Robert Bowman

A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Billy Budd be hanged for murder?

C'est en Italie, à la fin des années 1940 et au début des années 1950, que Maria Callas a commencé sa courte et riche carrière d'opéra. De là, sa voix particulière, que certains qualifieraient de « laide » et d'autres de magique, a transporté la soprano à Londres, Paris et New York. Ses mémorables prestations dans « La traviata », « Norma » et « Tosca », mais aussi pour son rapide déclin personnel et professionnel. Au milieu des années 1950, sa voix commence à perdre de sa chaleur, « devenant mince et acidulée », diront certains. À 40 ans, sa carrière de chanteuse est pratiquement terminée. À 53 ans, elle meurt d'une crise cardiaque à Paris, seule et malheureuse. Les 04 novembre 1962 et 09 février 1964, Maria Callas se produit au « Royal Opera House », Covent Garden, à Londres, vers la fin de sa brève mais spectaculaire carrière. Elle a participé à l'improviste à un concert de gala retransmis par la télévision britannique.

A bank employee, Laura Tracey, places herself and her family in mortal danger after reporting irregularities in the firm's overseas accounts to the National Criminal Intelligence Service. She learns that the money belongs to South American drug cartels, and her family are immediately taken into the Witness Protection Program and relocated.

The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as the prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Maria Callas wants to show everyone once again that she deserves the title of “prima donna assoluta.” On the condition that star director Franco Zeffirelli take over the direction, the exceptional singer agrees to sing the role of Tosca. The BBC recorded the 2nd act of the opera for television. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history: in order to free the painter Cavaradossi from the hands of torturers, Tosca ends up murdering the police chief Scarpia. The film footage is one of the rare opportunities to see Maria Callas in an opera performance and to experience her highly emotional performance art and vocal abilities...

Kingdom is a British television series produced by Parallel Film and Television Productions for the ITV network. It was created by Simon Wheeler and stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk solicitor who is coping with family, colleagues, and the strange locals who come to him for legal assistance. The series also starred Hermione Norris, Celia Imrie, Karl Davies, Phyllida Law and Tony Slattery. The first series of six one-hour episodes was aired in 2007 and averaged six million viewers per week. Despite a mid-series ratings dip, the executive chairman of ITV praised the programme and ordered a second series, which was filmed in 2007 and broadcast in January and February 2008. Filming on the third series ran from July to September 2008 for broadcast from 7 June 2009. Stephen Fry announced on his blog in October 2009 that ITV was cancelling the series, which was later confirmed by the channel, which said that given tighter budgets, more expensive productions were being cut.

Au XIVème siècle, sous le règne d’Edouard II, alors que des révoltes font rage au nord du Pays de Galles, un chevalier du nom de Wilkin Brattle, abîmé par les ravages de la guerre, voit sa vie prendre un nouveau tournant, quand un messager divin lui demande de rendre son épée. Ivre de vengeance après un énième drame, il se glisse dans la peau d'un bourreau, guidé dans sa quête de vérité par Annora, une mystérieuse guérisseuse aux motivations obscures. Il doit également faire face à Milus Corbett, un chambellan fourbe et ambitieux, qui n’hésite pas à le manipuler.