1. Robert Carlyle is set to star in the latest Stargate series - Stargate Universe.
2. The return of Melrose Place could mean the end of One Tree Hill.
3. Rumours of a Gossip Girl spin-off series have been denied.
4. Jack Black is set to guest star in The Office.
5. The fifth season of Lost will run without interruption.
6. How to play the Fringe theme tune on the piano!
We’ve got a short interview with 24: Redemption star Robert Carlyle in the next issue of TV & Satellite Week, but there wasn’t nearly enough room in one page for everything he told us, so we’re putting the full transcript here for your enjoyment. Robert gives us a few hints about 24: Redemption, tells us about his old pal Kiefer, and also updates us on the other projects he’s got in the pipeline. Top geezer.
What’s the story of Redemption?
Redemption is a two-hour stand-alone piece that bridges the gap between Season 6 and Season 7 of 24. It tells you where Jack has been - he is an exile and he’s been wandering the world, through Afghanistan and several countries in the Middle-East. He ends up in the fictional country of Sangala to bed down with his old friend, Carl Benton.
Carl trained with Jack in the Special Services and turned his back on that world a long, long time ago. He explains why he turned his back on it all and you begin to think that Jack might find the same peace in his life and that his life might follow the same route. Carl is teaching in a school, trying to stop young kids being rounded up into tin-pot dictator armies so they can be used as cannon fodder.
Jack joins Carl in this mission but, in typical 24 style, the peace is pretty quickly disturbed. It all happens in real time over two hours and Jack’s faced with a massive dilemma at the end, deciding whether to go back to that 24 world or not. It’s not giving too much away to say he goes back, but how he gets back is very interesting. It’s a terrific dilemma.
So Carl Benton’s Jack’s buddy rather than his mentor?
They were considering making Carl his mentor in the original script and maybe using an older actor. It goes back to my relationship with Kiefer. We made a movie about eight years ago, got on really well and have always kept in touch. In fact, he was actually reading the very first 24 script when we did that film together. Through the years he’s been trying to get me to do 24. Last year I was going to join the show but I already had a couple of other things going on. This part was perfect though because Jack and Carl haven’t seen each other for about 10 years either. That was great as an actor to play on our own relationship.
Continue reading ‘Robert Carlyle gives us the lowdown on his role in 24: Redemption’
“I bless the rains down in Africa…” That’s all well and good, Toto, but you wouldn’t be singing that if you’d seen 24: Redemption…
Yes, we’ve managed to get our greedy mitts on a preview copy (one of the perks of working somewhere like TV Spy!) and it’s every bit as over-the-top as any 24 fan could wish for.
We’re sworn to secrecy about what happens, of course, not least because we don’t want to spoil it for you (my calculator reckons it’s now just 13 more sleeps ’till it’s on Sky1), so what can we tell you?
Continue reading ‘Talk about Jack-tastic! We’ve just seen 24: Redemption!’
It’s not going to be on TV for another four months, but there’s no hiding our excitement at the prospect of seeing Kiefer Sutherland back in action as Jack Bauer in 24.
As previously reported, 24 will be back this November with a two-hour movie, leading into a full series in January 2009. A leaked trailer was posted on YouTube last week (we’ve embedded it again at the end of this post in case you missed it) and more information is slowly but surely trickling our way.
Here’s what we know so far…
24: Exile will air in America on Sunday 23 November and is due to be shown here in the UK on Sky One in the same week. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything more.
This has been coming and going off YouTube for the past 24 hours, so watch it while you can. It’s the trailer for the forthcoming 24 series seven prequel - 24: Exile - and it looks like a real return to form. Look out for the US’s first female president, Robert Carlyle popping up, and the return of old favourites Powers Boothe and Peter MacNicol. Can Jack Bauer save the world yet again?
1) Heroes head honcho Tim Kring says there are going to be loads of bad guys in the next series.
2) Nicole Richie has landed a guest role on Chuck.
3) Deadwood’s Timothy Olyphant will join William Hurt in the second series of Damages.
4) Robert Carlyle has been saying that the next series of 24 will be only 22 hours-long. Fox, which makes the show, however, insists it will be the normal 24 episodes.
5) Battlestar’s Tricia Helfer is to star in a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde story called Inseparable.
6) Former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Luke Perry will play a baddie in Criminal Minds.
