Thursday, August 12, 2010

Upstairs, Downstairs (2010)


Genre: TV Series, Historical Drama

Series Creators: Jean Marsh & Eileen Atkins

Writer: Heidi Thomas

Synopsis: A new household, the Holland family and their servants, move into 165 Eaton Place (home to the Bellamy family in the 1970 TV series) in 1936.

Keeley's Role: Lady Agnes Holland

Other Cast Members:
Eileen Atkins as Lady Maud Holland
Ed Stoppard as Sir Hallam Holland
Claire Foy as Lady Persephone (Persie)
Art Malik as Mr. Amanjit (Lady Maud Holland's secretary)
Jean Marsh as Rose Buck the housekeeper
Anne Reid as Mrs. Thackery the cook
Adrian Scarborough as Pritchard the butler
Ellie Kendrick as Ivy the housemaid
Nico Mirallegro as Johnny the footman

Status: Three episodes have been ordered, with the possibility of several more for Series (Season) 1. They air expected to air in the autumn of 2010 on the BBC and Winter 2010-2011 on PBS.

Links:
Upstairs, Downstairs photos

also see:
Daily Mail article announcing the show Read More......

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Keeley on "Would I Lie to You"

Keeley will be appearing on episode 3 of Would I Lie to You this Friday, August 6, 2010. Here are two clips:


Read More......

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Keeley for Upstairs, Downstairs Remake!

Keeley will play Lady Agnes Holland in the remake/sequel to the '70s hit Upstairs, Downstairs. The new show will follow a different family, the Hollands, living at 165 Eaton Place. Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, who created the original series, will both appear -- Marsh as her original character, Rose.

The cast will also include:
Ed Stoppard
Claire Foy
Art Malik
Anne Reid
Ellie Kendrick
Nico Mirallegro
Adrian Scarborough

The show will be set in 1936 (abdication crisis). Three one-hour episodes have been ordered and will air on Sunday nights in the fall, and on PBS in the winter (presumably as part of Masterpiece Classic).

The show is filming in Cardiff and the show runner is Heidi Thomas, who worked on Cranford.

Read more at the Daily Mail. Read More......

Sunday, July 04, 2010

New Interview from The Telegraph


The Telegraph has a new interview with Keeley talking about Identity.

At the end she mentions she's almost ready to sign on for a play in the West End :)

There's also a "What's In My Beauty Bag" feature here. Read More......

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Identity to Start July 5


Identity will begin airing on ITV on Monday, July 5, 2010.

ITV's media kit for the show is here.

Ian Wylie has also posted material from the press conference here.

(Photo: ITV via Life of Wylie.) Read More......

Friday, June 04, 2010

Twitter & Identity

Keeley has left Twitter. However, someone has begun a petition to encourage her to come back.

Keeley's new show Identity has joined Twitter and posted 3 screen caps from the show (none including Keeley). They are listing a possible premiere date for the show as Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Read More......

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Identity Press Conference

Ian Wylie has a recap of the press conference for Identity on his blog. It includes comments from Keeley on her own experience with identity theft, and the kiss from Ashes to Ashes. Read More......

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Ashes to Ashes tonight on BBC America

Don't forget season two (series two) of Ashes to Ashes starts on BBC America tonight at 10pm EST!

And now, promotional photos (in HQ) for series three of Ashes.





(Photos: K-H.com.) Read More......

Friday, April 30, 2010

Identity to Air in July

Identity will air on ITV in July. The show is mentioned in this long article in The Independent about new British crime dramas.

Keeley also tweeted that she and the cast attended a screening of the show last night. Read More......

More from the Ian Wylie Interview

Ian Wylie (author of the Keeley interview in The Manchester Times) has posted some more excerpts from his interview with Keeley on his blog. Read More......

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Keeley on Twitter!



Keeley has joined Twitter! She's tweeting as kcj100.

It isn't a verified account (yet), but this was first reported by Keeley-Hawes.com. They are in contact with Keeley/her agent, so I assume they verified the account themselves before posting the announcement.

(Picture from the 2008 press tour for Ashes.) Read More......

Keeley on the End of Ashes to Ashes


There's long interview with Keeley about the ending of Ashes to Ashes in the April 29, 2010 edition of The Manchester Evening News:

    As is the way with filming, the last scene captured is not the final one viewers will see on screen. “It was a very strange ending to the whole thing,” explains Keeley.

    "We finished shooting on February 10th, which is mine and Phil’s birthday, which is odd to begin with. And we were in a crematorium and it was a night shoot. So we all ended up outside this crem in a graveyard.

    “There was a big cake for me and a big cake for Phil and some champagne - and we’re trying to be very quiet and respectful, whilst trying to celebrate a little bit. It was very odd, very surreal, a little bit dark and quite funny, which is all very appropriate for Ashes.

    “It was a good way to end, a perfect ending, really. Ultimately you think, ‘God, it was such a big part of all our lives and so life changing for everybody in one way or another.’ But it’s also nice to think, ‘Right, we’ve done it, we’ve got to the ending.’”


Read the whole article. Read More......

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Ashes on BBC America starting 5/11/10


Series Two of Ashes to Ashes will finally get its premiere on BBC America on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 10 p.m. At last!

You can read BBC America's press release here. Read More......

Thursday, March 25, 2010

New Ashes Interview


Whats on TV, March 23, 2010.

Where do we find Alex?
"We open with Gene on the run and he has to get her out of this coma to get himself out of the situation. Acting in a coma isn’t like acting dead because you can breathe. I just shut my eyes and think of England."

Is she more settled in the 1980s?
"Well, her confidence has been shaken before and things have been completely turned on their head, but in episode one something happens that takes her a step even further away from her real life. She now has a reason behind her forgetting about her past and this becoming her world. A new character called Jim Keats [played by Daniel Mays] shakes things up because he seems to know a lot more about things than perhaps she thought was possible."

How has she changed?
"She’s not as much of a feminist any more, she is Alex Drake, she is a male bird. I always knew that this would go for three years so it had to go from one extreme to the other so she has changed a lot and I think it’s quite obvious by now that she is hopelessly in love with the Gene Genie whether or not she knows it."

What is Alex’s look like this time?
"It’s slightly smarter. By now Alex has definitely had time to go out shopping and create a look of her own rather than getting her clothes from the back of a dead woman, so it is more grown-up and a very good fresh look."

Is this series darker?
Yes, it was dark last year, but now with the Keats character coming in, it’s even more so. It’s very difficult to get the balance right. You want to see the Quattro come screeching around the corner and the boots come out of the door, but you want the dark side, too. There is a bit of everything in here; I think it is the best one yet."

Are you pleased with the ending?
"Oh yes. It is something that has been speculated about so much that I’m sure someone is going to work it out what happens, but we didn’t. It is such a great ending. The scripts for the last two episodes are just so fantastic and mind-boggling. I don’t think there is anything else like Ashes on telly. It’s so inventive."

Will you miss the show?
"I was absolutely dreading the last couple of weeks because I love the cast so much. Also, Ashes is a job unlike any other. With this, you finish filming and it just doesn’t go away. People shout at you in the street... It's been life-changing for me." Read More......

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Matthew is currently starring in Private Lives at the Vaudeville Theatre in London, and Keeley and Monserrat Lombard were there on press night, March 3, 2010, to support him.

Click to enlarge the thumbnails.
















(Photos: Getty Images and Wooller.com.) Read More......

Ashes (Series 3) Press Packet

The BBC has released the press packet for Series Three of Ashes to Ashes, including the interview below.

Click here to go to the press pack, which includes detailed synopses for episodes one and two. The air date for Ashes has yet to be officially announced. (It will not premiere March 23, as previously rumored, but possibly the week of March 29, according to Ian Wylie.)



March 10, 2010, from the BBC Press Office.

Sexy, sassy and more than a match for DCI Gene Hunt, DI Alex Drake is still trying to unravel the mystery of why she's stuck in Hunt's world. Does the new member of CID overseeing Hunt's empire hold the key, or is it his aim to turn Alex against Gene?

Actress Keeley Hawes reveals what's in store for the feisty DI.

"This series starts with Alex back in what appears to be the present day," explains Keeley, "but it soon becomes apparent that things aren't as they seem and odd incidents start to happen.

"She realises that the reality she is in isn't real and the Fenchurch East gang start to call her back to 1983 where she has been stuck in a coma for three months."

After Gene rouses Alex from her comatose state, she returns to CID, desperate to try and solve the riddle of how to get back home to her daughter Molly.

However, a new arrival at Fenchurch East starts to make her doubt the one person she thought she could trust.

"DCI Jim Keats is played by Danny Mays and he's very charming to Alex," reveals Keeley.

"She likes him, despite the fact Gene has a different opinion. Gene and Keats' relationship seems to take place behind closed doors and he acts very differently towards Gene than he does with the rest of the team.

"Keats tries to split up Gene and Alex's partnership. Slowly but surely he starts to drive a wedge between the two of them and Alex starts to wonder if she can really trust Gene," continues Keeley.

"Alex also believes that, if she can solve the mystery surrounding Sam Tyler, she'll be able to get home and Keats points her in the direction of evidence which implicates Gene in his death."

There may be a question mark over Jim Keats' real intentions in Ashes To Ashes but Keeley reveals the actor playing him couldn't be nicer.

"Danny is absolutely lovely!" she exclaims. "He has to play a very difficult role and I think he's done it brilliantly. I really enjoyed filming scenes with both Danny and Phil because they spar off each other so well."

Ashes To Ashes is set in the Eighties so throughout its three-year run Keeley has had to wear some amazingly colourful outfits.

But what's been her favourite costume from this series and has she taken anything home with her?

"Our costume designer has had more freedom this year and she's done a gorgeous job," reveals the London-born actress.

"I really liked the outfit Gene gave to Alex in hospital which consisted of a t-shirt with the New York skyline on it and skinny jeans.

"I think it's been easier this year because we haven't been restricted to all the clothes for the series being originals from the period. There seems to be so much Eighties stuff in the shops at the moment that we actually went out and bought some clothes. The costume department also made a lot of things.

"I have taken a couple of pairs of boots with me," confides Keeley, "and I've got Alex's white leather jacket which I think I'll auction off for charity.

"I've also got the most fantastic pair of red Dorothy-style sequined shoes with a bow on the front of them. They remind me of the moment when Dorothy clicks her ruby shoes to go home."

The finale of Ashes To Ashes is about to air and Alex Drake's journey looks set to come to an end – how does Keeley feel about the end of her journey working on the series?

"It's very sad in some respects because I've been working with the cast and crew for so long, but it feels the right time to finally find out the mystery surrounding Alex's world. In this business you find people pop up all the time so you never know when you are going work with someone again." Read More......

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Matthew on Marriage



The Telegraph has a new interview with Matthew Macfadyen in which he talks a bit about Keeley and being married. Read More......