Dean Andrews joins the cast of Emmerdale

ITV have announced that Acclaimed actor Dean Andrews is to join Emmerdale this Spring.

The details of Dean’s character are to be kept under wraps by the programme, but it is safe to say he will be stirring up trouble in the village and will soon find himself head to head with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley).

Dean is known for his roles in Life On Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Marchlands and Torvill & Dean.

Dean Andrews said: “I have always loved Emmerdale and am thrilled to be joining the cast. As a Yorkshire lad I have always watched the show and think that everything from the acting to the stories are consistently great and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Executive Producer, Jane Hudson said:  “We are absolutely delighted that Dean is joining the show. He is a superb actor and his character is certainly going to shake things up for some of our villagers. And as a Yorkshireman he is going to fit into Emmerdale perfectly.”

Winterwatch returns to BBC Two, coming live from its new location at the Cairngorms National Park

Winterwatch will return to BBC Two this year, broadcasting live from its new location in the wildest part of the UK, the Cairngorms National Park: the new, year-round home for The Watches.

Presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Gillian Burke will host the wildlife extravaganza, kicking off the year in the depths of winter in one of the toughest places in the country for our animals. The freezing temperatures and blanket of snow make this an extreme environment to call home, and the team will explore how the local wildlife adapts to get through this toughest of seasons. Naturalist and presenter Iolo Williams also joins the team in the Cairngorms to investigate some of the mysteries of the season.

Winterwatch is just the start however, as 'The Watches' will come back to the Cairngorms throughout the year to cover the changing seasons in Springwatch and Autumnwatch, catching up with some of the year-round residents such as golden and white-tailed eagles, red squirrels and pine martens, as well as meeting the seasonal arrivals as they flock to this wild landscape in spring and summer.

By staying for a full year, the team will get to know the area like never before, exploring the snow-capped mountains, ancient forests, raging rivers and deep, silent lochs in intimate detail, and building up a fuller and more rounded picture than a single visit allows.

As ever, the Watches will reflect the wildlife stories and spectacles across the UK in a series of pre-recorded films - showcasing the diversity of habitats and species that make this group of islands a truly unique place for wildlife.

This Winterwatch there is also a ‘Live Lesson’ run by BBC Teach - a live show broadcast into schools up and down the country based around the habitats and animals that the team will be looking at in the Cairngorms.

And this year, The Watches are thrilled to launch their biggest ever citizen science project - a year of action where viewers of the programme will be tasked with helping our conservation partners build the most comprehensive record of the nation’s wildlife ever assembled in a year.

New international dramas announced for BBC Four

BBC Four has announced new international drama series and returning favourites to the channel.

Safe Harbour - a four-part series from Australia - and returning series Trapped, Follow the Money and Cardinal.

Cassian Harrison, BBC Four Channel Editor, says: 
“As the original home of contemporary international drama on British television, BBC Four continues to fire on all cylinders, bringing choice new titles and returning favourites back to its established Saturday night slot. Ranging from the open seas of the South Pacific to the back-woods of Canada, with - of course - some Nordic wilderness stop-offs along the way, we hope audiences will enjoy our thrilling Spring selections as much as we do.”

Safe Harbour was produced by NBCUniversal International Studios’ Matchbox Pictures and acquired from NBC Universal International Distribution. The powerful four-part psychological thriller begins when six friends set sail on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia. What begins as an enjoyable holiday adventure unexpectedly changes when they come across a fishing boat only a day’s sail from their destination. The friends come to the aid of a group of asylum seekers on the broken-down boat, but this encounter leads to a series of events that change their lives irrevocably.

After the success of the first series on BBC Four, series two of the acclaimed Icelandic crime drama Trapped returns. Outside Parliament in Reykjavik, a man throws himself at the Minister for Industry, setting fire to them both. Andri Olaffson, now working in Reykjavik, is assigned to the case and quickly learns the attacker was the minister’s twin. Their family’s roots are in the North, in the very area Andri had hoped to leave behind, where his old colleague Hinrika is now Chief of Police. Trouble is brewing in the town, with widespread anger at a power plant, drilling and a proposed aluminium plant. Shortly after Andri’s return the power plant’s foreman is found dead. Are the two incidents - the murder and the attack in Reykjavik - connected? Trapped is produced by RVK Studios and has been acquired from Dynamic Television

Jeppe Gjervig Gram (Borgen) is the showrunner behind Follow the Money (acquired from DR Sales) which returns for a third series. Across the course of the ten episodes, the series shifts from white-collar crime in the world of high financing to the more gritty and rough world of street crime and drug dealing, and focuses on two characters from the previous seasons: Nicky and Alf. Nicky has become a heavy-weight kingpin in the Danish underworld, while Alf is in a new job with one of the Police’s gang units, which The Fraud Squad lends out employees to when the narcotics investigators need to crack the kingpin’s accounts and finances. Alf and Nicky are in direct opposition to each other - and when one of them pulls a clever manoeuver, the other counteracts. A new main character is also introduced, Anna, who is the centre of her own arena - a bank. Anna is the proficient but overlooked bank employee, who is suddenly recognized for her abilities in alternative ways. Throughout the season, she will become an important accomplice in the laundering of the criminals’ money.

Acquired from co-producer and worldwide distributor Entertainment One (eOne), Cardinal also returns for a third series. Series three picks up in autumn and finds a grieving Cardinal torn between obsessive questions about his wife’s death and his loyalty to his partner, Delorme, when a spiralling double murder investigation turns Algonquin Bay into a danger zone, and pushes the two detectives to their limits.

Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives cast in Guilt - BBC Scotland

Scottish actors Mark Bonnar (Catastrophe, Line Of Duty and Unforgotten) and Jamie Sives (Chernobyl, Frontier, Game Of Thrones), will star in Guilt, a new four-part drama series written by Neil Forsyth (Eric, Ernie And Me, Bob Servant) - the first drama commission for BBC Scotland’s new digital channel.

Guilt is a stylish, contemporary drama with riveting plot twists and a strong vein of black humour throughout. The series will premiere on BBC Scotland’s digital channel and follow on BBC Two later this year.

The story follows two disparate Scottish brothers Max (Bonnar) and Jake (Sives) who, while driving home from a wedding together one night, accidentally run over and kill an old man on a darkened street. After making the panicked decision to cover their tracks, the brothers seem to get away with their crime.

However, as neighbours and relatives of the dead man begin to suspect his death wasn’t as innocent as it initially seemed, the brothers find their lives rapidly falling apart, as their actions begin to catch up with them. Their increasingly desperate attempts to conceal their guilt lead them further into a world where everyone seems to have a hidden agenda and they discover they can trust no-one, ultimately including each other.

Mark Bonnar says: 
"I am hugely excited to be a part of Guilt and to be working with Neil again. The moment I read the first scene I was totally hooked. Neil has managed to write a captivating and breathless thriller which, even in its darkest, most dramatic moments, maintains a pitch black sense of humour. I don’t want to resort to hyperbole, but IT IS a total rollercoaster ride!

Added to that, to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Jamie Sives, whom I’ve known since we were at Leith Academy together aged 11, is joyful beyond words. In fact, Edinburgh plays a central role itself and I’m looking forward to revisiting some old haunts... I can’t wait to get started!”

Jamie Sives says: 
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be involved in what I’m sure will be a cracking drama. Neil has written brilliant scripts for Guilt and I can’t wait to get tangled up in the web he has so expertly woven. Our director Rob McKillop is a special talent and everyone I’ve met so far on this project has been so enthusiastic about it.

I’m also over the moon at the prospect of working with Mark Bonnar. Mark and I went to high school together. It’s really quite surreal to think that he and I sometimes walked to school together and now we’re about to lead up a terrific new drama together, and in the year of the launch of BBC Scotland’s brand new channel. It doesn’t get any better. I’ve been wanting to work with Mark for ages.”

Gavin Smith, Commissioning Executive, Scripted for BBC Scotland, says: 
“To be filming our first original drama locally for the new channel, and have Mark and Jamie starring with Robbie directing, highlights our commitment to Scottish talent. We’re thrilled to be working with Happy Tramp North and Expectation to bring this ambitious project to life.”

Gregor Sharp, Commissioning Editor for BBC Comedy, adds: “We’re delighted to be supporting this hugely exciting project. Neil Forsyth’s scripts are packed with tension, moral ambiguity and off-beat humour, and we can’t wait to see this fantastic array of talent bring them to life.”

Happy Tramp North Executive Producer Neil Webster says: “We’re very excited and proud to be co-producing the first drama for the new BBC Scotland channel. Neil Forsyth has crafted an incredibly gripping story with a brilliantly off-kilter sensibility that puts everyone - the characters and the audience - well and truly through the ringer.”

Kirstie Macdonald, Creative Director for Drama, Expectation, adds: “As soon as I read Neil Forsyth’s script, I was bowled over by the dynamic world he had created and the brilliant characters of brothers Max and Jake. I am delighted to be working with Happy Tramp North on the first drama commission for BBC Scotland’s new channel and to be bringing two of Scotland’s most talented actors Mark and Jamie home to film the project.”

Guilt will be internationally distributed by BBC Studios.

Michelle Keegan to reprise her role as Georgie Lane in BBC One’s Our Girl

You can get Series 1 & 2 from iTunes by clicking here
Series 3 if available on iTunes here

Written and created by Tony Grounds, Michelle Keegan (Our Girl, Tina And Bobby, Brassic) will return to BBC One to lead the fourth series of Our Girl. Made by BBC Studios, this six-part commission will take place one year on from 2 Section’s last tour in Bangladesh.

A positive Georgie is making leaps in her career, having been promoted to Sergeant, and now training a new bunch of medics. Happily living back in Manchester with her family, Georgie is insistent to her friends in 2 Section that she’s happy settled in her new job and will not be joining them on their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, no matter how much they want her to.

However, when a night on the town results in a near-fatal incident, she can’t deny that the painful memories of losing the love of her life, Elvis, to a Taliban attack, is the real reason she doesn’t want to go back. Georgie realises that she needs to return to Afghanistan to face her own fears.

Michelle Keegan says: “Being in Our Girl has been one of the highlights of my career so far. I feel very lucky to be part of the show and I’m really excited that it's coming back. The audience response has been so positive and I think Georgie is a character who resonates with viewers. I absolutely love playing the role. Be prepared for another incredible series - Georgie’s still got unfinished business.”

Tony Grounds, writer and creator, says: “I’m absolutely delighted that Michelle Keegan will be reprising her role as Georgie Lane for another tour of Our Girl. 2 Section are deployed to Afghanistan as part of Nato’s Resolute Support Mission to develop the military capability of the Afghanistan government’s armed forces. But with the Taliban controlling large swathes of the country and Georgie Lane’s haunting memories of Elvis lost last time she was in the country, this mission was never going to be easy."

Hilary Salmon, Executive Producer for BBC Studios, says: “The new series of Our Girl is an opportunity for us to see Georgie in a new stage of her life, as she comes to terms with life without Elvis and reassesses her relationship to the army and the emotional toll it has taken. We are thrilled that Michelle Keegan will once again star in this new six-part story that is both exciting and moving and contains unexpected twists.”

Mona Qureshi, Executive Producer for BBC One, says: “We’re thrilled to have Michelle Keegan return to BBC One for a new Our Girl tour. Tony’s storylines for this series bring fresh and exciting challenges for Georgie as she battles personal demons, and for 2 Section, who have some new members to accommodate.”

Filming will take place in April for four months in South Africa and other details will be announced in due course.



Our Girl is a 6x60’ BBC Studios production for BBC One. The producer is Yvonne Francas (Love, Lies And Records, Death In Paradise) and executive producers are Tony Grounds, Roberto Troni, Hilary Salmon for BBC Studios and Mona Qureshi for BBC One.

Fred & Rose West The Real Story with Trevor McDonald

Airing Thursday 31st Jan 2019

"Coming back to this story 25 years later, it's still as shocking as it ever was, if not more so". Sir Trevor McDonald

 

Presented by Sir Trevor McDonald this brand new and very powerful documentary features exclusive interviews and insights into one of most disturbing murder cases in British criminal history – Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors. 

 

A quarter of a century on from the discovery of the Wests' extraordinary crimes, in which they murdered young women and girls and buried the human remains under their home at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, people at the heart of the story speak for the first time.

 

Exclusive contributors include former Cromwell Street lodger Jayne Hamer who speaks of hearing screams from the cellar, and tells Sir Trevor how she feels lucky to have left the house alive. We also hear from families of murder victims, including two sisters of Juanita Mott in their first documentary interview. Their sister went missing in 1975, aged eighteen, and her remains were among the nine found at Cromwell St in 1994. Three more sets of human remains were found elsewhere bringing the total number of victims to twelve. 

 

Trevor McDonald asks the key questions: how did these crimes go undetected for so long, and what role did Rose West play? Viewers will see fresh evidence indicating that at times Rose may in fact have been the driving force in these horrific crimes. Returning to Cromwell Street with Sir Trevor McDonald, contributor and programme producer Howard Sounes explains, “The Wests terrorised their children into not saying anything — "You mustn’t go to the police, or something terrible will happen.’”

 

A host of other exclusive interviewees include odd-job man Fred West’s former bosses Derek and Wendy Thomson, who had no idea of their employee’s dark side; and John Fitzgerald, the senior social worker who investigated child care issues in the case, as he sheds new light on how the Wests got away with it for so long. Sasha Wass QC, who helped defend Rose in court, gives her first media interview on her client’s sensational 1995 trial. The film also features a powerful exclusive interview with a West family member who has never spoken before on camera.

 

This programme uncovers new evidence that Rose West was often as violent, if not more violent, than her husband. Although Rose was only fifteen when she met Fred, who was 27 and had already killed, psychologist Professor David Canter suggests in the film that Rose may have played a leading role in the relationship from the outset. 

 

He says: “I think it’s very probable that she was already very manipulative and she saw in Fred somebody she could manage in some way to achieve what she wanted.”

 

Although Fred West confessed to the killings in 1994, Rose denied it all – as she still does. Rosemary West was convicted of 10 murders and is one of the very few female prisoners with a whole life tariff meaning she will die in prison. 

 

A Blink Films production for ITV

Competition: Win Delicious Series 1-3 Complete on DVD

Delicious Series 1-3 Complete Boxset is released on  28th January

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

Synopsis
Passionate cook Gina (Dawn French) was once married to Leo Vincent (Iain Glen), a successful entrepreneur, chef and hotel owner in Cornwall. Now married to the glamorous Sam (Emilia Fox), Leo's business has continued to thrive. When Sam has suspicions that Leo is having an affair she confides in Gina, confident that she'll recognise the signs.

But the secrets and scandals that spill out are proof that sleeping with another woman's husband is never a good idea even if he was your husband first. As Sam and Gina try to fix their broken families, can a friendship rise from the ashes of betrayal? Also starring Sheila Hancock and Vincent Regan, Delicious is an honest and compelling story of love, sex, lies, betrayal and food - where things are never as they seem.


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

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

Who stars as Gina in Delicious?

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

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 04-01-19
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.