BBC Archives - StayTuned Magazine

The game is afoot again as Season 2 of “Sherlock” premieres on PBS

May 3, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

It didn’t take a master detective to deduce that the BBC series Sherlock — a modern retelling of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories — would be back for a second season (or “series,” as they like to say across the pond). Its original three episodes debuted to critical and fan raves on both sides of the Atlantic, demonstrating once again that Sherlock is one of those fictional characters whom fans will not tire of. It has been estimated that Holmes is the most frequently depicted character in the history of cinema, with his first known appearance coming in a brief, […]

“Planet Earth” filmmakers impress again with Discovery Channel’s “Frozen Planet”

February 28, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

As I post this article from my office in Wisconsin, it’s a cloudy, late February day, with temperatures in the low 30s and a chance for a cold rain later today. Certainly not the most pleasant of conditions, but also hardly worth complaining about after seeing what the Arctic and Antarctic creatures chronicled in Discovery Channel’s new series Frozen Planet endure on a daily basis. The seven-part Frozen Planet, premiering March 18 and narrated by Alec Baldwin, is another coproduction with the BBC, from the same filmmakers who brought us the astounding Planet Earth a few years back. This time, […]

Discovery releases U.S. promo for “Human Planet”

March 16, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

Discovery Channel’s upcoming series Human Planet comes from the makers of the awesome Planet Earth and Life series, and it looks like another winner. Where those other series chronicled animal life on our planet, Human Planet, as its name implies, explores how human beings have become the most adaptable species of all. Each of the series’ six hours is tied to life in a particular habitat, looking at mankind’s relationship with nature and how people have found ways to survive and thrive in the extremes of our planet. The Discovery/BBC co-production was shot in 70 locations over four years. Here […]

Preview: Nature’s Most Amazing Events

May 29, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By RabbitEars Don’t forget this weekend to tune in to Discovery Channel‘s great new miniseries Nature’s Most Amazing Events. Discovery co-produced the series with the BBC, their production partners on Planet Earth. That series set the bar for natural history programming so high that I wasn’t sure if this new series would be quite as awe-inspiring. While Planet Earth remains on a level of its own, this series comes very close to it and is still the best nature show — or any show period — you’re likely to see this year. And it is unique in that each of […]

Adult Swim To Air British “Office”

April 29, 2009 StayTuned Staff

Adult Swim today announced it has acquired the legendary hit BBC comedy, The Office, from BBC Worldwide. Both seasons of the two-time Golden Globe Award-winning series will begin airing on Adult Swim this summer. Adult Swim will also air The Office Christmas special. Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough, Berkshire branch of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company. The main character in the series, David Brent, as played by Gervais, is now firmly established as one of the great creations of comedy — […]

“Planet Earth” Production Partners Go On A New Adventure

March 2, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

If you saw the astonishing natural history series Planet Earth a few years back, you’ll be happy to know that the BBC and Discovery Channel have teamed on a similar new series, premiering in May. Nature’s Most Amazing Events is a six-part high-definition series filmed over the course of two years that chronicles breathtaking natural events that take place across our planet, and which are triggered by seasonal and climate changes — from the flooding of the Okavango Delta in Africa to the great summer melt of ice in the Arctic. In addition to following Planet Earth‘s example of showcasing […]

TV Has Its Place: When Death Comes To Television

February 19, 2009 StayTuned Staff

This is one show that I hope the U.S. doesn’t crib from Britain. She may not be a household word here in America, but in the UK, Jade Goody became famous the way most famous people have done so in recent years — she went on a reality TV show. A raw specimen of humanity, Goody entered Britons’ homes via Big Brother, on which she became the subject of an awful lot of fascination. She drank, swore and generally existed on the show to provoke at least feelings of ire if not superiority in all who watched her. The notoriously […]