Wizards vs Aliens Series 2 pictures released

Tuesday, 22 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman

Pictures from the new series of Wizard vs Aliens were released by the BBC today.

The 14-part CBBC show begins on Monday 28th October at 5pm and sees Jessica Plummer joining the regular cast as new wizard Chloe Martin.

Guest-starring in the first story - 100 Wizards - is Cyril Nri, who played The Shopkeeper in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

FILTER: - CBBC - Wizards Vs Aliens

Only Connect on the move

Saturday, 19 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman

Victoria Coren Mitchell, pictured in 2009. Image: BBC/Presentable, part of the RDF Media Group

The BBC Four quiz show Only Connect is to move to BBC Two next year.

Hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell and currently in its eighth series, the programme - in which teams compete to find connections between seemingly unrelated clues - will stay on BBC Four for another series next spring before hopping channels.

Janice Hadlow, the controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, said:

BBC Four has a proud tradition of growing successful shows and I'm delighted Only Connect is making the move to BBC Two, where I hope it will connect with an even broader audience.

Coren Mitchell commented:

I and the rest of the Only Connect team are hugely excited about our Icarus-like flight towards the sun of mainstream broadcasting. If our wings start melting, I'll just flap harder.

Alan Tyler, the BBC's executive editor for entertainment commissioning, added:

Victoria and the Only Connect team have set the gold standard in quizzes. We are all really looking forward to seeing the show in its new home, whilst the hunt is already under way for a successor on BBC Four.

Only Connect is made by Parasol Media Ltd and RDF Television, produced by Jenny Hawker, and executive-produced by Chris Stuart and Mark Hill. The show regularly attracts more than a million viewers, making it one of the most-viewed programmes on BBC Four.

The channel has tendered for a replacement show and, following short-listing, is currently seeing run-throughs of three contenders: The Knowledge from BBC In-House Entertainment, Enigma from RDF-Parasol, and Eliminate The Impossible from Victory Television.

FILTER: - BBC Two - Only Connect - BBC Four

Wizards vs Aliens new series start details

Thursday, 17 October 2013 - Reported by John Bowman

The second series of Wizards vs Aliens is to start on Monday 28th October at 5pm.

The CBBC science fantasy drama is back for an extended 14-week run of two episodes a week, following its first series of 12 weeks last autumn, and will comprise seven two-part stories. The first adventure is entitled 100 Wizards and has been written by series co-creator Phil Ford and directed by Beryl Richards. The concluding part will air on Tuesday 29th October at the same time.

Tom and Benny make an amazing discovery – a new wizard called Chloe. The race is on to find her before the Nekross can feast. But when Hex TV steps in to broadcast Chloe's powers worldwide, every wizard in the land faces danger. Can Tom stop Chloe in time, before the Nekross can spring their trap?

In the second episode of the week, with 100 wizards trapped in the Nekross King's evil scheme, Tom, Benny and Chloe must unite to fight the enemy. But with the mighty spaceship Zarantulus on its way to Earth, time is running out. Tom faces losing his family – and losing his heart to Chloe too.

The show stars Scott Haran as Tom Clarke and Percelle Ascott as Benny Sherwood, with the voice of Brian Blessed as the alien Nekross King.

The following story is called Vice Versa, written by Clayton Hickman and again directed by Richards, while the third one is The Cave of Menla-Gto, penned by Joseph Lidster, the fourth one is The Curse of Crowe, written by Gareth Roberts, and the fifth one will be The Thirteenth Floor, again by Ford, which was originally intended for the fifth series of The Sarah Jane Adventures but never made as the show was ended following the death of lead actress Elisabeth Sladen. The sixth story is entitled Endless Night, also written by Ford, while the title of the series finale is yet to be revealed, as is the identity of the actress playing Chloe.

The BFI is holding a preview of the first two episodes of the new series on Saturday 26th October at 1.30pm, with Haran, Ascott, and Ford being joined by Michael Higgs, who plays Michael Clarke, and producer Brian Minchin as the special guests. Tickets can be bought via this link.

The scripts for episode 1 and episode 2 of the first series are available to download for free from the BBC Writersroom.

FILTER: - CBBC - Wizards Vs Aliens

The Clangers to return

Tuesday, 15 October 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have announced that the classic children's series The Clangers is to be revived for a new generation of viewers. The series is to make by its original producers, Smallfilms, with original producer Peter Firmin actively involved as executive producer and designer alongside the late Oliver Postgate's son Daniel, who is writing storylines and scripts.

Firmin said:

We hope to engage and entertain children of all ages and their families, just as Oliver and I did all those years ago. The new series will include great story telling with lots of heart. It will also be technically improved. When you watch the original Clangers you have to make allowances for the limitations of the animation techniques when it was made. It was magical for its time, but this is a new Clangers for a new age!

Postgate added:

I’ve always loved Clangers. It is my favourite Smallfilms show. In fact, it is my favourite children’s show of all time. I was about five years old when it was made – just the right age. The new Clangers is not something we’ve rushed into. It has been carefully considered. For me, this is a labour of love. We are very fortunate to get the very best people collectively to work on it, and we are all very enthusiastic!

The series is a co-production between Smallfilms, the BBC's pre-school channel CBeebies, intellectual property holders Coolabi and US 24-hour pre-school network, Sprout, with BBC Worldwide acting as international distributor.

Kay Benbow, Controller of CBeebies, said:

Nostalgia is a funny thing, and we always think very carefully about remakes or re-imaginings of classic children’s programmes. The Clangers is a programme that has an enduring magic. The new proposition has been built firmly upon the joyful foundations of the original, and will be produced by a team of exceptional talent which includes the extraordinary Peter Firmin. We are terrifically excited to bring this out-of-this-world series to our CBeebies audience.

Jeremy Banks, CEO, Coolabi, said:

Clangers is a highly respected and much-loved brand that remains close to the hearts of the British public. It was watched by millions of children and their families in the early days of colour television and is remembered with affection by many. Our aim is to pay tribute to the classic series whilst appealing to a new generation of pre-school fans and families.

Andrew Beecham, SVP of Programming at Sprout, said:

Sprout is passionate about bringing the finest children’s programmes to our audience and Clangers aligns with this vision. Clangers has a remarkable animation heritage, which had a big impact on my childhood in the UK, so I look forward to its reinvention for a brand new audience on Sprout in the US.

Production has begun on the series, which is expected to be broadcast in 2015.

FILTER: - BBC - Animation - CBeebies

Wizards Vs Aliens Series 2 On Its Way

Wednesday, 18 September 2013 - Reported by John Bowman

Children's sci-fi fantasy drama Wizards vs Aliens returns to CBBC this autumn for an extended second series and the BBC started revving up the publicity machine for it today.

Created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, it brings magic and sci-fi together as 16-year-old wizard Tom Clarke and his scientific friend Benny Sherwood try to stop the alien Nekross from creating massive trouble for all of wizardkind - and threatening the survival of Earth.

The 14-episode series - two episodes longer than the first - sees the return of Scott Haran as Tom and Percelle Ascott as Benny, as well as Annette Badland (Ursula Crowe), Michael Higgs (Michael Clarke), Jefferson Hall (Varg), Gwendoline Christie (Lexi), Dan Starkey (Randal Moon), Tom Bell (Technician Jathro 15), and the voice of Brian Blessed as the alien Nekross King.

New aliens and new wizards are promised, and Davies, who is also the co-executive producer of the show, said:

It's a delight to be back on CBBC with a series which is wilder, bolder, deeper, and funnier than ever, taking us from suburbia to the wilds of Tibet, encountering spaceships, magical worlds, haunted castles, and galactic wars along the way.

And at the centre of it all is the most important thing of all - the friendship between two boys, as junior wizard Tom and his best friend Benny fight to save the world. Magic and science are a combustible mix - and this year it's going to explode!

One of the stories - The Thirteenth Floor, written by Ford - will be a reworking of an adventure intended to form part of the fifth, and ultimately final, series of The Sarah Jane Adventures but which was never made because of the tragic death of the show's star, Elisabeth Sladen, in April 2011.

Produced by BBC Cymru Wales in association with FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, the new series of Wizards vs Aliens was filmed at the BBC's Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff and on location around the area between January and May this year.

The first series aired between 29th October and 4th December 2012. The start date for Series 2 is yet to be announced.

FILTER: - CBBC - Wizards Vs Aliens

Wolfblood Back For Second Series Plus Spin-Off

Saturday, 31 August 2013 - Reported by John Bowman

The CBBC fantasy drama Wolfblood returns to TV screens next month for a 13-part second series plus a spin-off programme.

The action show follows the lives of teenagers Maddy, played by Aimee Kelly, and Rhydian, portrayed by Bobby Lockwood, and their secret lives as wolfbloods.

Wolfbloods such as Maddy and Rhydian have razor-sharp senses with an amazing sense of smell and are incredibly fast and super-strong. They also change into wolves every full moon . . .

The intense trials and tribulations of school, friendships, heartbreak, and mystery continue in this second series, as Rhydian unexpectedly returns to Stoneybridge, putting Maddy and her family in danger.

In addition to the new episodes on CBBC, there will also be a "secret" 14th episode that will be shown on the CBBC Red Button and CBBC website, plus a new game that will also be on the CBBC website.

Spencer Campbell, the show's executive producer, said:

We had a great reaction to the first series and are looking forward to introducing some exciting new characters this time round. Series two is packed full of surprises. Maddy and Rhydian are still learning about who they are, whilst trying to avoid discovery, and I think they have grown up a lot. It may be complicated being a teenager, but it's even more difficult when you're a wolfblood teenager!

The 30-minute episodes, which co-star Louisa Connolly-Burnham as Shannon and Kedar Williams-Stirling as Tom, were filmed entirely on location in Northumberland. The show has been produced by Foz Allan, with the visual effects by Munich-based Trixter.

The programme was created by Debbie Moon and is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE.

Spin-off series Wolfblood Uncovered, which has been made by the BBC's Natural History Unit, follows Lockwood as he sets out to find out everything there is to know about wolves and to discover how their capabilities have inspired the wolfbloods of the show. It comprises ten 15-minute episodes.

The first episode of Wolfblood Uncovered, entitled Super Senses, will be shown on Saturday 7th September at 10.30am, with the second episode - Speed And Stamina - being shown the same day at 1.30pm.

Episode one of the new series of Wolfblood will air on Monday 9th September at 5pm, with the second episode being broadcast the next day at the same time. The "secret" episode will be on the CBBC Red Button between 5.35pm and 7.30pm on Monday 9th September, repeated the next day at 5.35pm and on Thursday 12th September at 12pm.

A trailer for the second series is available to watch:

Wolfblood Series 2 trailer, via CBBC site

A preview of the game - Leader Of The Pack - is also available:

Leader Of The Pack preview, via CBBC site

FILTER: - CBBC

Previous 6 Stories

Wizards vs Aliens Series 2 pictures released

Only Connect on the move

Wizards vs Aliens new series start details

The Clangers to return

Wizards Vs Aliens Series 2 On Its Way

Wolfblood Back For Second Series Plus Spin-Off

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