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Flavorwire Interview: Armando Iannucci Says ‘Veep’ Gets Personal in Season 2

By Jason Bailey on

Armando Iannucci’s characters, whether on his HBO series Veep, his BBC show The Thick of It, or that show’s film spin-off In the Loop, all share one common trait: a gift for inventive, ingenious insults and profanity. So while it’s not exactly a shock that Mr. Iannucci is such a cheerful, soft-spoken, and friendly chap, it is a bit of a relief; what’s surprising is that he insists, “I don’t swear myself!” In the worlds he’s writing about, “there is a fair amount of profanity but profanity can be quite dull.” With his characters, though, “we try and make it as interesting as possible so it’s not so much the swear words, it’s more the phrases around the swear words that make it more interesting.” … Read More

Television

BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ Reimagined As an Animated Series

By Emily Temple on

On this most special of Sherlockian days (it’s 221B day, of course), The Mary Sue has pointed us towards illustrator Angela Taratuta‘s excellent series of redrawn screencaps from the BBC Sherlock‘s take on ”A Scandal in Belgravia.” Though some of Benedict Cumberbatch’s incredible facial weirdness is lost in the glossy animated wash, we still think she’s got both Holmes and Watson pretty well pegged — and this is a cartoon series we would totally watch. Check out a few of our favorites after the jump, and view the full set here. … Read More

Television

J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’ to Become BBC TV Series

By Judy Berman on

The New York Times may have slighted J.K. Rowling’s debut adult literary novel from their annual roundup of notable books, but its appeal isn’t lost on the BBC. The Hollywood Reporter alerts us that BBC One and BBC Drama have reached a deal with Rowling’s representatives, The Blair Partnership, to create… Read More

Books

‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’ Will Be a BBC Miniseries

By Emily Temple on

Now here’s some excellent news for television and literary fans alike: Susanna Clarke’s excellent Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, 2004′s wildly popular fantasy-cum-alternative history set during the Napoleonic Wars, is set to be adapted into a six-part miniseries for the BBC. Even better, the project will be directed by  Toby Haynes, who directed… Read More

Pop Culture

The Cast for Neil Gaiman’s ‘Neverwhere’ Is a Fantasy Nerd’s Dream

By Caroline Stanley on

We just spotted some extremely exciting news for Neil Gaiman fans over on i09: The writer took to his website yesterday to announce the casting lineup for BBC Radio 4′s upcoming production of his urban fantasy Neverwhere, a tale set in an underground world in London which began as… Read More

Music

Watch a Documentary on Ziggy Stardust Narrated by Jarvis Cocker

By Emily Temple on

If you have an hour to spare this holiday weekend, please allow us to suggest David Bowie and the Story of Ziggy Stardust, a wonderful recent BBC4 documentary on everyone’s favorite alter ego. Narrator Jarvis Cocker begins in appropriately heavy terms, booming out, “Forty years ago, in millions of living rooms across the British Isles, a strange alien creature was beamed onto our television screens. With bright red hair and multi-colored space suit, his unearthly appearance shocked the nation. But for many teenagers who experienced this televisual visitation, it would change their lives forever… Music on Planet Earth would never be the same again.” We can’t argue with that. Click through to watch the documentary, with talking head appearances by everyone from Elton John to the remaining Spiders from Mars. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The Mert & Marcus-shot cover for the September issue of Vogue — which features Lady Gaga in an amazing, fuchsia Marc Jacob dress — leaked online late last night, and boy is it a looker! [via Refinery29]

2. Deadline has some new details regarding Sunday night’s Olympics Closing Ceremony lineup,… Read More

Television

Andy Samberg to Star in BBC Comedy Series

By Judy Berman on

It’s been less than two weeks since we learned that Andy Samberg is leaving Saturday Night Live, but we’ve already got some news on what the Lonely Island co-founder is doing next. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Samberg is slated to co-star with The Inbetweeners‘ Greg Davies in Cuckoo, a six-part comedy series… Read More

Television

BBC to Air Jim Henson Company Puppet Talk Show

By Judy Berman on

In case you needed even more proof that British TV is just better, here you go: The BBC is collaborating with the Jim Henson Company to develop a puppet talk show. With a working title of No Strings Attached (see what they did there?), the series will feature several new puppets — Sesame Street‘s resident… Read More

Television

‘Downton Abbey’: This Week’s Winners and Losers

By Judy Berman on

Time to brew the tea and pop the popcorn — Britain’s beloved Downton Abbey is back! Last night’s supersized Season 2 premiere picked up two years after the last series left off, smack in the middle of World War I. The men (well, except for the rich ones) are fighting, the women are pining (and becoming independent), and much of the show’s relentless intra-Downtown intrigue has given way to the human drama of life during wartime. But that doesn’t mean that everyone’s pulling together for the common good. So, in the spirit of class-conscious competition and self-interested jockeying for position, we’re kick off a new weekly feature, in which we declare winners and losers for each episode of Downton Abbey. See where your favorite characters stand after the jump. … Read More