Samuel West - TV - Fleming and The Hollow Crown

Fleming will be broadcast as a two-parter on Australian TV. It premieres this Sunday on ABC1 at 8.30pm and concludes next Sunday.

Sam is currently filming The Hollow Crown. He plays the Bishop of Winchester in Henry VI Part I. The series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III; other cast members include Hugh Bonneville, Geoffrey Streatfeild and Andrew Scott (BBC Media Centre).

Samuel West - TV, culture campaigns, Scene & Heard

Sam plays Eliot Vincent in The Crimson Field, a six part series for BBC One which premiered last Sunday (United Agents). Presumably he will appear between episodes 3 and 6; cast listings have yet to be released.
He plays Norman Skinner in D Day: Last Letters Home, a drama documentary written and directed by Marion Milne. Produced for ITV1, it will be broadcast later this year (United Agents and Marion's ShowFolio).

Screencaps of Sam and his parents Timothy West and Prunella Scales from episode 2 of Great Canal Journeys (they are thumbnails - click them for full size). The episode is available on 4oD for 7 more days.

----------

The NCA has launched a campaign called 50p for Culture. It suggests that local councils should budget at least 50p per person every week on arts, museums and heritage (The Stage). In mid March, Carl Woodward tweeted some pictures of Sam (chair of the NCA) speaking about the campaign at UK Theatre headquarters 1|2
Sam gave a speech about My Theatre Matters at Hull Truck Theatre last Wednesday. The theatre, @sarahbrigham and @derbytheatre posted some pictures of him on Twitter 1|2|3

On 28 March, Sam read a poem by Mark Hurst, "50 Shades of Grayling" at Pentonville Prison (All That's Left). His reading was part of a protest which opposed new rules preventing prisoners from being sent items such as books. Prisoners' access to books would be limited to gaol libraries or earning money to buy books (BBC, Islington Gazette, Islington Tribune, Evening Standard).

----------

Sam presented the DVD award (the Royal Opera House's production of Tosca) at the BBC Music Magazine Awards yesterday (@PrestoClassical). The magazine tweeted a picture of Sam at the ceremony.

"...you're not a police officer; you're the emu who killed my sister": some dialogue from a Scene & Heard performance in late March (Sam's Twitter, @exitthelemming). Scene & Heard produces plays written by children in Somers Town. A registered charity, its patrons include Sam, Hugh Bonneville, Anna Chancellor, Tom Goodman-Hill, Damian Lewis, Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen.

Guests at the Royal Court pub quiz fundraiser (18 March) included Benedict Cumberbatch and Romola Garai. Sam's team won the quiz (Tatler).

Some radio picks for this week

• Julian Rhind-Tutt and Hugh Laurie are the readers for With Great Pleasure at Christmas
• The Sunday Feature "Anything but Banal - The Fascination of the Villain" features interviews with Rory Kinnear and Timothy West
• Michael Sheen's Eighties begins this Saturday on Radio 2
• Repeats: Rory Kinnear plays Young Alf in Ed Harris' drama The Moment You Feel It; An Inspector Calls stars Toby Jones as Inspector Goole; the cast of Neverwhere includes James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Romola Garai; and James Purefoy and Hattie Morahan star in Otherwise Engaged.

Dan Stevens

Dan mainly discusses Downton Abbey in this interview from the Telegraph, which contains spoilers for the Christmas special.
The show has received Screen Actors Guild award nominations, including Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

He is in talks to join a film about Wikileaks; Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl are attached to the project.

A recent NYC-Arts interview with Dan focuses on The Heiress.

Other appearances and publicity: Zero Dark Thirty screening, Ermenegildo Zegna 'Essenze' collection launch; Town & Country interview, V Magazine interview; December Telegraph column.

Samuel West - Close the Coalhouse Door, International Wimbledon Music Festival, Kreutzer vs Kreutzer, Mr Selfridge

[updated 16 November]


Chris Connel as Jackie and Jane Holman as Mary (Photo: Keith Pattison. Source: Northern Stage - used with permission).
Sam stepped in to play Jackie for the matinee and evening performances of Close the Coalhouse Door at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Saturday. During the matinee, Chris Connel had fallen from a ladder on stage and was taken to hospital (BBC News and @loufarrant).
After a short break, the play will continue its tour: the Gala Theatre (12-16 June) where it has sold out, then the Oxford Playhouse (19-23 June).

Sam is listed as "narrator (TBC)" for a recital on 18 November with oboist Nicholas Daniel and the Britten Oboe Quartet at the International Wimbledon Music Festival. [edit, 16 November: Benedict Cumberbatch will be the narrator]

A recording of Kreutzer vs Kreutzer was broadcast on New Zealand Radio on Wednesday. Due to copyright restrictions, it is not available for streaming on demand.

Links to some of Sam's tweets about filming Mr Selfridge:

• A woolly costume that was unsuitable to wear in warm weather
• His character Frank Edwards is based on Frank Wallis [edit, 11 October: based on Frank Harris, according to this Twitter conversation]
• He drove a 1913 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 1|2|3 (a picture of the car)

Whatsonstage.com awards nominations and the British Independent Film Awards

Nominees for the Whatsonstage.com awards include Charles Edwards (Best Supporting Actor in a Play); Ruth Wilson and Kristin Scott Thomas (Best Actress in a Play); and Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant (Best Actor in a Play). The full list of nominations is here, and voting closes 31 January.

Guests at the British Independent Film Awards included Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic Cooper, Gemma Arterton, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Hall, Ruth Wilson and Tom Hollander (Getty: arrivals, after party, inside arrivals).

Evening Standard Theatre Awards, BBC Radio

Nominees for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards include Benedict Cumberbatch (Frankenstein) and Charles Edwards (Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe) for Best Actor; Kristin Scott Thomas (Betrayal) for Best Actress; and Rob Ashford (Anna Christie) for Best Director.

The Drama on 3 Cock, an adaptation of the Royal Court theatre production, premieres next week. Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw and Katherine Parkinson star. The following are currently available on iPlayer: The Tales of Max Carrados read by Arthur Darvill and The Wire The Thank You Present, starring Roger Allam and Reece Dinsdale.

Ruth Wilson, Andrea Riseborough, Parade's End, BBC Radio

Series 2 of Luther begins Tuesday 14 June (BBC press office). A bit of publicity - Stylist has an interview with Ruth. And she appears briefly in this trailer for the show (click the thumbnail for full size):

Ruth took part in the Josephine Hart poetry week at the Donmar Warehouse this week. She read "Train" by Helen Mackay (@lawyercatrin, Ought to be Clowns).

Owen Sheers has written about Andrea's research for Resistance, in which she plays Sarah (Telegraph).
Andrea will play Princess Betsy in the film adaptation of Anna Karenina directed by Joe Wright. Tom Stoppard wrote the script (Daily Mail).

Another Stoppard script - Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall will star in a BBC/HBO adaptation of Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford (Deadline Hollywood).

BBC Radio

• Rupert Penry-Jones, Ruth Wilson, Rory Kinnear and Tom Goodman-Hill star in the Drama on 3 Flare Path
• Sam Troughton and Hattie Morahan star in the Classic Serial Plantagenet "Edward II - The Greatest Traitor". The BBC Radio 4 blog has a post about the series.
• Jason Isaacs stars as Lieutenant Clancy in the Friday Play Bullitt, which is available on iPlayer for six more days
• Juliet Stevenson stars in the Afternoon Play The Apple Tree
• Hugh Bonneville and Helena Bonham Carter are the readers for Words and Music "Turning Points"

Scene & Heard, BBC Radio

Patrons Hugh Bonneville and Sam West attended a performance of the Scene & Heard production Twist and Turn. Tweets:

@hughbon: "Fabulous eve with @exitthelemming & other proud patrons at http://t.co/8hJGUpU - 11 yr olds writing astonishing short plays."

@exitthelemming: "Beautiful evening at @SceneandHeardUK. Simon Scardifield played 10 parts. Countess of Wessex, @hughbon & other supporters v pleased & proud."

BBC Radio

• Claudie Blakley and Tony Haygarth are the readers for Words and Music "Idleness"
• Dan Stevens, Malcolm Sinclair and Tom Goodman-Hill star in the Drama on 3 A Thousand Kisses
• Sean Gallagher and Fenella Woolgar star in the Afternoon Play My Life Is a Series of People Saying Goodbye
• Toby Jones reads the Book of the Week Ken Campbell: The Great Caper
• Matt Smith, Tamsin Greig and Alan Bennett will be guests on The 4 O'Clock Show
• Roger Allam, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephanie Cole and John Finnemore star in series 2 of Cabin Pressure {repeat}
• Alex Jennings and Imogen Stubbs star in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Noir and foxes

[updated 19 March 2011]



Sources: my screencaps from Digital News Agency videos

Ruth Wilson and Hayley Atwell attended the Emporio Armani "Noir" show and Black Party at Milan Fashion Week (via Ruth Wilson - the placeholder blog). Getty and WireImage have pictures of Ruth and Hayley arriving for the show; and Moda è Donna has a picture from the party. Ruth and Hayley have also been featured in an article from WWD:

"Hayley Atwell said she hoped the release of summer blockbuster “Captain America,” in which she plays the superhero’s girlfriend, would bring more opportunities in film and fashion. “I would love to do a campaign,” she enthused. “Designing would be amazing as well.” She declined to comment on rumors she is joining Baz Luhrmann’s planned 3D remake of “The Great Gatsby,” featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. “That would be incredible. I know that the script is being worked on at the moment so it’s in the very early stages,” Atwell said.
Ruth Wilson, meanwhile, said she’s set to play the title role of “Anna Christie” opposite Jude law at London’s Donmar Theater, with rehearsals starting in June."

Rosamund Pike, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall and Gemma Arterton attended the Mulberry woodland-inspired show and party at London Fashion Week. Pictures: Cosmopolitan, Mulberry blog 1|2. Videos: Vogue, Mulberry/Facebook, Digital News Agency.

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, Glamour's Women of the Year Awards and the Offies

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards nominees include Any Human Heart, Downton Abbey and Sherlock for Best Drama Series; and Hugh Bonneville, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hollander for Best Actor (via darcylicious). The winners will be announced 25 March.

Hayley Atwell, Gemma Arterton, Hattie Morahan, Keira Knightley, Ruth Wilson and Andrea Riseborough have received nominations for Glamour's Women of the Year Awards, which will be held on 7 June.

Toby Jones has been nominated for a Best Male Offie for The Painter at The Arcola.

British Independent Film Awards

Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Andrea Riseborough, Rosamund Pike, Ruth Wilson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Goode, Romola Garai, and Jason Isaacs attended the British Independent Film Awards. Carey won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film (Never Let Me Go) and Colin won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (The King's Speech).
Pictures: Rex Features, WireImage (inside, arrivals), and Getty (champagne reception, arrivals, after party).

British Independent Film Awards, Merlin UK, La Soiree, BBC Radio.

MAC Cosmetics has issued a press release regarding sponsorship of the British Independent Film Awards, which will take place on 5 December. Andrea Riseborough (nominee for Best Actress) and Ruth Wilson will have their make up for the event applied by MAC artists.

Hugh Bonneville, a patron of the medical aid agency Merlin, recently went to Liberia as part of the Times Christmas Appeal. He has written an article in the Times about his trip. 

Guests at the Christmas soiree at La Soiree included Hayley Atwell, Benedict Cumberbatch and Steven Berkoff.

Rosamund Pike interview from the LA Times in which she discusses Barney's Version and Made in Dagenham.

Andrea Riseborough and Hayley Atwell have been profiled in an article from Indie Wire, "On the Rise: 15 Actresses We Expect Great Things From".

BBC Radio

• Alex Jennings and Julian Rhind-Tutt star in the Afternoon Play The People's Princess {repeat}
• Roger Allam, Elliot Cowan and Elizabeth McGovern star in the Drama on 3 Gilead
• Simon Russell Beale reads De Profundis by Oscar Wilde {repeat}

Theatre - Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Nancy Carroll, Rory Kinnear and Peter Hall respectively won awards for Best Actress, Best Actor and the Moscow Theatre's Golden Seagull at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards; whatsonstage has a complete list of the winners.

Guests included Andrea Riseborough, Tom Hollander, Laura Wade, Sam West, Rebecca Hall, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam. Pictures: Getty Images and WireImage.

Samuel West. Narration - Peer Gynt. Time to Talk. London's 1000 most influential people. Theatre - Zone of Silence. Narration - Warsaw Ghetto. Narration - Lines of Flight. Television - Garrow's Law. Arts funding in Somerset.

(sources: Southampton Philharmonic, Young Vic, channel4.com, Sal Brown - used with permission, artscampaign.org.uk)

Two reminders: narration of Peer Gynt with the Southampton Philharmonic at the Southampton Guildhall on this Saturday, 27 November (previously blogged here); and Time to Talk at the Rose Kingston Theatre on 7 December (previously blogged here).

Sam has been included (among others such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Rebecca Hall, Lucy Prebble, Tom Stoppard, Simon Russell Beale and Ruth Wilson) in the theatre section of the Evening Standard's London's 1000 most influential people.

Ian McKellen, Jude Law and Sam will make guest appearances in Belarus: Zone of Silence presented by Index on Censorship and the Young Vic, at the Young Vic on 5 December (via whatsonstage).

He narrated the More4 documentary Warsaw Ghetto: The Unfinished Film, which was broadcast on 30 October (via his Twitter, @exitthelemming). In other narration news, Lines of Flight won the Jury Prize at the Torello Mountain Film Festival (via the film's Twitter, @LinesOfFlight). Lines of Flight will next be screened at the Fernie Mountain Film Festival in February 2011 (previously blogged here).

Sam plays Thomas Erskine in series 2 episode 4 of Garrow's Law, which will be broadcast on BBC1, 5 December.

On 10 November, Sam attended a council meeting in Taunton, as a representative of the National Campaign for the Arts to protest cuts to arts funding in Somerset. Press coverage: the Guardian and This is Somerset.

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]

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

BBC Radio

• Blake Ritson, Anna Maxwell Martin, and Toby Jones star in the Classic Serial The Wings of the Dove [link]
• Benedict Cumberbatch and Timothy West star in the Afternoon Plays Rumpole and the Family Pride and Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle
• Andrew Scott and Aidan McArdle star in the Afternoon Play Stannie and Jim [link]
• Bill Nighy, Emily Woof, and Amanda Root are the readers for the Afternoon Reading The Other Garden and Collected Stories by Francis Wyndham [link]
• Rebecca Front and Rafe Spall will be interviewed on Loose Ends [link]
• Series 3 of Fry's English Delight begins next week [link]

Hayley Atwell. Ruth Wilson. Television - The Prisoner. Dan Stevens. Audio - Wolf Hall. Audio - War Horse. BBC Radio.

• Hayley Atwell attended the Serpentine Gallery Summer party earlier this month. Pictures:
  Rex Features [link]
  WireImage [link]
  Getty/Zimbio [link]
  PR Photos/Starpulse [link]
  
  
• Ruth Wilson interview from Angel [link]
  
  
• The Prisoner begins on ABC1 tonight at 9.20pm [link]
  
  
• Titles featured in the Reading Agency Best Audiobooks of the Year 2010 List include The Honourable Schoolboy (starring Simon Russell Beale, Hugh Bonneville, Anthony Calf and Anna Chancellor), Doctor Who: Dead Air (narrator David Tennant), Wolf Hall (narrator Dan Stevens), and War Horse (narrator Dan Stevens) [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Benedict Cumberbatch interviews about Sherlock on Loose Ends and the Daily Bacon (26 July) 1|2
• Simon Russell Beale participated in a Front Row discussion about Stephen Sondheim [link]

Television - The Pillars of the Earth. Film - Jackboots on Whitehall. Film - Made in Dagenham. Ruth Wilson - Theatre - Through a Glass Darkly. BBC Radio.

• Some recently released stills from The Pillars of the Earth [link]
  
  
• Jackboots on Whitehall
• The film (featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Timothy Spall, Tom Wilkinson, and Alan Cumming) will have its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (via the Times) [link]
• Trailer [link]
  
  
• The poster, and some stills from Made in Dagenham.
  
  
• Through A Glass Darkly
• Ruth Wilson interview from the Telegraph (via Momentary Bursts of Enthusiasm) [link]
• Screencaps of Ruth from the trailer (click thumbnails for full size):
  
  
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Thea Sharrock (director of After the Dance, starring Nancy Carroll and Benedict Cumberbatch) will be interviewed on Start the Week [link]
• David Tennant stars in Doctor Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag "The Day Dandini Came to Town"  [link]
• Big Toe Books: Martin Freeman reads The House of Windjammer, and Sharon Horgan reads Alice Next Door. [link]