Scott writes: It’s common knowledge that Stephen Colbert is a big LotR fan but I did notice that in the “Christmas Special” last night he had Anduril hanging on the wall along with Vader’s Lightsaber. There are several videos in the following link where the Flame of the West can be seen!
Category: Television
Claire writes: UK residents can see Andy Serkis on TV on Saturday 22nd November, on BBC2. He’s playing Albert Einstein, while David Tennant (the present Doctor Who) plays British scientist Arthur Eddington, in the film ‘Einsten and Eddington’. Details of the schedule are here and the BBC’s press notice is here. For those who miss the broadcast on the 22nd, the film may be available on BBC iPlayer for seven days after that date. And as the film is a co-production with HBO, I would expect it to be shown in the USA, though I can’t see anything about it on the HBO website at the moment.
Susanne writes: For UK- based Ringers worth catching on BBC iPlayer, Merlin – The legend – “A look at the mythical roots in art and literature of Merlin – magician, hero and historical mystery. Merlin is the archetypal wizard, Welsh and Celtic in origin but with connections across the water in Cornwall and middle Europe, and, of course, the Arthurian legends. Clearly, Merlin is the distant relative of Dumbledore and all those weird and wonderful wizards in literature.”
Two excellent segments by Alan Lee – one on drawing Merlin and a second, longer one on Merlin as an inspiration for Gandalf including a “tour” of the prop Gandalf staff with which he was presented at the end of LOTR filming. Otherwise a great programme overall with a mixture of history, literature and contemorary firm – highly recommended. www.bbc.co.uk
Inkibus writes: Juts thought you might be interested in the upcoming New Zealand/Auckland filmed fantasy series premiering next Saturday; ‘Legend of the Seeker’ based around Terry Goodkind’s novels. Aside from the NZ locations. it employs some familiar LOTR faces; Bruce Spence, Jay Lagalia, and Craig Parker among them. It’s reportedly being helmed by Sam Raimi, who collaborated famously with the ‘Xenia’ series, which employed much of the pre-LOTR production team. www.legendoftheseeker.com
Mary writes: I found this news tidbit from Entertainment Weekly: Dominic Monaghan is scheduled to be a guest star on the February 2nd episode of “Chuck”!! Here’s the link to the news plus an interview with Dom. Monaghan Returns to TV, Sorta
From www.stuff.co.nz: New Zealand actors Jay Laga’aia and Craig Parker are playing key roles in a new American swords and scorcery television series being filmed around Auckland. Filming of Wizard’s First Rule, the first book in Terry Goodkind’s popular The Sword of Truth books began this week. But the 22-episode series has been renamed Legend of the Seeker – apparently to avoid religious concerns among American audiences about scorcery. Executive producers Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert told a comics and fantasy convention of the name change, and announced the New Zealand actors, Entertainment Weekly reported. Craig Parker Cast in Raimi’s ‘Wizard’s First Rule’