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- Roger and Val Have Just Got In
- Jam and Jerusalem, back for series three
- A dark Dawn in Psychoville
- French and Saunders in Australia
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- Jam and Jerusalem
- Murder Most Horrid
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- Roger and Val Have Just Got In
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Roger and Val Have Just Got In
Dawn French’s new sitcom, Roger and Val Have Just Got In, starts in August.
The series explores the everyday of Roger and Val Stevenson (Alfred Molina and French), a middle-aged couple returning home from work, at which point we see each episode begin.
Although the idea for Roger and Val Have Just Got In was Dawn’s, she decided against writing the series herself, instead inviting twin sisters Emma and Beth Kilcoyne to do the honours. “I have a lot of respect for their work,” says Dawn. “They’re better writers than me and I felt this had a kind of drama tone with which I’m not familiar. We got together a few years ago, had lots of meetings and it grew organically from there.”
What follows is the half-hour where the couple recount their day to each other as well as an exploration of the chat and minutiae of a settled couple’s evening routine.
For her, it may involve her energetic day teaching at the local comprehensive. For him, his devoted work as a botanist at the Winter Gardens.
“Val is a food technology teacher,” Dawn says of her character. “She’s a ferocious advocate of it and gets furious when it’s sidelined in the school curriculum. She’s a bit of a control freak, a bit pedantic and wants to win every moment. Roger understands that about her and allows it - one of the things I love about it is there’s lots of dovetailing.”
The daily ritual is examined over six episodes starting Friday 6th August, BBC Two (see all).
Jam and Jerusalem, back for series three
The credit crunch, the war in Afghanistan and a French & Saunders sketch about Chris Martin’s mum — all have influenced the new series of Jam and Jerusalem, starting this month.
In this series, Sal’s (Sue Johnston) daughter Tash decides she wants to live as an ‘urban forager’ — living off free food.
Writer Jennifer Saunders says, “Tash’s character was based on the fact that a lot of stuff was coming out in the papers as soon as the credit crunch hit, based around these stories of everyone getting into that whole hippy lifestyle, growing food in gardens and saving odd bits and pieces — so Tash was born from that.”
Meanwhile Caroline, played by Saunders, sees her son sent to fight in Afghanistan.
“One of the episodes is based on the fact that one of her sons is now in the Army and has been sent to Afghanistan. She is completely emotionally uninvolved, and while everyone else is crying she isn’t, explaining that it will be good for him and it will toughen him up.”
And the inspiration for Caroline? “The character was originally based on a sketch that Dawn [French] and I created in which I played Chris Martin’s mother.”
Jam and Jerusalem starts Sunday 9 August 8.00-9.00pm, BBC One (3 episodes; see all)
A dark Dawn in Psychoville
Prepare for a helping of horror in the new darkly comic serial thriller from two of the minds behind The League of Gentlemen. Dibley it ain’t.
Psychoville explores the lives of five curious characters — spread around the country and apparently unconnected. One thing unites them; they have each received an anonymous card that warns, “I know what you did…”
Dawn French plays Joy Aston, a desperately misguided midwife with a very odd child. As she and the other characters receive this chilling message, we follow their everyday, strange and scary lives.
Among the other characters are:
- Mr Jelly (Reece Shearsmith) — an embittered hook-handed clown and children’s entertainer. Mr Jelly is tormented by the success of his rival Mr Jolly
- Robert (Jason Tompkins) — a love-struck telekinetic dwarf. Robert is performing in Snow White as Blusher and in love with his panto Snow White
- Debbie/Snow White (Daisy Haggard) — Debbie is beautiful and not very smart
- David Sowerbutts (Steve Pemberton) — a serial-killer-obsessed man-child
A big part of this dark world is the online experience that the show’s creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have written to run in parallel with the show. Each character gets their own website with video, plus extra comedy and details about them. Users can also interact with the mystery blackmailer or blackmail a friend through a viral tie-in with The Graham Norton Show.
Psychoville starts Thursday 18 June 2009 10pm, BBC Two (see all)
French and Saunders in Australia
French and Saunders have called it a day as a double-act, but they’re not quite finished yet; they are taking their stage tour to Australia for the first time.
The tour will bring together new material with the best F&S characters and sketches from past.
They’ll travel the country on a string of dates from 26 June-29 July 2009 starting in Newcastle, New South Wales and ending in Adelaide, South Australia.
Bafta Fellowship
The Bafta Awards take place next week and French and Saunders are due to receive a special honour.
They will be handed the Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a prestigious award that recognises achievement on film and television.
In winning this award, French and Saunders will join the club with fellow comedians such as Morcambe and Wise, but also film legends such as Anthony Hopkins and Ingmar Bergman (spot the connections?).
See the full list of people who have been awarded the Fellowship since its creation in 1971.
The British Academy Television Awards is on Sunday 26 April, 8pm BBC One.
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