Monday, 8 February 2010, 9:00PM – 10:00PM
Episode 5: Love and Loss
When DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) and DS Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) are called to the death of a drug mule, they are surprised to discover she is a middle class white girl. Debbie Powell’s parents are heartbroken. She was about to go to university, she worked hard at Gilmore’s – a family friend’s shop and she wanted for nothing. So why did she do it?
Matt and Ronnie soon unearth Debbie’s secret life. A mysterious boyfriend that nobody ever met. A teacher she met on Sundays. Rumours of an active sex life at work. And a coke dealer who has done a runner. As Matt and Ronnie close in on their suspect, they are shocked to learn that Debbie’s motivation was love.
Debbie’s death hits home for George Castle (Bill Paterson). As the father of a daughter, he pressures Crown Prosecutors James Steel (Ben Daniels) and Alesha Phillips (Freema Agyeman) to bring all charges possible against the defendant. Not an easy case given that are no witnesses, all the evidence is circumstantial, and James’ opponent is the brilliant but eccentric Jason Peter’s (Eddie Marsan).
Alesha’s perseverance tracks down the only witness who can testify about the drugs run. But when this witness retracts his statement, the case falls apart and the defendant is found not guilty. How can James keep his promise to the Powell’s and find justice for the death of their daughter?
ITV today announced the commission of a brand new drama, KIDNAP AND RANSOM.
The series will star one of the UK’s leading screen actors, TREVOR EVE (Waking the Dead, Framed) as international hostage negotiator, Dominic King. The three x 60 minute primetime thriller is the first drama to come out of Eve’s production company, Projector Pictures, whilst in partnership with talkbackTHAMES.
The series has been written by acclaimed scriptwriter Patrick Harbinson (24, Law and Order, ER), and is now in pre-production due to film in South Africa this Spring.
Eve will star alongside, JOHN HANNAH (Rebus, Cold Blood), HELEN BAXENDALE (Marple, Cold Feet), NATASHA LITTLE (Mistresses, This Life), EMMA FIELDING (Cranford) and AMARA KARAN (The Darjeeling Limited).
When a businesswoman (Emma Fielding) is kidnapped in South Africa, expert hostage negotiator Dominic King (Trevor Eve) believes he’s dealing with a straightforward case – pay the money, get her back.
But when the release is botched and they strike again in Britain, the kidnapper, Willard’s (John Hannah) motives become far more sinister. With trouble brewing at home with his wife Sophie (Natasha Little) and teenage daughter – and his team, boss Angela (Helen Baxendale) and ambitious assistant Carrie (Amara Karan) pushed to the limit, King must draw on all his reserves to bring the victims home alive.
Trevor Eve says of the commission:
“I’m thrilled to be working on this, our first production since Projector joined talkbackTHAMES. It’s wonderful to be working with Laura and Sally at ITV on what we all hope will be a really compelling thriller.”
CEO of talkbackTHAMES, Lorraine Heggessey said:
“I’m delighted to be working with Trevor again. Not only is he one of this country’s most talented actors, he’ll also bring to this project his strong editorial expertise, to what is a very exciting and thrilling script.”
ITV has been fined 3,000 Australian dollars (£1,672) after contestants on its show, I´m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, killed and ate a rat.
The fine, for animal cruelty, was issued by the RSPCA in Australia, where the show was filmed last year.
“The animal was killed for a TV show, that´s not appropriate,” said RSPCA chief inspector David Oshannessy.
A spokesman for ITV said: “ITV has apologised for the mistake which led to this incident.”
Rice and beans
He continued: “The production was unaware that killing a rat could be an offence, criminal or otherwise in New South Wales, and accepts that further inquiries should have been made.
“This was an oversight and we have since thoroughly reviewed our procedures and are putting in place a comprehensive training programme to ensure that this does not happen in future series.”
I´m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! winner Gino D´Acampo killed the rat while in the jungle camp last year.
The Italian chef and actor Stuart Manning ate it after they were “exiled” and reduced to rations of rice and beans.
ITV also had to pay $2,576 Australian dollars (£1,435) in costs.
via BBC News – ITV fined over I’m A Celebrity… jungle rat killing.
Dubai World is putting the iconic cruise liner QE2 up for sale, as well as host of other interests including circus troupe Cirque du Soleil, as it grapples to cut its $22bn debt mountain.
Last week the conglomerate’s investment subsidy, Istithmar, started proceedings with the sale of a 13 percent stake in Indian domestic airline SpiceJet.
It has also entered into talks to sell Inchcape Shipping Services, the UK port agent, with an estimated $700m price tag.
Other interests likely to be offloaded include stakes in Standard Chartered Bank, Gulf Stream Asset Management and EMPG.
Dubai World built up worldwide portfolio of assets during the Noughties, including a large property empire. The acquisitions were made using part of its own equity as well as large debt from international banks.
But last November, it announced that it was seeking to delay debt-servicing payments as it looked to undertake a capital refinancing.
Since then Dubai World has received about $6.2bn in emergency funding from the Dubai Financial Support Fund (DFSF).
But there is growing concern among other banks that the DFSF will be made a preferential creditor, thereby jeopardising their willing to extend credit facilities to Dubai World.
It is understood that Dubai World will look to sell its assets individually rather than as a portfolio.
Sunday, 7 February 2010, 8:30PM – 9:30PM
In this episode Rowan (Cal Macaninch) gets into trouble in the bush while making a romantic gesture to win Vanessa’s (Mary-Ann Barlow) heart.
Talking about his character, Rowan, in the new series Cal explains: “He is very excited to be in Africa. He has a great sense of adventure and loves being with Vanessa. Rowan is full of great of ideas but is not a very good businessman and knows nothing about animals so these ideas often end up backfiring. His heart is in the right place and he thinks he is in a good position to make money so he comes up with all these schemes. Some of them pay off because he works really hard but not all of them – he has ideas but no ideals. He is not a bad guy but sometimes he just doesn’t think.
“He has a growing affection for Vanessa and enjoys being in her company and working with her and it then grows into a burgeoning love. But she doesn’t feel the same way so he has his work cut out. He decides to make his feelings known but she doesn’t respond in the way he wants. When they have an adventure out in the bush where she thinks he has been killed it makes her realise how much he means to her. So they are together, but not necessarily for long…”
Explaining this bush adventure Cal says: “It was brilliant; my favourite part of the shoot. There was one stunt I wasn’t allowed to do which involved my character falling backwards down a precipice. When I saw the stuntman, I realised that they always have to think of safety first and there’s a reason why actors don’t do stunts for a living. Stuntmen have got to do it over and over again and do it in a certain way to stop themselves getting injured whereas if I had done it then I would probably have hurt myself. So I didn’t take the risk but I do like getting involved in the action. Getting down and dirty.”
But Cal had more than lions and tigers to deal with in South Africa this year, he had a new baby daughter.
“My wife Shauna gave birth to our new baby girl, Ava Red at home in South Africa, where we live during filming. Shauna feels very at home in South Africa, very relaxed about travelling so we can feel at home in any place. This is my fourth time here for various projects so I feel comfortable with my family being here too.
“My older daughter, Jessie, loves being out here with all the animals and as she knows the movie Madagascar back to front she loves it but wonders why the lions aren’t dancing…”
In episode five Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) and Alice (Dawn Steele) are taking a well deserved mini break but Olivia (Olivia Scott-Taylor) is upset to learn they’re leaving that day. Angry at missing out on a driving lesson, she decides to take the jeep out on her own. When she crashes it, none of the family believes her protests that it was an accident. Du Plessis (Deon Stewardson) makes Olivia ask Rowan (Cal Macaninch) and Vanessa (Mary-Anne Barlow) to lend Danny and Alice a jeep, which gives Rowan an idea. He sees an ideal opportunity to spend some romantic time with the oblivious Vanessa and decides that they’ll come along too. As they all leave, Du Plessis introduces Olivia to the concept of brat camp.
On the road, the group take a diversion and their vehicle gets damaged. There’s worse in store when they discover a terrible accident up ahead. The driver of a crashed truck is dead and Susan (Vanessa Cooke), a tourist, has severe injuries. There’s also a very angry lion which has escaped from its trailer in the accident. When the disorientated lion runs at Vanessa, Rowan heroically saves her showing himself in a new light. That night, Susan’s son Michael (Antony Coleman) decides to go for help and a worried Rowan goes with him, but when they try to take a shortcut, Rowan falls down a rocky incline and is knocked unconscious. When Michael returns alone and covered in blood, the group fear the worst for lost and injured Rowan. After Alice and Danny have searched in vain for him they decide to continue on for Susan’s sake. However, Alice can’t leave her brother and decides to go back alone to protect him.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis’ brat camp isn’t working well until he gets Olivia involved in the rescue of an orphaned baby leopard. Finally Olivia feels like she has a role at Leopard’s Den and Du Plessis is pleased to have formed a bond with her. However, when Danny and Alice arrive back, Olivia is immediately on the defensive with Alice. Realising that Olivia needs the leopard to help her feel at home, Alice offers her brother a deal; she’ll work at Mara if Olivia can have the leopard.
