Â鶹ԼÅÄ

Â鶹ԼÅÄ One Autumn 2007

Drama

Cranford

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Dame Judi Dench, Francesca Annis, Dame Eileen Atkins, Sir Michael Gambon, Philip Glenister, Lesley Manville, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton and Greg Wise star in Cranford, a new landmark period drama created by Sue Birtwistle and Susie Conklin, and written by Heidi Thomas.

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Based on three Elizabeth Gaskell novels, this witty and tender story follows the small absurdities and major tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford during one extraordinary year.

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Cranford in the 1840s is a small Cheshire market town on the cusp of change. The railway is pushing relentlessly towards the town from Manchester, bringing fears of migrant workers and the breakdown of law and order.

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The arrival of a handsome new doctor, Frank Harrison (Simon Woods), from London causes a stir – not only because of his revolutionary medical methods, but also because of the effect he has on many female hearts in the town.

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Judi Dench plays Miss Matty Jenkyns, whose hopes and rebellious spirit were crushed when, as a young woman, she was forced to give up Mr Holbrook (Michael Gambon), the man she loved.

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The cast includes Claudie Blakley, John Bowe, Andrew Buchan, Jim Carter, Lisa Dillon, Emma Fielding, Deborah Findlay, Barbara Flynn, Selina Griffiths, Alex Jennings, Dean Lennox Kelly, Joe McFadden, Alistair Petrie, Julia Sawalha, Finty Williams, Alex Etel and newcomer Kimberley Nixon.

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Please note: This programme was originally billed in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ One Autumn 2007 press pack as Cranford Chronicles.

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AF

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Miss Austen Regrets

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Based on her life and letters, Miss Austen Regrets tells the story of Jane Austen's final years.

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When asked by her young niece, Fanny, to help vet potential husbands, Jane finds herself re-examining her own romantic life.

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As she approaches 40 years of age, Jane appears happily unmarried and, to her niece, she seems an expert on love. Protected by her wit, Jane presents a front as dazzling as many of her novels' young heroines, but events conspire to potentially expose Jane's principled theories on love and marriage as ill-judged.

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A chance re-acquaintance with a former suitor sees Jane lose her composure, and, when she meets her brother's dashing young physician, her passions are ignited.

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Then, when her family faces financial ruin, it becomes apparent that all could have been very different had Jane accepted a marriage proposal from a wealthy landowner...

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RB

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Oliver Twist

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The inimitable Timothy Spall stars as Fagin, with Tom Hardy as Bill Sikes, in the gripping tale of Oliver Twist, adapted by Sarah Phelps, one of Britain's most dynamic stage and television writers (EastEnders).

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Oliver's life starts inauspiciously. The son of an unmarried mother who dies shortly after his birth, Oliver's closest family are the workhouse board and their plans for his future don't stretch far beyond starving him to death with pitiful rations of gruel. However, after a courageous rebellion when he asks for more, Oliver is cast out and forced to make his own way in the world.

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On arriving in London, he meets the Artful Dodger and is drawn into the dark and murky underworld of Fagin and his gang. Thrilling adventures involving the brutal Sikes, beautiful Nancy and mysterious Mr Monks bring Oliver perilously close to death, but hope appears in the form of a benefactor with links to Oliver's past...

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AF

The StreetÌý

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The Street

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Jimmy McGovern's Bafta and RTS award-winning series The Street returns for a second series.

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Timothy Spall reprises his role as taxi driver Eddie, leading a new cast which boasts many of Britain's finest television, film and theatre actors, as well as talented newcomers.

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David Thewlis (Naked) plays identical twins, Joe and Harry, with Bronagh Gallagher (Holy Cross) as Joe's wife and June Watson (Strictly Confidential) as the twins' mother.

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Mark Benton (City Lights) is Wayne, beleaguered postman and loving dad, with newcomer Michael Taylor (Mischief Nights) as his friend, Damien. Dean Andrews (Life On Mars) and Claire Hackett (William And Mary) also feature in this episode.

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Gina McKee (Tsunami: The Aftermath) and Lorraine Ashbourne (True Dare Kiss) star as sisters whose love for their sons blinds them to the truth.

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Vincent Regan (Troy) and Julia Ford (All About George) play a husband and wife whose marriage is rocked by Tom (Will Mellor, Sorted).

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Toby Kebbell, who earned rave reviews at Cannes Film Festival for his role in Anton Corbijn's film Control, plays the leading role of Paul in the final story of the series – a compelling tale celebrating the redemptive power of love.

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CD

Silent WitnessÌý

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Silent Witness

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The award-winning Silent Witness returns with more diverse and challenging mysteries for Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox), Dr Harry Cunningham (Tom Ward) and Professor Leo Dalton (William Gaminara) to unravel.

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To a forensic pathologist, every body tells a story – who they were, how they lived and, most importantly, how they died. From blood spatter patterns to stomach contents, maggots to facial reconstruction, anything on a body or at a crime scene could be the key to unlocking the story that lies behind it.

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With a guest cast that includes Julian Glover, Natasha Little and Hugo Speer, this riveting series gets off to an explosive start as an RAF helicopter crashes, impacting on the MoD which is already struggling with the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Elsewhere, Leo searches for the identity of a child whose dismembered torso suggests he was the victim of a ritual sacrifice, and Nikki is forced to revisit an emotive and controversial past case when a notorious female murderer is, herself, murdered.

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ACA

Coming Down The MountainÌý

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Coming Down The Mountain

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Coming Down The Mountain is award-winning novelist Mark Haddon's (The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time) first TV drama, and bears his distinctive and powerful simplicity of style. This original, funny and thought-provoking film looks at the unusual relationship between two brothers.

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Teenager David (Nicholas Hoult, Skins, About A Boy) has fallen in love for the first time and life couldn't be better. The only fly in the ointment is his 17-year-old brother, Ben, who has Down's syndrome.

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The family's world revolves around Ben's needs, while David's are unwittingly neglected by their parents.

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And, when they decide to move the family from London to "the back of beyond" for the sake of Ben's education, David loses his love, friends and school.

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His antipathy towards Ben grows and grows to the point where he decides to push him off a mountain and get rid of him once and for all...

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Ben is played by Tommy Jessop, and Neil Dudgeon and Julia Ford play Ben and David's parents.

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DG

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Joe's Palace

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Sir Michael Gambon leads a commanding cast in award-winning auteur Stephen Poliakoff's exhilarating new film.

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In Joe's Palace, Poliakoff explores the relationship between two central characters: Elliot (Michael Gambon) and Joe (Danny Lee Wynter), through whose eyes the story is told.

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Elliot, a reclusive billionaire, has inherited a beautiful, dormant mansion and its mysteries from his late father. Joe is the teenage son of a cleaner, who takes care of the grand house.

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Rupert Penry-Jones, Kelly Reilly and Rebecca Hall also star in this contemporary film about loneliness and loss, in which an emotionally devastating climax finally reveals the sins of the father.

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Stephen Poliakoff has also written and directed Capturing Mary, which stars Dame Maggie Smith and can be seen on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Two.

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CD

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Waterloo Road

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Following the death of drama teacher Izzie Redpath (Jill Halfpenny), Waterloo Road is under the media spotlight as it opens its doors for a new term. Head teacher Jack Rimmer (Jason Merrells) is on a mission to embrace "inclusion" at the school. However, some pupils seem to be more "included" than others, much to the annoyance of new deputy head Eddie Lawson (Neil Morrissey).

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As well as a host of new pupils, there are also some fresh faces in the staff room. New drama teacher Matt Wilding (Chris Geere) plans to grab the headlines with the school's first musical, and work-shy Grantly (Philip Martin Brown) is delighted to have rookie Jasmine Koreshi (Shabana Bakhsh) to foist his dirty work upon.

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Meanwhile, Tom (Jason Done) has his hands full playing single dad to two teenage girls and when caring-but-inept Steph Haydock (Denise Welch) is promoted to head of pastoral care, it can only spell trouble...

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SM2

SpooksÌý

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Spooks

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Critically acclaimed spy drama Spooks is back and MI5's Section D grapples with more explosive and original storylines than ever before.

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Growing mistrust between the British, American and Iranian governments culminates in a series of high-risk operations at home, pushing the Section to its very limits.

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As Iran's race to become a nuclear power impacts on British and American security, the distinction between friend and foe becomes ever-more blurred.

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Harry and his team start to question exactly whose agenda they're working to and who they can trust – both on and off the Grid.

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Meanwhile, the electric atmosphere between Adam and Ros comes to a head, but things are complicated further by Adam's ongoing and dangerous affair with a key asset inside the Iranian Embassy.

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Harry gains a new friend on the Grid when he recruits old MI5 colleague Connie (Gemma Jones) as desk officer. Clever, and with plenty of old-school tricks up her sleeve, she might just be able to fill the void left by Ruth's departure.

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Rupert Penry-Jones, Hermione Norris and Peter Firth return to head up Section D as officers Adam, Ros and Harry. Raza Jaffrey, Miranda Raison and Hugh Simon also return as Zaf, Jo and Malcolm. Guest stars include Matthew Marsh and Robert Glenister.

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PPR

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Fairy Tales

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Four classic fairy tales, made popular by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault, are re-invigorated by contemporary writers...

Billy GoatÌý

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Billy Goat

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Jeremy Dyson (co-creator of Funland and The League Of Gentlemen) adapts The Three Billy Goats Gruff, telling the story of a boy band who are successful locally, but crave pastures new. However, there's one major stumbling block – their manager is a troll who's got them locked into a watertight contract.

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Billy Goat stars Bernard Hill, Paul Nicholls, Mathew Horne and Sarah Smart.

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GJ

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Cinderella

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In Cinderella, Richard Pinto and Anil Gupta (Goodness Gracious Me) ask who was really responsible for the evolution of the human race. Set inside a bustling university, this delightful tale features the charismatic Professor Prince, who believes that men are the reason we are all here, and the cleaner, Cindy, who is determined to prove him wrong.

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James Nesbitt and Maxine Peake star as Professor Prince and Cindy, with Mona Hammond as Alice.

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SH

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The Empress's New Clothes

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Debbie Horsfield (Making Out, creator of Cutting It) adapts The Emperor's New Clothes. Just as the fairy-tale Emperor defines himself through his fine clothes, Debbie's heroine, a fading soap star, is an uncompromising slave to fashion. Before her on-screen character is killed off, she wears a truly scary dress to an awards ceremony to boost her profile...

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SH

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Rapunzel

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Ed Roe's (Smack The Pony, Teachers, No Angels) version of Rapunzel is set in the world of tennis. It tells the story of a failing male tennis player who dresses as a woman to try to win a Grand Slam final. When he falls in love with the beautiful reigning champion, however, his plans go awry.

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MO

Robin HoodÌý

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Robin Hood

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Jonas Armstrong is back as Britain's best-loved outlaw, as Dominic Minghella's Robin Hood returns for a bigger, bolder second series.

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In their ongoing battle to rid Nottingham of poverty, the gang encounters a labyrinthine strongroom full of deadly traps, faces a medieval version of Robocop and even prevents a 12th-century attempt at ethnic cleansing.

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Meanwhile, the Sheriff (captivatingly played by Keith Allen) is in the final stages of a devastating plot to kill King Richard the minute he returns from the Holy Land. As he rallies mercenaries and stockpiles weapons, the Sheriff still has his eye on Robin Hood, whom he also wants dead – once and for all.

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Even worse for Robin, there's a spy in the camp: a traitor collaborating with Gisborne, who's set on thwarting Robin's missions from within.

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The returning cast includes Lucy Griffiths as the bold and beautiful Marian, Richard Armitage as the Sheriff's sadistic but redeemable lieutenant, Sir Guy of Gisborne, and – in their all-new base camp in the forest – Sam Troughton as Much, Gordon Kennedy as Little John, Joe Armstong as Allan A Dale and Harry Lloyd as Will Scarlett.

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MO

Murphy's LawÌý

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Murphy's Law

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James Nesbitt makes a gripping return as undercover cop Tommy Murphy in Murphy's Law.

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When two trusted undercover officers – posing as a couple on a caravan site – go missing, Murphy is forced back into the field to discover what has happened to them.

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By infiltrating a sadistic gang of sex traders, he enters a dangerous world of human trafficking and drug dealing.

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Did the undercover officers draw too close in this menacing world? And, as Murphy manoeuvres himself into the very heart of the organisation, can he find them before going too far himself?

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IJ

DRAMA