Samuel West. Hamlet. Radio - The Vanishing. Radio - High Table, Lower Orders.

• A clip of Sam performing four interpretations of the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet (via his Twitter, @exitthelemming) [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• The Vanishing will be broadcast 23 October on BBC Radio 4 [link]
• Series 2 of High Table, Lower Orders will be repeated on BBC Radio 7 from this week [link]

Television - Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey begins on ITV1 tonight at 9pm. A couple of tweets from Dan Stevens about the show:

"Downton Abbey starts this Sunday, 9pm ITV1&HD. Cancel any plans for the next seven Sunday nights. Unless your plans were to watch Downton..."

[answer to a question from the official Twitter @DowntonAbbey] "I did enjoy doing all my own stunts on that vintage bicycle..."

• Articles
• Telegraph [link]
• The Life of Wylie [link]
• Express [link] 
• Daily Mail (by Julian Fellowes) [link]
• AOL TV (via C19 - registration required) [link]
  
  
• Interviews
• Northern Echo: Joanne Froggatt [link]
• Front Row: Julian Fellowes and Hugh Bonneville (via @DowntonAbbey) [link]
• BBC Breakfast: Julian Fellowes and Hugh Bonneville (via @DowntonAbbey) [link]
• Digital Spy: Julian Fellowes, Hugh Bonneville, Joanne Froggatt, Laura Carmichael, and Jessica Brown Findlay [link]
• This is Bath: Hugh Bonneville (via C19 - registration required) [link]
  
  
• Reviews
• The Guardian [link]
• On the Box [link]
  
  
• Synopses for episodes 1 and 2 from the ITV press centre episode 1|episode 2
  
  
• Related links
• C19 period drama sub-forum (registration required) [link]
• Enchanted Serenity of Period Films: posts labelled Downton Abbey [link]

Charles Edwards - Theatre - Wanderlust

[updated 17 March 2011]

Charles plays Stephen Moore in the sold out play Wanderlust at the Royal Court, which is on until 9 October.

Reviews

The Guardian
"Stuart McQuarrie and Pippa Haywood as the discontented couple, Sian Brooke and Charles Edwards as the pair who give sexual and emotional relief, and James Musgrave and Isabella Laughland as the assiduously experimenting teenagers are all first-rate."

The Arts Desk
"Stuart McQuarrie is thoroughly convincing, and Charles Edwards’s Stephen and Siân Brooke’s Clare are both similarly excellent."

Curtain Up
"The performances are strong as is Simon Godwin's direction..."

The Stage
"Charles Edwards as Stephen and Siân Brooke as Clare invest their roles with a real sense of authenticity."

Pictures

Johan Persson/royalcourttheatre.com

Theatre - The Children's Monologues. GQ Men of the Year Awards. Toronto International Film Festival. BBC Radio.

• On Sunday 14 November at the Old Vic, Gemma Arterton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Romola Garai and Hattie Morahan will perform in The Children's Monologues directed by Danny Boyle. The event is a fundraiser - proceeds will go to the Pete Patsa Arts Centre. (via sherlockbbc) [link]
  
  
• Guests at the GQ Men of the Year Awards (7 September) included Hayley Atwell (presented the award for the Smirnoff Black Most Stylish to Aaron Johnson), Gemma Arterton (winner, Woman), Martin Scorsese, Emily Mortimer and Matt Smith (winner, TV personality).
• Pictures from Rex Features 1|2|3
• Articles:
  Vogue [link]
  GQ [link]
• Videos by elizabethtoni 1|2
  
  
• Portraits of Rebecca Hall, Clive Owen, Sally Hawkins and Andrew Garfield by Carlo Allegri at the Toronto International Film Festival [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Georgia King and Lee Williams star in the Classic Serial The Ladies' Delight [link] 
• Hattie Morahan reads the Book at Bedtime Sister [link]
• Stephen Mangan and Adjoa Andoh are the readers for Words and Music "In Search of the Sublime" [link]

Andrea Riseborough - Film - Brighton Rock (Toronto International Film Festival)

Reviews

The Guardian
"Andrea Riseborough's breathtaking performance as Rose... Her portrayal of Rose grips the heart from the beginning and does not let go until the final frame."

Screen Daily
"Andrea Riseborough is perfect as the gauche and bumbling Rose... sweet but never beautiful (unlike the delightful Riseborough)"

Interviews

Andrea Riseborough:
Hollywood Reporter [link]
The Independent [link]
LA Times [link]
Red Carpet Diary [link]
Toronto.com [link]
Tribute.ca [link]

Rowan Joffe:
IFC [link]
Tribute.ca [link]

Premiere red carpet:
Press Association [link]

Pictures

Premiere:
Getty [link]

Screencaps of Andrea and Helen Mirren from this clip

Dan Stevens. Audio - Fall of Giants. Television - Downton Abbey.

• Dan narrates the audiobook Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, which will be released 28 September [link]
• Downton Abbey
• Will begin on Sunday 26 September [link]
• Press pack (tweeted by me, @spiffyjellybean last week) [link]
• Trailer (via Dan's Twitter, @thatdanstevens) [link]

Samuel West. Radio - Faust. Audio - Realms of Gold. Theatre - A Number. International Musicians Seminar.

• Faust
• Will be broadcast today on BBC Radio 3 [link]
• A post from the BBC Radio 3 blog [link]
• Sam participated in a discussion about the play on Night Waves earlier this week (via his Twitter, @exitthelemming) [link]
• An excerpt about Realms of Gold from an interview with Nicolas Soames, co-founder and managing director of Naxos Audiobooks:
  
  

  "Poetry: some of it is meant to be read aloud and some of it exists very much first and foremost on the page – what are the main issues with recording poetry and what recordings do you think have worked the best? [Question from Vulpes Libris]
  Nicolas: Samuel West’s Letters and Poems of John Keats is exceptional. He came into the studio at 9am, discussed the use of the dash in 19th century literature with our literary advisor/abridger/compiler Perry Keenlyside, and sat down to record. He read a letter, and put the page to one side. He looked down and saw the poem which was next. He looked up to the microphone and recited it. One take. From memory. Then he stopped and sat in silence for a bit. Then he picked up the next letter and read it. Then glanced at the title of the poem that followed, looked up at the microphone and recited it. From memory. He did this with almost every poem. And as I remember, no slips. Unforgettable. And by the way, I know Keats was a cockney, and Sam West certainly isn’t. But listen to his Keats. You will not move."

• A Number
• Some tweets from Sam about the play 1|2|3
• Sam and his father & co-star Timothy were guests on The Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman on BBC Radio 2 (tweeted by me, @spiffyjellybean earlier this week) [link]
• Sam stage managed the 10 September open chamber music concert at the International Musicians Seminar (via his Twitter, @exitthelemming) [link]

Samuel West. Radio - Faust. Radio - Spitfire. Television - Midsomer Murders. Audio - Dark Matter.

The Drama on 3 Faust will be broadcast 19 September on BBC Radio 3. It stars Sam, Toby Jones, Derek Jacobi, and Anna Maxwell Martin. [link]

Programme page for the upcoming Saturday Play Spitfire!, starring Sam, Rory Kinnear, Samuel Barnett and Ruth Wilson (11 September, BBC Radio 4) [link]

Midsomer Murders "The Animal Within" will be repeated on UKTV this week (via Sam's Twitter, @exitthelemming) [link]

Sam and Benedict Cumberbatch narrate the audiobook Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. It will be released 21 October. [link] According to the publisher Orion Books, Jeremy Northam is the narrator

Television - Downton Abbey. Rosamund Pike. Film - Barney's Version. Theatre - Deathtrap. Film - Never Let Me Go. BBC Radio.

• Downton Abbey
• Dan Stevens posted a twitpic of the poster (via his Twitter, @thatdanstevens) [link]
• The production will be featured in upcoming issues of Tatler and Vogue [link]
  
  
• Rosamund will be featured in the October 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar (UK) [link]
• Article about Barney's Version from the Wall Street Journal [link]
  
  
• Pictures from Deathtrap 1|2
  
  
• Clip from Never Let Me Go featuring Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Damian Lewis, Greta Scacchi, and Derek Jacobi star in the Drama on 3 Giovanni's Room [link]
• Julian Rhind-Tutt reads the Book of the Week Story teller: The Life of Roald Dahl [link]
• Celia Imrie and Toby Jones star in the Classic Serial My Family and Other Animals [link]
• Stephen Merchant will be interviewed by Harry Shearer on Chain Reaction [link]