THE FORSYTE SAGA 2002 MINI-SERIES

My latest TV obsession during the Lockdown of 2020 is The Forsyte Saga on Amazon Prime/PBS. The acting is superb, the writing is really tight and true to the classic books by John Galsworthy. Not your usual dry British period series. Gripping drama along with humor and touching interactions with its characters. It's so much better in my opinion than Downton Abbey as the plotlines are much more realistic.

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper-middle-class Forsyte family and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon, and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene. Original release‎: ‎7 January –; 1 July 1967

Then in 2002, a new version was filmed. The makers of the 2002 version of The Forsyte Saga felt that any new production would be compared with the 1967 version, which set the standards for period drama for the next 25 years.

The idea came initially from David Liddiment, ITV's director of channels, who seized on the Forsyte novels not only as a great achievement in English literature but also for their iconic status in British television.

Granada was thinking big from the outset of the project - this was clearly something that couldn't be dashed off as a two-parter. The initial plan was for two series, the first an adaptation of The Forsyte Saga and the second continuing with A Modern Comedy.

Sita Williams (fabulous!) attached herself to the project in late 1999 and by the start of 2000 was talking to writers and working on the adaptations. Casting began in 2001, first casting the leading roles of Soames, Irene, and Bosinney (Williams had seen Damian Lewis as Captain Winters in Band of Brothers). All of the casting choices are rock solid. The Full Cast is Here. Read the Episode Guide Here

BBC NEEDS THE CLASH FANS FOR NEW INTERVIEW PROJECT!

THE CLASH

BBC Studios are currently producing a major project about The Clash and the punk movement, and are reaching out to fans.

The BBC project will consist of an 8 part podcast series, charting the journey of the band in great detail from beginning to end. But alongside the podcast there will be three short films showcasing some of the best archive of The Clash playing live. We’re therefore looking for fans who were at the following gigs and are willing to share their memories with them:

- Roxy New Year’s Day - January 1st 1977
- Munich, Schwabinger Brau - October 4th 1977
- Rock Against Racism, Victoria Park, London - April 30th 1978
- Glasgow Apollo - 4th July 1978
- Bonds Times Square gigs - May & June 1981
- Shea Stadium, New York with The Who - Oct 12th & 13th 1981

***They’re also keen now to find fans who were at the 16 Tons Tour in Scotland in early 1980 – there’s some fantastic BBC archive of those gigs from the Nationwide programme, with interviews with the fans.***

We would love to hear from fans whose lives were changed by the band. Do you have specific memories of hearing your first Clash record – was it a big deal, hearing their music for the first time, can you remember where you were, what was going on your life, and what emotions hearing their music sparked in you?

They’re looking for interesting anecdotes or experiences which might relate to the following themes:

- finding your favourite band and feeling like you’re hearing music for the first time - finally this is something that speaks to you
- the shock of early Punk
- the look and early fashion of punk
- the experience of punk from the suburbs
- the experience of being let into gigs for free or hanging with the band
- the band influencing or interacting with politics, class, gender and race - music with a message that you thought was important
- the band transcending punk and going mainstream - for good or bad - and breaking America
- what was it like hearing that various members had left the band, or when they split up.

Please get in touch...…….

DOWNTON ABBEY RETURNS TO BIG SCREEN!

Welcome back to Downton! We’re thrilled to announce that Downton Abbey is coming to the big screen. Film production begins this summer.

SEX PISTOLS: GOD SAVE THE QUEEN BANNED BY THE BBC 5-31-1977

ON THIS DAY THE BBC BANS THE SEX PISTOLS 1977

Thirty years after its release, John Lydon—better known as Johnny Rotten—offered this assessment of the song that made the Sex Pistols the most reviled and revered figures in England in the spring of 1977: “There are not many songs written over baked beans at the breakfast table that went on to divide a nation and force a change in popular culture.”

Timed with typical Sex Pistols flair to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, the release of “God Save The Queen” was greeted by precisely the torrent of negative press that Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren had hoped.

On May 31, 1977, the song earned a total ban on radio airplay from the BBC—a kiss of death for a normal pop single, but a powerful endorsement for an anti-establishment rant like “God Save The Queen.”

While some in the tabloid press accused the Sex Pistols of treason and called for their public hanging, the BBC was more moderate in its condemnation. In response to lyrics like “God Save The Queen/She ain’t no human being,” the BBC labeled the record an example of “gross bad taste”—a difficult charge to argue, and one the Sex Pistols wouldn’t have wanted to dispute.

Even with the radio ban in place, however, and with major retailers like Woolworth refusing to sell the controversial single, “God Save The Queen” flew off the shelves of the stores that did carry it, selling up to 150,000 copies a day in late May and early June.

With sales figures like that, it seems implausible that “God Save The Queen” really stalled at #2 on the official UK pop charts, yet that is where it appeared, as a blank entry below “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” by Rod Stewart, the ultimate anti-punk.

Like every other effort to suppress the song, refusing even to print its name in the official pop charts played right into the Sex Pistols’ hands64

BBC SERIES ORPHAN BLACK BEGINS FINAL SEASON ON JUNE 10

This show is one of the best television shows to come from the BBC in my opinion period. The lead actress Tatiana Maslany is beyond amazing. I want to tell all my friends about this show but to do so you would have to give away the plot! If I say it has cloning in it, people I know shut done and won't listen anymore to joy of this show.

So try not to make snap judgments and watch the trailer....then you can binge watch 4 seasons before the new season begins. Comcast has all for seasons online and on VOD.

“We are excited to deliver an epic conclusion to the tale of Sarah and her clone sisters,” co-creators John Fawcett and Manson previously said in a joint statement. “The past four seasons have been a phenomenal adventure and we are eternally grateful to our loyal fans who have loved the twists and thrills of our weird little show. We are thankful to our partners at Temple Street, and to BBC America and Space for their support and giving us the opportunity to end on a high.”

BBC America announced he sci-fi drama‘s fifth season will launch on Saturday, June 10 at 10 p.m. ET.

The clone sisterhood has been through it all together. From assassinations, detrimental illnesses, monitors and accidental murders to suburban drug fronts, kidnappings, male clones and biological warfare – there isn’t anything this lot hasn’t experienced. But through it all, they’ve remained united in their love and mission to keep each other safe at all costs. They’ve sacrificed their families, the loves of their lives, and any true sense of normalcy, all for the chance to liberate themselves from forces much bigger than any one of them. This season, they must all fight for the family they’ve chosen, for a new future and ultimately, for freedom.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE NOW ON HBO GO!

After attracting both media and police attention for accidentally knocking Kate Moss into the River Thames, Edina and Patsy hide out in the south of France.

ABFAB MOVIE ON HBO GO

ABFAB 6 SEASONS ON NETFLIX

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is a 2016 British female buddy comedy film directed by Mandie Fletcher and written by Jennifer Saunders, based on the television show Absolutely Fabulous.

The film stars Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks.Principal photography began on 12 October 2015 in the south of France. Theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2016, the film is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures worldwide.

DOWNTON ABBEY THE FINAL SEASON

What's ahead for the premiere of Downton Abbey, Season 6? The stars found out as they reconvened for a read-through of new Season 6 scripts! See images of the cast and producers gathered together to catch up with dear friends and kick off work on the new and final season of Downton Abbey. 

Downton Abbey Cast Gathers for Season 6

Judging from the delight, laughs, and concentration evident in the images, Downton Abbey fans will be in for a treat when the season premieres on Sunday, January 3rd, 2016 on MASTERPIECE!

TODD RUNDGREN AT THE BBC 4 DISC SET!

 

Todd Rundgren At The BBC Four-Disc Collection Released By Esoteric Recordings

An extensive 4 disc clamshell boxed set featuring 3CDs & a DVD (NTSC Region Free) featuring all of Todd Rundgren’s BBC radio & television performances between 1972 & 1982!

London, UK – Todd Rundgren fans rejoice! Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever official release of TODD RUNDGREN AT THE BBC. This four-disc collection comprises three CDs and a DVD (NTSC / Region Free) featuring all of the surviving radio and television broadcasts in the BBC archive transmitted on radio and television in the UK between 1972 and 1982. The set features on CD Todd’s solo 1972 BBC Radio One “In Concert” performance, recorded soon after the release of his seminal album “Something Anything”, the classic 1975 performance by Todd Rundgren and Utopia at Hammersmith Odeon, London, (including a previously unreleased track “Something’s Coming”) – on the first ever UK concert tour of Todd Rundgren and Utopia, a 1977 performance at the Oxford Polytechnic by Todd Rundgren and Utopia (promoting the “Ra” album), and a DVD featuring three different performances for the classic “Old Grey Whistle Test” series; the 1975 Todd Rundgren and Utopia session, a film of Todd Rundgren & Utopia at the Bearsville Picnic in 1977 (performing “Singring and the Glass Guitar”) and the entire recordings made for a 1982 solo Todd Rundgren Whistle Test special (including two songs not featured on the original TV broadcast).

This set is sure to delight the legions of Todd Rundgren fans and is a superb document of Todd’s continuing development as both a solo artist and with his band Utopia between 1972 and 1982.
“Todd Rundgren at the BBC” has been remastered and authored from the original BBC masters and is presented in a clamshell box with a booklet featuring a new essay.

*An extensive 4 disc clamshell boxed set featuring 3CDs & a DVD (NTSC Region Free)
*Featuring all of Todd Rundgren’s BBC radio & television performances between 1972 & 1982
*With 30 previously unreleased tracks on CD & DVD including two never broadcast songs from Todd's 1982 Old Grey Whistle Test special
*Remastered from the original BBC master tapes
*Includes illustrated booklet

CD Disc 1

Todd Rundgren:

1. I Saw the Light

2. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference

3. Piss Aaron

4. Hello It’s Me

5. Be Nice to Me

6. Black Maria

BBC Radio One “In Concert”

Recorded at the Paris Theatre, London 6th July 1972

First broadcast 15th July 1972

Todd Rundgren & Utopia:

7. Real Man

8. The Seven Rays

The Old Grey Whistle Test – 14th October 1975

CD Disc 2

Todd Rundgren & Utopia:

1. Freedom Fighters

2. Mister Triskets

3. Something’s Coming

4. The Last Ride

5. Sunset Boulevard / Le Feel Internacionale

6. Heavy Metal Kids

7. The Wheel

8. Open My Eyes

9. Sons of 1984

10. Do Ya

11. Couldn’t I Just Tell You

Recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, 9th October 1975

First broadcast on BBC Radio One on 1st January 1976

CD Disc 3
Todd Rundgren & Utopia:

1. Communion with the Sun
2. Love of the Common Man
3. Sunburst Finish
4. Jealousy
5. Windows
6. Singring and the Glass Guitar
7. Utopia Theme

Recorded at Oxford Polytechnic, 25th January 1977
for BBC Radio One

DVD Disc 4 - NTSC /Region Free

Todd Rundgren & Utopia:

1. Real Man
2. The Seven Rays

The Old Grey Whistle Test – 14th October 1975

Todd Rundgren & Utopia:

3. Bearsville Picnic
Featuring “Singring and the Glass Guitar”

The Old Grey Whistle Test – 2nd May 1978

Todd Rundgren:

4. Love of the Common Man
5. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
6. Too Far Gone
7. Can We Still Be Friends
8. The Song of the Viking
9. Compassion
10. Lysistrata
11. Tiny Demons
12. Time Heals (promotional video)
13. One World
14. A Dream Goes on Forever

The Old Grey Whistle Test – 3rd June 1982

To purchase Todd Rundgren At The BBC: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=4865