(Note that there is a longer version of the interview which also discusses the Doctor Who 50th anniversary.)

We don’t yet know when Sherlock Series 3 will air, but you can be sure we’re filled with Cumberbatchian anticipation!

The title of the second episode for the third series of Sherlock has been revealed.

Following The Empty Hearse by Mark Gatiss, viewers will be treated to The Sign of Three by Steve Thompson.

Thompson recently penned the Sherlock series two final The Reichenbach Fall and was also responsible for the series one episode The Blind Banker.

Series co-creator and Doctor Who head honcho Steven Moffat will be taking the pen for the final and as yet untitled third installment of series three.

Sherlock will return either towards the end of 2013 or sometime in 2014.

(Via Cult Fix)

Yes, the US science fiction TV network (whose output has been steadily moving into non-science fiction territory of late) is entering into co-production with Fremantle Media for the new version of Blake’s 7.

Last year we reported how the show format was being sold to American broadcasters, and with the news that Heroes and CSI writer Joe Pokaski is developing scripts and James Bond director Martin Campbell is also heading for the canvas chair, it seems that the team behind the project have finally got their way.

In a turn of events that isn’t dissimilar to the return of Doctor Who, Big Finish have been producing original cast audios of Blake’s 7 for a while now, foreshadowing a return to TV of this amazing, inspiring and in many ways revolutionary TV series, conceived by Terry Nation with notable contributions from Chris Boucher.

How the modern version will work we don’t yet know, although we’ll be fascinated to see whether Blake is wrongly accused of being a paedophile in order discredit him and if Avon will be banned from digital equipment under a futuristic computer misuse law.

The possibilities for this reboot are endlessly tantalising – let’s just hope it is more BSG and less Doctor Who: The Movie…

One of the most influential pieces of 80’s cinema (directed by Ridley Scott from a script based on Philip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?”), Blade Runner is the futuristic tale of a Policeman assigned to track down and terminate four rogue androids who have returned to Earth seeking their maker.

This stripped back, live fringe adaptation, a Lass Premiere, considers profound questions of what it actually means to be alive – and who defines what constitutes life.

Directed by Ian Curley and Produced by Gareth Kavanagh and Ian Winterton, the cast is Cátia Perry, Natalie-Marie Perry, Carly Tarett, Brian Gorman, Joe O’Byrne, Gabriel Paul, Amir Rahimzadeh and Daniel Thackery.

Kicking off today, Saturday 6th April @ 3:00 pm & 7:30pm, subsequent performances follow on the 7th, 9th, 10th April @ 7:30pm. Tickets for all dates are £8.00 and you can book online @ http://www.wegottickets.com/location/1313

The Lass O’Gowrie can be found at 36 Charles Street, Manchester M1 7DB

Rumours at the time indicated shooting had already commenced, but the lack of any footage from this suggests otherwise. Still, no need to be disappointed as we finally have our successor to Roger Moore and Ian Ogilvy!

Say hello to Adam Rayner:

Clearly meant as a canonical continuation of The Saint/Return of the Saint (in which Ogilvy was surely meant to be the same character as Moore, a few years on), the presence of the two previous faces of Simon Templar is particularly fan-pleasing.

What do you think? Is this the right time for Simon Templar’s return?

You can see Coogan is totally on his game with this performance (in which Partridge is promoting is autobiography, I, Partridge) and there are some real gems in there.

Also on the show were Gary Barlow, Ewan MacGregor, Ceelo Green and Tulisa Contostavlos.

If Martin Freeman is no stranger to cult related roles, playing everything from Arthur Dent in the big Screen version of Hitchhiker’s to Sherlock Holmes number one guy to Bilbo Baggins, then to be sure his partner is no slouch herself.

Amanda Abbington appeared in the popular 2012 episode if Being Human entitled Puppy Love and has also had roles in Psychoville and Doc Martin.

However, now she will be able to keep a close eye on Freeman as she joins the cast of the hit BBC series Sherlock, as Abbimgton has been spotted at location  filming scenes with series star Benedict Cumbetbatch for the story The Empty Hearse:

Sherlock will return to our screens in either late 2013 or early 2014.

(Via Digital Spy)

Series that kill off characters are far from unusual. Series that kill of characters only to bring them back later are less common but still not unknown.

Examples range from the infamous Dallas shower scene to the mysterious return from the death of Kara Thrace in the Battlestar Galactica reboot. It is not even unknown in British TV for a series to carry on after the death of the title character – Scottish detective show Taggart, for example, continued to run until 2009 despite the actor who played the eponymous character dying thus necessitating the death of the character.

There is something daunting about a series that has a long history that makes it hard for a newcomer to jump in and enjoy all the series has to offer. This is especially true in the speculative fiction areas such as fantasy, science fiction and horror, where long ongoing tales that span generations are the norm and continuity is key to the rabid fan base that follows them.

Another great example of this are comic books, where stories run for many months and can even cross over into multiple comic titles made by the same publisher.

2000AD is one such comic book with such a history, and one that definitely needs a proper ‘primer’ before you settle in. As of this writing the title spans 1,834 weekly issues and going strong.

Fortunately, blog The Fiction Stroker has got you covered, giving you the knowledge you need to know to jump into this legendary weekly’s varied goodness:

“2000AD is one of the UK’s leading weekly comics. It has been publishing for 36 Zarjaz* years now. The anthology approach and cast of colourful characters have been crucial to its longevity. Snarky Judge Dredd, effectively the comic’s lead character, has gone down in legend and was recently brought to life by Star Trek‘s Karl Urban in a critically acclaimed film.

2000AD doesn’t take itself too seriously. For example, its own brand of slang has become legendary throughout the comic world. Instead of issues, 2000AD does Progs and the all-mighty alien Tharg sits in the editor’s chair.

Jumping into an on-going comic at Prog 1824 might be daunting, but 2000AD regularly cleans the decks and has jumping on points for new or lapsed readers. Prog 1824 is one such point with four tantalising opening instalments.”

You can read more about 2000AD at The Fiction Stroker.

‘A monkey falls out of the tree and invents the digital watch’

‘I’d turn water into wine but it’s been copyrighted’

‘I’m not omnipresent but I can multitask’

They say the Devil has all the best tunes and that is a maybe, he certainly looks good in a post war demob suit which gives him that music hall look, but in this episode he definitely gets the best lines as the small selection of zingers above proves. And as the intro scenes unfold, we see the musical theme continued with Hal strutting his evil self in a bar full of newly awakened Vampires and singing along to ‘Putting on the Ritz‘.

In all five series, we have known that bloodsuckers who fall off the wagon tend to go to excess. Mitchell’s Box Tunnel Twenty incident being one such. However, never before has it been seen that they devolve to such a depraved extent as to resort to singing show-tunes while they murder.

These early scenes are both dark and comedic, hitting the perfect level between the two which demonstrates Being Human at its best. If there is one complaint I would have about this part of the episode it is that the various cliff-hangers set up at the end of the last episode – Alex trapped in her own coffin, Hal about to set himself up as a new vampire lord and Tom kitting himself up to stop Hal from doing just that – are resolved a little too quickly here.

It seems a remarkably short space of time after the dark climax of the previous episode to the three heroes being together again and fighting on the same side, albeit in a rather uneasy alliance. It is something of an anticlimax following the promise of the last episode, with Hal and Tom clearly gearing up for an epic battle that is then almost brushed under the carpet.

Still, that does mean that they can get on with the real meat of the episode which is working out what they can do to stop Captain Hatch, now fully revealed and active as the Devil himself, from bringing about the apocalypse. It seems that the only possible way is to perform the ritual that Hal last attempted a century ago. The only problem with this is that it destroys all three participants.

This is a rather fittingly titled episode for not only is this the final episode of this series but it is also the final episode of Being Human ever and there is a rather cunning reference to a ‘final broadcast’ in the episode itself. The Devil wants to spread his evil influence, his ability to persuade anyone to commit suicide, and how better to do that than via the medium of television.

We are therefore treated to a ‘final broadcast’ which is, to my mind at least, somewhat reminiscent of V’s televised speech from Alan Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, and ends in a rather sarcastic ‘well done’ when describing the ills that beset mankind. Our heroes arrive at the end of this and battle commences.

Overall this is a very strong episode. The mix of comedy and drama is about right with glorious comments such as one drawing attention to the fact that the whole apocalypse was in fact caused by an employee of the month contest juxtaposed with some very tense drama as the three struggle with their own senses of self preservation and face up to their deepest desires.

The strongest aspect of the episode has to be the transformation of Captain Hatch from a wizened, broken old man bitterly whispering his suicidal thoughts into a strong, wise cracking, suave tempter that is more familiar as the devil from popular myth and more of a serious threat to the world.

When the ending comes it could be described by some as a cop out but in hindsight is possibly the only way you could ever get a permanent end to the series. I have mixed feelings about this and a wish that there was a way we could see more of this world. However, one can hope that the end of Being Human gives Toby Whithouse more time to write for Doctor Who and I guess there is nothing to stop fan fiction from populating the universe even more.