大象传媒
TWO challenges preconceptions and prejudice this Autumn
Full
press pack available
Telling
the stories that no-one else is telling, in a way that no-one else
is doing - 大象传媒 TWO strides into the autumn with a 拢106 million
slate of programming to set the nation thinking.
A linked
season of dramas and documentaries called What's Your Problem?
challenges prejudice head-on by tackling the difficult subject
of disability in a new and immensely powerful way.
 Leading
the season is the drama Flesh and Blood, in which adopted
Joe Broughton (Christopher Eccleston) decides to trace his biological
parents after the birth of his own daughter.
When
he discovers that his real parents are learning disabled, Joe's
world is blown apart. For him, it's the beginning of a journey which
challenges not only his preconceptions about disability, but his
own sense of identity.
The
roles of Joe's parents are played by Dorothy Cockin and Peter Kirby,
who were cast after an extensive search among people with learning
disabilities in the north west of England.
Continuing
the channel's first disability season is a series of film shorts
whose stars include Ralf Little, Frances de la Tour and Tim Healy,
together with individual documentaries on deafness, blindness and
surviving thalidomide.
Jane Root, Controller of 大象传媒 TWO, says: "大象传媒 TWO has never
shied away from the difficult or the risky and that is what has
produced extraordinary programmes.
"For
the first time we are using drama - as well as documentaries - to
tackle this often undiscussed subject and the result is some really
powerful voices, which I think will help us to confront our own
fears and prejudices.
"What聮s
Your Problem? avoids the predictable approach of presenting disabled
people as either heroes or villains and instead tries to reflect
what it really means to people to be disabled now, in the 21st century."
 Great
Britons leads a season that demonstrates real quality in every
genre. An
unprecedented quest has already begun to find the greatest Briton
of all time.
It's
been narrowed down to 100 by the public (see separate
release), and soon viewers will get the chance to vote on the
final 10, whose cases will be passionately championed by 10 leading
figures.
Hosted
by Anne Robinson, it's set to create nationwide debate and culminates
in a live results programme where the public's choice of their greatest
Briton ever will be finally revealed.
大象传媒
TWO continues to invigorate its current affairs programming, with
compelling subjects and gripping narrative.
True
Spies, presented by distinguished investigative reporter Peter
Taylor, is a startling series on the innermost workings of the secret
service.
Made
by the team behind SAS: The Iranian Embassy Siege, it features Special
Branch officers, MI5 agents and hears from the people they watched
but who never knew the full extent of the scrutiny they were under.
 Another
factual highlight in the season is The Entertainers (working
title) which takes a look at some of the hardest working people
in show business, "surburban celebrities" like Leo Sayer,
Bernard Manning and Bernie Clifton.
Louis
Theroux is an advisor on this series, which gets up close and personal
with a mix of fly-on-the-wall and video diary.
The
channel has also struck a real coup by securing two of its top faces
to return to the channel.
After
four years, Jeremy Clarkson is back with Top Gear, which
has been overhauled and extended, but still promises lots of fast
cars and fast-paced entertainment.
 And
the popular character, Alan Partridge, is back on 大象传媒 TWO after
five years away from the screen, with Steve Coogan starring in I'm
Alan Partridge.
It
completes a line up of some of the best comedy on television, joining
The Office, Happiness and League Of Gentlemen
in the autumn schedule.
Along
with top comedy, there are some strong single dramas in this season
which continue to tackle difficult subjects in a bold way.
 Tomorrow
La Scala!, a co-production between 大象传媒 Films and the Film Council,
stars Jessica Stevenson as an ambitious young director attempting
to stage Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in a maximum security prison.
Directed
by Francesca Joseph (who produced the documentary series Driving
School) and produced by Ruth Caleb and Chris Collins, it uses real
prisoners as extras in a gritty film with some wonderful comic moments.
Wit, starring Emma Thompson as an obstreperous university professor
who discovers she has cancer, is an unflinching film from Mike Nichols
that will have an equally strong impact on viewers.
Tipping The Velvet is a three-part adaptation by Andrew Davies
of Sarah Waters' acclaimed novel, a lesbian love story set in the
hidden and decadent world of bohemian London in the 1890's.
It
stars Rachael Stirling as the heroine Nan Astley, Keeley Hawes,
Anna Chancellor and Jodhi May.
A rare
and intimate portrait of one of the leading forces in British theatre
forms the centrepiece of 大象传媒 TWO's arts season.
With
unique and exclusive access, Nigel Williams' two part filmic biography
explores Harold Pinter聮s life, work and political passions
in Arena: Harold Pinter. An accompanying season of his work
will be broadcast on 大象传媒 FOUR.
Deborah Bull, former prima ballerina, puts her own body through
a series of challenges to illustrate the workings of The Dancer's
Body.
This
landmark series uses the latest techniques to investigate the science
behind those parts of the body and brain that make this level of
performance possible.
Season highlights
Other
new series to look out for in the autumn season include:
Deadringers, which has been adapted from radio for television;
TLC, a black comedy set in an NHS hospital starring Reece
Shearsmith and Alexander Armstrong;
I Will Survive, about the walking wounded of fame's battleground;
Two Men In a Trench, featuring two of Britain's foremost
battlefield archaeologists, Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver;
And Martin Luther, a two-part drama documentary which brings
to life the epic story of a solitary monk's struggle against the
tyranny of a decadent and corrupt Church in Renaissance Europe.
Timothy West recalls Luther's life over the course of his final
days.
Jane
Root says: "We're really proud of the programmes we will be
offering viewers this autumn.
"There's
real quality in every type of programming and some fresh, new approaches
which we believe will set people across the UK both thinking and
talking."
Notes
to Editors
The
大象传媒 ONE Autumn press pack is available here, in , as a complete pack or by genres. You may require Adobe
Acrobat Software to read PDF files which can be obtained .
Full
大象传媒 TWO Autumn 2002 press pack (550 KB)
Entertainment
(183 KB)
Drama
(79 KB)
Factual
(253 KB)
C大象传媒
(68 KB)
Sport
(60 KB)
|
