The Times ran a neat Fall TV preview of new UK television this fall.
DRAMA
The Last Van Helsing (ITV1)
Move over Gene Hunt – Philip Glenister shows zero tolerance as he rids London of its vampires. Mackenzie Crook is suitably cast as a pallid member of the half-dead.
Philip plays CIA operative Rupert Galvin, a "larger-than-life" American with a "tragic past and a zero-tolerance policy to the rabble of mythical half-life entities" in the as yet untitled new ITV1 drama series. The drama, currently known internally at ITV as the "untitled Van Helsing project", will put a "contemporary spin on the legacy of Bram Stoker's Dracula" and be set above and beneath the streets of modern-day London. Philip's character will appear in the life of his teenage godson, Luke, played by Robin Hood's Christian Cooke. Luke's father died in mysterious circumstances and afterwards Philip's Galvin is "catapulted into a world of vampires, demons and zombies". The Office's Mackenzie Crook will also appear as the evil Gladiolus Thrip, a sinister vampire with a burning hatred for the Van Helsing lineage. "There are supernatural forces of evil at work and it is Luke's destiny, as the last descendent of the Van Helsing line, to smite the half-lives that stalk our streets," ITV said. The drama will be made by Elisabeth Murdoch's independent production company, Shine, which previously made Sky One's supernatural series Hex. It will be produced by the team behind Hex - Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps - and written by two writers from that show, Peter Tabern and Lucy Watkins, as well as Hotel Babylon's Howard Overman. The six-part drama was commissioned by ITV director of drama Laura Mackie. It is currently filming in London with an ITV1 transmission expected later in the year.
Survivors (BBC One)
Those with longer memories will recall the cult mid1970s sci-fi series in which a virus decimates the world’s population. The forlorn survivors in this 21st-century revamp include Max Beesley and Doctor Who’s Freema Agyeman.
Survivors is a modern day remake of the BBC television series Survivors (1975 — 1977) created by Terry Nation. It is filming in Manchester until September 2008 and is due to be shown on BBC One in the Autumn of 2008 as part of a group of new series produced by BBC Drama Productions. [1]
The BBC actively pursued the rights for Survivors from Terry Nation's estate, so that the series could be revived[2] and it took months of negotiations to secure the rights from Nation's estate to develop the series. [3]
The BBC Press Office released this statement about the show: [1]
“ Set in the present day, the drama series focuses on the world in the aftermath of a devastating virus which wipes out most of the world's population.
What would we do? How would any of us cope in a brave new world where all traditional 21st Century comforts – electricity, clean running water, advanced technology – have disappeared?
”
While the original 1970s show often focused on the despair of the situation, writer of the new series Adrian Hodges concentrates on the hope and the humanity. This is in an attempt to make it less depressing to watch as the kind of disaster depicted has moved out of the realm of pure science fiction.[4]
Little Dorrit (BBC One)
Andrew Davies adapts Dickens for a heavyweight cast on the BBC – it’s autumn, what else did you expect?
Related Links
Wallander (BBC One)
Kenneth Branagh plays Henning Mankell’s detective in three feature-length episodes. A Swedish Morse?
branagh as an overweight diabetic detective who doesn't have a dark streak? well....ok
Einstein and Eddington (BBC Two)
Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice) dramatises how the British scientist Arthur Eddington helped to champion the theory of relativity. Andy Serkis and David Tennant take the title roles respectively.
hell yes. gonna get my nerd on
Dead Set (E4)
In a nightmare world, the Big Brother house has become the only sanctuary . . . Charlie Brooker’s new zombie horror is also a sarky satire on reality TV. Jaime Winstone stars.
a straight horror series by a comedian/former PC Gaming Mag writer. could be good. could be terrible.
Caught in a Trap (ITV1)
Connie Fisher, the winner of The Sound of Music talent search on BBC One, is a local-government drone with an Elvis obsession.
ha ha. no.
John Adams (More4)
A weighty US drama serial starring Paul Giamatti as America’s first Vice President (and second President) arrives already laden with Emmys.
Lipstick Jungle (Living)
Brooke Shields stars in a new Candace Bushnell series following three powerful New York working women. Resemblances to Sex and the City must purely be coincidental.
ha ha no
The Devil’s Whore (Channel 4)
Life on Mars’s John Simm travels yet farther back in time to star as Edward Sexby, the Puritan soldier who plotted to kill Cromwell. Andrea Riseborough (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley) co-stars in an epic English Civil War mini-series.
OH GOD YES
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (BBC One)
Before slinking it up as a Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, Gemma Arterton appears as the ill-fated Tess Durbeyfield in Thomas Hardy’s tale of love, lies and noble lineage.
ha ha no.
Merlin (BBC One)
No Robin Hood this autumn (that’s back in the new year); Saturday teatimes will instead get a magical, Arthurian makeover. Colin Morgan will star as the fledgeling wizard, opposite Richard Wilson, Anthony Head, Michelle Ryan and a dragon sounding suspiciously like John Hurt.
[youtube=425,350]iPxq3myiQF0[/youtube]
COMEDY/ ENTERTAINMENT
Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1)
The only funny family comedy on TV – about TV – returns.
Clone (BBC Three)
Jonathan Pryce teams up with the Friends writer Adam Chase and The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss for a sci-fi comedy charting the progress of the first human clone.
un huh.
Sunshine (BBC One)
The Royle Family co-creators Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne deliver a warm-hearted generational comedy also starring Steve Coogan.
OH GOD YES
Beautiful People (BBC Two)
Meera Syal returns to comedy for the first time since The Kumars at No 42 in Simon Doonan’s memoir of growing up in 1990s Reading.
ha ha no.
Good Arrows (ITV4)
Irvine Welsh is behind this dark darts-based comedy drama – a fly-on-the-wall documentary following a former big-shot player.
could be interesting
Britannia High (ITV1)
ITV and Universal Records bring us a reality-TV/ Fame-style series about real wannabes in a pretend Brit School, featuring a 90-minute live performance at the end.
ha ha no.
Britain’s Got The Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (Channel 4)
It’s a talent-show spoof, in case you hadn’t guessed. Peter Kay plays a transsexual singer, alongside Pete Waterman, four black dwarfs (Men Two Boyz) and a farting elderly lady.
FACTUAL
The Jacksons Are Coming (Channel 4)
For those intrigued by rumours that the Jackson Five – and that includes Michael – were seen relocating to Appledore, a fishing village in Devon, this film will hopefully reveal all.
Catastrophe (Channel 4)
Tony Robinson throws down his spade and embraces spectacular CGI as he explores the history of natural disasters, from planetary collisions to asteroid impacts.
The Family (Channel 4)
A major observational documentary series filming a single British family over four months. We can only hope it offers a more hopeful state-of-the nation view than Big Brother.
The Ascent of Money (Channel 4)
Behind every great historical event lies a financial secret, as the dynamic Niall Ferguson discovers.
Oceans (BBC Two)
Philippe Cousteau Jr (grandson of Jacques) and other marine types explore “hidden” oceanic stories. Expect shipwrecks, bizarre undersea creatures and hyperbolic narration.
British Style Genius (BBC Two)
Kate Moss, Paul Smith, Twiggy, Michael Caine and others muse on what makes us so damned stylish.
WWII – Behind Closed Doors (BBC Two)
The inside story of the dealings between Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt is laid bare by the award-winning Laurence Rees ( Auschwitz).
The Fallen (BBC Two)
Morgan Matthews’s film focuses on the stories of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
1968 Unseen (Five)
Forty years on, the broadcaster Bernard Braden’s interviews with such figures as Peter Cook, Robert Maxwell, Quentin Crisp and Sean Connery are reexamined.
Dangerous Adventures for Boys (Five)
Bonding galore in this extension of the Dangerous Book for Boys brand: famous dads and their sons follow in the footsteps of historical icons.
Noel’s HQ (Sky1)
“Potentially the most significant show I have ever presented,” says Noel Edmonds of a series rewarding acts of generosity. Hankies to the ready.
Jamie’s Ministry of Food (Channel 4)
Jamie Oliver gets back on the campaign trail, this time trying to stop people relying on ready meals. His inspiration? The wartime era of rations and digging for victory.
