Somebody at whichever BBC department it is which puts together their Original British Drama trailers really seems to be a jolly big fan of The Jam. Nothing wrong with that, of course, more power to their elbow, I say. 
Their latest trailer - which debuted immediately after last night's episode of [spooks] and stressing the benefits of watching full series on iPlayer used 'Precious' as its soundtrack. Another recent, generic, drama promo for forthcoming shows like Death In Paradise and Hidden used 'Start!' you may recall. I trust Weller's getting his royalty payments?! Now, if it was McCartney, it'd be money up front or no deal!
News Corporation has parted company with the law firm used to defend the Scum of the World in lawsuits taken out by more than sixty alleged victims of phone-hacking.
Farrer & Co and News Corporation's management and standards committee said they had 'mutually agreed' the move, according to a statement issued on Friday afternoon. The committee was established by Rupert Murdoch as an internal clean-up and investigations unit in July in the wake of revelations that the phone-hacking activities allegedly ordered by the defunct, disgraced and disgraceful Sunday tabloid had affected more than four thousand people, including the families of murder victim Milly Dowler. The move comes just days before Farrer partner Julian Pike had been due to give evidence before the parliamentary committee which quizzed Murdoch and his son James over phone-hacking. Last month Pike revealed that one of the phone-hacking victims, Gordon Taylor, reportedly 'wanted to be vindicated or made rich' when he was negotiating with the Scum of the World for compensation. This emerged in written evidence to the committee in relation to advice he gave News International ahead of a controversial seven hundred thousand smackers pay out to Taylor, the head of the Professional Footballers Association. 
Farrer & Co will be replaced by Olswang which have been asked to 'advise News Group Newspapers on the appropriate resolution of civil claims in relation to phone-hacking.' The firm has also been asked to implement the twenty million quid compensation fund which was set up earlier this year. News Group, publishers of the defunct, disgraced and disgraceful Sunday tabloid, is facing six test cases in January to establish precedent for a total of sixty four lawsuits brought against the paper. The management and standards committee comprises Will Lewis, Simon Greenberg and Jeff Palker, and reports to Joel Klein, who is also News Corp's executive committee member responsible for News Corp's educational initiatives. Separately, Klein was appearing alongside Rupert Murdoch on Friday at an Excellence in Education conference in San Francisco organised by Jeb Bush. A journalist asking about how Klein would develop News Corp's educational business was ejected from the event, Olswang has been working for the committee since it was established in July. The law firm is also used by Gruniad News and Media, as its external editorial legal adviser.
BBC1 controller Danny Cohen has defended the decision to pick up new music talent show The Voice. Based on a Dutch format, a US version of the contest - featuring judges Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green - has already proven a hit for NBC. Dismissing comparisons to The X Factor, Cohen told attendees at a recent BAFTA event: 'We feel that there's enough difference in this format that it will stand out.
The fact that ITV tried very hard to get it - even though they've got The X Factor - suggests that they feel this show is different enough.' Cohen also revealed that he is eager to provide more variety in BBC1's entertainment line-up. 'We've got three dancing shows on BBC1 this year on Saturday nights, and I wanted to decrease that,' he explained. 'But still find ways that we could have live, often performance-based television.' He added: 'We are in an era where the audience love that [and] we shouldn't ignore what the audience want.' Jessie J has been confirmed as the first coach on the UK version of The Voice. But, it's not about the money, apparently. The winner of the talent contest will sign a record contract with Universal.
Matthew Macfadyen will reprise his role as Tom Quinn in the finale of [spooks] this weekend. The character, the protagonist in the first two series, was last seen early in the third series when the MI5 agent was decommissioned for almost sabotaging an operation involving a sleeper agent. Macfadyen, however, is to appear in the last episode of the spy drama, though details surrounding his return are being kept under wraps.
An 'insider' allegedly told the Mirra: 'It's incredibly exciting to have Matthew back again, even if he's only seen fleetingly. It will bring back all the memories of Tom and what the character endured in those first few series. Viewers will be dying to know why he's back, but they'll have to wait until Sunday to find out.' Current [spooks] stars Lara Pulver and Geoffrey Streatfeild previously gave hints about the show's end, teasing that 'they're not all going to make it.'
Three men have been arrested over the murder of a man who worked on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, who was killed as he celebrated his birthday. Paul Gunner, an electrician, was marking his thirty second birthday when he was punched in Bexley. Police believe his attackers assaulted another man shortly before Gunner was attacked outside a kebab shop in Bourne Road at about 01:00 on Sunday. Three men aged twenty five, thirty one and thirty two are to be questioned by Metropolitan Police. The suspects were arrested on Sunday evening. Gunner, who suffered injuries to the head after he was punched to the ground, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about two thirty in the morning. The victim of the earlier assault was not thought to have been seriously hurt but has not yet been identified. Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode, who is leading the investigation, said: 'I am particularly keen to speak to the victim of the first assault as he may hold vital details which could help us identify the suspects.' Gunner was employed by the contractor Set and Strike and was involved in installing the set of Strictly Come Dancing at the BBC's Television Centre. He was 'one of our top electricians,' said the company secretary Margaret Barker. She said he had 'a lot of patience,' and there was 'disbelief that this has happened.' Gunner would normally have been working at the weekend but had taken time off for his birthday, she added. A BBC spokesman said staff were 'shocked and saddened. Our thoughts are with his friends and family,' he added.
Dan Lobb became the second celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night.
The Daybreak presenter and his professional, partner Katya Virshilas, were eliminated from the BBC dance competition following their Broadway-themed Viennese waltz. The pair were joined in the danger zone by Nancy Dell'Olio and Anton Du Beke, but it was Lobb who finished bottom when viewer votes and judges' scores were combined. So, it's back to the misery of Daybreak for Dan. Sunday night's episode of Strictly had an audience of nine million viewers. It'll take him three weeks of Daybreak episodes to be seen by that many people.
This one somewhat passed us by somewhat a couple of weeks ago but, speaking of ratings, the single most ridiculous, hilarious and thoroughly mendacious claim ever made by a major TV network in relation to one of their TV shows came in a press release by ITV concerning their flop Red or Black?: 'Red or Black? was ITV's most successful new entertainment series launch in five years, reaching an incredible twenty seven million viewers across seven nights.' That last statement is, you'll be happy to know, flat out untrue. This ludicrous twenty seven million figure is only achieved by adding together the entire audiences for all seven episodes of the series. To say that Red or Black? 'reached' twenty seven million - different - people would suggest that everybody who tuned in to Red or Black? did so once and then never watched it again. Which, actually ... The press release also notes, truthfully, that: 'On its debut evening an impressive 7.5 million viewers (thirty one per cent share) tuned in across the first two episodes, peaking at 8.8 million with a thirty eight per cent share.'
Sadly, it doesn't go on to state - also truthfully - that by episode five the overnight ratings had fallen to an overnight of 3.81m. 'Reached twenty seven million viewers!' I'm still going to be chuckling at that outrageous claim for days. By the same curious form of mathematics used to achieve this number, the last series of Doctor Who 'reached' 98.02m viewers (an average audience of 7.54m viewers for each of its thirteen episodes). Or, in other words, one and a half times the population of Great Britain. Blimey, I knew it was good but not that good.
Meanwhile, according to the good old Current Bun this morning Simon Cowell explodes as X Factor in crisis. Oh, if only that were true. 'The show boss hit the roof after the talent smash lost more than TWO MILLION viewers, fans blasted its wannabe stars and infighting erupted over "meddling" by judge Kelly Rowland. Cowell, who is in Los Angeles for the US X Factor, rang his UK team last night and "tore a strip off them," sources said. Just 11.4million viewers watched Saturday's live ITV show — down seven hundred thousand on the previous week. That is 2.3million fewer than the 13.7million who saw the same stage last year. In a further major blow for bosses, Strictly Come Dancing beat X Factor by a MILLION viewers during the half-an-hour they went head-to-head, pulling in a series high of 10.1million.' Hmm ...
Well, okay, credit where it's due, most of this information is accurate in purely naked terms but there's a bit of major - by which I mean brigadier-general - context needed whenever discussing overnight ratings. As the Sun should well know after it made an utter fool of itself with its 'Doctor Who ratings slide' story three weeks ago. Firstly, I'm not sure any programme receiving an audience over eleven million viewers can be said to be a 'show in crisis.' Or, anything even remotely like it. And, for what it's worth Strictly also got more viewers than X Factor during the cross-over period last week so this is hardly a new thing! 'The source added: "The figures are hugely disappointing for The X Factor because the whole point of the live shows is that they are supposed to build momentum. Last year there were nearly fourteen million watching the second live show. Where have all those viewers gone?' Good question. Perhaps we'll never care. As of the latest BARB data, The X Factor 2011 has officially averaged 12.02m (12.52m if ITV+1 figures are taken into account). At the same stage last year, its official average was almost exactly thirteen million. So, the year-on-year decline thus far has been about four per cent of the audience. Hardly earth shattering.
One programme that is having legitimately dreadful ratings is Big Brother which fell to its all time lowest audience on Saturday night when the episode was watched by just eight hundred and eighty six thousand viewers on overnights. Meanwhile, it was a terrific night for the BBC with Strictly pulling in an overnight average of 9.75m and Merlin getting its best overnight of the year so far, 6.8m.
Darren McMullen will be the new host of revamped BBC1 show Magicians when it returns in the New Year.
The first series of the show, which was fronted by Lenny Henry, launched on BBC1 in January, picking up over six million viewers for its debut, and a series average audience of around five million. The new series has an extended six-episode seventy five-minute run and will be broadcast live on Saturday nights. But Henry has been told to, ahem, disappear. Scottish-born McMullen will make his UK primetime debut, following huge success in Australia and the US with shows such as Love In The Wild and The Lair.
Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan has confirmed that she is leaving the soap. The actress will film her final scenes for the show at Christmas and viewers will see her character, Rosie Webster, depart the cobbles in February 2012, the Sunday Mirra reports. Flanagan's Coronation Street future was thrown into question a week ago when tabloid reports suggested that she was quitting due to her recent panic attacks. However, the twenty one-year-old has now said that her anxiety played no part in her decision to leave. 'I have played Rosie for more than half my life and I feel the time has come for me to move on and try something new,' Flanagan told the newspaper. 'I am very excited about what the future might hold for me.
I have loved playing Rosie and during my time growing up on Corrie, I have made some amazing friends and learnt [sic] an awful lot.' Coronation Street's producer Phil Collinson added: 'We are sorry to see Helen go but wish her every success for the future.' Flanagan, who is currently dating footballer Scott Sinclair, is thought to be leaving three months before the end of her contract. Show bosses are expected to leave the door open for her to return in the future. A 'source' allegedly told the newspaper: 'Helen will probably take a break from acting. She can't wait to spend time with Scott and take their relationship to the next level. She may return one day but it's the last thing on her mind now.' Flanagan has been part of the Coronation Street cast since 2000 and is the second actress to have played the role of Rosie.
Karen Gillan's stage role as Shirley in John Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence is attributed as the reason for its sell-out at the Donmar Warehouse.
On the play, the Doctor Who actress said: 'I think the writing's really amazing, it's so full of hate. It sounds like John Osborne ranting. It goes to a place that I haven't encountered before. It's all jagged, sometimes it doesn't even fit together logically. You really have to investigate it to understand it.' And, on taking on the role and the encouragement of her Doctor Who co-stars. she added: 'I'm completely terrified. But that's what makes it exciting. When Matt and Arthur heard I had a part at the Donmar they were so pleased. They were, like, you’ve got to grab this with both hands. So that's what I'm going to do.'
And, speaking of Kazza's screen-husband Arthur Darvill, in September, it was widely reported that Arthur would feature in the Bush Theatre production Sixty Six Books;
now, it has been revealed that one of Arthur's predecessors in the TARDIS, Catherine Tate, will kick-off the theatrical event by playing God - a high tech, high-heeled, pale suited Almighty accompanied by an angel with a laptop who dispatches her tweets to the Internet in author Jeanette Winterson's interpretation of The Book of Genesis. Artistic director Josie Rourke said: 'It's a very funny piece, it's very bold. Catherine came naturally to mind for that. She just walks out onto a stage and recruits everybody into what she's doing - and that's absolutely what it needs.'
So, 'God bovverer'? Oh, come on ... I'm working with limited material here!
The Pursued - a crime novel written in 1935 by Horatio Hornblower creator CS Forester that was thought lost - is to be published for the first time. It was lost after the English author decided not to publish it so he could concentrate on a follow-up to the first Hornblower novel, The Happy Return. But a copy of the text surfaced at an auction in London in 2003 when it was bought by enthusiasts. Forester wrote eleven books about fictional Royal Navy officer Hornblower. His character was played by Gregory Peck in the 1951 movie Captain Horatio Hornblower RN and by Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd in a handsome series of films for ITV. Forester - real name Cecil Louis Troughton Smith - died in 1966 aged sixty six.
The author, who moved to the US during World War II, also wrote numerous successful novels including The African Queen and The General. Forester had written The Happy Return on a boat journey from the US - where he had been working on a film script in Hollywood - back to England. He wrote The Pursued shortly after he arrived back in London before he visited Spain, during the country's civil war, where he became interested in the Nineteenth Century Peninsular War. Inspired to set a second Hornblower novel, A Ship of the Line, on the Spanish coast during that period, he decided against the publication of The Pursued and manuscripts were subsequently thought to be lost. It is not clear how the manuscript for The Pursued - which was sold anonymously - surfaced. Forester had written that 'the lost novel was really lost' and that it was 'just possible' a copy still existed 'in a rarely-used storeroom in Boston or Bloomsbury.' The Pursued tells the tale of a woman who is found dead with her head in an oven by her sister. Their elderly mother decides that all is not as it seems and plots revenge against her daughter's murderer. Penguin Classics, which will publish the book on 3 November, said the novel was 'a twisted tale of murder, lust and retribution. It is a novel years ahead of its time - rewriting the traditions of crime fiction to create a gripping psychological portrayal of obsession, jealousy, torment and the grim underside of suburban London life;'
Streaking at the 2012 London Olympics could carry a twenty thousand smacker fine. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are proposing the sanction as part of a clampdown on the marketing stunts, AFP reports. A jail term is also one of the punishments being discussed. 'Advertising on the human body could lead to a fine of twenty thousand pounds,' a government spokesman said.
'It is about potential ambush marketing and trying to crack down on that. Sponsors pay a large amount of money to be the official sponsors of the Games.' Companies such as British Airways and BP have each paid seven hundred million to become official partners of the 2012 London Olympics. 'These advertising and street trading regulations protect their investment and association with the Games,' the spokesman added. The rules have been passed through the House of Commons and are currently waiting for approval from the unelected upper House of Lords. A man interrupted an equestrian event at the 2008 Beijing Games with the name of a website written on his bare chest.
Fans of the Madchester music scene will be slipping back into their baggy jeans and hoodies to celebrate some potentially epic news. The Stone Roses are rumoured to be announcing next week that the big comeback is on after fifteen years under a dark cloud. Mind you, this is according to the Sun so, as ever, vat of salt and all that. The newspaper claims that the original four-piece line-up have signed up — Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni - have agreed to take part.
Considering all the bad blood that's been publicly aired between Squire and Brown over the last decade and a half, it would be a (genuinely) massive moment in British music history if it happened. And, unless you happen to be a member of Steps, this is unquestionably the biggest reunion story of 2011. A 'source' allegedly said: 'It has been a tense few months putting the reunion together. A lot of issues had to be resolved and some seriously hard graft has gone on. It was political, it was emotional and it was difficult. But time is a great healer and everyone has grown up.' The Third Coming might be about to happen In The Area, dear blog reader. Sorted!
An Italian businessman has launched a range of products inspired by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Carlo Pagani used the Italian leader's 'bunga bunga' parties - allegedly named after a form of lap dancing which Berlusconi is said to enjoy - to create the Bunga Bunga Band, a bracelet with alleged aphrodisiac qualities. Pagani has registered trademarks linked to the phrase and plans to launch lingerie, body oil, perfumes, necklaces and keyrings in the future.
'When we saw the words 'Bunga Bunga', they sounded magical,' Pagani told AFP. 'For us 'Bunga Bunga' has an extremely positive sense. It means joie de vivre! [It] has no political meaning. We respect all politicians. Even Berlusconi.' Pagani, who has invested two hundred thousand Euros in the range, wants to send Berlusconi some of his products and create a 'global brand.' Berlusconi's Mediaset company has refused to broadcast adverts for the Bunga Bunga band on its television channels. The Prime Minister is currently on trial for allegedly paying a then seventeen-year-old Karima El-Mahroug - also known as Ruby the Heart Stealer - for sex. 'All the girls were naked during the bunga bunga and I had the feeling that they were competing with each other to make Berlusconi notice them by performing more and more daring sexual acts,' she was quoted as saying during police questioning. Berlusconi, of course, was one infamously described by Mad Frankie Boyle as 'the kind of bloke who, if you told him to go fuck himself, he'd probably give it a try!'
The chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group has called on the Sun to reveal its sources behind a story which effectively blamed Liverpool fans for the 1989 football ground disaster that resulted in ninety six of the club's supporters losing their lives. Margaret Aspinall, whose eighteen-year-old son James died at the FA Cup semi-final tie at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, said that the News International tabloid should disclose who was behind the hugely controversial story. The demand comes as MPs prepare to debate the official disclosure of public documents relating to the disaster after an e-petition gathered the support of more than one hundred and thirty nine thousand people. Including this blogger, as it happens. The petition also followed a freedom of information request by the BBC. Published on 19 April 1989, in one of the most disgraceful excuses for 'journalism' ever published, and headlined The Truth, the Sun's article alleged that the disaster had followed 'mass drunkenness' among Liverpool supporters, and that some fans had urinated on police and picked victim's pockets as their bodies lay on the pitch. The paper claimed that the allegations had come from 'unnamed South Yorkshire police officers.' Apinall said that the report was deeply traumatic for the families afflicted by the tragedy, and it also set up the circumstances for the police to blame supporters for causing the disaster at Lord Justice Taylor's official inquiry and inquest. 'That story, that our children were drunken yobs, came as we were grieving for their loss, and we had to defend their good names,' she told the Gruniad. 'It set people's minds, which you can still see even now, that the disaster was caused by the fans, not by the police losing control. That set the injustice in train, the real truth never came out at the inquest, and nobody in authority has ever been held to account.
If we are now to discover the real truth, let the Sun tell us who gave them those lies which caused so much damage. If the Sun wants to make amends, they should reveal who it was, not allow their sources to hide behind anonymous briefings twenty two years later, and help the families to understand what happened.' Lord Taylor's subsequent report into the disaster described the Sun's lies as 'grave and emotive calumnies,' and also noted that the allegations were 'without basis.' It added: 'Not a single witness was called before the inquiry to support any of those allegations.' The Sun was subject to a mass boycott on Merseyside after the report was published, which still lasts in many shops to this day, despite various attempts by the paper to apologise. Not a single one of which has carried any sincerity or humility about it. News International, which is also in the thick of the phone-hacking scandal, did not respond to questions over whether the Sun would reveal its sources behind the story.
Big Shola Ameobi came off the bench to score an absolute spanker as yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though still unsellable) Magpies maintained their unbeaten start to the season by drawing with Tottenstot Hotshots. Rafael van der Vaart had opened the scoring from the spot after Steven Taylor was judged to have brought down Emmanuel Adebayor. Demba Ba equalised for Newcastle from close range just after half time before substitute Jermain Defoe fired in low to put Spurs ahead. But Ameobi won a hard-earned point for Newcastle when he struck in from an oblique angle. It was an outstanding strike by the substitute who was played in with a cute flick from Magpies playmaker Yohan Cabaye. The equaliser came four minutes from normal time although both the home side and the visitors could have take away all three points in a frenetic final five minutes of injury time.
Defoe twice had a chance to score, but his first shot was brilliantly blocked by Steven Taylor before the follow-up was palmed away by the impressive Tim Krul. And deep into stoppage time, Newcastle's captain Fabricio Coloccini had a chance to become a hero but he fired wide after turning inside the six-yard area. The finale was in stark contrast to a rather subdued first half during which Newcastle were content to contain the visitors and look to hit them on the break. The visitors passed the ball confidently in the opening exchanges with Newcastle old boy Scott Parker and the very impressive Luka Modric prominent. Emmanuel Adebayor, whose participation was in doubt because of a hamstring injury, stretched the home defence at regular intervals. However, actual chances were few and far between, and although Krul had to race from his line to snatch Van der Vaart's seventh-minute through-ball off Adebayor's toe and then pluck a looping Jake Livermore header out of the air four minutes later, there were few genuine scares for the Dutchman. The home side's disciplined approach was working well until five minutes before half-time, when they made a crucial error. Cabaye had the ball poked from his possession by Jake Livermore and Adebayor ran on to the loose ball before he was clipped by Taylor in the area, tackling with his wrong foot. Referee Lee Probert looked at his linesman for guidance before pointing to the spot. The Magpies ditched their conservative tactics after the break and three minutes into the half they were level. Argentine Jonas Gutierrez left Modric sleeping on the left and got down to the by-line before dinking the ball into the area which was slid in by Ba for his fifth goal in three games. Thereafter, Adebayor was twice unlucky not to put his side back in front, first screwing a shot an inch wide before Krul cleared just as the Togo striker was about to shoot. However, a minute later they scored their second when Defoe spun in a flash to drill a low strike past the Dutch goalkeeper. Pardew threw on Hatem Ben Arfa and Ameobi after withdrawing Ba and Best with nineteen minutes remaining, and it was the home side which finished the stronger. Both Chiek Tiote and Ryan Taylor went close when their long-range strikes were saved Brad Friedel but the American stopper had no chance of saving Ameobi's quality strike. The home-grown striker picked up quick ball from Cabaye and rifled his effort low and hard into the bottom left corner of Friedel's goal. The Magpies remain in fourth while Spurs stay sixth in the Premier League table. In the day's other two Premiership games West Brom beat a thoroughly rotten Wolves in the Black Country derby and Arsenal again played poorly but still had enough about them to best a desperately poor Blunderland 2-1.
ITV has signed a deal to be the lead UK broadcaster of UEFA Europa League games in a three-year deal that will see the end of Channel Five's coverage of the event.
The UK's largest advertiser funded broadcaster has struck a deal to air the first-and second-pick Europa League games for the 2012-13 to 2014-15 seasons, with ESPN picking up the rights to the remainder of the matches. When the new deal begins next year it will mark the end of Channel Five's association with UEFA Europa league, after an exclusive deal to broadcast first-pick games and the final that it struck in 2008. ITV will show most of the matches on ITV4 and ITV.com, although if UK teams make it to the quarter-finals and beyond some matches will be broadcast on ITV1. Because, let's face it, they have to give Chiles something to present - that people actually watch - to justify his salary. The broadcaster, which will also broadcast a highlights show, has a longstanding relationship with UEFA including the rights to Champion's League football until 2015. ESPN will show at least one live Europa League match each match week as well as a highlights package.
Hundreds of TV licensing employees are staging a twenty four-hour strike on Monday in a dispute over pay. More than five hundred staff at sites in Darwen and Bristol are taking part in the action, which follows a ballot by members of the Communications Workers Union. The CWU said that the strike 'will bring TV Licensing call centres to a standstill throughout the day.' It comes after workers had been offered a below inflation pay rise of 2.6 per cent following a two-year pay freeze. Employers Capita claimed that workers had received a 'good and fair offer' in light of the economic climate, but CWU said that staff were determined to get a 'fair deal.' Up the workers!
A Vietnamese woman is in police custody in Taiwan after admitting that she cut off her husband's penis with a pair of scissors. Oooo. Fair brings tears to the eyes, so it does. According to AFP, the thirty-year-old woman, referred to only by her surname Pan, said that she did not regret her decision and told how she threw her husband's dismembered penis into a river afterwards.
Pan, from the southern city of Tainan, claimed that she had suffered physical abuse from her husband of two years, who had been openly having an extramarital affair. She also alleged that her unemployed husband, who is a habitual drug user, had taken sleeping pills and was unconscious at the time of the assault. If convicted, Pan faces up to twelve years' imprisonment for the attack. Her husband, meanwhile, faces a lifetime of having difficulty pissing.
And now,as promised on Saturday, today's Keith Telly Topping's Beatles 45(s) of the Day From Around the World features a quartet of Revolvers. So, we've got a rather fine-looking French EP led by 'And Your Bird Can Sing'.
Another EP, this one from Spain, featuring 'For No One'.
And Italian single of 'Got To Get You Into My Life'.
And, to end, as it were, at the beginning, an American jukebox 45 of 'Taxman'.
Their latest trailer - which debuted immediately after last night's episode of [spooks] and stressing the benefits of watching full series on iPlayer used 'Precious' as its soundtrack. Another recent, generic, drama promo for forthcoming shows like Death In Paradise and Hidden used 'Start!' you may recall. I trust Weller's getting his royalty payments?! Now, if it was McCartney, it'd be money up front or no deal!News Corporation has parted company with the law firm used to defend the Scum of the World in lawsuits taken out by more than sixty alleged victims of phone-hacking.
Farrer & Co will be replaced by Olswang which have been asked to 'advise News Group Newspapers on the appropriate resolution of civil claims in relation to phone-hacking.' The firm has also been asked to implement the twenty million quid compensation fund which was set up earlier this year. News Group, publishers of the defunct, disgraced and disgraceful Sunday tabloid, is facing six test cases in January to establish precedent for a total of sixty four lawsuits brought against the paper. The management and standards committee comprises Will Lewis, Simon Greenberg and Jeff Palker, and reports to Joel Klein, who is also News Corp's executive committee member responsible for News Corp's educational initiatives. Separately, Klein was appearing alongside Rupert Murdoch on Friday at an Excellence in Education conference in San Francisco organised by Jeb Bush. A journalist asking about how Klein would develop News Corp's educational business was ejected from the event, Olswang has been working for the committee since it was established in July. The law firm is also used by Gruniad News and Media, as its external editorial legal adviser.BBC1 controller Danny Cohen has defended the decision to pick up new music talent show The Voice. Based on a Dutch format, a US version of the contest - featuring judges Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green - has already proven a hit for NBC. Dismissing comparisons to The X Factor, Cohen told attendees at a recent BAFTA event: 'We feel that there's enough difference in this format that it will stand out.
The fact that ITV tried very hard to get it - even though they've got The X Factor - suggests that they feel this show is different enough.' Cohen also revealed that he is eager to provide more variety in BBC1's entertainment line-up. 'We've got three dancing shows on BBC1 this year on Saturday nights, and I wanted to decrease that,' he explained. 'But still find ways that we could have live, often performance-based television.' He added: 'We are in an era where the audience love that [and] we shouldn't ignore what the audience want.' Jessie J has been confirmed as the first coach on the UK version of The Voice. But, it's not about the money, apparently. The winner of the talent contest will sign a record contract with Universal.Matthew Macfadyen will reprise his role as Tom Quinn in the finale of [spooks] this weekend. The character, the protagonist in the first two series, was last seen early in the third series when the MI5 agent was decommissioned for almost sabotaging an operation involving a sleeper agent. Macfadyen, however, is to appear in the last episode of the spy drama, though details surrounding his return are being kept under wraps.
An 'insider' allegedly told the Mirra: 'It's incredibly exciting to have Matthew back again, even if he's only seen fleetingly. It will bring back all the memories of Tom and what the character endured in those first few series. Viewers will be dying to know why he's back, but they'll have to wait until Sunday to find out.' Current [spooks] stars Lara Pulver and Geoffrey Streatfeild previously gave hints about the show's end, teasing that 'they're not all going to make it.'Three men have been arrested over the murder of a man who worked on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, who was killed as he celebrated his birthday. Paul Gunner, an electrician, was marking his thirty second birthday when he was punched in Bexley. Police believe his attackers assaulted another man shortly before Gunner was attacked outside a kebab shop in Bourne Road at about 01:00 on Sunday. Three men aged twenty five, thirty one and thirty two are to be questioned by Metropolitan Police. The suspects were arrested on Sunday evening. Gunner, who suffered injuries to the head after he was punched to the ground, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about two thirty in the morning. The victim of the earlier assault was not thought to have been seriously hurt but has not yet been identified. Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode, who is leading the investigation, said: 'I am particularly keen to speak to the victim of the first assault as he may hold vital details which could help us identify the suspects.' Gunner was employed by the contractor Set and Strike and was involved in installing the set of Strictly Come Dancing at the BBC's Television Centre. He was 'one of our top electricians,' said the company secretary Margaret Barker. She said he had 'a lot of patience,' and there was 'disbelief that this has happened.' Gunner would normally have been working at the weekend but had taken time off for his birthday, she added. A BBC spokesman said staff were 'shocked and saddened. Our thoughts are with his friends and family,' he added.
Dan Lobb became the second celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night.
The Daybreak presenter and his professional, partner Katya Virshilas, were eliminated from the BBC dance competition following their Broadway-themed Viennese waltz. The pair were joined in the danger zone by Nancy Dell'Olio and Anton Du Beke, but it was Lobb who finished bottom when viewer votes and judges' scores were combined. So, it's back to the misery of Daybreak for Dan. Sunday night's episode of Strictly had an audience of nine million viewers. It'll take him three weeks of Daybreak episodes to be seen by that many people.This one somewhat passed us by somewhat a couple of weeks ago but, speaking of ratings, the single most ridiculous, hilarious and thoroughly mendacious claim ever made by a major TV network in relation to one of their TV shows came in a press release by ITV concerning their flop Red or Black?: 'Red or Black? was ITV's most successful new entertainment series launch in five years, reaching an incredible twenty seven million viewers across seven nights.' That last statement is, you'll be happy to know, flat out untrue. This ludicrous twenty seven million figure is only achieved by adding together the entire audiences for all seven episodes of the series. To say that Red or Black? 'reached' twenty seven million - different - people would suggest that everybody who tuned in to Red or Black? did so once and then never watched it again. Which, actually ... The press release also notes, truthfully, that: 'On its debut evening an impressive 7.5 million viewers (thirty one per cent share) tuned in across the first two episodes, peaking at 8.8 million with a thirty eight per cent share.'
Sadly, it doesn't go on to state - also truthfully - that by episode five the overnight ratings had fallen to an overnight of 3.81m. 'Reached twenty seven million viewers!' I'm still going to be chuckling at that outrageous claim for days. By the same curious form of mathematics used to achieve this number, the last series of Doctor Who 'reached' 98.02m viewers (an average audience of 7.54m viewers for each of its thirteen episodes). Or, in other words, one and a half times the population of Great Britain. Blimey, I knew it was good but not that good.Meanwhile, according to the good old Current Bun this morning Simon Cowell explodes as X Factor in crisis. Oh, if only that were true. 'The show boss hit the roof after the talent smash lost more than TWO MILLION viewers, fans blasted its wannabe stars and infighting erupted over "meddling" by judge Kelly Rowland. Cowell, who is in Los Angeles for the US X Factor, rang his UK team last night and "tore a strip off them," sources said. Just 11.4million viewers watched Saturday's live ITV show — down seven hundred thousand on the previous week. That is 2.3million fewer than the 13.7million who saw the same stage last year. In a further major blow for bosses, Strictly Come Dancing beat X Factor by a MILLION viewers during the half-an-hour they went head-to-head, pulling in a series high of 10.1million.' Hmm ...
Well, okay, credit where it's due, most of this information is accurate in purely naked terms but there's a bit of major - by which I mean brigadier-general - context needed whenever discussing overnight ratings. As the Sun should well know after it made an utter fool of itself with its 'Doctor Who ratings slide' story three weeks ago. Firstly, I'm not sure any programme receiving an audience over eleven million viewers can be said to be a 'show in crisis.' Or, anything even remotely like it. And, for what it's worth Strictly also got more viewers than X Factor during the cross-over period last week so this is hardly a new thing! 'The source added: "The figures are hugely disappointing for The X Factor because the whole point of the live shows is that they are supposed to build momentum. Last year there were nearly fourteen million watching the second live show. Where have all those viewers gone?' Good question. Perhaps we'll never care. As of the latest BARB data, The X Factor 2011 has officially averaged 12.02m (12.52m if ITV+1 figures are taken into account). At the same stage last year, its official average was almost exactly thirteen million. So, the year-on-year decline thus far has been about four per cent of the audience. Hardly earth shattering. One programme that is having legitimately dreadful ratings is Big Brother which fell to its all time lowest audience on Saturday night when the episode was watched by just eight hundred and eighty six thousand viewers on overnights. Meanwhile, it was a terrific night for the BBC with Strictly pulling in an overnight average of 9.75m and Merlin getting its best overnight of the year so far, 6.8m.
Darren McMullen will be the new host of revamped BBC1 show Magicians when it returns in the New Year.
The first series of the show, which was fronted by Lenny Henry, launched on BBC1 in January, picking up over six million viewers for its debut, and a series average audience of around five million. The new series has an extended six-episode seventy five-minute run and will be broadcast live on Saturday nights. But Henry has been told to, ahem, disappear. Scottish-born McMullen will make his UK primetime debut, following huge success in Australia and the US with shows such as Love In The Wild and The Lair.Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan has confirmed that she is leaving the soap. The actress will film her final scenes for the show at Christmas and viewers will see her character, Rosie Webster, depart the cobbles in February 2012, the Sunday Mirra reports. Flanagan's Coronation Street future was thrown into question a week ago when tabloid reports suggested that she was quitting due to her recent panic attacks. However, the twenty one-year-old has now said that her anxiety played no part in her decision to leave. 'I have played Rosie for more than half my life and I feel the time has come for me to move on and try something new,' Flanagan told the newspaper. 'I am very excited about what the future might hold for me.
I have loved playing Rosie and during my time growing up on Corrie, I have made some amazing friends and learnt [sic] an awful lot.' Coronation Street's producer Phil Collinson added: 'We are sorry to see Helen go but wish her every success for the future.' Flanagan, who is currently dating footballer Scott Sinclair, is thought to be leaving three months before the end of her contract. Show bosses are expected to leave the door open for her to return in the future. A 'source' allegedly told the newspaper: 'Helen will probably take a break from acting. She can't wait to spend time with Scott and take their relationship to the next level. She may return one day but it's the last thing on her mind now.' Flanagan has been part of the Coronation Street cast since 2000 and is the second actress to have played the role of Rosie.Karen Gillan's stage role as Shirley in John Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence is attributed as the reason for its sell-out at the Donmar Warehouse.
On the play, the Doctor Who actress said: 'I think the writing's really amazing, it's so full of hate. It sounds like John Osborne ranting. It goes to a place that I haven't encountered before. It's all jagged, sometimes it doesn't even fit together logically. You really have to investigate it to understand it.' And, on taking on the role and the encouragement of her Doctor Who co-stars. she added: 'I'm completely terrified. But that's what makes it exciting. When Matt and Arthur heard I had a part at the Donmar they were so pleased. They were, like, you’ve got to grab this with both hands. So that's what I'm going to do.'And, speaking of Kazza's screen-husband Arthur Darvill, in September, it was widely reported that Arthur would feature in the Bush Theatre production Sixty Six Books;
now, it has been revealed that one of Arthur's predecessors in the TARDIS, Catherine Tate, will kick-off the theatrical event by playing God - a high tech, high-heeled, pale suited Almighty accompanied by an angel with a laptop who dispatches her tweets to the Internet in author Jeanette Winterson's interpretation of The Book of Genesis. Artistic director Josie Rourke said: 'It's a very funny piece, it's very bold. Catherine came naturally to mind for that. She just walks out onto a stage and recruits everybody into what she's doing - and that's absolutely what it needs.'
The Pursued - a crime novel written in 1935 by Horatio Hornblower creator CS Forester that was thought lost - is to be published for the first time. It was lost after the English author decided not to publish it so he could concentrate on a follow-up to the first Hornblower novel, The Happy Return. But a copy of the text surfaced at an auction in London in 2003 when it was bought by enthusiasts. Forester wrote eleven books about fictional Royal Navy officer Hornblower. His character was played by Gregory Peck in the 1951 movie Captain Horatio Hornblower RN and by Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd in a handsome series of films for ITV. Forester - real name Cecil Louis Troughton Smith - died in 1966 aged sixty six.
The author, who moved to the US during World War II, also wrote numerous successful novels including The African Queen and The General. Forester had written The Happy Return on a boat journey from the US - where he had been working on a film script in Hollywood - back to England. He wrote The Pursued shortly after he arrived back in London before he visited Spain, during the country's civil war, where he became interested in the Nineteenth Century Peninsular War. Inspired to set a second Hornblower novel, A Ship of the Line, on the Spanish coast during that period, he decided against the publication of The Pursued and manuscripts were subsequently thought to be lost. It is not clear how the manuscript for The Pursued - which was sold anonymously - surfaced. Forester had written that 'the lost novel was really lost' and that it was 'just possible' a copy still existed 'in a rarely-used storeroom in Boston or Bloomsbury.' The Pursued tells the tale of a woman who is found dead with her head in an oven by her sister. Their elderly mother decides that all is not as it seems and plots revenge against her daughter's murderer. Penguin Classics, which will publish the book on 3 November, said the novel was 'a twisted tale of murder, lust and retribution. It is a novel years ahead of its time - rewriting the traditions of crime fiction to create a gripping psychological portrayal of obsession, jealousy, torment and the grim underside of suburban London life;' Streaking at the 2012 London Olympics could carry a twenty thousand smacker fine. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are proposing the sanction as part of a clampdown on the marketing stunts, AFP reports. A jail term is also one of the punishments being discussed. 'Advertising on the human body could lead to a fine of twenty thousand pounds,' a government spokesman said.
'It is about potential ambush marketing and trying to crack down on that. Sponsors pay a large amount of money to be the official sponsors of the Games.' Companies such as British Airways and BP have each paid seven hundred million to become official partners of the 2012 London Olympics. 'These advertising and street trading regulations protect their investment and association with the Games,' the spokesman added. The rules have been passed through the House of Commons and are currently waiting for approval from the unelected upper House of Lords. A man interrupted an equestrian event at the 2008 Beijing Games with the name of a website written on his bare chest.Fans of the Madchester music scene will be slipping back into their baggy jeans and hoodies to celebrate some potentially epic news. The Stone Roses are rumoured to be announcing next week that the big comeback is on after fifteen years under a dark cloud. Mind you, this is according to the Sun so, as ever, vat of salt and all that. The newspaper claims that the original four-piece line-up have signed up — Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni - have agreed to take part.
An Italian businessman has launched a range of products inspired by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Carlo Pagani used the Italian leader's 'bunga bunga' parties - allegedly named after a form of lap dancing which Berlusconi is said to enjoy - to create the Bunga Bunga Band, a bracelet with alleged aphrodisiac qualities. Pagani has registered trademarks linked to the phrase and plans to launch lingerie, body oil, perfumes, necklaces and keyrings in the future.
'When we saw the words 'Bunga Bunga', they sounded magical,' Pagani told AFP. 'For us 'Bunga Bunga' has an extremely positive sense. It means joie de vivre! [It] has no political meaning. We respect all politicians. Even Berlusconi.' Pagani, who has invested two hundred thousand Euros in the range, wants to send Berlusconi some of his products and create a 'global brand.' Berlusconi's Mediaset company has refused to broadcast adverts for the Bunga Bunga band on its television channels. The Prime Minister is currently on trial for allegedly paying a then seventeen-year-old Karima El-Mahroug - also known as Ruby the Heart Stealer - for sex. 'All the girls were naked during the bunga bunga and I had the feeling that they were competing with each other to make Berlusconi notice them by performing more and more daring sexual acts,' she was quoted as saying during police questioning. Berlusconi, of course, was one infamously described by Mad Frankie Boyle as 'the kind of bloke who, if you told him to go fuck himself, he'd probably give it a try!'The chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group has called on the Sun to reveal its sources behind a story which effectively blamed Liverpool fans for the 1989 football ground disaster that resulted in ninety six of the club's supporters losing their lives. Margaret Aspinall, whose eighteen-year-old son James died at the FA Cup semi-final tie at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, said that the News International tabloid should disclose who was behind the hugely controversial story. The demand comes as MPs prepare to debate the official disclosure of public documents relating to the disaster after an e-petition gathered the support of more than one hundred and thirty nine thousand people. Including this blogger, as it happens. The petition also followed a freedom of information request by the BBC. Published on 19 April 1989, in one of the most disgraceful excuses for 'journalism' ever published, and headlined The Truth, the Sun's article alleged that the disaster had followed 'mass drunkenness' among Liverpool supporters, and that some fans had urinated on police and picked victim's pockets as their bodies lay on the pitch. The paper claimed that the allegations had come from 'unnamed South Yorkshire police officers.' Apinall said that the report was deeply traumatic for the families afflicted by the tragedy, and it also set up the circumstances for the police to blame supporters for causing the disaster at Lord Justice Taylor's official inquiry and inquest. 'That story, that our children were drunken yobs, came as we were grieving for their loss, and we had to defend their good names,' she told the Gruniad. 'It set people's minds, which you can still see even now, that the disaster was caused by the fans, not by the police losing control. That set the injustice in train, the real truth never came out at the inquest, and nobody in authority has ever been held to account.
If we are now to discover the real truth, let the Sun tell us who gave them those lies which caused so much damage. If the Sun wants to make amends, they should reveal who it was, not allow their sources to hide behind anonymous briefings twenty two years later, and help the families to understand what happened.' Lord Taylor's subsequent report into the disaster described the Sun's lies as 'grave and emotive calumnies,' and also noted that the allegations were 'without basis.' It added: 'Not a single witness was called before the inquiry to support any of those allegations.' The Sun was subject to a mass boycott on Merseyside after the report was published, which still lasts in many shops to this day, despite various attempts by the paper to apologise. Not a single one of which has carried any sincerity or humility about it. News International, which is also in the thick of the phone-hacking scandal, did not respond to questions over whether the Sun would reveal its sources behind the story.Big Shola Ameobi came off the bench to score an absolute spanker as yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though still unsellable) Magpies maintained their unbeaten start to the season by drawing with Tottenstot Hotshots. Rafael van der Vaart had opened the scoring from the spot after Steven Taylor was judged to have brought down Emmanuel Adebayor. Demba Ba equalised for Newcastle from close range just after half time before substitute Jermain Defoe fired in low to put Spurs ahead. But Ameobi won a hard-earned point for Newcastle when he struck in from an oblique angle. It was an outstanding strike by the substitute who was played in with a cute flick from Magpies playmaker Yohan Cabaye. The equaliser came four minutes from normal time although both the home side and the visitors could have take away all three points in a frenetic final five minutes of injury time.
Defoe twice had a chance to score, but his first shot was brilliantly blocked by Steven Taylor before the follow-up was palmed away by the impressive Tim Krul. And deep into stoppage time, Newcastle's captain Fabricio Coloccini had a chance to become a hero but he fired wide after turning inside the six-yard area. The finale was in stark contrast to a rather subdued first half during which Newcastle were content to contain the visitors and look to hit them on the break. The visitors passed the ball confidently in the opening exchanges with Newcastle old boy Scott Parker and the very impressive Luka Modric prominent. Emmanuel Adebayor, whose participation was in doubt because of a hamstring injury, stretched the home defence at regular intervals. However, actual chances were few and far between, and although Krul had to race from his line to snatch Van der Vaart's seventh-minute through-ball off Adebayor's toe and then pluck a looping Jake Livermore header out of the air four minutes later, there were few genuine scares for the Dutchman. The home side's disciplined approach was working well until five minutes before half-time, when they made a crucial error. Cabaye had the ball poked from his possession by Jake Livermore and Adebayor ran on to the loose ball before he was clipped by Taylor in the area, tackling with his wrong foot. Referee Lee Probert looked at his linesman for guidance before pointing to the spot. The Magpies ditched their conservative tactics after the break and three minutes into the half they were level. Argentine Jonas Gutierrez left Modric sleeping on the left and got down to the by-line before dinking the ball into the area which was slid in by Ba for his fifth goal in three games. Thereafter, Adebayor was twice unlucky not to put his side back in front, first screwing a shot an inch wide before Krul cleared just as the Togo striker was about to shoot. However, a minute later they scored their second when Defoe spun in a flash to drill a low strike past the Dutch goalkeeper. Pardew threw on Hatem Ben Arfa and Ameobi after withdrawing Ba and Best with nineteen minutes remaining, and it was the home side which finished the stronger. Both Chiek Tiote and Ryan Taylor went close when their long-range strikes were saved Brad Friedel but the American stopper had no chance of saving Ameobi's quality strike. The home-grown striker picked up quick ball from Cabaye and rifled his effort low and hard into the bottom left corner of Friedel's goal. The Magpies remain in fourth while Spurs stay sixth in the Premier League table. In the day's other two Premiership games West Brom beat a thoroughly rotten Wolves in the Black Country derby and Arsenal again played poorly but still had enough about them to best a desperately poor Blunderland 2-1. ITV has signed a deal to be the lead UK broadcaster of UEFA Europa League games in a three-year deal that will see the end of Channel Five's coverage of the event.
The UK's largest advertiser funded broadcaster has struck a deal to air the first-and second-pick Europa League games for the 2012-13 to 2014-15 seasons, with ESPN picking up the rights to the remainder of the matches. When the new deal begins next year it will mark the end of Channel Five's association with UEFA Europa league, after an exclusive deal to broadcast first-pick games and the final that it struck in 2008. ITV will show most of the matches on ITV4 and ITV.com, although if UK teams make it to the quarter-finals and beyond some matches will be broadcast on ITV1. Because, let's face it, they have to give Chiles something to present - that people actually watch - to justify his salary. The broadcaster, which will also broadcast a highlights show, has a longstanding relationship with UEFA including the rights to Champion's League football until 2015. ESPN will show at least one live Europa League match each match week as well as a highlights package.Hundreds of TV licensing employees are staging a twenty four-hour strike on Monday in a dispute over pay. More than five hundred staff at sites in Darwen and Bristol are taking part in the action, which follows a ballot by members of the Communications Workers Union. The CWU said that the strike 'will bring TV Licensing call centres to a standstill throughout the day.' It comes after workers had been offered a below inflation pay rise of 2.6 per cent following a two-year pay freeze. Employers Capita claimed that workers had received a 'good and fair offer' in light of the economic climate, but CWU said that staff were determined to get a 'fair deal.' Up the workers!
A Vietnamese woman is in police custody in Taiwan after admitting that she cut off her husband's penis with a pair of scissors. Oooo. Fair brings tears to the eyes, so it does. According to AFP, the thirty-year-old woman, referred to only by her surname Pan, said that she did not regret her decision and told how she threw her husband's dismembered penis into a river afterwards.
Pan, from the southern city of Tainan, claimed that she had suffered physical abuse from her husband of two years, who had been openly having an extramarital affair. She also alleged that her unemployed husband, who is a habitual drug user, had taken sleeping pills and was unconscious at the time of the assault. If convicted, Pan faces up to twelve years' imprisonment for the attack. Her husband, meanwhile, faces a lifetime of having difficulty pissing. And now,as promised on Saturday, today's Keith Telly Topping's Beatles 45(s) of the Day From Around the World features a quartet of Revolvers. So, we've got a rather fine-looking French EP led by 'And Your Bird Can Sing'.
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