Diddy had issued teasers throughout Wednesday, with a post saying: “How many of y’all out there are Downton Abbey fans?”, followed by “I’m going to be making a big announcement in the next hour – im excited for yall to hear!” The rapper then wrote: “I have to admit that Downton Abbey is one of my favorite shows – and thats why Im so excited today @DowntonAbbey”.
 

Having already appeared in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the most recent incarnation of Hawaii Five-0 one would immediately think that the Julian Fellowes creation would be the next logical step in Diddy’s career on the small screen.

Sadly, Diddy will not be starring in Downton Abbey, in spite of apparently claiming he would be taking a recurring role in the hit costume drama. He furthered the idea by teasing that a 12mid sneak peek would be available showing some of his work as he is introduced to a somewhat bewildered Downton staff. The US rapper turned out to have been promoting a skit on Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die website. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, there are some strong language issues that prevent putting the clip here, but it’s well worth a look if you want at the Funny or Die website.

Quick to respond, US co-producer, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), was quick to put an end to the rumor with a very simple: “It’s not true.“

While the thought of Margaret Thatcher and comedy probably wasn’t widely used in the same sentence too often during her 11.5 years as Prime Minister, unless you remember her Spitting Image puppet, the ‘Iron Lady’ did once write a comedy sketch herself for her favorite series.
 

Thatcher wrote the sketch in honor of the show being presented with an award from Mary Whitehouse’s National Viewers’ And Listeners’ Association at an event commemorated on the cover of the satirical magazine Private Eye. Being the PM at the time and writing the sketch, of course she made sure that it co-starred herself…as herself.

Over the years, authorship of the sketch remains unclear. In Britain’s Best Sitcom, Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s chief press secretary, said that he wrote it while other sources give Thatcher sole credit. British broadcaster and longtime political documentary producer, Michael Cockerell, says that he wrote it with Ingham’s help. Another source gives credit to Charles Powell, key foreign policy advisor to PM Thatcher.

Eddington and Hawthorne, who were both starring in separate West End plays at the time, were not overly enthusiastic at the idea and, according to reports, had asked series co-creator/writer Jonathan Lynn to “get them out” of it. Neither Lynn nor Antony Jay were consulted about both the sketch or the invite so, obviously, it was not up to him to take action.

Hawthorne said on more than one occasion that he and Eddington resented Thatcher’s attempts to ‘make capital’ from their popularity. Upon accepting the award, Lynn commented: “I’d like to thank Mrs. Mary Whitehouse for this award“. Lynn, being the quick-thinking brilliant writer he is, added: “I’d also like to thank Mrs. Thatcher for finally taking her rightful place in the field of situation comedy.” After a bit of an gasp from the press, the room erupted in laughter with the exception of one person in attendance…guess which one.

Whatever the case and no matter who wrote it, here is Paul Eddington, Sir Nigel Hawthorne and PM Margaret Thatcher in Yes Prime Minister from 20 January, 1984.

Should you decide to make the journey to ‘Portwenn’, a quick walk around will take you past many of the immediately recognizable filmed locations in Doc Martin as seen on the map below, including the Doc’s surgery, Bert’s Restaurant, the Chemist, The Platt, the Quay, the School, Louisa’s old and new houses and Wenn House.
 

1 Doc Martins Surgery….7 Louisa’s Old House
2 Berts Restaurant…….8 Louisa’s New House
3 Chemist………………9 Wenn House (The Bay Hotel)
4 The Platt……………..10 Funeral Parlour (series 5)
5 Quay………………….11 Garage (series 5)
6 School

Should you decide to make the trip, check out The Bay Hotel, which doubles as Wenn House in the series. If you do, don’t forget to say hi to The Bay Hotel’s resident Great Dane, Gino, Port Isaac’s official RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) mascot. Owned by The Bay Hotel’s proprietor, Gino even has his own RNLI-branded lifejacket equipped with two saddlebags which have been embroidered and donated for him to wear on his daily village patrols.

Lots of questions to be answered in series 6, the main one, obviously, is whether or not the Doc and Louisa finally get married. When asked recently as to what news he might be able to share with Doc Martin fans around the world, series star Martin Clunes said, “…“I’m thrilled to be going back to the beautiful North Cornish coast to shoot series six of Doc Martin. Our challenge this season will be to force Louisa (Caroline Catz) and the doctor to live together with baby James, which as far as I can see has disaster written all over it. And then there’s the dog and Dame Eileen, but not necessarily in that order!”.”
 

Unfortunately, at this point, not too much is known about what’s in store for the residents of Portwenn in series 6 but what we do know is that Dame Eileen Atkins will return as Martin’s Aunt Ruth along with Ian McNeice as local restaurateur Bert, Joe Absolom as Bert’s son Al and John Marquez as local police officer PC Joe Penhale.

The rumor is that this will be the final series of Doc Martin but we refuse to even think the unthinkable at this point in time….

From the brilliant minds of that staff over at the Radio Times…
 

START

Trafalgar Square is the quintessential London location. It was the scene of some bomb-based brinkmanship for Erin and Dimitri in the final series of Spooks, and also featured in Sherlock’s ‘The Blind Banker’. FYI, to start your journey, Trafalgar Square’s nearest Tubes are Charing Cross (Northern, Bakerloo) Embankment (Circle, District) and Leicester Square (Piccadilly, Northern).

Leave the square via Whitehall towards Big Ben. Pass Parliament on your left and walk through Victoria Tower Gardens to the steps up to Lambeth Bridge. From the top of the steps, Thames House — the real MI5’s headquarters — used for some night shots in series eight of Spooks, is on your right, over the other side of the roundabout, and from the bridge you can look upstream to the genuine Secret Intelligence Service HQ, aka MI6, which has also featured a few times. After crossing the Thames, turn left downstream along the Thames Path. Shortly before Westminster Bridge are some benches facing the Houses of Parliament — where Harry met the CIA’s Jim Coaver.

THE SOUTH BANK

The South Bank is a favored haunt for Spooks, especially for its characters’ low-tide rendezvous, but Sherlock locations also abound. The shore in front of the Oxo Tower was where a gallery security guard was found in ‘The Great Game’, and Hungerford Bridge and the skate park under the Queen Elizabeth Hall were both used in ‘The Blind Banker’.

BARTS HOSPITAL

Pass under Blackfriars road and rail bridges and cross the Millennium Bridge — another popular Spooks location — to St Paul’s. Turn left and walk down Ludgate Hill to its junction with the Old Bailey. Walk up past the court to the traffic lights, cross over into Giltspur Street, past some offices and the building on your right is St Bartholomew’s Hospital — the meeting place of Holmes and Watson and where Sherlock met his end (or did he?) in the story ‘The Reichenbach Fall’. Follow the hospital buildings as the road sweeps round to the right and in front of you will be a half- timbered building on top of an arch. Through the arch is the church of St Bartholomew the Great, where Tom killed Herman Joyce in series three of Spooks.

Retrace your steps down Giltspur Street, then turn right onto Holborn Viaduct. Proceed ahead up Holborn and High Holborn to Holborn Tube. You have just walked over a complex of cold-war telecommunications switches hidden in tunnels with room for 8,000 people 100 feet underground.

FREEMASONS’ HALL

Turn left down Kingsway, then second right onto Great Queen St to the Freemasons’ Hall, which, in Spooks, doubles as the exterior of MI5’s HQ, Thames House. Head west down Long Acre, past the Freemasons’ Arms on your right — where Sir Harry, Malcolm and Connie met Davie King — to shake off your tail in the crowds of Covent Garden, or make your way, via Long Acre and St Martin’s Lane, back to Trafalgar Square.

GETTING THERE

Echoing the sentiments of the individual that commented on the original Radio Times piece — ‘No tour is complete without a trip to Speedy’s Sandwich Bar & Cafe, 187 North Gower Street’. Couldn’t agree more. Was there recently and I strongly recommend, besides getting the Sherlock wrap, that you try the Leek and Potato Soup. Unbelievable.

Not to worry. At tellyspotting, we are here to help you with your holiday shopping. Remember Clue? For those that don’t, the murder/mystery board game was created in the late 1940′s in Leeds, England by Anthony E. Pratt. The object of the game was for players to strategically move around the game board (a mansion), in the guise of one of the game’s six characters, collecting clues from which to determine which suspect murdered the game’s perpetual victim, Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North American versions), and with which weapon and in what room. Personally, I can’t begin to add up how many hours we would agonize over trying to figure out the whodunit. Was it Colonel Mustard in the Library with a Lead Pipe? Or was it Miss Scarlett with a Dagger in the Ballroom?

Fittingly, fast forward to the 21st century for the official Sherlock tie-in edition of Cluedo’s whodunit murder mystery board game which will be released in late October in the UK (again, not to worry. Amazon UK delivers to the U.S.!) Who killed Moriarty? Was it Mrs. Hudson, in the Tower of London with the Wrench, or Irene Adler, in 221B, with a Candlestick?

Now that your in a holiday giving and/or receiving mode, how about checking out the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Monopoly game for that ultimate Doctor Who fan in your household (ok, it might be for you, admit it). It features all 11 Doctors, Daleks, companions, villains, monsters and even Captain Jack. There are also special Doctor Who tokens to use.

Just stick with tellyspotting the next few months (and beyond, of course) and see how easy holiday shopping can be.

I guess the idea of the potential of millions of views around the world would severely diminish those same millions from buying the DVD of the Opening Ceremonies since they would have already seen Atkinson lending his musical and comedic talents to a very funny Chariot’s of Fire segment so let’s not let anyone see it. Personally, my thought is not a good decision in the 21st century.

Thankfully, however, there are individuals out there that understand the promotional value of videos that go viral and understand that the upside far outweighs the downside. Probably not news to most Blackadder fans, but to some, it may be surprising that there exists an unaired pilot episode that, while featuring Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder and Tim McInnerny as Lord Percy Percy, does feature a different Baldrick (Philip Fox), a different Harry (Robert Bathurst), a different King (John Savident). Recorded in 1982,

Fortunately, for us all, aside from the brilliant additions of Tony Robinson and Brian Blessed for the actual series, both Atkinson and co-writer, Richard Curtis, were there from the beginning. With all the unsubstantiated rumors of a possible Blackadder V series, seeing this unaired pilot makes me want to savor the comedy greatness that is Blackadder I-IV again and again.

Sherlock star, Benedict Cumberbatch, will now join series co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, along with producer Sue Vertue and director Paul McGuigan on the panel. In addition to discussing how the show went from its simple original, developed on a train to Cardiff, concept to a brand that took the global marketplace by the throat (in a good way) and then, incorporated an extensive online presence which created their mega-following way beyond the over-the-air broadcast both in the UK and the U.S.

In addition, as promised, the writers will also reveal news about the long-awaited third series of Sherlock…which is currently set to tentatively begin filming in early 2013. Ok, you had me when you named the panelists.

The festival runs from Thursday, 23 August through Saturday, 25 August. If you’re not in the television industry or finding yourself not in the vicinity of Edinburgh at this time, the major upside is that shortly after 24 August, we’ll be finding things out about series 3 of Sherlock. Are you ready for some Sherlock?

Doctor Who Magazine recently revealed that Call the Midwife star Jessica Raine (Jenny Lee) will play a character named Emma Grayling in an episode titled “Phantoms of the Hex“ and will be headed by Primeval director Jamie Payne. Other guest stars confirmed for the new 2013 episodes include Dougray Scott (My Week with Marilyn), Ben Browder (Farscape), Rupert Graves (Sherlock), David Bradley (Harry Potter) and Mark Williams (Being Human). Raine and Scott will appear opposite each other in an episode written by Luther creator Neil Cross while the likes of David Warner (The Omen, Time Bandits, Tron, Titanic) and Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones, Outcasts, Strike Back, Merlin) will both appear in an episode written by Sherlock co-creator, Mark Gatiss, in the next series of Doctor Who which will feature new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman.

ER √…Falling Skies √…Doctor Who ?

Add American actor, Noah Wyle, to the long and getting longer list of those interested in a guest role on Doctor Who. The former star of ER and current star of the hit TNT sci-fi series, Falling Skies, admitted to Digital Spy recently that science fiction was never his go-to genre, but added that he enjoys sci-fi “…when it’s done really well“.

Admitting to being a fan of the series as a child, Wyle said “…I enjoyed the various incarnations and it was sort of sporadic, although I’m told that I should really get back into it, because it’s been a radically reinvented franchise. In probably the greatest understatement of the 21st century so far, Wyle said, “…I guess the guy that’s now in charge [Steven Moffat] is quite brilliant, so I’m curious to see what it’s like.” Probably not the smartest comment you can make using your outside voice if you are trying to grab the attention of an acknowledged ‘brilliant showrunner’ when seeking employment.

That said, it may be even harder to grasp that later this summer, 22 August to be exact, will be the 50th anniversary of their first public concert as the group we all know as John, Paul, George and Ringo in 1962.

Another milestone anniversary date in Beatles history coming up this summer will be 6 July with the 55th anniversary of when a 16-year old John Lennon met a soon to be 15-year old Paul McCartney in 1957 at St Peter’s Woolton Parish Church during a Sunday afternoon concert of John’s band, The Quarrymen.

But, for today, it’s all Sir Paul as we wish him the happiest of birthdays as he celebrates his 70th. Sad that you have to sing Happy Birthday to yourself, but I couldn’t think of anyone better to do the honors. Happy 70th, Sir Paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os_HSgERhE8