Category Archives: Television

‘How on earth can Barnaby be sexy?’, asks John Nettles

Posted on December 1, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – John Nettles, who has decided to leave his long-running hit show “Midsomer Murders”, is considerably more colourful than his screen role although that has made little difference to fans of the show in more than 230 territories around … Continue reading →

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McCartney, Coldplay winners at ASCAP London awards

Posted on October 15, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Paul McCartney was named songwriter of the year at the 29th annual ASCAP Awards in London on Wednesday night, as Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” won song of the year and Universal Music collected the publisher … Continue reading →

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When Mackenzie Phillips was fired from ‘One Day at a Time’

Posted on September 26, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Mackenzie Phillips has written a memoir titled “High On Arrival” in which she says that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. Family members have fallen … Continue reading →

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TV REVIEW: James Nesbitt in BBC Iraq drama, ‘Occupation’

Posted on June 16, 2009 by admin

  By Ray Bennett LONDON – James Nesbitt has come a long way since he first attracted notice in ITV’s “Cold Feet” in 1987 and he shows that he’s become a fine actor in “Occupation”, a three-part drama about British soldiers … Continue reading →

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Sean Bean is up to his old tricks in ‘Sharpe’s Peril’

Posted on November 2, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett Sean Bean admires Bernard Cornwell’s novels about the swashbuckling soldier he plays in the Sharpe films but he takes great delight in the slight change he made to the character.  “He’s supposed to be from London,” grins Bean. … Continue reading →

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BSkyB doubles its culture shows with Sky Arts 2

Posted on August 19, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Classical music and opera will be front and centre on a new channel called Sky Arts 2 being launched Oct. 20 by British Sky Broadcasting featuring new shows from performers such as Vanessa Mae (pictured). … Continue reading →

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‘English Patient’ director Anthony Minghella dies

Posted on March 18, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett Oscar-winning British film director Anthony Minghella, whose epic “The English Patient” won nine 1997 Academy Awards including best picture, has died. He was 54. Minghella’s agent said he died Tuesday morning of a brain hemorhage. “He was … Continue reading →

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TV REVIEW: ‘Moving Wallpaper’ / ‘Echo Beach’

Posted on January 10, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Comedies set behind the scenes at television shows have met with varying success in the past, but Tony Jordan’s “Moving Wallpaper”/”Echo Beach” goes one step further by combining backstage antics with the finished product. “Moving … Continue reading →

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TV REVIEW: Dickens’s ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’

Posted on December 26, 2007 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Far from chestnuts roasting and choristers singing, Charles Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop” is a curiously bleak tale for Christmas. Famous for the death scene of a most sympathetic character, it’s a sorrowful story of … Continue reading →

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Joni Mitchell still has that ‘Shine’

Posted on December 2, 2007 by admin

Cigarette in hand, Joni Mitchell was in fine form on the BBC’s Sunday morning public affairs program “The Andrew Marr Show” today. Speaking from Los Angeles, Mitchell was unapologetic about releasing “Shine,” her first album in about 10 years, through … Continue reading →

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