People Roundup
Saturday, 8 September 2012 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Arthur Darvill on cover of GT (October 2012)
Arthur Darvill talks about his departure from Doctor Who, and onto new projects such as the West End show Our Boys: "We all met up on Monday to do a publicity photoshoot for that, all in army gear. Everyone else had these really sharp uniforms and I was in cold weather gear, so I had a shirt, a polo neck, a jumper, a massive jacket on the hottest day of the year!" [GT Magazine, Oct 2012]
A host of photos during rehearsals and further information on the play can be found via the play's official Facebook page.
The first episode of the two-part BBC Four adaptation of Room At The Top starring Jenna-Louise Coleman as Susan Brown is set to air during the week beginning Saturday 22nd September. The drama, which co-stars Kevin McNally, was made in 2010 and should have been broadcast in April 2011 but the BBC was prevented from showing it because of a copyright wrangle, which was finally resolved earlier this year. The day and time of transmission is yet to be confirmed. [BBC Programme Information]
Alex Kingston traces her family history in a forthcoming edition of Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC One. It is likely to be shown on Wednesday 19th September at 9pm.
David Tennant discussed how important the works of Shakespeare are: "I am on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a huge part of what they do is education and outreach -- partly just to educate an audience for themselves but also just to teach that sort of language so kids can appreciate it. I think Shakespeare is one of those things that you get very excited about when you do it and when you love it and when you feel like you own that language. Often it's a difficult thing to teach to kids because it can feel like a slow and a difficult thing, but it can be really inspiring!" [TheaterMania, 29 Aug 2012]
The actor has also donated a signed copy of the Complete Second Series of Doctor Who an auction on behalf of The Alzheimer's Society - potential bidders can find the item on Ebay here over the next eight days. [Alzeimer's Society, 7 Sep 2012]
Digital Theatre and Routledge Publishing have made theatre performanances from the Routledge Performance Archive online; amongst the shows available for download/rental is David Tennant's Much Ado About Nothing, which co-starred Catherine Tate. [Standard, 6 Sep 2012]
John Barrowman commented on gay representation on American television: "America has the most gay men represented on television than any country in the world. The only thing I wish they would do more often is not stereotype those gay men and women. It's always the same type they choose. Rather than seeing camp, flouncy, girly men and butch heavy women, it would be nice to see other types. There are 'lipstick lesbians,' pretty girls. There are butch guys, guys who are into sports." [Desert Outlook, 4 Sep 2012]
Eve Myles has won the title role in the new six-part BBC One series Frankie, which will see her reunited with Torchwood director Mark Everest. The drama is described as "a modern and redemptive take on the life and work of a dedicated district nurse [Frankie Maddox] whose patients matter more to her than her personal life." Also appearing in it are Dean Lennox Kelly and Derek Riddell. Filming will take place in Bristol, where the series is set, with the drama due to air next spring. [BBC Media Centre, 6 Sep 2012]
Former executive producer and current Head of Drama at Channel 4 Piers Wenger has announced a new initiative to seek out original drama ideas for development on E4: "This is an exciting first step in the development of a slate of new drama series for E4. There is a wealth of British drama talent out there and I am thrilled to be able to green-light a drama pilot season and invite new and established writers to come to us with their big ideas. In the last few years, E4 has established an unrivalled reputation for launching young, ground-breaking drama series and we are looking for a range of original drama ideas which will allow audiences to connect with the channel now. We don't want to be prescriptive on genre, format or length of episode - the aim is to see a variety of home-grown and innovative drama on E4 in 2013 and beyond." [Televisual, 6 Sep 2012]