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Written By mokulenComments Off on On ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ and SiriusXM Radio on Thursday
Damian Lewis made guest appearances on SiriusXM Radio’s The Covino and Rich Show and on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday. Click below for pictures including hi-res stills from Jimmy Fallon.
Update: Click here at the media archive to download the radio interview.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on BBC Radio 4 Front Row Interview
Damian Lewis’s interview with BBC Radio 4’s Front Row broadcast on Tuesday. Click here at the BBC website to listen to it online. For an mp3 download, click here at the media archive. Read excerpts from the interview in the BBC article below.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Front Row, the British actor said he was aware of the risk when he first began acting and never revealed the detail.
“It was really to avoid any typecasting in a floppy-fringed, public schoolboy kind of way,” he said.
By not looking the stereotypical part, Lewis went on, he had a greater variety of roles open to him.
“My experience of boarding school was that I wasn’t the handsome Rupert Everett type,” the 41-year-old said. “I was the slightly too red and pale, funny one.”
Once he had played a range of roles and felt confident to talk about attending Eton, the actor found “it was the first line of every print interview” he did.
“I thought, ‘There you go, I’m vindicated,’ and there was every reason not to talk about it,” he said.
His comments come after Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch complained he was fed up with being attacked over his private school education.
In contrast, Lewis said, he had generally not experienced much “posh-bashing”.
“It’s probably partly to do with the success I’ve had in America that people don’t identify me too strongly with it in its context,” he said.
“When they want to they will, and when they don’t need to they don’t, so I don’t mind too much.”
Lewis will soon be seen in a film version of The Sweeney, alongside Ray Winstone and Ben “Plan B” Drew.
The full interview can be heard of Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday at 19:15 BST.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on ‘Number 10’ Review
All 4 episodes of the latest BBC Radio 4 drama Number 10 are currently available for listening online on the BBC website. Here’s a review from Radio Drama Reviews Online:
This series of four political plays had just about everything in it: satire, drama, conflict, humour, plus a liberal dose of cynicism about politicians – irrespective of their persuasions.
Each play touched on issues of paramount importance to the contemporary world – the pernicious influence of capitalism, media ownership, the power of the hypermarkets, overseas ‘development,’ computer hacking, street demonstrations and devolution.
Sometimes the satire was reminiscent of political comedies of previous eras: The New Statesman and The Thick of It sprung to mind as I listened to the perpetual bickering between Prime Minister Simon Laity (Damian Lewis) and his various political minions including loud-mouthed Aussie Nathan Loltzn (Mike Sengelow), Georgie (Gina McKee), Connie (Stella Gonet) and oleaginous elder statesperson Sir Hugo (Julian Glover). One member of staff, Amjad Hernmati (Arsher Ali) tried to sustain his integrity, but found himself under pressure to ‘revise’ his judgments in the interests of ‘good’ government (a nicely euphemistic phrase which basically meant suppressing any democratic initiatives, designed to reduce the power of large capitalist organizations and prioritize the rights of the individual).
On the other hand the series did not ignore the human element, as it focused on Simon’s relationship with his partner Alan (John Hollingworth), whose apparently erratic behaviour concealed a secret that would change both men’s lives.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on BBC Radio Drama ‘Number 10’ on this week
A new 4-part series of the BBC radio drama Number 10 will broadcast this week Monday-Thursday from 2.15-3.00pm on BBC Radio 4. Damian Lewis again reprises his role as PM Simon Laity. The episodes will be made available to listen to at the BBC website for 7 days after broadcast. Update: You can now download the first episode here from the Media archive.
Here’s a short review of the series from the Radio Times:
The first in the fifth series of Jonathan Myerson’s exceptional drama finds the Conservative Prime Minister Simon Laity (Damian Lewis) facing a number of challenges.
The Scottish parliament has legalised assisted suicide and a couple en route to the Dignitas clinic in Glasgow have been arrested in Northumberland; the Crown Prince of West Tuvalonga is posing a diplomatic problem after being apparently snubbed by Simon’s partner Alan at a state dinner; and the chief strategist is promoting an MP’s idea for an international six-day week.
Myerson keeps all the plates of the various plot lines spinning successfully, striking a fine balance between the absurd, the tragicomic and the serious, and interjecting a few telling gags from time to time. A blunder caught on a still open mic remind you of anyone?
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Written By mokulenComments Off on New series of ‘Number 10′
A new series of the BBC radio drama Number 10 will broadcast Monday-Thursday, February 20-23 from 2.15-3.00pm on BBC Radio 4. Damian Lewis will reprise his role as Prime Minister Simon Laity. For downloads of the two previous series, visit our Media archive here.
Jonathan Myerson’s Number 10 returns for a new series, with more drama depicting life inside Downing Street. Starring Damian Lewis as the Prime Minister, Simon Laity.
The first episode sees Scotland legalising assisted dying and a couple arrested in Northumberland on their way to the new Dignitas Clinic in Glasgow.
The politicians know this is potentially a way to promote Scottish independence but it still leaves Simon Laity, PM, with the bad press from a terminally-ill man in custody.The team want him to consider assisted dying legislation in England, but he flatly refuses – for him it is a moral issue and an uncrossable line.
The Crown Prince of West Tuvalonga, in the UK to sign a massive oil exploration deal, is angry as well – apparently snubbed the night before by Simon’s partner Alan, who seemed worse for wear at the state dinner.
Meanwhile, to win wavering votes, the PM’s strategist is promoting a reform to the international calendar – he wants a six-day week, abolishing Tuesdays. Simon is unwilling to confront Alan about his drinking, but when he finally doeshe gets a horrible surprise – Alan has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. But he insists it remain their secret for as long as possible.
The second play sees a routine eviction blowing up into a full scale riot, playing into the hands of an e-petition in favour of capital punishment. But when the opposition promote it for a debate in the House, Simon feels he has to come down hard on police violence.
The third play finds the PM preparing to deliver his speech to the Party Conference in Brighton. But with just 11 hours to go, the speech isn’t even written yet.
In the final play in the series, Alan’s health is rapidly deteriorating and Simon is still struggling to find time to spend with him. Now wheelchair-bound, Alan starts talking about the Dignitas clinic in Glasgow – and when he disappears Simon assumes the worst and makes a decision that shocks the cabinet.
The series cast stars Mike Sengelow as Nathan, Gina McKee as Georgie, Julian Glover as Sir Hugo and features Stella Gonet, Steven Spiers and Jasper Britton.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on On Weekend Wogan, New project news
Damian Lewis was on Weekend Wogan on Sunday. You can listen to it here at the BBC radio site (his part begins at the 1:24 mark) or you can download here from our Media archive.
He said in the interview that he’ll next be working in Italy on Carlo Carlei’s adaption of Romeo And Juliet. The film is being touted as “Romeo and Juliet” for the “Twilight” generation. More on the project:
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Written By mokulenComments Off on Damian nominated for BBC Audio Awards
David Tennant, Damian Lewis and Rory Kinnear will compete for the best actor title at the inaugural BBC Audio Drama Awards this month.
Tennant is nominated for Kafka – The Musical, by Murray Gold, while Lewis is up for Giovanni’s Room by Neil Bartlett and Kinnear is nominated for Flare Path by Terence Rattigan. All were aired on BBC Radio 3.
The nominees for best actress are Candis Nergaard, for Atching Tan by Dan Allum, June Whitfield, for A Monstrous Vitality by Andy Merriman, and Rosie Cavaliero, who is up for her turn in A Telegram from the Queen. These productions were broadcast on Radio 4.
Meanwhile, best audio drama nominees are A Shoebox of Snow, by Julie Mayhew, Lost Property – The Year My Mother Went Missing, written by Katie Himms, and Jonathan Cash’s The First Domino.
Other nominees include Shelagh Stephenson, who is up for best adaptation for her production of Alone in Berlin, broadcast on Radio 4. She will compete with Matthew Solon, who penned Five Days in May, and Brian Sibley, who is nominated for The History of Titus Groan.
The awards celebrate the cultural importance of audio drama, on air and online, and honour the actors, writers, producers, sound designers, and others who work in the genre.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held on January 29 in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House, presented by Tennant.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on On Ron Bennington Interviews
You can now download the interview Damian Lewis did for the SiriusXM radio show Ron Bennington Interviews here from our media area. It’s a bit longer than the print interview that was posted at the Interrobang website – there’s more discussion on Homeland and you’ll hear the full story on how Damian got his black eye!
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Written By mokulenComments Off on More interviews
Damian Lewis was on the SiriusXM radio show Geektime! on Friday. He talked about the lie detector and deer-killing scenes from Homeland and also about his previous series Life. It was one of the better interviews. Warning: It’s Sirius radio, so there was some cursing! You can download it from our Media section here. (To start the download, click on the thumbnail.)
Damian Lewis also discusses Homeland in the AP interview below. You can download it from our Media area here.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on Damian Lewis talks about ‘Will’
Damian Lewis was interviewed by the London radio station Magic 105.4 FM on Thursday. Click here for the interview or download it from our site here.
Update: BBC Radio Scotland also interviewed him about Will: Click here to listen to the interview at the BBC website (at the 21:42 mark) or click here for an mp3 download.
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Written By mokulenComments Off on ‘Giovanni’s Room’ Repeat
Giovanni’s Room will be repeated on Sunday from 8:00pm – 9:30pm UK time on BBC Radio 3. You can listen to it live online or afterwards for 7 days on the BBC site here. The program is available for download on our Audio page.
The Stage has it as one of this weekend’s radio choices:
Drama on 3: Giovanni’s Room Radio 3, Sunday 8pm
Adapted and directed by Neil Bartlett and with a cast that includes Damian Lewis, Derek Jacobi, John Lithgow and Greta Scacchi, James Baldwin’s novel was groundbreaking in terms of its sensitive portrayal of homosexuality.