Podcast appearances and mentions of howard overman

C'est le grand retour de Fear the Walking Dead sur Canal+ pour sa dernière tourne puisque la série fera ses adieux à la fin de cette saison 8. Fear the Walking Dead Le premier spin-off de The Walking Dead présentait les débuts de l'épidémie. Fear the Walking Dead se distingue de sa série mère en explorant davantage les premiers jours de l'apocalypse zombie et en mettant l'accent sur les conséquences émotionnelles et psychologiques de l'effondrement de la société. La série suit initialement une famille recomposée à Los Angeles, composée de Madison Clark, ses enfants Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) et Nick (Frank Dillane), ainsi que son compagnon Travis. Au fil des saisons, des personnages vont venir et nous quitter, comme dans toute situation post-apocalyptique où les dangers se cachent à chaque coin de rue. Mais pour cette dernière saison, le retour d'un personnage va probablement vous surprendre ! Le spin-off avec Tales of the Walking Dead est déjà là tandis que celui sur Daryl Dixon ne tardera pas ! https://youtu.be/y_R29FvQQcQ See L'univers de See a toujours voulu se montrer ambitieux avec son concept : un monde post-apocalyptique où la vue a disparu chez les êtres humains qui ont dû s'adapter à la cécité. Alors que la majorité des personnages sont des non-voyants menés par un chef de tribu sous les traits de Jason Momoa, représenter ça en série, un médium visuel, est un véritable défi en soi. La série créée par Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) inclut des conflits de territoire, une peur de l'inconnu mais aussi une véritable volonté d'un monde meilleur. Avec un univers sombre et une violence omniprésente, la série a su apporter le genre chez AppleTV+ (le catalogue étant disponible via Canal+ depuis le mois dernier, d'où sa présence dans notre reco) sans paraître ridicule. De l'action, du fun, du drama, un peu de sexe, dans un contexte pseudo historique (on est dans le futur mais avec un mode de vie passé) See s'est terminée au bout de trois saisons pleines d'action. https://youtu.be/7Rg0y7NT1gU La guerre des mondes De l'aveu de son créateur, La Guerre des Mondes est une série sur la différence et l'altérité, une thématique profondément humaine qui prend le pas sur la pure science-fiction. Avec sa galerie de personnages européens entre la France et l'Angleterre, la série s'est libérée des poncifs pour une tonalité plus dramatique et intimiste. Les aliens ne sont pas que des cauchemars ou des on-dits mais prennent bien forme (humaine par dessus le marché). En quelque sorte, « l'humain est ici son propre ennemi » selon Howard Overman, le scénariste qui cherche à placer l'intime au centre de la science-fiction comme ont pu le faire d'autres titres du genre. Dans cette co-production franco-britannique, c'est Léa Drucker qui interprète la protagoniste, Nathalie, une femme qui tente de survivre et de protéger sa famille alors que les extraterrestres envahissent la Terre. Face à elle, Gabriel Byrne qui a beaucoup de choses à se faire pardonner. https://youtu.be/JuHKAWCCJzw Direction myCanal pour ces trois séries post-apocalyptiques qui montrent le monde d'après avec des catastrophes différentes.

C'est le grand retour de Fear the Walking Dead sur Canal+ pour sa dernière tourne puisque la série fera ses adieux à la fin de cette saison 8. Fear the Walking Dead Le premier spin-off de The Walking Dead présentait les débuts de l'épidémie. Fear the Walking Dead se distingue de sa série mère en explorant davantage les premiers jours de l'apocalypse zombie et en mettant l'accent sur les conséquences émotionnelles et psychologiques de l'effondrement de la société. La série suit initialement une famille recomposée à Los Angeles, composée de Madison Clark, ses enfants Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) et Nick (Frank Dillane), ainsi que son compagnon Travis. Au fil des saisons, des personnages vont venir et nous quitter, comme dans toute situation post-apocalyptique où les dangers se cachent à chaque coin de rue. Mais pour cette dernière saison, le retour d'un personnage va probablement vous surprendre ! Le spin-off avec Tales of the Walking Dead est déjà là tandis que celui sur Daryl Dixon ne tardera pas ! https://youtu.be/y_R29FvQQcQ See L'univers de See a toujours voulu se montrer ambitieux avec son concept : un monde post-apocalyptique où la vue a disparu chez les êtres humains qui ont dû s'adapter à la cécité. Alors que la majorité des personnages sont des non-voyants menés par un chef de tribu sous les traits de Jason Momoa, représenter ça en série, un médium visuel, est un véritable défi en soi. La série créée par Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) inclut des conflits de territoire, une peur de l'inconnu mais aussi une véritable volonté d'un monde meilleur. Avec un univers sombre et une violence omniprésente, la série a su apporter le genre chez AppleTV+ (le catalogue étant disponible via Canal+ depuis le mois dernier, d'où sa présence dans notre reco) sans paraître ridicule. De l'action, du fun, du drama, un peu de sexe, dans un contexte pseudo historique (on est dans le futur mais avec un mode de vie passé) See s'est terminée au bout de trois saisons pleines d'action. https://youtu.be/7Rg0y7NT1gU La guerre des mondes De l'aveu de son créateur, La Guerre des Mondes est une série sur la différence et l'altérité, une thématique profondément humaine qui prend le pas sur la pure science-fiction. Avec sa galerie de personnages européens entre la France et l'Angleterre, la série s'est libérée des poncifs pour une tonalité plus dramatique et intimiste. Les aliens ne sont pas que des cauchemars ou des on-dits mais prennent bien forme (humaine par dessus le marché). En quelque sorte, « l'humain est ici son propre ennemi » selon Howard Overman, le scénariste qui cherche à placer l'intime au centre de la science-fiction comme ont pu le faire d'autres titres du genre. Dans cette co-production franco-britannique, c'est Léa Drucker qui interprète la protagoniste, Nathalie, une femme qui tente de survivre et de protéger sa famille alors que les extraterrestres envahissent la Terre. Face à elle, Gabriel Byrne qui a beaucoup de choses à se faire pardonner. https://youtu.be/JuHKAWCCJzw Direction myCanal pour ces trois séries post-apocalyptiques qui montrent le monde d'après avec des catastrophes différentes.

Aquesta setmana a Ona Cinema hem entrevistat Ruth Máez, directora i guionista del curtmetratge 'Laia', que té encetada una campanya de verkami per impulsar-lo (el curt s'ha rodat recentment) i està interpretat per Marta Marco, Meritxell Ané i Júlia Jové. Tot seguit, hem comentat la reestrena a la cartellera de pel·lícules mítiques, com 'La escopeta nacional', commemorant el centenari del naixement de Luis Garcia Berlanga, de 'Reservoir dogs', de Quentin Tarantino, la preparació de la 2a part de 'Joker', el rodatge de 'El hombre bueno' de David Trueba amb Jorge Sanz, el llargmetratge 'El año de la furia' de Rafa Russo, amb un magnífic repartiment encapçalat per Alberto Ammann, on intervenen també Maribel Verdú, Martina Gusmán i Miguel Ángel Solá i hem descobert a Joaquin Furriel (en cartell després de passar pel Bcn Film Fest)... Les estrenes del molt entretingut nou film de Zack Snyder, 'Army of the dead' ('Ejército de los muertos') a Netflix, el thriller danès 'Shorta' de Frederik Louis Hviid i Anders Ølholm, a la cartellera, l'original 'Jumbo' de Zoe Wittock, amb Noémie Merlant ('Retrato de una mujer en llamas') a Filmin... El retorn d'uns amics molt famosos amb 'Friends: The Reunion' (HBO), la qualitat de la minisèrie 'Mare of Easttown' de Craig Zobel i Brad Ingelsby amb una gran Kate Winslet, la sèrie documental alemanya 'La historia del Mossad' a Movistar +, la pel·lícula 'Oslo' de Bartlett Sher produida per Steven Spielberg a HBO, i la 2a temporada (que ha trigat a arribar) de 'La guerra de los mundos' de Howard Overman, amb Gabriel Byrne. Ona Cultural - Ona de Sants - cinema - sèries - curtmetratges - llargmetratges - rodatges - estrenes - mecenatge - crowdfunding - Josep Maria Jolis - Lluís Rueda - Laura Clemente - ràdio

The program all about TV. Our guests: R.T. Thorne and Andrea Gorfolova, creator/executive producer/director and executive producer respectively of Utopia Falls, Hulu's new musical drama series which launched earlier today, and Howard Overman, award-winning creator/writer/executive producer of War Of The Worlds, Epix's modern-day take on H.G. Wells' classic story, premiering Sunday night

Televigion has returned! In a new more focused format and with a new name, Pilot Season. We (James and Rachel) will be recording regular episodes where we have watched the pilot episode of a show and then we'll chat for roughly half an hour. Sometimes we'll know the show, and sometimes we won't. Sometimes we'll like the show, and sometimes we won't. But we promise to have fun discussing it. This episode we have returning special guest James Walker, who joined us for Future Man on Now TV/Syfy, a new science fiction comedy from Howard Overman of Misfits fame (amongst other things) starring Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe and a whole bunch of recognisable faces. James' excellent podcast where he chats with some excellent comedians can be found here and his list of 5 TV shows that best represent him is Dragonball Z Parks and Recreation Flight of the Conchords The Mighty Boosh Nathan for You For the future we're looking for recommendations and guests! Get in touch with us:- Televigion on Twitter, James on Twitter, Rachel on Instagram, Rachel on Twitter, The Televigion Blog or televigionist@gmail.com.  

  Susan Wokoma – British actress and writer Susan Wokoma is one of the most brilliant and interesting young actors working today. Having already established a diverse and award winning body of work in her short career. In January, Susan reprised the role of eccentric ‘Cynthia’ in the second series of BAFTA Award winning Chewing Gum for Channel 4. The first series of Chewing Gum, a British television sitcom series set in London, debuted on E4 in October 2015. Written by and starring Michaela Coel, Robert Lonsdale, Danielle Walters and Tanya Franks, the show centers on Beyoncé obsessed ‘Tracey Gordon’, a religious, 24-year-old shop assistant, who wants to and learn more about the world. In October last year, Susan starred in six-part comedic horror series Crazyhead, a new series from Misfits creator Howard Overman. The dark comedy, developed by Urban Myth Films for Channel 4 in association with Netflix, is a funny and gripping programme about friendship, love and facing your demons. It follows an unlikely duo of demon hunters – Susan played ‘Raquel’, opposite Cara Theobold, a self-made demon hunter with a whole lot of baggage and an impressive lack of social skills. The cast also includes Riann Steele, Lewis, Arinze Kene and Tony Curran, and Crazy Face was broadcast on E4 in the UK and was launched on Netflix globally in December. Also in October, Susan appeared as ‘Megan’, alongside a fantastic young British cast, including Laura Carmichael, Chloe Pirrie, Jack Farthing and Joe Dempsie, in the melancholic comedy Burn Burn Burn. The independent feature was director Chanya Button’s debut and follows two best friends as they travel across the U.K spreading the ashes of their recently deceased friend. The feature was nominated for the ‘Raindance’ Award at The British Independent Film Awards and was nominated in the category of ‘Best Film’ at the London Film Festival, both in 2015, and won awards from the LOCO Film Festival, Cinema City, Odessa International Film Festival and Umberside Cinema ahead of its UK theatrical release on 28th October. The feature was distributed globally by Netflix later in November. In April 2014, Susan made her film debut as ‘Amala’ and alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose and John Boyega, in Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun. The feature, based on the novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, tells the tale of two sisters after they return to Nigeria right before outbreak of the 1960 Nigerian Civil War. In August 2014, Susan took on the role of ‘Della’ in The Inbetweeners 2, the box office friendly sequel of 2011 hit film, The Inbetweeners Movie. Set in Australia, the British comedy revisits the four main characters from the original as they travel to Australia for the ultimate lads’ holiday. The film became the highest grossing British film in the UK in 2014. In 2006, Susan made her feature film debut as ‘Marie’ in the BAFTA Award-winning fictionalized documentary, That Summer Day. The special follows the lives of six school children on the day of the 7/7 London bombings in 2005. Using archived news footage, the programme was created in response to concerns about how London’s children were coping with the events of that day. The programme aired on BBC Two one year later. Susan’s other on-screen credits include ‘Jess Manning’ in the 2015 BAFTA Craft nominated BBC film The Last Hours of Laura K; ‘Lance ‘Corporal Jasmine Jaspers’ in the third season of the BBC Three’s TV series Bluestone 42 in 2015 and, a role in the TV series Uncle, also on BBC Three in the same year. She also played ‘Jessica’ in Crashing, Channel 4’s six-part British comedy, broadcast in January 2016; ‘Doctor Sensible’ in ITV’s Horrible Science; ‘Daisy’ in Hotel Trubble (2011), and ‘Roz’ in Howard Overman’s cult hit series Misfits (2013). Her theatre work includes productions at the Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Almeida, and The Royal National Theatre. Susan also joined the New York transfers of Phyllida Lloyd’s all female Donmar Warehouse productions of Henry IV and Julius Caesar at St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2014. Susan is currently involved in developing new comedies with Objective, 2LE Media and Lucky Giant, and also writing her own comedy series Fix You as a writer/performer with Cave Bear Productions. In 2016, Susan won Best Supporting Actor at the BBC Audio Drama Awards for her performance in the radio adaptation of Marie NDiaye’s Three Strong Women. She was a member of The National Youth Theatre as a teenager before going on to train at RADA.

A first for us, we recorded this episode in Mindy's car! Darren talks Crazyhead, the British comedy-horror series created by Howard Overman, and Mindy and Jaxon report on The Purge: Election Year. We're always working on content (Next week we're getting into Slime), so stay tuned, subscribe on iTunes, or you could join us on Patreon for even more content.

Dan caught up with Alice Lowe, the writer, director and star of the film Prevenge. He was then joined by Howard Overman, the writer of Misfits and the new E4 and Netflix show Crazyhead. Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, the creators of Humans, also dropped in for a chat. Dan then spoke with Doug Naylor, the creator of hit sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. The actor, comedian and writer Tom Meeten, came into the studio to discuss his guilty pleasures with Dan, as did the writer and producer, Robert Popper.

Dan caught up with Alice Lowe, the writer, director and star of the film Prevenge. He was then joined by Howard Overman, the writer of Misfits and the new E4 and Netflix show Crazyhead. Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, the creators of Humans, also dropped in for a chat. Dan then spoke with Doug Naylor, the creator of hit sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. The actor, comedian and writer Tom Meeten, came into the studio to discuss his guilty pleasures with Dan, as did the writer and producer, Robert Popper.

This week Dan was joined by writer of Misfits and the new E4 and Netflix show Crazyhead. James Gill chats to Dan about live action Disney films and Alfred Hitchcock.

This week Dan was joined by writer of Misfits and the new E4 and Netflix show Crazyhead. James Gill chats to Dan about live action Disney films and Alfred Hitchcock.

Panel Borders: Writing Misfits Concluding a month of shows about writing superhero stories, Panel Borders moves its attention from the comic book page to the small screen as Alex Fitch talks to Howard Overman about Misfits, the E4 award winning drama about teenagers with superpowers doing community service. Alex and Howard talk about the genesis […]

Dirk Gently (TV series) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: , Dirk Gently Titlescreen of series 1, based on Gently's painted whiteboard. Genre / Created by () Written by Howard Overman Jamie Mathieson Directed by Damon Thomas Starring Composer(s) Country of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English No. of series 1 No. of episodes 3 (+ pilot) () Production Executive producer(s) Howard Overman Saurabh Kakkar () Brian Minchin () Eleanor Moran (BBC - Pilot) Jamie Laurenson (BBC - Pilot) Producer(s) Chris Carey Editor(s) Matthew Tabern Cinematography Ole Bratt Birkeland Camera setup Running time 60 minutes Production company(s) The Welded Tandem Picture Company Distributor Broadcast Original channel (repeats) Picture format Audio format Original run 16 December 2010 – 19 March 2012 Chronology Related shows External links Dirk Gently is a comedy detective drama TV series based on characters from the Dirk Gently novels by . The series was created by and stars as detective and as his Richard MacDuff. Recurring actors include as MacDuff's girlfriend Susan Harmison, as Dirk's nemesis DI Gilks and as Dirk's receptionist Janice Pearce. Unlike most detective series Dirk Gently features broadly comic touches and even some themes such as and . Dirk Gently operates his Holistic Detective Agency based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things", which relies on methods to uncover connections between seemingly-unrelated cases. He claims that he follows the principles of , and although the majority of his clients suspect he may be a conman he often produces surprising results. With the help of his assistant, Richard MacDuff, Dirk investigates a number of seemingly unrelated but interconnected cases. An hour-long loosely based on plot elements from Adams' 1987 novel was broadcast on on 16 December 2010 and was watched by 1.1 million viewers. Critical reception was generally positive. A full series of three one-hour episodes was subsequently commissioned in March 2011 and was broadcast on BBC Four in March 2012. The series is the first continuing drama series produced for the digital channel. The series is produced by and The Welded Tandem Picture Company for and shot in . The pilot was written by Howard Overman and directed by Damon Thomas. The full series was written by Overman, and Jamie Mathieson and directed by . The series along with the pilot episode was released on DVD on 26 March 2012 by ITV Studios Home Entertainment. An original television soundtrack album featuring music from the series composed by was released by 1812 Recordings on 5 March 2012. Contents Production Background The novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency has its origins in the incomplete 1979 television serial , featuring as the . Location filming in Cambridge had been completed, but a studio technicians' dispute at the BBC meant that studio segments were not completed, and the serial was never transmitted. As a result of the serial's cancellation, Adams reused a number of ideas from this script and his other Doctor Who scripts as the basis for a new novel, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, published in 1987. Adams published another, in 1988 and at the time of his death in 2001 was working on a third installment to be titled , fragments of which were published posthumously. Each novel features new characters and scenarios, although Dirk (real name Svlad Cjelli), his "ex-secretary" Janice Pearce and Sergeant, later Inspector, Gilks recur in each. The first Gently novel had previously been adapted into a stage play, and a BBC Radio 4 series by which was first broadcast in October 2007 and featured comedian in the title role. According to James Donaghy, Douglas Adams was frustrated that his Dirk Gently novels were never adapted for the screen. Announcement During - a convention - Ed Victor, a literary agent who represents Adams's estate announced that a television adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was in production. was announced to be playing Gently, with as MacDuff and as Susan. It is the first television adaptation of Adams' Dirk Gently series, although characters from the books had appeared in a 1992 episode of . Shooting on the pilot commenced early in October 2010 in Bristol. The director was Damon Thomas and the producer was Chris Carey. Although it was commissioned by the BBC, it was produced by with The Welded Tandem Picture Company. The pilot was first broadcast on on 16 December 2010 and was repeated a number of times during the next month. The pilot gained a commission on 31 March 2011 for a three-part series of one hour-long episodes broadcast on BBC Four in March 2012. The series is the first continuing drama series commissioned by BBC Four. Adaptation The screenplay of the pilot by is not a direct adaptation of the novel, but uses certain characters and situations from the novel to form the basis of a new drama centred around Dirk. Speaking about his interpretation, Howard Overman stated in an interview with Benji Wilson "I'm not even going to try to adapt the book: you can't adapt this story. Especially not on a BBC Four budget. We made the deliberate decision not to do a straight translation of the books. If we'd done that the fans would have felt badly let down, because you can never portray that world on the screen as well as it's been done in people's own imaginations...If you just do a straight adaptation like , people are always going to be quite brutal about it because it's never going to live up to their expectations." Dirk drives an old brown in the production. Stephen Mangan, writing a BBC blog on the programme stated "In my opinion, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul are unfilmable as written...too much happens, there are too many ideas". The pilot concentrates on two relatively minor plot strands in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: the disappearance of a cat, and the simultaneous disappearance of millionaire Gordon Way. Although time travel is involved in the solution, the novel's entire St Cedd's College / Electric Monk / Coleridge strand is omitted, although key words relating to these elements do appear on Dirk's whiteboard when it is first seen, though they are never subsequently referred to. Other elements from the book, such as the trapped sofa, are also absent and the setting is updated to 2010, with and replacing the answering machine messages in the book. There are changes to the characters too, one notable one being that Susan is Gordon's ex-girlfriend rather than his sister. Several additional elements from Adams's novels, in particular St Cedd's College, were later to appear in the full series. Interviewed about the series, Stephen Mangan noted that "All three episodes are very different in tone and you get a different Dirk with each one...He's on the run from the police in one of them and in another there's a bit of romance in the air, which for Dirk is a surprise because he's probably the most asexual character on TV... There seems to be a vogue for dark, realistic, gritty detective series, apart from perhaps . Dirk has so much humour in it. How many other detectives mix detection with quantum mechanics or drive a 30-year-old brown ?" Each episode of series one was written by different writers, who are mostly known for their contributions to science fiction and fantasy programmes; series creator Howard Overman also created and has written for , has previously written the Doctor Who stories ""/"" and wrote the film and has written scripts for . Cast , best known for his role in the television series , and subsequently , was cast in the main role as holistic detective . Mangan already knew the novel and the author's works, stating in a press release "I've been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker's radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It's such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as 'lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable'. I've absolutely no idea why they thought I'd be right for the role." Cast alongside him were and , both of whom had previously worked with Mangan in Green Wing and respectively. Darren Boyd and Helen Baxendale returned for the full series, with the character of Richard MacDuff becoming Dirk's "partner/assistant" for each of the episodes. Other regular cast members are as Detective Inspector Gilks and as Dirk's secretary Janice Pearce. The programme pilot featured appearances from , , , . Episode one saw guest appearances by , , Ken Collard, and . Episode two featured roles for , , , Andrew Leung, and Bethan Hanks. Episode three features and . Filming at the was used as the fictional . Although the series is set in the London boroughs of and , the series was shot entirely in . Areas and buildings featured in the programme included the Guildhall, the Bottle Yard, St Thomas Street and the Greenbank area. The second series episode also featured extensive filming around the , with doubling as the fictional Cambridge College . The production's location manager, Rob Champion, noted that each location had to be chosen carefully to avoid featured giveaway clues to Bristol, in particular any building made of the local building material, limestone. He noted that "Episode 2 was the greatest challenge as it included two days material in a Robotic Laboratory. Bristol has such a thing...a joint venture between the two universities, with a very helpful professor, but its landlord was an American corporation with the most unimaginably anal restrictions on access. They basically didn't want us there and took the best part of two weeks to say so...We eventually settled upon a brand new building at the Bristol-Bath Science Park where they could not have been more helpful. All this on a BBC4 budget." Music The series's soundtrack was composed by . In creating the distinctive sound for the main titles and incidental music, Pemberton made use of a , a which is a cross between a and a piano. These instruments were produced in America between 1927 to 1972. The soundtrack also mixes in a harpsichord, synth, bass guitar and drums. A soundtrack album featuring music from the series was released by 1812 Recordings on 5 March 2012. Plot Dirk Gently (real name Svlad Cjelli) operates a Detective Agency based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things". To solve cases, Dirk relies on methods for example " navigation" (following people or vehicles who look like they know where they are going, in the hope that they will lead somewhere you want to be) or throwing a dart at a board of words to select the direction of his detection. By following up on apparently random occurences and whims, Dirk discovers connections between seemingly unrelated cases and often produces surprising results. He claims that he follows the principles of (although it is implied when he speaks to an expert in these fields that he doesn't really understand them); most people suspect he is just a conman and he rarely gets paid by clients and is therefore in almost permanent financial difficulty. In the pilot episode, Dirk bumps into a former university friend, Richard MacDuff, who has been made redundant from a job at an electricity board, and takes on a case for him. During the course of his investigation, Dirk hypnotises MacDuff and persuades him into investing his £20,000 redundancy money in his failing detective agency. MacDuff therefore becomes Dirk's partner in the business and "assistant" on investigations. Richard MacDuff's girlfriend, Dr Susan Harmison, was also at university with the pair and is deeply sceptical about Dirk's abilities. Also present at the Agency is Dirk's receptionist Janice Pearce, whom Dirk has not paid for years and who therefore refuses to do any work. Episodes No.TitleDirectorWriterViewing figuresOriginal air date 0 "" Damon Thomas 943 000 16 December 2010 When sets out to solve an apparently simple and harmless disappearance of a cat from an old lady's house, he unwittingly uncovers a double murder which, in turn, leads to a host of even more extraordinary events.  1 "Episode 1" Howard Overman 844 000 5 March 2012 Dirk discovers the connection between two unrelated cases - a client who believes are trying to kill him and another whose horoscopes appear to be coming true.  2 "Episode 2" Tom Shankland 561 000 12 March 2012 Dirk is called back to his old university to protect a valuable robot but within 24 hours it has been stolen and a dead body discovered, with Dirk and MacDuff the prime suspects.  3 "Episode 3" Tom Shankland Jamie Mathieson 592 000 19 March 2012 Dirk's old clients are being randomly murdered with Dirk as the only link. Rather than talk to the police, Dirk elects to leave the country but is waylaid by a series of seemingly unconnected events.  Reception Pilot Stephen Mangan plays the titular holistic detective in the series. The pilot episode gained 1.1m viewers (3.9% share) on BBC Four, which was over three times the channel's slot average. Critical reception for the pilot was largely positive. Several mentioned that it was only a loose adaptation of the novel, although the general consensus was that the essence of the original was maintained. Sam Wollaston in stated "Coming to it fresh, it's a neat story about aforementioned missing cat and time travel, with a smattering of quantum physics and the fundamental connectedness of things. With a lovely performance from Doreen Mantle as the old lady/murderer. Stephen Mangan's good in the title role, too – a teeny bit irritating perhaps, but then Mangan is a teeny bit irritating. So is Dirk Gently, though – it's perfect. Funny too. Quite funny." James Donaghy, also writing in The Guardian stated "Personally I hope Dirk Gently gets made into a full series. The programme shows promising glimpses, has a strong cast and Misfits already proves Overman can write. And a BBC4 adaptation feels like a good fit – Gently being exactly the kind of playground-of-the-imagination curio the BBC made its name indulging." published two reviews. Alice-Azania Jarvis was extremely positive, writing "...there wasn't very much you could fault about the production at all. Right down to the quirky camerawork and youthful, poppy soundtrack (who would have thought the Hoosiers could be so right in any situation?), the director, Damon Thomas, got it pretty spot-on. The result was a pleasingly festive-feeling adventure; part , part , part . And the best thing? There wasn't a Christmas tree in sight. Douglas Adams once claimed that Gently would make a better film character than his more famous hero, . Based on last night's experience, he may well have been right." John Walsh's review for was cooler about the adaptation, although he praised Mangan's performance: "Given the talent and style on display, it should have been a scream. In fact it all seemed a little moth-eaten. Though set in the modern day, it was staggeringly old-fashioned...You could overlook these faults, however, for the joy of Stephen Mangan's performance as the titular gumshoe. With his alarmed-spaniel eyes and jutting-jawed stroppiness, his geography teacher elbow-patches and Medusan hair, he radiates mess...His ineptness as a sleuth provided some fine comic moments. Paul Whitelaw in was also positive, although he noted "At times it felt forced, with a sense of trying slightly too hard when a touch more subtlety would have brought out the essential Adamsian eccentricity." Dan Owen of Obsessed with Film noted that the adaptation played with the idea of inexplicable situations: "Purists may grumble this isn't the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it's more accessible and practicable. And while Dirk Gently is certainly another gimmicky detective series (yawn), its details are unique and engrossing enough to shrug off the genre's clichés. In some ways it's a pastiche of whodunits, taking the genre's often tenuous explanations to an outrageous extreme." Paul Whitelaw in noted that "Although Adams's more ambitious concepts are sidelined in favour of a more prosaic - if nonetheless enjoyable - sci-fi mystery, Overman captures at least some of the wit and whimsy of his distinctive comic voice" going on to suggest "This modestly-budgeted pilot suggests potential for a series, so the deviation from Adams's originals makes sense. It also adds yet another very British oddball to the pantheon currently occupied by and . Series One Critical opinion to the full series was mildly positive. The adaptation from the Adams' novels was the focus of several reviews. Jane Simon, writing in The Mirror stated "It's just a shame creator Douglas Adams isn't around to see how Howard Overman has ­transferred Dirk to the screen. He'd definitely approve. Mark Braxton in the Radio Times likewise agreed that "Overman has plucked the comic essence of Adams from his novel...and worked it into a digestible, enjoyably eccentric format." AA Gill writing in the Sunday Times March 11, 2012 wrote 'Who'd have guessed that this would ever get recommissioned?...It has to get a nomination as the greatest waste of the most talent for the least visible purpose or reward." Others complained that the series was not an exact adaptation of the novels. Nigel Farndale in The Telegraph stated "I struggled with Dirk Gently...It had nothing to do with Stephen Mangan's considerable comedic talents, still less with Darren Boyd who plays MacDuff, the Dr Watson to Dirk's Holmes. It is more to do with my devotion to Douglas Adams, upon whose comic novel this series is based...in Douglas Adams, 90 per cent of the pleasure is in the prose, the narration, the felicities of language." Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent felt that the programme's qualities were "spread a little too thinly over a nonsensical thriller plot' and that "laughs... were far too widely spaced in a script that could have done with a lot more editing." Several critics compared the production with the big-budget BBC One detective series Sherlock, the second series of which was broadcast in January 2012. Writing in Metro, Keith Watson said "There's no doubt Sherlock has raised the detecting duo bar on TV...it's more than a match for Sherlock on the dialogue front, neatly catching the surreal humour that was the Adams trademark...but there was no disguising the fact that Dirk Gently was a five-star script being filmed on a one-star budget, making it look like a designer label knockoff when set against the production values lavished on Sherlock. Stuart Jeffries in , meanwhile, found a comparison between the tone of the series and 1960s spy/detective ; "Never since has there been anything so unremittingly silly on British television as Dirk Gently...Dainty harpsichord music tells us we're back in an era of TV misrule, in whose glory days John Steed, Mrs Peel and played fast and loose with viewers' intelligences." The first episode had 737,000 viewers and a 3% audience share but this fell to 415,000 and 2% share for the second episode.[] Series one, including the pilot episode, was released on DVD on 26 March 2012 by ITV Studios Home Entertainment. References ^ James Donaghy "", The Guardian, 16 December 2010 ^ Helena Cole, , SFX, 17 February 2012 ^ "", BBC Press Release, 31 March 2011 ^ Jason Deans, "", The Guardian, 31 March 2011 ^ "", BBC Cult, accessed 19 March 2012 ^ Chris Harvey, "", Daily Telegraph, 16 December 2010 . Retrieved 14 August 2007. News and New Projects page July 2007 of radio version Rob Hastings, "", The Independent, 6 October 2010 at the listing . 6 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010. ^ . Retrieved 10 October 2010. ^ Benji Wilson, , The Telegraph, 5 March 2012 Mangan, Stephen (16 December 2010). . . Retrieved 20 December 2010. ^ Tom Chivers, "", Daily Telegraph, 17 December 2010 ^ "Stephen Mangan speaks about the return to our screens of Dirk Gently", Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 8 March 2012 Helena Cole, "", SFX, 17 February 2012 ^ , British Comedy Guide , Bristol Film Office, accessed 18 March 2012 , Bristol Film Office, accessed 18 March 2012 ^ , thecallsheet.co.uk, accessed 19 March 2012 , Daniel Pemberton's Twitterfeed, accessed 22 March 2012 ^ Stuart Jeffries, "", The Guardian, 5 March 2012 , accessed 22 March 2012 ^ , BBC Four, accessed 19 March 2012 . BARB. Retrieved 4 April 2012. Sam Wollaston "", The Guardian, 16 December 2010 Alice-Azania Jarvis "", The Independent, 17 December 2010 John Walsh, "", The Independent, Sunday, 19 December 2010 Keith Watson, "", Metro, 16 December 2010 Dan Owen, "", Obsessed with Film, 17 December 2010 Paul Whitelaw, "", The Scotsman, 13 December 2010 Jane Simon, "", The Mirror 12 March 2012 Mark Braxton, Radio Times, 5 March 2012 Nigel Farndale, , Daily Telegraph, 9 March 2012 Tom Sutcliffe, " ", The Independent 6 March 2012 Keith Watson, , Metro' 6 March 2012 , Digital Spy, 7 March 2012 External links , at the at the British Comedy Guide

Welcome to another episode of the very finest geek entertainment around with your hosts Dave and Barry. News: Leaked X-Men: First Class image, big announcements for The Dark Knight Rises, A ray of hope for Stargate Universe. Week that Was: Superman Earth One and Walking Dead Hard Cover - Vol 4 Main: In this week's main we chat with Howard Overman creator of the BAFTA award winning Misfits. We learn how Howard got into writing and how he developed the concept of the show. There's also talk about some of the aspects of series 2 (just how did he keep all that time travel in his head without going mad?). There is also an exclusive, never before revealed secret as which member of the Misfits cast who was never meant to make it through the first series. There's a brief chat about series 4 before Howard lets us in on an event  the Misfits team will be hoping to attend this year and we've got the scoop people! Geek Syndicate iPhone app extra: This week we have a pdf containing  the first issue of Villainous, from Obscure Reference Comics.