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Criticisms made by Russell T. Davies about the state of modern TV writing reveal a lot about what audiences can expect from Doctor Who's future. In a joint interview with fellow Doctor Who fan and writer Mark Gatiss to promote their new drama Nolly, Davies spoke of the poor quality of TV scripts he sees during his work as a screenwriting mentor. While the comments have received some backlash on social media, they do hint at the possible direction of Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who season 14.

Talking about the young writers he mentors, Davies observed (via The Times) that there is a generation of up-and-coming screenwriters that are "trapped into wanting a job in that medium purely to increase representation." Rtd adds, "I read their scripts and they’re rubbish." This gives some insight into the writers Rtd might be looking to involve in Doctor Who season 14. It is...

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met on Thursday for the third and final time to discuss eligibility of the 74th Annual Tony Awards. They discussed all of the plays and musicals that would be considered for the 2019-2020 cycle and placements for three productions.

The following 18 productions are eligible for the 2020 Tony Awards (in opening night order):

“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”

“Moulin Rouge! The Musical”

“Sea Wall/A Life”

“Betrayal”

“The Height of the Storm”

“The Great Society”

“Slave Play”

“Linda Vista”

“The Rose Tattoo”

“The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical”

“The Sound Inside”

“Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”

“The Inheritance”

“A Christmas Carol”

“Jagged Little Pill”

“My Name is Lucy Barton”

“A Soldier’s Play”

“Grand Horizons”

See 2020 Tony Awards: The show will go on virtually this fall

The American Theatre Wing’s 74th Annual Tony Awards will take place virtually this year,...

Eighteen Broadway productions will be eligible for this year’s Tony Awards competition, an awards committee confirmed Friday. The figure is significantly lower than last year’s pre-pandemic 34 eligible shows.

The number was confirmed, along with several routine nominee determinations, in yesterday’s final meeting of the the Tony Awards Administration Committee to decide eligibility for the recently announced all-digital 74th annual Tony Awards.

A date and platform have not been announced.

Among the decisions announced today, David Alan Grier will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play category for his performance in the large ensemble cast of A Soldier’s Play.

Also, both Elizabeth Strout and Rona Munro will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Play category for their work as co-authors on My Name is Lucy Barton, and Laura Linney will be considered eligible in the Best...

As we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are currently 12 productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below, we recap the plot of each play as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative types, the opening, and (where applicable) closing dates.

“My Name is Lucy Barton” (opens January 15; closes February 29)

In this stage adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s 2016 novel of the same name, the story follows the title character, who, unsteady after an operation, awakens to find her mother sitting at the foot of her bed. She hasn’t seen her in years, and her visit brings Lucy back to her desperate rural childhood and her escape to New York. As she begins to find herself as a writer, she is still gripped by the urgent complexities of family life.

My Name is Lucy Barton opened just last night, Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre 261 West 47th Street. Four-time Emmy Award winner, two-time Golden Globe Award winner, three-time Academy Award and four-time Tony Award nominee Laura Linney returns to Broadway in a haunting new solo play adapted by Rona Munro from the bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout.

Laura Linney pours the breath of life into Broadway’s My Name Is Lucy Barton, based on the novel by Olive Kitteridge author Elizabeth Strout. Arriving in New York following an acclaimed London production, this poignant, 90-minute solo play, directed by Richard Eyre and opening tonight at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, conjures up an entire life – or two or three – through the sometimes fuzzy, always penetrating memories of a middle-aged woman still coming to terms with a childhood few would wish to recall.

Adapted by Rona Munro from Strout’s bestseller, Lucy Barton is set entirely in the hospital room – or, as all else here, the remembered hospital room – inhabited for nine long-ago weeks by the title character. When a routine operation goes awry, Lucy, missing her husband and two young daughters, is surprised to find her estranged mother holding vigil at her bedside.

Linney portrays both women,...

Performances begin tomorrow, Saturday, January 4, for the American premiere of the London Theatre Company Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr production of My Name is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, 'Ozark', by Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge, adapted by Rona Munro The James Trilogy, and directed by Richard Eyre The Crucible, Notes on a Scandal. The New York production is produced in association with Penguin Random House Audio.

Laura Linney is coming back to Broadway,direct from London The four-time Emmy Award winner, two-time Golden Globe Award winner, three-time Academy Award and four-time Tony Award nominee returnsin a haunting new solo play adapted by Rona Munro from the bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout. My Name is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney will start previews on Saturday, January 4 at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre 261 West 47th Street.

Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow Artistic Director and Barry Grove Executive Producer have just announced the American premiere of the London Theatre Company Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr production of My Name is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, 'Ozark', by Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge, adapted by Rona Munro The James Trilogy, and directed by Richard Eyre The Crucible, Notes on a Scandal as part of Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming 2019-2020 season. The New York production will be produced in association with Penguin Random House Audio.

Laura Linney will return to Broadway next year in the American premiere of My Name is Lucy Barton, the hit 2018 London Theatre Company production of a solo play based on the novel by Elizabeth Strout, adapted by Rona Munro and directed by Richard Eyre.

The play will debut as part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s upcoming season, with previews beginning Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, at Mtc’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway. Opening night is Jan. 15.

Linney plays Lucy Barton, “a woman who wakes after an operation to find – much to her surprise – her mother at the foot of her bed,” as described by Mtc. “They haven’t seen each other in years. During their days-long visit, Lucy tries to understand her past, works to come to terms with her family, and begins to find herself as a writer.”

The creative team for My Name is Lucy Barton includes Bob Crowley...

Laura Linney is treading the London boards this month, playing the title character—in fact, the only character—in Rona Munro’s one-woman adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s Booker Prize-longlisted novel My Name is Lucy Barton at the Bridge Theatre. Surprisingly, it’s the first time this theater veteran has appeared on the London stage, and it’s a whole new challenge as she effortlessly commands 90 minutes on stage alone. It reteams her with director Richard Eyre, with whom she last worked on a 2002 revival of The Crucible at the Virginia Theatre in New York. A little over a year ago, she was on the Broadway stage in The Little Foxes alongside Cynthia Nixon, and both plays have received stellar notices.

In between, of course, she shot the upcoming second season of Netflix’s Ozark, alongside Jason Bateman. As Wendy Byrde, Linney plays the family matriarch who is, at turns,...

Long-time BFI executive Isabel Davis is to step down from her role as Head Of International to become Executive Director of Scotland’s Screen Unit. Davis will take up her post at the film and TV body within Creative Scotland in September.

Davis is a well known figure in the UK and on the international circuit with good talent, producer and financier relationships. Her BFI role combined editorial, production and policy expertise. As a production executive she worked on films including Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War which premiered at Cannes 2018 in Official Selection; Haifaa Al Mansour’s Mary Shelley, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2017; Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-nominated The Lobster, which premiered in Official Competition at Cannes Film Festival 2015; and the forthcoming films from Claire Denis and Victor Kossakovsky. She also backed the development of films from Scottish talent including David Mackenzie and Rona Munro.

Davis negotiated the...

Stories have a way of opening up on a stage. Elizabeth Strout’s bestselling novel “My Name Is Lucy Barton” looks, at first glance, like a curious choice for a theatrical adaptation. It’s ruminative, reflective, and all but becalmed: a bedbound writer’s hazy recollections looking back on her life. There’s little action, still less drama, scant theatricality. And yet, in Richard Eyre’s understated staging, exquisitely performed by Laura Linney, its stillness and slowness come to seem like strengths. Lucy Barton’s personal meditation blossoms into something bigger than itself – a portrait of America, perhaps even of history as a whole.

“My Name Is Lucy Barton” is, as its title suggests, a search for identity. Laid up in a Manhattan hospital bed, battling a life-threatening illness after a routine appendix operation, its protagonist reaches for a sense of herself. She’s lost enough weight that her reflection has changed,...

A version of this interview with Laura Linney first appeared in The Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.

In the Netflix series “Ozark,” Laura Linney plays one tough mother — the wife of a Chicago financial adviser (Jason Bateman) who makes a single bad decision that leads him and his family down an increasingly dark and dubious path of Mexican drug cartel money laundering, murder and betrayal in the Ozarks. Linney stands by her man, and her family, at all costs.

The Juilliard-trained, three-time Oscar nominee spoke to TheWrap during a brief break from rehearsing Rona Munro’s “My Name Is Lucy Barton,” which will mark her debut on the London stage.

It’s the complexity of Wendy and Marty Byrde — decent people who have done indecent things and now must do anything to save themselves and their children — that makes them so strong and fully formed.

But let...

The Us actor tells how a new adaption of Elizabeth Strout’s My Name Is Lucy Barton chimes with our uncertain times

Mid-morning in Brooklyn, New York and grey clouds are scudding across the sky above St Ann’s Warehouse – a state-of-the-art performance and rehearsal space that was once a tobacco warehouse. Inside, a fabulous model of an angel is suspended from the ceiling, and beyond its windows the East River is getting on with its day. Laura Linney is said to be running late and when she arrives she walks in briskly without any diva-esque hauteur. She is all apologies, smiles, grace. She sits down on a circular leather banquette in the foyer and tucks her knees beneath her. She is casually dressed but with a black-and-white scarf for extra flourish. She looks comfortable in her own skin. At 54, there is a much younger woman visible in her face...

Bollywood epic Padmavati, now titled Padmaavat, will see its worldwide release beginning tomorrow. The Deepika Padukone-starrer has throughout production and to today sparked a furor in India, inciting violence and death threats. It finally cleared censors last week after a December date was delayed amid escalating tensions. Those tensions have not abated. At least 16 people were reportedly arrested on Tuesday in Ahmedabad as they protested the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film. It’s based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic 16th century poem and earlier confusion over perceived historical inaccuracies and a false rumor that the movie contained offensive sexual content have led to the violence. Police told local press that some 200 protesters set fire to cars and scooters in Ahmedabad and threw rocks at cinemas yesterday. On Sunday in Gujarat, protesters blocked roads and caused local bus services to be suspended. Rajput leaders have said that...

Mark Harrison Oct 24, 2017

As Doctor Who series 11 adds a trio of soap opera stars to its cast. And it makes sense...

What do Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh have in common? Other than the fact that they're all joining Jodie Whittaker's Doctor as part of the regular cast of Doctor Who's next series, they've all acted in soap operas. Even 12 years since the show was revived by a former Coronation Street writer, that still makes some fans nervous.

Whatever your thoughts on Corrie, EastEnders and other serial dramas (to give them their proper name – the nickname comes from an outdated observation about soap companies sponsoring many of them), they're the best, most relevant training ground for young actors in British television. It's also more relevant to the experience of working on Doctor Who than you might necessarily expect.

We won't go so far as Doctor Who...

There’s been much to enjoy from Doctor Who‘s last few seasons – Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez, the odd standout episode here and there – but ultimately, it’s been a bit scattershot in quality. It took a while for the Twelfth Doctor’s era to find itself, which meant it lacked the cohesive quality of David Tennant and Matt Smith’s eras. Seasons 8 and 9 were enjoyable TV, don’t get us wrong, but not up to the expected quality of the show.

With season 10, though, Doctor Who finally got its groove back. It seems that, as this was the final run for both Peter Capaldi and showrunner Steven Moffat, they decided to go all out in making it a year to remember. Due to the erratic scheduling of the Capaldi era – there was no season at all in 2016 – season 10 was hands down the best run of the show in a good long time.

[Editor’s Note: The following review of “Doctor Who” Season 10, Episode 10, “The Eaters of the Light” contains spoilers.]

The Rundown

“Doctor Who” gives us whiffs of “Outlander” with this jaunt back to 2nd century Aberdeen, Scotland, adjacent to cairns of standing stones that looks like it could transport a British lady back in time. Instead, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and friends are here instead to figure out what happened to the Spanish Ninth Legion (Legio IX Hispana), which disappeared from records around 43 Ad. Naturally, an alien is to blame, but the Doctor sorts it all out in the end after whipping some whiny Roman soldiers and tribal Picts into shape. Although “The Eaters of the Light” was a wildly uneven episode, strong on messaging but weak on sense, it served to test its characters in revealing ways. Sadly, Auton replicant Rory (Arthur Darvill) did not make a cameo as the Last Centurion, although we suppose at this point he might be busy over at Stonehenge or guarding the Pandorica.

Simon Brew Jun 17, 2017

Doctor Who series 10 episode 10 is The Eaters Of Light. Here's our spoiler-packed review...

This review contains spoilers. Our spoiler-free review is here.

See related Transformers: Age Of Extinction just shy of three hours long Transformers: the great toy massacre of 1986

10.10 The Eaters Of Light

“Everyone knows there are ghosts in the hill”

Thanks to a surprisingly long epilogue at the end of The Eaters Of Light, it feels as though the stage is tantalisingly now set for wherever Steven Moffat’s very last Doctor Who finale two-parter is set to take us. With the story of this particular episode told before 40 minutes had been clocked up, we were left in the Tardis with the Doctor, Missy, Nardole and Bill. One of those people was supposed to be in the vault (a mystery whose pay-off continues to be far less satisfying than the build up), but has been...

Pete Dillon-Trenchard Jun 17, 2017

Doctor Who series 10 episode 10 is The Eaters Of Light. And we've been digging into it right here...

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve waited for 54 years for Doctor Who to explain why crows sound like they do, so now that they’ve finally tackled that important issue it’s time for our weekly round-up of callbacks, similarities and generally interesting things taken from this week’s episode. And as ever, if you’re sitting thinking ‘How can he have missed that?!’ (the answer is usually ‘ineptitude’), leave it down in the comments below…

See related Transformers: Age Of Extinction just shy of three hours long Transformers: the great toy massacre of 1986

Bad cat woman

The Eaters Of Light was written by Rona Munro, an award-winning Scottish writer responsible for films including Aimee & Jaguar and Oranges And Sunshine, as well as a multitude of theatre works.

Simon Brew Jun 15, 2017

Rona Munro returns to Doctor Who writing, with The Eaters Of Light. Here's our spoiler-free review...

10.10 The Eaters Of Light

The very welcome return of writer Rona Munro to Doctor Who – it’s being a long time since her inadvertent classic era finale, Survival – has brought with it a quieter episode of the show than I was expecting. It was only as the credits rolled at the end, too, that it really struck me it was probably the last standalone Peter Capaldi adventure we get where he doesn’t regenerate at the end, and it seems fitting therefore that it takes place in Scotland. And includes good quality Scottish gags into the bargain.

Munro sets her story in 2 Ad, with the Doctor, Bill and Nardole on the trail of a missing ninth legion of the Roman army. Bill has read up on why they’ve disappeared, the Doctor has his own theories,...

This week’s episode of Doctor Who, titled “The Eaters of Light,” will take the Tardis and its occupants back to ancient Britain when it was under the thumb of the Romans.

According to the official synopsis from the BBC, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Bill (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole (Matt Lucas) arrive in Scotland 120Ad and discover that a Roman legion has vanished from the face of the Earth. They find out that there’s a monstrous creature lurking in the mist and that it might just mean that they’re facing another end-of-the-world scenario.

For more, be sure to flip through the gallery below to get a taste of what’s to come.

Doctor Who "The Eaters Of Light" Gallery 1 of 27

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What’s interesting about “The Eaters of Light” is that the episode is inspired by a little-known but intriguing real-life mystery.

Sneak Peek new footage, plus images from the "Doctor Who" episode "The Eaters Of Light", written by Rona Munro and directed by Charles Palmer, airing June 17, 2017 on BBC America:

"...a long time ago, the ninth legion of the 'Roman' army vanished into the mists of Scotland. 'Bill' (Pearl Mackie) has a theory about what happened, and the 'Doctor' (Peter Capaldi) has a time machine.

"But when they arrive in ancient 'Aberdeenshire', what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Doctor Who: The Eaters Of Light"...

Simon Brew Jun 10, 2017

Mark Gatiss pens Doctor Who series 10 episode 9, as we head off to the red planet in Empress Of Mars...

This review contains spoilers. Our spoiler-free review is here.

10.9 Empress Of Mars

“Is this Neil Armstrong?”

Now that’s how to end a Doctor Who episode.

Following what had been a fairly enjoyable 40-odd minutes, Mark Gatiss demonstrated again his underappreciated love of adding in a classic Who reference to his stories, by having a good chunk of the audience scrambling for their Peladon DVDs. The appearance of Alpha Centauri – voiced again by Ysanne Churchman! – was just the kind of surprise that I thought the show had lost the ability to keep. A small addition, but one that both gives long-time fans an added grin, and also gives the impression that the universe ticks along whether the Doctor is visiting or not.

If Alpha Centauri is entirely new to you,...

Simon Brew Jun 6, 2017

Ben Aaronovitch on Peter Grant, Cityreads, Doctor Who and Dolly Parton...

For many who read this site, our first exposure to the work of Ben Aaronovitch came with his pair of Doctor Who stories, Remembrance Of The Daleks and Battlefield. Or maybe you've followed his best-selling series of Peter Grant novels, which keep threatening to come to television? As he releases a new audio short to help raise money for Cityread, he spared us some time for a chat...

Can you tell us what you’re up to? You’ve done this book for Cityread: perhaps start with what that is?

Cityread is a charity that used to be London-based, but now they’re setting up in other cities around the UK. Our latest is Slough!

Slough?

Yeah! One of the upcoming detective stories we’re doing is going to be set in Slough. It’s got to be done!

Ron Hogan Nov 15, 2016

For all his charisma, is Negan enough to revitalise The Walking Dead's tried-and-tested format at this stage?

This review contains spoilers.

See related Doctor Who series 10: classic era writer Rona Munro is returning Doctor Who rumour: series 11 to be a 'clean slate' with no Capaldi or Mackie? Doctor Who Christmas special: trailer for Us cinema event Class: trailer for episode 6, synopsis for the finale

7.4 Service

Rick has never had a great grasp on the people of Alexandria. Despite Deanna's support, he's faced a lot of resistance from within the community, particularly where Spencer is concerned. The latter has been a vocal critic of Rick despite his mother's support for the gun-slinging lawman, and the actions of this week's episode won't give Spencer, or anyone else who doubts Rick's abilities, a reason to second-guess their scepticism of the Ricktatorship. Or rather, the puppet state Rick runs for Negan.

A fond look-back at Sir Terry Pratchett's children's series, Only You Can Save Mankind, Johnny And The Dead, and Johnny And The Bomb...

It might sound odd to combine the words ‘underappreciated’ and ‘Terry Pratchett’ and ‘wigwam’, but that’s partly because that third word doesn’t need to be there. Relatively speaking, there are less appreciated works among the many, many gems of Pratchett’s output. Still, there’s love out there for them, and we aim to reflect that here.

In the lower reaches of the Goodreads list of Pratchett books, besides the short stories and essays in anthologies, the first novel to stand out is Only You Can Save Mankind, the first of Pratchett’s Johnny Maxwell series. It was published in 1992. It is a very 1992 book (One of the characters asks ‘Is it rad to say cool?’), and realistic swearing is not a feature. Compared...

Sophie Aldred's Ace was a Doctor Who companion ahead of her time. We look back at the girl from Perivale's time in the Tardis...

In 1987, Doctor Who broke the companion mould with Dorothy Gale McShane - better known of course as Ace - the streetwise, working class kid who blew up the school art room, and became the only cautioned arsonist to ever board the Tardis.

With a fondness for homemade explosives, and hailing from a very different background to those she succeeded, Ace became the first Doctor Who companion to truly develop before our very eyes as she journeyed through adolescence and into adulthood. Laying the foundations for future companions to build upon, she is perhaps not only a pivotal character in Doctor Who history, but genre TV in general.

"From the beginning all we knew about Ace was that she would be a fighter and not a...

Filth, Pride and Philomena among film nominees; awards take place on Jan 19 in London.

Sandi Toksvig will present the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain annual Awards at Riba, in London, on Jan 19, 2015.

In the two film categories, Pride (Stephen Beresford), The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard) and Starred Up (Jonathan Asser) are up for Best First Screenplay, while Filth (Jon S Baird), Metro Manila (Sean Ellis & Frank E Flowers) and Philomena (Jeff Pope & Steve Coogan) will compete for Best Screenplay.

TV programmes up for awards include Line of Duty (Jed Mercurio), Peaky Blinders (Steven Knight), The Great Train Robbery (Chris Chibnall) and House of Fools (Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer).

A special award for outstanding contribution to writing and writers will be presented on the night.

Full shortlist

TV Drama – Long Form

Line of Duty (Jed Mercurio), Happy Valley (Sally Wainwright), Peaky Blinders (Steven Knight)

TV Drama – Short Form

The Great Train Robbery (Chris Chibnall), Turks & Caicos (David Hare), [link...

Drew Boynton is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Clearer than a pool of dark water, brighter than a Cyberman’s forehead, and a lot less complicated than the Master’s closet… it’s the Kasterborous News Blast! In today’s burst of tree-protected information, David Tennant charms on a big USA chat show, Jenna Coleman gets best dressed, a special Doctor Who special gets funded, and nearly...

The post David Tennant Explains, Missy Talks & Rona Munro Recalls Survival appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Those wanting a glimpse into Hollywood's future should pay attention to what British theatre critics are saying today. Ejiofor, Dench, Weisz, Redmayne – the list of graduates goes on

It's that time of year again: the awards season. And while I doubt that the Oscars committee is losing any sleep over the fact that tomorrow is the 25th edition of the UK Critics' Circle theatre awards, there's more connection between the two events than you might think. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a hot contender for best actor at the Oscars; in 2000 he picked up the critics' best newcomer gong for Blue/Orange and in 2007 shared the top Shakespeare award for his Othello. Judi Dench is also among this year's Oscar nominees for best actress – a prize she collected from the Brit crits in 1997 for Amy's View. What we aisle-squatters think today, Hollywood thinks tomorow.

At the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, I'd say...

Feature Andrew Blair 2 Apr 2013 - 08:30

Andrew offers up ten screenwriting names on our wishlist for appearing on the front of future Doctor Who scripts...

Gone are the days where you could send a letter to Peter Darvill-Evans and write a New Adventure. Big Finish will occasionally hold a writing competition, but for most of the time your examination of what it truly means to be an Ogri will be returned unopened. Fan-fiction will never surpass the heights of Ben Chatham's adventures (apart from all the many times it will), and so it came to pass that Doctor Who writing became something of a closed world. The positives of this outweigh the negatives.

To get a job writing for televisual Doctor Who, you have to be an experienced pro with television experience who can turn in a script on time, not minding that their work might be tampered with by...

Medea, Glasgow

It's been a good year for playwright and director Mike Bartlett. Love, Love, Love played at the Royal Court and his adaptation of Chariots Of Fire is currently at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End (to 10 Nov). This latest play, which he also directs, is something very different: Euripides's tale of a woman scorned who takes her revenge on her ex-husband in the most appalling way is one of the greatest and most enduring of Greek tragedies. Now it's reinvented for the modern age in Bartlett's new version about a 21st-century woman who is unhinged by grief when her husband, for whom she has given up everything, leaves her for another woman. The excellent Rachael Stirling is in the title role in a production for Headlong, which will be touring to major venues across the UK until December.

Citizens, Thu to 13 Oct

Lyn Gardner

Kanjoos: The Miser,...

Last year, production designer Melinda Doring won the If Award for Best Production Design for Australian-uk drama Oranges and Sunshine as well as an Aacta award for for her work on The Eye of the Storm. She tells fellow production designer John Rohde how she created the production design for Oranges and Sunshine while working on a tight budget.

John Rohde: How did you get involved with the film?

Melinda Doring: Oranges and Sunshine producer Emile Sherman (See Saw Films) suggested me to his UK co-producer Camilla Bray (Sixteen Films). I happened to be in the UK in the beginning of 2009 having just finished another UK -Australian co-production, The Boys Are Back, so I had the opportunity to meet with the director Jim Loach in London.

I loved Rona Munro.s script . it is based on the extraordinary autobiography Empty Cradles by Margaret Humphreys . so I found it easy...

Last year, production designer Melinda Doring won the If Award for Best Production Design for Australian-uk drama Oranges and Sunshine as well as an Aacta award for for her work on The Eye of the Storm. She tells fellow production designer John Rohde how she created the production design for Oranges and Sunshine while working on a tight budget. John Rohde: How did you get involved with the film? Melinda Doring: Oranges and Sunshine producer Emile Sherman (See Saw Films) suggested me to his UK co-producer Camilla Bray (Sixteen Films). I happened to be in the UK in the beginning of 2009 having just finished another UK -Australian co-production, The Boys Are Back, so I had the opportunity to meet with the director Jim Loach in London. I loved Rona Munro.s script . it...

Clips from Oranges and Sunshine, starring Emily Watson. The scripted by Rona Munro, opens October 28th via Cohen Media Group with a cast including Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Tara Morice, Lorraine Ashbourne, Clayton Watson, Aisling Loftus, Richard Dillane, Ruth Rickman and Russell Dykstra. TV helmer Jim Loach, known for "Bad Girls," Footballer's Wives" and "Hotel Babylon," makes his feature directorial debut on the project which opens October 28th. Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

Clips from Oranges and Sunshine, starring Emily Watson. The scripted by Rona Munro, opens October 28th via Cohen Media Group with a cast including Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Tara Morice, Lorraine Ashbourne, Clayton Watson, Aisling Loftus, Richard Dillane, Ruth Rickman and Russell Dykstra. TV helmer Jim Loach, known for "Bad Girls," Footballer's Wives" and "Hotel Babylon," makes his feature directorial debut on the project which opens October 28th. Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

The true story that inspired "Oranges & Sunshine," the directorial debut of Jim Loach, begs for dramatic interpretation. Set in 1986 Nottingham, it follows social worker Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson) as she uncovers a hidden multi-decade history in which the United Kingdom deported children to Australia, where they were often raised in abusive labor conditions. Working from Rona Munro's understated screenplay, Loach gives the material a purposeful feel and avoids ...

Red Dog, Oranges and Sunshine, Face to Face and The Eye of the Storm have received nominations for Best Feature Film at this year’s If Awards.

Red Dog won the most nominations, appearing in nine categories, with Oranges and Sunshine nominated in eight and Face to Face in six categories.

Nominated in the Best Direction category is Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Kriv Stenders for Red Dog and Justin Kurzel for Snowtown while Best Script nominees are Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Rona Munro for Oranges and Sunshine and Daniel Taplitz for Red Dog.

Best Documentary nominees are Mrs Carey’s Concert directed by Bob Connolly, I Am Eleven directed by Genevieve Bailey and Orchids: My Intersex Adventure directed by Phoebe Hart.

With its strong ensemble cast the Face to Face actors are up against David Wenham for Oranges and Sunshine, Josh Lucas for Red Dog and...

Sneak Peek posters and a new trailer, supporting the dramatic feature "Oranges & Sunshine", from the producers of "The King's Speech" , directed by Jim Loach, based on a true story. Screenplay is by Rona Munro :

"...'Margaret Humphreys', a social worker from Nottingham, England, uncovers the scandal of 'home children', a scheme of forcibly relocating poor children from the UK to Australia and Canada.

"Those deported children were promised oranges and sunshine but all they got was hard labour in institutions such as Keaney College in Bindoon, Western Australia. Margaret struggles to reunite the estranged families while bringing worldwide attention to the cause..."

Cast includes Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Watson, Tara Morice, Kate Rutter, Helen Grayson, Ruth Rickman, Harvey Scrimshaw, Molly Windsor, Neil Pigot, Tammy Wakefield, Adam Morgan, Neil May, Adam Tedder and Greg Stone.

From See Saw Films and Sixteen Films, "Oranges & Sunshine" opened in the UK, April 2011.

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See a second poster for Oranges and Sunshine, starring Hugo Weaving, Emily Watson and David Wenham. Jim Loach makes his feature directorial debut on the drama, helming from the script by Rona Munro (Almost Adult). Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice. She discovered a secret...

See a second poster for Oranges and Sunshine, starring Hugo Weaving, Emily Watson and David Wenham. Jim Loach makes his feature directorial debut on the drama, helming from the script by Rona Munro (Almost Adult). Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice. She discovered a secret...

We got the first UK trailer for Oranges and Sunshine, director Jim Loach’s feature debut, back in February ahead of its April release here, and it was incredibly touching.

The film’s release in the Us is not until next month, and so we now have a new Us trailer to enjoy, courtesy of Thompson on Hollywood, before it comes out in time for the awards season next year.

“Synopsis: Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals of recent times: the deportation of thousands of children from the United Kingdom to Australia.

Almost single-handedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and drew worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice. Children as young as four had been told that their parents were dead,...

Here is a new trailer for Jim Loach’s Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving. The film was adapted by Rona Munro based on the memoir Empty Cradles by Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphreys.

In the 80s she discovered that in the 50s and 60s the UK deported thousands of abandoned children, as young as four, to abusive work homes in Australia. She challenged the authorities in order to expose this miscarriage of justice and reunite thousands of families.

Check out the rather depressing trailer below and tell us what you think. The film has played a few festivals and has been released in the UK.

Here is the new trailer for Jim Loach's Oranges and Sunshine. Loach is the son of Ken Loach and this is his first film, which will be released by Cohen Media. The film was produced by Camilla Bray, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech).

The film stars Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves) and was adpated by Rona Munro from. The film is based on the memoir Empty Cradles by Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphreys. "In the 80s she discovered that in the 50s and 60s the UK deported thousands of abandoned children, as young as four, to abusive work homes in Australia. She challenged the authorities in order to expose this miscarriage of justice and reunite thousands of families."

Check out the trailer below:

Oranges and Sunshine is prepping for an Awards season release in October.

Source: Thompson On Hollywood (http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/09/15/emily...

Check out the new trailer for Oranges and Sunshine (below), the first film from director Jim Loach--son of Ken Loach. Cohen Media will release the film, which has already opened in the UK, from producers Camilla Bray, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of The King's Speech, into the award season fray in October (reviews here). Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves) stars in this true story, adapted by Rona Munro from the memoir Empty Cradles by Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphreys. In the 80s she discovered that in the 50s and 60s the UK deported thousands of abandoned children, as young as four, to abusive work homes in Australia. She challenged the authorities in order to expose this miscarriage of justice and reunite thousands of families. ...

Oranges and Sunshine; Justin Bieber: Never Say Never; Rango; The Eagle; The Lincoln Lawyer

The ironically upbeat title of Jim Loach's impressive and arresting feature debut, Oranges and Sunshine, (2010, Icon, 15) refers to the bright new future promised to British children shipped to Australia in one of the most alarming chapters of this country's recent past. Assured (often erroneously) that their parents were dead, these forgotten unfortunates arrived wide-eyed down under, where they faced a life of slave labour – and worse. Inducted into institutions where child abuse was rife, they suffered at the hands of anonymous authorities and closed-rank religious orders, their plight a grotesque secret shrouded in an all-encompassing silence.

Inspired by the real-life investigations which led to belated (and all-too-recent) official apologies, Loach's powerful movie strikes an exemplary balance between personal journey and wider political parable. Emily Watson is terrific as social worker Margaret Humphreys, the reluctant heroine...

Thousands of disadvantaged British children were promised oranges and sunshine when they were deported to Australia in the decades after WWII. A new co-production is now bringing attention to their once forgotten story.

The film chronicles the journey of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker who in 1986 brought public attention to a little-known Government program that saw up to 150,000 British children shipped to Australia (and other Commonwealth countries), often without the parents’ knowledge. Humphreys established the Child Migrants Trust to help them reclaim their identities and, when possible, reunite them with the family they didn’t know they had. The Trust has also allowed them to tell the stories of abuse they suffered as a result of the forced migration process.

The son of director Ken Loach, Jim, read Margaret Humphreys’ 1994 book Empty Cradles and contacted her in 2002 to discuss the possibility of a documentary. They stayed in touch and eventually,...

Oranges and Sunshine

Directed by Jim Loach

Screenplay by Rona Munro

2010, Australia

‘Issue’ films can be uniquely difficult propositions to successfully render in a cinematic form. In order to succeed the filmmakers must achieve a unique balancing act of delivering the facts of a certain event or happenstance whilst obeying those instinctive rules of film-making, namely the establishment of empathy and affinity with a central figure who serves as the celluloid avatar, as through their eyes we are drawn into a narrative that illuminates a grave injustice, a shocking abuse or criminal failure of responsibility that aims to ignite a sense of rage and sympathy in its impaled audience. In his debut film Jim Loach – son of the venerated Ken - successfully (for the most part) navigates these parameters in a powerfully moving and understated account of a grevious social crime that had been committed by the governments of Great Britain and Australia,...