Happy Birthday Sarah Parish (Uther's wife)

July 24, 2013 - Digital Spy - 'Merlin' creators' new show 'Atlantis' to air on BBC America

'Merlin' creators' new show 'Atlantis' to air on BBC America

By Morgan Jeffery

Wednesday, Jul 24 2013, 4:43am EDT

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New BBC One drama Atlantis is to air on BBC America in the US.

The fantasy series is from Merlin co-creators Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy and Misfits writer Howard Overman.

© Rex Features / Jim Smeal/BEI

'Game Of Thrones' star Mark Addy

© Rex Features / David Fisher

'Monroe' actress Sarah Parish

Atlantis follows the young Greek hero Jason at he arrives on the mysterious island of Atlantis, where he encounters new friends, magic and monsters.

The 13-part series will launch on BBC America in late 2013, following the show's UK premiere.

Mark Addy (Game of Thrones), Juliet Stevenson (The Village), Sarah Parish (Monroe) and Jemima Rooper (Lost in Austen) will all star in Atlantis.

The quartet are joined by War Horse actor Robert Emms, Dancing On The Edge star Jack Donnelly and Djinn's Aiysha Hart.

The drama is currently being filmed in the UK and Morocco.

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s230/atlantis/news/a500775/merlin-creators-new-show-atlantis-to-air-on-bbc-america.html#~oAMhrq0PF5lC62#ixzz2yEAsznf9
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October 19, 2013 - Express.co.uk - Sarah Parish (TROLL/LADY CATRINA) INTERVIEW - Agatha Christie's Poirot

A big case for Agatha Christie's Poirot

Everyone's favourite Belgian sleuth is reunited with Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon

By: Catrin Carrucan

Published: Sat, October 19, 2013

DETECTIVE: David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Sarah Parish as Flossie Monro [ITV ]

WHEN Saturday joins David Suchet on the set of Poirot: The Big Four in east London's Hackney Empire, he reveals that the historic theatre has a special significance to him.
"The Hackney Empire was part of the big music hall circuit, and my grandmother, Elsie, was a dancer," the 67–year–old actor recalls. "It was while she was performing her one–woman show at the Hackney Empire that a young man in the audience fell in love with her. He waited for her at the stage door and asked her if she'd like to go for a drink with him.
"She politely said no. He tried again for the next three nights, waiting for her at the stage door with no joy. On Elsie's final night at the Empire, the man, who had very little money, somehow managed to get hold of tails and a top hat and while dressed like this, he presented her with a rose. My grandmother finally gave in and agreed to a quick drink. And the rest is history – they became my grandparents, Jimmy and Elsie!
"It's a wonderfully romantic story and I'm so happy to be filming somewhere that has such an important meaning to me. I spoke to my brother (news reader John Suchet) on the way here and he said, 'you'll be surrounded by good ghosts today, David."
Adapted by Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard, The Big Four is the first of four final Poirot episodes that will see David hanging up his famous moustache after 25 years of playing Agatha Christie's Belgian detective. The case is one of Hercule Poirot's most ambitious challenges yet and sees the super sleuth trying to solve a murder with global repercussions.
Set against the backdrop of the impending Second World War, the members of the Peace Party host a grand reception in an effort to demonstrate international unity.
But during the course of the evening, reclusive Russian grandmaster Dr Ivan Savaranof (Michael Culkin) drops down dead while playing a game of chess. Ruthless journalist Tysoe (Tom Brooke) covers the story and claims that a group of dangerous political agitators, nicknamed The Big Four, are responsible for Savaranoff's death.
"The Big Four are causing a crisis all over the world with members of the Peace Party being killed of," David says. "It's up to Poirot to uncover their identities and stop them.
"The Big Four is a challenging book to adapt as it's a very complex story, but it's a very clever and interesting adaptation, which submerges Poirot into a world of global espionage rarely seen until now."

FRIENDS: Poirot will be joined by some familiar faces in The Big Four [ITV]

The Big Four is a challenging book to adapt as it's a very complex story, but it's a very clever and interesting adaptation

Poirot will be joined by some familiar faces in The Big Four as he is reunited with his loyal friends Assistant Commissioner Japp (Philip Jackson) Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser) and Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran). It is the first time the four have appeared in an episode together since 2001's Evil Under The Sun.
"This is the only time they will all be reunited. It was very emotional on set because we were together for the very last time," says David. "It was great to have them back. We may look a bit different now but all the old friendships are still there and we all stay in touch. There's still that bond. Their characters bring out different sides to Poirot."
Poirot is also aided in The Big Four by actress Flossie Monro, played by Sarah Parish. Other cast members include Patricia Hodge, James Carroll Jordan, Steven Pacey, Nicholas Burns and Simon Lowe.
"In The Big Four, I play an ageing actress who is down on her luck. Things haven't quite worked out as she hoped," says Sarah, 45, who is also currently starring in BBC1's Atlantis and ITV's Breathless. "We don't really know how Flossie fits in to the story at first but then it becomes apparent just how important to solving the mystery she is."
Having appeared in Agatha Christie Marple: Sleeping Murder in 2006, Sarah is no stranger to starring in the famous author's whodunnits. However, she admits that she is delighted that she was able to join David in one of the final Poirot films.
"I remember saying when I filmed Marple how much I would also love to do a Poirot mystery. It's a huge honour to be a part of The Big Four and to film alongside David.
"These episodes are little bits of history and should be cherished and celebrated."
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT THE BIG FOUR, WEDNESDAY, 8PM, ITV
"THE BIG FOUR IS A CHALLENGING BOOK TO ADAPT AS IT'S A VERY COMPLEX STORY, WHICH SUBMERGES POIROT INTO A WORLD OF GLOBAL ESPIONAGE DAVID SUCHET "

March 8, 2014 - Express.co.uk - Sarah Parish (TROLL/LADY CATRINA) joins Hugh Bonneville in Twenty Twelve sequel

Sarah Parish on starring with Hugh Bonneville in Twenty Twelve sequel

SARAH PARISH joins Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes in Twenty Twelve sequel W1A, a comedy that sends up TV bosses

By: Kirsty Nutkins

Published: Sat, March 8, 2014

WIA, Wednesday, March 19, BBC2 [BBC]

When comedy series Twenty Twelve hit our screens in 2011, in the run-up to London’s 2012 Summer Olympics, many commented on its uncanny knack of precipitating real events. Following a fictional, haplessly incompetent Olympic Deliverance Commission as it prepared for the Games, the BBC’s sitcom’s opening episode portrayed the PR disaster of the malfunctioning countdown-to-the-games clock.
Hilarity ensued when the real clock in Trafalgar Square stopped a day after the episode aired. The second episode showed a busload of Olympic delegates lost in London, an event mirrored a year later when buses carrying journalists went astray.
So it’s a brave move by writer John Morton to base his spin-off within the BBC. The four-parter, called W1A after the location of the Beeb’s HQ in central London, sees Hugh Bonneville reprise the role of commission head Ian Fletcher, now newly appointed as the BBC’s Head of Values.
It’s dangerous, surely, for a sitcom to make fun of its parent broadcaster?
“I’ll admit it’s bold – the BBC has been a good sport about the whole thing,” laughs Hugh, 50. “W1A operates in the same way as Twenty Twelve in that it satirises the absurdities that go on within management structures – we’re not having a dig at the Olympics or the BBC per se.” 

Sarah joins Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes in WIA [BBC]

I told my agent that my next role had to be one where I at least cracked a smile. I was so bored of being evil, mean and depressed

Sarah Parish

This time, Ian and his team have to “clarify, define, or redefine the core purpose of the BBC across all its functions” and to “strengthen its future position, in particular for licence fee renegotiation and charter renewal in 2016 and 2017”. No mean feat for the manager and his incompetent colleagues.
One of these is motormouth PR executive Siobhan Sharpe, played by Jessica Hynes, whose highfalutin ideas and complete lack of common sense made her one of Twenty Twelve’s best-loved characters.
As well as a number of guests, including Carol Vorderman and Clare Balding, Sarah Parish will join the cast as Head of Output Anna Rampton.
The actress was last seen as evil queen Pasiphae in Atlantis and was also in Cutting It and Mistresses.
“I told my agent that my next role had to be one where I at least cracked a smile. I was so bored of being evil, mean and depressed,” she laughs. “When this came up, I jumped at it. It was exactly what I wanted to do.”
Anna’s role is one that she’s massively underqualified for, says Sarah.
“She does a very good impression of being good at her job,” says the actress, 45. “She’s very direct and she makes decisions quickly… but unfortunately, they always turn out to be the wrong ones.”
While Sarah has relished being involved in a light-hearted project, it was definitely a change of pace for her. “At the end of the day, everyone’s a bit frazzled and exhausted,” she says. “The scenes go at such a pace and every word has to be absolutely right.”
The schedule was equally exhausting for Hugh, who had to fit it round filming ITV drama Downton Abbey and other roles, notably The Monuments Men, the movie starring George Clooney and Matt Damon which was released last month.
“It was fabulous,” says Hugh, of working alongside such iconic actors. “I got a call from my agent about 18 months ago, asking whether I wanted to be in a movie with George Clooney. They said they’d send me the script to have a look at and I said: ‘Don’t bother sending me the script. I’ll do it!’”
With such roles being offered to him, is he keen to continue in his role of Downton’s much-loved Earl of Grantham? “I’ll keep trundling on until [Downton writer] Julian Fellowes tells me it’s time to go,” he says. “I’m not planning to jump ship any time soon.”
With plans for more episodes of W1A in the pipeline, Hugh hopes it’s as well received as Twenty Twelve.
Does he think there could be scope for a few more series and another career change for Ian? “I hope so,” he says. “John Morton’s writing captures so wonderfully the nonsense so many of us speak in everyday life. We think we’re communicating, but actually we’re just obscuring what we’re supposed to be saying.”