Image Entertainment
August 17, 2010
'Skellig: The Owl Man' - A Magical Story of an Unlikely Friendship
Synopsis: This moving tale of a boy who befriends a mysterious man with unearthly powers will cast a spell on the entire family!
Young Michael hates his dilapidated new home, he’s worried about his sick baby sister and he’s bullied at school. But life changes when he stumbles upon “Skellig” hiding out in a backyard shed (Tim Roth, The Incredible Hulk), and quickly realizes that there’s something very special about him. As magical things start to happen, an entirely new world opens up to Michael, who turns to a reluctant Skellig for help when his baby sister takes a turn for the worse. Don’t miss this unforgettable story about the power of friendship and family, the beauty of hope and the rapture of learning to fly.
Cast: Tim Roth, Kelly Macdonald, Bill Milner, John Simm
Director(s): Annabel Jankel
Language: English
Genre(s): Drama, Family/Kids, Based on Book, Feature Film
From About.com - Image Gallery: ‘Skellig: The Owl Man’
From Needcoffee.com - Win ‘Skellig: The Owl Man’ on DVD!
The Ten Best Things Right Now
Editor’s Picks
By GQ.COM
Liat Clark
17 Aug 2010
Mad Dogs is to be shown on Sky1 HD in January.
It’s been a very long time since we’ve been excited by a homegrown British drama on Sky1. Featuring a great cast that sees the reunion of Life On Mars stars John Simm and Phillip Glenister, as well as Marc Warren and Ben Chaplin, the plot sees four old schoolfriends head to Majorca for a get-together, only for disaster to strike. As an effective Shallow Grave/Sexy Beast cross, it promises to be the first big TV event of next year – and should prove that Glenister is more than capable of stepping out of the sizeable shadow of Gene Hunt.
Mad Dogs is to be shown on Sky1 HD in January. sky.com
Mad Dogs: Brand new drama for Sky1 HD
Sky1 HD
3 August 2010
Mad Dogs: Brand new drama for Sky1 HD
Sky1 HD today announces Mad Dogs, a new four-part drama serial for transmission in Spring 2011.
Written by Cris Cole Mad Dogs centres around the reunion of a group of old friends. Woody (Beesley), Quinn (Glenister), Baxter (Simm) and Rick (Warren) have been mates since sixth form. The fifth member of the gang, Alvo, lives in Majorca, having made his fortune in property. Now in their 40s; a mix of single, married and divorced; they’ve been invited out to Alvo’s villa to celebrate his retirement. However, their trip does not work out as planned and takes a dark turn when the holiday becomes a labyrinthine nightmare of lies, deception and murder. Mad Dogs is a darkly comic twisted tale of friendship put to the ultimate test as an inconceivable chain of events unfolds. Four ordinary blokes faced with a set of extraordinary circumstances and not handling it!
On the eve of the start of filming John Simm said: “I feel very lucky to be involved in such an exciting project. It’s always a joy to work with Marc and Phil of course. With Max and the brilliant Adrian Shergold also involved this promises to be a wonderful experience.
Writer Cris Cole added: “As well as enjoying writing for such a fantastic cast, I was also delighted to be able to attempt such an ambitious and cinematic thriller drawing on influences like David Lynch and the Coen Brothers as inspiration for the kind of storytelling that is never quite what you think it is going to be.”
Four fantastic and highly competitive guys going head to head in a brilliant new drama – its going to be a real treat on Sky1 HD.
Top TV Stars Join Simm’s Sheffield Hamlet
What’s On Stage
Vicky Ellis
25 June 2010
John Nettles joins John Simm in Sheffield's Hamlet
Today Sheffield Theatres announced the full casting for its winter production of Hamlet starring John Simm.
Simm, who takes the lead role of Hamlet as we reported last year (See News:: E8831260527830, 11 Dec 2009), will be joined by John Nettles, of Bergerac and Midsomer Murdersfame, with Michelle Dockery and Barbara Flynn.
Nettles will trade Inspector Barnaby’s detective badge for the morally questionable role of Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and the perpetrator of his brother’s demise. He will double up the role with that of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father.
Michelle Dockery, the star of new ITV drama Downton Abbey which hits screens this autumn, takes the role of Ophelia. Audiences will have seen her previous television appearances in Cranford, Waking the Dead and Red Riding.
Barbara Flynn plays Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and returns to the Crucible having previously performed in Sorry. Also seen on screen in Cranford, as Mrs Jamieson as well asTen Days to War, and Elizabeth I, Flynn’s theatre credits include King Lear, (National Theatre), and Woman of Troy (Gate Theatre) .
Alongside them, audiences will find Dylan Brown (Rosencrantz), Adam Foster(Guildernstern), Ben Lamb (Voltemand/Player/Fortinbras), James Loye (Laertes/Lucianus),Joseph Mydell (Player King/Francisco/Captain), Hugh Ross (Polonius/Grave Digger), Harry Lister Smith (Cornelius), Roderick Smith (Marcellus/Player/Priest) and Colin Tierney(Horatio).
The production will be the opening show in Artistic Director Daniel Evans’ second season of work and will be directed by Associate Director Paul Miller.
Designs are by Tom Scutt, with lighting by Oliver Fenwick and music and sound is by Ben and Max Ringham.
The production opens 22 September with previews from 16 and runs until 23 October.
Previously, only a 2-minute clip was available, but now the FULL version of ‘Ten Minute Movie’ with John Simm has been released by Director Imogen Murphy.
Look for appearance by Liz White of Life on Mars, too!
With special thanks to Cameron for posting the link on JohnSimmSociety.com.
Yorkshire Post
Published Date: 13 May 2010
By Nick Ahad Arts Reporter
John Simm: TV actor to star in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Sheffield Theatres today announces its new season, featuring a star turn from Life on Mars actor John Simm as Hamlet.
Richard Wilson, known to millions as TV’s Victor Meldrew, will also take a director’s role.
The group, which includes the Lyceum, the Studio and the world famous Crucible, will also see a season of work celebrating David Hare and a revival of musical Me and My Girl in a version written by Stephen Fry.
The David Hare season will see all three theatres showing work by the same writer at the same time for the first time, one of the productions being directed by theatre royalty Peter Gill.
Yorkshire born John Simm, who played Sam Tyler in Life on Mars and The Master in Doctor Who, will be playing Hamlet in a new production of Shakespeare’s play in September.
The high profile casting sees artistic director Daniel Evans, a year into the job, continue the tradition started by former director Michael Grandage , who brought Kenneth Branagh to the city.
Mr Evans said: “The Crucible Theatre reopened in February this year after a two-year redevelopment and I’m deeply encouraged by the fact that over 23,000 people saw the first three productions in our opening season.
“As we look ahead to the new season, I’m delighted to announce an ambitious and varied programme of work, including classical, physical and musical theatre. The David Hare season will be the first time that Sheffield Theatres has staged one playwright’s work in each of its three venues – and I look forward to welcoming David to the city.”
Theatre and film writer and director Hare is most famous for the plays Pravda and the films The Reader and The Hours.
His plays Racing Demon, Plenty and The Breath of Life – which were written 12 years apart – will run across all three theatres, alongside a series of play readings, workshops, talks and interviews.
Peter Gill, one of British theatre’s most respected directors, along with Daniel Evans and Thea Sharrock, who directed Daniel Radcliffe in Equus, will be in charge of the three productions.
As an actor Richard Wilson’s most famous role was in TV’s One Foot in the Grave, but as a director his theatre credits are extensive.
He comes to Sheffield in July to direct That Face by Polly Stenham, in its English regional premiere.
Other highlights include the Christmas musical Me and My Girl, which will open in December and run until January next year.
guardian.co.uk
Jason Deans
Wednesday 5 May 2010 07.17 BST
Drama will also star Max Beesley and Marc Warren, as a quartet of fortysomethings who go abroad for a retirement party
Max Beesley, John Simm, Philip Glenister and Marc Warren, who are to star in Mad Dogs. Photograph: Rankin/Sky
Philip Glenister, Max Beesley, John Simm and Marc Warren are to star in Mad Dogs, a new Sky1 high definition drama about a group of schoolfriends who get more than they bargained for when they go abroad for a retirement party.
The fortysomethings are invited to a friend’s villa in Majorca to celebrate the retirement party for another old school friend, Alvo, who has made his fortune in property. However, the holiday turns into a “labyrinthine nightmare of lies, deception and murder”.
Mad Dogs is due to air on Sky1 and Sky1 HD in four, 60-minute episodes in the spring of 2011. Location filming in Majorca begins this week.
The drama has been written by Cris Cole and is being made by the independent producer Left Bank Pictures, the company responsible for Wallander and the Sky1 drama Strike Back, which begins this week. Mad Dogs was commissioned by Elaine Pyke, Sky1′s head of drama.
Mad Dogs is being executive-produced by Pyke, Left Bank’s founder and chief executive Andy Harries and Suzanne Mackie, the company’s head of film. Adrian Shergold is directing, with Spencer Campbell producing.
TVShowsOnDVD.com
David Lambert
4/22/2010
8-disc release brings the award-winning program to DVD in one complete set
Crazy, in a coma, or back in time? Struck by a passing car in modern-day Manchester, detective Sam Tyler (John Simm, State of Play, Doctor Who) wakes up in 1973, where he’s the newest member of his old police squad. Sam’s respect for proper procedure and 21st-century mentality clash mightily with his bullying boss, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister, Cranford). Still, Sam gamely adapts to crime solving in this retro world, despite hearing strange voices that call him back to his former life. When he bonds with sympathetic policewoman Annie Cartwright (Liz White, The Fixer), Sam wonders: does he really want to return?
Acorn Media has announced that on July 6th they will release Life on Mars - The Original U.K. Series: The Complete Collection.
- “One of the best TV series ever made…A true television classic.” - San Francisco Chronicle
- Series 1 DVD selected for Time’s “Short List” and Entertainment Weekly’s “The Must List”
- “One of the greatest limited run television series I’ve ever seen…It blows the American version out of the water.” – Stephen King for Entertainment Weekly
- “A satisfying conclusion” - Los Angeles Times
- “Exceptionally well made from top to bottom…terrific performances” – Los Angeles Times
- “Excellent British series…fresh, compelling and inventive.” – The Washington Post
- “Terrific British crime show…The writing is superb, the setting is perfect” – MSN Entertainment
- “Refreshingly clever” and “Intelligently entertaining” – USA Today
- “Not your mother’s procedural drama” – Entertainment Weekly
Acorn Media has announced that on July 6th they will release Life on Mars – The Original U.K. Series: The Complete Collection. This 8-DVD set contains all 16 episodes running approximately 936 minutes. Video is anamorphic widescreen, audio is in English with both 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo soundtracks. English subtitles are also on board. Cost is $79.99 SRP in the USA, and CA$99.99 SRP in Canada.
Bonus materials:
- Audio commentaries for all Series 1 episodes
- Take a Look at the Lawman documentary (64 min.)
- Interview clip with director Bharat Nalluri (3 min.)
- The Music of Life on Mars featurette (14 min.)
- Get Sykes production design featurette (8 min.)
- Outtakes reel (6 min.)
- The Return of Life on Mars documentary (45 min.)
- Series 2 behind-the-scenes footage and set tour (48 min.)
- The End of Life on Mars featurette (28 min.)
Actor John Simm Filming in Stamford
Rutland and Stamford Mercury
19 Apr 2010
John Simm and his co-stars filming in Stamford High Street
Life on Mars actor John Simm was in town today to film his latest drama.
Scottish actress Shirley Henderson, with other cast members and crew, was also in the High Street in Stamford today for the filming of Seven Days which follows the relationship between a man imprisoned for drug smuggling and his wife.
The film, directed by Michael Winterbottom for Channel 4, is being shot over the course of five years so the characters age and is due to be screened in about two years.
Scenes were also shot for the drama in the summer of last year at Stocken Prison, Oakham.
Melissa Parmenter, one of the producers, said: “We filmed in Stamford to portray a day trip out.
“It has been very good here, apart from the weather.”
Manchester United – A Century of Dreams
Manchester United Official Web Site
Actor and United fan John Simm presents Manchester United - A Century of Dreams, an official United DVD celebrating and showing the best action from Old Trafford’s first 100 years.
John Simm, an award-winning actor best known for his time-travelling roles in Life on Mars and Dr Who, dropped into Old Trafford recently to front the new official DVD, Manchester United - A Century of Dreams.
Out now, the DVD celebrates the greatest goals, games and players from Old Trafford’s glorious first 100 years and features the personal recollections from Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Ryan Giggs and many others.
The DVD is on sale from 19 April, but you can win a copy on ManUtd.com until 16 May 2010.
