Crusoe begins a run on the UK’s Drama channel this Sunday at 6pm. Channel 20 on Freeview, 158 on Sky, 190 if you’re looking for it on Virgin. Poldark offered you just the one shirtless hero. We give you two! Philip Winchester, Tongayi Chirisa, Anna Walton, Sam Neill, Sean Bean, Joaquim de Almeida, Georgina Rylance……

First announced in July over on the Sebastian Becker blog; I know it’s been a while coming but I’ve now signed the US contract for this, the third Becker book. More details soon.

“The first time that he saw her was across the parking lot of a motorway service area. It was about a quarter to midnight, and it had been raining. He could see that she was tired and cold and that she’d probably been on her feet for some time. She didn’t look much more than…

You won’t know the face, I can almost guarantee it, although you’ll probably have seen it a hundred times. More, possibly, as with a change of hat and or facial hair he’d often take several action roles in a single movie. Such is the work of the jobbing stunt performer, submerging his identity for the…

Sad to hear of the death of the great Richard Johnson at the age of 87. Mainly because of The Haunting, but also because… well, Richard Johnson. “He also has many small-screen credits to his name, in such TV series as Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead, Silent Witness and Doc Martin, where his charismatic presence…

If you’re heading for this, I’ll be your keynote speaker tomorrow… don’t say you haven’t been warned. Stories about science: exploring science communication and entertainment mediaA research symposium at the University of Manchester Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June 2015 From the web page: We are now in a golden age for science in entertainment.…

I’ve long held the theory that Judi Dench‘s M is actually Emma Peel in later life, after something awful happened to Steed. It works. Nobody argue.

Okay, it’s a leap, but talking about Pan Books in the Sam Peffer post reminded me of something that’s all but disappeared with the advent of widescreen TVs; the ‘panning and scanning’ of movie prints for TV broadcast. We’ve reached the point where the 4×3 Academy Ratio TV set is only ever seen as a…

I’m saddened to hear of the early death of artist and illustrator Glen Orbik. This is the piece, one of many retro-pulp covers that he painted for Hard Case Crime, that first blew me away.