Latest news with #detectiveDrama
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Michelle Keegan teams up with Line Of Duty and Black Mirror stars for 'unmissable' new drama The Blame - her first TV role since birth of baby daughter Palma
has teamed up with Line Of Duty and Black Mirror stars for an 'unmissable' new ITV drama called The Blame. The actress, 38, will turn into a detective to solve a murder mystery with a 'tangled web of lies' in the upcoming new show, which is based on Charlotte Langley's book of the same name. Fool Me Once star Michelle will take on the role of DI Emma Crane, while Line of Duty legend Nigel Boyle is a forensic technician called Brett Shergill. They aren't the only famous faces that viewers will recognise as Black Mirror's Joe Armstrong has landed the role of a ice-skating coach called Kyle Fraiser. They will be joined by the likes of The Last Kingdom's Ian Hart, Nathan Mensah, Passenger's Matilda Freeman, House of the Dragon 's Gavin Spokes, Last Tango in Halifax's Josh Bolt and White Lines star Ceallach Spellman. 'The drama dives into secrets, suspicion and systemic corruption - all under the surface of this seemingly quiet town,' the official ITV press release states. Line of Duty legend Nigel Boyle (pictured) is a forensic technician called Brett Shergill in the brand new drama TV's Director of Drama, Polly Hill, has commissioned the new six-part series which has been produced by Quay Street Productions. Fans hopefully shouldn't have to wait that long until it hits our screens as filming will commence in the UK's capital and the surrounding areas. 'The series begins when the body of teenage figure skater Sophie Madsen is discovered, sending shockwaves through the town of Wakestead. 'As DI Crane (Keegan) and DI Radley (Booth) dig deeper, what starts as a tragic death, spirals into a tangled web of lies, institutional cover-ups, and moral compromise. 'As the clock ticks and trust fractures, Crane must navigate both a murder investigation and the treacherous politics inside her own team,' the press release adds. Polly Hill said: 'The Blame is a brilliant new crime thriller full of surprising twists and a compelling investigation that also cleverly tackles police corruption, exploitation and misogyny as the thriller unravels. 'Megan is such a wonderful and clever writer, and with Michelle Keegan in the lead and Nicola Shindler at the helm, this is going to be an unmissable drama and one I'm very proud to have on ITV.' The show has been written and executively produced by the woman behind Her Fault and Wolf Megan Gallagher. Mary said: 'The Blame is such an important and urgent story to tell; I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to bring Charlotte Langley's world and characters to life on screen. 'It's my second collaboration with Quay Street Productions, and it's great to be working with the team again - I'm truly in the best hands.' While the executive producer for Quay Street Productions, Nicola Schindler and Richard Fee, said: 'We are so delighted to be working with Megan again. 'She is an exceptional writer who has written a compelling series taking viewers on a twisty journey to discover what really happened through the lens of a contemporary police station brimming with secrets, corruption, and betrayal. 'We are also thrilled at the brilliant cast led by Michelle and Douglas, who will keep viewers on the edge of their seats, wondering who to trust at a time when the themes explored in The Blame are more relevant than ever.' This is one of Michelle's first roles since welcoming her daughter Palma, who she shares with husband Mark Wright, into the world. The former Corrie star gave birth to her baby girl back in March this year. They announced the happy news that they were expecting back in December 2024. The last TV show that she starred in was Netflix's Fool Me Once, where she played Maya Stern in the drama. That was back in 2024. She's also still playing the roles of Kate Thorne in Ten Pound Poms and Erin Croft in Brassic.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ITV's Long-Running Detective Drama ‘Grantchester' Will End With Season 11
Detective drama Grantchester will return and end with season 11 on PBS and British network ITV. Based on the The Grantchester Mysteries books by James Runcie, the series was first broadcast in 2014 on ITV in the U.K. and on PBS in 2015 as part of the Masterpiece anthology. James Norton, famed for his roles in Little Women, Happy Valley and, more recently, Netflix film Joy, led the initial cast alongside Robson Green, who still stars as police officer Geordie. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Squid Game' Hero Lee Jung-jae on Letting Go of Player 456, His Final Thoughts on Show's Urgent Message 'Erotic Lives of the Superheroes,' Killer Women, Cancer Tragicomedy Among KVIFF Series Pitches 'Dracula' by Radu Jude, David Lynch-Exec Produced 'Happy Worker' Set for Locarno Lineup Norton's successor as the local vicar of a Cambridgeshire village in the 1950s was Tom Brittney, who was then succeeded by Rishi Nair as Alphy in 2024. Al Weaver, Tessa Peake-Jones, Kacey Ainsworth and Oliver Dimsdale are also set to star in the Kudos-produced (part of Banijay U.K.) show. Nick Brimble, Bradley Hall and Melissa Johns round out the cast. Filming on the final series is set to kick off this month, with the announcement of the series' end coming as the show's cast had its first table read for season 11. 'It's the heady Summer of '63,' a plot synopsis read, 'and Alphy is learning more about his past. He comes to realize that there is a whole other life he could have led, making him question who he is and what he believes in. He's also continuing to get to know Meg, the Bishop's daughter.' 'Out of the blue, the Chief Superintendent comes to Geordie with a beguiling offer. It could be a chance for Geordie to finally be in charge… In series 11, everyone will question the paths they are on, and some huge decisions will be made. This season will look at family, forgiveness, identity, and faith — big changes are coming to Grantchester.' Said writer, series creator and executive producer Daisy Coulam: 'At its heart, Grantchester is a show about the power of friendship and love. We've been so lucky over the last 11 series to experience that on and off screen. For over a decade now — cast and crew (many who've been there since the beginning) have met each summer to film. And it's been an absolute joy.' She continued: 'Thank you to James Runcie for entrusting us with his characters. Thank you to the lovely people of real Grantchester. Thank you to everyone who's been a part of the show in any way — big or small. I'll miss you terribly.' Coulam executive produces Grantchester with Emma Kingsman-Lloyd, Green, Nair, Simpson and Rebecca Eaton at GBH Boston, which presents Masterpiece on PBS. Rick Porter contributed to this story. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mark Gatiss: ‘What does Benedict Cumberbatch smell like? Strawberries'
Mark Gatiss arrived on our screens playing a variety of grotesques in The League of Gentlemen: mysterious butcher Hilary Briss; palm-reader Mama Lazarou; the buck-toothed, mullet-sporting job-seeker Mickey Michaels; and many more. He co-founded and co-wrote the BBC comedy with Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson after meeting them at college, and has teamed up with Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat to write and cameo in numerous episodes of the Time Lord drama, before the pair created the smash-hit update of Sherlock, in which Gatiss also appeared as Holmes's brother Mycroft, and another BBC series, Dracula. If that weren't enough, Gatiss has also popped up in Game of Thrones, Operation Mincemeat and the last two Mission: Impossible films. Now he's back in a new detective drama Bookish, in which he plays a crime-solving book emporium owner. We caught up to chat about why he loves the 1940s; whether there will be more Sherlock, Dracula or League of Gentlemen; and what he'd like to do with Tom Cruise. Hi, Mark. You've got a new show – Bookish – about a closeted bookshop owner in postwar London, who has a passion for solving crimes in his spare time. Do you secretly wish you were a postwar bookshop owner who solves crimes in his spare time? I take issue with closeted, because he is not closeted. He just has to be careful. He lives in a lavender marriage with his best friend, Trottie [played by Polly Walker from Bridgerton]. They've been married for 10 years; it's an arrangement, so he's not closeted in the traditional sense … As Gore Vidal said about people who weaponise nostalgia: 'I have one word for you: dentistry.' Part of the problem with the world we live in is that people get their impression of the second world war from watching The Great Escape on Christmas Day. They've forgotten it was fucking horrible. But postwar is one of my favourite periods, because it's rarely examined but gave rise to the foundations of the welfare state and the NHS. It was a time of great hope, but also great disappointment. Somewhere in there, I think, is something very interesting. The 1940s were also a fabulous time for British cinema, with Powell and Pressburger. But to answer the question: no, I wouldn't want to live there: people were starving and the country was utterly bankrupt. But it would be interesting to visit. Detectives tend to be quite memorable individuals: from Sherlock and Poirot to, erm, Cagney and Lacey. What makes Gabriel Book unique? As a student of the genre, I'm very aware that every detective needs a 'thing'. Sherlock Holmes is the paradigm, and Agatha Christie explicitly draws lines from him to create Poirot. To me, the greatest one in terms of an original idea is Miss Marple, who solves everything on a microcosmic level. A lot of that was in my head when the title popped in there: Bookish. What if he was an amateur detective bookseller and basically his shop is like an analogue computer? The answer is in there somewhere. Book is able to work with the police solving crimes because he has a special letter from Winston Churchill. Wouldn't the Doctor's psychic paper – which can magically display whatever credentials he needs – be more useful? Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies was asking me about Bookish. I said: 'I've shamelessly lifted the psychic paper because the letter does exactly the same job!' All my character has to do is pat his breast pocket wherein lies the letter. Otherwise, you'd have to have endless dreary scenes of filling out forms. Your character in Bookish, who owns a bookshop, is called Gabriel Book. Erm, aren't you supposed to be one of the greatest TV writers of our generation? It's called nominative determinism. What's wrong with that? We've previously known you best for The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock and Dracula. Which is most likely to make a comeback? Or could you do a mixture of all three at once? We all spent years answering the question, 'Will The League of Gentlemen finally come back?' Before we did our specials in 2017, for a brief amazing moment, we were able to say: 'Yes. The League of Gentlemen is coming back!' Then as soon as the specials had gone out, people would ask: 'Is The League of Gentlemen coming back again?' You get about five seconds of air before the question comes round again. It would have been brilliant to do a spin-off to Psychoville [written by and starring Shearsmith and Pemberton] within Inside No 9 with [Psychoville characters] David and Maureen. When I was a kid, I loved Star Trek as well as Doctor Who. There's a very strange episode of Star Trek with an alien called Gary Seven. He has a shape-shifting cat who turns into this beautiful woman. I've only since realised that [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry was trying to pilot another show within his existing show. That's how you do it. So we could see Dracula turning up on Sherlock? Or vice versa? We did have an idea for a second Dracula, but when you watch the Hammer films, they're really just remakes of various parts of the novel. It's a bit like Robin Hood, in that there's really only one story. If the BBC had asked us, we would've written more of a Trumpian sequel, where Dracula says: 'I'm a vampire, but people don't care … ' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Any plans for more Sherlock? We'd do more Sherlock if we could. Steven [Moffat] and I have had an idea for a film. We pitched it to Ben [Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock] and Martin [Freeman, who plays Watson] during lockdown, just as an excuse to have a video call and talk to someone. But it never happened. What does Benedict Cumberbatch smell like? I saw him quite recently at the theatre and he smelled of strawberries. Why don't you just make a Sherlock but all about Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, whom you play? We've often talked about Professor Challenger, Conan Doyle's other great creation. There are some great short stories – there's a brilliant one called The Disintegration Machine – and he's a brilliant character, but an absolutely awful man. He just hates humanity. He's a tiny, bad-tempered, nasty but absolutely adorable professor who's, well, challenging. Or you could do a Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and then, right at the end, he pulls off his rubber mask to reveal he's actually Mycroft Holmes … Sweating and panting! … like in Mission: Impossible. Talking of which – you're in the new Mission: Impossible! What does Tom Cruise smell like? I'm not sure I can remember, as we shot over two years ago. But I'd imagine: expensive aftershave. What's Tom Cruise like? He's a very funny man. He's there, all the time on set. I'm not in any scenes with him in Dead Reckoning Part One because when we meet, Ethan Hunt is wearing a rubber mask pretending to be someone else. But I share scenes with Tom Cruise in The Final Reckoning. If you could re-film any of your previous shows but with Tom Cruise in the main role, what would happen? Well, I'd love to have Tom Cruise in Bookish. Because … ? This is like one of those questions where, the next day, you see in the paper: 'Yeah, I'd love to be James Bond, says Eddie Redmayne,' just because someone has asked him in an interview, 'Would you like to be James Bond?' and he's said, 'Why not?' So yes, I'd love Tom Cruise to be in Bookish. Maybe it'll happen. How about Cruise as Sherlock? I don't think it's up his street. Mind you, Robert Downey Jr is a good Holmes, and he's not a conventional Sherlock, but he's a brilliant actor. Tom Cruise has already done Interview With the Vampire, so I'm not sure he'd want to play Dracula. Maybe he could play Doctor Who in the big Hollywood version they always thought might happen. He's done prosthetics before, like when he's got big fat arms in Tropic Thunder, so I'd like him to play all the characters in The League of Gentlemen. That would stretch him. Bookish is on U&Alibi from 16 July.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Legendary ITV detective drama returning to screens - with filming about to kick off on brand new series
Legendary and long-standing ITV series Grantchester is set to return to screens. The hit ITV detective drama first aired more than a decade ago in 2014 and fans have since been gripped by nine series. A tenth season has just been released for US viewers, but a date for UK fans is yet to be confirmed. With Robson Green and Rishi Nair leading as DI Geordie Keating and Reverend Alphy Kottaram, Grantchester follows the pair as they work together to solve crimes. Despite the tenth yet to hit screens in the UK, filming for the 11th instalment is reportedly set to begin next month. The cast also includes Only Fools and Horses star Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs C and Downton Abbey actor Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe. While Al Weaver plays Leonard Finch and EastEnders star Kacey Ainsworth portrays Cathy Keating. Bradley Hall, Melissa Johns and Nick Brimble also star. Earlier this year, Grantchester fans were left in tears after Reverend Will Davenport bid farewell following five years on the show, with some saying it had 'been a while since I cried as hard as that'. The second episode of its ninth season featured a major plot twist and saw Will, who is played by Tom Brittney, and DI Geordie Keating set out to investigate another death in the village. The pair were left puzzled when an abandoned baby was found on the same day that a hotel manager in the area died. But it was the departure of fan favourite Will which caused the biggest stir, with social media awash with emotional viewers. Tom joined the popular show to play the new lead character for its fourth series in 2019 after roles in Outlander, The Syndicate and Humans. He made the decision to leave the show in 2023, explaining that it was 'time for the baton to be passed'. The instalment saw Will and Geordie set out to investigate another death in the village and the next will see Rishi Nair (right) arrive as Revd Alphy Kotteram Fans of Grantchester were emotional, however, following the airing of his final episode, with one gutted fan taking to X to say: 'I'm 29 years old and it's been a while since I cried at a TV show as hard as that.' Another posted, '#Will and #Geordie's friendship is beautiful. And watching Will leave is the heartbreaking evening I was completely not ready for.' A third added: 'Wow, Geordie to Will "I love you" and Will "I love you too". And he made Geordie proud every day.' Grantchester is available to stream on ITVX.
