BAFTA has announced the winners of tonight’s British Academy Television Craft Awards, hosted by Stephen Mangan at The Brewery, in the City of London. Presenters included Russell Tovey, Dawn O’Porter, Anne Reid, James Martin, Meera Syal and Mary Beard.

London 2012 triumphed on the night with three Awards. The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isle Of Wonder won Director: Multi-Camera sponsored by The Farm LA, London 2012 Olympic Games: Super Saturday picked up the Award in the Sound: Factual category and Channel 4 Paralympics was awarded for Digital Creativity sponsored by Brightcove.

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Benedict Cumberbatch – who of course stars in Sherlock and Parade’s End – is hot TV property right now, but if a report in the Daily Express today is to be believed, he’s about to land a role in the new James Bond film which is sure to make him hot Hollywood property too!

And even better, he’s reportedly set to play a villain in the 24th film in the franchise which of course stars Daniel Craig as the legendary spy, 007.

I hope it’s true because I’d love to see him playing a baddie! Would you? But there, I know that to his devoted Twitter followers, @Cumberbitches, Benedict is already licensed to thrill!

As Benedict himself remarked earlier this year, he’s usually offered roles as the quintessential English gent, so it’ll be interesting to see him in a different role.

A source from the film’s production team told the paper, “Benedict is considered perfect Bond villain material… Read more & comment »

According to The Sun today, Sherlock and Parade’s End star Benedict Cumberbatch would love to voice a role on The Simpsons alongside his buddy Stephen Hawking.

The paper states, “The Sherlock actor has been pals with Hawking since playing him in a 2004 BBC drama. And he wants to work with him on the American series.”

The gorgeous Benedict told TV Biz, “I think if the Simpsons had anything to do with it, then Sherlock and Stephen Hawking would get on really well.

“Sherlock would probably talk a lot and Stephen would probably cut him down with one brilliant word.”

But on the subject of Sherlock, Benedict refused to reveal any spoilers, saying only, “We start filming the next series of Sherlock in January. I can’t say any more.” Read more & comment »

I think one of the reasons that shows that you’ve really enjoyed a TV drama is when you’re surprised that the final episode is already here and personally I have enjoyed Parade’s End so much that this conclusion came far too soon for me. Last week we saw Christopher sent to be Second in Command of the 6th Battalion after getting into a fight with Potty over Sylvia, which resulted in them both being reprimanded and in the rather comic opening scene we see the pair being transported off to their respective battalions alongside McKechnie who believes the role that Christopher has been assigned is rightly his.

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Doctor Who star Matt Smith and Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch – who is also currently starring in hit drama Parade’s End – have both made entertainment news today…

Beginning with Matt, he’s revealed to TV Biz that he “can’t be bothered” with the internet, and therefore rarely uses it, and he says that he’s so lazy at home, he often doesn’t even open his post!

His remarks during filming for Alan Carr: Chatty Man when asked if he was as much a lover of technology and gadgets at the Doctor, to which he replied, “I try to avoid it. I can’t [even] be bothered to buy train tickets on the internet — I just turn up.

“I am not that organised. I don’t open my post either. I don’t want anything to do with the outside world.

“My dad says I should get myself sorted.” Read more & comment »

In my review of last week’s Parade’s End I criticised screenwriter Tom Stoppard for not adding more substance into his script for what I considered to be a slightly dull episode when compared to the two that had come before. Looking at the comments that were left under the review some of you enjoyed his adaptation others felt it should be tighter but this week I feel that he’s got the balance back and juggles all the elements of the story well giving equal time to the stories of the First World War and of the continuing love triangle which got slightly complicated here as Sylvia arrived in Rouen to meet up with her husband.

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As Parade’s End is based on a quartet of novels by Ford Maddox Ford, whose life is being celebrated on BBC2 throughout the run of this drama, it’s interesting to see how much plot there is to get through. I personally have not read the books but so far have felt that Tom Stoppard’s adaptation has been fine in pacing the action in each episode so that there’s enough story to interest us but we are also left with some time to get to know the characters. I found that this third episode really slowed down the pace that Stoppard had built up by focusing a lot more on the rumours surrounding Christopher Tietjens’ personal life which may have an impact on both his reputation and his inheritance.

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In my review of the first episode of Parade’s End I made reference to the fact that there were a few comparisons to be made between it and Downton Abbey, a fact I’m not going to harp on about this week only to say that like the ITV1 show this BBC2 costume drama also sees the narrative skip forward in time quite drastically.

The final scene last week between Benedict Cumberbatch’s Christopher and Adelaide Clemens’ Valentine saw the couple almost kiss, however at the start of this week almost a year has passed since this moment, and Christopher has now reunited with his wife Sylvia following the death of his mother. Of course it’s not long before Sylvia goes back to her old ways complaining that there are no ashtrays in her new house and that she is now in hell, constantly bored once again, however she now seems determined to win back the love of her husband who has taken her back into his home but not into his bed.

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WARNING THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM TONIGHT’S EPISODE OF PARADE’S END. DO NOT READ ON AND CHECK BACK WITH US LATER IF YOU’D RATHER BE SURPRISED THIS EVENING….

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch recently courted controversy after slamming ITV1′s popular period drama Downton Abbey calling it atrocious, sentimental and clichéd. This outburst was due to the fact that his new drama, Parade’s End, is also set in the early 1910s and focuses on a parade of upper class characters – though in this BBC drama there is little focus on what is going on downstairs. It seems as though the Americans want to be involved in producing their own Downton, so Parade’s End has been co-produced by the BBC and HBO, who seemed to have insisted that this drama look as classy as possible. The other difference to Downton is that Parade’s End is based on a literary source, Ford Maddox Ford’s quartet of novels, and is also adapted by legendary playwright Tom Stoppard so you know that the dialogue will be fairly classy.

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Sherlock and Parade’s End star Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that he’s worried about some of his “obsessive fans” and in particular, his group of Twitter followers, @Cumberbitches!

Speaking to the PA, Benedict said of the group, “There is some obsessive behaviour, which is quite worrying.

“I worry for them, not for me.”

He added, “I’m still very sensitive and wary of people recognising me.

“The only thing that really annoys me is people trying to surreptitiously take a photo on their phone without asking.

“I feel it’s cowardly and a bit pathetic.

“Just ask me if you really want me to have a photograph with you…” Read more & comment »

Another week of TV highlights, including at least one that will be with us for the rest of the year, and plenty of new and returning dramas to wet your whistle. More below.

Red or Black?/The X-Factor/The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV1, Sat, from 7:15pm)
It does feel like the year is moving incredibly fast as we’re already looking at shows that will be with us till Christmas. First up is the surprising return of Red or Black? The programme that suffered from both critical backlash and low viewing figures while it courted controversy throughout its run yet it has been bought back. We’re told that the format has been altered slightly in order to increase interest however there are still two instalments either side of the reality juggernaut that is The X-Factor… Read more & comment »

As we reported recently, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has been talking to the Reader’s Digest about his TV roles, including that of Christopher Tietjens in forthcoming BBC2 drama Parade’s End.

However, The Sun’s TV Biz recently reported that he had had a somewhat gentle dig at Downton Abbey – you can read what he had to say here – but during the RD interview, he apparently got downright cad-like and used… wait for it… a swear word!

I know!

While comparing Parade’s End, which is of course a wartime drama, with Downton Abbey, Benedict said, “We’re remembering that there was a world before the First World War… Read more & comment »

Actor and thinking woman’s pin-up Benedict Cumberbatch cuts a lean figure as classic detective Sherlock in the BBC drama of the same name, however, as Christopher Tietjens in forthcoming wartime drama Parade’s End, Benedict had to beef up somewhat…

However, during an interview with Reader’s Digest for their September edition – which goes on sale next week – Benedict revealed that he’d enjoyed being somewhat more portly than normal while filming for the BBC2 drama.

He explained, “I have got prosthetics in my mouth to ‘cheek me out’ too.

“But it’s been nice to thrust food in my mouth. It makes a sharp change from the Sherlock days of one bean sprout.”

Just apropos of his Reader’s Digest interview, I suspect there may be some mention in there about the speculation that Benedict may be lined up to play a villain in Doctor Who’s forthcoming 50th anniversary episodes… Read more & comment »

Holy Testicle Tuesday Sherlock fans! There’s worrying news for you guys today in that Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that he might quit the UK and go and live in the States!

Noooooooooooooo!

The reason he’s considering making the move across the pond is because he’s apparently fed up of being labeled as “posh”.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Benedict – who of course plays the title role in BBC drama Sherlock, and Christopher Tietjens in forthcoming BBC2 drama, Parade’s End – said, “I wasn’t born into land or titles, or new money, or an oil rig.”

He added that he had been “castigated as a moaning, rich, public-school b*****d, complaining about only getting posh roles… Read more & comment »

It’s not often that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch gets off his gentlemanly fence to truly slate something…

He even had nice things to say about the US remake of Sherlock – which is entitled, Elementary – while all about him, Conan Doyle purists and fans of his own portrayal of the great detective had a lot of negative comments about it.

However, in an interview with The Sun’s TV Biz, Benedict has hopped off the fence momentarily to have a little dig at ITV’s hit period drama, Downton Abbey.

And though the word ‘slate’ might be something of an overstatement – consider it journalistic license – he has claimed that the Julian Fellowes’ drama isn’t as “sophisticated” as Parade’s End, in which Benedict plays the role of accidental hero, Christopher Tietjens… Read more & comment »