Steve Pemberton Joins Cast of Sky One's Hit Comedy Bounty Hunters

Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen, Happy Valley) joins the all-star cast in the second series of Sky original production Bounty Hunters, written by writing duo Freddy Syborn and Jack Whitehall (Bad Education) and produced by Tiger Aspect.

Series two of the Sky One comedy thriller from writing team Jack Whitehall and Freddy Syborn will see Barnaby Walker (Jack Whitehall) and Nina Morales (Rosie Perez) return with a bang ready for more adventures and scrapes in the second instalment of this hit show.

The five-part drama which was filmed in Spain and in the UK, is scheduled to air weekly from 14 March 2019 exclusively on Sky One and TV streaming service NOW TV in the UK and Ireland.

Steve Pemberton joins the stellar cast as Colin McQueen, a history teacher at Eton College whose interests lie more in the ‘specialist’ end of the antiques market which had previously brought him into contact with Nigel Walker (Robert Lindsay). Now, with the freewheeling Nigel dead, Colin wants to get his hands on that final, elusive piece of art and Nigel’s son, Barnaby, might be the man to help him.

Steve Pemberton said: “It was a thrill to be asked by Jack and Freddy to play a sinister private-school teacher with an unhealthy interest in Nazi memorabilia - frankly they had me at ‘sinister’ - and it proved a peach of a role which I devoured (apart from the stone, that would be unhealthy).

A link to the first look trailer can be found here:


The first series, which launched in 2017 to an audience of 1.38 million, became Sky One’s biggest sitcom launch for six years. Series one, which is currently available to watch On Demand on Sky and NOW TV, ended with  Barnaby (Jack Whitehall) and Nina (Rosie Perez) restraining Angel (Christian Ochoa) and abducting him, whilst Leah Walker (Charity Wakefield), ended up in her own predicament as she found herself locked up in a Mexican prison.

Bounty Hunters writers Freddy Syborn and Jack Whitehall said: “We are thrilled to be given an opportunity to delve deeper into the characters we had such fun with in series one. The second series of Bounty Hunters allows us to build on the characters and also gives the audience a glimpse into other storylines.”

Bounty Hunters is produced by Tiger Aspect, the makers of The Other One, Man Like Mobeen and Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father and part of The Endemol Shine Group. Executive producers are Pippa Brown and Ben Cavey. The series is written by Freddy Syborn and Jack Whitehall with Jeremy Dyson and Keith Akushie joining the writing team for series two.

Both series of Bounty Hunters have been commissioned for Sky by Commissioning Editor Morwenna Gordon and director of programmes for Sky entertainment UK & Ireland Zai Bennett and are internationally distributed by Endemol Shine International.

Star-studded cast join Inside No. 9 for fifth series

With filming underway for the fifth series of the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Inside No. 9, a host of talented actors are set join masterminds Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton as they create six brand new stand-alone stories which promise to bring more exceptionally twisted tales to BBC Two.

The new series follows last year’s live Hallowe’en special Dead Line, which has been cited by The Guardian’s TV reviewers as the best TV episode of 2018. Season five will stay true to the show’s anthology format, with each episode bringing an original story, a cast of new characters and surprising twists in the most unexpected of places. Combining horror, thriller, drama and comedy, Inside No. 9 never fails to amaze, delight, unnerve and amuse in equal measures, with series four treating audiences to an episode written entirely in iambic pentameter and a murder mystery told in reverse chronological order.

As ever, there will be a stellar cast joining Reece and Steve: the line-up includes Maxine Peake (Silk, Three Girls), Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Victoria), David Morrissey (The Missing), Dipo Ola (Baghdad Central), Phil Davis (Vera Drake, Whitechapel), Ralf Little (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager), Jill Halfpenny (Three Girls, In The Club), Steve Speirs (Star Wars, Upstart Crow), Tom Goodman-Hill (Ideal, Mr Selfridge), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), Kadiff Kirwan (Chewing Gum, Black Mirror: Nosedive), Debbie Rush (Coronation Street) and Ioanna Kimbook (recently cast opposite John Malkovich in the new David Mamet play Bitter Wheat).

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton say: “We’re delighted to announce a guest cast brimming with both emerging and established talent, all judiciously chosen to make us look a bit classier by association.”

Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy Commissioning, says: “Reece and Steve consistently dazzle and delight with what is undoubtedly the most inventively prolific storytelling series on television. Their ability to subvert and surprise makes each show a unique experience for the viewers. It’s the antidote to a world of familiar cosy TV formats.”

Last year, Reece and Steve won the Writer: Comedy Bafta Award for The Bill (from series three), with series four winning the South Bank Show Award for Comedy. This year, Inside No. 9 scooped up two wins in the Comedy.co.uk Awards, Best Comedy Drama and Comedy of the Year for 2018, following on from the same double win the previous year and breaking records as the first time a show as had a double consecutive win in the award's 13 year history. These awards add to the growing list of wins that include the Writers’ Guild Award for the Best TV Situation Comedy in 2017, the Rose d’Or Television Comedy Award (2016), the RTS Programme Award for Comedy Performance (2015), and two major prizes at the Banff World Media Festival (2014).

One of the six new films in this series will be directed by Steve Pemberton, returning to the role after Cold Comfort and Nana’s Party from the 2015 series. Guillem Morales (Julia’s Eyes, Decline and Fall) returns to direct three further films, with the two remaining films directed by Matt Lipsey (Psychoville, Upstart Crow)

This Time with Alan Partridge - Q&A

Alan Partridge is returning to the BBC to fill in for regular presenter John Baskell as Jennie Gresham’s co-host on the popular magazine show This Time. Alan took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to tell us what we can expect...

Alan Partridge, it’s been 25 years since your last BBC presenting job.
It has. But very soon I’ll be parking ma backside on the This Time sofa, just inches from regular host Jennie Gresham, a broadcaster I genuinely admire. If it’s not verboten to say this in the current climate, she’s the thinking man’s thinking woman and provides not just eye candy, but ear candy and even brain candy too at times. She’s that good.

How did your return to live TV come about?
Well, as you may have read, regular presenter John Baskell has become rendered unwell - it’s not my place to divulge the nature of his illness but I believe it’s to do with his heart, brought on by good living and his almost heroic refusal to ever exercise. So with a few days’ notice, I got the call. And although my schedule is as clogged as John’s arteries (get well, John) I consider it my public duty to stand in for as long as John is away. Anyway, it won’t be for long. If John can fight this with a fraction of the vigour he uses to fight for presenting work he knows has already been promised to other people, he’ll be on his feet again in no time.

You’re used to helming your own shows. Have you co-presented before?
I’ve presented daytime radio alongside a man called Simon Denton for several years. But that’s not co-presenting. In relation to me, Simon’s position contractually is one of total subordination. He’s a sidekick - at best. And he knows that.

So no, co-presenting is not a dynamic I’m used to, but I’ve been working on a few things. So when Jennie’s reading the autocue I might turn my head to face her to simulate listening, or frown solemnly if she mentions ‘cancer’, or wait until it’s my turn to speak and then prefix it with ‘That’s right, Jennie.’ Loads of things you can do.

How do you and Jennie get along?
Gotta say, we’ve only just met but already we have a chemistry that sizzles like liver in a hot pan and crackles like a genuine house fire. We joke about it ourselves! I said to her, “Jennie, in the words of Grease, we go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.” And did she laugh! (Yes.)

What can you tell us about the show? Are you a fan of This Time?
If I’m honest, I’m not super-clued-up on the show itself? I’m not an avid watcher of BBC One, since I don’t like documentaries about supermarkets or period dramas featuring bonnets. But I’ve circled a bit on a This Time press release here that describes it as a '30-minute mixture of studio chat, rigorous interview, hard-hitting VTs and a generous helping of fun, covering news, issues and consumer affairs'. Whereas I’m more of a Nazi Megastructures man.

It’s a little more serious-minded that the rest of your output.
I’m cool with that. I pull no punches, push the envelope and punch my weight when push comes to shove - if that makes sense.

How would you sum it up?
Ha! Believe me, I don’t have the time to sit around thinking up marketing taglines for the show. Wish I did! But I suppose if pushed I’d say something like: if you’ve got time to give This Time your time, then it’s time to let This Time spend time making your time a good time on This Time with me, Alan Partridge and I’m sorry I’ve forgotten the woman’s name,

Jennie Gresham.
Thank you.

What changes can we expect with you in the hot seat?
And it is a hot seat. There’s an exposed bit of metal frame that cooks under the studio lights and if you sit right back and your shirt rides up, it scalds you on the back. So you just have to sit forward and/or make your shirt stays tucked in.

And what changes can we expect?
Fear not, I’m not going to eff with a winning formula. But I do have a phalanx of fresh ideas that’ll benefit the show no end, including the introduction of my longtime radio sidekick Simon Denton. Adept at reading out tweets and providing a sideways look at news, he’ll be our social media reader-outer.

Anything to add?
Not really, just please please please please please please please watch the show.

BBC One's Ambulance confirmed for a heart-stopping fifth series

BBC One and Dragonfly Film and Television, part of Endemol Shine UK, have today announced that a fifth series of the Bafta award-winning observational documentary Ambulance has been commissioned.

Renowned for its unflinching but humane insight into the frontline of emergency health care in the UK, Ambulance is expanding its coverage across the North West, featuring the work of paramedics in Liverpool and across the whole of Merseyside, a whole new set of faces will feature in this latest instalment (12x60’).

With unprecedented access to the crews, and the decision takers in the control centre the new series will also keep audiences up-to-date with the North West Ambulance Service’s work across Greater Manchester, as winter throws everything it has got at the service, pushing it to its limit.

Cameras will remain into spring, as the brand new teams in Merseyside face the complexities of making the life or death decisions that come with providing emergency medical care in their area.

Beejal-Maya Patel, BBC Documentaries Commissioning Executive, says: "I'm really excited that Ambulance will be returning to BBC One for a fifth series, this time filmed in the North West during a crucial time for the emergency services. The programme's dramatic 360 storytelling will reveal the pressures they are under as well as explore the bigger picture of the challenges facing society."

Richard Bond, Creative Director of Dragonfly, says: “With the NHS facing unprecedented demands, this new series could not be more timely, and we’re privileged that NWAS have allowed our cameras back in to capture their extraordinary work on the frontline of the winter crisis.”

Last year Ambulance delivered an average audience of 3.8million viewers and a 16.5% audience share.

The executive producers for Dragonfly will be Tom Currie and Simon Ford. It was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director, BBC Content and Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries. The BBC Commissioning Executive is Beejal-Maya Patel.

Nadiya Hussain returns with new BBC Two series, Time To Eat With Nadiya

We’re a nation that loves to cook and eat delicious food. But… we don’t always have the time. Unsociable working hours, active lifestyles and complicated family routines mean it’s not always easy to make Time To Eat.

And Nadiya Hussain’s life is no different. However, her clever time-saving kitchen hacks ensure she can always make meal times special, no matter how hectic her life is. And in this series she’s revealing her secrets by showcasing simple but delicious recipes that won’t break the budget, and can be slotted into our busy lives.

Nadiya will cook up delicious time-saving recipes for the end of a busy day, bakes that can be rustled up in a rush, effortlessly impressive meals, and simple sweet treats that take no time at all.

Trying out these scrumptious dishes will be the people who work in the 24-hour non-stop world of food production to make the time-saving ingredients Nadiya loves to cook with. And she won’t just be feeding the workers either - in each episode she’ll be put to work so that she can get an appreciation of the process - what goes into picking, collecting or making one of her shortcut ingredients. There’ll be early morning milking, late night mushroom picking, and she’ll be on the production lines helping to create everything from yoghurt to chocolate bars and golden syrup.

Nadiya says: “We’re a nation that loves to cook and eat delicious food but we don’t always have the time with our busy working hours and family routines. Busy lives deserve delicious meals.”

Nadiya will also go to the rescue of British households who struggle to find the time to cook. She’ll meet everyone from firefighters to truckers to busy working mums and dads, and she will teach each of them a tasty, time-saving recipe that can fit seamlessly into their hectic lives.

Competition: Win A Place to Call Home - Series 6 on DVD

A Place to Call Home - Series 6 is released on  25th February

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies to give away.

Synopsis
In the final series of the critically acclaimed, award-winning drama, Marta Dusseldorp resumes her role as resilient nurse Sarah Nordman, finally marrying wealthy landowner George Bligh. But as Sarah takes her place as Lady of Ash Park, George's mother, Elizabeth, feels pushed out of the household that she ran for decades. George s son, James, returns from abroad to start a new business in Sydney, while his daughter, Anna, lives in Hawaii with her sister-in-law, hiding a secret from the rest of the family. As the Blighs journey back to each other, they face tragedies, betrayals, and new beginnings that will challenge their relationships and change the courses of their lives. Set in 1959 Australia, A Place to Call Home blends A-Grade period drama (The Guardian) with Pointed social critique (The New York Times).


Click here to buy from Amazon (Opens in a new window)

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

Who stars as Sarah Adams in A Place to Call Home?

Send you name, address and of course the answer to competition@jonn.co.uk

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 04-03-19
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Filming begins for second series of psychological thriller Hidden/Craith

BBC Cymru Wales and S4C have confirmed that filming has begun for the second series of the hit psychological crime drama Hidden/Craith.

The BBC Cymru Wales/S4C co-commission, which aired as Craith on S4C first and then as Hidden on BBC One Wales and BBC Four - will return to TV screens this autumn on S4C and on the BBC at a later date. The series is also backed by distributors All3media.

Cadi John (Sian Reese-Williams) and Owen Vaughan (Sion Alun Davies) return for the second series, as this time another murder leads them into the shadows of the slate-strewn mountains of Blaenau Ffestiniog to unlock more dark secrets.

Hidden/Craith is the latest in the Cymru noir genre that has captivated audiences since Y Gwyll/Hinterland first aired in 2013. Made by Severn Screen, Hidden/Craith brings together the same production team as the first series, including Executive Producer Ed Talfan and Series Producer Hannah Thomas. Gareth Bryn and Chris Foster will direct, whilst award-winning author Caryl Lewis returns as part of the writing team.

BBC Wales Head of Commissioning, Nick Andrews, says: “Hidden proved to be a real hit with audiences in Wales and right across the UK, so it’s no surprise that we wanted to commission a second series. This wonderfully dark crime series is made all the more menacing because it’s set against the rugged backdrop of north Wales. The second series will take us to Blaenau Ffestiniog and I’m sure audiences will be as excited as I am to see this captivating drama return.”

Amanda Rees, S4C’s Commissioning Director, says: “We are thrilled to bring this hugely popular drama co-production back to the screen. The first series of Craith proved to be a big success here in Wales and across the world and its local universal appeal attracted international audiences. The unique, relevant and current stories that’s part of the second series will leave our viewers at the edge of their seats, and we hope that audiences will enjoy Craith once more.”

Maartje Horchner, EVP Content at All3media, says: “We are delighted to be working with such fantastic team on this series and are so thrilled by the positive reception we’ve received for Hidden from our overseas partners.”

Series producer, Hannah Thomas, says: “It's great to be able to bring so many members of the production team and cast back together for a second series and we can't wait to introduce another intense story to the audience. Blaenau Ffestiniog is an amazing place to film and shows yet another facet of the spectacular north Wales landscape that was so central to our first series.”