31st March

1. I’ve added 5 brilliant pieces of artwork to the Artwork page courtesy of 1_618. Three pictures of Lucas North (two showing the work in progress) and portraits of John Thornton and John Porter.

2. In Sir Ian McKellen’s latest blog from the set of The Hobbit shoot, he says: “I’m very sorry to have missed, the other sunny day, the first mass emergence from their trailers and make-up chairs, of not only our 13 heroic dwarves but also their 13 small-scale doubles — shorter, near-identical versions of the principals.  Looking at the designs, they are nothing like garden furniture (those are gnomes NOT dwarves).  Everyone who saw the first parade of two Thoren Oakenshields plus 24 assorted dwarves was mightily impressed!”

30th March

1. Two more Australian articles about Spooks series 9 have been posted on the Spooks reviews page: The Sydney Morning Herald’s review 28 March (thanks to Pauline) and the Herald Sun review 30 March (thanks to Ann). The latter review is definitely more favourable than the former!

2. Frozen, originally released in 2006, will be shown on BBC1 and BBC1 HD tonight, or rather in the very early hours of Thursday morning at a quarter past midnight. For a synopsis and other online links about this film, see the Frozen career page. The screencap gallery is here. There is a clip from the DVD Extras on the Frozen downloads page.

3. Prior to the start of filming The Hobbit, we learnt from Robert Kazinsky’s twitter feed and the King under the Mountain site that the cast attended a Powhiri, a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony. A unconfirmed source has stated on RAFrenzy’s blog that Richard led the cast in this ceremony and spoke some Maori in reply. Note – although unsure at the time posting, it now appears this report is factual and proof can be seen in Peter Jackson’s video of 14 April 2010 (see above).

29th March

1. A positive review of Spooks has been posted on the Spooks reviews page, from an Australian TV guide… “this British spy drama isn’t showing any signs of age – in fact, it’s picking up the pace rather than taking it easy.” Thanks to Pauline for the scan. Spooks series 9 starts in Australia on Saturday 2nd April at 8.30pm on ABC1 and here is a promo video on the ABC site.

2. MI-5 volume 9 (Spooks series 9) DVD will be released by Amazon US on July 12, 2011. You can pre-order it now from Amazon.com at a cost of $27.99.

28th March

The Robin Hood series 1 downloads page has been recreated today with better clips and a new gallery added for Richard’s BBC website interview (clip #3 on the downloads page).

26th March

New poll on the left-hand side asking what type of film genre would you like to see Richard appear in after he’s filmed The Hobbit. This list could have been twice as long and wasn’t easy to pick the genres, but I hope it’ll suffice and it’s just for fun! Thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

25th March

1. Bccmee has a high quality download of the Captain America trailer on her blog – download it here.

2. As reported on 13 January, Spooks series 7 and series 8 DVDs are now available in French and English language and with French subtitles. Series 7 details on Amazon France – Series 8 details on Amazon France. All previous series of Spooks (MI-5) are also being released on DVD this month. Thanks to Joane for the email.

3. A Vicar of Dibley career page has been added to the site and also some extra large promotional pictures from the 2006 Christmas Special in the gallery.

24th March

1. The full trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger has now been released and is on the career page. You can adjust the resolution so that you can watch in 1080i HD. Richard appears at 1.43.

All images from the trailer are now in the Captain America gallery – did you spot RA standing behind Hayley Atwell?

You can download a HD version of this trailer from the Yahoo movies site.

2. The Strike Back DVD will be available to buy in Australia on 5 May 2011. You can preorder it from the ABC shop or from EzyDVD for just under $30. Thanks to Michele.

3. Spooks on PBS in Atlanta: the last episode of Spooks series 8 will air Friday 25th March at 11.00pm and then series 9 will follow, airing next Friday 1st April at 11.00pm on WPBA Channel 30 in Atlanta.  Here’s the TV schedule. Thanks to Gail.

4. Spooks on PBS in Washington State and Canada: Spooks series 8 will air on Saturday 2nd April at 10.00pm on KCTS Channel 9. Thanks to Audrey.

23rd March

1. Last night’s Entertainment Tonight programme did not show any more images of Richard than those posted in yesterday’s news below, however there is extra footage from the film and an extra scene on the MovieWeb site.

2. The Vicar of Dibley downloads page has been updated with clips from the 2006 Christmas Special, clips from the 2007 Comic Relief special episode and two adverts.

3. Screencaps from the 2007 Vicar of Dibley Comic Relief special episode are now in the VOD gallery, with thanks to IslaJane for the images.

4. The winner and second place winner of our Spooks DVD boxset competition have been announced here.

22nd March

Entertainment Tonight will be showing footage from Captain America: The First Avenger on their programme this evening, according to various news sites and The HD Room. Rumours that they will also show the full trailer have not been confirmed. There is a very brief glimpse of Richard as Heinz Kruger in the youtube clip embedded on that site, although thanks to Luna we can see a much better quality version on youtube here.

Click the images below to enlarge.

21st March

1. Filming on The Hobbit started today in Wellington, NZ and there were many reports in the media, Twitter and Facebook:

• Warner Bros Press Release – announcing the start of filming via TheOneRing.Net
• The Official Hobbit Blog – according to TheOneRing.Net, this is the official movie blog written by the production team
• Announcements in the media: TVNZ.co.uk, Stuff.co.nz and many more
• Peter Jackson’s Facebook page – including two pictures of Peter inside Bilbo’s house Bag End
• Robert Kazinsky, who plays Fili, posted the following tweet to thank everyone for their support

2. The film Frozen, filmed in 2005 featuring Richard as Steven and Shirley Henderson as Kath, will be shown on BBC1 and BBC1 HD on Thursday 31 March at 12.15am – 1.40am.

19th March

Spooks series 9 starts in Australia on Saturday 2nd April at 8.30pm on ABC1 and here is a promo video on the ABC site. Thanks to Bo for the link. Spooks 9 starts in New Zealand on Tuesday 22nd March at 9.45pm on UKTV.

18th March

The Impressionists, in which Richard played Claude Monet, is being shown in Hungary on Monday 21st March at 6pm on the Viasat History channel, and at other times during that week. Scroll down this page to see other show times. Thanks to Zsuzsanna. Some of the images on that page are also in The Impressionists Promo gallery on this site.

17th March

1. Sir Ian McKellen has blogged again to tell us that the first group rehearsal of The Hobbit has taken place at Stone Street Studios in Miramar, Wellington.

2. North and South will be shown on the BBC Entertainment channel in many countries throughout Europe starting Monday 21 March, at several times during the day. The next episode is on the following Monday. Check the TV schedule and click the ‘Change Country’ link at the top to get to the relevant schedule for your area. Thanks to Naama for the email.

3. Richard’s United Agents page has been updated to say that he is now shooting The Hobbit.

16th March

There is now a career page for Cleopatra on the site and a screencap gallery. Screen captures are courtesy of Jonia for spotting Richard in a few scenes in this television mini-series which was broadcast in 1999.

15th March

1. There’s a picture of Richard and British High Commissioner, Vicki Treadell on Flickr attending last Sunday’s fundraising cricket match in Wellington, New Zealand taken by UKinNewZealand, the official site for the British embassy in New Zealand. Thanks to RichardArmitageCentral for finding the picture.

2. Just added a review of Strike Back episode 2 on the Strike Back Reviews page from the Sydney Morning Herald courtesy of Angelique. The reviewer seems quite taken with Richard! Episode 2 will be shown on Saturday 19th March at 8.30pm on ABC1.

3. I’ve received another copy of the Spooks 9 DVD boxset to give away in a competition, however this one isn’t signed so I will give this as a 2nd prize in the competition that is currently running. Enter the competition here. The competition closes at midnight GMT on Tuesday 22 March.

Update: according to the packaging, this DVD will play on region 2 and region 4 DVD players (and multiregion players of course). List of qualifying countries is on the competition page.

14th March

1. Thanks to Mulubinba for the scan from the Newcastle Herald’s TV Guide, reviewing Strike Back on the Strike Back Reviews page. Another great review!

2. A reminder that Strike Back will be shown in Poland this evening, using the title “Kontra” at 8.20pm on TVP1.

3. Some lovely artwork added today with thanks to Angelfish69 and Mag, as follows:

• 1 John Porter wallpaper in 3 different sizes by Angelfish69
• 6 John Thornton icons by Angelfish69
• 2 John Thornton signatures by Angelfish69
• 2 Vicar of Dibley signatures by Angelfish69
• 4 Vicar of Dibley signatures by Mag
• 10 Guy of Gisborne signatures by Mag
• 4 Monet signatures by Mag
• 6 John Thornton signatures by Mag
• 10 Lucas North signatures by Mag

13th March

Another good review about Strike Back in an Australian TV Guide on the Strike Back Reviews page, with thanks to Pauline for the scan.

11th March

The prices and links on the the RA on DVD page have been updated. Spooks series 9 is now available from the UK store of iTunes at a cost of £14.99 for the whole series or £1.89 per episode.

10th March

Here’s a new promo for Strike Back on youtube, courtesy of Bccmee, to publicise episode 1 which will be shown in Australia on Saturday 12th at 8.30pm on ABC1.

 

9th March

1. James Nesbitt has talked about training for The Hobbit and mentions Richard’s skill at horse-riding, down to three years spent filming Robin Hood of course: James Nesbitt talks ‘The Hobbit’ on Digital Spy.

2. The pilot episode of George Gently co-starring Richard Armitage as Ricky Deeming will be shown in France on Sunday 13th March at 8.30pm on France 3. Thanks to Laure.

3. There’s a good review of Strike Back in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, written by Nick Galvin. Read it on the Strike Back Reviews page. Thanks to Angelique for the scan. Strike Back will be shown in Australia on Saturday 12th March at 8.30pm on ABC1.

4. Our Spooks series 9 DVD competition has opened today – enter the competition.

7th March

Will Martin from Cultbox has interviewed the lead writers of Spooks series 9, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, to ask them about writing for Spooks and specifically about the exit storyline for Lucas. “Giving Lucas a heroic exit would have been the safer thing to do, and Kudos are admirably rigorous about not taking the easy option.”

6th March

Lots of pictures have been added to the Strike Back Promo gallery, some of which have been found on these TV sites: Sky1, TVP (Poland) and BBC Germany. With thanks to Bccmee, Jonia and Violet for their help with sourcing many of these pictures.

As listed below (21 and 28 Feb), Strike Back will be shown in Australia on Saturday 12th March at 8.30pm on ABC1 and in Poland using the title “Kontra” on Monday 14 March at 8.20pm on TVP1.

4th March

Spooks 9 down under: series 9 of Spooks begins on Tuesday 22nd March at 9.45pm on UKTV in New Zealand (thanks to Missy for the email) and series 9 also starts in Australia on Saturday 2nd April at 8.30pm on ABC1.

This new promo picture from episode 1 of Spooks series 9 is from the UKTV site, thanks to Bccmee for extracting it (click to enlarge):

3rd March

1. The April issue of Empire magazine has an article about The Hobbit Press Conference which took place on Feb 11th (see news below). Here is a scan of the artilce (click thumbnails to enlarge):

2. United Agents have posted another news item about Richard Armitage, this time regarding the nomination of Lost Land of the Tiger for a 2010 Royal Television Society Award. See news 28 Feb (#3) for details of the other nomination.

3. The Hobbit full titles have been registered according to TheOneRing.net. The first film will be called ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ and the second will be ‘The Hobbit: An/The Unexpected Journey’.

2nd March

1. There are many unconfirmed rumours on the movie sites around the web that the Captain America full trailer will air March 4th. In the meantime, ComicBookMovie.com have published a detailed description of the trailer, in which Richard appears with some brief dialogue between him and Steve Rogers.

2. The North and South gallery has been completely re-created, now with hundreds more pictures in better quality than before. Many thanks to Jen for helping me with this and all of her hard work.

1st March

1. Screencaps of Richard from the two documentaries on the new Spooks series 9 DVD are in the gallery.

2. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be broadcast in Hungary on the Story4 channel on Saturday 12 March at 7.00pm. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.