Star-studded BBC hit drama to be shelved when current series ends
DAVID Tennant and Michael Sheen are calling time on BBC One comedy Staged after three series.
They reckon it no longer reflects the real world.
David told me: “We’ve had a wonderful time filming the series but have no plans to do more.
“It was a show borne out of a particular period of time – lockdown – when we were all in our houses communicating via Zoom, as our characters did in the show.
“We couldn’t get out.
“Now, as the characters demonstrate in some of the scenes in the new series, we can.”
The sitcom followed David and Michael as two actors whose West End show had been derailed.
Staged has featured celebrity cameos including Dame Judi Dench, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Palin and Cate Blanchett.
Five episodes of the third and final series remain.
QUEEN IN JOKE OK FOR OMID
QUEEN ELIZABETH II gave TV bosses a scolding after one of Omid Djalili’s jokes was edited out of his Platinum Jubilee performance.
He revealed a gag about migrants being sent to Rwanda was meant as the last part in his set during the 2022 celebrations but producers removed it.
Omid explained: “I’d said, ‘Thanks for having me, for the love of God please don’t send me to Rwanda’.
“They cut the last minute. The Queen told them off, saying, ‘No, let him tell those’.
“I felt very moved when they told me she’d told them off for trying to cut jokes that were close to the edge. She liked that kind of humour.”
The late Queen’s sense of humour was evident on another occasion when Omid ditched his tie and unbuttoned his shirt for a meeting with the monarch.
He added: “She’d had a little to drink, she looked down at my collar and went ‘Oof’, as if to say, ‘You dared and you got away with it’.”
KEN POPS UP ON TELLY
KEN Bruce proves he has more than just a face for radio as he brings his PopMaster music quiz to TV.
My exclusive picture shows him for the first time on the More4 set as it prepares to hit the small screen next week.
Ken was able to take the format to Channel 4 after he left Radio 2 this year to present a show on commercial station Greatest Hits.
He said: “After all these years we are finally bringing PopMaster to the telly, where we’ll be challenging music lovers from around the country.
“I can’t wait to get started and find out whether I might have a face for TV after all.”
Ken also revealed that he and producer Phil Swern tried to encourage the BBC to screen PopMaster, but the broadcaster was not interested.
- You can watch PopMaster TV live from June 26 at 8pm or stream on More4.
ARNIE IS BACK FOR SECONDS
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER was right when he promised “I’ll be back.”
The Terminator actor has landed a second series of his new hit Netflix show Fubar.
It is a comedy about a CIA agent forced to cancel his retirement plans to go back into the field for one last mission.
There is also good news for Arnie’s Terminator co-star Linda Hamilton, as she is joining the final series of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Arnie and the landmark 1984 film have previously been mentioned in the Eighties-set sci-fi show, so it seems Linda’s role was always meant to be.
More details about her character are expected to be released later this year.
NOEL HAS HIS SAY ON CHAT
NOEL Gallagher has taken a cheeky swipe at chat shows – but found a name for his own if he ever switches careers.
The Oasis great told the Patreon With Matt Morgan podcast: “I’d go, ‘All right d***heads, welcome to Some Might Say.
“We’ve got three f***ing b***ends on this week. We’ve got the third woman astronaut in space. She’s wrote a book. We’ve got Jack Grealish, he’s born to party so he’s a f***ing dude.
“Now you watch chat shows and it’s like, ‘So tell us about your new film’. Just f***ing fluff.
“There’s a lot of people on chat shows that are not worthy of actually being on a f***ing chat show.”
Let’s just hope producers have the bleeper ready.