New on
BBC Entertainment in April, 2009:
Any Dream Will DoPremiere date: Sunday, 19 April 2009 at 19h30
Host Graham Norton joins musical composer and producer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to launch a nationwide talent search to find a male lead for a production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End.
Thousands of hopefuls audition and it's up to the show‟s panel of judges to whittle down the best in a series of call backs.
The final 50 then enter “Joseph School”, where a team of the best coaches in the business tutor them in vocals, acting and choreography before a final live performance which will see one of the 12 remaining Josephs given one of the best loved roles in Theatreland.
Joining Andrew Lloyd Webber on the judging panel are TV presenter and West End leading lady Denise Van Outen, Torchwood star John Barrowman, theatre producer Bill Kenwright, and outspoken voice coach Zoe Tyler.
Fast facts!This is the reality format that High School Musical was based on.
Any Dream Will Do is the second in the series of BBC searches and was on air in the UK in 2007. The series debuted in 2006 with How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - based on My Fair Lady.
Once Any Dream Will Do ends it's run on BBC E it will be followed by the 2008 search I'd Do Anything - based on Oliver.
MistressesPremiere date: Tuesday, 21 April 2009 at 20h30
Mistresses is part thriller/part drama and set in a world where friends have become the new family. The show follows the lives and loves of a group of 30-something girlfriends who met at university but whose lives have taken very different turns.
Katie, a doctor, has been having an affair with one of her patients, while her best friend Trudi is grieving the loss of her husband, killed in 9/11.
Jessica, whose anarchic lifestyle provides lots of gossip and humour, is concealing matters of the heart from her friends, and there's also more than meets the eye to Siobhan's seemingly happy marriage.
The series follows the groups highs, lows, excitement, happiness, torment and loneliness as they are led by their emotions and struggle to hold it all together.
Robin Hood Premiere date: Sunday, 26 April 2009 at 18h40
Robin of Locksley returns home from defending King and country in the Holy Land to find a corrupt and changed Nottingham.
The ruthless Sheriff of Nottingham is now in charge, crippling the poor with greedy taxes and severely punishing them for stealing even a loaf of bread.
Along with his trusty companion Much, trickster Allan A Dale and passionate Will Scarlett, Robin teams up with forest outlaws Little John and Roy, leading his gang to help Nottingham’s poor.
Fast fact!This is the same version of Robin Hood was broadcast on SABC2.
TVSA's Robin Hood Mini Site.
The FixerPremiere date: Thursday, 30 April 2009 at 20h30
The Fixer is an action drama series that asks whether operating outside the usual parameters of the law can ever be justified.
Released from prison unexpectedly early, John Mercer is introduced to Lenny Douglas, a police officer retired on the grounds of "ill health".
He quickly realises that his newfound freedom comes at a price. Douglas runs an unofficial operation with a single brief: dealing with untouchable criminals and disorganising crime. Mercer‟s role is that of hitman.
On hand to help Mercer fulfil each hit are Calum, whose main interests are girls, drugs and music, and the sharp-tongued but seductive Rose, an ex-copper forced out of the police by scandal.
Through their exploits the show asks: can such a disparate team unit effectively to bring order where the law has failed, and what are the moral implications of their secretive operations?
EASTER WEEKEND SPECIALS/MARATHONS
Strictly Come Dancing Weekender: Season 4On: Saturday, 11 April 2009 from 07h00 to 19h00
Continued on: Sunday, from 09h30 to 19h00.
A rebroadcast of the fourth season of Strictly Come Dancing 4 in one weekend.
Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly present and celebrities include England cricketer Mark Ramprakash, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, TV presenter Carol Smillie, EastEnders star Louisa Lytton, World Cup-winning rugby star Matt Dawson and former Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel.
Classic Comedies
On: Friday, 10 April 2009 from 09h00 to 20h00
A marathon day of classic British comedy series. The line-up includes episodes of:
As Time Goes By
When a young Army officer called Lionel and a student nurse named Jean met in the 1950s, they entered into a whirlwind romance which ended when Lionel was posted to Korea. A lifetime later, the pair meet up again by chance, but the course of true love - and romance in the Third Age - never quite runs smoothly for them.
The series stars Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer and ran for nine series between 1992 and 2002.
Fawlty Towers
Basil is the much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by problematic guests, humourless hotel inspectors and general riff-raff, but his main obstacle to an easy life is his nagging wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) – who he affectionately names his „nest of vipers‟ – and his useless trainee waiter from Barcelona, Manuel (Andrew Sachs).
Only Fools And Horses
This long running series features Delboy (Davis Jason), Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield) who live together in a high-rise council flat in Peckham, southeast London. Del dreams of making a mint with Trotters Independent Traders by selling dodgy goods, while Rodney keeps an eye out for the law.
Episodes being broadcast are from Season 6.
Family Comedies
On: Monday, 13 April 2009 from 08h50 to 20h00
A marathon of family comedies. The line-up includes episodes of:
After You've Gone
Starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, After You’ve Gone follows Jimmy Venables as he returns to his marital home to care for his two teenagers whilst his ex-wife volunteers to help survivors of a natural disaster.
Unfortunately, Jimmy's upper class mother-in-law, Diana (Celia Imrie) views Jimmy as a walking, talking disaster zone so she virtually moves in to „help‟ with the children - which generally means undermining Jimmy whenever possible.
With a smart-talking daughter, Molly, who thinks she's already a grown woman, and a son, Alex, who occasionally dresses like one, Jimmy soon discovers just how big a challenge life as a single parent is.
The series is created by the creators of My Family.
My Family
Episodes from the sixth season of the show. Ben (Robert Lindsay) gets his house - and his life - back as the kids move away. But then it starts filling up again.
Nick may still be away, but Janey's back and spending more time at the Harpers than in her own flat, Michael's still very much in residence and now Susan (Zoë Wanamaker) seems to have adopted Nick's friend, Alfie, who came for Christmas.
With regular visits from mother-in-law Grace thrown in, it's no surprise that Ben starts taking refuge in dental conferences.
Only Fools And Horses
Further episodes of the series.