You are viewing the archive: “The Hour”

BBC Axes ‘The Hour’

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 8:08am PSTTags: BBC, BBC America, The Hour

The Hour won’t be back for a third season after all. The BBC today pulled the plug on the one-hour drama about a 1950s BBC newsmagazine show. “We loved the show but have to make hard choices to bring new shows through,” the BBC said. Staring Skyfall’s Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai and The Wire’s Dominic West, the six-episode drama debuted in 2011 on BBC Two in the UK and was seen on this side of the pond on BBC America. While The Hour started off with strong viewership in the UK, its audience had fallen by almost half by the second season. The show was nominated for an Emmy and three Golden Globes last year, including Best Miniseries or Made For TV Movie.

Comments 44

‘The Hour’ Hits Ratings Low In 2nd Season UK Debut; U.S. Bow Is November 28

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday November 15, 2012 @ 6:55am PSTTags: BBC America, The Hour

Just as the BBC faces its own real-life TV journalism crisis, the second season of 1950s newsroom drama The Hour kicked off on BBC Two last night. Overnight ratings were down sharply from … Read More »

Comments (2)

Global Showbiz Briefs: Rome, Poland, UK

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday August 26, 2011 @ 7:28pm PDTTags: BBC, RTL, The Hour, The Lady, Time Warner

‘The Lady’ Set As Opener At Rome Fest
Luc Besson’s The Lady, the political drama starring Michelle Yeoh and inspired by the recently freed Burmese opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been tapped to open the … Read More »

Comments (0)

ITV Planning Britain’s Next ‘Downton Abbey’

By TIM ADLER in London | Monday May 23, 2011 @ 4:27pm PDTTags: Downton Abbey, Hit And Miss, ITV Studios, Luther, Sherlock, The Hour, Upstairs Downstairs

Andrew Davies, who wrote the script for The Three Musketeers and a slew of BBC period dramas, is adapting Lindy Woodhead’s nonfiction bestseller Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge for ITV Studios. I’m told that ITV hopes the story of how brash American retailer Harry Gordon Selfridge –”The Showman of Shopping” — opened the world’s first purpose-built department store in London in 1909 will repeat the success of Downton Abbey. That NBC Universal production has been a huge hit over here for ITV. Certainly there’s a plum role for the American actor playing Selfridge, who blew his fortune on mistresses and gambling before dying destitute. Selfridge’s girlfriends included famed dancer Isadora Duncan and Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. His massive overspending ultimately cost him control of Selfridges.

The second series of Downton Abbey, meanwhile, started shooting on location at Highclere stately home in Berkshire in March. Filming continues until July. PBS Masterpiece will premiere the second series on Jan. 8, 2012, following its ITV run starting this fall.

But that’s not the only bonnet-on-bonnet action coming your way on Masterpiece.

The second series of the BBC’s Upstairs Downstairs, a sequel to the original 1970s ITV show that chronicled the lives of the Edwardian Bellamy family, goes into production in September. The BBC originally announced its Upstairs Downstairs remake at the same time ITV unveiled Downton Abbey. “Upstairs Downstairs is elegantly entertaining but doesn’t reach the same heights as Downton Abbey,” sniffed the Daily Telegraph. Still, BBC1 controller Danny Cohen was pleased enough with the average 8.4 million viewers to commission another 6×60-minute series. There is no U.S. transmission date for Series 2 yet. Read More »

Comments (12)

BBC America To Co-Produce BBC Period Drama ‘The Hour’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 24, 2011 @ 7:12am PDTTags: BBC America, Ben Whishaw, Dominic West, Shine International, The Hour
Nellie Andreeva

BBC America has come on board to co-produce the new six-part drama series The Hour, announced in November by BBC Two. The series, which will premiere in the summer on BBC America, was  created and written by BAFTA-winning Abi Morgan (White Girl). It is a spy thriller set behind the scenes … Read More »

Comments (6)