30th May

There’s a really good interview with Richard in the Mirror today, which sounds like it was conducted at the Strike Back premiere. You can read the online version and print version here.

29th May

1. David Stephenson, TV editor for the Sunday Express has released more audio from his interview with Richard a few weeks ago. You can listen and download it here.

2. The documentary Too Poor For Posh School, narrated by Richard will be repeated on More4 on Sunday 6th June at 10.10pm and again on 7th June at 3.05am. TV listings here. Many thanks Vicki for finding out for us.

28th May

1. A short piece with a nice picture in this week’s Woman’s Own magazine, scan courtesy of Ladyjuliana. When you see the title, it might be relevant to mention that Richard Arnold refers to RA as ‘Dickie’ on occasion. He once sent a private message to our twitter account thinking that we were in fact RA not a fan site, and the message started ‘Hi Dickie’.

2. The audiobook of Georgette Heyer’s Venetia read by Richard is now available to buy from iTunes at a cost of £5.95 or $9.95. All Richard’s DVDs and audiobooks are listed on the RA on DVD page.

3. Sorry just discovered the guestbook wasn’t displaying the code correctly since I upgraded it a few days ago, but it’s all working now.

27th May

1. A fantastic new John Porter wallpaper has been added here, thanks to Angelfish69. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

2. Episode 5 of Robin Hood series 3 will be shown this Saturday in Australia and Ann has sent us a positive review of the episode in the Green Guide. Read it on the Robin Hood Reviews page. Thanks Ann.

3. Thanks for voting in the last poll. 68.1% of you thought it was either excellent or very good, 9.1% didn’t like it, 2.1% thought it was OK and 20.6% hadn’t seen it. There’s a new poll on the left asking who your favourite SB character was , not including John Porter obviously!

26th May

1. The WATCH channel in the UK is to start showing series 7 of Spooks from Tuesday 22 June according to the UK TV Guide. You’ll have to stay up late or record it however, as they will be showing most episodes at midnight.

2. Many different icons have been added to the site today courtesy of Teena and Grendel. Thanks ladies. Please credit the designer if you use any of these icons. The icons menu is here.

25th May

The first episode of George Gently co-starring Richard will be shown in British Columbia, Canada on Sunday 30 May at 9pm on the Knowledge Network. More details and a video clip here. Thank you Audrey for the email.

24th May

A glowing review of the whole series of Strike Back on the Monsters and Critics site. Read it here. And Dan Owen gives the latest storyline 3.5/5 stars, you can read his review on Dan’s Media Digest.

23rd May

There’s a very positive review of Strike Back in Richard’s local paper The Coventry Telegraph. You can read the online article here.

21st May

1. The full set of regular sized screencaps for episodes 5 and 6 of Strike Back are now available to download from the Strike Back downloads page.

2. Episode 5 and 6 pictures have appeared on Sky’s Strike Back page. These stills are sometimes different from the images we can capture from the episodes so they are worth a look, for example #2 in the episode 6 stills.

20th May

1. “it’s been pretty entertaining, and, for pity’s sake, Richard Armitage was magnificent” so says Unpopcult in their review of Strike Back episodes 5 and 6. Well, we can’t argue with that!

2. There’s a brief mention of Richard as Guy and a picture in a review about the new Robin Hood film on the FlickFilosopher site. Thanks Lynn for the email.

3. Episode 5 and 6 screencaps plus HD images are now in the Strike Back gallery.

4. Another review added to the Strike Back Reviews page from the indielondon site.

19th May

1. US Spooks/MI-5 viewers: here is a review for Spooks/MI-5 season 7 which is currently being shown at 9pm on Thursdays on the KERA Dallas PBS station. Episode 3 will be shown tomorrow. To view the TV schedule for your local PBS station visit this site: http://www.pbs.org/. Thanks to Lynn for the explanation of the PBS network!

2. Thanks to Bccmee for more John Porter signatures which have been added here. If you like us to display your artwork please send an email to admin@richardarmitagenet.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

3. If you’ve noticed anything different, you’ll see we have a fantastic new banner thanks to Hedgeypig as I felt that John Porter needed adding.

4. Thanks to GizTheGunslinger for 2 new drawings – Guy and the Sheriff and John Mulligan. You can see them here. She has also passed on the excellent news that all 3 series of Robin Hood will be shown in Russia on the TV3 channel starting Friday 21st May at 7pm. More information and a clip on the TV3 site.

5. You can now vote in the TV Choice awards long list. Strike Back and Spooks are listed in 2 different categories and Richard is up for Best Actor (Strike Back). The short list will be announced on Tuesday 29th June.  You can vote in the long list until Friday 11th June and you can only vote once. Thanks KK for the alert.

17th May

1. Thanks to Juicy Fruit who contacted Annette on RAOnline recently, we became aware of an advert Richard has been doing for a Bedford jewellers on Heart local radio. That’s my local radio station, so with luck I managd to capture it. You can download it on the 2010 Adverts page or you can listen now on the Sounds page. Press the play button to hear it.

2. The Sky Strike Back page now has pictures for each episode shown so far. Scroll down the main page to see the links.

16th May

A reveiw of episodes 3 & 4 in IndieLondon and 3 preview scans in the weekend newspapers for the last 2 episodes of Strike Back, all added to the Strike Back Reviews page. Thanks Jen for 2 of the scans.

15th May

1. An excellent review for Strike Back on the website seenit.co.uk. I’ve added it to the Strike Back Reviews page.

2. Robin Hood series 3 DVD can be ordered from ezydvd.co.au in Australia as well as the ABC shop as mentioned previously. Same release date for both – 1st July. Thanks to Michelle for the email.

3. The trailer for Strike Back episodes 5 and 6 can now be downloaded in HD or a smaller high quality version from the Strike Back downloads page.

14th May

1. Strike Back episode 3 and 4 screencaps are in the gallery plus high definition images. Thanks to Hedgey for doing episode 4 caps. You can download the full set of regular sized caps from the Strike Back downloads page.

2. Many thanks to Mulubinba for the scan from the Australian paper The Herald promoting Robin Hood series 3 with some quotes from Richard. The quotes were from the original BBC press release which you can read on the Interviews page or click here.

3. Dan Owen has reviewed Strike Back episodes 3 & 4 on his Media Digest, a pretty good review I think.

4. Some new signatures added today from Bccmee for Spooks, Strike Back, Vicar of Dibley and a Richard signature using the images from the Sky interactive magazine. Thanks B!

5. There’s a link on the Sky Strike Back page to the Strike Back forum where you can leave your comments about the show. I may be mistaken, but I don’t think that link was there before.

13th May

Two reviews of Strike Back episodes 3 & 4 so far: Unpopcult’s blog and a small article in the London newspaper The Metro. Some criticism but with positive comments too. Read them on the Strike Back Reviews page.

12th May

1. Press articles today as follows. Read all the articles on the Strike Back Reviews page.

• The Mirror gives a preview of tonight’s episodes of Strike Back but there are some spoilers.
• There is a fascinating interview with Chris Ryan in the Daily Record today, in which he says ‘I was chuffed when I saw the cast. I thought Richard Armitage was very good. It was very well done, right across the board. I’m thrilled with it.’
• The Daily Mail has chosen Strike Back as it’s Satellite Choice for today. Thanks to Jen for the scan.

2. Sky are currently advertising their HD box on the Sky1 HD channel, which shows a slow motion clip of John Porter dripping wet. Download it in HD (or smaller HQ version) on the Strike Back downloads page. Four screencaps from this advert can be seen in our HD trailers gallery. Click on ‘original image’ when viewing one of the pictures to see the full size.

11th May

1. Sky is offering the chance to win one of twenty copies of Chris Ryan’s novel Strike Back signed by the author. Competition closes 24th May. Click here to enter.

2. The Radio Times have chosen Strike Back as one of ‘today’s choices’ for Weds 19 May. Read the article on the Strike Back Reviews page.

10th May

1. Spooks has been nominated in the Drama Series category for the 2010 BAFTA Television Awards which take place on Sunday 6th June. Full list of nominees here.

2. Lots of new wallpapers have been added to the site in the last few days. Click on the character names under the Wallpaper menu on the left-hand side to see them. Thank you to Daisy, Bccmee, Teena, Rossella and IslaJane.

3. All news for April 2010 has been archived here.

9th May

1. Three reviews added to the Strike Back Reviews page today, from The Independent, The Guardian and The Sunday Times. Surprisingly the normally acerbic AA Gill of the Times is the most complimentary of the three: ‘if this is a genre you like, then it’s pretty damn good’.

2. Two small previews appeared in The Mirror and Daily Mail magazines yesterday for the next episodes of Strike Back, and one today in the Sunday Mail. Read them on the Strike Back Reviews page. Many thanks to Jen for the scans.

3. New poll on the left to see how you have taken to Strike Back. Thanks for voting!

8th May

1. A brief but complimentary review in the Financial Times today in which Richard is described as ‘one of the best action men on television, with actorly reserves enough to bring to life private griefs as well as public derring-do’. Read the full article on the Strike Back Reviews page.

2. The last two episodes of The Vicar of Dibley co-starring Richard will be shown in Australia on the UKTV channel soon. Part 1 is on Monday 24th May at 8.30pm and part 2 is on the following Monday at the same time. UKTV info here. Richard’s appearance in George Gently can be seen on the UKTV channel on Sunday 16th May at 8.30pm.

3. The Great Sperm Race narrated by Richard will be on UK television again on Tuesday 25th May 2.30am on Channel 4 and Channel 4 HD. A bit early in the morning perhaps, so set the recorders if you didn’t see it before.

4. The trailer for Strike Back episodes 3 & 4 can be downloaded now from the Strike Back downloads page.

7th May

1. There is an interview in the Daily Mail today with Richard (scan on our Interviews page) and there are four more reviews on the Strike Back Reviews page, one of which (the Guardian) lists the ratings for episodes 1 & 2 of Strike Back in which “Both episodes more than tripled Sky1′s average audience share in their slots over the past three months.”

2. A detailed interview in The Stage was published yesterday in which Richard discusses his preparation for the role of John Porter and gives more information about how he trained as an actor. Thank you Orpheus of C19 for the scan – read it on the Interviews page.

3. Finally…the HD caps are done. Strike Back screencaps in HD can be viewed in our Strike Back gallery as well as regular sized caps (of which there are considerably more). The regular sized caps can be downloaded from the Strike Back downloads page.

4. An amusing review of Robin Hood series 3 episode 2 in The Green Guide, before it is broadcast in Australia tomorrow night. Read it in Robin Hood Reviews.

6th May

1. Strike Back reviews are being added here as I find them, so far there are reviews from the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the London Metro, the SundaySun blog, Pauseliveaction’s blog and Unpopcult’s blog. The Independent is a tad harsh but Metro are more generous. The Times review is very positive apart from one daft comment and Unpopcult’s blog is positively glowing!

However, for what it’s worth, I thought it was entertaining, exciting and I loved it! If you’d like to leave your own review, please put your comment in our guestbook. We’d love to know what you think.

2. Screencaps for episodes 1 and 2 of Strike Back will be on the site tomorrow, including High Definition images. Apologies for the delay as I had hope to upload today but real life events took over.

3. The Robin Hood series 3 DVD is available to pre-order from the Australian ABC online shop here. It’s released on 1st July 2010. Thanks Michele for the email.

5th May

1. Pictures of Richard leaving the Radio 1 studio yesterday have surfaced on the Wenn photo library. Click on a picture to enlarge. Thanks to Luna for alerting me. We’ve now found copies with a less obtrusive watermark on the Contact Music site (thanks colinfever!)

2. Lots of press articles today, you can find them on the Strike Back Reviews page:

• I’ve scanned in a copy of this week’s Radio Times which has an article about the quality of British TV drama. There is a lovely picture of Richard plus comments about the types of roles he likes to play. Read the full article on the Interviews page. Also there is a short but positive preview of episodes 3 and 4 of Strike Back in the Radio Times plus a new picture. Read them on the Strike Back Reviews page.
• An interview with Andrew Lincoln in The Sun, a preview of Strike Back in the Express online and 2 scans from the Daily Mirror.
• A tiny mention in the Daily Mail’s Satellite choice for today (scan on Strike Back Reviews page).
• A review from onthebox.com
• Small article in the Daily Express
• Digital Spy have published an interview with Richard with some new information about Spooks. Read it here. AND he says he’d do a Gisborne spin off – quick someone write it!
• Vicky Frost of The Guardian has published her interview with Richard, which you can read here.

3. Sky have released what appears to be the opening 6 minutes of Strike Back on their website! Click here and then on the large Strike Back picture in the centre.

4. The webcast of Richard’s interview with Richard Bacon from Radio 5 Live is now available as a single file (and a smaller combined file size) rather than two separate downloads. Download it from the Strike Back downloads page.

5. There’s a lovely picture of Richard and Scott Mills now on Radio 1.

6. Heathra has produced two brilliant photoshop manipulations to remove the text from the pictures that appeared in TV & Satellite Week magazine on 27 April (see the article here). We’ve put them on our Artwork page, scroll down to Heathra’s art. Thanks H!

7. Details of the extra features on the Strike Back DVD here on 2Entertain’s site plus confirmation that the DVD and Blu-ray DVD will be released on 7 June 2010. Thanks Vicki for the alert.

4th May

1. Richard was on Lorraine Kelly’s sofa on GMTV at 9.15am. A download of the interview is available on the Strike Back downloads page. You can see screencaps from this interview in the Richard/GMTV gallery.

2. Interview with Andrew Lincoln about Strike Back in the free London newspaper the Metro today, online version here.

3. Amusing but brief preview of Strike Back on Unpopcult’s blog today. Thanks Lynn for the email.

4. Richard appeared on the following radio stations today:

• BBC5live with Richard Bacon at 2pm (live webcam footage has been captured plus audio)
• TalkSport with Hawksbee & Jacobs at 3pm
• Radio1 with Scott Mills at 4.30pm

He is also being interviewed by DigitalSpy, the Guardian and Sky News Radio. Thanks to Colin Watkins, Sky PR for letting us know on Twitter.

5. Just heard Richard on the radio advertising Sky’s coverage of the General Election. Download on the 2010 Adverts page.

6. All of the downloads from today’s broadcast interviews are now on the Strike Back downloads page. Wow that was a busy day – enjoy!

7. A very good preview of Strike Back on TV Guide’s blog. Thanks Lynn for the email.

3rd May

The pic of the day archive for April 2010 has been added to the menu on the left-hand side. You can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

2nd May

1. An audio interview with Richard about working on Strike Back by David Stephenson of the Sunday Express has been released on twitter. Listen to it and download it here. Right-mouse click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) on the ‘Download’ button and Save Link as… to download your own copy of this audio. Thanks to Camila for the email.

2. Want to see Richard straightening his tie and looking rather Bond-esque? Sky magazine interactive have a moving cover clip of Richard and more inside. More details here.

3. David Stephenson of the Sunday Express has told the site via twitter that there is an interview with Richard in the newspaper today. Scan on the Strike Back Reviews page.

4. There’s an interesting interview with Orla Brady today in the California Chronicle talking about Strike Back: “I thought Richard would play the sensitivity of that and wouldn’t just be some macho guy sliding around the place with a machine gun.”

5. Article in The Mail on Sunday’s Live magazine. Read it on the Strike Back Reviews page.

6. As reported on 30 April, Richard will appear on GMTV on Tuesday. However this page on the GMTV site is more specific, and it confirms that he will be interviewed by Lorraine Kelly between 8.30 and 9.25am. Those in the UK – set those recorders now!

7. Article about Strike Back in the midlands-based newspaper The Sunday Mercury.

1st May

1. A gallery has been added to this site, containing several screencaps from the behind the scenes videos on the Sky Strike Back website. You can view them all here.

2. Another video has surfaced from the Strike Back premiere. Brief interviews with Richard, Andrew Lincoln, Orla Brady and Shelley Conn plus new clips not previously seen – spoiler warning! View the video on talktalk.co.uk

3. Thanks to Annette for discovering this interesting preview of Strike Back by Frost magazine.

4. There are links to all 5 behind the scenes videos on our Strike Back page, it’s not easy to find the John Porter video on the Sky site, but it’s still there.

5. Scans from two Saturday magazines are on the Strike Back Reviews page: the Daily Express S magazine (thanks to Jen) and the Sun TV magazine.

6. More John Porter icons added here thanks to Teena and Hedgey and two more signatures by Teena on the John Porter signatures page. Thanks ladies.

7. Promotion for Strike Back has even spread to a fitness website! MotleyHeath.com has an article talking about the regime he had to follow to get fit for Strike Back. Thanks Lynn for the email.