark by a brand consultancy – also called Dave. Dave – the brand consultancy, that is – is part of London-based communications agency the Engine group, and fought a three-year battle to protect its identity after Dave – the broadcaster – sought to register its name as a European trademark. The legal tussle came to an end last week when the European Union's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, the body responsible for trademarks and designs, came down in favour of the brand consultancy. It remains to be seen whether UKTV, jointly owned by the BBC and Virgin Media, will appeal against the European Union verdict. This gave the broadcaster permission to use the name Dave but in a strictly limited number of areas, including decorative magnets, stationery, pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers and pencil cases, but not as a TV channel brand. Should the broadcaster decide not to appeal then the brand consultancy could pursue it for infringement of its trademark. To confuse matters further, both companies are based in Great Portland Street in Soho, central London. At least this geographical confusion will soon be cleared up, as UKTV is about to move to new headquarters in Hammersmith. Dan Bobby, the brand consultancy's founder and chief executive, said: 'We are very happy with the findings of the OHIM report, which vindicate a lot of our hard work over the past few years to protect our brand. We're now looking closely at our options in terms of enforcing the decision under UK trademark law. As a specialist brand consultancy, we understand the important nature of trademarks and we will protect our own brand as vigorously as we would protect our clients', including using the full force of the law, if required.' Home to repeats of Top Gear, Qi, Have I Got News For You, Mock the Week, and new commissions such as John Sergeant panel show Argumental and Robert Llewelyn's Carpool, Dave was previously known as UKTV G2 until it was relaunched in 2007, based around the idea that 'everyone knows a bloke called Dave.' The new moniker was lauded for giving a previously nondescript channel a strong personality overnight and turned traditional ideas of TV branding on its head. Subsequent relaunches of other UKTV channels, however, such as Alibi, Blighty and Watch, were perceived to be less successful. A spokeswoman for UKTV confirmed that a judgement had been reached but declined to comment further.

Top Twenty Three shows week ending 23 January:
1 Coronation Street - ITV - Mon 11.00m
2 EastEnders - BBC1 - Mon 10.59m
3 Emmerdale - ITV - ITV 8.72m
4 Silent Witness - BBC1 - Mon 8.50m
5 Dancing On Ice - ITV - Sun 8.19m
6 Big Fat Gypsy Weddings - C4 - Tues 7.28m
7 Wild at Heart - ITV - Sun 7.17m
8 Come Fly With Me - BBC1 - Thurs 7.11m
9 Lark Rise To Candleford - BBC1 - Sun 7.02m
10 Casualty - BBC1 - Sat 6.89m
11 Countryfile - BBC1 - Sun 6.88m
12 Hustle - BBC1 - Fri 6.84m
13 Holby City - BBC1 - Tues 6.56m
14 Top Gear - BBC2 - Sun 6.48m
15 The National Lottery - In It To Win It - BBC1 - Sat 6.18m
16 Antiques Roadshow - BBC1 - Sun 5.53m
17 Six O'Clock News - BBC1 - Thurs 5.52m
18 The Magicians - BBC1 - Sat 5.40m
19 Total Wipeout - BBC1 - Sat 5.33m
20 Human Planet - BBC1 - Thurs 5.32m
21 The ONE Show - BBC1 - Mon 5.24m
22 Kidnap And Ransom - ITV - Thurs 5.15m
23 Terry Wogan's Ireland - BBC1 - Sun 5.06m

Meanwhile, the top three multi-channel shows for the same week were:
1 Glee - E4 - Mon 2.63m
2 Hattie - BBC4 - Wed BBC 4 2.00m
3 Being Human - BBC3 - Sun 1.57m

Dominic Cork has expressed his frustration with Dancing On Ice's Jason Gardiner and Emma Bunton. On Sunday night's show, Cork scored a three and a 3.5 from Gardiner and Bunton respectively, while fellow judge Robin Cousins gave the former England cricketer a more respectable 4.5. Cork, who was ultimately voted off the skating competition, has now criticised Gardiner and Bunton, claiming that Cousins is widely regarded as the best judge by the celebrity contestants. 'Jason's there for entertainment and that is what you have got to remember,' Cork told the Sun. 'You try to smile and laugh, but inside you are thinking, "I'd love to see you round the back and give you a smack." Course you would, but amazingly enough, his car is right outside the door with about eighteen bodyguards.' He continued: 'Emma said to me, "What are you doing here"' I would ask her the same question, "What are you doing here?" She is supposed to be the judge - either say something bad or something good. What the judges need to understand is we want constructive criticism. When it gets personal it doesn't give you confidence or anything good to look at. People want to be judged on skating, not on who you are. Robin is the ice skater and everyone on that show looks at Robin's scores and takes them more seriously than anyone else's.' Despite his opinion of the respective merits of the three judges, Cork went on to admit that he was upset by Gardiner's negative reaction to his performance. He added: 'Would you take his comments seriously when someone rips into you like that? Of course it hurts. You are only human. You've got feelings.'

William Petersen may be about to reprise his role of Gil Grissom in a forthcoming CSI episode, reports have claimed. As previously announced Grissom's wife Sara (Jorja Fox) will clash with her domineering mother-in-law Betty (played by Phyllis French) in new episode called The Two Mrs. Grissoms. TV Line now reports that Petersen may also make a brief appearance in the episode. The actor originally announced his decision to leave CSI in 2008 and his character departed the show early in the ninth season. A spokesperson for the CBS drama apparently refused to comment on a possible Petersen appearance. Since leaving the show, the Manhunter star has filmed a role in high school drama Detachment alongside Adrien Brody and Christina Hendricks.

24's former executive producer Howard Gordon has revealed that he is 'really dismayed' about the cancellation of The Kennedys. The miniseries, which stars Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear, was made for the History Channel but the network announced earlier this year that it will not broadcast the drama. Gordon worked with The Kennedys' executive producer Joel Surnow on 24 and has now told Zap2It that he is disappointed that the miniseries has been dropped. 'I honestly have no idea [why it was cancelled],' he said. 'I assume that the Kennedys did what they could to put the kibosh on it and that it got some traction. I think it feels to me like censorship. But Joel is trying to deal with it - this is my sense - from a business perspective, just get it out there. I don't think he wants to take it to the media. He just wants people to see it.' Gordon added: 'It's terrible. It's really a shame. It's a little maddening. It feels like a kind of censorship. I don't understand it. I need to find out more - it's terrible. I've seen pieces of it and it looked good, it really did. It's really unfortunate - really bad.' HBO, Starz, Showtime, FX and DirecTV have all turned down the opportunity to broadcast The Kennedys but recent reports have suggested that it may be aired in syndication.

Gordon Ramsay's future with Channel Four has reportedly been cast into doubt as a result of a string of controversies. The Mirror reports that recent issues - including the suggestion that he had been shark fishing eighteen months prior to making a documentary about the animal's extinction, as well as continued speculation over his private life - could result in his contract with the channel being dramatically reduced when it is up for renewal in June. A source said: 'His personal life has been unhelpful and he no longer gets the big audiences.' Ramsay's friends are apparently also sceptical of his future, saying: 'He realises his reputation in the UK is not what it was years ago.' When question about the situation, a spokesperson from Channel Four said: 'We have a second series of Gordon’s Great Escape coming up and are discussing other ideas.'

Ricky Gervais is to make a second appearance in The Simpsons – this time as an awards show host. The comic is returning to the animated comedy following his much talked-about turn at the Golden Globes earlier this month. He will appear as himself in the episode Angry Dad: The Movie, to broadcast on 20 February in the US. Gervais said: 'If the latest animated me is anything to go by, then I think I'm getting more handsome as I get older.' The episode's plot revolves around Homer and Bart winning an Oscar for their animated short film. Executive producer Al Jean said it is 'a bit of a satire of the different Oscar acceptances where two people clearly race to the stage to get there first, and Homer and Bart are fighting to be the one that accepts.' Halle Berry also co-stars in the episode. Gervais previously appeared in a 2006 episode Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife, about a Wife Swap-style reality show, which he also wrote. He has also just recorded a guest role on Seth MacFarlane's animated hit Family Guy. 'It was absolutely fucking brilliant working with Seth, and he let me go crazy with ad-libbing,' Gervais wrote on his blog. 'A new highlight in my career.'

Monday saw Torchwood: Miracle Day return to its 'ancestral' home of South Wales. The lead-up to the week saw the cast and crew, currently located in Los Angeles, make their way to the UK. Of the principle cast, this meant a return home for John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen and Tom Price, and joined by Mekhi Phifer and Dichen Lachman. Crew-wise, Director of Photography Nathaniel Goodman and Directors Bharat Nalluri (episode one) and Bill Gierhart (episode two) also travelled. Russell Davies and Julie Gardner were back amongst the familiar faces from the UK, including Producer for the UK segments Brian Minchin. Filming this week sees the crew ranging between Cardiff International Airport, a village farm, Rhossili Bay and the streets of Swansea. Unlike in the US, production in the UK has not been shrouded in heavy security, and with a (mostly) UK production team in attendance, the traditional approach to filming that fans here are used to have continued.

One of the characters on Brothers & Sisters will die in an upcoming episode of the show. E! Online reports that Nora and Saul's mother Ida (Marion Ross) will pass away in a future instalment. The family decide to hold the funeral quickly in accordance with Ida's Jewish faith and Jonathan (Richard Chamberlain) returns to comfort Saul (Ron Rifkin). Meanwhile, Justin (Dave Annable) turns thirty at around the same time as his grandmother's death and begins to re-evaluate his life. Ida's death is expected to take place in the eighteenth episode of the season, which will be broadcast in the spring.

Billie Piper has admitted that she put plans to pursue her acting career in Hollywood on hold due to her son. The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl actress revealed that she had considered attempting to launch her career in America but was put off due to family commitments. 'I keep thinking about it, but then I like England,' the Press Association quotes her as saying. 'To be out there with a baby and to do seven, eight auditions a day is just not massively appealing at the moment.' The twenty eight-year-old revealed that she hopes to take on something 'radically different' now that she has filmed the final series of the ITV2 show. 'I don't know what that is yet. I think I've just chosen things that have interested me and then kept trying new and different things,' she added. 'It has worked out well and I can thank Doctor Who for all of that really. It was wholly responsible for giving me a great opportunity.'

Holly Willoughby has revealed that she had to borrow a pair of shoes from a member of the Dancing On Ice studio audience on Sunday night. I think that's sending out a terrible message to people that they can just loan their shoes out to celebrities willy-nilly. remember, dear blog reader, shoes have soles too.

Bad press behaviour leads inevitably to politicians pushing for laws to curb press freedom. The flouting of the law of contempt (in the Joanna Yeates murder case, for example) has had an inevitable result. The Sunday Times reported this week that there is support among MPs, including a couple of cabinet ministers, for a change in the law to prohibit the identification of crime suspects before they are charged. Among the reported backers of the measure are the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, and the attorney-general, Dominic Grieve. It would mean that media could not name a person who had been arrested for questioning by the police until, or unless, the person was charged. The private members' bill was tabled was made by Anna Soubry, a journalist-turned-lawyer who last year became Conservative MP for Broxtowe. She is parliamentary private secretary to Simon Burns, a junior health minister. Soubry clearly had the Yeates murder inquiry in mind. Like so many others, she was outraged by the media 'feeding frenzy' suffered by Chris Jefferies when he was arrested 'on suspicion of murder.' She is quoted by the Sunday Times as saying: 'The law as it stands means an innocent person can be vilified, have their lives dismantled and their reputation sullied with complete disregard to his or her right to privacy. Since the media don't seem able to regulate themselves, parliament should do something about it.' She was also influenced by the coverage of the arrest of TV presenter Matthew Kelly in 2003. He endured speculative and negative coverage, but was never charged. Soubry said the reporting of the Kelly case had convinced her that people should not have their identity reported while under police investigation unless a good enough reason could be provided to a crown court judge. The Sunday Times quotes Society of Editors director Bob Satchwell as saying: 'The public are entitled to know when someone is arrested. Not naming people who are arrested only leads to speculation and rumour in place of absolute fact.' He added: 'If anyone oversteps the mark there are laws of libel and contempt that are already quite capable of dealing with these issues.' All utter rubbish, of course. The current wording of the contempt law is wholly inadequate to prevent feeding frenzies of the kind that the modern media world seems to demand. As for libel, that's all very well, but it's usually impossible for people of modest means to pursue a legal action. Unless, of course, they benefit from a conditional fee (aka no-win, no-fee) arrangement.

BBC Radio 2's Electric Proms has fallen victim to the corporation's latest-round of cost-cutting with last year's event, featuring Robert Plant, Neil Diamond and Sir Elton John, set to be its last. The Radio 2 controller, Bob Shennan, said the five-year-old spin-off from the classical music Proms was being axed because of efficiency savings. Shennan added that he was 'disappointed' to lose the annual festival but pledged more high quality live music programming in an 'alternative, more cost-effective ways.' The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is looking to make twenty per cent of savings over the next four years, higher than the original target of sixteen per cent imposed by the freeze in licence fee funding, to free up more resources for programming and technology. Last week Thompson unveiled up to six hundred and fifty job cuts at the BBC World Service as part of these cuts. More than two thousand job losses are expected across the corporation in the coming years as the BBC tightens its belt. Shennan said: 'In the current climate, we are faced with making difficult decisions, including how best to deliver high-quality live music programming throughout the year in light of continuing efficiency savings. I feel that Radio 2 can achieve the same impact of the Electric Proms in an alternative, more cost-effective way. I'm disappointed that the lifetime of Electric Proms has come to an end, but very proud of its fantastically rewarding run of creating new moments in music for the past five years.' The Electric Proms was launched in 2006 as a modern music equivalent of the Proms, promising a 'celebration of new and innovative musical styles,' featuring James Brown, Nitin Sawhney and Damon Albarn's The Good, The Bad & the Queen among others. It was broadcast over a wide range of BBC outlets, including Radio 2 and 6 Music, which Shennan also oversees. Jeff Smith, head of music for Radio 2 and 6 Music, said: 'Radio 2 remains as committed as ever to live music programming, and we will replicate the spirit of Electric Proms within the live music schedule. In addition to Electric Proms last year, Radio 2 featured live performances ranging from Paolo Nutini performing in Paisley to Paloma Faith at the Cheltenham jazz festival; Scissor Sisters performing live on Ken Bruce's mid-morning show to Bryn Terfel singing Christmas classics at the Mermaid theatre for Friday Night is Music Night.' Radio 2 broadcast an exclusive live Manic Street Preachers gig from their home town of Blackwood in Wales last week, later made available on-demand online and on digital TV. Smith added: 'We intend to create more of these special moments throughout 2011. It's also our ambition to work with BBC2 again very soon as the radio/television/online offering was hugely enjoyed by listeners and viewers.'

China Central Television has been accused of using a clip from Top Gun in a news report about air force manoeuvres. According to AFP, the footage was aired on 23 January during a piece about a People's Liberation Army Air Force training exercise. The clip featured one plane being destroyed by a missile fired from another and was aired alongside interview footage. However, some online viewers recognised the scene from the 1986 Tom Cruise movie and the Wall Street Journal later posted a comparison of both clips, showing that they were identical. The video has reportedly since been removed from the website of the state broadcaster.

And so to yer actual Keith Telly Topping's 45(s) of the Day and, this time around, it's another couple of prime examples of something that we actually do rather well in the UK; white-boys-with-jangly-guitars! Starting, with what can only really be described as a Merseybeat classic. And, from the Godlike genius of Lee Mayers, to the early young Scene. Check this out for yourselves, Scenesters, little Damon Minchella looks about twelve on this!Oh, and just a quick note that the b-side - the stunning 'Another Girl's Name' - is, if anything, even better!