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Netflix has struck a creative partnership with multi-hyphenate Lena Dunham (Girls) and her production company Good Thing Going “to develop and create serialized first-look projects for Netflix.” The news comes as the creator is ready to return to the small screen with Netflix rom-com series Too Much this year, which she discussed during a Netflix event in London on Wednesday evening.

The show, on which Dunham functions as creator, writer, director and executive producer, marks her first scripted comedy series with Netflix and predates the newly unveiled partnership.

Before getting down to Netflix business at the London event, Scottish radio DJ and TV host Edith Bowman asked if due to the time she has spent in the U.K., Dunham could already be considered an honorary Brit. “I just got my five-year visa,” the creator shared, earning applause. “It did come with the damehood,” she then quipped.

Of the deal,...

Netflix has inked a creative partnership with Lena Dunham and her production company, Good Things Going.

Under the new deal, Dunham and Good Thing Going will develop and create serialized first look projects for Netflix, the streamer announced as part of its Next on Netflix presentation. The news comes as Netflix and Dunham are in the midst of collaborating on a new series, “Too Much,” for which Dunham serves as creator, writer, director and executive producer.

“Lena’s authenticity and singular voice have redefined storytelling for this generation. She’s a creative powerhouse, weaving together complex and nuanced narratives that are as thought-provoking as they are entertaining,” Netflix VP of drama series Jinny Howe said. “We look forward to delighting audiences with more of the deeply relatable stories they love from Lena.”

“Working with Netflix to bring Too Much to life has been a dream; the trust, support and creative...

Lena Dunham and Netflix have announced a new creative partnership ahead of the premiere of the “Girls” creator’s first show for the streamer, “Too Much.”

During the Next on Netflix event in London on Wednesday, Dunham made an appearance to reveal that her production company Good Thing Going will continue to develop serialized first-look projects for Netflix. “Too Much,” a scripted comedy series, is set to premiere this year and predates the new partnership. A first-look image of the show was also unveiled, featuring lead Megan Stalter (“Hacks”).

Megan Stalter in “Too Much”

“Working with Netflix to bring ‘Too Much’ to life has been a dream; the trust, support and creative freedom they offer are rare and precious,” Dunham said in a statement. “My producing partner Michael P. Cohen and I are deeply excited to begin the next phase of Good Thing Going with Netflix as our home, one...

Jordan Tannahill’s frightening psychological thriller “The Listeners” is a compelling investigation of human vulnerability, ability, and the enticing power of shared illusion. The story, adapted from Tannahill’s novel and converted into a fascinating BBC series, revolves around Claire, a high school literature teacher whose world unravels when she begins hearing an incomprehensible low-frequency hum that no one else can hear.

Set in the United Kingdom, the four-part drama depicts Claire’s journey into a maze of ambiguity as reality becomes increasingly malleable. Rebecca Hall provides a remarkable performance, capturing the intricate emotional landscape of a woman torn between scientific doubt and desperate belief. Kyle, one of her students, reveals that he hears the same unexplained sound, and their shared experience becomes a dangerous catalyst for connection and potential exploitation.

The series goes beyond a straightforward supernatural narrative, delving deeply into contemporary societal problems. It expertly examines how loneliness,...

"The hum is not your enemy!" Or is it? BBC has revealed the trailer for a mystery thriller series called The Listeners, which will be streaking in the UK later this month. No US date is set yet - hopefully soon. Not to be confused with the mystery thriller movie called The Watchers from this summer or Steve Buscemi's film The Listener. The Listeners tells the story of Claire, a teacher, who begins to hear a low humming sound and finds support from others who can hear it. What is this sound? Where is it coming from? Even doctors have no idea. BBC describes it as "enigmatic, provocative, and haunting" and says it will explore "the seduction of the wild & unknowable, the human search for the transcendent, the rise of conspiracy culture in the West, and the desire for community & connection in our increasingly polarised times." Starring Rebecca Hall as Claire,...

Exclusive: Rebecca Hall has revealed how she got into the character of a woman who hears a constant, low humming sound in BBC series The Listeners.

Adapted from the Jordan Tannahill novel, Hall plays English teacher Claire, tormented by the sound and desperate to make it stop.

Speaking to Deadline on the eve of TIFF, where it is world premiering, Hall said she developed a trick to help her get into character.

“What was helpful was we were shooting on film,” said the Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire star. “Digital is silent but with film you can hear the sound of the whir. Sooner or later I latched onto that as my hum. It was comfortable and helped me be where I needed to be.”

After a while, Hall said “it became the thing of the character, I knew it was there and it was a sort of companion.

Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, Adele Exarchopoulos and more are set to join Lena Dunham’s new Netflix series, Too Much.

In December, we reported that Lena Dunham set her next TV project at Netflix. Titled Too Much, the comedy show had attached Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe as the two leads.

Variety now reports that a plethora of actors have joined the project. Here comes the list of the acting talent who will be joining Stalter and Sharpe in the series: Richard E. Grant, Stephen Fry, Janicza Bravo, Michael Zegen, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Leo Reich, Adele Exarchopoulos, Adwoa Aboah, Daisy Bevan, Dean-Charles Chapman, Kaori Momoi, Emily Ratajkowski and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

Here’s a synopsis for the upcoming Netflix comedy series: “Jessica (Stalter) is a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows. When...

Lena Dunham’s Netflix comedy series “Too Much” has filled out its cast with a star-studded lineup, Variety has learned exclusively.

Joining previously announced series leads Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe will be: Richard E. Grant (“Saltburn”), Stephen Fry (“The Dropout”), Janicza Bravo (“Sharp Stick”), Michael Zegen (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Rhea Perlman (“Cheers”), Rita Wilson (“Sleepless in Seattle”), Leo Reich (“Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!”), Adele Exarchopoulos (“Passages”), Adwoa Aboah (“Top Boy”), Daisy Bevan (“The Alienist”), Dean-Charles Chapman (“1917”), Kaori Momoi (“The Brightest Roof in the Universe”) and Prasanna Puwanarajah (“The Crown”). It is also confirmed that Emily Ratajkowski will appear in the series after Variety exclusively reported she was in final talks to join in early February.

The official description of the series states:

“Jessica (Stalter) is a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona star Rebecca Hall was one of the buzziest names to feature on the BBC’s recent 12-strong drama slate and the BAFTA winner can now be seen in first look images playing a teacher in Element Pictures’ The Listeners.

Adapted by the novel’s author Jordan Tannahill, Hall’s character Claire is tormented by a low humming sound that no one else around her can hear. This seemingly innocuous noise gradually upsets the balance of her life, increasing tension between herself and her husband, Paul, and daughter, Ashley. But despite multiple doctors, no obvious source or medical cause can be found.

Scroll down for more pics, including another of Hall and one of Ollie West (Hamnet), who plays student Kyle and can also hear the sound.

Also starring in the series, which was filmed in Greater Manchester, are Prasanna Puwanarajah, Amr Waked (Ramy), Gayle Rankin, Mia Tharia (Phoenix Rise), Franc Ashman, Samuel Edward Cook, Karen Henthorn, Lucy Sheen (Ping Pong) and Ian Mercer.

Deadline revealed the show’s development last March and Poor Things producer Element is making it with Janicza Bravo – whose past credits include Zola, Mrs America and Them – directing. Hall is also starring in James L. Brooks’ next movie Ella McCay and Tessa Thompson’s similarly-named helpline drama The Listener. Fremantle is distributing The Listeners.

Rebecca Dundon, SVP Scripted Content, International at Fremantle said: “The Listeners is a thriller like no other that will surprise, provoke and challenge the status quo.”

Ollie West as Kyle and Rebecca Hall as Claire. Image: Element Pictures/Fremantle/BBC/Des Willie Rebecca Hall as Claire. Image: Element Pictures/Fremantle/BBC/Will Robson-Scott

Tannahill and Bravo are EP-ing alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann and Rachel Dargavel for Element Pictures, Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC, and Alice Birch. The series is produced by BAFTA-nominated Ed King. Fremantle is handling global sales.

“If I were Boris Johnson, I wouldn’t want to read it” said the Sunday Times review of Rachel Clarke’s Covid-19 NHS frontline memoir Breathtaking. If I were Boris Johnson, and capable of experiencing shame, I wouldn’t want to watch this humane, truth-telling TV adaptation either.

Breathtaking is not about Boris Johnson or the corridors of power; it’s an unvarnished record of what happened in the corridors and wards of NHS hospitals during the Coronavirus pandemic. Over three one-hour episodes based on Clarke’s experiences and research interviews, it follows fictional consultant Dr Abbey Henderson (Joanne Froggatt) and colleagues through the early days and the worst of the virus.

Why should we have to go through all of that again on screen – wasn’t once enough? Perhaps. But if your pandemic, like mine, was more about sourdough and Joe Wicks than pain and loss, then it feels...

Doctor Rachel Clarke and ex-junior doctors Jed Mercurio and Prasanna Puwanarajah have teamed up to make Covid drama Breathtaking, here’s the trailer.

It is perhaps no surprise that following the most tumultuous, traumatic time in our recent history, writers quickly opened Final Draft and began to try to make some sense of it all.

Jack Thorne’s astonishingly powerful film Help, which starred Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham, shone a light on the brutal reality or running a care home during the pandemic.

Michael Winterbottom and Keiron Quirke aimed their anger at the political side of things, with Kenneth Branagh playing Boris Johnson in mini series This England, while writer Stephen Knight and director Doug Liman took a more lighthearted approach with comedy drama Lockdown, which saw Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor stage a diamond heist in Harrods.

Jed Mercurio is no stranger to medical dramas, drawing on his...

“The Kitchen” co-director and co-writer Daniel Kaluuya and “Polite Society” writer-director Nida Manzoor are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.

Both have been longlisted twice, in the debut director and debut screenwriter categories. In all, 20 fiction and 15 documentary features have been longlisted in the four debut filmmaking categories. Nineteen first-time fiction feature directors, 17 first-time feature documentary directors, 17 first-time writers and 24 breakthrough producers have been recognized by BIFA voters this year.

BIFA Springboard, an annual program supporting second-time feature filmmakers will launch in early 2024. BIFA will reveal the Netflix-sponsored 2023 breakthrough performance longlist, which highlights British acting talent in their first significant role in a British feature film, on Oct. 24. The final five nominations in each category will be unveiled on Nov. 2. Winners will be revealed at the 26th BIFA ceremony on Dec. 3.

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Sponsored By...

Eight films listed in three of the four categories.

Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex are among the 35 features on the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Filmmaker New Talent longlists for 2023.

The ceremony has released longlists for four awards: the Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), Best Debut Screenwriter, Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary (a new award for this year) and Breakthrough Producer.

Scroll down for the full New Talent longlists

Eight films have been longlisted in three of the four categories: Earth Mama, Femme, In Camera, Pretty Red Dress,...

Black Bear makes its biggest release with ‘Dumb Money’.

Expend4bles is looking to end the action franchise on a high note at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, opening in 577 cinemas through Lionsgate.

Billed as the final film entry in the series, Expend4bles sees the titular team of mercenaries tasked with preventing a Third World War. Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture all reprise their roles, with Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran and Andy Garcia all joining the cast.

Expend4bles resurrects the franchise after a nine-year hiatus since 2014’s The Expendables 3.

Kielty plays a standup with a troubled past, but it’s Seána Kerslake who is the driving force here, via her terrific performance as a prickly cabby

You’ve got to admire comedian Patrick Kielty for putting his neck on the line in his first dramatic role. In Prasanna Puwanarajah’s directorial debut, Kielty plays Shane, a budding standup who can painstakingly recount favourite scenes from Only Fools and Horses but has no discernible comic skill of his own. Far from being a deranged Rupert Pupkin figure, Shane harbours a troubled past, which makes him well placed for some odd-couple bonding with Eileen (Seána Kerslake), an acerbic young cabby who ferries him each week from his self-imposed exile in the coastal village of Ballywalter to his comedy course in Belfast. Why can’t he take himself? Ah, that would be the driving ban. Tragic backstory alert!

It’s clear that Eileen has issues too,...

Don’t despair about the end of another non-existent British summer – UK TV always gets good when the weather turns, as the nights draw in and we all retreat indoors, finally getting sick of rainy barbecues and being chased by wasps in pub gardens.

This year is no different, so you can expect your 2023 autumn TV watchlist to include some compelling original dramas, from true crime shows covering some of the UK’s most shocking cases to enthralling depictions of real-life events, from the arrival of the Windrush generation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Throw in some time-travelling crime-solving, mediaeval sword fights and a criminal gang on the run from a ruthless assassin, and we’ll be enjoying our self-enforced hibernation in front of the telly all the way until Christmas. Here’s what’s coming up, in order of release date.

The Killing Kind

Jane Casey’s novel The Killing Kind...

More than 1,400 registered Gold Derby users voted worldwide to decide the winners of the 20th Annual Gold Derby TV Awards honoring the best achievements in television and streaming programs from June 2022 through May 2023. Scroll down to see the complete list of winners in all 30 categories.

“Succession” entered these awards as the top nominee with 14 bids across nine categories, and it came away with more awards than any other program. It prevailed seven times including Best Drama Series (its second victory in that category), Best Drama Actor and Best Drama Actress (first-time winner Sarah Snook). Most of the awards the corporate drama lost were to itself. The only two categories it lost to another show were Best Drama Supporting Actress (Rhea Seehorn won for “Better Call Saul”) and Best Drama Guest Actor (Nick Offerman won for “The Last of Us”).

Seetv Documentary roundtable: ‘Judy Blume Forever,’ ‘Pamela, a love story,’ ‘Secrets of the Elephants,...

Ten Percent will not be returning for a second season. The British comedy series, called Call My Agent in the UK, aired on AMC+ and Sundance Now in the US. The series is a remake of Dix Pour Cent (“Ten Percent”), a French comedy that aired for four seasons.

Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Prasanna Puwanarajah, and Maggie Steed star in the series, which is set in a London talent agency as it tries to adapt to an ever-changing industry. The first season was released in 2022 and features cameo appearances from Helena Bonham Carter, Dominic West, and David Harewood.

Read More…...

“Call My Agent” U.K. — launched locally as “Ten Percent” — will not return for a second season, Variety can confirm.

The re-make of the hit French comedy, which starred Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Maggie Steed, launched on Amazon Prime Video in the U.K. in April 2022 to high hopes. In the U.S. it premiered on Sundance Now and AMC+.

The original series, titled “Dix Pour Cent” (“Ten Percent”) in France, was a sleeper hit, spawning four seasons and turning its cast, including Camille Cottin and Assaad Bouab, into international stars. Cottin will next be seen in Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice” and Guy Nattiv’s “Golda,” while Bouab recently had roles in “Inventing Anna” and “Bad Sisters.”

The self-referential show, set in the offices of a Parisian talent agency, was also known for its many celebrity cameos including Monica Belluci, Sigourney Weaver and Juliette Binoche,...

Break Out Pictures and Elysian Film Group have released the new trailer for Prasanna Puwanarajah’s celebrated, award-winning directorial film debut ‘Ballywalter.’

A life-affirming story about the unexpected connections that can change the course of our lives. Eileen (Seána Kerslake) is a caustic, unrepentant University dropout whose dreams of a successful life in London have fallen by the wayside. Back at home with her mum, she makes ends meet by working as an unlicensed driver in her ex-boyfriend’s minicab.

Shane (Patrick Kielty) has exiled himself in Ballywalter following the break-up of his marriage, but now he’s trying to get his life back on track by enrolling in a stand-up comedy course. When Shane calls a taxi to get him to his classes, Eileen answers and a surprising connection is made. As the two spend time together shuttling back and forth, a beautiful friendship develops, leading both to a moment of realisation.

"I wouldn't be here with you..." Break Out Pictures & Elysian have revealed an official UK trailer for an indie drama titled Ballywalter, which is opening in the UK this September. It first premiered at last year's Belfast Film Festival, and it also played at the Cork Film Festival. Starring Seána Kerslake and comedian Patrick Kielty in his first dramatic role. A bitter sweet comedy-drama set in Ballywalter, Northern Ireland. Actor Prasanna Puwanarajah's Ballywalter film is a life affirming story about the unexpected connections that can change the course of our lives. Eileen is a caustic, unrepentant University drop-out whose dreams of a successful life in London have fallen by the wayside. Back at home with her mum, she makes ends meet by working as a driver. One day she picks up Shane, who has exiled himself in town following the break-up of his marriage. They make a connection and...

Exclusive: Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio has penned an ITV drama about a doctor in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic starring Joanne Froggatt.

Mercurio co-wrote Breathtaking with Rachel Clarke, the author of the 2021 novel that the show is based on, and Prasanna Puwanarajah, who played Martin Bashir in The Crown Season 5. All three are qualified doctors.

Filming wrapped quietly earlier this year in Belfast.

Breathtaking is based on Clarke’s unflinching memoir having looked after the most gravely unwell patients in the early days of the pandemic. Amid the tensions, fatigue and rising death toll, she witnessed the courage of patients and NHS staff alike in conditions of unprecedented adversity.

Golden Globe-winner Froggatt, who most recently starred in James Graham’s BBC drama Sherwood, played lead Dr Abbey Henderson and Craig Viveiros (The War of the Worlds) was director.

“Everyone has felt privileged to dramatise Rachel Clarke...

More than 1,200 registered Gold Derby users voted worldwide, and the 20th annual ceremony results are in for the 2023 Gold Derby TV Awards nominations. Announced on July 11, these nominations honor the best achievements in television that premiered during the season from June 2022 through May 2023. Scroll down to see the full list of nominees in all 30 categories, and vote for the winners right now here in our predictions center. You have until July 28 to cast your votes.

“Succession” is the top program with a remarkable 14 nominations including Best Drama Series, which the HBO corporate saga previously won in 2020. Its fourth and final season is also up for Best Drama Actor, Best Drama Actress (Sarah Snook), and twice for Best Drama Episode (“America Decides” and “Connor’s Wedding”). It’s joined in the race for Best Drama Series by “Andor,” “Bad Sisters,” “Better Call Saul,” “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us,...

With 21 wins under its belt, Netflix’s royal drama “The Crown” has always been an Emmys favorite. So much of the excitement around the show comes from its cast, which rotates every two seasons. Claire Foy and Matt Smith led the line as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in seasons one and two while Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin featured as Prince Charles and Princess Diana in seasons three and four. Now, in season five, the show is led by Imelda Staunton as the Queen, Dominic West as Prince Charles, and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.

Those stars are hoping to be the latest in a long line of “The Crown” actors nominated for their work on the show. So far, “The Crown” cast has received 17 acting nominations in total. That is an incredible number. Season one garnered two bids, season two reaped four nominations, season three received two bids, and...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Emmy Predictions:

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Weekly Commentary:

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Primetime Emmy predictions in the major categories.

The rankings for the category are below.

The final Emmy voting rounds open on Aug. 17 at 9 a.m. Pt and close on Aug.

Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page features 10 standout drama series scripts in 2023 Emmy contention. It showcases the critical role writers’ work plays in a show’s success. All materials (the script and writers intro) were submitted before the WGA strike began on May 2.

It would have been easy for Netflix’s Emmy-winning The Crown to recreate Princess Diana’s infamous BBC interview with Martin Bashir by simply having Elizabeth Debicki, as Her Royal Highness, deliver the entire transcript from a makeshift Kensington Palace. But series creator Peter Morgan, was more interested in showing the drama behind the scenes, like how executives at the BBC wrestled over airing the interview and how Diana had doubts about Bashir and whether she could actually trust him.

Named after England’s notorious Gunpowder Plot of 1605 — which was the failed attempt to assassinate King James I during...

Season 5 of “The Crown” has cemented its strategy for the 2023 Emmys, Gold Derby has learned exclusively. (See the complete list of submissions below.) Netflix’s regal series is one of the TV academy’s all-time favorites, winning 21 total Emmys (including Best Drama Series in 2021) from 63 nominations across its first four years. Because the show revamps its cast every two seasons, there is entirely new crop of acting contenders for this year’s awards cycle, with Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II and Dominic West as Prince Charles submitted as leads.

In total, 15 cast members have been put forward by the network this year, including six supporting performances: Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Salim Daw as Mohamed Al-Fayed and Jonny Lee Miller as John Major. Debicki and Pryce were recently recognized at...

The Gold Derby predictions center event for the 2023 Emmy Awards has now added the Drama Guest Actor category. We have compiled lists of nearly 40 eligible performers in each of the four guest acting races that reflect our educated guesses on who will be submitted for consideration. More names will be added in the next few months and when the Television Academy releases this year’s ballots in June. Make your very first selections now!

Last year, “Succession” dominated this category with four of the six slots for guests Adrien Brody, James Cromwell, Arian Moayed, and Alexander Skarsgård. As of this writing, we anticipate both Cromwell and Moayed will be guest eligible — Moayed has already appeared in one Season 4 episode so far — while Skarsgård may appear in enough episodes to be deemed supporting. With the 2022 victor Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”) and nominee Tom Pelphrey (“Ozark”) ineligible, there will be at least three...

The 2023 London Screenings, which unfold Feb. 27 to March 3, take place in an increasingly crowded international TV calendar. The event kicks off just days after the Berlinale Series Market, overlaps with the BBC Studios Showcase and precedes Series Mania and MipTV.

The week-long showcase has established itself as a key place to acquire the best of British and international programming. All major global TV distributors, spanning 26 companies, have a plethora of content to offer across genres and formats, and a series of screenings, meetings and events have been lined up.

To help you cut through the slates, Variety has surveyed the goods from key international distributors. Here are our picks of 15 shows that will whet buyers’ appetites.

A Body That Works

(Keshet International)

“A Body That Works”

An intense triangle involving love, jealousy, desire and selflessness sees a childless couple enlist the help of a surrogate to conceive. At the heart...

It is the directorial debut of Prasanna Puwanarajah and the first leading film role from Northern Irish TV presenter Patrick Kielty.

UK filmmaker Prasanna Puwanarajah’s directorial debut Ballywalter has been picked up for release in the UK and Ireland, with Break Out Pictures releasing in the Republic and Northern Ireland, and CAA-backed Elysian Film Group distributing in Great Britain.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films represents worldwide sales, and are selling the title at the European Film Market (EFM).

Screen Star of Tomorrow 2017 Seána Kerslake stars alongside Northern Irish presenter Patrick Kielty in his first leading film role, and...

More than 100 key figures from the UK film and TV industry have signed a letter urging the UK government to take “immediate action” against Iranian authorities for “gross violations of human rights and women’s rights” in their response to the wave of public protests that erupted last year.

The industry leaders, including Barbara Broccoli, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Edgar Wright, are calling for the UK government to “actively campaign to stop the violence used against the protesters in Iran, including an immediate stop to all executions” and “demand the release of all political prisoners in Iran.”

“Enough is enough. If the global community, which the UK is an active and influential member of, does not act firmly, these atrocities will continue,” the letter reads. “We need to sincerely support the people of Iran in their fight for justice and freedom.”

The letter was organized by British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari (Under...

A growing number of figures from the film and TV industry in the U.K. have signed a letter urging British politicians to support the people of Iran as the country faces global condemnation for executing several of those involved in the wave of protests that erupted last year.

The letter, instigated by British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari, calls for members of U.K. parliament to actively campaign for Iran to stop violence against protesters and end all executions, to hold Iran accountable for the “gross violations of human rights and women’s rights,” and to demand that Iran releases all political prisoners.

Among the almost 100 names to have signed the letter, which is still circulating and gathering attention, are Olivia Colman, Martin McDonagh, Jessie Buckley, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Brett Goldstein, Jonathan Pryce, Hugh Bonneville, Richard Curtis, Gillian Anderson, Felicity Jones, George Mackay, Edgar Wright and Hayley Atwell.

The letter is the latest...

“The Crown” is back — and so is the Netflix series’ accompanying drama about what is and is not factually accurate. This season feels particularly explosive, as the first batch of episodes to take place in the oh-so-well-documented 1990s. Among the many topics tackled are the dissolution of marriages, the discovery of the remains of the Tsar of Russia and his family, the election of Tony Blair — and Prince Philip’s obsession with carriage driving.

In order to sift through what is historically accurate and what is merely conjecture (if not outright dramatic fiction), we turn to the Internet’s favorite arbiter of fact versus fantasy: Jonathan Frakes, the host of late ’90s meme-fave “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.” Are these “um, what?!?” moments true? Or is Peter Morgan just pulling the crown over our eyes?

Did Prince Charles really cut short his second honeymoon with Diana and their children?

Although...

The penultimate season of Netflix’s The Crown is now playing on the streaming service. Written by Peter Morgan, The Crown‘s fifth series stars Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as The Duke of Edinburgh, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles. Jonny Lee Miller takes on the role of John Major. Also featured is Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, Marcia Warren as the Queen Mother, James Murray as Prince Andrew and Sam Woolf as Prince Edward. Playing the role of the young princes will be Timothée Sambor and Senan West as Prince William and Teddy Hawley and Will Powell as Prince Harry. Prasanna Puwanarajah is Martin Bashir, Salim Daw is Mohamed Al Fayed with Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed. We present interviews with some of them at the UK Premiere held in Drury Lane.

Warning: This article contains Spoilers for The Crown season 5.As The Crown enters the 1990s in season 5, it builds toward Martin Bashir's interview with Princess Diana, an event which has become increasingly controversial in the years that followed its 1995 airing. Episodes 7 and 8 of The Crown season 5 dramatize the events leading up to the interview's recording, broadcast, and the immediate aftermath. In particular, it focuses on the questionable methods that Bashir (Prasanna Puwanarajah) deployed to secure his exclusive interview with Diana (Elizabeth Debicki). Playing upon the Princess' paranoia, he falsified bank statements to imply that people close to both Diana and her brother Earl Spencer were being paid to inform on her. It was a serious breach of journalistic ethics and the moral standards of the BBC, and for 25 years, Bashir escaped any real consequences for his actions.

There are some creative additions made for dramatic purposes in how The Crown...

Warning: Spoilers for The Crown Season 5 Finale - "Decommissioned"

The ending of The Crown season 5 centers on Queen Elizabeth II's (Imelda Staunton) dramatic feelings of obsolescence while Prince Charles (Dominic West) fruitlessly campaigns for greater stature as the future King and the tragic fate of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) hangs in the air. The Prince and Princess of Wales formally divorced in The Crown season 5, episode 9, "Couple 31." The rest of the Royal Family shifted to the background as their stories wrapped up in The Crown season 5, but Mohamed Al Fayed (Salim Daw) and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) took center stage in the finale.

The Crown season 5 saw Queen Elizabeth facing her failures as the sovereign and as a mother, which were crystallized in her "annus horribilis" of 1992 with the collapses of 3 royal marriages - Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison) and Mark Phillips, along with Charles...

The cast and crew of “The Crown” were joined by Netflix boss Ted Sarandos in London for the show’s Season 5 premiere.

Before the screening started, Sarandos took to the stage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in central London on Tuesday evening to introduce the new season. During his speech, Sarandos called the series the “crown jewel” in Netflix’s original series catalogue. “This really has been and continues to be the highlight of my personal and professional life,” Sarandos said of the show. “And I’m incredibly in awe with [Peter Morgan’s] vision and with his writing. And I am incredibly, incredibly grateful for your friendship. Peter, thank you so much.”

Sarandos also took the opportunity to remind the audience the show is a “dramatization” of the Royal Family’s life. There has been much debate in the U.K. about how much of the show is...

Click here to read the full article.

The actors behind The Crown‘s latest version of the British royal family — including Dominic West, Jonathan Pryce and Lesley Manville — welcomed fans to the ’90s at the world premiere of The Crown‘s fifth season on Tuesday night.

On a wet evening in central London, with Queen Elizabeth II no longer on the throne, a fresh cast for Netflix’s hit series ushered in its long-awaited return.

Season five’s Prince Charles (played by West), led the lineup on the red carpet for the show’s world premiere at the brightly lit and aptly named Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It was here a young Jonny Lee Miller used to sell programs and ice cream, according to Pryce, who stars as a 70-year-old Prince Philip. These two were joined by Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth), Elizabeth Debicki (Princess Diana), Manville (Princess Margaret) and self-dubbed...

British actor Prasanna Puwanarajah is on a career high with a starring turn in the new season of “The Crown” and his feature directorial debut “Ballywalter” beginning its festival journey by opening the Belfast Film Festival.

Puwanarajah is of Tamil Sri Lankan heritage and has used aspects of his background to inform both his role in “The Crown” and his directing turn on “Ballywalter,” he tells Variety.

In “The Crown,” Puwanarajah plays British journalist Martin Bashir, who conducted the infamous and now disreputed 1995 BBC “Panorama” interview with Princess Diana. Bashir is of Pakistani heritage.

“It’s very rare that as an actor you are using the full range of your physical and spiritual and heritage offer — particularly in the way that casting can happen, where it can feel quite last minute and diversity can feel like, as Riz Ahmed puts it, an optional extra, where people aren’t really looking...

England-based Sri Lankan medic-turned-actor Prasanna Puwanarajah, who plays Martin Bashir in Season 5 of ‘The Crown’, is working in tandem with ‘Line of Duty’ creator Jed Mercurio over an adaptation of Rachel Clarke’s pandemic-themed bestseller ‘Breathtaking’.

The book is being developed as a three-part as-yet-untitled drama for UK broadcaster ITV, Puwanarajah, who was formerly a doctor with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), as was Mercurio, told ‘Variety’. Clarke is writing the drama with Puwanarajah and Mercurio.

Set during the time when the UK was being ravaged by Covid-19, Clarke’s book provides an insider’s look at the pandemic from a hospital doctor’s point of view.

“Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor who I used to work with in the NHS, when I was a first year junior doctor and she was a medical student — I taught her how to do IV drip lines. And she...

The Crown controversy has taken another turn ahead of the arrival of Season 5 this week on Netflix.

Following the disapproval voiced by several public figures of producers’ focus on the tumultuous events within the British monarchy of the 1990s – divorces, books, interviews, leaked telephone calls with lovers and even a terrible fire destroying priceless art at Windsor Castle – one of the new season’s stars has whipped up debate in another direction.

Prasanna Puwanarajah plays Martin Bashir, the BBC journalist who landed the scoop of the decade in sitting down with Princess Diana for her only solo feature-length interview, in which she famously said, “there were three in this marriage so it was a bit crowded” and admitted to her own infidelity.

Bashir has been completely discredited in recent years, as his methods of securing the interview – including presenting fake bank statements to the Princess’s brother to support his...

Prasanna Puwanarajah, who stars as Martin Bashir on season 5 of “The Crown,” is working again with “Line of Duty” creator Jed Mercurio, this time on an adaptation of Rachel Clarke’s pandemic-themed bestseller “Breathtaking.”

The book is being developed as a three-part as-yet-untitled drama for U.K. broadcaster ITV, Puwanarajah, who was formerly a doctor with the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), as was Mercurio, told Variety. Clarke is writing the drama with Puwanarajah and Mercurio.

Set during the time when the U.K. was being ravaged by Covid-19, Clarke’s book provides an insider’s look at the pandemic from a hospital doctor’s point of view.

“Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor who I used to work with in the NHS, when I was a first year junior doctor and she was a medical student – I taught her how to do IV drip lines. And...

Spoiler Alert: This review contains details of the fifth season of The Crown, which debuts all 10 episodes November 9 on Netflix.

“Don’t want to break any rules,” exclaims Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth II about halfway through the fifth and penultimate season of The Crown. The latest incarnation of the now-deceased monarch in Peter Morgan’s Netflix drama uttered that, but when it comes to the rules, the latest run of The Crown has knocked down almost all the gilded guardrails this time around.

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A result that tilts unsteadily between the gelastic and the grubby.

For one thing, launching on...

'Even the televisions are metaphors in this place," says Queen Elizabeth II when her ancient TV suddenly goes on the fritz, its screen fuzzy and fading. It's a cheeky, winking little line from the writers of "The Crown" as the series enters an era of decline for the royal family. Things are falling apart left and right, including people's bodies, as the characters age into health problems and general malaise. It was a stroke of genius to frequently recast the characters of "The Crown" as they age because it hammers home the inevitable passage of time; the sense that the clock is always ticking, and sooner or later, it's going to run out for everyone.

As usual, "The Crown" follows Elizabeth and her immediate family as they deal with the ever-changing times. I've long felt "The Crown" is the spiritual successor to "Mad Men" (though not nearly as good as...

Exclusive: Prasanna Puwanarajah said he jumped at the opportunity to appear in The Crown portraying infamous television journalist Martin Bashir, pummeled by a BBC inquiry that condemned the “deceitful” methods he used to obtain the controversial 1995 Panorama TV interview with Princess Diana, because ”roles like that just don’t really exist for Asian actors.”

Related Story Belfast Film Festival World Premiere For ‘Ballywalter’, Actor Prasanna Puwanarajah's First Feature; Seána Kerslake And Patrick Kielty Star Related Story Theo James Set To Lead Guy Ritchie's Netflix TV Series 'The Gentlemen' Related Story David Letterman Interviews Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy In Kyiv On Netflix's 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'

The actor’s comments come as the UK print media continue to whip itself into a frenzied state over the Emmy-winning Netflix and Left Bank Pictures series, which takes a looking-through-the-keyhole approach to events that involved the late Queen Elizabeth II,...

Exclusive: Prasanna Puwanarajah as an actor has appeared in Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned, Ten Percent and Patrick Melrose, and he’ll next pop up in two episodes of The Crown‘s upcoming fifth season portraying Martin Bashir, the controversial journalist who conducted the infamous BBC interview with Princess Diana. However, on Thursday he’ll wear a different hat when the Belfast Film Festival opens with the world premiere of Ballywalter, which marks his feature directing debut.

The film stars Northern Irish comedian and presenter Patrick Kielty — husband of So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley — in his first major acting role playing Shane who, broken after the collapse of his marriage, chooses to rehabilitate by joining a stand-up comedy course; and Seana Kerslake as Eileen, a sharp-tongued Ballywalter local who has moved back home with her mum and pregnant sister, and borrowed her ex’s battered Toyota...

The trailer for season five of The Crown has been released, teasing the next chapters of the royal family’s journey during the 1990s.

The hit Netflix drama series, inspired by the real-life events surrounding the Queen and her family, returns with new episodes on 9 November.

Ahead of season five’s release, a trailer was launched on Thursday (20 October), in which viewers can see new actors portraying the characters – including, notably, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana.

In a prescient nod to the near future in the show’s timeline, the trailer uses a cover of The Verve’s song “Bitter Sweet Symphony” as its soundtrack.

The track was released in June 1997, two months before Diana was killed in a car accident.

Although her death and the aftermath will not be depicted in this forthcoming season, the use of the classic indie track can be seen as a reference to the...

Netflix has dropped its first trailer for season five of its flagship drama The Crown.

The newest season, which will have its global premiere on 9 November, is expected to be the series’ second to last. It is set in the 1990s, a decade that introduced manifold sources of instability to Buckingham Palace, many of which can be glimpsed in the trailer.

“The royal family is in genuine crisis,” declares Martin Bashir – played by Ten Percent star Prasanna Puwanarajah – in the wide-ranging trailer, which depicts the marriage of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and King Charles III (Dominic West) in a state of disintegration.

Later, the trailer shows Diana taking a chair for her now infamously discredited Panorama interview and driving recklessly through an intersection. “People will never understand how it’s really been for me, I never stood a chance,” Diana reflects amid the chaos.

The Crown is returning to television...

Netflix has dropped its first trailer for season five of its flagship drama The Crown.

The newest season, which will have its global premiere on 9 November, is expected to be the series’ second to last. It is set in the 1990s, a decade that introduced manifold sources of instability to Buckingham Palace, many of which can be glimpsed in the trailer.

“The royal family is in genuine crisis,” declares Martin Bashir – played by Ten Percent star Prasanna Puwanarajah – in the wide-ranging trailer, which depicts the marriage of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and King Charles III (Dominic West) in a state of disintegration.

Later, the trailer shows Diana taking a chair for her now infamously discredited Panorama interview and driving recklessly through an intersection. “People will never understand how it’s really been for me, I never stood a chance,” Diana reflects amid the chaos.

The Crown is returning to television...

Chaos hits the royals in the brand new trailer for “The Crown” season 5.

The jam-packed teaser shows the monarchy dealing with Prince Charles’ affair with Camilla, Princess Diana reaching a breaking point, the fire at Windsor Castle, and more.

“The royal family is in genuine crisis,” Martin Bashir (Prasanna Puwanarajah) says in the clip, as the public openly questions the royals’ role in ’90s Britain.

“People will never understand how it’s really been for me, I never stood a chance,” Diana, now played by Elizabeth Debicki, insists.

Read More: ‘The Crown’: Dominic West & Elizabeth Debicki On Recreating Charles & Diana’s Explosive Divorce

Imelda Staunton, playing Queen Elizabeth II, ends the teaser by asking: “How did it come to this?”

The trailer also introduces Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Dominic West as Charles, Olivia Williams as Camilla, and more.

Season 5 of “The Crown” has been hitting headlines ahead of its November 9 debut on Netflix.