PBS

MASTERPIECE Podcast: Nicola Walker

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Nicola Walker leads the crime-fighting duo on the new MASTERPIECE Mystery! drama, Unforgotten. But the series’ complicated cold-case investigations surprise even her as they unfold week after week. Walker shares stories of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Broadway and why she could never be counted on to keep a criminal secret.

Source: MASTERPIECE | MASTERPIECE Studio Podcast: Nicola Walker

‘The Child in Time’ review: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in ‘Masterpiece’ movie

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‘The Child in Time’ review: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this melancholy ‘Masterpiece’ movie about a couple that lost their child, opposite Kelly Macdonald

It’s good to be Benedict Cumberbatch, whose very busy, eclectic spring schedule includes the Showtime miniseries “Patrick Melrose” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” Add to that “The Child in Time,” a strange, lyrical “Masterpiece” production, steeped in the crippling pain that surrounds the loss of a child.

Foremost, the movie — adapted from Ian McEwan’s 1987 novel — provides a showcase for Cumberbatch, and to a lesser degree the always-splendid Kelly Macdonald as his wife. Their relationship is fractured by the sudden disappearance of their four-year-old daughter, during a fleeting moment of inattentiveness by Cumberbatch’s character, a noted children’s book author named Stephen.
That moment, of course, represents every parent’s nightmare (and, not incidentally, closely resembles the Starz series “The Missing”). Still, the PBS film proceeds to unfold in unexpected, not-wholly-satisfying directions, exploring deeper themes about memories, childhood and the hope for reconciliation in vaguely surreal ways.
The main focus is on the central couple, who are met a few years after those agonizing events. Yet there’s also a subplot involving Stephen’s friend Charles (Stephen Campbell Moore), who has experienced a breakdown causing him to regress into a childlike state, a thread that can’t adequately be fleshed out or done proper justice within this 90-minute format.
The movie is nevertheless compelling, thanks largely to the interplay between Cumberbatch and Macdonald, in what amounts to a peculiar twist on a love story within the up-close-and-personal contours of a stage play. The film also bends the notion of time — moving between the past and present in a disorienting but, ultimately, affecting manner, as the missing girl remains a presence in Stephen’s life, even if she’s gone.
Cumberbatch is one of the executive producers, and it’s fair to say this somewhat unorthodox addition to the “Masterpiece” lineup likely wouldn’t have been made without the actor — already affiliated with the PBS franchise via “Sherlock” — having lent his name, considerable star power and committed fan base (a group that even enjoys its own colorful nickname) to the enterprise.
As vanity projects go, though, “The Child in Time” is the sort that reflects well on its champion — a guy who moves seamlessly between big splashy productions and small prestige ones. Viewed that way, “The Child in Time” falls squarely in the latter category, while offering Cumberbatch completists a performance that conjures a different sort of quiet magic.
“Masterpiece: The Child in Time” premieres April 1 at 9 p.m. on PBS.

Source: ‘The Child in Time’ review: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in ‘Masterpiece’ movie – CNN

Paul Hollywood: “I have missed Mary, Mel and Sue”

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The Bake Off presenter admits it was hard filming the new series without the old gang

Paul Hollywood has revealed that he “missed Mary, Mel and Sue” and that filming the new series of The Great British Bake Off has been “hard” at times.

RADIOTIMES :: Bake Off left its home on BBC1 last year after it was bought by Channel 4 for £25 million. Presenters Mel and Sue decided not to “go with the dough” and follow the show to the new broadcaster, as did judge Mary Berry. However, Paul Hollywood stuck with the programme during its switch and will reprise his judging role in the new series.

“I have missed Mary, Mel and Sue,” Hollywood told Closer. “When I started filming the new Bake Off it was hard.” [ . . . ]

Full story at: Paul Hollywood: “I have missed Mary, Mel and Sue”

The Crown, Season 2: How True Is It?

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It sure seems real, sumptuously produced and beautifully acted. But how much truth? How much fiction?

Season 2 of the successful Netflix series The Crown that premieres Friday, December 8,  kicks off with a taboo subject: the rumored infidelity of the British monarch’s husband, Prince Philip, with a fictional ballet dancer (which is based on rumors at the time of an affair with the actress Pat Kirkwood.)

At the same time, some biographers like Sarah Bradford in her book Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Our Times, present his infidelity as a fact, adding that she talked with two women who had been romantically involved with the royal consort.

The answer about how close is The Crown to the real life of the British royals, though, is very nuanced. After all, throughout its history the royal family has become quite adept at keeping secrets.

“The series is incredibly accurate and true to the history,” Robert Lacey, a historical biographer and consultant for the series who just published his new book, The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1: Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill and the Making of a Young Queen (1947-1955), told royal correspondent Tom Sykes. “If you go into the Left Bank offices—Left Bank being the company producing the series for Netflix—the first thing you see is a huge newsroom with eight full-time researchers working away, and that’s just the start, the raw material.” | Read More at : The Crown, Season 2: How True Is It?