Archive for the ‘Freesat’ Category

US broadcaster CBS is to launch a range of branded digital channels in the UK.

The broadcasting network will work in conjunction with channel provider Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, which will rebrand six of its 26 services - Zone Romantica, Zone Thriller, Zone Horror and Zone Reality, Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1 - under the CBS banner. The channels have not yet been given new names.

CBS’s new UK themed channels, which will launch later this year, will feature programming from the network’s 70,000 hour back catalogue, including the 1980s soap opera Dynasty and the remastered version of the original series of Star Trek. In addition, the broadcaster will continue to acquire programming from third party suppliers.

The commercially funded Chello Zone channels are currently broadcast to over 13 million homes through Sky, Virgin Media and FreeSat. The rebranded CBS channels will continue to be operated by Chellomedia, but representatives from CBS will contribute to the shaping and day-to-day running of the channels.

American networks ABC, NBC and Fox have all run channels on British television, but this is the first time that CBS has launched such a venture, although its CBS Evening News programme already airs on Sky News.

“The CBS brand is recognised around the world for quality, both as a production studio and as a network,” said Armando Nuñez, president of CBS Studios International.

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Martin Freeman and Alexander Armstrong will star in a new BBC Four comedy drama celebrating the classic years of British computing in the 1980s.

Going under the working title Syntax Era, the show documents the on-going rivalry between maverick visionary Sir Clive Sinclair, played by Armstrong, and his former colleague Chris Curry (Freeman) as they go head to head to achieve domination of the growing home computer market.

“Those of us that lived through the eighties will remember the sense of excitement when gadgets and technology started to appear in our homes,” says Controller of BBC Four, Richard Klein.

“But not many of us will know the fascinating stories behind their arrival. Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman are excellent choices to portray Sir Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry at a time when battling to have the UK’s most loved home computer was their number one priority.”

The 90-minute drama was written by Tony Saint and uses archive footage from programme’s such as John Craven’s Newsround to illustrate the buzz around Sinclair and Curry’s inventions, as well as the infamous Sinclair C5 battery-powered tricycle.

MPs have rejected a Tory motion to freeze the BBC licence fee this year at £139.50 rather than raising it to £142.50 as planned.

After a heated debate in the Commons lasting almost two hours, 334 MPs rejected the motion, while 156 voted in favour.

During the debate, the Conservative chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, John Whittingdale, said that he had been “profoundly disturbed” by a speech made on Tuesday evening by Sir Michael Lyons in which the BBC Trust chairman criticised Tory plans to block a £3 raise to the licence fee, which currently brings the BBC £3.6 billion a year.

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Wallander, the Bafta award-winning BBC1 detective drama starring Kenneth Branagh in the title role, is to return for a second series.

The BBC says it is close to a deal with international partners in Germany, Sweden and the US to finance the new series. The original series is thought to have cost £7.5 million to produce. Left Bank Pictures, the independent production company behind the drama, has also started producing scripts for the second series, based on the novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell.

Casting has already begun, with Kenneth Branagh set to return as the glum Swedish detective Kurt Wallander who displays an almost morbid dedication to his work. Branagh will begin filming for the show before he begins directing the movie of Thor, the Norse god turned Marvel comics superhero.

BBC executives hope to air the new series in the autumn, although broadcasting could be shifted to next year if this proves more practical.

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A record number of adverts prompted complaints by viewers in 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority said in a report published today.

In its busiest ever year, the regulator received 26,433 complaints for 15,556 adverts - an increase of 9.3% on 2007. The number of rulings that were formally upheld increased by 27%, with 2,475 adverts being changed or withdrawn.

A campaign against child abuse by the charity Barnados drew the highest number of complaints for its repeated depictions of violence, including a child being slapped. Although 840 viewers complained about the advert, the ASA ruled that it had not breached its code, and that its aim “justified the use of strong imagery”.

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The actress Stephanie Parker, who starred in the long-running BBC Wales drama series Belonging has been found dead, just two days after the show’s last episode was broadcast.

22-year-old Parker’s body was found by a member of the public on open ground near Pontypridd, South Wales, at 6am on Saturday.

The actress had been a regular cast member of the award-winning BBC Wales drama Belonging since she was 15, playing the role of Stacey Weaver. The final episode of the series was broadcast across Wales last Thursday. Parker had also starred in Casualty and The Bill.

Belonging, in which Parker played Stacey Weaver, a young, working class mother living in the valleys of south Wales, was axed after nine series to make way for a new BBC Wales flagship drama.

“I can confirm that we investigated a report of a deceased woman on open ground near Pontypridd yesterday morning,” a police spokesman said. “The incident is not regarded as suspicious and a report has been passed on to the HM coroner.”

The spokesman confirmed that the body was that of Stephanie Parker.

Clare Hudson, BBC Wales Head of Programmes, English Language, said” “Everyone at BBC Wales - especially all those who worked on Belonging - is extremely saddened at the news of Stephanie’s tragic death.

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Red Dwarf star Chris Barrie has said he is keen to film a new series of the cult sci-fi show, after acting in a one-off Easter special entitled Red Dwarf: Back to Earth.

Originally launched in 1988, the hit programme is back with three new adventures written by Doug Naylor, which will air on digital channel Dave over Easter. But Chris Barrie, who played Arnold Rimmer on the show, told The Sun that the show could be back for a whole new series.

“We all think this could be the start of something big — perhaps a new mini-series, a film or just a series,” he said. “None of us has ever closed the door on Red Dwarf.”

Craig Charles, who played Dave Lister in the original show and joined Barrie for the Easter special has also expressed his interested in filming a new series. He said the whole cast was feeling immense “pressure” to make the comeback.

Speaking during a break in filming the Back to Earth episodes, Craig said “I wondered hard if we’re too fat and old and grey and past it? Can we recapture the magic? We’ve left such a great legacy. Then I read the script and thought I’ve gotta have some of this.”

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty could become a familiar face on British TV screens, according to reports.

The 33-year-old Indian actress and Celebrity Big Brother winner plans to spend much of her time in the UK after moving into a luxury £10 million home in Surrey with her partner Raj Kundra, whom she plans to marry, and is said to want to forge a career for herself over here.

According to The Daily Express, Shetty has been approached by BBC bosses to star in the hit soap EastEnders as a member of a new Asian family about to move into Albert Square. A friend said that the move would be a “springboard to long-term success in Britain”.

Shetty turned down the opportunity to appear in the soap in 2007 because she wanted to concentrate on her Bollywood career.

However, her agent Max Clifford said that Shetty had not yet agreed to appear in the soap, and was looking at several different roles. “I am talking to several TV people about potential work for Shilpa Shetty,” he said.

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Chris Tarrant has been arrested after allegedly attacking a woman at his home during a domestic incident.

Tarrant, who presents Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and The Colour of Money, was arrested in the early hours of the morning on 5th March at his house in Esher, Surrey, it has emerged. The 62-year-old was then taken to Staines police station where he was questioned and released without charge.

A Surrey police spokesman said: “Police officers attended an address in Esher at 12.58am on Thursday March 5 following reports of a domestic dispute.

“A man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to Staines police station. He was later released without any further action being taken.”

It is not known who made the phone call to the police, but it is believed that the alleged victim was not his former wife, Ingrid Dupre-Walsh. Currently Tarrant is dating Jane Bird, his girlfriend of almost three years.

The presenter’s love life has been a colourful one. Dupre-Walsh, is second wife, filed for divorce after details emerged of his seven year affair with primary school teacher Fiona McKechnie. Dupre-Walsh had hired private detectives to follow him, after she suspected he was being unfaithful. The divorce settlement saw his ex-wife awarded with almost half of his £25 million fortune.

Tarrant was also arrested in 2007 on suspicion of assault at an Indian restaurant in Nottingham, and received a formal police caution. He later admitted he did “lob” some cutlery at a neighbouring table in jest after asking the couple to leave him alone because he wanted to discuss work with a friend.

Last night American audiences watched in eager anticipation as George Clooney returned to the medical drama ER that shot him to fame as Dr Doug Ross.

The Hollywood heavyweight, who left the show in 1999, delighted ER fans by agreeing to come back for the final few episodes of the long-running series, although producers kept the date secret in order to boost ratings. He was joined by a host of other former stars who wanted to play their characters for one last time before the show’s US finale on 2nd April, including Eriq la Salle, who plays Dr Peter Benton, Noah Wyle, who portrays original favourite Dr John Carter, and Julianna Magulies, who plays his onscreen wife Carol Hathaway.

When Clooney left the show to work on the box office smashing Ocean’s 11 and critically acclaimed McCarthy-era drama Good Night and Good Luck, his character left to live in Seattle. Last night’s show saw Doug and Carol, now married with twin daughters, return to County General to persuade a woman played by Susan Sarandon to donate the organs of her brain-dead grandson.

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