News

Warren Clarke has been appointed head of scripted at BBC Studios Anz as the company restructures the production arm of its business and plans a major push into premium scripted. Clarke, formerly head of scripted development at Fremantle Australia, will be charged with delivering content with local and global appeal, including original series as well […]

The post BBC Studios Anz restructures, hires Warren Clarke as head of scripted appeared first on If Magazine.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British Crime drama starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. Two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk and cheese and can’t be more different from each other are the central characters. Dalziel is […]

The post Rugby Player Booked for the Murder Of his Wife, Did he really do it, Dalziel &Pascoe Probe appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British Crime drama starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. Two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk and cheese and can’t be more different from each other are the central characters. Dalziel is […]

The post Village Arts Centre and Artists Under Investigation After Series of Related Murders appeared first on Shockya.com.

Real-world journalism comes with some occupational hazards, but usually death isn’t one of them. In the horror genre, on the other hand, members of the press find themselves in danger every time they get a hot lead on something weird and unexplained. Their tenacity never does them any good; one minute they’ve found the story of their career, the next they’re never heard from again.

Journalists often get in over their heads in horror. Something goes wrong in their investigation, and they end up becoming the story. As these five TV-anthology tales illustrate, digging for the truth can also mean digging your own grave.

Out of the Unknown (1965-1971)

Deathday

Out of the Unknown was one of several BBC anthologies from the ’60s and ’70s. And like others from this era, this show was almost entirely scrubbed from existence. It was common practice to erase series back then,...

Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British Crime drama starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. Two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk and cheese and can’t be more different from each other are the central characters. Dalziel is […]

The post Human Remains Found in a Tiger Enclosure at a zoo, Dalziel Considers Foul Play appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British Crime drama based on mystery crime novels by the same name written by Reginald Hill starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. The show is about two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk […]

The post Docusoap Star’s Body Washed Ashore, Dalziel & Pascoe Investigate appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British Crime drama based on mystery crime novels by the same name written by Reginald Hill starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. The show is about two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk […]

The post Wedding Abruptly Ends When a Man is Found Beaten To Death appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British Crime drama based on mystery crime novels by the same name written by Reginald Hill starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. The show is about two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk […]

The post Leading Football Club Team Bus Hit by a Train, Foul Play Considered appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British Crime drama starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. Two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk and cheese and can’t be more different from each other are the central characters. Dalziel is […]

The post Husband Suspecting Wife of Infidelity, holds her and Patrons at the Bar Hostage at Gunpoint appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British Crime drama based on mystery crime novels by the same name written by Reginald Hill starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. The show is about two detectives Dalziel and Pascoe who are like chalk […]

The post Mysterious Stranger Turns Up at The Funeral of a Rich Woman Claiming Inheritance on Dalziel & Pascoe appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British Crime drama based on mystery crime novels by the same name written by Reginald Hill starring Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan as the leading characters. The series is set in a fictional town Wetherton in Yorkshire. Dalziel and Pascoe are detectives that are partnered together to solve crimes. They […]

The post Three Bodies Found and One Missing in Oxfordshire on Dalziel and Pascoe appeared first on Shockya.com.

Australian comedian Celeste Barber is returning to her acting roots, making her debut as the lead in Wellmania, a new comedic drama series which has received an eight-episode order by Netflix. Barber also will serve as executive producer on the series inspired by Brigid Delaney’s novel Wellmania: Misadventures in the Search for Wellness. The half-hour Wellmania will be produced by Fremantle Australia with principal photography in Gadigal Country, Eora Nation in Sydney, Australia.

Co-created by Delaney and Benjamin Law (The Family Law), in Wellmania, when human tornado Liv (Barber) has a major health crisis, she is forced to rethink her ‘live fast die young’ attitude. Throwing herself body-first into a wellness journey, she tries everything from the benign to the bizarre in an attempt to get well quick, and reclaim her old life.

“Celeste embodies exactly what Netflix Anz is striving for – sparking global love for being our quintessentially Australian and funny selves,...

Burbank, CA – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 classic dystopian film, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Digital on September 21. Adapted from Anthony Burgess’s 1962 decline-of-civilization novel, A Clockwork Orange received four Academy Award® nominations; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Based on Material from Another Medium) and Best Film Editing.

Directed, written and produced by Kubrick, the film stars Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge, Warren Clarke, James Marcus and Michael Tarn as his droogs, Patrick Magee and Michael Bates.

In 2020, the United States Library of Congress selected A Clockwork Orange for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The 4K restoration was conducted by Warner Bros.’ Motion Picture Imaging (MPI). Kubrick’s former right-hand man Leon Vitali and the Kubrick Estate worked closely with the team at Warner Bros. during the mastering process.

Ultra...

“Ho, ho, ho! Well, if it isn’t fat stinking billy goat Billy Boy in poison! How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap, stinking chip oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly thou! “

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 classic dystopian film, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Digital on September 21. Adapted from Anthony Burgess’s 1962 decline-of-civilization novel, A Clockwork Orange received four Academy Award® nominations; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Based on Material from Another Medium) and Best Film Editing.

Directed, written and produced by Kubrick, the film stars Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge, Warren Clarke, James Marcus and Michael Tarn as his droogs, Patrick Magee and Michael Bates.

In 2020, the United States Library of Congress selected A Clockwork Orange for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally,...

Fremantle Australia has acquired the screen rights to the Dci Jack Hawksworth crime novels, created by author Fiona McIntosh.

The series consists of Bye Bye Baby, Beautiful Death, Mirror Man, and a fourth book set to be published in 2023 by the Penguin Random House Australia (Prh) imprint Michael Joseph.

The first book in the series was published in 2007, introducing readers to Jack Hawksworth, a detective chief inspector who transports himself into murky world of cold-blooded killers, often using unconventional methods to solve crimes where others have given up.

McIntosh told If working with Fremantle was an exciting new development for a character that initially began “as a bit of an indulgence”.

“I decided to write a character I would personally love to see on the small screen,” she said.

“Even then the story felt like it was unfolding in a cinematic way.

“The third was the book that needed to...

As Fremantle gears up for a busy year ahead, it has made three new appointments to its development teams across Sydney and Melbourne: Warren Clarke, Monique Keller and Nikki Tran.

Clarke will be the head of development, scripted, reporting directly to Fremantle Asia Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor.

Co-creator of ABC’s The Heights, Clarke joins Fremantle from Matchbox, where he also helped to develop projects such as Secret City, Wanted and Hyde and Seek. He was also script producer for Oddlands, and wrote for Mustangs Fc.

Clarke said: “Fremantle has long been a creative powerhouse both domestically and internationally and I’m delighted to be joining their highly talented scripted team. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the industry’s leading writers and emerging creative talent and utilising Fremantle’s vast international network to take brilliantly crafted Australian stories to the global television landscape.”

Reporting to Clarke will be Tran,...

TV’s 1979 Titanic movie comes to Blu in two versions. We liked it when new but didn’t care for the cut-down theatrical version that hit DVD in 2002. Kino’s disc completes a set of various film versions of the infamous 1912 disaster, and allows us the chance for a Titanic ‘battle of the bands’ — we’ll rate them from several criteria. The filmed-in-England production has a nicely-chosen soap opera cast: David Janssen, Cloris Leachman, Ian Holm, Helen Mirren, Anna Quayle, David Warner, Susan Saint James, Harry Andrews.

S.O.S. Titanic

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1979 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 102 + 144 min. / Street Date October 13, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: David Janssen, Cloris Leachman, Ian Holm, Helen Mirren, Anna Quayle, David Warner, Timothy Spall, Susan Saint James, Harry Andrews, Ed Bishop, Jerry Hauser, Aubrey Morris, Norman Rossington, Catherine Byrne, Warren Clarke, Madge Ryan.

Cinematography: Christopher Challis

Film Editor: Rusty Coppleman

Original Music: Howard Blake

Special effects: Wally Veevers,...

Monica Zanetti’s screenplay of Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), Ben Lawrence and Beatrix Christian’s Hearts and Bones and Ally Burnham’s Unsound have been nominated for best original feature in the 53rd annual Awgie Awards.

The contenders for the feature film adaptation prize are Thomas M. Wright and Erik Jensen’s Acute Misfortune, Lisa Hoppe’s H is for Happiness, Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps’ Penguin Bloom and C.S. McMullen’s The Other Lamb.

The TV series prize promises to be a close race between episodes of Glen Dolman’s Bloom, Michael Petroni’s Messiah for Netflix, Belinda Chayko’s Stateless, Samantha Strauss’ The End and Pip Karmel’s Total Control.

Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee’s Hungry Ghosts will square off against Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken’s The Hunting for best miniseries.

In the TV serial category it must...

Que Minh Luu.

Netflix is signalling a bigger commitment to commissioning Australian productions by hiring Que Minh Luu as director, local originals for Australia.

She will join Netflix in mid-July, based in Sydney, after three and a half years as an executive producer at the ABC, working across drama, comedy and digital content.

Her most recent projects include the six-part isolation-themed comedy Retrograde, Frayed, The Heights, Harrow, Content and Diary of an Uber Driver.

“I’m very excited. There are a lot of opportunities and a lot of stories that have not been told yet,” she told If, indicating she would have more to say after she joins the streamer.

ABC head of scripted production Sally Riley, who hired Luu, said: “Que has been an incredibly important member of the ABC scripted team, bringing an energy and determination to her role that has lifted our content to greater heights.

“She...

ITV’s youth channel ITV2 is going to fill the huge Love Island-shaped gap in its schedule by showing the Australian version of the reality show.

Love Island: Australia will premiere later this month after the ITV Studios format aired on Nine Network in Oz last year. It follows ITV having to cancel the summer season of Love Island due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Australian version is filmed at Love Island‘s villa in Mallorca and is hosted by Sophie Monk and narrated by Eoghan McDermott. It features singletons trying to secure a love match to win a $50,000 Aus cash prize.

The 2019 summer season of Love Island premiered on ITV2 on June 3, meaning that the 2020 version would likely have launched this week had it gone ahead. In the end, filming during the Covid-19 outbreak proved too complicated.

In other Australian TV news, BBC One has acquired ABC...

Fiona Press and Kelton Pell in ‘The Heights’ (Photo credit: Ashleigh Nicolau).

Something remarkable happened to Fiona Press when she played Hazel Murphy in the first and second seasons of the ABC serial The Heights.

For the first time in the actress’ 37-year career after graduating from Nida, Press felt she wasn’t just a “survivor,” despite more than 50 screen credits and dozens of plays.

“Hazel is the role of my life. Until she turned up, I don’t think I realised I had a career,” she tells If. “As a female of my type in the Australian industry, to survive is actually a career. I’m a jobbing actor.”

Matchbox Pictures’ Warren Clarke, the showrunner who co-created The Heights with Que Minh Luu, tells If: “The choice to cast Fiona really came from how grounded her audition was. We knew this character would be a foundation stone for the...

Hannah Carroll Chapman.

After finishing up as one of the lead writers on the second series of The Heights, Hannah Carroll Chapman is developing her own projects, including two with ABC serial alumni Romina Accurso and Megan Palinkas.

Her eclectic slate includes Hold Me a Tight, a feminist horror film about a guy who works in a plastics factory and is haunted by a sex doll which wreaks revenge, and several projects with Matchbox Pictures.

With Accurso and Palinkas she is developing two comedy series which explore the current “war” between Millennials and Baby Boomers in Australia.

She has finished the first draft of the feature and is keen to find a “shit hot director.”

Matchbox Pictures’ Warren Clarke, The Heights showrunner and co-creator with Que Minh Luu, hired Hannah to script edit and write multiple episodes of the first season, co-produced with Peta Astbury’s For Pete’s Sake Productions,...

Network: PBS.

Episodes: 43 (hour).

Seasons: Five.

TV show dates: June 21, 2015 — November 17, 2019.

Series status: Ended.

Performers include: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Heida Reed, Jack Farthing, Kyle Soller, Ruby Bentall, Warren Clarke, Phil Davis, Beatie Edney, Alexander Arnold, Robert Daws, Tristan Sturrock, Caroline Blakiston, Luke Norris, John Hollingworth, Gabriella Wilde, Ed Browning, Richard Hope, Pip Torrens, and Richard Harrington.

TV show description:

From creator and writer Debbie Horsfield, the Poldark TV show is a historical drama, based on the series of novels by Winston Graham. The story centers on Ross Poldark (Turner). In 1783, he returns to Cornwall from the American War of Independence, to find his father has died, and his estate is in tatters.

Romina Accurso

After several years as a script coordinator, script editor and associate story producer on Home and Away, Romina Accurso earned a promotion on ABC’s The Heights.

She wrote multiple episodes and was script editor on the first season of the Perth-set drama produced by Matchbox Pictures and For Pete’s Sake Productions Peta Astbury-Bulsara.

Warren Clarke, the showrunner and co-creator (with Que Minh Luu), was so impressed with her work he appointed her as script producer/writer on the second series, part of the remit of giving opportunities to new or emerging talent among writers, directors, cast and crew.

“Romina, Hannah Carroll Chapman and Megan Palinka are the core internal script team of The Heights,” Clarke tells If. “I cannot overstate how hard these three work and how fundamental they’ve been to the success of the show.”

The screenwriter who initially intended to be a social worker...

Sarah Bassiuoni.

When Sarah Bassiuoni started as a note-taker on the second series of the ABC’s The Heights, she seized the opportunity to write an episode on spec.

The co-creator and showrunner, Matchbox Pictures’ Warren Clarke, was so impressed he commissioned her to write an episode of the drama serial set in a social housing tower and the adjacent, rapidly gentrifying inner-city community.

Not only that, the screenwriter was invited to join the production as a trainee script editor under the guidance of script producer Romina Accurso and script editors Hannah Carroll Chapman and Megan Palinkas.

“Sarah’s journey from note taker to writer and trainee editor is real testament to her natural talent as a writer along with her work ethic and sheer determination,” says Clarke, who co-created the drama with Que Minh Luu and produces with For Pete’s Sake Productions’ Peta Astbury-Bulsara.

Bassiuoni got her chance...

Miley Tunnecliffe.

Originally intent on becoming an actor, Miley Tunnecliffe studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York followed by a masterclass at the LAByrinth Theater Company, which was co-founded by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

She took up writing to supplement her income as an actor and soon discovered writing and directing were far more satisfying.

Since those acting classes in 2008 it’s been a long and sometimes arduous journey for the filmmaker – and it’s been paying off in the last couple of years.

In 2017 her career got a boost when Screenwest chose her and Aaron Moss to participate in the Bill Warnock Initiative for emerging writers, which included being in the writers room for The Secret Daughter, mentored by Stuart Page, and Mustangs Fc under co-creator Amanda Higgs.

The same year she won the Page Award prize for best TV comedy for Disorder, a pilot about...

Emma Fletcher on ‘The Heights’ set.

Viewers won’t know it when the second season of The Heights premieres on the ABC next year, but the 30-episode drama is being enhanced in both production design and cinematography.

The production is using a third studio in addition to the ABC’s two Perth studios which now houses the set of a pub (previously filmed on location in Northbridge) and a new community centre for the Arcadia Heights High School.

All that has enabled the writers to “grow our story world,” according to Matchbox Pictures’ Warren Clarke, who co-created the show with Que Minh Luu.

“By grouping these sets together we are able to shoot far more efficiently which then allows the show to get a bit bigger,” says Clarke, who produces the serial with For Pete’s Sake Productions’ Peta Astbury-Bulsara.

“We’re still heavily studio-based but splitting our studio time...

Timothy Williams.

When Timothy Williams graduated from the Vca with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in 2014, he set his sights on writing TV dramas.

After spending several years as a part-time scripted development assistant for Matchbox Pictures, he got his chance on the second season of the ABC’s The Heights, produced by Matchbox and For Pete’s Sake Productions’ Peta Astbury-Bulsara.

Williams joined the emerging writers’ room after being part of the observer program, which involved the participants writing scenes for the first season of the show co-created by Warren Clarke and Que Minh Luu.

The fact that he was born with Spina Bifida, a condition that affects the spinal cord and his mobility, made him well qualified to write scenes for Sabine, the character played by Bridie McKim, who has cerebral palsy.

“Tim brought a unique insight and lived experience to our writers’ room which has enriched many of our storylines,...

The cast of ‘The Heights’ season 2 (Photo credit: Ben King).

Backed by Screen Australia, the second season of the ABC’s ground-breaking drama serial The Heights will start shooting in Perth on August 26, providing more opportunities for emerging directors, writers and actors.

Jub Clerc, whose short Storytime is featured in the horror anthology Dark Whispers – Volume 1 curated by Megan Riakos and Leonie Marsh, and Kelli Cross (Aussie Rangers) are joining the cohort of directors under the production’s mentorship program.

They will be mentored by Karl Zwicky, alongside another addition in Tenika Smith (Neighbours) and Renée Webster, who made her TV drama directing debut on the first season.

Season one writers Romina Accurso, Hannah Carroll Chapman, Megan Palinkas, Peter Mattessi, Dot West, Magda Wozniak, the showrunner/co-creator Warren Clarke and Katie Beckett return.

They are joined by recruits Tim Williams, Nora Niasari, Nayuka Gorrie, Cassandra Nguyen, Jane Allen, Alex Cullen,...

Melissa Lee Speyer (Photo credit: Darwin Morales).

Emerging screenwriter Melissa Lee Speyer is gratified by the advances in screen diversity in the past three years but worries that progress has been exaggerated and there is still a significant imbalance.

Born in the UK to Chinese-Malaysian parents, Speyer sometimes finds she is the only non-white writer in writers rooms.

“For every diverse show loudly championed there are a dozen more with representation issues that nobody notices,” she tells If.

“I know it feels like all the money and opportunities are going in a very specific direction. Trust me, that’s not where 100 per cent of it is going. It’s often just talked about the loudest.

“In the last three years there’s been a lot of loud mainstream talk about diversity, coming off the back of 50 years of virtual silence.

“It’s not just about ‘not being the only non-white writer in the room,...

Jolene Anderson and Remy Hii in ‘Harrow’ 2.

Here’s a shout-out to producers: The ABC is keen to find another genre series to fill a gap as Matchbox Pictures’ Glitch comes to its conclusion after three seasons.

The pubcaster is also looking for a multi-generational relationship drama, comedies for Wednesday nights and shows with diverse casts and creatives across all genres.

It is less interested in programs set in small country towns and procedural crime series, particularly with the second series of Hoodlum Entertainment’s Harrow premiering on May 12 and the second season of Bunya Productions’ Mystery Road due to shoot later this year in Broome.

That’s the word from ABC head of scripted production Sally Riley. She hopes the funding for her domain – drama, comedy and Indigenous content – for the next financial year will not be less than the last couple of years, despite the federal government-imposed three-year $83.7 million funding cut.

(L-r) Peta Astbury-Bulsara, Que Minh Luu and Warren Clarke (Photo credit: Bohdan Warchomij).

The ABC had greenlit the development of The Heights when Que Minh Luu, who co-created the drama serial with Warren Clarke, was alerted to a job vacancy at the public broadcaster.

Sally Riley, the ABC’s head of drama, comedy and Indigenous, suggested Luu apply for the role of an executive producer.

That presented a dilemma for the Matchbox Pictures development executive. “On one hand I was keen to see the show through to completion,” she tells If. “On the other hand I wanted to get into producing, jobs like that are rare and I may not have had the opportunity again.”

So she applied, got the position and continued to oversee the 30-episode production from Matchbox and Peta Astbury-Bulsara’s For Pete’s Sake Productions as an Ep.

Clarke and Luu had set up the writers...

(l-r) Renée Webster with cast members Ben Mortley and Keala Kern and Dop Darrell Martin (Photo credit: Nic Duncan).

Australian children’s TV series rarely venture into the fast-paced action adventure genre. Rarer still is a teenage protagonist who is highly intelligent and passionate about science.

That’s the premise of Itch, the 10-part ABC-tv series now shooting in Albany, Wa, produced by Komixx Entertainment in association with Feisty Dame Productions.

It was an irresistible hook for Renée Webster, who directed the first block before handing over to co-director Nick Verso.

Adapted from former BBC broadcaster Simon Mayo’s novel Itch, the series stars Waapa graduate Samuel Ireland as Itchingham Lofte, a science-obsessed teen who pursues the unusual and sometimes dangerous hobby of collecting all the elements on the periodic table.

“I am attracted to projects whose values resonate with mine: that is really important,” she tells If. “Nick and...

The cast of ‘The Heights’.

With the exception of flagship serials Home and Away and Neighbours, for the last few years, long-form adult drama has all but disappeared from our screens, replaced by high budget, short-run shows.

With that has also come a reduced number of training opportunities for emerging writers and directors, something that producers, writers and directors alike have lamented.

Given the landscape, it was somewhat of a surprise to see the ABC announce last June that it had commissioned a 30 x 30” serial drama in The Heights.

Produced by Matchbox Pictures and For Pete’s Sake Productions, The Heights is set in the fictional suburb of Arcadia Heights and explores the relationships, work lives and everyday challenges of six families living in a social housing tower and the rapidly gentrifying inner-city community that surrounds it.

The diverse ensemble cast includes Marcus Graham, Shari Sebbens, Roz Hammond, Fiona Press, Dan Paris,...

"Viddy well, little brother." BFI has released a new trailer for their upcoming re-release of Stanley Kubrick's dystopian thriller A Clockwork Orange, first released in 1972. Set in a flamboyantly stylized near-future where gangs of disenfranchised teenagers indulge in narcotic cocktails and revel in acts of "ultraviolence", the film centres on Alex and his band of droogs. A young Malcolm McDowell stars, with a cast including Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, Adrienne Corri, and Carl Duering. Adapted from Anthony Burgess' novel. This is definitely one of Kubrick's wilder films, along with Dr. Strangelove, that has extreme violence and craziness galore. But it is still as genuinely brilliant as everything else he's made. As always, if you haven't seen this yet here's a perfect opportunity to experience it on the big screen. Have fun. Here's the new UK re-release trailer (+ poster) for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, on YouTube...

Roz Hammond and Bridie McKim in ‘The Heights’ (Photo: Ben King).

Roz Hammond rates her role in The Heights, the ABC drama serial from Matchbox Pictures and For Pete’s Sake Productions, as the best she’s ever had.

That’s a big call for the Waapa graduate who broke through as Cheryl, one of the “bitchy” bridesmaids in Paul J. Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding in 1994.

Perhaps best known as a founding member of the cast in Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, she has featured in a raft of comedies including Please Like Me, The Librarians, It’s a Date and Upper Middle Bogan. She has shown her dramatic chops in Jack Irish, Offspring and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Co-created by Warren Clarke and Que Minh Luu and set in the fictional inner-city neighbourhood of Arcadia Heights, The Heights explores the relationships between a public housing tower...

(L-r) Shari Sebbens, Calen Tassone, Siria Kickett and Marcus Graham in ‘The Heights’ (Photo: Ben King)

When Shari Sebbens graduated from Nida and Waapa she expected her fair complexion would mean she would be cast mostly as white characters in shows about Indigenous people.

Happily she was wrong. After making her screen debut in Wayne Blair’s 2012 hit The Sapphires she starred in a bunch of series including Redfern Now, The Gods of Wheat Street, 8Mmm Aboriginal Radio and Black Comedy, all true to her cultural identity.

“I think The Sapphires confused the hell out of everybody as they thought, ‘She looks white but she says she’s Aboriginal,’ she tells If. “It’s something our community has known since colonisation: our people come in very different shades. I call it the Fifty Shades of Black.”

The actress will next be seen in the Matchbox Pictures/For Pete’s Sake Productions 30-episode drama serial The Heights,...

Alastair McKinnon.

A generational change is sweeping through Matchbox Pictures as the NBCUniversal-owned production company develops a raft of projects with emerging writers and producers.

“Talent development has always been a priority for Matchbox,” says Alastair McKinnon, who started as MD last December after three years with the ABC, most recently as head of content investment and planning,

McKinnon signed on just as the company founded by Penny Chapman, Tony Ayres, Helen Bowden, Michael McMahon and Helen Panckhurst was celebrating its 10th anniversary. “That was the perfect time to reflect and think about what Matchbox has done incredibly successfully over that time as the leading drama production company in Australia,” he tells If in his first interview since taking charge.

“But the industry has transformed in that 10 years and is unrecognisable if you think about the sorts of shows, how they are financed and the distribution models of drama.

L-r: Amir Rahimzadeh, Phoenix Raei, Ze Winters, Jasmine Sadati, Yazeed Daher and Rasta Karami in ‘The Heights’ (Photo: Ben King)

After breaking through in Kriv Stenders’ Australia Day, Phoenix Raei landed roles in Mustangs Fc, Romper Stomper and Wentworth.

The Iranian-born actor who came to Australia when he was a kid still feels he is a relative unknown in the wider screen industry – but that could change this month after The Heights premieres on the ABC.

Raei plays Ash, who lives with his uncle Hamid (Amir Rahimzadeh) and his brother Kam (Yazeed Daher) in a social housing tower in the 30-episode serial produced by Matchbox Pictures and For Pete’s Sake Productions.

Co-created by Warren Clarke and Que Minh Luu and set in the fictional inner-city neighbourhood of Arcadia Heights, the drama explores the relationships between the tower’s residents and those who live in the adjoining, rapidly gentrifying community.

'Bunghole' star Simon Laherty..

Victoria.s Back to Back Theatre, which employs a company of actors with disabilities, has teamed with Matchbox Pictures to produce its first venture into the film world, Bunghole. .

Shooting will start next week in and around Geelong on the 30 minute feature, written and directed by Bruce Gladwin. Matchbox.s Warren Clarke is the script editor.

Lead actors from the Back to Back ensemble, Simon Laherty and Sonia Teuben, will lead the cast as members of a clean-up crew in a strange toxic wasteland who come across someone who may be the area's last human survivor. Bunghole also stars Jacek Koman (Jack Irish, The Warriors), Brian Tilley and Robin Ramsay.

Bunghole received seed funding from Adelaide Film Festival.s Hive initiative last year, which Back to Back.s executive producer Alice Nash credits with allowing the company to expand into new territory.

.By bringing our work to screen,...

Are you ready for more passion, defiance, betrayal and an unforgettable love story? Ahead of the second season of its Poldark TV series, PBS will air the new "Poldark Revealed" TV show special, on Sunday, September 18, at 9:00pm Et/Pt. Watch a preview, below.A Cornish period drama series set after the American Revolution, Poldark stars Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Heida Reed, Jack Fathering, Kyle, Soller, Warren Clarke, Phil Davis, Beatie Edney, Ruby Bentall, Richard Harrington, Robin Ellis, Luke Norris, Richard Hope, Alexander Arnold, Pip Torrens, and Caroline Blakiston. Poldark season two premieres Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 8:00pm Et/Pt.Read More…...

Keep your shirts on, Captain Ross will return and probably without his. The BBC confirms it has renewed the Poldark TV show for a third season on BBC One. There was little worry that Poldark would be cancelled. Last month, we reported filming had already begun on season three. The second series of Poldark will air on both PBS Masterpiece and BBC One in fall, 2016, date Tba.A British drama series set in Cornwall, England, after the American Revolution, the Poldark TV series cast includes: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Heida Reed, Jack Fathering, Kyle, Soller, Warren Clarke, Phil Davis, Beatie Edney, Ruby Bentall, Richard Harrington, Robin Ellis, Luke Norris, Richard Hope, Alexander Arnold, Pip Torrens, and Caroline Blakiston.Read More…...

[caption id="attachment_51138" align="aligncenter" width="393"] (C) Robert Viglasky/Mammoth Screen for Masterpiece./caption]

Radio Times reports the Poldark TV show has been renewed for a third season on BBC One. According to the report, although the BBC has not yet announced recommissioning the program for a third series, filming has already been scheduled for September, 2016. In the Us, season one of Poldark premiered on PBS under the Masterpiece banner in June 2015. The second season of Poldark will air on BBC One in fall, 2016. PBS has yet to announce Poldark, season two.

A British drama series set after the American Revolutionary War, The Poldark TV series cast includes: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Heida Reed, Jack Fathering, Kyle, Soller, Warren Clarke, Phil Davis, Beatie Edney, Ruby Bentall, Richard Harrington, Robin Ellis, Luke Norris, Richard Hope, Alexander Arnold, Pip Torrens, and Caroline Blakiston.

Read More…...

There are certain British shows that are remembered so fondly that the fear of nostalgia kicks in and you think they can’t possibly be as good as you remember them. I’ll admit when I started watching The Avengers: The Complete Series 6 on Blu-ray I had that fear… Gladly I had nothing to worry about.

In Series 6 we see the final episode of Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, and the introduction of Tara King (Linda Thorson). In some of the craziest episodes we see Vaudeville assassins (with a guest role by John Cleese), a Prisoner parody, invisible men and all other kinds of strange assassins all gunning for Steed (Patrick Macnee) and his partner in crime.

While there is no doubt that Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel was an excellent sidekick for Steed, I have to admit that Tara King has always been my favourite. There was a...

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To celebrate the release of The Englishman’s Castle, Chandler and Co., A Picture of Katherine Mansfield, The Locksmith and Lazarus & Dingwall on DVD, we are giving 1 lucky WhatCulture reader the chance to win a bundle containing all five!

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An Englishman’s Castle (1978) starring Kenneth More (Father Brown), Isla Blair (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Anthony Bate (Tinker, Tailor, Solider Spy), is set in an alternate 1970s on an Earth where Germany won the Second World War and is now occupying England. Peter Ingram (More) is the lead writer of a popular soap opera set in Blitz-era London, and knowingly turns a blind eye to the local Nazi rule, opting for the easy life. But when faced with the stark reality of the situation Peter has a difficult decision to make.

Available to own on DVD from 5th October 2015.

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Chandler and Co.

Poldark actor Alexander Arnold has described the reaction to the new series as "really positive".

Arnold - who plays Jim Carter in the BBC One drama - told Digital Spy that he "wasn't familiar" with the original '70s series, but was aware of "some real hardcore" fans of that show and Winston Graham's novels.

"I made a conscious effort not to watch [the original]," he said. "But I know it was a massive show back in the day, with 15m viewers. So when you go into something like this, you just try to do something that captivates people in the same sort of way.

"There's some real hardcore Poldark fans - but since the cast was announced, the fanbase for this new series of Poldark seems to have grown. So far [the reaction] has been really positive."

Arnold also paid tribute to his co-star Warren Clarke, who passed away in November after...

The BBC has released a trailer for Debbie Horsfield's upcoming adaptation of Poldark.

The series features Being Human star Aidan Turner in the title role of Ross Poldark.

The adaptation of Winston Graham's acclaimed books will also star Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza.

The show follows the rebellious Ross Poldark as he returns from the American War of Independence to his home town Cornwall, discovering that it has changed dramatically since he has been away.

It is the second time the BBC has produced a Poldark series. The first was in the 1970s and starred Robin Ellis as the title character.

Ellis will be returning as Reverend Halse for two episodes.

Red Riding actor Warren Clarke, Whitechapel star Phil Davis, Skins's Alexander Arnold and The Inbetweeners' Luke Norris will also appear in the show.

The new series will air on BBC One.

"Ken Takakura, who first rose to stardom in the 1960s playing yakuza outlaws, but later became Hollywood’s go-to actor for made-in-Japan films, died on Nov. 10 at age 83," reports Mark Schilling for Variety. We're also collecting remembrances of former Los Angeles Times arts editor, film critic and columnist Charles Champlin, actress-turned-screenwriter Leigh Chapman, Battlestar Galactica creator Glen A. Larson, Jerry Blumenthal, founding partner of the Chicago documentary production house Kartemquin Films, actors Warren Clarke and David Watson and stuntman Jerry Alan. » - David Hudson...

"Ken Takakura, who first rose to stardom in the 1960s playing yakuza outlaws, but later became Hollywood’s go-to actor for made-in-Japan films, died on Nov. 10 at age 83," reports Mark Schilling for Variety. We're also collecting remembrances of former Los Angeles Times arts editor, film critic and columnist Charles Champlin, actress-turned-screenwriter Leigh Chapman, Battlestar Galactica creator Glen A. Larson, Jerry Blumenthal, founding partner of the Chicago documentary production house Kartemquin Films, actors Warren Clarke and David Watson and stuntman Jerry Alan. » - David Hudson...

British actor Warren Clarke, who was well-known for a variety of roles on the big and small screen, passed away this week. He was 67. "The actor Warren Clarke died peacefully in his sleep on November 12, 2014, after a short illness," the actor's rep confirmed in a statement to The Guardian newspaper. "He will be greatly missed by his family and loved ones." Raised in Lancashire in northwest England, the likeable actor considered himself more than lucky to have achieved great success in such a competitive industry. [I'm a] lucky bastard," he told the Daily Mail back in 2011. "Although I've worked nearly 50 years for this, through the tough times as well as the good...