November 27, 2013 - bbc.co.uk - MacKenzie Crook (CEDRIC) - CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Don't Mention Pirates

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WED 27 NOV 2013 18:50 CBEEBIES

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An exciting story read by a special guest. Mackenzie Crook reads Don't Mention Pirates By Sarah McConnell.

Duration: 7 minutes

August 29, 2013 - bbc.co.uk - MacKenzie Crook (CEDRIC) stars in Series 1, Episode 4 - North by Northamptonshire

North by Northamptonshire

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North by Northamptonshire, Series 1 Episode 4 of 4

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THU 29 AUG 2013 23:00 BBC RADIO 4

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Sheila Hancock heads a stunning cast including Mackenzie Crook, Penelope Wilton, Felicity Montagu and Kevin Eldon. This is a clever, funny and touching series about a small town in the middle of Northamptonshire as it prepares for a talent night. It is written by and also stars Katherine Jakeways.

It's Town Talent Night at last and Ken and Keith are busy fine-tuning their pet whippets' dance routine.

Everyone nervously awaits the arrival of the celebrity judge Lady Ballantyne who is unfortunately in the spotlight for being the most recent Royal racist.

Jan does her last minute preparations for her trip to Australia. Will she be going alone or could she possibly dare to dream that Jonathan might join her at the last minute?

And finally supermarket manager Rod (Mackenzie Crook) gets to take Tanya from till 4 on a date. The true measure of success will be how many packets of scampi fries they consume. Will it be just the one? Or perhaps too many to count?

Written by Katherine Jakeways
Produced by Claire Jones.

Duration: 30 minutes

August 11, 2012 - bbc.co.uk - mackenzie crook (CEDRIC) at Edinburgh Book Festival

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Scotlandselected

Scotland

Edinburgh Book Festival promises 'Olympics of the mind'

11 August 2012 Last updated at 09:22

Festival director Nick Barley promised an Olympics of the mind

The Edinburgh International Book festival has begun its 16-day residence in the city's Charlotte Square Gardens.

More than 800 authors from 45 countries will be appearing at about 750 events during the festival.

Festival director Nick Barley promised "an Olympics of the mind" with top authors discussing big ideas.

Half of the 12 authors long-listed for the 2012 Man Booker Prize will be appear at the festival.

Ned Beauman, Michael Frayn, Deborah Levy, Hilary Mantel, Will Self and Jeet Thayil will all showcase their work in Edinburgh.

Also appearing will be Zadie Smith, Howard Jacobson and Pat Barker.

Mr Barley told BBC Scotland: "We have had the Olympics - the joy of seeing all that sport - and I think people can now get themselves into a different mindset.

"This is an Olympics of the mind where people can come and think hard about who we are and what we are doing."

The festival director said it was free to enter the gardens and encouraged people to sample the wonderful atmosphere and rub shoulders with literary greats.

Mr Barley said that in addition to intellectual challenge there would also be lots of fun at the festival.

He said funnyman David Walliams would introduce his new book Gangsta Granny, while crime writer Val McDermid will present her first book for children My Granny is a Pirate.

Sold out

The children's section of the festival also includes Jacqueline Wilson, who will give young audiences a peek of her re-interpretation of the classic Five Children and It.

Andrew Motion will be reading from his sequel to Treasure Island and Frank Cottrell Boyce from his sequel to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Comedian David Walliams will introduce his new book Gangsta Granny at the festival

Mackenzie Crook, best known as Gareth from The Office, and BBC Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo will also discuss their new books for youngsters.

Interviewer Jeremy Paxman and former Chancellor Alistair Darling are among the other well-known names.

Other politicians include ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who will deliver the National Library of Scotland's Donald Dewar Lecture, and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, who will discuss his life beyond politics and literary tastes with Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan.

Many of the sessions have already sold out including Frank Close's A Race for the Higgs Boson, which will be chaired by Professor Peter Higgs, who first identified the concept in the 1960s.

On the opening day, influential journalists Ian Black and Paul Mason are sold out for their session on What Caused the 2011 Revolutions?, as are actor Simon Callow and local favourite Alexander McCall Smith.

On Sunday, the big draws include British-born Pakistani Maajid Nawaz, who was recruited into a global Islamist party and rose to its leadership before being imprisoned in Egypt.

Former Monty Python star Michael Palin will return to the festival for the first time in 25 years.

September 21, 2013 - bbc.co.uk - mackenzie crook stars in the merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

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SAT 21 SEP 2013 00:10 BBC TWO

An adaptation of Shakespeare's play about a Jewish moneylender who seeks to forfeit a literal pound of flesh from his Christian nemesis. Starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons.

Duration: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Credits

Shylock

Al Pacino

Antonio

Jeremy Irons

Bassanio

Joseph Fiennes

Portia

Lynn Collins

Jessica

Zuleikha Robinson

Gratiano

Kris Marshall

Lorenzo

Charlie Cox

Nerissa

Heather Goldenhersh

Launcelot Gobbo

Mackenzie Crook

Salerio

John Sessions

Solanio

Gregor Fisher

Old Gobbo

Ron Cook

Director

Michael Radford

Producer

Cary Brokaw

Producer

Michael Cowan

Producer

Jason Piette

Author

William Shakespeare

Writer

Michael Radford

October 25, 2013 - bbc.co.uk - mackenzie crook stars in Paul Potts movie

25 October 2013 Last updated at 08:42

Paul Potts, played by Corden (R) with MacKenzie Crook as his boss, was working in a mobile phone shop when he entered Britain's Got Talent

James Corden talks about bringing Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts to the big screen, singing with Keira Knightley and his admiration for Meryl Streep.

Corden admits he had his doubts about playing talent show contestant-turned-opera singer Potts in his new film One Chance.

"I think my reaction was the same as everyone else's when they hear there's a Paul Potts film," laughs Corden.

"I was like 'Really? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

But after director David Frankel, of The Devil Wears Prada fame, convinced him the film would focus on the build-up to that famous audition - Potts' journey from a bullied, opera-obsessed young boy to a YouTube sensation - he was in.

"It's a sports movie basically, where the sport is... opera," says Corden.

Potts was a mobile-phone salesman when he entered and won the first series of reality show Britain's Got Talent in 2007, and the film uses footage of judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan's genuine reactions to that "watercooler moment".

It also boasts other faces well known to UK audiences, such as Julie Walters and Colm Meaney as Paul's parents, MacKenzie Crook as his friend (and manager in Carphone Warehouse) and Alexandra Roach as his love interest.

Alexandra Roach, who starred in The Iron Lady and Utopia, plays Paul's wife

Corden had to practise wearing his clip-in fake "Paul Potts teeth" for six weeks to conquer any lisping - Potts famously got his fixed with his BGT prize money - but they were "tremendously useful" for getting into character.

Pulling off Potts' operatic singing voice proved a bit more challenging.

"When I said yes to the film I was a little bit bullish and thought, 'I can do this'," reveals Corden.

"So they got me some singing lessons with this brilliant teacher in New York. After about eight or nine lessons some producers came down to hear my opera.

"I got about a third of the way through Nessun Dorma and they just went, 'Yeah we're going to get someone else to do this'. It wasn't great."

So Corden sang "with the microphone turned off" during filming, "and then Paul sort of synched to my lips really".

"We were all a little bit worried - will it work, will they buy it?" admits Corden. "Actually you kind of do."

'Dream role'

The film is backed by Hollywood heavyweight producer Harvey Weinstein, who Corden is said to have impressed while on stage in last year's hit play One Man, Two Guvnors. But he's quick to rubbish internet rumours that Weinstein will be running any sort of Oscar campaign for him.

"For this?" he laughs. "I would be verysurprised, I can't imagine that will be anywhere close to the case.

Corden is often asked when he and Ruth Jones will write more Gavin and Stacey

"We've made a really nice, light, humorous film and I'm immensely proud of it, but I think you can start to get ever so slightly carried away with those sorts of things and I'm definitely not, in any way."

It must be hard for Corden to keep his feet on the ground though, when he is currently turning up to work at Shepperton Studios with the likes of Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep.

Nine director Rob Marshall has cast him in "a dream of a role", as The Baker in a big-budget film version of Broadway musical Into the Woods.

"It's certainly the biggest thing I've ever done. It's ridiculous, I spent a long time just waiting to be fired really," says Corden.

"I thought someone would go, 'This is silly, we should get someone who's actually famous'."

But he's still in the job, along with Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt. However it is Streep who has really impressed him.

"I would be a robot if it didn't affect me, I think she's probably the greatest actress alive," he says enthusiastically.

"But (the reason) she's so incredible, is that she's just so unbelievably welcoming and encouraging and puts you at ease. (She is) a team player, she encourages a company spirit. I genuinely can't speak highly enough about her."

'Creatively fulfilled'

Having misspent some of his youth in various, slightly dubious boybands, Corden can actually hold a tune.

He'll be doing so in Into the Woods and alongside Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo in another film, Can a Song Save Your Life?, due out next year.

"I play Keira's old friend from home who's a struggling musician in New York. I sing, but I'm not - there's a pattern emerging here - I sing but I'm not very good," he laughs.

"Keira's really got the best songs in it - her voice is unbelievable, genuinely. People are going to be so shocked when they hear it. I think it's her best performance.

"It's written and directed by John Carney who made the film Once, which I'm a huge fan of. I'm very proud to be in it," says Corden.

In fact, these days Corden seems rightly proud of all his work. With flops like Lesbian Vampire Killers and his ill-fated sketch show Horne and Corden better left out of it, he currently has his fingers in many successful pies.

The Wrong Mans mixes drama and comedy

New BBC Two comedy The Wrong Mans is a return to form for the Gavin and Stacey co-creator - currently enjoying positive viewing figures and favourable reviews.

And co-written with Mathew Baynton, it gives him the chance to do what he likes best: "Being at the seed of an idea, and writing it and shooting it and editing it, seeing it through. That is probably where I'm probably most creatively fulfilled."

There's also hosting Sky One sports quiz A League of Their Own, and another year of the Brit Awards in 2014 before he hands hosting duties over to "someone younger and better looking".

His plans to return to the stage - "I think in 2015" - sound like they've been mapped out with precision, but Corden denies that is the case.

"I've never really had a career plan, which I'm sure won't come as a shock to anyone," he says.

"Mainly my plan is to have fun and enjoy it. I couldn't think of anything worse than not enjoying it really."

July 17, 2012 - bbc.co.uk - MacKenzie crook joins game of thrones

Northern Ireland

Game of Thrones: On set of the hit TV show in Northern Ireland

By Maggie TaggartBBC Northern Ireland Arts Correspondent

17 July 2012 Last updated at 20:25

The crew and actors get ready to start filming series three of Game of Thrones.

It's been described as the "Sopranos - set in Middle Earth" and it's a television series which has wowed audiences all over the world, especially in the United States.

HBO has just started filming the third series of hit show Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland.

Game of Thrones is a mediaeval fantasy series which is based on the books of George R R Martin.

For the first time reporters have been allowed onto the set during filming.

We have been sworn to secrecy about the story lines that we have seen.

Series three will be filmed over 180 days across Northern Ireland with additional filming in Morocco, Iceland and Croatia.

Soon all six counties will be able to claim they played some part as a location.

New cast members

July in the pouring rain saw the team in the sprawling Shane's Castle estate in county Antrim.

Nothing gets in the way of production, not even the Northern Irish rain.

Cast dressed in leather and dusty fabric mediaeval costume, but protected by very modern raincoats and cheery umbrellas contrast with the sword fighting action on a country bridge.

Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, best known to fans of the show as Ser Jamie Lannister, and Gwendoline Christie, who plays Brienne of Tarth, were among those on the set at Shane's Castle.

The Northern Ireland scenery has a starring role in the production.

Naomi Liston from Edinburgh is a locations manager and even after scouting for exteriors for three series says they have only just scratched the surface of possibilities. "One of our methods is to get lost for a day, go down country roads and suddenly find fantastic vistas or a tumble-down old mill we can use."

Ms Liston says she hopes filming for future series will continue in Northern Ireland.

It is an expensive series to make, creating a fantasy world of warring families which has been likened to the Sopranos of Middle Earth, but the money offered by Northern Ireland Screen is an incentive.

The pilot programme and the first two series attracted funding of £6m, but that money has been shown to have brought in £40m to the local economy.

Fourth series

Another £3.2m of public money will go towards the series currently being filmed.

Frank Doelger is an executive producer on the show. As he toured the site of filming at Shane's Castle near Antrim, he praised the local facilities and the local talent which has grown more skilled since filming began in 2010.

Maggie Taggart was one of the first reporters to be allowed on set of Game of Thrones

However, he is protective of the landscape gems which the company has discovered. He would reluctantly advise other television and film companies to come to Northern Ireland but, "we don't want the competition," he says.

"I would hate to think everybody is chasing after us and taking other locations. I think Belfast is unique in that you can travel very, very short distances and find yourself in very different landscapes and that has been fantastic for us," he says.

Even though we are not allowed to give away any of the storylines the BBC can confirm some of the new cast members to the show including Dame Diana Rigg, MacKenzie Crook and local actor Richard Dormer.

And for those fans you will be glad to hear there will be a fourth series of Game of Thrones.

Additional reporting by Rosy Billingham and Peter Coulter.