CUSTARD TV News Update: Cast announced for Inside No.9, Strictly Come Dancing Couples, Hollington Drive trailer
Welcome to another look at a round-up of all the TV news that has broken over the last few days.
*The BBC has confirmed that the seventh series of Reece Shearmsith and Steve Pemberton's comedy anthology has started filming. Headlining series seven are Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Good Omens), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, The OA), Sophie Okonedo (The Escape Artist, Britannia), Jessica Hynes (There She Goes, W1A), Diane Morgan (Mandy, Motherland), Daisy Haggard (Back to Life, Breeders), Annette Badland (EastEnders, Doctor Who), Siobhan Redmond (The Replacement, Unforgotten) and Ron Cook (Hot Fuzz, The Salisbury Poisonings).
Also set to feature in the upcoming series is Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s fellow co-creator, writer and star from The League of Gentlemen, Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Dracula). Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton say: "We hope you'll join us and another incredible cast of actors for more surprises that will make your jaws drop and spines tingle. Heads might even roll, and if not heads, definitely eyes.“
*Strictly Come Dancing[/b] returned last night with the obligatory launch show which saw the fifteen celebrities paired up with their professional dancers. Oti Mabuse, winner of the show for the past two years, is looking to make it a three-peat with former rugby star Ugo Monye. The first all male dancing pair was also revealed with chef John Waite being paired with Johannes Radebe. Eastenders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis is making history as the show's first deaf contestant and will be dancing with Giovanni Pernice. Meanwhile, Katya Jones is teaming up with her second Olympian in a row as she has been paired with swimming hero Adam Peaty.
After his bandmate Harry Judd won the show in 2011, McFly's Tom Fletcher has his eyes on the win with his partnership with Amy Dowden. Two of the shows newest pros have also been coupled up as Kai Widdrington has been paired with AJ Odudu and Nikitia Kuzmin is dancing with the show's youngest contestant Tilly Ramsay. The show's longest serving pro dancer Karen Haeur will be dancing this year with The Crown's Greg Wise whilst the longest tenured male pro Aljaz Skorjanec is paired with Dragon's Den's Sara Davies. BBC Breakfast's Dan Walker will be strutting his stuff alongside Nadia Byckova whilst soap actress Katie McGlynn has been paired with Gorka Marquez.
Elsewhere, Nancy Xu has been given her first partner on the show as she teams up with CBBC's Rhys Stevenson. Rounding off the field is a trio of comedians as Robert Webb, Nina Wadia and Judi Love have been paired with Dianne Buswell, Neil Jones and Graziano Di Pprima respectively. This year's Strictly also sees a change on the judging panel with Anton Du Beke haning up his ballroom shoes to replace Bruno Torlioni whose commitments to Dancing with the Stars mean that he is unable to be in the UK due to travel restrictions. All fifteen pairs will be dancing together on Strictly's first proper show this coming Saturday.
*ITV has released the first trailer for upcoming drama Hollington Drive.[/i] The four-part drama from acclaimed screenwriter Sophie Petzal stars Anna Maxwell Martin and Rachael Stirling as sisters.
On a Summer evening in the seemingly idyllic suburb of Hollington Drive, 10-year-old Alex Boyd is declared missing. Sisters and social pillars within the community, Theresa and Helen, struggle to hold their lives and their families together in the wake of this tragedy. Secrets and lies begin to surface and long-held facades falter as grief rips through Hollington Drive. The series will start at 9pm on Wednesday 29th September on ITV.
*Piers Morgan is set to return to TV to front a show on NewsCorp's new channel TalkTV which will debut in early 2022. Morgan's new programme is also set to air on Fox Nation in the US and Sky News in Australia.
*Netflix have announced the line-up for their first virtual festival - Tudum, which is due to air across various media platforms next weekend. Featuring representatives from several of Netflix's biggest shows such as Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Crown and The Umbrella Academy, the event will be broadcast across Netflix’s YouTube channels worldwide, in addition to Twitter, Twitch and Facebook. Netflix have also released a trailer for the event.
*Three brand new Grace films, adapted from international bestselling author Peter James’s award-winning novels, have commenced filming in Brighton with John Simm in the lead role of the tenacious detective. Acclaimed screenwriter and Endeavour creator, Russell Lewis, has adapted the 3 screenplays entitled Not Dead Enough, Dead Man’s Footsteps and Dead Tomorrow which are devoted to the work of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a hard-working police officer who has given his life to the job, but walks a career tightrope, as he has the capacity to clash with his boss, ACC Vosper.
*Hulu has released the first full trailer for their new mini-series Dopesick which will stream on Disney+ in the UK. From Executive Producer Danny Strong and starring and executive produced by Michael Keaton, Dopesick examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicentre of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA. Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter, Rosario Dawson and Kaitlyn Dever star alongside Keaton in the series which will premiere on Hulu on Wednesday 13th October and is expected around the same on Disney+
*E4 are set to air a reboot of the classic 1990s show Gamesmaster. In partnership with Oculus Quest 2 from Facebook, the three hour-long episodes will initially air on E4's YouTube page before being released on the channel at a later date. The series will see celebrities, gaming stars and super fans all take part in challenges, races and epic fights. However, it is yet to be announced who will be taking over the role of the titular Games Master from the late Sir Patrick Moore.
*BBC One have release new images of their new adaptation of Around the World in Eight Days. Coming later in the year, this dramatisation of Jules Verne's classic novel sees David Tennant portray Phileas Fogg alongside Ibrahim Koma as the mercurial Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as young journalist Abigail ‘Fix’ Fortescue.
*The 37th annual Television Critics Association’s 2021 Awards have taken place in the US. Apple's Ted Lasso won in three of the five categories in which it was nominated. Among all platforms, it was HBO/HBO Max that edged Apple TV+ and nominations leader Netflix as Michaela Coel earned achievement in drama for I May Destroy You; Jean Smart bested Sudeikis for comedy for her role in HBO Max comedy Hacks. Mare of Easttown collected the win for limited series, and John Oliver continued to rule the variety category. Netflix earned three wins, including drama for The Crown.
* BBC One have announced that Mrs. Brown's Boys will return for a one-off live special on Halloween to mark ten years since the sitcom first aired on TV.
* Schitt's Creek creator Dan Levy has signed a new deal to write and produce scripted content and other creative projects for Netflix. Levy's work will begin on an untitled romantic comedy film before working on his first series in 2022.
*Gogglebox's Paige Deville has revealed on Twitter that she will not be returning to the show. Appearing on the Channel 4 programme since 2019 alongside her mother Sally, Paige had revealed that the long hours and the restrictiveness influenced her decision to leave. Also not returning to the show for the time being are Marina Wingrove, Linda McGarry and The Michael family following the recent passings of Marina's friend Mary Cook, Linda's husband Pete and Michael family patriarch Andy.
*Legendary chess player Nona Gaprindashvili has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix based on a comment made in the final episode of The Queen's Gambit. Whilst the Netflix drama focused on the fictional Beth Harmon, a commentator in the show's finale stated that Gaprindashvili had never faced male players. The 25-page case filed in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday said: "Netflix brazenly and deliberately lied about Gaprindashvili's achievements for the cheap and cynical purpose of 'heightening the drama' by making it appear that its fictional hero had managed to do what no other woman, including Gaprindashvili, had done." Netflix said the claim had 'no merit' and would 'vigorously defend the case.'
*HBO have released a new trailer for the third season of Succession [/i]ahead of its October 17th debut.
*And finally Paralympian Kadeena Cox MBE has won this year's series of Celebrity Masterchef [/b]beating former Eastenders actor Joe Swash and reality star Megan McKenna in Friday's final.
Once again, we'd appreciate any feedback to this new format of the news update and whether you feel we should make any changes to it.
