Latest news with #SaturdayNightLiveUK
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
First Pics Land Of Tom Hollander & Niamh Algar In Sky's ‘The Iris Affair'; BBC Adapting ‘Crookhaven'; Adam Curtis Unveils Next Project; ‘Patience' Renewed For Season 2 At Channel 4
First Pics Land Of Tom Hollander & Niamh Algar In Sky's 'The Iris Affair' First pics have landed of Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar in Sky's The Iris Affair from Neil Cross. The tense thriller follows enigmatic genius Iris Nixon (Algar), who cracks a string of complex online puzzles and is led to a piazza in Florence where she meets charismatic entrepreneur Cameron Beck (Hollander). He invites her to come and work for him to unlock a powerful and top-secret piece of technology. The show comes from the creator of Luther and is one of Sky's buzziest upcoming dramas. More pics can be viewed below. It is made by Sky Studios and Fremantle. The Iris Affair will launch later this year. More from Deadline 'Britannia' Theft Lawsuit Thrown Out Of Court; Producer Laments Wasted Time & Money 'Saturday Night Live UK' Commissioner Says British Version Is A "Risky Proposition": "We Don't Have That History Of Live Comedy In The UK" 'Saturday Night Live UK' Eyes 'Late Late Show' Producer James Longman As Showrunner BBC Adapting 'Crookhaven' The BBC is adapting J.J. Arcanjo's Crookhaven as a kids TV series. The family adventure show is set at mysterious Crookhaven School where high achieving young crooks from across the world are secretly selected to hone their skills in disciplines such as deception, crimnastics, forgery and infiltration. It follows high-profile BBC kids adaptations of The Famous Five and Oliver. BBC Studios is producing. 'I have always aimed to excite and inspire the young readers who pick up my books, but also the parents and grandparents who journey with them to my worlds and the TV series aligns perfectly with that,' said Arcanjo. 'Together with BBC Children's and Education we have created a fun family show filled with humour, heart and plenty of clever twists.' Adam Curtis Unveils Next Project Celebrated documentarian Adam Curtis' latest BBC project will chart how extreme money and hyper-individualism came together in an unspoken alliance in Britain over four decades. Shifty aims to show how together these issues undermined one of the fundamental structures of mass democracy – that it could create a shared idea of what was real. Four-time BAFTA-winner Curtis has previously made Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone and HyperNormalisation for the BBC. The films 'tell the story of the rise of that unstable and confusing world from the 1980s to now,' said the BBC. 'Patience' Renewed For Season 2 At Channel 4 Channel 4's Patience has been renewed for an extended eight episode second season. Jessica Hynes has joined the cast of the series about a young autistic archivist who works in the police criminal records department of City of York Police after establishing herself as an invaluable member of the team. Hynes plays Detective Frankie Monroe, who brings a very different management style proving tricky for them both to navigate. The show is produced by Walter Iuzzolino's Eagle Eye Drama. 'We're so proud of Patience's success in the UK and the extended recommission is a real testament to the quality of our cast and talented crew, guided by our outstanding director Maarten Moerkerke,' said Jo McGrath, Chief Creative Officer at Eagle of Deadline Where To Watch All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies: Streamers With Multiple Films In The Franchise Everything We Know About 'My Life With The Walter Boys' Season 2 So Far 'Bridgerton' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crisis? What Crisis? ITV Studios Bosses Reject Talk Of Gloom In The Scripted Market But Note British Limited Series Are Under Threat
Bosses at ITV Studios have rejected the notion that there is a UK scripted funding crisis while batting away questions around sale rumors. Speaking at the Creative Cities Convention (CCC), MD Julian Bellamy and sales boss Ruth Berry struck an upbeat tone as they refused to accept that the drama market is in crisis despite it being labelled as such by numerous industry figures. More from Deadline Legacy Media? UK Pubcasters Balk At Outdated Term & Say "We've Got To Be Phoenixes Rising From The Ashes" 'Saturday Night Live UK' Commissioner Says British Version Is A "Risky Proposition": "We Don't Have That History Of Live Comedy In The UK" Paramount UK & All3Media Bosses Debate Trump Tariff Plan Spooking The Industry: "Let's Keep Calm & See What Happens" 'I don't subscribe to the word 'crisis',' said Bellamy, flagging that three of the five biggest British dramas in the past year were made by ITV Studios – four if you include The Gentlemen from newly acquired Moonage Pictures. 'You have to take a step back. We have a pretty strong track record and scripted is a key growth engine.' Bellamy did note that the U.S. co-pro market is 'challenging' and 'very British limited series that don't have a lot of international resonance ' are becoming harder to get off the ground, as he joined industry calls for an enhanced high-end TV tax credit. Concurring with Bellamy, Berry said 'crisis feels a strong word' but it's all about level of risk. 'Cost inflation has outstripped sales inflation,' she noted. 'You have to take a portfolio view and that is where we are very fortunate with the scale of our business. It's not a crisis but it's about being careful across the group and being on top of market trends to make the decisions that we are.' ITV Studios hits over the past year or so include the likes of Mr Bates vs the Post Office, although that one remains unsold in most territories. The super-indie has spent big on scripted outfits in recent months, buying Moonage, Eagle Eye Drama and Sherlock maker Hartswood Films. Yesterday at the CCC, the writer of Mr Bates, Gwyneth Hughes, suggested there is 'overstaffing' of TV crews and these crews should slim down in order to save money. While striking a more optimistic tone, Bellamy said producers could 'develop fewer, bigger things for market or take them slightly later' to commissioners in order to act smarter and negate rising costs. Sale rumors Rumors swirl around the sale of ITV Studios, with both RedBird IMI and Banijay understood to be showing keen interest. Bellamy declined comment on the sale talk but said he is happy with the production arm's current scale following the splashy scripted indie buys. He said 'we don't engage with most approaches for investment and are highly disciplined.' 'We're open to any opportunities to build out our studio group but we're comfortable with our scale,' he said. 'The scale debate was happening when I started nine years ago. To me it's still fundamentally quite straightforward – if you are looking to scale it has to be the right fit.' Bellamy and Berry were speaking on the second day of the CCC before BBC Director General Tim Davie. Best of Deadline Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025 TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legacy Media? UK Pubcasters Balk At Outdated Term & Say 'We've Got To Be Phoenixes Rising From The Ashes'
The phrase 'legacy media' has been tossed around a fair bit at the Creative Cities Convention (CCC) this week but senior execs at the broadcasters are less than happy about it. 'Legacy media' was raised as a synonym for the public broadcasters during yesterday's session with YouTube boss Alison Lomax in order to differentiate between the older networks and the Google-owned social platform, as chatter about the future of broadcasting dominates here in Bradford. More from Deadline No Pope Yet: Vatican Conclave Blows Black Smoke On 1st Day Of Vote For New Pontiff 'Saturday Night Live UK' Commissioner Says British Version Is A "Risky Proposition": "We Don't Have That History Of Live Comedy In The UK" Paramount UK & All3Media Bosses Debate Trump Tariff Plan Spooking The Industry: "Let's Keep Calm & See What Happens" But disgruntled mutterings about the term could immediately be heard in the crowd and at the All3Media-sponsored afterparty, as the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 set out to prove they are looking to the future and are in no way, in fact, 'legacy' brands. Veteran ITV factual boss Jo Clinton-Davis laid down a marker this morning for these 'legacy' channels to think more deeply about where they premiere their content, whether it be terrestrial, BVoD or YouTube. 'We may be legacy media but f**k me we've got to be phoenixes rising from the ashes,' she said. 'We have to be resurgent and find these new places for the audience to see what's there.' Lomax was a good get for the Creative Cities. She shared the stage with Channel 4 digital execs who work across the network's YouTube strategy, and the group spoke about how barriers are breaking down between traditional TV and social platforms as older age demographics become au fait with YouTube. One of the architects of that Channel 4 strategy, CEO Alex Mahon, is on the way out, and her replacement will likely need to think just as hard about YouTube as she has. Speaking alongside a group of factual commissioners at rival networks this morning, Clinton-Davis said producers need to think first and foremost of pitching the best ideas, with less thought required around where a show lands. 'You don't have to take on board the whole business landscape,' she said, as she addressed budding producers directly. 'If you have a great idea that makes you stand out and has drama, spoiler alerts and repeatability then we can run with that. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Come with a clear proposition.' BBC daytime exec Helen Munson concurred, telling producers not to 'overthink strategy' but rather leave it to the commissioners. But Jo Street, who runs daytime, features and lifestyle commissioning for Channel 4, said that commissioners have a 'duty of care to convey strategy and help the sector understand' where shows should play. 'We have a job in lifestyle because I don't want anyone to hear that 8 p.m. [terrestrial slots] don't matter anymore because they do,' she added. 'People still watch a lot of telly on that thing in the corner of their living room at the time it is on. We have a job to convey that strategy, what it means and how it is changing.' She used the example of Married at First Sight, which has been a huge streaming hit for Channel 4 but also pulls in strong overnights. As broadcasters think more and more about how to retain young audiences, debates around the strength of linear, YouTube and where a show lands rumble on. Someone who will be thinking hard about these debates will be BBC Director General Tim Davie, who addresses the CCC later today. He may also be keen to put some distance between the notion of 'legacy media' and his own 100-year-old organization. Best of Deadline Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025 TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far
Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘The BBC made a mistake letting Jeremy Clarkson go'
Peter Fincham and his sparring partner of 50 years, Jimmy Mulville, are two of the most venerable old heads in British television and between them are responsible for some of the most celebrated shows of the past few decades, from Alan Partridge to Have I Got News For You. Now the old dogs have a new trick – a podcast. Insiders: The TV Podcast, which launched a few weeks ago, features a conversation between the producers in which they pick apart the issues of the day. Topics are given to them in sealed envelopes – the proposed levy on the streaming services, Saturday Night Live UK, the death of linear scheduling – and the pair apply their decades of experience to provide genuinely illuminating insight. It is not, they insist, The Rest is Entertainment, Marina Hyde and Richard Osman 's podcast juggernaut which often looks behind the scenes of television, although that show has proved the appetite for insider knowledge of an industry in a constant state of flux. Fincham and Mulville have been there and got the t-shirt – there is no corner of the TV industry that they don't know. Other TV podcasts exist – the BBC's Obsessed With…, Must Watch, and Off the Telly, or Empire's Pilot TV – but these are critic or fan-led review shows. 'Experience always trumps opinion,' says Mulville. Naturally, the pair have anecdotes galore to sprinkle over the episodes. In the opener, Mulville is particularly entertaining about working on American adaptations of British shows, from Have I Got News For You ('They didn't want it to be too newsy') to Father Ted ('They asked if they really had to be Catholic priests'). Episode three also provided an entertaining analysis of when Mulville offered to buy BBC Three from the BBC for a pound. Crucially, the pair are not here to lay into the TV industry. Quite the opposite. 'We love television,' says Fincham. 'It's easy to construct an argument saying the BBC is doomed or whatever channel is going to fail, but we believe there's a great future. People say, 'British television is dying. Oh and by the way, have you seen Adolescence?'.' The pair met 50 years at the Cambridge Footlights (alongside actor Robert Bathurst and theatre director Nick Hytner) and have been involved in a friendly rivalry ever since. Fincham, 68, joined Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones's fledgling TalkBalk Productions in 1985 before turning it into a British comedy powerhouse, producing The Day Today, the Partridge shows, and Smack the Pony. He went on to become the controller of BBC One and then the Director of Television at ITV. Mulville, 70, continued writing and acting after Cambridge, notably in the cult sketch show Who Dares Wins, before co-founding Hat Trick Productions, whose numerous credits include Father Ted, Derry Girls, and Outnumbered. And the pair are still making waves in the TV industry. Fincham's Expectation TV has recently produced the acclaimed, Bafta-winning BBC comedy-dramas Alma's Not Normal, as well as Clarkson's Farm, while our conversation is conducted over Zoom because Mulville is currently in South Korea finding partners for a new Seoul-set drama (on the day we speak, he had lunch with no less than Hwang Dong-hyuk, aka Mr Squid Game). No wonder the pair believe the industry is in rude health. Their wide experience has made them come to the same conclusion – that predicting the future of television is futile. Fincham highlights the rise of YouTube 20 years ago. 'Everyone said it would kill our attention spans, but what happened next? The rise of the boxset drama. They said YouTube would destroy television. They say lots of things will destroy television. Ever since I began, they've been walking about with signs saying 'The End is Nigh'.' While Mulville states that commissioners need to have rules – 'Otherwise you wouldn't say no to anything' – the industry lives on a wing and a prayer. When Father Ted won a Bafta in 1998, the then controller of Channel 4, Michael Grade, sent Mulville a note saying that he didn't get the show when Mulville pitched it, he didn't get it when they made it and he didn't get it when he watched it, but 'thank God you brought it to Channel 4'. Comedy, of course, is one of the hot topics in TV, particularly in Britain where its diminished presence is lamented. 'Every few years a journalist rings me up to ask if British TV comedy is dead,' says Mulville. 'That's going back more than 30 years. But I think we are going through a bad time in terms of comedy commissioning. I think people are now worried because when you launch a bad comedy, you offend people. If you launch a bad drama, people aren't that bothered. But a bad comedy? It's like you've done a s— on their carpet. They hate you for it.' Something they hope to swerve in the podcast is too much BBC-bashing. 'I didn't like it when I was at the BBC,' says Fincham, 'my predecessors weighing in, telling me how to do my job. So I am not going to tell the people at the BBC how to do their job. But people are far more interested in the BBC than anything else. For 11 years I went to the Edinburgh TV Festival, three years for the BBC, eight years for ITV. And for the first three years, people asked me about the BBC. And for the next eight years, guess what, they asked me about the BBC. So I won't be an armchair critic.' Despite that, could the BBC, as Gary Lineker said recently, be bolder in defending itself, stick up more for those who love the BBC rather than pander to those who hate it? 'I think I know what Gary means,' says Fincham. 'I think the BBC can, at times, undervalue its audience, who are older let's be honest, because they take them for granted and become obsessed with getting younger audiences in.' The non-armchair critic warms to his subject. 'I'll say this actually – I make Clarkson's Farm, and the BBC never needed to let Jeremy Clarkson go. It was a straightforward mistake. They could have found ways of not letting him go. And Clarkson's Farm is the perfect Reithian show – it informs, educates and entertains in equal measure. And it's on Amazon. There's a wider issue here that we could talk about all afternoon, that recurring thing of talent that becomes problematically too big for the BBC and then becomes very difficult to handle. But that's as far as I'll go with that one.' One for a future podcast episode, perhaps. Mulville, like Lineker, is more bullish. 'The BBC should get out there and say, 'Yeah, we make mistakes. F— it. We broadcast 1000s of hours a week on TV and radio, we're bound to make mistakes. We can be a bit stupid sometimes, but so what? We're a brilliant organisation.' They should take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book and just talk about how wonderful they are. Because if it wasn't there, we'd miss it.'
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Quinta Brunson To Return As ‘Saturday Night Live' Host With Musical Guest Benson Boone
Quinta Brunson is returning to host Saturday Night Live again. The Abbott Elementary star and creator will host for the second time on May 3 with musical guest Benson Boone, who is making his debut on the sketch comedy series. More from Deadline 'Saturday Night Live' Opens With Donald Trump Comparing Himself To The Messiah -- "Because Of The Mess I, Ah, Made Out Of The Economy" 'Saturday Night Live UK' Eyes 'Late Late Show' Producer James Longman As Showrunner Bowen Yang Begged Lorne Michaels "Don't Make Me" Play JD Vance On 'SNL' The news of the upcoming host/musical guest combo was announced during Saturday night's show featuring host Jon Hamm with musical guest Lizzo. Kieran Culkin also made an appearance during Hamm's opening monologue. the next show!!! — Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 13, 2025 Other hosts this season have included Ariana Grande, John Mulaney, Michael Keaton, Jean Smart, Nate Bargatze, Bill Burr, Charli XCX, Paul Mescal, Chris Rock, Martin Short, Dave Chappelle, Timothée Chalamet, Shane Gillis, Lady Gaga and more. The news of who will host the final two episodes of Season 50 on May 10 and May 17 has yet to come. Brunson previously made her hosting debut on April 1, 2023. In her opening monologue, she revealed that she had been dreaming about hosting the NBC sketch show since she was a kid. She also ended a message advocating for teachers, telling the crowd: 'Please, remember how important teachers are. Acknowledge the work they do every day and for the love of God, pay them the money they deserve.' Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
