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The Street, Jimmy McGovern’s emotionally powerful hit drama for BBC One, has been recommissioned for a second series.The drama, which is enjoying good ratings figures for its run on Thursday nights, has been given the green light for another six episodes to air next year.

E4 and Channel 4 have commissioned a new ensemble sketch show Blunder due for transmission in Autumn ‘06. Blunder is being produced by Channel X and will feature
six of the UK’s brightest young comedy writers and performers – David Mitchell (Peep Show), Simon Farnaby (Spoons), Rhys Thomas (The Fast Show), Nina Conti (Bromwell High), Tom Meeten (Mighty Boosh) and Tony Way (Extras). Filmed on location and in the studio, the series features a colourful array of cartoonish characters and oddballs.

The 6 x 30 minute series is produced by Jemma Rodgers (League of Gentleman) and directed by Richard Valentine (Shooting Stars). The Executive Producers are Jim Reid and Alan Marke. The series was commissioned by Shane Allen, Commissioning Editor Comedy and Danny Cohen, Head of E4. Blunder will debut on E4 ahead of its Channel 4 transmission.

Newcomer Ruth Wilson, as Jane Eyre, and Toby Stephens, as Edward Rochester (pictured above), head an all-star cast in a passionate new version of the much adored classic Jane Eyre for BBC One.The serial also stars Francesca Annis as Lady Ingram, Christina Cole as Blanche Ingram, Lorraine Ashbourne as Mrs Fairfax, Pam Ferris as Grace Poole and Tara Fitzgerald as Mrs Reed.The drama is currently filming entirely on location in Derbyshire. 

Burn Gorman (Guppy in Bleak House) and Naoko Mori (Saffy’s best friend Sarah, aka Titicaca, in Absolutely Fabulous) will star alongside John Barrowman and Eve Myles in the brand-new BBC Three drama Torchwood. The British sci-fi crime thriller for adult audiences will follow the adventures of a team of renegade investigators, led by the enigmatic Captain Jack (John Barrowman).The series will also be screened on BBC One. 

BBC Three has commissioned Sinchronicity, a new, six-part drama series. Sinchronicity revolves around Nathan (Paul Chequer) and the sexual misadventures of a group of twenty-somethings. Set and filmed in Manchester, the plots hinge on peripheral moments that could prove crucial for strangers looking for love. Filming begins next month.

James Alexandrou, who plays Martin Fowler in EastEnders, will leave the drama next summer. James says:“I’ve decided to leave the show to experience other aspects of my industry. Having turned 21, I felt it was an apt time to leave.” The storyline for Martin’s exit has not yet been planned but the door will be left open for his return. Meanwhile, a new face is set to cause a stir in Albert Square in June. Natasha Beaumont will play SJ (Sarah-Jane), an Australian who moved to the UK a few years ago when she got a job in a gentlemen’s club. SJ first meets some of the residents at Scarlet when she is booked as a stripper.

BBC One is aiming to shine the spotlight on an undiscovered theatre star with a new, live entertainment show, hosted by Graham Norton.
In How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, to be screened later this year, two of theatre’s biggest names open up the world of musical theatre to search the UK for a new talent who will win the opportunity of a lifetime. The show features legendary composer and theatre producer Andrew Lloyd Webber who, together with leading West
End producer David Ian, will be searching for a new talent who will win the role of Maria in the upcoming West End show The Sound Of Music. 
Through auditions, intensive training, live performances and a public vote, talented hopefuls will try to prove themselves to the experts and the nation and make their dream come true – to be a lead in a West End show.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s awards include seven Tonys, three Grammys, six Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an International Emmy and an Oscar. David Ian is one of the most successful current producers in UK theatre whose hits include Guys & Dolls, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Anything Goes and The Producers. He also runs more than 50 theatres worldwide. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber says:“I have always had a passion for discovering and nurturing new talent and this will be a fantastic opportunity for a young artist to become a real star. “I’m particularly pleased that, for the first time, the search will be open to everybody. Never before have young musical theatre performers had such an opportunity to show their talents on prime-time television.” 
David Ian says: “As a theatre producer, I know the hard work that goes into musical theatre and how very important it is to keep finding new talent for these starring roles. I’m thrilled to be working with the BBC on this national search – we really are
looking for someone special.” Open auditions will take place in Belfast, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and London, where a panel of experts in the fields of
music and theatre will whittle the hopefuls down to 50 potential Marias. These talented individuals will then be put through their paces in singing, acting and dancing by some of the best professionals in the business. Only 10 will make it through to the TV shows where they will undergo constant training and perform live for the panel and,
most importantly, the nation. Viewers vote for their favourite and each week, the ones with the least votes will perform again for Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has the chance to save just one. Graham Norton says:“I’ll be there to mop the brows and do some serious hand-holding as we try and find that star-in-the-making. It will be a real rollercoaster for everyone involved. I’m thrilled to be along for the ride.” 
The series will consist of pre-recorded audition shows, live shows and live results shows. A bursary will be set up whereby money from the telephone votes during the series will give hopefuls a chance to learn more about, and get a foothold in, the world of musical theatre.

The BBC is broadcasting its 2006 World Cup coverage and major Wimbledon matches in high definition this summer as part of its pioneering trial.The BBC HD trial kicks off with the BBC’s share of World Cup matches up to and including the Sunday 9 July final.World Cup 2006 is the first major sporting event to be broadcast in HD in the UK.The BBC’s summer of HD sport continues with Wimbledon matches from Centre Court and Court One.

The judges have announced the 19-strong longlist for The BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize For Non-Fiction 2006.The world’s richest non-fiction prize, announced on Wednesday 14 June and screened live on BBC Four, is worth £30,000 to the winner.
The list includes: a flamboyant biography of a self-proclaimed Muslim prince; an engrossing account of Soviet-US relations from the Second World War to the collapse of the USSR; an intimate and personal reflection of a man’s life written when he thought he was dying; a lively biography of the first domestic diva of the modern age, Mrs Beeton; and an evocative “blog” by an anonymous woman in wartorn Iraq.

The BBC has launched a new brand TV marketing campaign which demonstrates the extreme lengths its staff go to every day to produce quality programming for its  audience.The campaign – the first of its kind since 1997’s Perfect Day – features
real-life examples of extraordinary BBC achievements, large and small. Each trail  features a different story demonstrating the passion and commitment of individuals working for the organisation, punctuated by the simple endline: This is what we do.
UK... Oh dear, it looks like a second season of Celebrity Love Island is going to be made - the show, to be filmed in Fiji, is due to air in June, celebrities (used in the loosest sense of the word of course) are rumoured to include models Keeley Hazell and Sophie Anderton, ex Eastender Pooja Shah and Big Brother 6 winner Anthony Hutton

Filming has begun in Budapest on the highly anticipated new series of Robin Hood for BBC One. Fun, modern and intelligent,Robin Hood 2006 sets out to entertain a whole new generation and stars newcomer Jonas Armstrong in the lead role. Robin
Hood’s striking new look, coupled with Dominic Minghella’s sharp scripts, updates the popular legend for a sophisticated, contemporary audience.The series will be screened this autumn. 

Natasha Kaplinsky and Sian Williams have been confirmed as presenters of BBC One’s Six O’Clock News and BBC Breakfast respectively. Natasha has been co-presenting the Six O’Clock News bulletin since October last year with George Alagiah. She has been covering for Sophie Raworth who is on maternity leave. Sian has been co-presenting on BBC Breakfast alongside Dermot Murnaghan since last October and will now continue in this role.

James Purefoy stars as the ultimate man about town in BBC Four’s Beau Brummell, a new drama at the centre of the channel’s The Century That Made Us season, focusing on the 18th century and being screened later this year. Purefoy, recently seen as Mark Anthony in BBC Two’s Rome, takes the lead as Brummell in this engaging drama based on the new biography written by Ian Kelly. An argument with the Prince Regent led to Beau’s disfavour in society and he fled England in 1816 after amassing thousands of pounds of debt. He died penniless in France in 1840. During his popularity, Brummell was the ultimate man about town, mixing with the best London had to offer and consorting with the finest ladies. His individual style of dress led to the trend for beautifully cut clothing adorned with neckwear which became known as “dandyism”.This revolution in men’s fashion is credited as being the forerunner to the modern-day suit and tie.

Amanda Redman, Dennis Waterman,Alun Armstrong and James Bolam are back for a third series of the hit drama New Tricks, to be screened on BBC One this year. Irreverent, warm and funny, New Tricks is a detective series with a difference. Jack Halford (Bolam), Gerry Standing (Waterman) and Brian Lane (Armstrong) are three ex-coppers brought out of retirement to re-examine unsolved and open cases as part of a new initiative, UCOS – Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad. Headed up by Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Redman), this trio of ageing misfits should not be underestimated. Professionally, whether it’s murder, fraud, suicide, witchcraft or politics, there isn’t much that fazes this team. What unites them is a complete disregard for rules, regulations and protocol.These old dogs refuse to be taught new tricks, but with such a high success rate, Pullman soon finds she herself is also bending the rules. The new series also features Susan Jameson, Anthony Calf and Natalie Forbes, with guest appearances from Steven Berkoff, Stephanie Beecham, Frances Barber, Kenneth Cranham, Anton Lesser, Gareth Hunt, Richard Briers, Siobhan Redmond, Frances de la Tour, Patrick Malahide, Denise Black, Steve John Shepherd, Kevin Whately, Joe Absolom and Hannah Waterman, among others. 

Life On Mars, the hit time-travelling cop show, has been recommissioned for a second series on BBC One. The new series will again follow fish-out-of water DI Sam Tyler, a detective who was catapulted into 1973 after a car accident in 2006. John Simm and Philip Glenister return as the driven and by-the-book Tyler and his off-the-cuff, fist-wielding, Neanderthal boss, Gene Hunt. Also returning are Liz White as the intelligent and resourceful WPC Annie Cartwright; Dean Andrews as recently demoted DC Ray Carling; and Marshall Lancaster as the keen-to-learn DC Chris Skelton. Filming on the new series starts in April in Manchester and continues until September. 

Comedian Peter Kay is the latest star to be cast in the eagerly awaited second series of Doctor Who. Peter will be swapping his trademark gags for more serious acting when he steps into the role of the cold and powerful Victor Kennedy later this month. He will appear in episode 10 of the new BBC One series, penned by Russell T Davies.

A second series of the science-fiction comedy Hyperdrive will start filming later this year for transmission on BBC Two.The sitcom is set in the year 2151 on the British spaceship HMS Camden Lock. Nick Frost returns to head up the cast as the optimistic, but slightly deluded, Commander Henderson, who is in charge of the ship’s crew as they go about their mission to protect Britain’s interests in a changing galaxy. Kevin Eldon also returns as Henderson’s right-hand man, desperate to take over command of the ship, with Miranda Hart as the meticulous Diplomatic Officer Teal.

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