It was playing deep-thinking higher-functioning sociopath Sherlock Holmes that made Benedict Cumberbatch a sex symbol, according to the co-creator of BBC1's Sherlock, The Lord Thy God Steven Moffat (Thou Shalt Worship No Other Gods Before He). 'It wasn't like, in all fairness, anyone was salivating over Benedict before he was Sherlock Holmes,' The Moffster told the University Observer when asked about the new found popularity of the show among women. 'It's a meeting of part and actor I think that makes geeky sexy.' Moffat - taking a few minutes off from showrunning the new series of Doctor Who which began production with week - admitted 'Sherlock is probably the first time that the Sherlock Holmes demographic has been female skewed' but he also noted that '[Cumberbatch] is not the first handsome man to play Sherlock Holmes, oddly enough.' 
Benny recently topped a poll of over twenty seven thousand Radio Times readers who didn't have anything better to do with their time than to nominate 'the most desirable television star to take on a Valentine's Day date,' receiving more than twelve thousand votes to beat former Doctor Who star David Tennant into second place. Ah, David. The fickle finger of a affection. Two years ago, every fan girl in the land wanted you. Now, you've been replaced in their affections by a posh bloke. It's a dirty rotten shame, innit? Fellow Sherlock star Louise Brealey - who plays lab technician Molly Hooper - came top of the female poll with one thousand six hundred and twenty five votes. And every national newspaper immediately reported this pointless and ladgeful load of old stupid toot as 'news.' Perhaps the words of Sherlock's own Irene Adler are true: 'Brainy is the new sexy.'
Motor manufacturer Tesla has failed in its latest - pointless and increasingly desperate - attempt to pursue a legal action against BBC2's Top Gear over a review of one of its electric sports cars, the Gruniad reports. Sounding rather disappointed, as you can well imagine since, for the Gruniad, what's bad for Top Gear is good for them and visa versa. The California-based company has been attempting to bring libel and malicious falsehood actions against the programme after getting a right lip on when one of their cars got a bad review. The piece, concerning the massively over-priced ninety two thousand quid Tesla Roadster, which first aired in December 2008, showed the car apparently running out of electricity on the Top Gear track and being pushed into a garage to await recharging. 'Although Tesla say it will do two hundred miles we have worked out that on our track it will run out after just fifty five miles. And if it does run out, it is not a quick job to charge it up again,' said Jeremy Clarkson's commentary. Tesla said that the Roadster shown had not run out of charge - although at no stage did the programme state that it had, merely that they had worked out how soon it would - and did not have to be pushed back into the hangar. Which is probably true but it did make for a very funny shot. The car firm claimed that the programme had 'suggested' that Tesla had 'intentionally and significantly misrepresented the range of the Roadster by claiming that it had a range of about two hundred miles in that its true range on the Top Gear track was only fifty five miles.' But Mr Justice Tugendhat, in a ruling handed down at the high court on Thursday, dismissed Tesla's hopeless attempt to amend a previous libel claim which had been struck out last October. Tugendhat said that Tesla's amendment was 'not capable of being defamatory at all. Or, if it is, it is not capable of being a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning to constitute a real and substantial tort.' Ouch. That's the legal equivalent of 'oh, go away and grow up!'
He added that 'as any reasonable motorist knows, a manufacturer's statement about the range of a motor vehicle is always qualified by a statement as to the driving conditions under which that range may be expected. For example, one range may be given for urban driving, and another for other conditions. But such statements are rarely, if ever, given to the public by reference to racing on a test track.' In a statement following the ruling, the BBC said: 'We are pleased Mr Justice Tugendhat has ruled in favour of the BBC on both the issues before the court, first in striking out Tesla's libel claim against the BBC and secondly in describing Tesla's malicious falsehood claim as so "gravely deficient" it too could not be allowed to proceed.' They did not add, although they should have, 'hopefully now these ridiculous American tossers will stop wasting everyone's time and money trying to prove their car isn't useless when it, clearly, is by waving their dicks in the air and saying "look at us, we've got big lawyers."' The BBC didn't say that, because they're far too polite. But, I'm not. And, whilst we're about it, as a licence fee payer, can I be assured that the costs in this case have also been awarded to the BBC since I fail to see why a single penny of my hard-earned licence fee should be spent of the BBC having to defend themselves against such groundless crap? Over to you, Tesla.
Princess Anne has officially opened the new Blue Peter garden this week at the BBC's Northern headquarters at Media City in Salford. The Princess Royal planted a tree and also unveiled a plaque at the new location following the programme's move from London last September. Blue Peter presenters Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood were also at the unveiling, along with gardener Chris Collins, the show's pet dog Barney and some local school children. The garden, which is next to the Media City tram stop, features a bust of Petra, Blue Peter's first pet dog and an ornamental fishpond. The statue of Mabel, another of the show's most famous pets, has been moved to the reception area, along with a sculpture of the famous Blue Peter ship logo.
It had previously been reported that the garden would be off-limits to the public, but the BBC last week confirmed that it will be open for the first time in the show's history. At the time, Blue Peter editor Tim Levell said: 'We're really excited about being able to open up the garden so Blue Peter viewers can come along and visit it - we wanted to make it as accessible to the public as possible.' Of course, it has been accessible to the public before. Only, last time, they had to climb over the wall to get in.
Coronation Street's product placement contract with Nationwide has been renewed for another year, it has been announced. A Nationwide cashpoint has been present at Dev Alahan's corner shop since November in a deal between the building society and ITV. The arrangement will now continue for at least another twelve months.
The initial deal has been hailed as a success as research showed that seven out of ten viewers were able to correctly recall the Nationwide brand the day after watching Coronation Street. Nationwide's marketing director Andy McQueen told Campaign Live: 'Nationwide Building Society is pleased about the initial results of this product placement, and is happy to extend the relationship. It is really exciting to be in the vanguard of the product placement industry in the UK.' Coronation Street became the UK's first primetime show to include product placement when the Nationwide machine appeared last year. Media regulator Ofcom gave the green light for product placement in December 2010.
On a similar note, Emmerdale will be sponsored by bet365bingo from next month, ITV has announced. A new deal negotiated by ITV Commercial will kick off from Monday 12 March and see the online bingo site's branding accompany Emmerdale's broadcasts on all ITV channels and ITV Player. The agreement is bet365bingo's first broadcast sponsorship and will run for two years. ITV's business development director Jason Spencer commented:
'Emmerdale is one of the most iconic ITV programmes and a highly sought-after sponsorship property. It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce that bet365bingo will be the new partner of the show for the next twenty four months. As their first foray into TV sponsorship, this is a huge broadcast opportunity that can be exploited across ITV's various platforms, in this momentous year of the soap's fortieth anniversary. The audience and the values of the show very much embody the target market and brand values of bet365bingo and we look forward to an enduring and successful partnership.'
Coronation Street's producer says he 'stands by' a recent rape storyline but accepts that some mistakes were made during production. Phil Collinson was speaking at the annual conference of St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester. He was criticised for portraying rape victim Carla Connor being confronted by her attacker outside the court. 'I do agree that there were some procedural things in the court that we did get wrong,' he said. 'In a show like ours, we are constantly balancing the needs of the drama against the needs of accuracy, and I suppose I would have to agree that there were some procedural things in the court that our attention has been drawn to subsequently and I can only apologise for that. I have to stand by the story that we told and I think we did a good thing in the main.' The Rape Crisis helpline said it saw an eight hundred per cent increase in calls after the attack - by Frank Foster on his girlfriend and business partner Carla, was broadcast last September. But scenes showing Frank confronting Carla, played by Alison King, outside court had deterred some real victims from going to court, St Mary's said. The Centre's Bernie Ryan said: 'We have to put a lot of reassurance into the fact that it was a dramatisation of a courtroom event and that there are support services to make sure they don't come across the perpetrator and are supported throughout the court process.' St Mary's, which provides support and counselling to more than one thousand people a year in Greater Manchester and Cheshire, advised both Coronation Street and Hollyoaks on elements of their recent rape storylines. Collinson said the ITV show also 'sent out a very clear message' by unambiguously portraying Frank, played by Andrew Lancel, as a rapist. But, he admitted that an earlier assault on Maria Connor, played by Samia Smith, had divided the show's writing team. 'She dressed herself up, she absolutely went there to encourage this man to sign a contract and go into business with him. She did not go there to be sexually attacked though. I was astonished. Even around our conference table, a very fiery debate happened about that night - literally, some of the writers saying that it wasn't an attempted rape. I really believe that we said right from the beginning that it was.' Hollyoaks writer Sushayla Bushra also took part in the debate following the Channel Four soap's rape storyline between Jacqui McQueen, played by Claire Cooper, and Gilly Roach, played by Anthony Quinlan, which began in February 2011. Viewers did not see the incident and a 'jury' of viewers was selected to decide the outcome of the trial. They found Gilly not guilty but he later confessed. The treatment was criticised by Rape Crisis, who said the ambiguous nature of the plot 'may have led a lot of women to question their own experiences.' The writers wanted to address a 'grey area' in some viewers' minds over what constitutes rape, Bushra said. 'In this particular story, Jacqui was getting drunk with a boy who she knew, she went into the bedroom with him, she got undressed, and then she decided that she didn't want to go through with it,' she said. 'And then he raped her. We all agreed that this was rape, but it was quite shocking how many people on forums - not just the male viewers but the female viewers - were incredibly damning of Jacqui. It was very important that she did have vindication and that Gilly admitted that he did it. We are not broadcasting to people who are very educated and knowledgeable about this subject. We are broadcasting to young people, and it's very important that we draw attention to these things.'
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson is to portray the Queen in a TV drama based on Michael Fagan's Buckingham Palace intrusion thirty years ago. Entitled Walking The Dogs, the film will tell the tale of how Fagan gained entry to the palace and entered the Queen's bedroom in 1982. Eddie Marsan and Russell Tovey will also star in the dramatisation. The film, to be screened later this year, is part of a new drama series for Sky Arts called Playhouse Presents. Trevor Eve, Gina McKee, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant and Sheila Hancock have also been lined-up to star in new dramas that have been commissioned for the channel. David Tennant and Martin Shaw will also appear in the new collection of drama. As previously announced a couple of months ago, Sir Tom Jones will make his acting debut in Jim Cartwright drama King of the Teds as Ron, who is made redundant from working at a bottle factory, with Alison Steadman and Brenda Blethyn also starring.
The Simpsons and This is Spinal Tap actor Harry Shearer will play Richard Nixon in Nixon's The One, which is based on almost two hundred White House recordings made between 1971 and 1973. Paul O'Grady and Sandi Toksvig will also star in new comedy drama series Nellie and Melba. It has also been announced that veteran chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson is to return to TV, four years after he retired and got a job giving away pens. Parky, who bowed out from his ITV series in 2007, is to front a six-part series called Masterclass with Michael Parkinson. The show will focus on a different star each week and Sir Michael will uncover how they perfected their art. And talk lots and lots and lots about the time he met 'the late ... great ... Gene ... Kelly.' The seventy six-year-old said that he was 'delighted' to have landed the new role. The series will be filmed in front of a studio audience, who will also be able to ask questions. Channel director James Hunt described Sir Michael as 'one of our country's finest broadcasters.' He added: 'This new interview series will allow Sir Michael to get closer than ever before to his subject, extracting the essence of their character in a way that only he can.'
The Heaton Horror Cheryl Cole has confirmed that she will not be returning as an X Factor judge. As if anybody with two braincells to rub-together actually cares a frigging stuff about such utter puff-pastry nonsense as this.
The Girls Aloud singer, who departed the ITV show in 2010 to work on the US series, from which she was acrimoniously dumped soon afterwards, had 'been tipped' (or, rather a few tabloids started a rumour, unsubstantiated, it would seem) as a possible replacement for Kelly Rowland, who is not expected to return for a second year on the judging panel. Cole tweeted this week: 'X Factor was a great experience and time in my life and career but is now part of my past. Please lets move on now.' Her comments come after veteran X Factor judge Louis Walsh suggested that the singer 'could be in line' for a return to the talent show. Which would seem to prove that Walsh knows as much about what's going on with the programme as he does about tipping winnings. Cole departed the UK series to help Simon Cowell launch the programme on FOX in the US, but she was - very amusingly - dropped from the judging panel only twenty days after signing up for the show.
The BBC's Formula 1 frontman Jake Humphrey is to present a twelve-part current affairs debate show aimed at younger voters. Free Speech will run as monthly hour-long shows on BBC3 starting on Wednesday 7 March. The show will use social networking sites throughout its broadcast. Humphrey, who has also presented Match of the Day and Football Focus, said the show would 'bring viewers closer to the decision makers than ever before. This show isn't afraid to ask the big questions and tackle the vital issues that are directly affecting your lives now, and just as importantly, your future,' he said. Steve Anderson, of producers Mentorn Media, said the show would capitalise on 'changing patterns of viewing. All of the reliable research shows that most of the people classed as the target group for BBC3 watch TV while using a second screen, and most comment on a show they are viewing.' The first show in the series, which follows in the footsteps of BBC3's Young Voters' Question Time, will be broadcast from east London.
Jamie Theakston and Jeff Brazier, the former husband of Jade Goody, are among the latest public figures to sue News International's ass over alleged phone-hacking by the Scum of the World. Theakston, Brazier, the journalist Ted Hynds and Colin Stagg, the man who was wrongly accused of the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell, have a;; started legal action against Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper group. Each of their claims against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary which published the now defunct, disgraced and disgraceful Scum of the World, relate to allegations of voicemail interception. The new civil actions were revealed on Thursday as it emerged that News International has settled a claim for phone-hacking damages by Charlotte Church. The Welsh singer's case was due to go to trial in the high court on Monday. Theakston and Brazier have been the subject of intense media interest in the past decade. Both men have presented reality TV shows and Brazier fathered two children in a well-publicised relationship with the Big Brother contestant Jade Goody, who died aged twenty seven after a battle with cervical cancer in 2009. The lawyer for Stagg and Hynds confirmed to the Gruniad Morning Star that he was 'actively pursuing' legal action against News International. Stagg was wrongly suspected of the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common in 1992. He said in July last year that he 'felt sick and angry' after he was was told by the Metropolitan police that he was targeted by the Scum of the World. Hynds, an investigative journalist, wrote a book about Stagg's struggle for justice, called Pariah: Colin Stagg, published in 2007. He has also been told by the Met that he was a phone-hacking target. It emerged on Wednesday that Cherie Blair, the wife of the former prime minister, is also suing Murdoch's UK newspaper group over alleged phone-hacking. 
Each of the fresh claims – except that of Mrs Blair – name News Group Newspapers as the sole defendant. Cherie is also suing the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire who, allegedly, did the alleged hacking. News International settled thirty seven civil actions in January – including high-profile actions brought by the likes of the actor Jude Law and the son of serial killer Harold Shipman – in a bid to prevent them from going to trial, and has paid out to another twenty one victims of phone-hacking earlier this month. However, News International faces at least fifty fresh civil actions. Others who have already filed claims include the footballer Peter Crouch, the (alleged) singer James Blunt and the Ukip leader Nigel Farage. Michael Silverleaf QC, counsel for News Group Newspapers, told the high court on Thursday that the publisher was attempting to settle 'quite a few more' cases against it over alleged voicemail interception. I'll bet it is.
Homer Simpson's favourite beer, Duff, is to be made available to buy in the UK. The famous fictional drink from The Simpsons - complete with its slogan, 'Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff' - has been developed in real life by The Legendary Duff Beer company.
It has already proved very successful across Europe after being made by German-based company Brewmasters Gebeauts. Duff beer will be available in bottles or cans, and can be purchased and shipped to various delivery locations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Legendary Duff Beer company describes the beverage as: 'A premium German pilsner that poses a crisp, light refreshing taste along with iconic packaging. The product has certainly fulfilled its namesake in becoming a modern day legend, developing a cult following across the world.' The move coincides with the long-running FOX cartoon series' five hundredth episode, which will be broadcast in the UK on Sky1 later this year. When asked for a comment, the company's other spokesperson, Duff Man, simply said: 'Owwwwww, yeah!'
Channel Five has announced that The Gadget Show will return to our screens this Spring in 'a new, revamped format.' That doesn't sound good. The new series will 'take the show on the road', as presenters Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward travel the globe to test the latest in consumer gadgetry. Each week The Gadget Show:
World Tour will see Jason and Pollyanna undertake an international gadget road trip. From Abu Dhabi to Silicon Valley, from New York to Monaco, our pair of gadget experts will give their verdict on the very latest high-street tech, as well as stopping off to showcase more cutting-edge technology. Well, let's face it, after Don't Scare The Hare, it was probably a very good idea to sneak Jason Bradbury out of the country for a while to allow tempers to cool, somewhat. A few years ought to do it. Maybe a decade. Ian Dunkley, Factual Entertainment Commissioner said: 'After sixteen successful series it felt time for the show to go global and have some more fun. Our love of gadgets remains undimmed, and now the testing will be bigger, better, and in more exotic locations.' On its travels, the show will be visiting Japan, the USA, the Mediterranean, and the UAE to test the best smartphones, laptops, TV's, gaming consoles and cameras on the market. In the first episode, the show lands in Tokyo in search of parts to build a winning robot for a robot fighting tournament. All of which is well and good but this blogger has just one observation to make. Wot, no Suzi Perry? I hope it fails miserably. Just like the last thing Jason Bradbury was involved in did.
The great Bradley Whitford has signed up to appear in a FOX drama pilot The Asset. Heroes actress Ali Larter has already been announced as having landed the role of Anna King, a famous photojournalist who has a secret life as a CIA agent. Whitford has now joined the cast, Deadline reports. He will play Leo, the station chief of the New York City CIA.
The character is also said to be 'a big fan' of Anna. Brad, one of yer actual Keith Telly Topping's favourite actors, is probably best known for his role as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the greatest TV show in the history of the medium (that doesn't have the words 'Doctor' and 'Who' in the title, anyway) The West Wing. Prior to that he'd been a memorable guest villain in an episode of The X Files. Since The West Wing ended in 2006 Brad has appeared in shows such as Aaron Sorkin's hugely under-rated Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, The Good Guys and as the serial killer Red John in The Mentalist. The Asset is being developed by Josh Friedman, whose previous credits include Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and The Finder. Hopefully, this one will be a bit better than those two.
The BBC is this week piloting a new improvised comedy show, based around Twitter. The excellent Jarred Christmas, Tom Rosenthal, Humphrey Ker, Cariad Lloyd and Michael Legge are taking part in the trial episode of @cuff. The audience at the gig in The Tabernacle, in West London, will – unusually – be asked to keep their phones on during the show.
They will then be encouraged to tweet ideas, which appear in real time on a massive 'Twitter wall' next to the stage, with the best suggestions controlling the direction of the live comedy. If the show is picked up for broadcast, viewers at home could add suggestions live. Social media company Smesh is behind the technological side. Founder Tom Quick said: 'The marriage of comedy with this new technology is an amazing idea. It goes to show how social media can be used in so many interesting ways.' This is not the only TV show in development to revolve around Twitter. Jonathan Ross is also due to be hosting a pilot of a show called Trending Topics next month.
It is often said that truth is stranger than fiction, dear blog reader, and in a case of life imitating art (in more ways than one), two iconic paintings with very close connections to Doctor Who have been hitting the headlines recently. Firstly, one of Edvard Munch's four versions of The Scream - which was a major influence on the design of the series six monsters The Silence - is to be exhibited in the UK before being auctioned in the USA by Sotheby's. It will be on display in London from 13 April and in New York from 27 April, with the auction taking place on 2 May, when it is estimated it could fetch more than fifty million smackers. This version - dated from 1895 and the only one to still be in private hands - is a pastel and is in the original frame which was hand-painted by the Norwegian artist himself. It also includes a poem by Munch explaining what inspired his sinister dystopian masterpiece.
The Scream is believed to be the second-most recognisable image in art and popular culture after the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. And by one of those strange coincidences that would be dismissed as 'too far fetched' if included in a work of fiction, another version of that particular masterpiece has also been causing a huge stir in the art world. The globally famous portrait - also titled La Gioconda - was a major plot point of the Tom Baker story City of Death (co-written by the show's then script editor, the late Douglas Adams). Now a copy of the picture - believed to have been painted by one of Leonardo's apprentices at the same time as the original - has been restored and displayed at the Prado Museum in Madrid, where it will be on display to the public until 13 March, after which it will be moved and hung next to Leonardo's original at the Louvre in Paris for an exhibition. The art, of course, lies in the fact that it is there.
After the success of fly-on-the-wall documentary Educating Essex, Channel Four is looking for another school where it can film a follow-up series. The seven-part show capturing the daily lives of staff and pupils at Passmores Academy in Harlow, Essex, was filmed on sixty five cameras placed in fixed positions around the secondary school.
It drew a strong average audience of 2.4 million viewers per episode and was also something of a critical success. Praised for highlighting the challenges faced by the teaching profession, as well as for its even-handed portrayal of young people, Educating Essex was named in Radio Times top ten shows of 2011. David Clews, executive producer at Twofour Broadcast, who made the show for Channel Four, said: 'We're very excited about the prospect of building on the success of Educating Essex and would like to find a school to work in partnership with us to produce a new collection of warm, honest and important documentary programmes. In the same way as the first series, we don't want to shy away from the challenges that today's teachers face, nor avoid the awkward parts of growing up, but ultimately our aim is that these will be optimistic and celebratory films which sensitively explore the human relationships that lie at the heart of school life.'
Actor Zach Braff learned about how famous his All New People co-star Eve Myles was by meeting her fans at the stage door: 'I didn't [know] until I got here,' he told STV. 'Eve does not play a very - how do I put this? - her character is not like a sex pot, hottie, and I'm seeing these pictures from Torchwood of her firing guns and these tight outfits, and I'm like "Eve?!"'
Is that what you're 'like' is it, Brad? Don't you mean 'I said' rather than 'I was like'? Anyway, crass Americanisms aside ... '[Torchwood has] become quite popular in the States, too, I have a friend who I didn't know even watched it, he was like "you're acting with Eve Myles!" He was freaking out. She's a wonderful, wonderful actress, and doing comedy for the first time, which people haven't seen - wait until they see how good she is at comedy.'
Tribute has been paid to the comedian Ken Goodwin, who has died at the age of seventy eight. One of many personalities who rose to fame in the 1970s TV show The Comedians, Manchester-born Goodwin spent his retirement in Llandudno. He died on Saturday at a nursing home at Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy, after suffering from Alzheimer's for several years.
Among those who had worked with him was fellow comedian Frank Carson, eighty five, who also died this week. Goodwin's former manager and friend Clive Stock described him as 'a gentle man and a gentle comedian.' Stock said that his friend topped the bill at the London Palladium in the seventies after being discovered on the TV show, known for his catchphrase 'settle down, now.' Born in Manchester, Goodwin eventually moved to Llandudno with his wife, Vicki, near to Stock who also worked as a performer, before they retired. Stock said that Goodwin was a quiet man off-stage who saved his gags for the audience, preferring to perform to a live crowd on stage rather than before the TV cameras. His funeral is to be held at St Hilary's, Llanrhos, Llandudno, on Friday 2 March.
Twenty-five thousand LPs, forty thousand singles and several thousand CDs from the collection of the late broadcaster and British icon John Peel are to become the musical exhibits of an interactive online museum. Peel was known for his wildly eclectic taste and as an unsurpassed champion of new music. He died of a heart attack, aged sixty five, in 2004, after more than three decades at the BBC and is still greatly missed by his hugely diverse fanbase, this blogger very much included.
Yer man Peel's legendary collection will form part of The Space, an experimental online service funded by the Arts Council and with support and development advice from the BBC. Tom Barker, the director of the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, said: 'It is the first step in creating an interactive online museum with access to the entire collection, one of the most important archives in modern music history.' Frank Prendergast of collaborators Eye Film and Television said: 'The idea is to digitally re-create John's home studio and record collection, which users will be able to interact with and contribute to, while viewing Peel's personal notes, archive performances and new filmed interviews with musicians.' Peel's widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, added: 'We're very happy that we've finally found a way to make John's amazing collection available to his fans, as he would have wanted. This project is only the beginning of something very exciting.' The Space will run from May to October on a variety of digital devices including PCs and smartphones and will also be available as a BBC red button service via Freeview HD.
Our on-going series continues. The Silliest Names In Television. Number Four. Nina Nannar.
Resisting the overwhelming urge, therefore, to make today's Keith Telly Topping's 45 of the Day that single by Bad Manners (or, indeed, something from The Fall to fit in with the Peel story), instead, I've gone for Mick Jones's finest three minutes.
Benny recently topped a poll of over twenty seven thousand Radio Times readers who didn't have anything better to do with their time than to nominate 'the most desirable television star to take on a Valentine's Day date,' receiving more than twelve thousand votes to beat former Doctor Who star David Tennant into second place. Ah, David. The fickle finger of a affection. Two years ago, every fan girl in the land wanted you. Now, you've been replaced in their affections by a posh bloke. It's a dirty rotten shame, innit? Fellow Sherlock star Louise Brealey - who plays lab technician Molly Hooper - came top of the female poll with one thousand six hundred and twenty five votes. And every national newspaper immediately reported this pointless and ladgeful load of old stupid toot as 'news.' Perhaps the words of Sherlock's own Irene Adler are true: 'Brainy is the new sexy.'Motor manufacturer Tesla has failed in its latest - pointless and increasingly desperate - attempt to pursue a legal action against BBC2's Top Gear over a review of one of its electric sports cars, the Gruniad reports. Sounding rather disappointed, as you can well imagine since, for the Gruniad, what's bad for Top Gear is good for them and visa versa. The California-based company has been attempting to bring libel and malicious falsehood actions against the programme after getting a right lip on when one of their cars got a bad review. The piece, concerning the massively over-priced ninety two thousand quid Tesla Roadster, which first aired in December 2008, showed the car apparently running out of electricity on the Top Gear track and being pushed into a garage to await recharging. 'Although Tesla say it will do two hundred miles we have worked out that on our track it will run out after just fifty five miles. And if it does run out, it is not a quick job to charge it up again,' said Jeremy Clarkson's commentary. Tesla said that the Roadster shown had not run out of charge - although at no stage did the programme state that it had, merely that they had worked out how soon it would - and did not have to be pushed back into the hangar. Which is probably true but it did make for a very funny shot. The car firm claimed that the programme had 'suggested' that Tesla had 'intentionally and significantly misrepresented the range of the Roadster by claiming that it had a range of about two hundred miles in that its true range on the Top Gear track was only fifty five miles.' But Mr Justice Tugendhat, in a ruling handed down at the high court on Thursday, dismissed Tesla's hopeless attempt to amend a previous libel claim which had been struck out last October. Tugendhat said that Tesla's amendment was 'not capable of being defamatory at all. Or, if it is, it is not capable of being a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning to constitute a real and substantial tort.' Ouch. That's the legal equivalent of 'oh, go away and grow up!'
He added that 'as any reasonable motorist knows, a manufacturer's statement about the range of a motor vehicle is always qualified by a statement as to the driving conditions under which that range may be expected. For example, one range may be given for urban driving, and another for other conditions. But such statements are rarely, if ever, given to the public by reference to racing on a test track.' In a statement following the ruling, the BBC said: 'We are pleased Mr Justice Tugendhat has ruled in favour of the BBC on both the issues before the court, first in striking out Tesla's libel claim against the BBC and secondly in describing Tesla's malicious falsehood claim as so "gravely deficient" it too could not be allowed to proceed.' They did not add, although they should have, 'hopefully now these ridiculous American tossers will stop wasting everyone's time and money trying to prove their car isn't useless when it, clearly, is by waving their dicks in the air and saying "look at us, we've got big lawyers."' The BBC didn't say that, because they're far too polite. But, I'm not. And, whilst we're about it, as a licence fee payer, can I be assured that the costs in this case have also been awarded to the BBC since I fail to see why a single penny of my hard-earned licence fee should be spent of the BBC having to defend themselves against such groundless crap? Over to you, Tesla. Princess Anne has officially opened the new Blue Peter garden this week at the BBC's Northern headquarters at Media City in Salford. The Princess Royal planted a tree and also unveiled a plaque at the new location following the programme's move from London last September. Blue Peter presenters Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood were also at the unveiling, along with gardener Chris Collins, the show's pet dog Barney and some local school children. The garden, which is next to the Media City tram stop, features a bust of Petra, Blue Peter's first pet dog and an ornamental fishpond. The statue of Mabel, another of the show's most famous pets, has been moved to the reception area, along with a sculpture of the famous Blue Peter ship logo.
It had previously been reported that the garden would be off-limits to the public, but the BBC last week confirmed that it will be open for the first time in the show's history. At the time, Blue Peter editor Tim Levell said: 'We're really excited about being able to open up the garden so Blue Peter viewers can come along and visit it - we wanted to make it as accessible to the public as possible.' Of course, it has been accessible to the public before. Only, last time, they had to climb over the wall to get in. Coronation Street's product placement contract with Nationwide has been renewed for another year, it has been announced. A Nationwide cashpoint has been present at Dev Alahan's corner shop since November in a deal between the building society and ITV. The arrangement will now continue for at least another twelve months.
The initial deal has been hailed as a success as research showed that seven out of ten viewers were able to correctly recall the Nationwide brand the day after watching Coronation Street. Nationwide's marketing director Andy McQueen told Campaign Live: 'Nationwide Building Society is pleased about the initial results of this product placement, and is happy to extend the relationship. It is really exciting to be in the vanguard of the product placement industry in the UK.' Coronation Street became the UK's first primetime show to include product placement when the Nationwide machine appeared last year. Media regulator Ofcom gave the green light for product placement in December 2010.On a similar note, Emmerdale will be sponsored by bet365bingo from next month, ITV has announced. A new deal negotiated by ITV Commercial will kick off from Monday 12 March and see the online bingo site's branding accompany Emmerdale's broadcasts on all ITV channels and ITV Player. The agreement is bet365bingo's first broadcast sponsorship and will run for two years. ITV's business development director Jason Spencer commented:
'Emmerdale is one of the most iconic ITV programmes and a highly sought-after sponsorship property. It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce that bet365bingo will be the new partner of the show for the next twenty four months. As their first foray into TV sponsorship, this is a huge broadcast opportunity that can be exploited across ITV's various platforms, in this momentous year of the soap's fortieth anniversary. The audience and the values of the show very much embody the target market and brand values of bet365bingo and we look forward to an enduring and successful partnership.'Coronation Street's producer says he 'stands by' a recent rape storyline but accepts that some mistakes were made during production. Phil Collinson was speaking at the annual conference of St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester. He was criticised for portraying rape victim Carla Connor being confronted by her attacker outside the court. 'I do agree that there were some procedural things in the court that we did get wrong,' he said. 'In a show like ours, we are constantly balancing the needs of the drama against the needs of accuracy, and I suppose I would have to agree that there were some procedural things in the court that our attention has been drawn to subsequently and I can only apologise for that. I have to stand by the story that we told and I think we did a good thing in the main.' The Rape Crisis helpline said it saw an eight hundred per cent increase in calls after the attack - by Frank Foster on his girlfriend and business partner Carla, was broadcast last September. But scenes showing Frank confronting Carla, played by Alison King, outside court had deterred some real victims from going to court, St Mary's said. The Centre's Bernie Ryan said: 'We have to put a lot of reassurance into the fact that it was a dramatisation of a courtroom event and that there are support services to make sure they don't come across the perpetrator and are supported throughout the court process.' St Mary's, which provides support and counselling to more than one thousand people a year in Greater Manchester and Cheshire, advised both Coronation Street and Hollyoaks on elements of their recent rape storylines. Collinson said the ITV show also 'sent out a very clear message' by unambiguously portraying Frank, played by Andrew Lancel, as a rapist. But, he admitted that an earlier assault on Maria Connor, played by Samia Smith, had divided the show's writing team. 'She dressed herself up, she absolutely went there to encourage this man to sign a contract and go into business with him. She did not go there to be sexually attacked though. I was astonished. Even around our conference table, a very fiery debate happened about that night - literally, some of the writers saying that it wasn't an attempted rape. I really believe that we said right from the beginning that it was.' Hollyoaks writer Sushayla Bushra also took part in the debate following the Channel Four soap's rape storyline between Jacqui McQueen, played by Claire Cooper, and Gilly Roach, played by Anthony Quinlan, which began in February 2011. Viewers did not see the incident and a 'jury' of viewers was selected to decide the outcome of the trial. They found Gilly not guilty but he later confessed. The treatment was criticised by Rape Crisis, who said the ambiguous nature of the plot 'may have led a lot of women to question their own experiences.' The writers wanted to address a 'grey area' in some viewers' minds over what constitutes rape, Bushra said. 'In this particular story, Jacqui was getting drunk with a boy who she knew, she went into the bedroom with him, she got undressed, and then she decided that she didn't want to go through with it,' she said. 'And then he raped her. We all agreed that this was rape, but it was quite shocking how many people on forums - not just the male viewers but the female viewers - were incredibly damning of Jacqui. It was very important that she did have vindication and that Gilly admitted that he did it. We are not broadcasting to people who are very educated and knowledgeable about this subject. We are broadcasting to young people, and it's very important that we draw attention to these things.'
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson is to portray the Queen in a TV drama based on Michael Fagan's Buckingham Palace intrusion thirty years ago. Entitled Walking The Dogs, the film will tell the tale of how Fagan gained entry to the palace and entered the Queen's bedroom in 1982. Eddie Marsan and Russell Tovey will also star in the dramatisation. The film, to be screened later this year, is part of a new drama series for Sky Arts called Playhouse Presents. Trevor Eve, Gina McKee, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant and Sheila Hancock have also been lined-up to star in new dramas that have been commissioned for the channel. David Tennant and Martin Shaw will also appear in the new collection of drama. As previously announced a couple of months ago, Sir Tom Jones will make his acting debut in Jim Cartwright drama King of the Teds as Ron, who is made redundant from working at a bottle factory, with Alison Steadman and Brenda Blethyn also starring.
The Simpsons and This is Spinal Tap actor Harry Shearer will play Richard Nixon in Nixon's The One, which is based on almost two hundred White House recordings made between 1971 and 1973. Paul O'Grady and Sandi Toksvig will also star in new comedy drama series Nellie and Melba. It has also been announced that veteran chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson is to return to TV, four years after he retired and got a job giving away pens. Parky, who bowed out from his ITV series in 2007, is to front a six-part series called Masterclass with Michael Parkinson. The show will focus on a different star each week and Sir Michael will uncover how they perfected their art. And talk lots and lots and lots about the time he met 'the late ... great ... Gene ... Kelly.' The seventy six-year-old said that he was 'delighted' to have landed the new role. The series will be filmed in front of a studio audience, who will also be able to ask questions. Channel director James Hunt described Sir Michael as 'one of our country's finest broadcasters.' He added: 'This new interview series will allow Sir Michael to get closer than ever before to his subject, extracting the essence of their character in a way that only he can.'The Heaton Horror Cheryl Cole has confirmed that she will not be returning as an X Factor judge. As if anybody with two braincells to rub-together actually cares a frigging stuff about such utter puff-pastry nonsense as this.
The Girls Aloud singer, who departed the ITV show in 2010 to work on the US series, from which she was acrimoniously dumped soon afterwards, had 'been tipped' (or, rather a few tabloids started a rumour, unsubstantiated, it would seem) as a possible replacement for Kelly Rowland, who is not expected to return for a second year on the judging panel. Cole tweeted this week: 'X Factor was a great experience and time in my life and career but is now part of my past. Please lets move on now.' Her comments come after veteran X Factor judge Louis Walsh suggested that the singer 'could be in line' for a return to the talent show. Which would seem to prove that Walsh knows as much about what's going on with the programme as he does about tipping winnings. Cole departed the UK series to help Simon Cowell launch the programme on FOX in the US, but she was - very amusingly - dropped from the judging panel only twenty days after signing up for the show.The BBC's Formula 1 frontman Jake Humphrey is to present a twelve-part current affairs debate show aimed at younger voters. Free Speech will run as monthly hour-long shows on BBC3 starting on Wednesday 7 March. The show will use social networking sites throughout its broadcast. Humphrey, who has also presented Match of the Day and Football Focus, said the show would 'bring viewers closer to the decision makers than ever before. This show isn't afraid to ask the big questions and tackle the vital issues that are directly affecting your lives now, and just as importantly, your future,' he said. Steve Anderson, of producers Mentorn Media, said the show would capitalise on 'changing patterns of viewing. All of the reliable research shows that most of the people classed as the target group for BBC3 watch TV while using a second screen, and most comment on a show they are viewing.' The first show in the series, which follows in the footsteps of BBC3's Young Voters' Question Time, will be broadcast from east London.
Each of the fresh claims – except that of Mrs Blair – name News Group Newspapers as the sole defendant. Cherie is also suing the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire who, allegedly, did the alleged hacking. News International settled thirty seven civil actions in January – including high-profile actions brought by the likes of the actor Jude Law and the son of serial killer Harold Shipman – in a bid to prevent them from going to trial, and has paid out to another twenty one victims of phone-hacking earlier this month. However, News International faces at least fifty fresh civil actions. Others who have already filed claims include the footballer Peter Crouch, the (alleged) singer James Blunt and the Ukip leader Nigel Farage. Michael Silverleaf QC, counsel for News Group Newspapers, told the high court on Thursday that the publisher was attempting to settle 'quite a few more' cases against it over alleged voicemail interception. I'll bet it is. Homer Simpson's favourite beer, Duff, is to be made available to buy in the UK. The famous fictional drink from The Simpsons - complete with its slogan, 'Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff' - has been developed in real life by The Legendary Duff Beer company.
It has already proved very successful across Europe after being made by German-based company Brewmasters Gebeauts. Duff beer will be available in bottles or cans, and can be purchased and shipped to various delivery locations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Legendary Duff Beer company describes the beverage as: 'A premium German pilsner that poses a crisp, light refreshing taste along with iconic packaging. The product has certainly fulfilled its namesake in becoming a modern day legend, developing a cult following across the world.' The move coincides with the long-running FOX cartoon series' five hundredth episode, which will be broadcast in the UK on Sky1 later this year. When asked for a comment, the company's other spokesperson, Duff Man, simply said: 'Owwwwww, yeah!'Channel Five has announced that The Gadget Show will return to our screens this Spring in 'a new, revamped format.' That doesn't sound good. The new series will 'take the show on the road', as presenters Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward travel the globe to test the latest in consumer gadgetry. Each week The Gadget Show:
World Tour will see Jason and Pollyanna undertake an international gadget road trip. From Abu Dhabi to Silicon Valley, from New York to Monaco, our pair of gadget experts will give their verdict on the very latest high-street tech, as well as stopping off to showcase more cutting-edge technology. Well, let's face it, after Don't Scare The Hare, it was probably a very good idea to sneak Jason Bradbury out of the country for a while to allow tempers to cool, somewhat. A few years ought to do it. Maybe a decade. Ian Dunkley, Factual Entertainment Commissioner said: 'After sixteen successful series it felt time for the show to go global and have some more fun. Our love of gadgets remains undimmed, and now the testing will be bigger, better, and in more exotic locations.' On its travels, the show will be visiting Japan, the USA, the Mediterranean, and the UAE to test the best smartphones, laptops, TV's, gaming consoles and cameras on the market. In the first episode, the show lands in Tokyo in search of parts to build a winning robot for a robot fighting tournament. All of which is well and good but this blogger has just one observation to make. Wot, no Suzi Perry? I hope it fails miserably. Just like the last thing Jason Bradbury was involved in did. The great Bradley Whitford has signed up to appear in a FOX drama pilot The Asset. Heroes actress Ali Larter has already been announced as having landed the role of Anna King, a famous photojournalist who has a secret life as a CIA agent. Whitford has now joined the cast, Deadline reports. He will play Leo, the station chief of the New York City CIA.
The character is also said to be 'a big fan' of Anna. Brad, one of yer actual Keith Telly Topping's favourite actors, is probably best known for his role as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the greatest TV show in the history of the medium (that doesn't have the words 'Doctor' and 'Who' in the title, anyway) The West Wing. Prior to that he'd been a memorable guest villain in an episode of The X Files. Since The West Wing ended in 2006 Brad has appeared in shows such as Aaron Sorkin's hugely under-rated Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, The Good Guys and as the serial killer Red John in The Mentalist. The Asset is being developed by Josh Friedman, whose previous credits include Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and The Finder. Hopefully, this one will be a bit better than those two. The BBC is this week piloting a new improvised comedy show, based around Twitter. The excellent Jarred Christmas, Tom Rosenthal, Humphrey Ker, Cariad Lloyd and Michael Legge are taking part in the trial episode of @cuff. The audience at the gig in The Tabernacle, in West London, will – unusually – be asked to keep their phones on during the show.
They will then be encouraged to tweet ideas, which appear in real time on a massive 'Twitter wall' next to the stage, with the best suggestions controlling the direction of the live comedy. If the show is picked up for broadcast, viewers at home could add suggestions live. Social media company Smesh is behind the technological side. Founder Tom Quick said: 'The marriage of comedy with this new technology is an amazing idea. It goes to show how social media can be used in so many interesting ways.' This is not the only TV show in development to revolve around Twitter. Jonathan Ross is also due to be hosting a pilot of a show called Trending Topics next month.It is often said that truth is stranger than fiction, dear blog reader, and in a case of life imitating art (in more ways than one), two iconic paintings with very close connections to Doctor Who have been hitting the headlines recently. Firstly, one of Edvard Munch's four versions of The Scream - which was a major influence on the design of the series six monsters The Silence - is to be exhibited in the UK before being auctioned in the USA by Sotheby's. It will be on display in London from 13 April and in New York from 27 April, with the auction taking place on 2 May, when it is estimated it could fetch more than fifty million smackers. This version - dated from 1895 and the only one to still be in private hands - is a pastel and is in the original frame which was hand-painted by the Norwegian artist himself. It also includes a poem by Munch explaining what inspired his sinister dystopian masterpiece.
The Scream is believed to be the second-most recognisable image in art and popular culture after the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. And by one of those strange coincidences that would be dismissed as 'too far fetched' if included in a work of fiction, another version of that particular masterpiece has also been causing a huge stir in the art world. The globally famous portrait - also titled La Gioconda - was a major plot point of the Tom Baker story City of Death (co-written by the show's then script editor, the late Douglas Adams). Now a copy of the picture - believed to have been painted by one of Leonardo's apprentices at the same time as the original - has been restored and displayed at the Prado Museum in Madrid, where it will be on display to the public until 13 March, after which it will be moved and hung next to Leonardo's original at the Louvre in Paris for an exhibition. The art, of course, lies in the fact that it is there. After the success of fly-on-the-wall documentary Educating Essex, Channel Four is looking for another school where it can film a follow-up series. The seven-part show capturing the daily lives of staff and pupils at Passmores Academy in Harlow, Essex, was filmed on sixty five cameras placed in fixed positions around the secondary school.
It drew a strong average audience of 2.4 million viewers per episode and was also something of a critical success. Praised for highlighting the challenges faced by the teaching profession, as well as for its even-handed portrayal of young people, Educating Essex was named in Radio Times top ten shows of 2011. David Clews, executive producer at Twofour Broadcast, who made the show for Channel Four, said: 'We're very excited about the prospect of building on the success of Educating Essex and would like to find a school to work in partnership with us to produce a new collection of warm, honest and important documentary programmes. In the same way as the first series, we don't want to shy away from the challenges that today's teachers face, nor avoid the awkward parts of growing up, but ultimately our aim is that these will be optimistic and celebratory films which sensitively explore the human relationships that lie at the heart of school life.'Actor Zach Braff learned about how famous his All New People co-star Eve Myles was by meeting her fans at the stage door: 'I didn't [know] until I got here,' he told STV. 'Eve does not play a very - how do I put this? - her character is not like a sex pot, hottie, and I'm seeing these pictures from Torchwood of her firing guns and these tight outfits, and I'm like "Eve?!"'
Is that what you're 'like' is it, Brad? Don't you mean 'I said' rather than 'I was like'? Anyway, crass Americanisms aside ... '[Torchwood has] become quite popular in the States, too, I have a friend who I didn't know even watched it, he was like "you're acting with Eve Myles!" He was freaking out. She's a wonderful, wonderful actress, and doing comedy for the first time, which people haven't seen - wait until they see how good she is at comedy.'Tribute has been paid to the comedian Ken Goodwin, who has died at the age of seventy eight. One of many personalities who rose to fame in the 1970s TV show The Comedians, Manchester-born Goodwin spent his retirement in Llandudno. He died on Saturday at a nursing home at Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy, after suffering from Alzheimer's for several years.
Among those who had worked with him was fellow comedian Frank Carson, eighty five, who also died this week. Goodwin's former manager and friend Clive Stock described him as 'a gentle man and a gentle comedian.' Stock said that his friend topped the bill at the London Palladium in the seventies after being discovered on the TV show, known for his catchphrase 'settle down, now.' Born in Manchester, Goodwin eventually moved to Llandudno with his wife, Vicki, near to Stock who also worked as a performer, before they retired. Stock said that Goodwin was a quiet man off-stage who saved his gags for the audience, preferring to perform to a live crowd on stage rather than before the TV cameras. His funeral is to be held at St Hilary's, Llanrhos, Llandudno, on Friday 2 March.Twenty-five thousand LPs, forty thousand singles and several thousand CDs from the collection of the late broadcaster and British icon John Peel are to become the musical exhibits of an interactive online museum. Peel was known for his wildly eclectic taste and as an unsurpassed champion of new music. He died of a heart attack, aged sixty five, in 2004, after more than three decades at the BBC and is still greatly missed by his hugely diverse fanbase, this blogger very much included.
Yer man Peel's legendary collection will form part of The Space, an experimental online service funded by the Arts Council and with support and development advice from the BBC. Tom Barker, the director of the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, said: 'It is the first step in creating an interactive online museum with access to the entire collection, one of the most important archives in modern music history.' Frank Prendergast of collaborators Eye Film and Television said: 'The idea is to digitally re-create John's home studio and record collection, which users will be able to interact with and contribute to, while viewing Peel's personal notes, archive performances and new filmed interviews with musicians.' Peel's widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, added: 'We're very happy that we've finally found a way to make John's amazing collection available to his fans, as he would have wanted. This project is only the beginning of something very exciting.' The Space will run from May to October on a variety of digital devices including PCs and smartphones and will also be available as a BBC red button service via Freeview HD.Our on-going series continues. The Silliest Names In Television. Number Four. Nina Nannar.
Resisting the overwhelming urge, therefore, to make today's Keith Telly Topping's 45 of the Day that single by Bad Manners (or, indeed, something from The Fall to fit in with the Peel story), instead, I've gone for Mick Jones's finest three minutes.
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