30th November

1. The Captain America: The First Avenger DVD is released in Australia on December 1, 2011. Links to JB Hi Fi and EzyDVD. Thanks to Pauline.

The DVD is released in the UK on December 5, follow the Amazon links above to order and raise commission for charity from Amazon. There are two UK links above, under the pic of the day – the RAnet Amazon store and the Amazon logo which will take you straight to Amazon containing the RAnet code. Thank you!

2. Strike Back series 1 in Russia: the first series will be shown on Sunday 4 December at 12.00pm on СТС channel. The programme information describes series 1 despite showing a picture from series 2. Thanks to GizGunslinger.

3. Thanks again to GizGunslinger for her drawing of Richard as Richard III which is now on the Artwork page.

4. A Moscow publisher “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” (MK) has started producing booklets for popular European classical literature which have been filmed or televised as part of a series called “Great cinema novels”. North and South featured in today’s issue, consisting of a 23 page booklet with the DVD. There is a brief biography of Elizabeth Gaskell, a short interview with the person who translated the book in May 2011 and a description of the BBC TV production. There is very little information about Daniela Denby-Ashe, much of it is concerned with ‘Richard Crispin Armitage’ as he is referred to in the booklet. There are several quotes from his interviews.

 

With thanks to GizGunslinger for the scans and this translation:

Richard is mentioned on p12 – 15. It is said that the episode where Thornton is saying “Look back at me” is one of the key moments in John and Margaret’s relations and that Richard remembers it with trepidation. Also that this role was very significant for him not only because it was his first main role but also because he liked the book even before he read the script. There is a quote from his interview where he is talking about how he got this role. After that he absorbed much about the age: learning about the cotton industry, reading books about XIX century, about traditions and manners and he visited some museums. In another quote he’s saying that it’s really unusual period drama because the style of shooting and acting are quite modern but at the same time this film is historically accurate.

Scan 2: Performer of the main male role actor Richard Armitage.
Scan 3: Frame from the film: Margaret at the cotton mill.
Scan 5: Actress Daniela Denby-Ashe.

       

 

28th November

1. Another Hobbit set report today from Eric Vespe of Aintitcool.com: ‘Thorin’s Dilemma’. There are details of an intense scene between Thorin and Gandalf, but no pictures of Richard as Thorin unfortunately – although in one picture of the dwarves on horses, that might be him emerging from behind a rock…(on second thoughts, I think it’s Kili/Aidan Turner).

2. Elijah Wood has said that he believes The Hobbit trailer will be shown before Tintin when it is released in the US. Tintin is already showing at cinemas here in the UK, so the trailer is rumoured to be shown before the second Sherlock Holmes film.

 

26th November

Two new galleries have been added to the Promotional Pics & Photoshoots gallery today: the 2008 Promo gallery and the Recognise magazine gallery.

 

24th November

1. There are three news reports today about Hobbit filming with some descriptions of scenes that were filmed at Beorn’s house, a purpose built set in Paradise, near Glenorchy and Queenstown.

• Tree’s demise Hobbit-sized crisis in the Otago Daily Times
• Sir Peter Jackson luges in Queenstown at scene.co.nz
• Sir Peter’s great southern inspiration in the NZHerald

2. Another Hobbit set report is up on AintItCool.com with spoilers about scenes they have been filming with the dwarfs, Gandalf, Bilbo and Radagast. Apparently we will enjoy the next report which is due very soon.

3. Three of the four videos shown in the iPad only Project magazine have been uploaded to Vimeo by Dan Stoddart who was responsible for the sound on each clip. Each video is listed on the left-hand side of the Vimeo window. Project magazine is an iPad only magazine and these videos were not broadcast anywhere else. The full Project magazine photoshoot is in the gallery, which contains stills from all four videos on page 1 of the gallery.

 

22nd November

1. Thanks to DarkJackal for sharing her fantastic drawing of Thorin Oakenshield, which is now on the Artwork page. Click the picture to enlarge.

2. Some new wallpapers added to the site with thanks to Tanni.

• one Guy of Gisborne wallpaper
• one John Thornton wallpaper
• two Lucas North wallpapers

There are more wallpapers on her website.

 

21st November

1. There are articles about The Hobbit in two french magazines with plenty of pictures and these are now on The Hobbit career page. Where there are quotes about Richard I have provided a translation. Many thanks to Fred for the Studio Ciné magazine scans and Joane for the L’écran Fantastique scans.

2. As mentioned below on 16th November, Black Friday deals are available on Amazon.co.uk this week. This link to Amazon UK shows all the deals available and contains the RichardArmitageNet code to earn referral fees payable by Amazon.

 

20th November

The french movie magazine Studio Ciné Live has 12 pages dedicated to The Hobbit in the latest issue. Scans of the article will be on this site tomorrow. In the meantime, you can see a small version of the magazine online. The Hobbit article starts with a double page picture of Thorin on page 50. Click the red ‘Feuilleter ce magazine’ button to see the pages. Thanks to Fred.

 

18th November

I’ve added an original Radio Times article to the Robin Hood Reviews page, which had a picture of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne on the cover to celebrate the start of the series on Saturday 7 October 2006. Each picture can be enlarged and the cover will increase to quite a large size as this is the only version of this picture of Richard that I have. If you have any old articles or interviews that are not on this site and are willing to share, please email me (Ali) at admin@richardarmitagenet.com Thank you.

 

17th November

1. Spooks series 9 in Belgium: digital channel 8 will start showing series 9 on Thursday 24 November at 20:45. Thanks to Anne.

2. WhatCulture.com have listed Richard as their #3 choice to play Doctor Who in the forthcoming film, which will be directed by Harry Potter director David Yates. What do you think of the list? We asked if you thought Richard should be Doctor Who in a previous poll and most of you voted ‘no’. Vote in the poll on the left-hand side to see if you agree with the choices made. Thank you.

 

16th November

1. Amazon UK are promoting Black Friday deals, which means that between 21 and 25 November you can save money on your Christmas shopping. This link to Amazon UK contains the RichardArmitageNet code so that purchases you make after clicking that link will earn referral fees, which are paid by Amazon to this site and will be donated to charity. Amazon Associate FAQs are found here.

2. Robin Hood series 1 episode 1 screencap gallery has been recreated for more pictures and better quality. Other episodes from the series will be recreated soon.

 

15th November

Andy Serkis, aka Gollum in The Hobbit and also Second Unit Director, has told IGN.com that a Hobbit trailer will be shown “fairly soon, actually. Around Christmas time, I believe.”

 

13th November

Ian McKellen has updated his Hobbit blog after almost six months. After recounting some memories from his acting career he mentions the following about filming The Hobbit: “Musings during a long wait today, which has been a respite from a lot of fighting in Middle-earth. In The Hobbit, Gandalf is part old duffer but more he’s a soldier.  Peter Jackson, who likes to see the old guys fighting it out, reminded me the other day that Gandalf is a commander, a general.  Having slain the Great Goblin I was being a bit too indulgent with the dwarves who meanwhile had mislaid Bilbo in the goblin tunnels.  I’ve played enough soldiers to see that PJ was right and in the next take I was very stern.”

 

12th November

1. Latest reports from the NZ press suggest that location shoots for The Hobbit are taking place near Dunedin, Otago and also at Tataka Hill, Tasman near the Golden Bay.

2. Strike Back Project Dawn in Israel: the second series of Strike Back will be shown on Tuesday 15th November at 10.00pm on the Yes Action channel. Thanks to Naama.

3. An advertisement for the french version of the North and South DVD has appeared in a free newspaper in UGC cinemas. Click the image below to enlarge. Thanks to Joane for the scan.

 

11th November

MI-5/Spooks series 7-10 in New Mexico: KNME-TV (PBS) will begin showing series 7 this Saturday 12th November at 9.00pm on channel 5.1. It will be repeated on Sundays and Mondays and also shown on Tuesdays at 10pm on channel 9.1. Thanks to Karen for this information.

 

7th November

1. The Discovery channel documentary HMS Ark Royal, which Richard narrated and was broadcast in February of this year, is now available on DVD from Amazon UK. Here is a direct link to Amazon including the code for this website to ensure that commission will earned for charity, or you can order via the RichardArmitagetNet Amazon UK store.

2. Thanks to Joane for her latest drawing of Richard, which is now on the Artwork page.

 

6th November

Two new wallpapers using pictures from the Recognise magazine photoshoot are now on the Richard wallpapers page, wiith thanks to Rossella.

 

4th November

There is a new video blog from Peter Jackson on his facebook page. The blog describes the 3D technology they are using and there are lots of quick glimpses of actors and scenes from the film. Screencaps of Richard as Thorin are in the Hobbit gallery.

 

3rd November

The french version of the North and South DVD is already #1 in the best seller list on the distributor’s website Koba Films. Click the N&S image at the top for more details and a video extract.

Joane was pleased to discover a half page advert in a free Parisian newspaper ’20 minutes’ today and has provided the scan below (click to enlarge). She tells me that the image quality is the same in all copies of the newspaper.

Translation: A love affair in the same vein as “Pride and Prejudice” Discover in video the romantic master-piece of Elizabeth Gaskell. A wonderful love story in Victorian England between the young Margaret Hale and the dark John Thornton. A new successful work by BBC after the huge success of “Pride and Prejudice”.

 

 

2nd November

1. The picture of the day archive for October 2011 has been added to the Multimedia menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. Three new pictures of Richard from the Recognise magazine photoshoot (still no news on this magazine by the way) are on this website in an article about photo post production. Scroll down or click the thumbnail below to view:

There are two more pictures on the website that completed the post production: The Hut in the Forest. Click ‘show thumbnails’ to see two more pictures.

Update: click these pictures below for larger versions, courtesy of Bccmee.

Also on the Hut in the Forest’s facebook page (you do not need to be a member of Facebook to see these pictures). The 2nd and last images are the correct way around here. Also below:

 

3. North and South French DVD: this DVD is released today in France as reported previously on 13 July. Amazon France have reduced the original price to 19.98 Euros. Thanks to mondeencouleurs.

31st October

Following the news on 27th October that Eric Vespe will be reporting from the Hobbit set, his first report is now up. Spoiler warning: there is some detail and pictures about scenes that were filmed in Hobbiton (Matamata). There is no Richard in this report – Eric describes scenes with Elijah Wood as Frodo.

 

30th October

Series 1 of George Gently, including the first episode with Richard as Ricky Deeming, will be released on Blu-ray on 17 January 2012, that’s three episodes in 1080i widescreen format. More details.

 

28th October

1. The Hobbit premiere will be held in November 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. Reports with video on Stuff.co.nz and TVNZ.

2. Robin Hood and Macbeth downloads in France: episodes of Robin Hood and Macbeth from the Shakespeare Re-Told series can be rented for 30 days via a download player ‘CANALPLAY’. This link shows all the Richard Armitage programmes that are available. Two episodes of Robin Hood costs 2.99 Euros. Once downloaded, you have 30 days to watch the episodes. After watching once, you can watch again as many times as you’d like during 48 hours. The CANALPLAY player is free and must be downloaded first (PC only). Thanks to Joane.

3. Spooks season 9 on BBC Canada: this season is being reshown on Thursday evenings at 7pm ET on BBC Canada. Episode 1 was shown last night. Thanks to Calexora.

4. Richard on TV in Hungary: TV listings here show that The Impressionists will be shown on 6th November at 9.00pm on the Viasat History channel, and on the same day Robin Hood series 3 will be on RTL Klub at 12.40pm. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

Update: The Impressionists is also showing in Poland on Viasat History during the same times as above. TV listings here. Thanks to Sylwia.

 

27th October

1. Captain America DVD Extras: details of the extras are at the bottom of this detailed review of the movie on TheHDRoom.com. Richard appears briefly (about 10 – 15 seconds) in the third featurette about the technology used in the film, showing him filming scenes in the submarine. He is also praised in the audio commentary. Thanks to Shirlz1123 on twitter for this info.

2. Eric Vespe of Aintitcool.com has announced that he will be reporting from the set of The Hobbit on a regular basis: “I am currently in New Zealand on the set of The Hobbit and I will be reporting biweekly from the set. I’m embedded with the crew as they run around the North and South Islands of New Zealand for the next two months on their location shoot and will be bringing you guys reports as we go along.” In the comments that follow the article he states that a video blog from Peter Jackson may be imminent (click the comment by Quint dated Oct 27, 2011 5:44:48am). Eric is also on twitter: @EricVespe.
26th October

1. Stylist magazine, 26 Oct 2011, has an interesting article about the end of Spooks, with a summary of the fate of 9 major characters including Lucas. Thanks to Kaprekar for the scan which is on the Spooks Reviews page, along with an online article from the Telegraph, one of the better articles analysing the end of the series.

Thanks to Karin for pointing out that the online version of the Stylist magazine article has a link to another article about handsome men in period dramas. You can vote for John Thornton if you wish.

2. Richard is on UK television tonight in Miss Marie Lloyd on BBC4 and narrating Leopards of Dead Tree Island on the National Geographic Wild channel. See menu on left-hand side for UK TV listings.

3. New poll on the left-hand side asking if you will buy the Captain America DVD, which was released in the US on 25 October and will be released in the UK on 5 December. Thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

 

25th October

1. Added more pictures to the Project magazine photoshoot gallery with thanks to the Russian RA site.

2. Strike Back series 1 in the UK: Sky are repeating the first series featuring John Porter, which will be shown on Sundays at 9pm and Wednesdays at 11.00pm.

3. Filming of The Hobbit has gone on location to Matamata’s Hobbiton film set and also to Queenstown, as reported in the NZ press.

4. Captain America: The First Avenger DVD has been released today in the US. If you order this DVD, please click the Amazon links on this site to earn commission for charity.

5. More jigsaws have been added today to the Jigsaw page.

 

21st October

1. Robin Hood in New York/Ontario: season 1 is being shown on Thursday nights at 10pm ET on WPBS and WNPI. Next Thursday will be episode 6. Thanks to Calexora.

2. Warner Bros are planning to release a video game of The Hobbit next year before the film is released. It is not yet clear if this is a tie-in with the movie or if it will be a Lego version. More details on Filmomic.com.

3. Leopards of Dead Tree Island, narrated by Richard, will be shown again in the US on Sunday 30 October at 22:00 on the Nat Geo Wild channel (change settings under ‘local listings for’ to see your region). Thanks to Charlotte for this info. It will be shown in the UK on Wednesday 26 October at 20:00 and 23:00 on the Nat Geo Wild channel and also on Sunday 30 October at 21:00.

 

19th October

1. There is a Hobbit article in the latest issue of the french movie magazine Studio Ciné Live, which has some pictures of Richard and the dwarves. Click the thumbnails below to see the scans in full size.

The article mentions the length of filming and the cost, the location of the studios in Wellington and quotes from Peter that we have heard in the video blogs that he has posted on facebook so far. On the left hand side of the main article they list the ‘Three new actors arriving in Middle-earth’

• Martin Freeman the British actor, who will have the main role of Bilbo. Mostly known for his funny roles in sitcoms.
• Richard Armitage, an Englishman, that we could see in “Captain America” and who is famous in British television, will be Thorin the chief of dwarves.
• Evangeline Lilly, the star of “Lost” will be an Elf. Her character of Tauriel does not exist in Tolkien’s novel.

Many thanks to Joane for the translation and the scans.

	Contents page:

 

2. The Telegraph has named its Top 10 Moments in Spooks, with the Lucas North/John Bateman twist coming in at number 2.

 

18th October

Spooks series 8 in Hungary: this series starts on Wednesday 19th October at 22:40 on the Story4 channel. Link with video and TV schedule. Thanks to Karima.

Strike Back series 1 in South Korea: series 1 will be on Channel Screen in South Korea on 27th October at 22:00. Thanks to @kkaeldotcom on twitter.

 

16th October

Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall will be repeated on BBC4 on Wednesday 26 October at 10.00pm. Richard played Percy Courtenay in this drama first shown in 2007 as part of BBC4′s Edwardian season.

 

13th October

Some new artwork added to the site, with thanks to Linda and Lady Prisca for their drawings of Richard and Guy of Gisborne respectively. Click the images to enlarge. There is a comments box at the bottom of the Artwork page if you’d like to leave feedback. Thanks!

 

12th October

Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be shown on Saturday 22 October at 5.55pm in the UK on ITV3. Richard played Philip Durrant in this one off drama first broadcast in 2007.

 

11th October

1. Ultimate Force series 2 which included Richard as Captain Ian Macalwain, is available to watch free and online via the IMDB episode list page if you are a US resident. This is not available in the UK but click the link to see if it’s available in your country. Here’s a screencap from the US page to show you what it looks like when the videos are available. Thanks to Bccmee.

2. The Anglophenia blog on BBC America has a page on Richard Armitage in a feature called ‘Men of BBC America: how they are conquering Hollywood’.

 

10th October

1. Thanks to a quick email from Arfan, it appears that North and South was shown on BBC Entertainment in Israel and some European countries this evening, starting at 18:10. Check the TV Schedule (choose region first) for showings of North and South in your area – it is being shown at different times in various different countries.

2. Pauline has left a comment on this site regarding the latest on the publication of Recognise magazine. ‘Issue 9 is completed and we are simply waiting for new publishers to complete a takeover and subscriptions etc. will run as promised.’ To read Pauline’s comment in full, click the ‘Write Comment’ link on the home page of this site above the news. An interview and photoshoot with Richard is due to appear in the next issue of Recognise magazine – see news 2nd September below for preview pictures.

 

9th October

ComingSoon.net have announced that The Hobbit movie merchanise will be produced by The Bridge Direct Inc. Thanks to Ana Cris on the C19 forum.

“Warner Bros. Consumer Products is pleased to announce today that it has awarded the worldwide master toy and game licensing rights for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again to The Bridge Direct, Inc., the global children’s consumer products company. The Bridge will develop an exciting array of products inspired by the two films being directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson—who previously brought Middle-earth to life with the award-winning blockbuster The Lord of the Rings trilogy—including action figures, playsets, and role play accessories, which are expected to debut at retail in fall 2012 prior to the December 14 release of the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Read more…

 

7th October

1. Richard has appeared on the cover of an Italian puzzle magazine, which has the largest circulation of its type in Italy. There aren’t any clues in the puzzle about Richard, but his picture appears nevertheless! Thanks to Mamma_T for the scan – click to enlarge.

2. Thanks to Adelbert for her drawing of Richard which is now on the Artwork page.

3. Thanks to Smitkit for pointing out this fact: five years ago today Guy of Gisborne first strolled on to our screens on BBC1. An event which brought a lot of my friends together and therefore the reason that this site exists. Link to RH episode 1 screencap gallery.

 

3rd October

1. The picture of the day archive for September 2011 has been added to the Multimedia menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. Richard dressed as Thorin appears on the front cover of the Mexican movie magazine CinePREMIERE this month. Thanks to Ana Cris.

Update 8th October: WarnerBros have requested that the images are removed as there are logo issues with the pictures on the CinePREMIERE site.

3. Spooks 8 in PBS Houston: MI5 season 8 will be re-shown on Thursday 6 October at 9.00pm on PBS Houston, Texas. Thanks to Patricia.

4. The documentary for the National Geographic Wild channel that Richard narrated, Leopards of Dead Tree Island, will be shown in the UK on Wednesday 26 October at 8.00pm and 11.00pm. There is a clip of the documentary here but with a warning that animal lovers will find it difficult to watch!

5. More jigsaws have been added today to the Jigsaw page.

6. Strike Back in Portugal: a new cable-only channel which started today called TVSeries is showing Strike Back series 2 at 22:10 tonight. The TV Schedule states series 1, but all the adverts have shown series 2. Robin Hood series 1 will be shown on this channel tomorrow. Thanks to Xanoquita.

30th September

Peter Jackson was interviewed by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key earlier today on NZ station RadioLive and an eight minute extract is on this RadioLive site. Peter Jackson says they are on day 94 or 95 of a 250 day shoot, filming with about 30 goblins, dwarves and the hobbit today. Yesterday he says “we spent all day in the middle of a storm we had dwarves walking up a rocky path on the side of a cliff… today we show up and we have flames and fire and goblins…”. He also says they will be filming until the middle of next year. Thanks to vikszabo74 on twitter.

 

29th September

1. Homes from Hell narrated by Richard, is starting on GEM in Australia at 7.30pm tonight. Thanks to Mezz.

2. Robin Hood on BBC Entertainment: check the TV schedule for broadcasts of Robin Hood if you receive this channel as series 3 is currently being shown in many countries on Fridays and other days throughout the week. Click ‘change country’ at the top of the window to view your TV schedule. Thanks to Sylwia.

3. Spooks on BBC Canada: the advertising hasn’t been clear which series will be shown, but Spooks is scheduled for 7pm Eastern time/4pm Pacific time on Thursdays. We think it may be series 9. Thanks to Audrey.

4. As you may have noticed from the logos under the pic of the day this website is now an Amazon Associate, which means that if you purchase anything from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com this site will earn referral fees, which will be donated to one of Richard’s four Just Giving charities listed above. Further details are on the RA on DVD page.

5. Cinemax have uploaded the first 2 episodes of Strike Back: Project Dawn to youtube. You need to sign in using a Google account to see the complete episodes. Thanks to Miriam for the email. Links to Episode 1 and Episode 2.

 

 

27th September

1. The Captain America DVD is now available to pre-order from Amazon UK for £12.97. It’s released on 5 December 2011. The region 1 copy is available from Amazon.com on 25 October 2011. All other links and prices to Blu-ray versions are on the RA on DVD page. Thanks to Vicki for the update.

2. Spooks series 8 on BBC Entertainment: series 8 starts on Saturday 1 October at 21.50 in Norway, Sweden and Denmark on the BBC Entertainment channel, with episodes 1 and 2 showing on that date. Here is the Norwegian TV schedule. Click ‘change country’ at the top of the window to check the schedule in your region. Thanks to MillyMe.

 

26th September

1. In an interview with Peter Firth and Nicola Walker by Radio 4 Extra, Nicola describes watching Richard come to terms with the change in Lucas North’s character (4 mins in). This clip can only be heard in the UK, so here’s the bit about Richard. The full interview is now available on youtube thanks to richliga: part 1 and part 2.

2. Thanks to Julia for an excellent drawing of Lucas North, now on the Artwork page.

 

24th September

Lost Land of the Tiger on DVD: this DVD was released in a boxset with two other documentaries from the same team on 29 August 2011. It costs £15.99 from Amazon UK. All other links and prices are on the RA on DVD page. Thanks to LadyCassia for this information.

 

23rd September

Captain America DVD release dates: in the US it will be available from Amazon.com on 25 October 2011 at a cost of $17.99 ($24.99 for Blu-ray). Amazon UK haven’t confirmed the price yet, but the release date is currently 5 December 2011.

Update 25 Sept – DVD release in Germany: on Amazon.de, the DVD release date is 19 December 2011 at a cost of €20.97 and the Blu-ray version for €26.97. Thanks to Barbara and Linda60 for this information.

All Richard Armitage DVD links and prices are on the RA on DVD page.

  

 

22nd September

Lara Pulver was on ITV1′s This Morning programme today and she once again mentioned receiving an email and advice from Richard Armitage prior to filming Spooks series 10 (see news 16 September below for more). The clip is here on youtube:

co-starring Richard as Philip Durrant will be shown on 8th October at 1.00pm on Ceska Televize CT1. Thanks to Jonia.

 

18th September

1. The new series of Spooks starts tonight at 9pm on BBC1 and BBC1 HD. Lucas North is not in this series but he does get a mention at the start of episode 1. The BBC have redesigned their Spooks pages and there are several clips from series 8 and 9 on their clips page. The clips only play in the UK I’m afraid.

Here are two clips from tonight’s opening episode of Spooks series 10 making reference to Richard’s character Lucas North. The first is a flashback clip with an extra scene that was not at the end of series 9, and the second shows a conversation between Harry and Ruth about Lucas North.

Click the images below to watch/download.

 

 

2. Spooks (MI-5) season 7 in New York: PBS channel WLIW21 is showing MI-5 season 7 starting Wednesday 21st September at 9pm. Thanks to Adrianne and Dingbat.

 

17th September

North and South in Russia: the entire series will be shown on the Domashny channel at 19.00 on Sunday. With thanks to Alexandra. The pictures on that site are also in the North and South gallery.

 

16th September

1. Cold Feet series 5 in the UK: the satellite and cable channel True Entertainment are showing series 5 of Cold Feet on Thursdays at 9pm, Wednesdays at 10pm and Sundays at 9pm. The first episode aired last night but is repeated this coming Sunday and Wednesday. Richard appeared as swimming instructor Lee Richards, in all 4 episodes of the last series of this drama. Thanks to Su.

2. Richard Armitage is mentioned again in Lara Pulver’s latest interview with the Daily Mail about Spooks (see news 14 Sept for previous quotes). ‘Richard and I had stayed in touch since then (Robin Hood), and on my first day on the Spooks set, I got an email from him congratulating me on landing the part of Erin. He’s a firm friend and I got a glimpse of the show through his eyes – he said I would have the best time because the role of an action woman was a gift.’ There is also a small picture of Richard from series 9 publicity and a summary of previous characters.

 

14th September

1. The National Geographic documentary Leopards of Dead Tree Island, which Richard has narrated, will be shown again in the US on Friday 23 September 7.00 – 8.00pm on the Nat Geo Wild channel. Here’s the TV Schedule, choose 23 Sept from the drop-down menu. It will be shown in the UK during October, date to be confirmed.

2. In an interview with Lara Pulver on Ian Wylie’s blog, she says how Richard sent her an email on the first day on filming Spooks series 10. “it was wonderful because on my first day of shooting here, I got an email from Richard saying, ‘Just heard you got Spooks. I’m so glad they killed me off so you could come and join the show.’ So he’s a firm friend and I got to see a glimpse of the show through his eyes….He said, ‘You’ll have the best time. Go enjoy.’”

 

13th September

1. Journalist Ian Wylie has revealed details of Lucas North’s departure at the end of series 9. There are mild spoilers in his blog so do not read if you will be watching series 10 and wish to avoid spoilers of any kind.

Spooks series 10 starts on Sunday at 9pm on BBC1 and BBC1 HD.

2. Robin Hood series 2 in Brazil: the second series is being shown on Tuesdays at 9pm on the cable network Globosat HD in Brazil (Channel 39-1 – Sky TV). Episode 7 is airing today. Thanks to Thaís.

3. Two more drawings have been added to the Artwork page, one of Claude Monet and another of Richard as himself, with many thanks to Joane.

 

12th September

WalesOnline are reporting that Richard has come second in a poll for “Britain’s Best Looking Bloke” compiled by Wizard Jeans, who asked 1500 women to rate British celebrities. He came second to Jenson Button.

Update: the story has now been picked up by the UK Press Association, choosing the headline that Colin Firth has dropped to third place.

 

10th September

There’s a new poll on the left-hand side asking if you are still watching Strike Back series 2. Or will you watch it if and when it is shown in your country? Thanks for voting. The previous poll results are here, which shows that the majority enjoyed Captain America.

 

8th September

1. Clips from the two episodes of Fraud Squad, which Richard narrated for ITV, are on the Fraud Squad page.

2. Spooks series 10 will start on Sunday 18 September at 9pm on BBC1 and BBC1 HD. The last episode of series 9 was shown on BBC1 HD so this the first time the whole series will be in high definition. Although Richard is not in this series, there is mention of Lucas North in episode 1 – see news 23 August below. There are spoilers in this BBC press release.

3. A reminder that BBC Canada are showing Spooks series 9 today (Thursday evening) at 7.00pm (EST). Check your local TV schedule, as it’s showing at 4.00pm in British Columbia on Thursdays.

4. On 30 August in France, a documentary called Secrets d’histoire about Claude Monet was shown on channel France2. This documentary showed quite a few clips of Richard as Claude Monet from The Impressionists. French residents can still watch the episode on this site – it may be possible to view from other countries but it doesn’t work for me in the UK. Thanks to Lady Prisca, Joane and Laure.

 

5th September

The documentary Leopards of Dead Tree Island, that Richard has narrated, will broadcast during October in the UK (see news 2nd Sept below). National Geographic UK on twitter have confirmed it will be shown on the National Geographic Wild channel, but the exact date is still to be confirmed.

 

4th September

1. New addition to the Sparkhouse page – quotes from Richard made in 2002 from the Sparkhouse BBC press release. “…there is a simplicity to John; he doesn’t always understand all the nuances of what is going on around him. In some ways he is like an old man on the outside, but there is a real naivety about him…”

2. Tonight at 19:30, E! Latino in Argentina will show a Behind the Scenes of Captain America half hour programme with clips and interviews. No information on whether Richard appears I’m afraid. Thanks to Beth.

 

3rd September

1. On 2nd October last year, a guestbook entry was left on this site from an actor who worked on Captain America: The First Avenger during scenes filmed in Liverpool. The rest of his comments are now available to read on the Captain America page, not previously printed due to contractual agreements. I have proof of his role on the movie and that his report is genuine.

2. Strike Back series 1 in Norway: episodes 3 and 4 of series 1 will be shown on Tuesday 6 September on NRK3 at 21.30 and the last two on Tuesday 13 September on the same channel at the same time. Thanks to MillyMe.

3. Spooks series 10 will start week of 17-23 September according to the BBC Press Office, no exact date or time yet. Although Richard is not in this series, there is mention of Lucas North in episode 1 – see news 23 August below.

 

2nd September

1. Recognise magazine have posted a few pictures from their photoshoot with Richard on Facebook, which will appear with an interview in their August issue – out soon, no exact date given yet. The photoshoot took place on 14th June, see June news archive, 23 and 24 June for more info. The image is also below, click to enlarge.

2. Richard has narrated a documentary called Leopards of Dead Tree Island for National Geographic and there’s a clip on their website. Warning: animal lovers may find this very sad! It was shown in the US on 25 August, but I’ve no information yet on when it will be shown again or in other countries. Thanks to Kaprekar for all the info.

3. BBC Canada showed the first episode of Spooks series 9 last night at 7.00pm (EST) but there was no advertising it seems, so episode 2 will be on next Thursday at the same time. I’m told there is quite a bit of editing by BBC Canada, e.g. Ros’s funeral was cut at the start of last night’s episode. Thanks to Calexora and Susmita for the emails. Update: this was not available in British Columbia although we do not know why!

4. The picture of the day archive for August 2011 has been added to the Multimedia menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

5. Details of the Captain America DVD extras have been announced here.

 

1st September

The latest Naxos Audiobooks blog post by Nicolas Soames mentions Richard’s role in Captain America, and there’s a nice quote about work he has done for the company in the past (Richard has read 3 Georgette Heyer abridged novels for Naxos): “we know him as a man who quietly, and generally on a Saturday, slopes in to read a Georgette Heyer and entertain thousands of his followers around the world.” Thanks to Annette from RAOnline.

31st August

1. A brilliant pencil and pen drawing of John Porter by GiztheGunslinger has been added to the Artwork page.

2. The Radio 4 play Clarissa broadcast March 2010, in which Richard played Robert Lovelace, is no longer available from the BBC but the download is now available on the Clarissa page. Scroll down the page until you reach the ‘Clips’ section.

 

30th August

Strike Back series 1 in Norway: series 1 is being repeated on NRK3 in Norway tonight at 21:30. Thanks to MillyMe.

 

29th August

Robin Hood in Russia: Robin Hood will be shown by the Russian channel TV3 starting with series 1 from Tuesday 30 August at 15:00 Monday-Friday. Thanks to Nadia.

 

28th August

1. David Stephenson of the Sunday Express has reviewed Strike Back series 2, with a few paragraphs discussing Richard’s career. “Armitage has now moved to films in the form of The Hobbit but we look forward to him appearing in a spy drama again on TV. He is strangely more believable and effective than the real thing.” Read it on the Strike Back reviews page. Thanks to Smitkit for the scan.

Previous interviews with Richard by David Stephenson are on the Interviews page: scroll to 19 September 2010 and 2 May 2010.

2. Cultbox have listed the five characters they feel have made the biggest contribution to the success of Spooks. Of Lucas North: “His final confrontation with Harry Pearce on a rooftop was one of the most memorable series finales in the show’s history.” Spooks series 10 will air on BBC1 next month.

 

27th August

1. Strike Back on DVD: Amazon UK and Play.com are releasing series 1 and 2 on a 5 disk DVD set, available 14 November 2011. Links: Bluray at Play.com – DVD at Play.com – Bluray at Amazon.co.uk – DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Each series is also available to buy separately. Series 2 DVD will also be released on 14 November. Thanks to Mamma_T for the email.

2. As mentioned on 18 August, Richard narrated a documentary called Fraud Squad on ITV1 last night. It’s now available to view on ITV Player. Clips from last night’s programme will appear on this site in a couple of days.

3. The Captain America DVD is available for pre-order from Amazon.com, but not yet from Amazon UK, but there is no availability date yet. The DVD is also available in Bluray and 3D versions. Thanks to Squidknox and Redliverpool for the emails.

 

25th August

1. Richard has sent a new message today which you can read on RichardArmitageOnline.

2. Richard Armitage on Hungarian TV: Spooks series 7 episode 1 on Sunday 28 August at 22:15 on STORY4, The Impressionists on Monday 5 September at 22:00 on History Viasat, and The Golden Hour on Tuesday 6 September at 23:30 on RTL Klub. Thanks to Zsuzsann. TV listings here.

 

24th August

1. Strike Back series 2 episode 1 images of Richard as John Porter have been added to the Strike Back gallery. These images are high definition: click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner when viewing each picture to see the full size.

2. Spooks 7 in Hungary: the 7th series of Spooks started in Hungary today at 9.40pm on the Story4 channel. Thanks to Karima, who has clarified that despite this link saying series 6 episode 11, they actually mean series 7 episode 1.

 

23rd August

1. Some clippings from the Saturday and Sunday Mirror magazines with pictures of Richard as John Porter from Strike Back are on the Strike Back reviews page. Thanks to Smitkit. Three UK reviews of Strike Back episode 1 are also linked on that page.

2.  Some new artwork added to the site today:

• A Richard Armitage drawing from Joane on the Artwork page.
• 4 wallpapers by Teena on the Richard wallpapers page.
• 4 September 2011 wallpapers by Teena on the Calendar Artwork page.

3. The freelance journalist Ian Wylie told me via twitter earlier today that there is a brief mention of Lucas North in the first episode of Spooks series 10, which returns to BBC1 sometime in September. He also confirmed that Sophia Myles’s character Beth gets a mention – Beth does not appear in Spooks series 10.

 

22nd August

1. The Guardian have written an article about TV hardmen and stated that Richard Armitage is the best thing about Strike Back series 2…although of course he’s not in it much this series!

2. Thank you for all the birthday messages which have been coming in thick and fast today. The comments box will be closed at approx. 6.00pm GMT today and messages will be forwarded to Richard.

 

21st August

1. The birthday message page will remain open for messages until approximately 6.00pm GMT on Monday 22 August, if you wish to leave Richard a birthday message and haven’t done so yet. Thank you for all the wonderful messages left so far.

2. Strike Back: Project Dawn episode 1 will be on Sky1 and Sky1 HD tonight in the UK at 9.00pm. Sky1 Strike Back page.

 

18th August

Richard is narrating a new two part documentary for ITV1 on Friday 26 August at 9.00pm called Fraud Squad. It follows an investigation led by police detectives hoping to recover £20million stolen from victims of one of Britain’s biggest share frauds. Details on Locate TV.

 

17th August

1. North and South has been voted the 2nd most popular British TV drama of all time by visitors to the BBC America Anglophenia site. North and South was edited heavily when shown on BBC America in 2005, so hopefully this will persuade them to show it again uncut.

2. Strike Back series 2 in the TV magazines: articles about the new series have appeared in many UK magazines, with brief mentions of Richard Armitage/John Porter and very few pictures of him. There are two scans on the Strike Back reviews page – the article inside TV Guide magazine (thanks to Jen for the scan) is one of the longer articles in all of the TV magazines, mentioning John Porter briefly but with no additional picture, however the cover of TV & Satellite week magazine shows Richard alongside the new stars of the series.

3. Richard has recorded a new advert for Sky Sports. You can watch it on the 2011 Adverts page.

 

16th August

1. Scan of Hobbit feature in Total Film magazine September 2011 (click to enlarge):

2. The print edition of The Scotsman interview with Richard Armitage has been rescanned for better quality – see news 26 July below or Interviews page.

3. I’m adding jigsaws to the Jigsaw page all the time so please keep checking for more.

 

15th August

1. Thanks to Joane for another excellent drawing of Richard which is now on the Artwork page.

2. The first series of Strike Back is showing again on Sky2 tonight at 10pm, continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday. The second series starts on Sunday 21st at 9pm on Sky1 and Sky1 HD. Check TV listings on the left-hand side of this page.

 

13th August

1. US residents can watch Strike Back: Project Dawn online from the Cinemax site – further details on Bccmee’s blog and the Strike Back facebook page.

2. Richard has reached the quarterfinals of the BBC America Anglophenia poll. You can vote here.

3. Birthday messages to Richard can be left on the Birthday Message page, which will be open until 22 August for you to leave a message if you wish.

 

12th August

Strike Back: Project Dawn will be shown in the US tonight at 10.00pm on Cinemax and in Canada at the same time on HBO Canada – check your TV listings for regional times. Here in the UK we have to wait until 21 August so no spoilers please!

Sky1 publicity have given this website three extra large images of Richard as John Porter to promote the new series. These are numbers 4-6 in the Strike Back 2 Promo gallery – press F5 to refresh your screen if you cannot see the new pictures and click ‘original image’ to see the images in their full size.

Reviews

Strike Back has received mixed reviews in the US media (some spoilers throughout these reviews): the LA Times gives it a positive review (although the reference to Pride & Prejudice is a little bizarre), the Boston Herald is not too flattering and describes Richard’s role as a ‘tense cameo’ and Popmatters gives it an average review stating “Despite some obvious faults, Strike Back is a decent enough action yarn with slick production values.”

 

11th August

1. In a BBC press release today, it was announced that the production company Kudos will no longer make any more series of Spooks after series 10 airs on the BBC this autumn. Many media sites have reported on this, but The Telegraph shows a picture of Richard as Lucas North and states: “Kudos promise an explosive finale, full of trademark twists, turns and double-crosses. Faces from the past might even return – Keeley Hawes, Richard Armitage and Matthew Macfadyen’s characters, for example, are still out there alive somewhere.” Note that appears to be contradicted by Richard in his interview with Project magazine. Ian Wylie has written an interesting blog piece about the end of Spooks, with audio from Nicola Walker and the BBC press release in full at the end.

2. As mentioned on 7th August below, the first 6 minutes of Strike Back series 2 are online but not available outside the US. Bccmee has uploaded the clip to youtube and it’s also available in HD if you change the pixel setting under the video window.

3. In Manhattan, New York, there is an interactive billboard showing clips from Strike Back 2 and information relating to the show, but Bccmee tells me there is no John Porter at all. There’s a related video on youtube, uploaded by BLToutreach.

 

9th August

1. Strike Back series 2 will be shown in Norway on Monday 12 September at 8.00pm on Canal+. Link to Canal+ Strike Back page.

2. Two new pictures added to the BAFTA 2009 gallery. Pictures 24 and 25 are new.

3. Robin Hood in France: series 2 and series 3 are being shown on the France 4 channel this month. Click here for details. Thanks to Joane.

4. A picture of Richard at the NYC screening of Captain America has appeared in two different French online newspapers: leParisien.fr and Le Point.fr Thanks to Joane. This picture is also here in the gallery. Captain America is released on 17th August in France.

 

7th August

Three new Strike Back promos overnight, one from HBO Canada which Bccmee has uploaded to youtube. There are lots of different clips from the series but the same glimpse of Richard Armitage that we’ve seen before:

Youtube clip

The second video is from Cinemax and has clips of John Porter that we haven’t seen yet. It’s on Bccmee’s blog with a transcript and closed captioning.

The Strike Back facebook page has uploaded the first 6 minutes of the series, but it’s not available to view outside the US. The clips of John Porter are exactly the same as the second video mentioned above, followed by clips already seen before of Scott and Stonebridge.

Strike Back series 2 Project Dawn will be shown on Cinemax and HBO Canada on August 12th at 10.00pm and Sky1 and Sky1 HD in the UK on August 21st at 10.00pm.

 

 

6th August

1. Round 2 of the BBC America Anglophenia vote is here.

2. Added some outtakes and a deleted scene to The Impressionists page. Thanks to Bccmee for finding the first clip.

3. The BAFTA 2009 gallery has been updated with new and larger images (click ‘original image’ to see the full size). Pictures 6-10, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 26, 28 and 29 are new to the gallery. Number 17 isn’t new but is now much larger – thanks to Bccmee for this pic. Press F5 to refresh the screen if you cannot see the new pictures.

 

4th August

Cinemax have released a clip from the first episode of Strike Back 2. There are no spoilers in this clip. For those outside the US, you can watch the video on Bccmee’s blog.

Screencaps here, click to enlarge:

   

 

 

3rd August

Strike Back series 2 will return to Sky1 and Sky1 HD on Sunday 21 August at 10pm, as reported by the Sky Media site. It will be shown on Cinemax in the US and HBO Canada on Friday 12 August.

 

2nd August

1. The picture of the day archive for July 2011 has been added to the Multimedia menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. The Birthday Message page will be open until 22 August for you to leave a message if you wish.

3. There is a new jigsaws page on the site which you can find under the Multimedia menu or click here. Thanks to Sinjoor for the idea.

 

30th June

Empire magazine has a 7 page article describing a recent visit to the set of The Hobbit. Scans are below, click to enlarge:

 

 

 

29th June

1. Entertainment Weekly released the first images from The Hobbit this week (see news 23 June) and below are scans from the print edition of the magazine with comments from director Peter Jackson. He tells us that the paper Bilbo is holding is the contract between himself and the dwarves, the original Bag End is now a guesthouse and the dwarves are a ‘crazy ensemble’.

Many thanks to Bccmee for these scans. To view, click the images below then click again to zoom in further.

    

2. Two more fantastic drawings from Joane are on the Artwork page, one of John Thornton and one of Richard as himself. Thanks Joane!

3. More quality artwork on the site with many thanks to mybeckett as follows (click the thumbnail images to enlarge to full size):

• a Marian and Guy digital drawing
• two Richard Armitage wallpapers
• a John Porter wallpaper

4. A stuntman who worked on the first series of Strike Back has answered a few questions about filming the production on the Strike Back Facebook page. His latest question refers directly to working with Richard. Thanks for the link via twitter from Bccmee.

5. Empire magazine has released a couple of photos from their article about The Hobbit, one of which is another picture of Bilbo and the dwarves but slightly clearer than the Entertainment Weekly picture. The magazine is published tomorrow and I will post a scan on this site. The new image is below (click to enlarge) from the Hobbit Stills gallery.

 

6. Robin Hood series 1 in Italy: the Italia 1 channel is showing series 1 on Sundays at 4.55pm. This Sunday they are showing episode 3, which has been retitled ‘The Nightwatchman’. Thanks to LadyCassia for the information.

 

 

27th June

1. George Gently in Norway: the first episode of this series, co-starring Richard as Ricky Deeming is showing tonight on NRK1 at 23:20. Thanks to MillyMe.

2. The new Captain America trailer is now on the official movie site. Click ‘Video’ and then ‘Theatrical Trailer’ for the latest one. See news below 24 June for more links.

3. Bccmee completed her challenge to create a graphic every day in May, inspired by the picture of the day on this website. The rest of her creations are now listed below and all of them plus explanations of how they were created are on her blog. Thanks B!

• 2 Richard Armitage wallpapers (the last two on this page in 2 different sizes)
• a Lucas North wallpaper (the last one on this page in 3 different sizes)
• a Richard Armitage CBeebies signature (#9)
• a John Thornton signature (#3)
• two Lucas North signatures (#11 and #12)
• three Guy of Gisborne signatures (#5-7)
• a Monet signature
• a Ricky Deeming signature
• 3 John Porter signatures (#15-17)

4. A press release via this site suggests that Strike Back: Project Dawn will air in the US on Friday 12th August at 10.00pm (ET/PT) on Cinemax. Sky have not confirmed a UK release date yet.

5. Strike Back series 1 in New Zealand: series 1 will air on Thursday 7th July at 8.30pm on Prime. There is a good review in the Otago Daily Times, which describes the series as a “guilty pleasure”.

 

26th June

1. The UK film magazine Empire will run a feature on The Hobbit in the next issue out June 30th – more details here.

“Personally invited onto the set barely a month into production, Empire delightedly watched a film — two films — already in full swing. Thirteen cantankerous dwarves, one barely tolerant wizard, and a befuddled hobbit are seen arriving at the gates of Rivendell and sneered at by local elves. Jackson assures us he is once again reaching for the mighty spectacle of Lord Of The Rings, but also bringing a certain ‘Hobbity-ness’ all its own. “The tone is actually the part of it I’m enjoying the most,” he laughs, casting a fond eye upon his rabble of exotic dwarves, clattering about set like they own the place. “They have a healthy disregard for the icons of Middle-earth.”

2. Two Captain America images have been replaced in the Captain America Stills gallery: numbers 3 & 4 are now larger. To see the larger size, click ‘download original’ underneath each picture. Thanks to Bccmee for finding these.

3. Spooks (MI-5) series 8 today in France: episode 7 will be shown at 3.20pm today and episode 8 will be shown straight afterwards at 4.10pm on Canal+ Cinema. Thanks to Joane.

 

24th June

1. A new Captain America trailer has been released, and Bccmee has provided a transcription and closed captioned the video on her blog. You can also watch it in full HD from that link. There is a new brief clip of Richard as Heinz Kruger in the trailer. The screencaps have been added to the CA Trailer gallery (last 3 images courtesy of Bccmee).

2. New poll on the left-hand side. What do you think of the way Thorin looks? Previous poll results are here.

3. The new picture of Bilbo, Thorin and the dwarves plus close ups have been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery.

4. Recognise magazine has posted a behind the scenes picture on Facebook from their recent photoshoot of Richard Armitage (see news #2 yesterday for more info). The photo caption states there will be a full interview and photoshoot in the August issue. They posted a second picture on Facebook a few hours later.

5. The Biography has been updated with the latest news and new pictures.

 

23rd June

1. The first pictures have emerged from the set of The Hobbit, showing Bilbo inside his home Bag End, with a number of dwarves in the background! That’s Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield sitting at the head of the table by the way.

Click the picture below to enlarge:

Three pictures have been released by Entertainment Weekly.

Here’s a close up (sorry I couldn’t resist). Izabelanna has lighted the shadows in the 2nd picture – we’ll do anything to get this picture a little clearer! Click the pictures to enlarge.

 

2. Richard was photographed for Recognise magazine on 14th June (the journalist posted on twitter), and the magazine has since confirmed that the article will appear in the next issue (issue #9) which is out in August. The photoshoot was also videoed and that will appear online shortly before the magazine is available.

 

21st June

Robin Hood on PBS Atlanta: series 1 is showing on Monday nights at 8pm on PBA 30 Atlanta, starting last Monday so episode 2 will be on Monday 27 June. Thanks to Renee.

 

20th June

The documentary 125 Years of Wimbledon is now available to UK residents on BBC iPlayer. I’ve put a couple of clips on this site which are also available to download, on the 125 Years of Wimbledon page.

 

19th June

George Gently tonight in Germany: ZDF Neo will show the episode of George Gently with Richard playing Ricky Deeming at 20:15 tonight. Thanks to Bee.

 

18th June

1. Richard will be narrating a documentary on BBC2 this Sunday at 8pm to commemorate 125 years of Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Here is the BBC2 programme information and it was also announced on the United Agents site (news item now withdrawn from the UA site).

2. Robin Hood series 3 in Australia: ABC1 are showing Robin Hood series 3, starting this Sunday at 5.40pm.

3. Extracts from the three Georgette Heyer audiobooks and The Lords of the North audiobook have been added to a new sounds page, which you can find under the multimedia page or here: Audiobook Extracts. These clips are also available for download on that page. With thanks to Stella for helping me choose the clips.

 

17th June

1. Richard on TV in Hungary: the first and second parts of North and South will be shown on the Story4 channel on Saturday 25th June at 6.00pm. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be shown on the Story4 channel on Sunday 26th June at 1.50pm. Here’s a link with more details. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

2. Lady Prisca has submitted two more excellent pencil drawings, one of Richard as himself and one of Lucas North. There is a comments box at the bottom of the Artwork page if you’d like to leave feedback.

 

15th June

There have been some updates to some screencap galleries, all now in the new format. If you want to see the full size image (which is often larger), click ‘download original’ at the bottom of the screen. Details as follows:

• New Ultimate Force stills gallery (thanks to Anna for some of these pictures)
• Update to Strike Back Premiere gallery with 7 new photos
• Update to Varekai Gala gallery with 1 extra photo and 1 larger
• An extra picture of Richard Armitage and Orla Brady found on a European TV site added to the end of the Strike Back Promo gallery (you can use left arrow on your keyboard to move back to the previous picture)

 

14th June

1. Strike Back in Norway: Strike Back series 1 will be shown again in Norway on channel NRK starting Thursday 16 June at 11.25pm. The next 2 episodes will be shown the following two Thursdays at 11.15pm. Thanks to Bccmee.

2. MemorableTV.com have launched a competition to win a REGION 4 copy of the Spooks series 9 DVD. To enter follow this link.

 

12th June

1. Updates have been made to the 2004 Promo gallery and the 2006 Sunday Times gallery, with larger and better quality images. To view the full size of an image, click ‘download original’ at the bottom of the screen.

2. Two extra behind the scenes pictures from The Vicar of Dibley 2006 Christmas Special have been added to the VOD Promo gallery, namely numbers 19 and 20 with thanks to Anna. Many of these pictures are quite large and the full size can be seen if you click ‘download original’.

3. A new Captain America trailer will be shown this evening at the Hero Complex Film Festival in Hollywood, look out for footage of that soon. Also a new vintage-style poster has appeared to promote the movie (click image below to enlarge). No picture of Richard but his name is fairly prominent. Further details on MovieWeb.com

4. The photographer who took Richard’s picture for the interview in the Mail on Sunday 19 Sept 10, has posted another picture from that photoshoot on her facebook page. The picture has been added to the redesigned 2010 Promo gallery and also below (click to enlarge).

 

7th June

Ordeal by Innocence will be on TV in France on the TMC channel on Tuesday 14 June at 13:35. Thanks to Prisca

 

6th June

1. I’ve added a Radio 1 – 17 Sept 2010 gallery of photos to the Events and Appearances section to correspond with today’s picture of the day. With thanks to Cesta for sourcing the images.

2. Many thanks to Joane for her latest drawing of Guy of Gisborne which is now on the Artwork page.

3. Spooks 9 on PBS Seattle/Canada: KCTS9 will start showing Series 9 of Spooks/MI-5 on Saturday 2nd July at 10.00pm. Thanks to Audrey for the email.

4. Robin Hood 3 in Hungary: RTL Klub will be airing series 3 of Robin Hood at 3.40pm on Saturday 18th June. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

5. A reminder to US residents that Spooks/MI-5 series 9 is available on Netflix’s Watch Instantly. In fact all 80 episodes of Spooks/MI-5 from the very first episode are available. The Spooks 9 DVD will be available in North America on 12 July.

6. ITV have been showing an advert promoting Sky TV frequently over the last few days, which includes a short clip of Richard in Strike Back. The advert is very long, so I’ve just captured the brief moment when Richard appears – and it is brief! To view the clip, click here or right-mouse-click the link (Ctrl-click on a Mac) to download. Thanks to Jane for letting me know when to get the recorder ready!

Click these thumbnails to for large screencaps of the clip.

 

5th June

Short trailers for Captain America have been shown on US television over the last few days, showing similar clips to the main trailer. The third TV spot however shows a very brief shot of Richard as Heinz Kruger being kicked by Steve Rogers (25 seconds in), which was filmed at the Albert Dock in Liverpool. Richard also appears two more times earlier on in the trailer, but these are clips already seen in the main trailer.

 

3rd June

1. New stills from Captain America: The First Avenger have been posted on ComicBookMovie.com. Bccmee has found a larger version of one of the pictures of Richard as Heinz Kruger without the watermark. Click the pictures below to enlarge.

 

All high res stills from the film have been added to the Captain America Stills gallery – click ‘download image’ at the bottom to see its full size. I’m trialling this new style of gallery and may decide to implement throughout the screencap gallery soon.

2. The Robin Hood Promo gallery has been updated with some new additions and larger versions of existing pictures. The new additions are series1-15, series1-45 and series2-23 and the larger versions are series2-06, series2-33 and series3-14 To see the full size of each image, click ‘original image’ in the bottom-right corner. Click again to zoom further in some cases and press F5 to refresh the screen if images are not appearing correctly.

 

2nd June

The picture of the day archive for May 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day archive (under the Multimedia menu) on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

 

1st June

1. New poll on the left-hand side – there are 2 trailers for Strike Back, one for the UK and one for US, but please tell us your overall opinion of them. Links to trailers are on the Strike Back career page. Previous poll results are here.

2. The first series Strike Back is about to be repeated in Italy. The FX channel will show the first episode tomorrow at 9pm. More details and schedule times on the FXTV site. Thanks to Maga.

3. The Spooks series 9 DVD is available from today in Australia. The price from EzyDVD is $59.97 and from the ABC Shop it’s $59.99. It’s released in the US and Canada on 12 July. More information on the Spooks 9 career page.

31st May

Bidding on The Hobbit book, signed by the 13 cast members playing dwarves and Sir Ian McKellen, is open until 2 June 8.00pm NZ time. Apparently overseas residents CAN bid – if you want more information on this, read the answer to the question on the bid history page. Thanks to Marguerita for this info.

 

30th May

1. The Robin Hood series 1 career page has been recreated today with a full episode synopsis. It also includes a link to an interview with the costume designer, Frances Tempest, (above the episode synopsis) and an article that appeared in The Telegraph in 2006 in which the lead writer of Robin Hood, Dominic Minghella, reveals his on-set diary (scroll to the end of the career page). There is a very complimentary description of the time when Richard knocked on Dominic’s door to ask him some questions about Gisborne.

2. Thanks to Joane for her latest drawing of Richard as Harry Kennedy on the Artwork page.

3. The full titles of the two Hobbit films and the official release dates have been announced. Here’s a link to the official Hobbit blog. The first film will be called ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ released December 14, 2012 and the second film will be called ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ released December 13, 2013.

 

29th May

1. Richard has written a message of thanks for the support of the Rise Up Christchurch campaign, and more on RichardArmitageOnline.

2. According to the Skymedia site, Strike Back 2 will air in August 2011 on Sky1 and Sky1 HD. 10 x 1 hour shows as expected and Richard’s name is prominent in this brief, although we still don’t know how much he will appear in this second series.

 

27th May

1. The Russian RA site has updated their gallery with a set of photos of Richard Armitage by photographer Joe McGorty, one of which accompanied the Sunday Times September 2010 interview. Thanks to Daria for the link.

2. Richard has recorded another advert, this time for Pilsner Urquell which has been uploaded by that company to youtube. Thanks to MissCachou for the link.

26th May

1. Added another wonderful drawing of John Thornton and Margaret Hale to the Artwork page with many thanks to Joyce M. Please leave a comment at the end of that page if you wish to give feedback.

2. There are 8 new pictures in the Vicar of Dibley Promo gallery with thanks to IzabelAnna. The last picture is a bit small but we cannot find a bigger version of it…yet! Most of these new pictures were found on this Hungarian site.

 

25th May

1. The Hobbit book signed by all 13 dwarves and Gandalf is now on sella.co.nz. According to their T&C you must be a resident of New Zealand or Australia to register on the site. Richard has signed ‘For Christchurch love Richard A’. Click pics to enlarge:

2. Some new pictures added to the Vicar of Dibley Promo gallery with thanks to IzabelAnna. Pics 3, 6, 9 and 10 are new and the last one was from the Comic Relief site as that’s a picture from behind the scenes of filming the 2007 Comic Relief Special with Dawn French, Richard Curtis, Sting and Trudie Styler.

3. There is now a HD version of the US Strike Back 2 trailer on the HBO site here. No more sightings of John Porter than we’ve already seen (pics below in news 16 May).

4. Unfortunately Venetia did not win an Audie Award last night (see yesterday’s news item #3). Winners here.

 

24th May

1. I now have a larger version of the picture of Lucas below, 1429px by 2048px. Click on the thumbnail in yesterday’s news to enlarge (or click on today’s pic of the day) and if it still opens the same size as yesterday, press F5 to refresh your screen.

Bccmee’s wallpaper created using the pic of the day today is on her blog.

2. The Spooks Promo gallery has been updated with some better quality images and some new images. Most images enlarge considerably – click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner and in some cases you can click again to see the pictures in all their glory. Press F5 to refresh the screen if the images don’t appear correctly.

3. The abridged Venetia audiobook read by Richard Armitage has been nominated for an Audie award in the Audiobook Adaptation category and the winner will be announced by the Audio Publishers Association in tonight’s gala in New York. I’ll update the news with the result tomorrow.

4. Two changes to the Strike Back Promo gallery today – this picture is new to the gallery and this one is now available in a much larger size. Click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner to see the full size. Press F5 to refresh the screen if the images don’t appear correctly.

 

23rd May

1. The picture that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 17 May is now available in colour high quality. Click thumbnail to enlarge:

and

With thanks to RecycledVinyl on tumblr

2. Some more wonderful artwork added to the site today. A picture of Richard Armitage showing how it was created step-by-step and Guy of Gisborne, both by Shahin and drawings of Harry Kennedy and John Thornton by Joyce M. You can leave a comment at the bottom of the Artwork page if you would like to give feedback to any of the featured artists.

 

21st May

1. Some of the dwarves of The Hobbit, including Richard, recorded a funny sketch for the Rise Up Christchurch telethon which was shown in the last few hours. RichardArmitageCentral have put it on youtube – many thanks ladies. The dwarves appear at 4min 17s. After the dwarf sketch, Sir Ian shows a copy of The Hobbit book with signatures of the cast inside.

Click pictures to enlarge. Credit: Bccmee

 

Dwarf signatures:

 

2. Two more pencil drawings have been added to the Artwork page courtesy of Joane. Richard as Gisborne and John Porter. Thanks Joane!

 

20th May

More news about the Rise Up Christchurch telethon and Sir Ian McKellen’s involvement on the NZ News site:

“Sir Ian McKellen is making an appearance at Te Papa. He’s bringing with him a copy of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, signed by the film’s cast, which will be auctioned on sella.co.nz. Later in the day, Telethon viewers will get to see a unique glimpse behind the scenes of The Hobbit film with a specially-shot short film.”

More information about this event on the Rise Up Christchurch site.

 

19th May

1. A very good review of Spooks episode 8 in this week’s Herald Sun, with thanks to Ann for the scan. Episode 8 will be shown in Australia on Saturday 21 May at 8.30pm on ABC1.

2. Spooks has been nominated for Best Drama Series in the 2011 TV Choice awards. You can vote on the longlist until June 10th. The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 28 June and the awards ceremony takes place in London on Tuesday 13 September.

 

18th May

1. Sky have a much higher quality version of the UK Strike Back 2 trailer here. Thanks to Bccmee for the link.

2. Two bloggers have set themselves a challenge to raise funds for the Rise Up Christchurch global telethon. You can help them meet their challenge at the RAFrenzy.com blog and the Me+Richard blog where you will find further details.

3. Robin Hood on PBS Buffalo: Robin Hood season 1 is being shown on WNED on Saturdays at 7pm and Mondays at 3pm. Details here. Thanks to Cranberry.

 

17th May

1. Strike Back in Germany: Strike Back episode 1 will be shown on RTL Crime tomorrow at 8.15pm – 9.00pm. Episode 2, which concludes the first storyline will be shown next Wednesday 25 May at the same time. Thanks to NicK for the email.

2. There’s a review of Spooks episode 8 in the Sydney Morning Herald TV guide this week, now on the Spooks Reviews page, with a new picture of Lucas and Maya taken during a scene in episode 8. The angle of that picture doesn’t come from the episode, so maybe it was taken by a set photographer? Thanks to Pauline for the scan.

 

16th May

1. The longer Strike Back trailer available on the Cinemax site has been closed captioned by Bccmee and she’s provided a transcript on her blog. The trailer shown before last night’s Game of Thrones in the US was the same trailer as this longer one I’m told.

Cinemax have released the longer trailer on youtube, which is slightly better quality than the one posted previously:

Here’s some pictures from the video, click to enlarge. More pictures of Richard from the UK Strike Back 2 trailer are in the news below 9 May, where different shots of Richard were seen.

 

2. Here’s a promotional picture for Strike Back series 1, taken by photographer Mitch Jenkins. Click the thumbnail below to enlarge.

3. The UK Strike Back 2 trailer is now on the Sky Strike Back website. Thanks to Anna for noticing this! The UK trailer is shorter and shows different clips than the US Strike Back 2 trailer, which you can see in the youtube clip above.

I’ve updated the screencaps below in the news 9th May, as the video is better quality.

The UK Sky trailer is also on youtube thanks to Sky:

15th May

1. According to this article on stuff.co.nz “stars of the Hobbit” will be involved in a charity telethon on Sunday 22 May to help raise funds for rebuilding Christchurch after the earthquake in February. This event will be broadcast online around the world. For details, see the Rise Up Christchurch site.

2. More wonderful drawings from Joane on the Artwork page of Richard as John Thornton and Claude Monet. Thanks Joane!

3. There’s a new poll on the left-hand side asking about twitter. Previous poll results are here.

4. Thanks to Anna for discovering this tweet, which appears to suggest that Strike Back 2 will air in August. However this is obviously not an official announcement and it’s not clear if this refers to a US broadcast or a UK broadcast too.

5. Strike Back news: Sean McNulty, executive producer for Cinemax has tweeted to say that the promotional trailer for Strike Back: Project Dawn will be shown tonight before Game of Thrones. Also a longer trailer can be seen on the Cinemax site, but apparently only those living in the US can see this video (youtube clip above in news 16 May).

 

14th May

1. Lady Prisca has created a wonderful pencil drawing of Guy from series 2 episode 8 (“Get Carter”). Click the thumbnail to enlarge on the Artwork page.

2. Bccmee is halfway through her challenge to create a graphic every day in May, inspired by the picture of the day on this website. Her creations are on her blog, and also on this site. Here’s a list and where to find them (well done B!):

• a John Porter wallpaper
• a Richard Armitage wallpaper
• a Richard Armitage signature (#8)
• two John Thornton signatures
• two Lucas North signatures (#9 and #10)
• three Guy of Gisborne signatures (#2-4)
• a Dr Track signature
• two Harry Kennedy signatures (#3 and #4)
• a John Standring signature
• a John Porter signature (#14)

 

12th May

1. Thanks to Ann for the latest scan in the Herald Sun newspaper reviewing episode 7 of Spooks, which will be shown this Saturday in Australia at 8.30pm on ABC1. Read it on the Spooks Reviews page.

2. Further details (without plot spoilers) have been added to the news on 10th May below, about the recent Strike Back filming in South Africa.

 

11th May

1. All episodes of Strike Back series 1 will be shown in South Korea this Sunday from 2.00pm – 8.00pm on the movie cable “Super Action” channel. Thanks to Jin for leaving a message in the guestbook.

2. Thanks to Lady Prisca for her excellent pencil drawing of Guy of Gisborne which has been added to the Artwork page.

3. Music from Strike Back has been posted on the SoundCloud music sharing site by the TV & film composer Simon Ashdown. There are three tracks which appear to be for the second series – the title of each track begins with ‘HBO’, the company co-producing the second series. Thanks to RavenRoseBeetle for discovering this.

 

10th May

1. A transcript and closed captioning of the new Strike Back 2 trailer is now available on Bccmee’s blog.

2. Ian McKellen has posted his latest blog about The Hobbit, in which he announces lots of cast news plus the fact that Martin Freeman has begun working on Sherlock, but… “The rest of the cast remains on duty for another few weeks, working on hobbit-less sections of the film.  These involve dwarves of course…”

 

9th May

Sky Atlantic showed a clip of Strike Back: Project Dawn this evening, the second series of Strike Back, with some brief glimpses of Richard Armitage. I recorded the clip but Sky have since made a youtube clip available which is better quality (see news 16 May above). Click the thumbnails below to see screencaps of Richard.

 

 

8th May

Hayley Atwell is interviewed in July’s SFX magazine about Captain America: The First Avenger, and there is a brief mention of Richard when she is asked about injuries she sustained: “I had a bullet-shell fired off near my head, when I stepped too close to Richard Armitage’s gun”. Read the full article on the Captain America page. With thanks to Kaprekar for the scan.

 

7th May

1. Sorry for being late with this, but I have just posted two more reviews of Spooks episode 6 which was shown this evening in Australia. With thanks to Ann for the scan of the Green Guide and Bccmee for the link dated 6 May.

2. More artwork added to the site with many thanks to Joane and Joyce. Joane has drawn Gisborne, Harry Kennedy and Lucas and Joyce has drawn another picture of John Thornton. Thanks for sharing ladies!

 

4th May

Spooks series 9 episode 6 will be shown in Australia this Saturday and Pauline has given us 2 scans from the TV Week Guide and the Sydney Morning Herald TV Supplement with positive reviews of the episode. Read them on the Spooks reviews page.

 

3rd May

1. The picture of the day archive for April 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day archive (under the Multimedia menu) on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. The Impressionists in Poland: the first episode of The Impressionsts will be shown tomorrow at 11.00pm on the Viasat History channel. Thanks to Ania for the email.

 

2nd May

Three more excellent portraits of Richard Armitage/Guy of Gisborne added to the Artwork page today, with thanks to Joyce M.

 

1st May

Spooks (MI-5) series 9 starts on Detroit Public TV tonight at 10.00pm, here’s the TV schedule. With thanks to Jenny.

30th April

Three more pencil drawings added to the Artwork page with thanks to Joane, who says she has only been drawing for 3 weeks! Excellent work Joane.

 

28th April

1. DVDs to buy in Australia: Spooks series 9 will be available from EzyDVD on 1st June, you can pre-order it now. It is not yet available from the ABC shop. A reminder that Strike Back will be available to buy on DVD in Australia on 5 May 2011. You can preorder it from the ABC shop or from EzyDVD for just under $30. Thanks to Michele.

2. Amazon.com has the complete region 1 Robin Hood series for $41.99 today only, which is their deal of the day. Thanks to Lynn.

 

26th April

1. In the news 12th April below, the London Evening Standard stated that Karen David had recently been filming Strike Back 2 “with Richard Armitage”, although there is now confirmation in this interview that she filmed her scenes with Sullivan Stapleton, one of the new leads in the series. The Strike Back news is a long way down that interview, just above the picture of Karen wearing a large yellow belt. Thank you to Anna for the link.

2. The first episode of The Impressionists will be shown in Hungary on Viasat History channel at 11.00pm. Other show times are further down the page. Thanks to Zsuzanna.

3. Joane has created another excellent pencil drawing, this time showing Guy of Gisborne, and it is now on the Artwork page.

4. Some fantastic artwork has been added to the site, courtesy of Teena, using the recent Strike Back Viral pictures mentioned in the news below on 16th April. Each picture has been photoshopped and enlarged and is now on display on the John Porter wallpapers page and she has made two May calendars here for your desktop.

 

25th April

North and South is now available to buy from iTunes in the UK. All 4 episodes costs £5.99, in case you want to put it on your smartphone. Amazon UK are selling the DVD for £3.49.

 

23rd April

An excellent new Guy of Gisborne wallpaper has been added to the Gisborne wallpapers page, with many thanks to Karima.

 

22nd April

1. Joane has emailed another fantastic drawing of Richard, which is now on the Artwork page including a link to her deviantart gallery.

2. There’s another update from Peter Jackson on his facebook page, confirming that Sir Ian Holm will be appearing in The Hobbit and that it was Martin Freeman’s voice at the end of the 10 minute Hobbit video.

 

20th April

1. 2Entertain have confirmed there are no plans to release of Robin Hood series 2 and 3 on to Blu-ray DVD format unfortunately, despite series 1 being available on Blu-ray. Thanks to Annette for finding out.

2. The Spooks Promo gallery has been updated as follows:

• A picture of Lucas and Vaughn from the UKTV New Zealand site
• This photo of Lucas, Ros and Harry (click ‘original image’ to enlarge) taken by Mark Harrison which appeared in the Radio Times Sept 2010
• This edited picture (click ‘original image’ to enlarge) from Bccmee to remove text from the original image from TV & Satellite Week magazine Sept 2010
• This picture of Lucas from The Sun March 2010

Some of these pictures are larger if you click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner.

 

18th April

1. There’s a good review of Spooks series 9 episode 4 in the Australian TV Week guide, which will broadcast on ABC1 at 8.30pm this Saturday. Read it on the Spooks Reviews page. Thanks to Pauline for the scan.

2. Clips from the special episode of Robin Hood shown during the 2007 BBC Children in Need charity event are now on the Robin Hood series 2 downloads page (#6).

 

17th April

1. Some more artwork added to the site courtesy of Alejandra: a pencil drawing of Richard Armitage and Thorin Oakenshield and another showing Guy of Gisborne on the Artwork page. She has also created a Richard Armitage wallpaper.

2. I’ve come across an article from November 2004 about North and South, including quotes from Richard by Ian Wylie writing for the Manchester Evening News. Read it on the Interviews page.

 

16th April

1. Three promotional shots from the Strike Back Viral (watch here on Vimeo) have been discovered by the Russian RA site on photographer David Clerihew’s site. I’ve added these shots to the SBViral gallery, or click the thumbnails below:

2. The Robin Hood series 2 downloads page has been recreated today with better clips and links to three new galleries:

• BBC Breakfast interview with Mike Bushell, October 2007
• GMTV interview with Lorraine Kelly, October 2007
• BBC Points of View clips – behind the scenes images and interviews

 

15th April

1. Bccmee has posted a transcript and close-captioned the video of the Powhiri ceremony part of Peter Jackson’s pre-production Hobbit video. You can find it on her blog.

2. I’ve now spotted Richard practising fight moves in the Hobbit video posted yesterday, so these have now been added to the Hobbit Pre-Production Video Gallery, plus a few extra shots during Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis & Peter Jackson’s speeches.

 

14th April

1. Peter Jackson has uploaded his first video from the set of The Hobbit on his facebook page – note this link goes direct to the Comments page where the video is available in HD, rather than PJ’s Facebook home page.

The 10 minute video includes a walk around the sets, the wardrobe department, a cast meeting inside the Bag End set and the Powhiri ceremony on the first day of shooting. It seems that the rumour was correct that Richard Armitage led the ceremony and spoke Maori (see news 30 March) as clips from this event are shown, including speeches from Richard, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and Peter Jackson to the cast and crew.

• You can download the video or just the Powhiri clip & speech from Richard here (right-mouse-click and choose ‘Save Link As’ to save): Powhiri ceremony (HD) Full Hobbit video (not HD)
• Screencaps from the Powhiri ceremony are now in Hobbit Pre-Production Video Gallery – taken from the HD video. Here’s a few:

 

2. On 6th April (see below) we were told that Netflix had made episodes from Spooks (MI-5) series 9 available online, they are grouped together in the generic “MI-5″ title. All 80 episodes are there. Thanks to Alicia for this info.

 

13th April

1. A review of Spooks series 9 episode 3 from Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper is now on the Spooks Reviews page, with thanks to Ann for the scan. This episode will air on Saturday 16 April, 8.30pm on ABC1.

2. There is a new poll question on the left-hand side relating to The Hobbit and how long you think we will have to wait before we see Richard and the other dwarves in full costume. Previous poll results are here.

 

12th April

The London Evening Standard has an interview with Karen David of the BBC’s Waterloo Road drama, who says she has recently been filming “a guest episode of Strike Back with Richard Armitage”. In another article in The People dated 13 March, it appears that Strike Back filming took place “last week” i.e. early March.  There is no official confirmation stating that Richard has already filmed episodes of Strike Back series 2, but we do know that shooting on The Hobbit began 21 March.

 

11th April

Peter Jackson has updated his Facebook page from the set of The Hobbit: “Hi everyone. Watch this space… My first video post from the set of THE HOBBIT will be landing here soon!”

Thanks to Bccmee for the email.

 

10th April

1. If any Australians missed Spooks series 9 on TV on Saturday or just wish to watch it again, episodes 1 and 2 are available online via ABC1′s iView. Thanks to Bccmee for this info.

2. Spooks (MI-5) series 9 in South Florida on PBS: Spooks series 9 starts tonight at 11.00pm on Channel 2 (WPBT2) in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-W. Palm Beach area. The following Sunday, the episode will air at 11.30pm. The episodes will be repeated on Thursdays at 10.30pm. Thank you to Bibiana for the email.

 

9th April

Thanks to Joane for the scan of her excellent drawing of Richard which I’ve added here on the Artwork page.

 

6th April

1. For US Netflix subscribers: Spooks (MI:5) volume 9 is now available to watch online (click screencap below for listing). Netflix have made an error with the listing as it describes a Doctor Who episode, however all 8 episodes are listed as Spooks episodes. With thanks to Emma for this information.

2. ManderFFA has created a brilliant pencil drawing of Richard at the Hood Academy. It’s here on the Artwork page and there is a link to more of her artwork on DeviantArt.com.

 

4th April

1. As mentioned in the news on 29th March, MI-5 volume 9 (Spooks series 9) DVD will be released by Amazon US on July 12, 2011. BBC Canada are also releasing the series 9 DVD on the same date. You can pre-order the DVD from both of those links. Thanks to Susmita and Christina for the emails.

2. Spooks series 9 on PBS North Carolina: Mi-5 series 9 is airing on UNC TV starting tonight and airing each Monday at 3.00am and 10.00pm. Thanks to Kitty.

3. The main page of the screencap gallery has been redesigned, and now includes galleries for The Hobbit, Captain America and Cleopatra which have been added recently. If you cannot see the new design, press F5 to refresh the screen.

4. Thanks for all your comments about the new screencap gallery. I’ve been asked to post the old gallery design as a wallpaper and you can now find this on the Richard Armitage wallpapers page.

5. The picture of the day archive for March 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

 

2nd April

Spooks series 9 starts in Australia today at 8.30pm on ABC1. Three reviews from the Australian press are on the Spooks Reviews page. Here is the ABC1 Spooks programme information or watch a promo here.

 

1st April

1. Captain America: The First Avenger, in which Richard plays Heinz Kruger, has been nominated for the ‘Must see movie of the summer’ category in the UK’s National Movie Awards. Voting closes on Monday 18th April and the award ceremony will be broadcast from London on ITV1 on Wednesday 11th May. Thanks to Gisela for the email.

2. Two fantastic pencil drawings have been added to the Artwork page with thanks to Darkangel66a. One drawing of Richard Armitage and one of Lucas North. If you’d like to leave a comment about any of our artwork there is a comments box at the bottom of the Artwork page.

 

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. There are now 5 pages to this gallery instead of just 2 – if you cannot see these new pages, press F5 to refresh the screen.

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. All pictures from the North and South gallery which was re-created yesterday can be downloaded here.

3. 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.

4. The picture of the day archive for February 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

5. 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.

 

 

28th February

1. I came across a new Santander advert on TV this morning, with Richard providing the voiceover as always. This one is for their Loyalty Flexible Cash ISA and you can watch it on the 2011 Adverts page.

2. Screencaps from the MSN TV Spooks interview are now in the MSN Spooks Interview gallery, with thanks to Bccmee for providing a HQ version for me to cap. Watch the original interview on the MSN TV site.

You can download the high quality version from Bccmee’s site or alternatively watch it on youtube courtesy of HeathRA.

3. United Agents have announced the nomination of the Venetia audiobook read by Richard Armitage on their website. The winners will be announced by the Audio Publishers Association on May 24, 2011 in New York. Naxos Audiobooks have forwarded a press release with the full list of nominations which you can read here.

4. Cultbox are offering the chance to win one of two Spooks 9 DVD boxsets. You must be resident in the UK to participate in this competition and it closes on Friday 11 March.

5. Strike Back in Poland: thanks to Ania for letting us know that Strike Back, using the title “Kontra”, starts on Monday 14 March at 8.20pm on TVP1. TVP is a public access channel so free for all to watch.

6. TheOneRing.net has a list of charitable organisations for you to donate to the NZ Earthquake appeal if you wish. Thanks to Amanda for the link.

7. Ordering The Lords of the North audiobook from abroad is not always straightforward and a response from the distributor, AudioGO Ltd, has been posted on The Lords of the North page. Note: “due to contractual territorial issues, the website cannot deliver the title to a US address” but there are ways around this! Thanks to Bccmee for obtaining the information via email from AudioGO.

 

27th February

Video interviews with Richard and the Spooks cast:

Cultbox have 4 short video interviews on their site with members of the cast, namely Peter Firth, Richard Armitage, Sophia Myles and Max Brown, to promote the release of the Spooks series 9 DVD.

There is a longer interview with Richard in his Spooks trailer on the MSN TV site, followed by an interview with Nicola Walker. Thanks to Viktoria for the email. Here’s some screencaps, click to enlarge:

 

26th February

1. Galleries updated:

• The Hobbit Press Conference gallery, with thanks to WetaNZ.com – #13 and #19.
• Spooks Promo gallery, with thanks to Entertainment-Focus.com (news 24th Feb) and Universal Playback (news 18th Feb) – #907, #908, #909 and #916.

Press F5 to refresh the screen if you’ve visited these galleries recently and can’t see the new pictures.

2. New poll on the left-hand side to see which of Richard’s work you haven’t seen yet but want to see soon. Previously poll results are here. It seems Rupert Penry-Jones beat Brendan Coyle by a small margin in the end.

 

25th February

1. Richard’s United Agents page has updated with listings for The Hobbit and Captain America: The First Avenger. They still say he’s working on Spooks, but never mind…

2. The Venetia audiobook read by Richard Armitage has been nominated for an Audie award in the Audiobook Adaptation category. The awards are presented by the Audio Publishers Assocation. The winners will be announced by the Audio Publishers Association on May 24, 2011 in New York.

The review states: “Richard Armitage’s voice aptly conveys the attraction between Venetia and Damerel, making the most of the novel’s rich dialogue and clever turns of phrase. Armitage manages to express all of Heyer’s opinions about her characters with a subtle sense of the ridiculous. Exchanges between Venetia and Damerel emerge as especially intimate and wonderful. While the abridgment is gracefully handled, it’s a pity listeners won’t have the pleasure of hearing Armitage narrate the entire novel.”

3. A competition to win a Spooks series 9 DVD boxset (region 2), signed by Peter Firth and Nicola Walker will be announced soon. Watch this space…

4. Richard has narrated a documentary for the Discovery UK channel about HMS Ark Royal. The first episode aired last Tuesday evening, but it is repeated on Saturday 26th February at midnight and then again on Sunday at 5.00pm. This is an eight part series and the second episode is on Tuesday 1st March at 10.00pm, then repeated again several times: Discovery TV Schedule. It is on Discovery and Discovery HD simultaneously. A clip has been put on youtube. More programme information on blogs.yourdiscovery.com

 

24th February

1. The Spooks online video game mentioned in yesterday’s news gets a write-up on Entertainment-Focus.com with two new high quality pictures of Lucas North. Thanks to Bccmee for the link.

Many thanks to Entertainment-Focus.com for sending me the pictures of Lucas in HQ extra large – click the thumbnails below to see the full size.

2. Here is the Sky Press Release announcing that a second series of Strike Back has been jointly commissioned by Sky and HBO/Cinemax. They also state that “Richard Armitage returns as John Porter”.

 

23rd February

1. Competition to win one of five Strike Back DVDs (region 2) on the BBC Germany site. Note these DVDs have both German and English language versions. Thanks to CDoart for the email. The Strike Back DVD in German is released by Amazon.de on 25 February.

2. There’s a short clip of Richard in this promotional video for the Spooks series 9 DVD on youtube. This video has been uploaded by Becomeaspook.com, which is an online video game tied with the release of the series 9 DVD.

 

22nd February

1. News from New Zealand following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch:

• TVNZ national news report
• Robert Kazinsky who will play the dwarf Fili in The Hobbit posted this on twitter at around 7am UK time: “I’m fine people, my thoughts are with the cast and crew with family in Christchurch. the Coming days will be hard.”
• Our thoughts go to all those who have family and friends in NZ, keep safe. Donations can be made to: http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate
• Sir Ian McKellen has blogged from New Zealand after arriving there recently and meeting with all 13 dwarves.
• Jack from the Noldor Blog has written of his recent meeting with Andy Serkis in Wellington.

2. Spooks in Israel: series 7 of Spooks will begin on Monday 28th February on channel 23, showing every day from Sunday – Thursday at 11.00pm and repeated on Friday and Saturday. Series 8 and 9 will follow after. With thanks to Maya. Translation into English.

 

21st February

1. Strike Back in the news today:

• Strike Back will be broadcast in Australia on Saturday 12th March at 8.30pm on ABC1 for 1hr 28mins, so it seems that episodes 1 & 2 will be shown back to back. Episodes 3 & 4 will be shown the following Saturday at the same time according to throng.com. Thanks to Bccmee for the links.
• It seems that filming for Strike Back series 2 is already underway in South Africa. This facebook page is for a stunt/athetic group who are working on the series.
• The Guardian has a brief article about the scheduling conflicts between many UK produced dramas and the filming of The Hobbit.

2. Three pictures of Richard filming Spooks series 9 episode 1 have emerged on Flickr, with thanks to Violet and also the Spooks Fan Blog for the links: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3. The photos were taken on April 8, 2010 and are copyright of ‘Anyhoo’.

 

20th February

1. The film doesn’t come out in the UK until 29 July, but the DVD for Captain America: The First Avenger is already listed on Amazon UK and also on Amazon US. Thanks to Susie for her message in the guestbook. The international release schedule for this film is on Marvel.com.

2. There is speculation that the full trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger will be released this week on ComicBookMovie.com

3. Thanks to Bccmee for a great new icon & signature set of Richard’s new bearded look on the Richard signatures page.

4. I’ve added to the North and South Promo gallery and added the following pictures from those I have been collecting over the years: #1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 14, 16, 20, 32, 33, 35, 36. I’m afraid the original sources are unknown. If you would like credit for any of these new pictures please contact me.

 

18th February

1. Spooks series 9 DVD (region 2) is released on Monday 28 February and here is the press release from the publicists. A review of the DVD is here on Cultbox: “the cast’s performances are as strong as ever, with the ever-reliable Peter Firth proving yet again why he’s so vital to the show as boss Harry Pearce, alongside Richard Armitage on outstanding form as troubled agent Lucas North.”

You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon or Play.com – more information on the RA on DVD page.

The producers of the Spooks 9 DVD, Universal Playback, have a photo gallery with two previously unseen photos of Richard as Lucas North similar to those on the bottom of this page of the Spooks Promo gallery. I’ve doubled the size of the pictures from that site, which you can view by clicking on the thumbnails below. A better version of one of their pictures is already in the gallery – #913.

 

2. There’s a new pencil drawing of Richard with a beard on the Artwork page with thanks to GizTheGunslinger, based on his appearance at The Hobbit press conference.

3. New large picture of Richard as John Porter in the Strike Back Promo gallery – it’s the last picture. With thanks to Bccmee.

4. The new Sky1 HD advert has clips of Richard as John Porter from Strike Back. It’s been uploaded on to youtube, or you can watch the embedded video on the 2011 Advertisements page.

5. The IGN Movies site has given a little bit more information about Heinz Kruger and his role in the forthcoming Captain America movie. Scroll to the penultimate paragraph on page 1. Mild spoilers.

 

17th February

1. Richard appears in the first episode of George Gently tonight in the UK on the Alibi channel from 9.00pm – 10.55pm. Alibi TV Listings.

2. I’ve added two more pictures to the Richard Miscellaneous gallery with many thanks to Janice for the scans. Picture #3 was taken when he was 22 years old in 1994 and picture #4 is also new to the gallery taken when he was rehearsing Hamlet in the autumn of 1998 at the Birmingham Rep Theatre, he was 27 years old. Press F5 to refresh the screen if you’ve visited this gallery recently.

 

15th February

1. The Biography page has been updated this morning, and the latest information is also updated frequently on the Career pages for each production. It seems that Rupert Penry-Jones is catching up with Brendan Coyle in our poll (see left-hand side). Please vote if you haven’t done so – thanks!

2. An article about The Hobbit press conference and a picture of Richard, Martin Freeman and Ken Stott, also here in the gallery, appeared in last Saturday’s New York Times. Thanks to an anonymous visitor for the scan. Click the thumbnail below to enlarge.

 

13th February

Strike Back in Japan: Strike Back will be shown on the Wowow TV channel in Japan on 19 February at 2pm with the second and third episodes following straight after at 3.35pm and 5.10pm. Thanks to Bccmee for the info.

 

12th February

1. A nice little report from 3news.co.nz about The Hobbit press conference is online: watch it here.

2. The Richard-only part of yesterday’s press conference is now on this wordpress site.

3. New poll on the left-hand side asking which male co-star you’d like Richard to work with again. Previous poll results are here and it seems Kate Winslet is the clear winner.

4. TheOneRing.net‘s report on yesterday’s press conference is well worth reading. On Richard: “Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas…”

5. Download of the full 38 minute press conference is available here, with thanks to Cesta.

 

11th February

Richard attends The Hobbit press conference: a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand was held on Friday morning. All 13 dwarves and Martin Freeman playing Bilbo Baggins were in attendance, but Peter Jackson could not attend due to being “under a form of medical house arrest” in order to recover fully from his recent operation.

• Full video of the press conference: 3news.co.uk site
  • the cast have all been out in NZ for 4 – 5 weeks now
  • the look of each dwarf is still to be decided – the beards are an experiment!
  • the training has consisted of going to the gym, learning stunt moves, horse-riding, dialect training
  • and…there WILL be singing

• Bccmee has extracted just Richard’s part in the press conference. Updated link to video

• Report from 3news.co.nz: The cast “have been here for four weeks, going to gym, horse back riding, fight training and doing dialect work.” 3news.co.nz video report

• Report from stuff.co.nz (with video)

• A longer report from stuff.co.nz quotes Richard:
  10.38am: Richard Armitage says he played an elf in a stage production of The Hobbit when he was a child and Gollum was a paper mâché puppet. Says the 3D aspect is like working on Avatar.

• Report from the NZHerald

• ZMTV video on youtube from the press conference

• More videos from the press conference on MovieWeb – the first one shows Richard arriving at the table.

• More photos from the event.

Click to enlarge:

A gallery of 20 pictures from the press conference has been added here: Hobbit Press Conference gallery. With thanks to Cesta and Bccmee for some of the high resolution pictures.

The Hobbit career page has a full summary of all the news since Richard’s involvement in The Hobbit films was announced.

2. The German site Suite101.de has written an interesting and flattering career biography of Richard as a result of his casting in The Hobbit. Here’s a translation into English – it isn’t perfect as some words have not translated accurately but you can get the gist. Thanks to Susanne for the link.

 

10th February

1. The Telegraph has reported on Sky’s collaboration with HBO to make a second series of Strike Back with 10 episodes, and this was also reported yesterday by Deadline.com. Digital Spy have just reported that Richard WILL return to star in series 2. Digital Spy have confirmed that Sky are still saying Richard will return as John Porter for series 2, according to Sky’s latest press release.

Update: confirmation from Sky’s site that Richard will appear!

2. Thanks to Conchi for letting us know that Strike Back is being repeated in Spain and episode 2 will be shown today at 6.15pm on the Canal+Dos channel. There are further details about when the episodes will be shown again on that page. Here’s a translation into English.

3. Spooks 7 on Demand in the Netherlands: Dutch visitors may like to know that Spooks 7 can be watched with Dutch subtitles via the Misdaad Net channel’s video on demand service. This is available via the UPC or Ziggo providers. Spooks is still not available via the public channels unfortunately. Thanks to Violet for this information.

 

9th February

Channel DR1 in Denmark is showing Strike Back this evening – see news 2nd Feb below.

 

8th February

This Empire magazine page has high resolution images from their Captain America article, which is posted below in the news on 3rd February. The picture of Richard is also below (click to enlarge):

 

7th February

1. Captain America: The First Avenger trailer: shown during last night’s Superbowl, there is a very brief glimpse of Richard as Heinz Kruger in the sub. Here is the trailer is on youtube in 1080 HD and it can also be downloaded courtesy of HeathRA: 1080dpi HD trailer download.

Screenshots courtesy of HeathRA, click to enlarge:

For all the latest news about Richard’s appearance in this film, go to the Captain America career page.

2. Hobbit filming latest: according to the Waikato Times, filming on The Hobbit has been put back to March 21st as a result of “practical considerations of the filming schedule requirements, actor availability and the NZ seasons”.

3. Teena has created 4 calendar desktop backgrounds for February – click the thumbnails to enlarge and then right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) and choose ‘Set as desktop background’ if you want to display them on your PC/Mac. They are on the 2011 Calendar Artwork page. Thanks T!

5th February

Please vote in the new poll on the left-hand side which contains a list of the last 10 Academy Award winning actresses. Previous poll results are here.

 

3rd February

There’s a six page article about Captain America: The First Avenger and a large picture of Richard as Heinz Kruger in the March 2011 issue of Empire magazine out today, with an interesting comment that they spotted Richard reading The Hobbit! Click on the thumbnails below to read the article.

 

2nd February

1. Latest news about The Rover: From the English Touring Theatre, with thanks to Sandra: “The Rover is still in play, but it’s unlikely to be this year. We are still keen to do it but there are lots of t’s to cross and I’s to dot before it’s definite. We do know that there’s a real appetite for it if a certain Mr Armitage is involved, but he’s going to be in NZ filming The Hobbit for the next while so we’ll have to wait and see for now…”

2. The Vicar of Dibley gallery has been recreated with more and better quality pictures including a gallery for the documentary ‘The Story of Dibley’. If you have visited this gallery recently you may need to press F5 to refresh the screen in order to see the new gallery.

3. Spooks 7 in the Nordic region: BBC Entertainment will show Spooks series 7 in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland starting Sunday 13 February at 9.05pm. Thanks to MillyMe. Note that Robin Hood is shown on Sundays at the moment and that series 3 episode 6 will be shown just before Spooks starts on that same day, 13th Feburary – two hours of Richard!

4. Strike Back on Danish TV: DR1 will be showing Strike Back next Wednesday 9th February at 10pm. Each episode will air as a 90 minute ‘movie’ and episode 2 will be on the 16th February. Thanks to AJ who has translated the page: “Richard Armitage plays special ops soldier John Porter, who is sent on one dangerous mission after another. Two former soldiers, Major Hugh Collinson and veteran John Porter meet for the first time in 7 years in connection with a hostage drama in the Middle East. The mini series was shot in South Africa in fantastic surroundings and is filled with big scale action sequences. The series is based on Chris Ryan’s best seller Strike Back from 2007.”

 

1st February

1. The picture of the day archive for January 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. There’s a new clip on the Elsa the Lioness page taken from the Natural World documentary, which aired this evening at 7pm on BBC2.

31st January

A clip from the Natural World: Elsa the Lioness documentary was shown on BBC Breakfast this morning. You can watch the clip that Richard narrates on the Elsa the Lioness page. The documentary will be shown on BBC2 at different times throughout the UK: tomorrow at 7pm in England and Northern Ireland, Wednesday 2nd February at 7pm in Wales and Saturday 5th February at 3.30pm in Scotland.

 

30th January

1. Strike Back will be shown on the FX channel in Italy on Thursday 3rd February at 9pm (more info below on 21st January). Thanks to Rossella for providing a scan from the Sat Guida TV magazine which you can see on the Strike Back reviews page with an English translation.

2. As reported on 20th January, a trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger will be shown during the Superbowl broadcast on Sunday 6th February. It is now confirmed that this trailer will be only 30 seconds long, but a 2½ minute trailer will be released soon, according to director Joe Johnston.

3. The Biography page has been updated and new pictures added. This is a history of Richard’s career and ends with a summary of the latest news.

 

28th January

1. There’s a new poll on the left-hand side asking if you intend to buy the Spooks series 9 DVD, thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

2. Episode 2 of Strike Back will be on RTL2 in Germany this evening at 10.40pm.

 

27th January

1. Filming of The Hobbit movies will be delayed slightly after director Peter Jackson was taken to hospital with a perforated stomach ulcer. More info on stuff.co.nz and the-hobbit-movie.com.

2. All news items for December 2010 have been archived here.

3. Strike Back episode 1 aired in Germany on RTL2 last night and Osnabrucker Zeitung have given it 5 stars. A translation of this article is on the Strike Back reviews page.

4. The Spooks 7 Publicity gallery, which contains screencaps of the interviews with Richard at the BBC Breakfast and This Morning studios on 27 October 2008, has been recreated with more pictures and better quality images. The original interviews can be watched or downloaded from the Spooks 7 Downloads page and a new clip has been added to that page, the Intro clip before Richard was interviewed on BBC Breakfast.

5. Some great comments from The Hobbit casting director Ros Hubbard on the IFTN site about casting for the films. On the casting process: “It was a huge event but it was smaller than the three Lord of the Rings. And it is still going on to a degree in that little things change, but the actors are all out in New Zealand now” and “working with Peter Jackson is like working with a family. So they’ll have a great time…everyone is very close and very loving on those sorts of jobs. It’s not like typical studio movies at all.”

 

25th January

1. The Strike Back DVD will be released with Dutch subtitles on 22 February 2011. You can pre-order via bol.com. Thanks to Mechtild.

2. Just added another Guy/Sheriff picture to the RH Promo gallery and a Harry/Geraldine picture to the Vicar of Dibley Promo gallery. Click ‘original’ image in the bottom right corner to see them in their full size. If you’ve visited these galleries recently you may need to press F5 to refresh the page in order to see the new pictures.

3. Strike Back in German will be released on DVD on 25 February 2011. You can pre-order at Amazon.de. Thanks to Bee.

4. I’ve replaced some pictures in the Strike Back Promo gallery with larger versions, as follows: #02, #03, #06, #09, #11, #13, #17. Click ‘original’ image in the bottom right corner to see them in their full size.

5. Richard is narrating Natural World: Elsa the Lioness on Tuesday 1 February at 7pm on BBC2. There are clips on that page so that you can see a preview of the programme.

 

24th January

Strike Back in Denmark: episode 1 will be shown on Wednesday 9th February at 10pm on DR1 as a 90 minute movie. The second episode will be shown on 16th February and the third a week later at the same time. Thanks to AJ.

 

23rd January

1. Spooks 9 DVD Extras: details of the extras included on the series 9 DVD boxset have been released by Cultbox. They include 2 documentaries ‘The Cost Of Being A Spy’ and ‘The Downfall Of Lucas North’ and episode commentaries with Nicola Walker, executive producer Andrew Woodhead, Sam Vincent, Jon Brackley and writer Anthony Neilson. It is released on 28 February 2011. DVD ordering information on the RA on DVD page.

2. There’s an article in the UAE online publication, The National, about casting The Hobbit film, with a specific mention of Richard.

 

21st January

1. Spooks (MI-5) on PBS in Houston: episode 1 of series 7 was broadcast last night at 9.30pm on KUHT Channel 8 and it is repeated on Sunday at 11pm and Tuesday morning at 3am. Episode 2 will be shown at those times next week starting Thursday 27 January at 9.30pm. Here’s the TV Schedule (click on HD Channel 8.1). Thanks to Lynn.

2. Strike Back in Italy: Strike Back will be shown on the FX channel in Italy on Thursday 3rd February at 9pm. Episodes 2 and 3 are shown on the following Thursdays at the same time. Here’s the trailer on youtube which can only be seen in Italy. Thanks to Mamma_T for the email. UPDATE: Bccmee has uploaded the trailer to youtube so that we can all see it – and corrected the aspect ratio! Thanks B.

3. Three Strike Back trailers shown on German TV on youtube: number 1, number 2 and number 3. TV Schedule here on the RTL2 site.

Here’s a scan for the third episode of Strike Back thanks to NicK. This episode will be shown on January 29th at 10pm.

Tranlsation: Strike Back – Day of Revenge. TV Action Drama. Final of the three part series based on Chris Ryan’s books.

In Afghanistan MI6 agent John Porter must find computer hacker Gerald Baxter (Ewen Bremner ‘Trainspotting’). Baxter hacked British torpedoes which fired on US troops. Porter passed himself off as an arms dealer to cross his path. But both of them fell into the American’s hands who want to see Baxter dead.

Fast and crisply staged, nice jokes and two calculated surprises – even the last part of this British army-agent trilogy affords solid, amusing action. Bremner convinces as a ‘crackpot’ just as well as Armitage does as a hero. Incidentally, Armitage will play  dwarf Thorin in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’.

Picture captions

Larger picture: Hacker Baxter and Agent Porter come under…
Second pic: …direct fire

With no frills, exciting military film.

 

20th January

1. A trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger will be shown at this year’s Superbowl on February 6th according to CinemaBlend and various other movie sites.

2. Here’s a snippet from the German ‘TV Movie’ magazine (click to enlarge) with thanks to Barbara. Strike Back will air 26 and 28 January. TV Schedule here on the RTL2 site.

Tranlsation: TV action drama. After his mission in Iraq John Porter goes to Harare, Africa. Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, has been shot! When the gunman, Felix Masuku, gets caught he receives word that he shot the president’s doppelganger. Zimbabwe’s government blames Britain for the attack. The theory doesn’t seem strange, beause Masuku is a british ex-soldier. Special agent John Porter, disguised as a diamond-smuggler, infiltrates the prison to free Masuku …

The way from MI5 agent in “Spooks” to MI6 man Porter was hard for Richard Armitage: before starting to film the 39-year old actor did special training for ten weeks.

Picture captions

First pic: In prison Porter must put up with a lot.
Second pic: On the run with Masuku

Blue box:

Mission successful: crisp action series

3. Ypsilon from the German RA board has recorded the trailer for Strike Back which will air on Wednesday 26 January on RTL2. Here’s a link to the trailer.

 

19th January

1. The new lead in Sky’s Strike Back has been announced as Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton on the Herald Sun’s site. The series will now be co-produced by the US production company HBO. Thanks to Lynbryt for the link. As confirmed by head of Sky drama Elaine Pyke on 10 November, it does seem that Richard will be in some episodes of Strike Back but not all. On 7th December, this was confirmed again by David Stephenson, TV Editor of the Sunday Express on twitter: “For Richard Armitage fans, Sky says actor is in “some” episodes of Strike Back 2, but not all.” There has been no more confrmation as to whether this is still the case.

2. No scheduled date for Strike Back in Australia: just to give you an update on this, ABC have stated that while they have the rights to screen Strike Back there is no scheduled date at this stage. No news on Spooks series 9 either. Thanks to Ann for keeping us updated.

3. New poll on the left-hand side to see which role you’d most like to see made into a movie. Thank you for voting. Previous poll results are here.

 

18th January

The Hobbiton movie set is closed to the public between 14th February and 20th March, suggesting that the cast will be filming in Hobbiton during this time. Thanks to Kiri.

 

17th January

1. Two articles from a NZ site which suggests that filming on The Hobbit will start February 14th: www.stuff.co.nz and another via the Waikato Times.

2. Here’s an old interview with Lucy Griffiths in which she is extremely complimentary about working with Richard in Robin Hood. I don’t recall reading this before so perhaps this is new for some and a nice reminder for others! Robin Hood’s Lucy Griffiths On Playing Maid Marian. Thanks to Maria for the link.

3. Robin Hood and Spooks (MI-5) in Atlanta: Robin Hood series 1 will begin on Friday 21 January at 8pm on WPBA Channel 30. They will be showing the entire series and will follow on with series 2 and 3. The station has bought series 9 of Spooks (MI-5), which will air in April 2011. Thanks to Gail for finding out this info.

 

14th January

George Gently in Hungary: the pilot episode of George Gently co-starring Richard will be shown on the Movies 24 channel on 18 January at 1.00am and on the 21st January at 3.00am. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

 

13th January

Robin Hood in New Zealand: the first series of Robin Hood will be shown on UKTV starting Saturday 22 January at 6pm and repeated on Sundays at 8am. Thanks to Missy.

2. Spooks DVD releases in France: series 7 and series 8 are being released in March: Series 7 details on Amazon France – Series 8 details on Amazon France. All other series of Spooks (MI-5) are also being released on DVD in March 2011. Thanks to Céline.

 

12th January

The Richard gallery has had an overhaul. There are a lot more photographs and they are split into three categories: Photoshoots and Promotional pictures, Interviews, and Events and Appearances. Hopefully this is much more organised. All the other galleries for his character roles are the same: Main Gallery.

11th January

1. Hobbit news: it has been confirmed that Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will be reprising their roles as Gandalf and Gollum respectively. Confirmation on theonering.net, Den of Geek, EmpireOnline and numerous other sites, including Ian McKellen’s own blog, in which he states that he will start filming on 21 February. The Examiner has stated that principal photography will start on 14 February – thanks Missy for that link. A summary of all the news relating to The Hobbit is on the career page.

2. Spooks 7 and 8 in Belgium: digital channel 8 is showing Spooks 7 and then Spooks 8 every day, three times day at 11.30am, 5.15pm and 7.50pm. Note that Robin Hood is also showing on this channel. Thanks to Anne.

3. Added a new pencil drawing of Lucas North by Obiskus on the Artwork page. If you’d like to leave a comment about any of the artwork on this site, please scroll down the Artwork page.

 

10th January

Spooks series 8 in Poland: BBC Entertainment will be showing Spooks 8 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm starting Wednesday 19th January. There is also a Spooks page on that site with more information. Here’s a translated version. Thanks to Ania for the email.

 

9th January

As mentioned on December 21st below, Spooks (MI-5) series 8 will be shown on Canal+ in France on January 10th. The time is now confirmed as 8.50pm for episode 1 and 9.40pm for episode 2. Joane has provided some scans from the weekly magazine Numericable and translations. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge:

Translation of italicised text: Suspense, tension and emotion await you in this eighth series. One of the best.

Translation: Real evidence of the “savoir-faire” (know-how) of the English in terms of TV series, MI-5 is an “off the mainstream” spy serial that has a preference for reflection than action. The writers always take care to keep pace with hot current affairs, using reall and inconstant geopolitical configurations. Series 8, consisting of 8 unreleased episodes is broadcast on Canal + channel and shines due to its rigorous scripts and by the quality of the actors’ performance. The series begins exactly where the previous one finished. Death threats,  energy shortages, kidnappings and dissident spies, their programme is heavy but exciting/thrilling. With Hermione Norris and Richard Armitage.

 

7th January

1. As mentioned on 23 December below, Strike Back will air in Germany on RTL2 on 26 and 28 January. Thanks to Susanne for passing on this link to the RTL2 site with more information and pictures.

Here’s a scan of an article in the German magazine ‘TV Today’ (click to enlarge) with thanks to Bee. She has translated the text in the blue box, which I am amused to say is: “Believable TV action about real hard blokes”!

Tranlsation: TV action drama in three parts. A British elite soldier must go to the trouble spots in the world.

After a failed elite mission in Iraq 2003, SAS man John Porter quit the service. But later he comes back undercover to Iraq, to rescue the British journalist Katie Dartmouth (Orla Brady).

Author Chris Ryan was an elite soldier in Iraq and Zaire before he established himself as an successful author of war memoirs and military thrillers. “The Ambush” (German title of the episode) leans on his own experiences from the first “Gulf War”. A second season is already being planned. (Repeated 3:35am, second part on 28th January)

Picture captions

First pic: Porter (on knees) meets enemies from the past

Top right pic: elite soldier on mission

Below right: Katie’s life is in danger

 

2. Two high resolution North & South pictures have been added to the N&S Promo gallery courtesy of the Russian RA site, with thanks to the admin Sharona. The new additions are #12 and #13. Press ‘original image’ to see the extra large versions and click again to zoom in. The detail on the costumes in #13 is fantastic.

 

6th January

1. Strike Back in Norway: the first two episodes have already been shown, but the third and fourth will be shown on the NRK3 channel tonight at 9.35pm and the last two episodes on Saturday at 10pm. NRK3 schedule information – Strike Back is called ‘Farlig oppdrag’ which means ‘Dangerous mission’. Thanks to MillyMe for the email.

2. Richard has come in 2nd place in a ‘Hunk of the Year’ poll in Woman’s Own magazine, beating the likes of Daniel Craig, David Beckham and Colin Firth. Thanks to LadyJuliana for the scan – click the thumbnail below to enlarge.

3. Star Wars, The Phantom Menance in Belgium: Channel 2BE is showing this film at 7pm on Saturday. Thanks to Lucia. It’s also showing in the UK on ITV1 at 3.35pm on Saturday. Richard appears briefly as a Naboo fighter pilot.

4. Spooks (MI-5) in Boston: PBS in Boston started showing Spooks series 8 last night. It airs Wednesday nights at 9pm on WGBH Channel 44 and the same episode repeats on Friday nights at 10.00pm on WGBH Channel 2. Thanks to Nancy for the email.

 

5th January

Captain America production designer Rick Heinrichs has revealed some of the plot of the film in a French magazine, and The Daily Blam have summarised the plot points. No mention of Heinz Kruger/Richard Armitage but a general overview of the storyline. A trailer for this film is expected in the next few weeks.

 

4th January

1. UPDATE 5th Jan – Spooks series 8 and 9 on PBS: WPBT Channel 2 (South Florida) will show series 8 of Spooks (MI-5) starting Thursday 13th January at 10.00pm and repeated on Sundays at 10.30pm and then show series 9 in the spring. This information confirmed by the network thanks to Bibi.

2. Richard has provided the voiceover for a new Santander advert promoting their ‘Zero Current Account’. You can watch or download it from the 2011 Adverts page.

3. Added a new 2011 Calendar Artwork page to the site with calendars made by Rossella and Teena for your personal use if you wish.

4. There’s a new poll on the left-hand side asking which of the types of creative outlet are you most interested in. Thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

 

3rd January

1. Entertainment Tonight will soon release video footage of their Captain America set visit according to various sites on the internet and also comiingsoon.net. They have also reproduced a page from Empire magazine with a brief article about the forthcoming film – a larger image will be available soon.

2. Robin Hood series 2 will be shown again on BBC Entertainment in many countries throughout Europe and Asia starting Thursday 13 January. Click here for the TV schedule, choose your country from the time zone box then click where it says ‘select date’ and choose 13 January. The first episode will be shown 3 times on that day and then each week on a Thursday. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

 

2nd January

1. Spooks (MI-5) on PBS in the US: Series 7 will start on MPT2 in Maryland on Tuesday 4th January at 9:00pm EST and Series 8 started on UNC-TV in North Carolina, last night at 11.00pm and will air every Saturday evening at the same time. Thanks to Musa and Jeanne for the emails.

2. The picture of the day archive for December 2010 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or you can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

3. BBC News is reporting that Dalton Mills in Keighley has been partially destroyed by fire after parts of the former textile mill set alight last night. An earlier BBC news story about the mill, used for exterior shots of Marlborough Mills in North and South is here. Pictures I took of the three mills used to film the BBC series are on our North and South locations page.

Further details on the Keighley News site, that the mill wing was affected.

4. The BBC Canada website has announced that Robin Hood series 3 will be shown on Tuesdays at 11pm, starting 4th January. Thanks to Cléo.

 

1st January

The PBS station in Austin, Texas, KLRU-TV, is showing Spooks (MI-5) series 8 starting on Friday 7th January at 10.00pm and repeating it on Monday 10th January at 12.00am. Thanks to Juanita for the email.

A reminder that Spooks series 8 is released from Amazon US on 25th January which is available to pre-order for $27.99. All the DVDs that Richard appears in are on the RA on DVD page.

28th December

1. New additions to the Robin Hood Promotional Pics gallery as follows: series1-06, series1-13, series1-15, series2-18, series2-28, series3-50 and some pictures are now available in larger versions. To see the new pictures you may need to press F5 to refresh each page of the gallery if you have visited it recently.

2. The Impressionists Promotional Gallery has been re-created with larger pictures and some new additions.

3. All news items for November 2010 have been archived here.

4. New poll on the left-hand side. You may use all or a combination of many of those online tools to read news about Richard, but which one do you access first? Previous poll results are here.

5. Lady Enigma has made a new Guy of Gisborne wallpaper which you can see on the Gisborne wallpapers page. Click the thumbnail image to enlarge.

24th December

There’s a Christmas message from Richard on Annette’s site RichardArmitageOnline. Go read it and Merry Christmas to all!

23rd December

Strike Back in Germany: all 6 episodes of Strike Back will be shown on RTL2 on 26 and 28 January 2011. The BBC Germany site has a lot of details about the production, some new pictures and schedule information – click the headings at the top. I will put the new pictures into the gallery later today. Thanks to CDoart for the email, who received a promotional email from BBC Germany with this image included (click to enlarge):

2. The BBC Entertainment channel is showing the whole of Robin Hood series 2 on Christmas Day and Boxing Day starting at 12.00pm in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. I haven’t checked all countries so click on the link to see if your country is showing it. Thanks to MillyMe for the email.

3. There are 24 new pictures in the

Promo gallery from series 7 and they are all in extra large size: #719, #723, #725, #726, #728, #730, #732, #737 – #742, #744, #745, #747, #748, #756, #757, #762, #764, #765, #769, #770. Thanks to the Russian RA site for sharing with us.

To view the larger size, click ‘original image’ in the corner and click again to zoom to the large size. You may need to press F5 to refresh each gallery page if you have visited the gallery recently and the new pictures aren’t showing. There are now 6 pages in this gallery.

22nd December

1. James Nesbitt who is playing Bofur in The Hobbit has been quoted in The Sun and Digital Spy. He says he’ll be off to New Zealand in January to start a month’s “Dwarf training”, learning sword fighting and horse riding. Presumably Richard will be doing the same although his Hood Academy training will help!

Update: in an interview with Moviefone, James says that Richard will be joining him for dwarf training, that he’s filming for a year with time off in the summer and there will be more filming for him in 2012.

2. Robin Hood series 3 will be shown again in Australia starting 9 January on UKTV. Click here for the schedule.

3. As reported on 14 December, The Impressionists will be shown tonight at 8.00pm on the Viasat History channel. Nadia has reported that it is also showing in Russia starting tonight at 10.00pm and repeated each Thursday at 6.00am and 2.00pm. Check this TV schedule to see what time The Impressionists starts in your country if you receive Viasat History.

4. Amazon UK are now showing the cover for Spooks series 9 – click thumbnail below to enlarge. The release date is still set for 28 February 2011. Click on the small video image on the Amazon page to see a preview of the DVD extras, with clips of Richard.

5. The abridged audiobook of Georgette Heyer’s Venetia is now available for download from Audible.com who are also offering it at a reduced rate if you take part in their special offer. Listen to Richard’s interview about Venetia here (released 2 March 2010).

6. Thanks to Veritas for permission to embed three of her videos on our Videos page: You’ve Stolen Our Hearts, Sir Guy’s Lament and Breaking Inside.

7. All episodes of Robin Hood series 1-3 are showing in Belgium on digital TV channel 8 at the moment, every week day at 6.00pm. Thanks to Anne for the email.

21st December

1. Nine new pictures have been added to the Spooks Promo gallery from series 8 and they are all in extra large size: #804, #806, #809, #810, #814, #822, #823, #825, #828

There are also five existing pictures in the gallery which have been updated to a larger size: #801, #802, #805, #808, #816, #820, #826, #829

To view the larger size, click ‘original image’ in the corner and click again to zoom to the large size. You may need to press F5 to refresh each gallery page if you have visited the gallery recently and the new pictures aren’t showing.

2. Spooks series 8 will be broadcast in France from January 10th, 2 episodes each Monday at 8:50pm on Canal+ (time to be confirmed next week). You can view a promo clip on the Canal+ website. Thank you to Céline for this information.

20th December

Two more additions to the Strike Back promo gallery courtesy of Bccmee. The last two images are the new ones and can be enlarged to extra large size.

19th December

1. The Mail Online has posted a picture of Lucas North and Sarah Caulfield alongside their article about security for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Read the article here.

2. New additions to the Strike Back promo gallery: #4, #5, #15, #18 and #19 which is also available in extra large size.

3. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence is showing on the Hallmark channel in the Netherlands at 10.55am local time tomorrow. Thanks to @mysteriousred via twitter.

18th December

New poll on the left-hand side, thanks for voting. Based on the previous poll results, I’ll be choosing a picture of Richard for the Christmas Day pic of the day. Suggestions gratefully received.

15th December

1. BBC America showing Vicar of Dibley today. Starting at 12.00pm ET BBC America are showing ‘The Handsome Stranger’ episode and ‘The Vicar in White’ episode back to back. Link to BBC America’s 12 days of Christmas schedule.

2. New poll on the left-hand side. Tell me who you would like to see in the picture of the day on Christmas Day – as I can’t decide! I’ve only listed the most popular characters to narrow down the vote. Previous poll results are here.

3. The North and South DVD is available to buy on region 4 format with Portuguese subtitles from the Livraria Cultura shop. Thanks to @moyarte on twitter.

14th December

1. During an interview with Marvel Studios President of Production, Kevin Feige, it’s been revealed that they are currently working on the Captain America trailer and it will be released in the new year. Further details on Screenrant.com

2. Amazon.com customers can order Moving On: Drowning not Waving as a $1.99 download from Amazon’s Video On Demand service. Thanks to Juanita for the email.

3. Good news for German viewers: Strike Back will be shown on RTL2 on 26 January at 8.15pm. Thanks to Luna.

4. The Impressionists in Hungary: this 3 part series will be shown each week starting Wed 22 Dec at 8.00pm on the Viasat History channel. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

13th December

Added some artwork to the site today: two Lucas North wallpapers by Bccmee and a pencil & charcoal drawing of John and Margaret by Olde-Fashioned. Many thanks ladies.

9th December

1. New Guy of Gisborne artwork added to the Artwork page, with thanks to Rinter.

2. There’s a short but funny quote from Richard in this week’s Woman’s Weekly magazine about school nativity plays. Thanks to Jackiwi for the email.

3. Richard appears briefly in the latest BBC iPlayer advert but this is only available to UK viewers. It’s just two brief glimpses of this picture and this one. Bccmee has uploaded it to youtube here.

8th December

Inspector Lynley on Dutch TV: the episode with Richard, In Divine Proportion, will be shown on Dutch TV channel Ned1 on Wednesday 12th January at 9.30pm. Thanks to Linda for the info.

7th December

1. Spooks in Serbia: Spooks series 7 started on the Serbian television channel RTS 1 last night (Monday). More information on the RTS website with a translated version here. Thanks to Karima for the email.

2. As confirmedby head of Sky drama Elaine Pyke on 10 November, it does seem that Richard will be in some episodes of Strike Back but not all. There are no more details as yet. Today this was confirmed again by David Stephenson, TV Editor of the Sunday Express on twitter: “For Richard Armitage fans, Sky says actor is in “some” episodes of Strike Back 2, but not all.”

3. Added a digital painting of Gisborne to the Artwork page, thanks to Silverwing24. Comments can be left on this page or on her deviantart.com page.

4th December

Spooks in Israel: thank you to Na’ama for the news that all nine series of Spooks are about to be shown on Israeli television starting 12 December. Here is the website with more information, and here it is again in translation.

3rd December

1. Spooks series 7 and 8 in Australia: Series 7 starts on Tuesday at 9.30pm on UKTV. Click for the UKTV Listings. Thanks to Ann for the email. A reminder that Spooks series 8 episode 6 is on Saturday 8.30pm on ABC1.

2. On 1st Dec the campaign for ActionAidUK was launched with a voiceover from Richard. The youtube clip is now embedded on our 2010 Advertisements page with all the other voicework that Richard has done this year – there’s quite a lot! He’s also recorded another jewellery advert for the radio with a Christmas theme that I heard in the car the other day but I haven’t been able to capture it (yet).

3. Anne Rice has mentioned Richard and other British actors with regard to casting of her novels in a couple of recent interviews: The Vulture Transcript and chuckpalahniuk.net

1st December

1. Today’s blog from Naxos Audiobooks has a comment about Richard’s popularity as an audiobook reader:

“Richard Armitage has been, without a doubt, the single most popular reader on Naxos AudioBooks this year. Listeners on both sides of the Atlantic, Australia and elsewhere too, have been homing in on his recordings of Georgette Heyer. We hope that more will come next year… but it is dependent upon his availability as he is about to disappear to New Zealand for months on end to film The Hobbit. Nevertheless, we at the Naxos AudioBooks office would like to thank the kind anonymous person who, every time we release a new Armitage/Heyer audiobook, sends us a rather fine box of Belgian chocolates as a gesture of gratitude. We appreciate it!”

2. All news items for October 2010 have been archived here.

3. The picture of the day archive for November 2010 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or you can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

4. Richard has provided the voiceover for ActionAidUK’s latest campaign – ‘Sponsor a child’. Watch it on the ActionAidUK youtube channel.

29th November

The English Touring Theatre had a few enquiries about The Rover on twitter since their message on 26th Nov (see below). Today they have responded as follows: “No final casting/tour dates for The Rover yet, it’s still in the early stages of development. We’ll keep you posted as and when it firms up!”

27th November

Updated the Biography page and the RA on DVD page today. Spooks series 8 is available to pre-order from Amazon US for $27.99. It is released on 25th January 2011. The Convenient Marriage audiobook is now available to order from iTunes for £10.95 or $17.95 (US). The Lords of the North audiobook can be ordered online from AudioGo Ltd at a cost of £22.99 plus £3.50 postage & packing (for UK delivery). Most of the other DVDs are reduced in price since the last time I updated that page.

26th November

1. A message from the English Touring Theatre has just popped up on twitter: “Great read-through of The Rover with Richard Armitage yesterday! Positive feed back and things are looking good!” You can view their twitter entry here (you don’t have to be a member of twitter to see it). The ETT produces and performs plays around England – more information on the ETT website.

2. Screencaps from the Spooks 9 DVD trailer are here in the gallery. See yesterday’s news for links to the trailer on Amazon.

3. There’s a new picture of Guy which I’ve put in the Robin Hood Promo gallery although it’s actually a photo manip from series 1 episode 5 ‘Turk Flu’, created by Karima. Here is the original picture. Inventive use of an extra sack there! Thanks to Karima for sharing this.

4. Pictures from the Old Vic 24 Hour plays have been added to the screencap gallery.

25th November

1. There’s a new page on the site covering all the news relating to the 24 hour plays gala held at the Old Vic last Sunday evening, including scans of the programme (thank you to Hazelb for these) and a clip recently uploaded on to youtube: 24 hour plays page.

2. Amazon have a trailer advertising the extras on the Spooks 9 DVD and there’s a few shots of Richard talking to camera and playing Lucas North. You can watch it on the Amazon UK site (click the video thumbnail under the DVD picture). Or watch the youtube clip that was uploaded from the Amazon clip.

3. The Culture Show on BBC2 reported on the events of last Sunday at the Old Vic theatre in London. Watch the clip on the 24 hour plays page and there are three screencaps which you can enlarge if you click on them.

24th November

Added a watercolour painting of John Thornton to the Artwork page courtesy of ManderFFA. Click on the deviantart link above the painting to see more of her artwork.

22nd November

1. Richard appeared at The Old Vic’s 24 hour plays gala yesterday evening in a play entitled ‘The Third Wish’, written by Stephen Beresford and directed by Charlie Westenra. Richard’s co-stars were Miranda Raison, Niamh Cusack and Debbie Chazen. Pictures from the event are here on Getty’s site and here on Wooller.com. You can read all about the play and the after show party at the Feigned Mischief blog. Thanks to @feignedmischief who was an avid twitterer and fantastic at keeping us up-to-date with the news. In the event’s programme, Richard said that he was dedicating the evening to the late Betty Pattison (see 20th Nov for information about his tribute at her memorial).

2. A couple of people have asked what is the age range of those who visit this site, so there’s a poll now on the left-hand side. Please vote.

3. There is an article in today’s Evening Standard about the 24 hour plays held last night, reporting that over £100,000 was raised. Click on the small thumbnail of Richard to see his picture. Here is a copy of the print edition of the Evening Standard available this evening.

21st November

1. Thank you to the Russian RA site who have found a copy of the picture of Lucas in series 8 that appeared in The Age newspaper (see news 18th Nov). We have added it to our Spooks Promo gallery.

2. There is confirmation that Richard is attending the 24 hour plays gala at the Old Vic thanks to the German RA forum. As mentioned on the 19th Nov below, clips of this event will be shown on BBC2′s The Culture Show on Thursday. He is also mentioned in an article just published on the Independent’s online site.

3. Added three new pictures to the Artwork page courtesy of GiztheGunslinger – one drawing of John Thornton and two of Richard. Thanks G!

20th November

1. Annette from RichardArmitageOnline has more information on her website about Richard’s tribute to Betty Pattison, which was played in a recording on Friday 19th November in Coventry Cathedral (further details – see news 18 November below).

2. Some more artwork added to two of our icons pages: 15 Gisborne icons and 5 Richard icons. Many thanks to Nim for sharing these.

19th November

1. Richard is appearing in the 24 hour plays gala at The Old Vic theatre in London this weekend according to the Evening Standard and IndieLondon (see news 1st and 2nd November for more info). There will be highlights from this event on BBC2′s The Culture Show next Thursday 25th November at 7.00pm. I will post a clip of this shortly after it is broadcast.

2. Rossella has created some calendars for your desktop background, some with two months per wallpaper and others with three. They can be found on the Richard wallpapers page. Thank you Rossella!

3. The international release schedule for Captain America: The First Avenger has been released – find your country’s release date  on Marvel.com. The USA and Canada will have it first on 22 July, the UK on 29 July.

4. Richard is featured in an article on BestWeekEver.tv, a site affiliated with MTV and VH1: ‘this British actor is quickly becoming THE IT ACTOR in England’. Thanks Olga for the email.

18th November

1. ‘The Age’ newspaper produced in Melbourne, Australia has reviewed Spooks series 8 episode 4, which airs on Saturday at 8.30pm on ABC1. The review is on the Spooks Reviews page with a slightly different picture of Lucas from those we’ve seen before. Thanks to Ann for the scan.

2. Richard has recorded a eulogy to be played during the memorial service for Betty Pattison, founder of Pattison College, Coventry. The memorial will take place tomorrow evening in Coventry Cathedral. Read more from the Coventry Telegraph.

17th November

Thanks to agenoria for the scan from the Leicester Mercury announcing the casting of Richard in The Hobbit. Read it on the Hobbit career page.

16th November

1. The new Hyundai advert with voiceover from Richard can be watched or downloaded via the 2010 Adverts page.

2. The John Porter calendar has now been created by Hedgeypig and can be printed or downloaded from the 2011 Calendars page.

3. Spooks series 7 will be broadcast on KCTS 9 starting Saturday 18th December at 10.00pm. This station can be received in Washington State, USA and also British Columbia, Canada. Thanks to Audrey for the email.

15th November

1. BBC Entertainment Europe is showing North and South episode 1 tomorrow evening. Click for the TV Schedule, click on ‘Tuesday’ and change the ‘time zone’ box to your country to see what time it starts. Thanks to Naama for the email.

2. Richard has provided the voiceover for a new Hyundai advert. Hopefully I will catch it soon and will upload it to the site. Thanks to those who have emailed and texted.

14th November

1. A Richard Armitage 2011 calendar and a Lucas North 2011 calendar are now available on the 2011 Calendars page (also via the menu on the left-hand side). A John Porter calendar will be available soon. Print for personal usage only and mix and match the months as you like.

2. We often link to the blog ‘pauseliveaction’ for their Spooks reviews, and the review for episode 8 is now up (due to blogger being on holiday!) Read it here.

13th November

1. Jessie has sent us some lovely signatures one of Lucas ‘who are you?’ and another of Richard wearing his cap. If you’d like to leave a comment about any artwork on the site, you will find a comments form at the bottom of each artwork page.

2. There’s a new poll on the left-hand side about series 9 of Spooks. Previous poll results are here.

12th November

I’ve had a request to upload a specific clip from Spooks series 9 episode 8, but I won’t reveal which bit here in case some people are still avoiding spoilers. You can watch or download the clip from the Spooks 9 downloads page.

11th November

New large high resolution pictures added to the Outside Radio 1 4th May 2010 gallery (the last 7 pictures) and a new gallery of pictures taken outside the ITV Studios on 17 September 2010. You can see them in full size by clicking on a picture then click ‘original image’ in the bottom corner – click again to view the full size. With thanks to Cesta. The interviews with Richard on those dates can be viewed or downloaded from the Spooks 9 downloads page.

10th November

1. Joe Johnston, director of Captain America: The First Avenger, has commented on the recent publicity photos from the film. Of the photo of Richard in the submarine, he says ‘The submarine was built by Paul Corbould’s team of special effects technicians. It can actually dive and resurface, travels at 12 knots, has a watertight compartment for the actor, Richard Armitage, who plays a very convincingly evil spy, Heinz Kruger.’

The full size high resolution version of this picture is on the Captain America page.

2. Strike Back series 2 news: Elaine Pyke, head of drama on Sky1 has confirmed that Strike Back will be back “bigger and better”. When asked specifically about Richard she said that Richard will be in it in some way, but then the series will have two new leads who’ll take the action to new heights. No other details available at this time. This information courtesy of  Nietzsche from the C19 forum.

3. There’s an article about casting for The Hobbit in Empire magazine’s December issue. Read it on the Hobbit career page.

4. The Russian TV channel FoxCrime is currently showing Spooks series 7 on Thursdays at 9.55pm. Details on the FoxCrime site (translated version here, although ‘Spooks’ translates to ‘Ghosts’) with a nice picture of Lucas and Ros plus a video clip. There was a quote from Richard about the series showing in Russia – see news 6th October below item #3.

9th November

1. Spooks s9 episode 8 screencaps have been created and are in two galleries: Episode 8 standard size and Episode 8 high resolution. The latter is a smaller gallery of what I think are the best pictures. The episode was broadcast on BBC1 HD last night and although the programme was not recorded in high definition, it was upscaled to HD resolution. Click on an image and then click ‘original image’ to see the full HD size. You can download all the standard size images from the Spooks 9 downloads page.

2. Reviews of the Spooks series 9 finale are here (spoilers obviously):

• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘After a brilliant script last week, we were back to bonkers amounts of exposition’
• The Metro – ‘it was so desperately sad and gripping in equal measure that it would be a crime not to commission another series.’ Did the reviewer not see the caption at the end saying there will be a series 10 in 2011?
• The Arts Desk – ‘His aquiline curtness was reminiscent of Timothy Dalton’s James Bond, and he was able to project a more convincing deadliness than such predecessors as Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones, too Nick-and-Dave for comfort) or Ros Myers…’
• Den of Geek – ‘to make the leading man the main bad guy of a entire show is brave and, in my opinion, pays off. Well, for the most part.’
• Unpopcult – ‘Richard Armitage and the incredible Nicola Walker making their scenes together tragically believable and gripping’
• Daemon’s TV – ‘The Lucas/Ruth interaction was fascinating to watch, especially when intercut with those unstable flashbacks that made Lucas look even more unhinged’

3. On 2nd November (see news below) I received a scan from What’s on TV magazine which I have now posted on the Spooks Reviews page (scroll to 2nd Nov). This has spoilers for episode 8 of Spooks. Thanks to Jen for the scan.

8th November

1. Two previews of the last episode of Spooks series 9 showing at 9pm tonight. Both have spoilers, but if you’ve already read the BBC episode synopsis then they don’t give anything else away. The episode will be shown on BBC1 and also the new BBC1 HD channel.

• The Mirror -  ‘This might just be the best Spooks finale ever’
• The Guardian – ‘The preview disc comes with a note requesting we don’t give away the ending’

There is a preview of Spooks episode 8 on the BBC Spooks site and also on youtube.

2. There is a new poll on the left-hand side asking if you have read The Hobbit or if you are planning to do so now that Richard has been cast as Thorin Oakenshield. Thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

3. Two scans have been added to the Spooks reviews page from the Daily Mail Weekend magazine and the Sunday Express S magazine, both of which preview tonight’s episode. Do not read if you are avoiding all spoilers. Thanks to Jen for the scans.

4. Vicky Frost’s review of Spooks 9 episode 8 in her Guardian blog – episode spoilers obviously.

7th November

Three sound files have been requested, so these have now been added to the sound player – press the ‘play’ button to listen. You can also download all the sounds from that page. The three newest sound clips are at the top – a line from The Vicar of Dibley, a snippet from Richard’s interview on GMTV on 17 September (a download of this interview is on the Spooks 9 downloads page) and the ‘close your eyes’ clip from Spooks series 9 episode 3.

If you have any particular sound clip requests, email Ali at admin@richardarmitagenet.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

6th November

1. Spooks series 8 DVD release in the US and Canada: the series 8 DVD is due to be released on 25th January 2011 according to BBC Canada and BBC America. The extras on this DVD are the same as those on the UK (region 2) DVD -  two episode commentaries and two behind-the-scenes featurettes. Richard isn’t in much of the extras – blink and you’ll miss him I’m afraid. Thanks to Lynn and Susmita for the emails.

2. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence in which Richard played Philip Durrant is on ITV3 this evening at 6pm. Our screencap gallery is here and there is an episode summary and links on the Miss Marple career page.

5th November

1. The Daily Mail has an interview with Richard about Spooks today – warning: spoilers and dodgy journalism (no mention of Richard’s Captain America or Hobbit projects, nor the fact that Sophia Myles is engaged to be married). Please don’t read this if you want to remain spoiler free about the ending of Spooks.

I’ve now added a scan of the Daily Mail interview from the print edition to the Spooks Reviews page. Thanks to Jen for the scan. SPOILERS.

2. There is a preview of Spooks episode 8 on the BBC Spooks site and also on youtube. SPOILERS.

4th November

1. The picture of the day archive for October 2010 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or you can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

2. Further to the 2011 calendar news yesterday, we’ve also decided to create a John Porter calendar using HD pictures. This will be on the site next week.

3. Dawn French was on the ITV1 show ‘Loose Women’ today. She was asked whether there will be another Vicar of Dibley in the future and there was a very brief complimentary mention of Richard. You can view the clip on ITV Player here and scroll to 40 minutes 30 seconds. Apparently this is just for UK residents, so here’s an mp4 clip. Thanks to KK for the email.

3rd November

1. Spooks series 8 in Atlanta: the local public television station in Atlanta, GA (PBA 30) is showing Spooks series 8 episode 1 tomorrow night at 10pm, and it’s repeated on Friday at 11pm. Thanks to Gail for the email.

2. Fictional Frontiers, a show on a Philadephia radio station interviewed Larry Curtis, senior contributor to TORn (www.theonering.net) a few days ago. They discussed the casting Richard Armitage as Thorin and you can listen to the extract on the Hobbit career page.

3. I’ve had a few queries about 2011 calendars, so just to let you all know that there will be a Lucas North calendar and also a generic Richard Armitage calendar available to print from this site soon. Just waiting for Spooks to finish.

2nd November

1. More reviews of Spooks episode 7 with spoilers:

• Unpopcult – ‘all bravura work from Nicola Walker, Peter Firth and Richard Armitage which made this hard to watch but impossible not to’
• Pauseliveaction – ‘As usual with Spooks, I’m left with more questions than answers, which is why I love it so much.’
• thisisleicestershire.co.uk – ‘Spooks keeps up breathless pace over Lucas’ shady past’
• Daemon’s TV – ‘the final ten minutes hit us like a ton of bricks’

2. Here’s a high resolution picture of Richard as Heinz Kruger sitting in the HYDRA sub. You can just about see that it’s him now (click to enlarge). Other pictures and news can be found on the Captain America career page. Thanks to the Richard Armitage Spanish forum for the picture.

3. Ian Wylie has posted his blog on the last episode of Spooks. Mild spoilers. Life of Wylie blog ‘Richard Armitage’s finest hour’

4. I’ve been sent scans from What’s on TV magazine which I’m told have huge spoilers in them for next week’s episode of Spooks series 9, but I’m afraid I’m cannot put them on the site as that would mean I’d see the spoiler. Apologies for that but I don’t want to be spoiled for the last episode, especially since last week this magazine revealed far too much for episode 7. They will be put up after the episode airs next Monday.

5. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 7 are now in the gallery and a download of all the screencaps can be obtained from the Spooks downloads page.

6. The IndieLondon site has a report on the Old Vic’s 24 hour plays on 21st November, with a picture of Richard as John Porter and more information about the event and other participants.

1st November

1. A scan of the Entertainment Weekly article about casting of The Hobbit is now on the Hobbit career page. Thanks to Bccmee for the scan.

2. Two short previews of Spooks episode 7 which will be shown on BBC1 at 9pm tonight – both contain big spoilers – The Mirror and What’s on TV.

3. According to the Evening Standard, Richard will participate in The Old Vic theatre’s fund-raising event, the ’24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala’ on 21 November 2010. Details about this event are at The Old Vic’s website although Richard’s name is not mentioned here. Cast cannot be confirmed, according to the site, “…due to the nature of the event, the cast and company may change up until the date of the performance.”

4. The BBC have uploaded a clip from tonight’s episode of Spooks on youtube. Watch it here – spoilers obviously and a jaw dropping moment.

5. Scans from the Entertainment Weekly article about Captain America: The First Avenger are on the Captain America career page. Many thanks again to Bccmee for these scans.

6. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 7 (episode spoilers – do not read if you haven’t seen it yet)

• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘I’m on the edge of my seat.’
• Den of Geek – ‘the best hour of telly this week and by far the best episode of Spooks all season. Fantastic stuff, all laid out for next week’s blockbuster finale, and I can’t wait’
• Metro.co.uk – ‘tense and touching drama that played out between Harry and Lucas’

30th October

There are lots of new pictures in the Spooks Promo gallery, most of which are high resolution and extra large size. Press ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner and then click again on the picture to see the extra HUGE size. If you have visited thsi gallery recently, you may have to press F5 to refresh the screen if you cannot see the new pictures and/or page 5 of the gallery. There are 26 pictures for series 9 altogether – some may consider these mild spoilers.

29th October

Robin Hood in Hungary: series 2 starts this Sunday 31st October at 1.45pm on RTL Klub. Thanks to Marika for the email.

28th October

1. Some pictures from the Captain America movie have been released. One of the pictures shows Richard as Heinz Kruger in a submarine, but I’m afraid it’s not easy to see him! Pictures on ComicBookMovie.com.

2. The BBC One HD channel is being launched on 3rd November, which means that the last episode of Spooks series 9 will be broadcast on this channel on Monday 8 November at 9pm as well as BBC1. The programme will be upscaled to HD and I will be taking screencaps from this new HD channel so hopefully the quality of the pictures will be better than usual for this last episode.

3. Two new youtube videos have been embedded on to the Videos page with permission from the creator Elvira. They are both showreels demonstrating the range of Richard’s work. Enjoy! If you double-click a video it will open in youtube and you can leave a comment if you wish.

4. Four new promotional pictures for Spooks episode 7 are in the Spooks Promo gallery. Warning – some may consider these new pictures to be spoilerish! Press F5 to refresh the screen if you cannot see the new pictures.

5. Apologies if you’ve had difficulty leaving a guestbook message in the past. Previously registered users of this site may have encountered a problem with the guestbook but this is now fixed. (Registration on the site is now disabled as everything on this site is now available to all).

27th October

1. Peter Jackson explains his reasons for casting Richard as Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the company of dwarves in The Hobbit films on the EW Popwatch site. He says, “Thorin Oakenshield is a tough, heroic character, and he certainly should give Leggie and Aragorn a run for their money in the heartthrob stakes — despite being four feet tall”. Thanks to Martha for the email.

2. The Hobbit movies will be filmed in New Zealand. Reports now on BBC News and the TVNZ site.

3. Thanks to Ann for a scan from Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper. It gives a great review of Spooks series 8 episode 1 which is due to air this Saturday at 8.30pm on ABC1. Richard gets a lot of compliments in this article. Read it on the Spooks Reviews page.

4. Hedgeypig has been having fun imagining Richard as Thorin Oakenshield and has created 2 bits of artwork for us to enjoy. They are on the Artwork page. Click the pictures to enlarge.

5. There’s a new picture of Lucas North on the BBC Spooks site for episode 7. Do not click the link if you are avoiding spoilers as the episode synopsis is right next to the picture. The picture is also in our Spooks Promo gallery.

26th October

1. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 6 are now in the gallery and a download of all the screencaps can be obtained from the Spooks downloads page.

2. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 6 as follows (all include episode spoilers):

• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘he’s acting like a first-time internet user confronted with a Nigerian phishing scam’
• The Metro – ‘Once you get past the nonsense and melodrama, Spooks is still gripping’
• Den of Geek – ‘For the first time this series everything seems to be tying together’
• thisisleicestershire site – ‘You require a need for speed and a certain amount of intelligence to watch this superb spy drama.’
• Daemon’s TV site – ‘This episode was the least complicated of the series so far, and for good reason. Lucas’ turmoil more than made up for it’
• Unpopcult – ‘This was breakneck, heartstopping, utterly exhilarating stuff and I absolutely loved it.’
• Sam Wollaston of The Guardian – ‘The music’s so good too. If you had it for your ringtone would your life immediately become more exciting and glamorous?’

3. Ian Wylie has written a preview of Spooks episode 7 which contains the usual mild spoilers, some interesting teasers and reveals John’s last name.

4. Once again Spooks had excellent ratings last night peaking at 5.2 million viewers and beating ITV1′s Whitechapel. Details on the MediaTel site.

5. Richard gets another mention on the Digital Spy site today with regard to The Hobbit, which is apparently set to be the most expensive feature film ever made. The decision on where the filming will take place may be decided in the next 24-36 hours according to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, as reported on the BBC News site.

6. There is a huge spoiler in What’s On TV magazine about Lucas’s past which I wasn’t sure whether to put on the site, but after asking on twitter there seem to be enough people who want to read it. It’s a shame these magazines give it all away, ah well! I have put the scan on the Spooks Reviews page. Please do not click on the scan on that page unless you don’t mind spoilers – but this is a biggie! Thanks to Jen for the scan.

25th October

1. There’s a preview of tonight’s episode of Spooks in The Mirror and it is also one of tonight’s TV highlights in The Guardian. Do not read if you are avoiding spoilers.

2. The Hobbit parts 1 and 2 are now listed on Richard’s IMDB page.

3. Spooks series 8 starts in Australia this Saturday 30 October at 8.30pm on ABC1. Watch a preview on the ABC TV site and click here for program details.

4. The high viewing figures for Spooks series 9 was discussed on the BBC’s Points of View programme last night. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer if you are in the UK or watch the clip on the Spooks downloads page.

5. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 6 as follows (all include episode spoilers).

• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘he’s acting like a first-time internet user confronted with a Nigerian phishing scam’
• The Metro – ‘Once you get past the nonsense and melodrama, Spooks is still gripping’
• Den of Geek – ‘For the first time this series everything seems to be tying together’

24th October

1. An article in the Sunday Express today announces Richard’s involvement in The Hobbit film and with quotes taken from previous interviews… and a few odd comments from the journalist too! This article is now on The Hobbit career page. Thanks to Jen for the scan.

2. The Daily Mail Weekend magazine has chosen Spooks episode 6 as its Pick of the Day for tomorrow. There’s a scan (thanks to Jen) on the Spooks Reviews page.

3. Jen has also sent a scan from the letters page of the ‘TV Guide’ magazine, in which they say that Strike Back 2 is expected late next year – how The Hobbit news will affect this, however, is yet to be seen. Read it on the Strike Back reviews page.

23rd October

1. More details about the two Hobbit movies: filming is due to start in February 2011 although filming locations are still not confirmed, and both movies will be filmed in digital 3D. This information from the TimeWarner press release 15 Oct 2010. Further details about the location dispute are on the Variety site. The film producers are set to meet with the New Zealand prime minister and other government officials early next week to discuss the issue.

2. Although Richard’s United Agents page has not updated yet with Captain America or Hobbit information, the main page of the United Agents site has announced the news that Richard has been cast as Thorin.

22nd October

1. Hobbit news

Richard Armitage has been cast in The Hobbit! He will play Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the Company of Dwarves which sets off to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a thieving dragon.

Director Peter Jackson says ‘Richard is one of the most exciting and dynamic actors working on screen today and we know he is going to make an amazing Thorin Oakenshield. We cannot wait to start this adventure with him and feel very lucky that one of the most beloved characters in Middle Earth is in such good hands’.

The film will be released in two parts in December 2012 and December 2013. Congratulations Richard! Thank you to all those who emailed me about this.

There are now hundreds of articles online – here’s a selection:

• Stuff.co.nz
• Entertainment Weekly
• Digital Spy and also In Pictures: Meet the ‘Hobbit’ cast
• Access Hollywood
• Hollywood Reporter
• BBC America – concentrating on Richard and Aidan Turner’s casting
• NZ Herald
• Deadline New York
• EOnline.com
• The Press Association (UK)
• Den of Geek
• indieLondon
• Monsters and Critics – with pictures of all the cast announced today
• Empire Online – ‘Richard Armitage appears to be on a hot streak’

BBC News site: reporting on the casting news, and the decisions still to be made about the filming location. New Zealand was the original choice, but co-creator Fran Walsh recently said that film producers ‘had people in the UK taking location photographs’.

There is now a career page for The Hobbit on this site where I will be collating all the news, links, pictures, etc as they arrive.

Articles in the British newspapers: The Guardian, The Mirror, Daily Express, The Telegraph, The Independent

Coventry Telegraph – with a couple of pictures of Richard as Guy of Gisborne

CBS News – reporting that shooting will start in February

2. Strike Back in Canada tonight: as reported below on 1st October, Strike Back episodes 1 and 2 will air on the Showcase channel today at 5pm then repeated again tonight at 10pm and Saturday at 2pm. Thanks to Marie for the email reminder.

21st October

1. There’s a picture of Lucas and a brief synopsis of Spooks episode 6 in What’s on TV magazine this week. Read it on the Spooks Reviews page – spoilers! Thanks to Jen for the scan.

2. The BBC Press office have released the synospis for the last episode of series 9 of Spooks. Huge spoiler warning on this one! If you don’t mind reading spoilers, then it’s here on the press office site.

3. There’s a new poll on the left-hand side asking whether you are reading the Spooks spoilers that are on the BBC press site (see #2 above) and in magazines. Thanks for voting. Here are the results of the previous poll.

20th October

1. The latest pictures promoting episode 6 of Spooks are now in the Spooks Promo gallery.

2. There’s an interview with Richard in this week’s Woman’s Weekly magazine, conducted whilst he was filming Spooks a few months ago. Similar answers that we’ve read before with just a couple of new bits of information. I’ve put a scan on the Interviews page. Thanks to JJ for the email.

19th October

1. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 5 are now in the gallery and a download of all the screencaps can be obtained from the Spooks downloads page.

2. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 5 as follows (all include episode spoilers). The episode is repeated on Sunday 24th October at 11.25pm on BBC1.

• Den of Geek – ‘For all its tense situation, race against time and fast-paced action, this episode was essentially a filler’
• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘it’s a Spooks twist I totally didn’t see coming, and one that makes next week’s episode look pretty exciting’
• Metro – ‘it retains all the gloss and thrill that makes it so watchable’
• Independent – ‘it is done with terrific verve, and…there is at least a kernel of realism in the storylines’
• Pauseliveaction – ‘The episode benefited hugely from not having too much of the Lucas/John stuff in it’
• Daemon’s TV – ‘Overall, a good episode, if a little confusing yet predictable. The highlight of the entire thing had to be the end’
• Unpopcult – ‘A rather sombre, earnest episode this week’

3. There are two scans from today’s Radio Times magazine which features Spooks as its Pick of the Day for Monday 25 October. Read them on the Spooks Reviews page. Spoiler warning.

4. Read a preview of Spooks episode 6, light on spoilers, at Ian Wylie’s Life of Wylie blog. Three new pictures of Lucas too!

5. More people watched Spooks than Whitechapel last night, according to Digital Spy.

18th October

The Mirror has a review of Spooks episode 5, which is on BBC1 at 9pm tonight. There are spoilers in the article though. For a fairly spoiler-free review, read Ian Wylie’s Life of Wylie blog.

17th October

Richard on BBC1 today: Lost Land of the Tiger episode 2, which Richard narrated, at 5.10pm and Spooks series 9 episode 4 at 11.25pm.

16th October

Richard is interviewed in the Leicester Mercury newspaper today, which concentrates mostly on Spooks. Agenoria has kindly provided a scan of the interview. Read it on the Interviews page.

14th October

1. The BBC Press office has posted a synopsis for episode 7 of Spooks. Spoiler warning!

2. All news for September 2010 has been archived here.

12th October

1. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 4 are now in the gallery and a download of all the caps is here. All Spooks screencap downloads are on the Spooks downloads page.

2. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 4 as follows (all include episode spoilers). The episode is repeated on Sunday 17th October at 11.25pm on BBC1.

• Pauseliveaction – ‘This was just the kind of Spooks epsiode I like’
• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘I suspect this instalment will get a rather better reception’
• Daily Express – ‘it’s impossible to watch Spooks without hoping that at least one of them is going to cop it’
• Daemon’s TV – ‘Lucas North, how little we know thee.’
• Unpopcult – ‘this eventually turned into a thrilling and, at times, unexpectedly hilarious episode of Spooks’

3. The ratings for last night’s Spooks are interesting. Whitechapel on ITV1 starring ex-spook Rupert Penry-Jones started with more viewers at 9pm but then lost out to BBC1 after 9.30pm, according to Mediatel.

4. New poll on the left asking if you will go and see Captain America next year. Thanks for voting. In the previous poll, The Lords of the North was voted as your favourite audiobook read by Richard – results here.

5. What’s on TV magazine has a couple of scans about Spooks episode 5, with one quote from a fan that ‘Richard Armitage is very dishy’. Is he? I hadn’t noticed Thanks to Jen for the scans.

6. Ian Wylie has written another ‘mild spoilers only’ preview of the next episode of Spooks. Read it on his Life of Wylie blog.

11th October

1. There is now a Captain America career page on this site, which has a summary of all the news relating to Richard’s involvement in this movie.

2. Spooks episode 4 is on at 9pm tonight BBC1. The BBC have posted this picture on their TV page to advertise the programme:

10th October

Richard is now listed as Heinz Kruger on the Captain America IMDB page

8th October

1. Interesting interview in the Financial Times with Richard about money. Also on the Interviews page.

2. Interview from Marie Claire about Richard’s favourite telly. Man has impeccable taste – Blackadder is my favourite too Thanks to Man Wah and Margaret. Also on the Interviews page.

3. Another scan from Best. Interview with Laila Rouass with mentions of Richard. Thanks to Jen for this one. There’s a big SPOILER on this. Apologies I didn’t put that before.

7th October

1. The BBC Press Office has released the programme info for Spooks Episode 6. SPOILER ALERT as usual.

2. ABC TV in Australia have a Preview of Spooks here. Thanks to Jenny for the info

3. Woman’s Own have an interview and some pics with Richard about Spooks. It’s running off my photobucket account whilst Ali is off jaunting but will be uploaded upon her return. Thanks to ladyjuliana for the scan. Ali is back – it’s on the Spooks Reviews page.

6th October

1. You can now order the unabridged audiobook of The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell here on the AudioGo website, rather than telephoning their customer service number. This audiobook is currently leading our poll for favourite audiobook read by Richard and is therefore highly recommended. Cost is £22.99 plus postage & packing. Thanks to Kaprekar for the email.

2. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be shown on October 24th at 10.25pm on CTV Czech TV. Programme listing here and further details with a picture of cardigan-wearing Richard here. Thanks to Jonia for the email.

3. The Sun is reporting today that Spooks will be shown in Russia starting with series 7, the series that introduced Lucas North of course. There is also a quote from Richard in the article. We do not know yet when it will be broadcast.

4. There’s an interesting article in The Independent today about Spooks’ death rate, and yet ‘the pace of these episodes is audacious, relentless, unhinged. You don’t have time to grieve’.

5. Added two new promo pictures of Lucas in the Spooks Promo gallery. If you cannot see the ones numbered promo05 & promo06 then press F5 to refresh your screen.

6. The documentary Lost Land of the Tiger which Richard recently narrated, is repeated on BBC1 for the next three Sundays starting this Sunday 10th October at 5.05pm.

5th October

1. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 3 are now in the gallery and a download of all the caps is here.

2. Reviews for Spooks 9 episode 3 shown last night at 9pm on BBC1. The episode is repeated on Sunday 10th October at 11.25pm on BBC1.

• Pauseliveaction – ‘It’s time Lucas changed his route home, as Vaughn seems to be able to pop up with alarming regularity’
• Daemon’s TV – ‘a decent enough episode but nowhere near the greatness of episodes 1 and 2′
• Den of Geek – ‘once again, gripping stuff’
• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘This week’s Spooks hits the perfect balance of action, suspense and Harry pursing his lips – no wonder David Cameron’s a fan’
• Metro.co.uk – ‘Spooks insulted our intelligence’ Oh dear

3. Previews of Spooks episode 4 in What’s on TV magazine and the Radio Times on the Spooks Reviews page (spoilers).

4. Sound clip from episode 3 if anyone wants it for their phone  Closeyoureyes.mp3 (right click to save it or Ctrl-click on a Mac).

5. Preview of Spooks 9 episode 4 on Ian Wylie’s Life of Wylie blog. Mild spoilers. New picture of Lucas too:

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6. IndieLondon.co.uk has just released an interview with Max Brown who plays Dimitri in Spooks. He discusses working on the show and Richard: ‘he’s so professional. His head is always in the game and he always knows what’s going on.’

4th October

1. Vicky Frost’s review of Spooks episode 3 is now on the Guardian online site.

2. Spooks episode 3 is on BBC1 tonight at 9pm. It’s been listed as a ‘TV highlight’ in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Metro.co.uk and in The Mirror.

3rd October

David Stephenson, TV Editor for the Sunday Express has just announced on Twitter that Spooks series 10 will be commissioned, confirmed by the head of drama at the BBC. View his tweet here. Excellent news!

2nd October

The picture of the day archive for September 2010 has been added to the Picture of the Day menu on the left-hand side, or you can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

1st October

1. Spooks series 8 in Australia: Good news for Spooks fans. The eighth series will start on Saturday 30th October at 8.30pm on ABC1. Thanks to Ann for the email.

2. Strike Back in Canada: Strike Back will be shown on the Showcase channel in Canada on Friday 22nd October at 10.00pm, according to a spokesperson for the channel. This page on the Showcase site suggests that it is on this evening, but thanks to an email from Susmita, the channel have indicated that this is not the case.

New picture of Richard, Orla Brady and Andrew Lincoln on the Showcase site:

30th September

The BBC Press office has posted a synopsis for episode 5 of Spooks, which will be broadcast on Monday 18 October at 9pm on BBC1. Spoiler warning!

29th September

There’s a new interview with Richard in Best magazine this week, in which he talks about Spooks and a mention of his fans who visited him on set recently – pictures of that event are on the Spooks career page (scroll down to 18 July). All print and online interviews with Richard are on the Interviews page. Thanks to June for notifying me about this interview.

28th September

1. Screencaps for Spooks 9 episode 2 are now in the gallery and a download of all the caps is here.

2. Good reviews for Spooks 9 episode 2 shown last night at 9pm on BBC1. The episode is repeated on Sunday 3rd October at 11.10pm on BBC1.

• Daemon’s TV – ‘this episode was fast, tight and a thrill to watch’
• Den of Geek – ‘Once again this was a tense, cracking episode that continues with the plots within plots we have come to expect’
• Vicky Frost in the Guardian – ‘Life on the Grid gets complicated’
• Metro.co.uk – Spooks remains as over-the-top, dramatic and exciting as ever’
• Unpopcult – ‘punchy, entertaining, and largely compelling stuff’
• Mirror.co.uk – preview of episode 2 before the show was broadcast

3. Sites that are reporting Richard’s involvement in the Captain America movie:

• Marvel Movie News – Richard Armitage a late cast addition
• Comicbookmovie.com – Richard Armitage cast in Captain America
• Hobbsy.com – with video and images of Richard

4. Preview of Spooks 9 episode 3 on Ian Wylie’s Life of Wylie blog. Mild spoilers.

27th September

1. Vicky Frost’s review of Spooks episode 2 is already on the Guardian’s website: ‘Life on the Grid gets complicated’. You’re not kidding. Spoiler alert.

2. The Coventry Telegraph is reporting today the very sad news of the passing of the founder of Pattison College, Betty Pattison. Richard attended this college from 1985 to 1989 and there are quotes from him in the article about how that period of his life influenced him.

3. Added two more links as requested to the French Richard Armitage forum and to a French period drama forum known as The Inn at Lambton to the weblinks page. Please visit that page to see other sites and forums dedicated to Richard.

26th September

1. Update: added a scan of the Spooks bit on the Spooks Reviews page. In today’s Mirror online there is an interview with Laila Rouass who plays Maya in Spooks. (Do not read if avoiding spoilers). At the end of the interview she talks about working with Richard in Spooks, and of their characters: “Their relationship is dynamic and explosive and it makes them both question certain things – he has to make some serious decisions.”

Spooks episode 1 is repeated on BBC1 tonight at 11.35pm.

2. In the Guardian online, there’s a review of Lost Land of the Tiger (no mention of the narration!) and a good review of Spooks “a cracking, well-paced, brilliantly written adventure”. Quite right too.

3. Just added a link as requested to the Spanish Richard Armitage forum on the weblinks page. Please visit that page to see other sites and forums dedicated to Richard.

25th September

1. The Daily Mail had a review about Spooks episode 1 on Friday with an amusing comment about Lucas’s smouldering, and the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine today has a feature about Richard entitled Hero or Villain? Both of these articles are also on the Spooks Reviews page, with thanks to Jen for the scans.

2. Here’s another picture of Richard on the Manchester set taken on Tuesday 21 September by Hobbsy. Click to enlarge.

3. Here are links to other sites reporting on the Captain America filming in Manchester and next week, Liverpool:

• Comicbookmovie.com – scroll to the comments to see a picture of Richard as Heinz Kruger
• Hobbsy.com – pictures and video of Richard on the Manchester set taken on Tuesday 21st during rehearsals
• Youtube clip – Richard appears to be the man in the white/grey suit running away and then jumping into a car
• Daily Mail – article about Chris Evans and pictures from the film set (no pictures of Richard)

Captain America is due to be released in cinemas on 22nd July 2011.

4. All screencap downloads for Spooks series 7-9 are now located on the Spooks downloads page.

24th September

1. There’s a new promotional picture of Lucas, Dimitri and Beth from Spooks which was posted on the This Morning website. The larger version is in the Spooks Promo gallery – click ‘original image’ to see the full size.

2. Reports from filming in Manchester on the Captain America set, suggest that Richard Armitage is playing the part of Heinz Krüger. There is no official confirmation yet about Richard’s involvement in this film.

23rd September

1. Update 10.20pm (UK time): I’ve uploaded a better quality file. Watch the latest Spooks advert for episode 2 by clicking on the link. Right-mouse-click and Save (Ctrl-click on a Mac) to download. Here’s a still from the advert, click to enlarge:

2. Video clips from the set of Captain America, currently filming in Manchester, are surfacing. In this clip on youtube, we suspect that Richard might be the person running in the white suit. Lots more clips on the comicbookmovie.com site.

3. The BBC Press office has posted a synopsis for episode 4 of Spooks, which will be broadcast on Monday 11 October at 9pm on BBC1. Spoiler warning!

4. Bccmee has done a marvellous photoshopping job on this original picture in TV & Satellite Week. Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge.

22nd September

1. Update: these pictures on Hobbsy.com prove that Richard is involved in the filming of Captain America, currently taking place in Manchester. Footage on this clip on youtube. More information about this video can be found on the originator’s blog: Hobbsy.com

Here’s a couple of snapshots (click to enlarge):

Thank you to Antonella for the email.

2. The second part of the Lost Land of the Tiger is on BBC1 and BBC HD tonight at 9pm. If you live in Scotland, you can watch the first episode of this documentary on Thursday at 9pm on BBC1 – thanks to Esther for this information.

21st September

1. Richard narrated Lost Land of the Tiger on BBC1 and BBC HD at 9pm this evening. Sorry there was no indication that he was providing the voiceover. BBC Programme Information. Episode 2 is at the same time tomorrow and episode 3 on Thursday at 9pm.

Click this link to watch a clip, or right-click then Save (Ctrl-click on a Mac) to download

2. Spooks 9 episode 1 reviews. There have been some great reviews for episode 1 today:

• Daemon’s TV – a very strong and enjoyable episode
• Guardian – John Crace – still as compellingly watchable and implausible as ever. I say implausible, but then you never really know…
• Guardian – Vicky Frost – By the end of last season, Spooks was looking a bit lacklustre. Now it seems to have raised its game.
• Telegraph – Spooks remains as tight, gripping and exceptionally watchable as it was in series one
• theartsdesk – Section D’s Heathcliffean operative, Lucas North
• Metro – Spooks has got its hooks in again.
• TV.com – series 9 will mix plenty of intrigue with the standard compelling drama aspects that Spooks is known for
• Unpopcult – Lucas rocked it all the way through
• Independent – the entire episode…required a sustained suspension of disbelief, but it was very slickly done, with a few smart nods to reality

3. Ian Wylie has previewed Spooks episode 2 on his blog Life of Wylie. No major spoilers but don’t read if you haven’t seen episode 1.

4. Episode 1 screencaps are now in the Spooks ep 1 gallery. Download all caps: episode 1 zip file.

5. Spooks episode 1 attacted almost 5.6 million viewers last night. Read more in Digital Spy.

6. Voting for the National Television Awards has begun. Spooks is nominated for Drama, Richard is nominated for Drama Performance and Strike Back is nominated in the Digital Choice category. The awards will be presented on 26 January 2011 at the O2 arena. Voting closes Monday 11 October. Vote here.

7. The BBC Spooks page has updated and there are pages for each of the personnel on the Grid. This is Lucas’s page.

20th September

1. There’s an interview in the print and online editions of The Metro today with some new information from Richard that we haven’t heard before. The article is also on the Spooks Reviews page.

Scan added with thanks to JJ.

2. Digital Spy has a short article entitled ‘Armitage not worried about typecasting’ but you may have read other versions of this interview in other articles. Also on the Spooks Reviews page.

3. Spooks is pick of the day in many newspapers today (short mentions with spoilers): Guardian, Metro, Telegraph (scroll down the page to Monday’s picks), The Sun, The Express, The Mirror and The Daily Star.

4. Spooks 9 in the US in approx. April 2011 on PBS? According to this article on the Tellyspotting site.

5. I’ve updated the Interviews page so that all print and online interviews with Richard are in one place. Some of these will be duplicated on the Spooks Reviews page which lists ALL Spooks related articles and interviews.

6. Sophia Myles and Max Brown appeared on ITV1′s This Morning programme today. There were clips of Spooks and an amusing mention of Richard as a dancing banana! Bccmee has put this on youtube for me, or you can watch via the Spooks career page.

7. Following on from her witty articles about Spooks last year, Vicky Frost of the Guardian has written her first article about Spooks 9. I’d suggest not reading this until you’ve seen the episode as it takes you through exactly what happens: Spooks 9 ep1 review.

8. Screencaps for episode 1 will be on the site tomorrow morning.

19th September

1. Two interviews today in the Sunday papers:

• Sunday Express interview with Richard – an interview by David Stephenson, TV Editor of the Express. You can buy the audio of the full interview or download a free extract. Details in  yesterday’s news  (item#5 below). The article is also online and there’s an extract of the audio interview too.
• Mail on Sunday ‘In a taxi with…’ – an interview with Richard in the ‘You’ magazine supplement. The Mail have also chosen Spooks as their pick of the day for Monday (spoilers).

Both articles and all other Spooks print and online articles are on the Spooks Reviews page.

2. On Friday a member of the C19 forum, Rivengal, met Richard outside the ITV1 studios. She has kindly given me permission to share the pictures on this site. Click to enlarge:

3. Screencaps of the three appearances on TV and Radio webcam are now in the Richard gallery:

• BBC Breakfast feature which was shown on BBC1
• Interview with Richard and the cookery demonstration on the Lorraine show shown on ITV1
• Webcam footage of the interview with Greg James of Radio 1

To watch the original interviews, go to the Spooks career page.

4. A second clip from episode 1 of Spooks can be seen halfway through TV.com’s interview with Sophia Myles (at 5 mins 34 seconds) or you can watch/download on the Spooks career page. Thanks to Luna for the email.

5. Strike Back episodes 3 and 4 are being shown again on Sky1 and Sky1 HD tonight at 10pm.

18th September

1. Richard appeared on Clive Anderson’s Radio 4 programme today. Listen or download it from the Spooks career page.

2. Yesterday on The Wright Show on Channel 5 they showed a brief clip from episode 1 of Spooks. You can watch it via their On Demand service (the clip is at about 62 minutes) or watch a download on the Spooks career page. Many thanks to Vicki for the email about this.

3. TV.com has a new interview with Richard on their site. This is only for UK residents so Bccmee has uploaded it to youtube for the rest of you – thanks B!

4. Stuart Heritage has written a preview of episode 1 on the Guardian’s website today. Big spoilers though. There’s also an image of the article on the Spooks Reviews page.

5. David Stephenson of The Express has released an audio interview with Richard, however you must pay £1.00 to obtain the entire audio file. There is a short extract you can download for free. Details are on his blog.

6. Screencaps from the TV.com interview are now in the gallery.

7. Article scans from the Daily Mail Weekend magazine and Daily Express Saturday magazine are now on the Spooks Reviews page. Thanks to Jen for the scans.

8. The link to the synopsis for Spooks episode 3 on the BBC Press site does not seem to work for everyone, so there is an image of the synopsis here. Spoiler warning!

9. The Mail Online has just released a new interview and picture on their site. An image of the article is also on the Spooks Reviews page. Here’s a copy of the picture:

17th September

1. Richard was on BBC Breakfast this morning and on Lorraine Kelly’s show interviewed by Myleene Klass. He also watched a cookery demonstration. All clips are on the Spooks career page.

2. The BBC clip is also on the BBC news entertainment page.

3. Richard appeared on Greg James’ Radio 1 show today at 3pm. Webcam footage is now on the Spooks career page. The quality isn’t great, but it is a webcam. Just added a great picture of Richard and Greg to that page.

16th September

1. Richard will appear on Clive Anderson’s Radio 4 programme this Saturday between 6.15pm and 7.00pm UK time. Programme information.

2. There is an interview with Laila Rouass on Digital Spy in which she talks in some detail about Maya’s relationship with Lucas in Spooks – spoiler warning – and also the fact that she met Richard a few years ago in LA.

3. Richard will be on Lorraine Kelly’s show tomorrow between 8.30am – 9.25am on ITV1 tomorrow. Thanks to KK for the email. The show will be hosted by Myleene Klass.

4. Spooks articles from three more magazines have been added to the Spooks Reviews page: Inside Soap (thanks to Tonia for the scan), Soaplife and Woman (thank you to the Simply Sophia Myles site for these two articles). Spoiler warning again.

5. AOL TV has published an online interview with Richard. Plenty of Spooks spoilers in that one.

6. A synopsis for Spooks episode 3 has been posted on the BBC Press site. Plot spoilers!

7. All news for August 2010 has been archived here.

15th September

1. Just added two scans from Closer magazine to the Spooks Reviews page which has a slightly more personal interview with Richard than most of the articles posted yesterday. This will also be posted on the Interviews page as it’s not just Spooks specific. The second scan has a caption in which Richard says “My next job involves diving in deep, dark water…” Strike Back 2 or something else??

2. Teena has created 3 fantastic wallpapers from the Sunday Times 12 Sept picture. Have a look at the Richard wallpapers page. Thanks T!

14th September

1. Spooks 8 DVD in Australia: the series 8 DVD is now available to pre-order from EzyDVD and the ABC shop to be released on 3rd November 2010. Thanks to Michele for the email.

2. Ian Wylie has written in his blog about Spooks and as usual he is careful not to give away spoilers. However those of you avoiding ALL Spooks news and pictures should perhaps resist until you’ve seen episode 1.

3. SPOILERS IN THE TV MAGAZINES. Previews and articles about Spooks 9 are in many of the television magazines today: Radio Times, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week, TV Choice, TV Easy and Total TV Guide. You can read them on the Spooks Reviews page. Just added What’s on TV magazine scans – again there are spoilers.

4. Richard has been interviewed about Spooks on the Digital Spy site. Spoiler warning.

5. Richard will appear on Greg James’s Radio 1 show on Friday 1pm – 4pm. You will be able to listen live from the Radio 1 website.

6. More news…but this time about Robin Hood. The complete DVD set will be available to buy from Amazon.com from September 17 at a cost of $70.49 (also available via the BBC America shop but more expensive). The region 2 DVD is already available via marketplace sellers on Amazon UK.

13th September

1. The Spooks series 9 advert was shown on BBC1 this evening. To view or download, go to the Spooks 9 career page.

2. Play.com and Amazon UK are advertising the Spooks 9 DVD already, to be released on 28th February 2011 (3 discs!). However, the series 8 DVD was originally scheduled for release early this year until the release was put back several months so we will have to wait and see. The series 8 DVD is now scheduled for release next Monday and pre-order information is on the RA on DVD page.

3. Richard is narrating the second part of Surgery School on ITV1 tonight at 10.35pm.

4. Words and Music ‘Symphony of a City’ is available to listen to via BBC iPlayer for the next seven days on this Radio 3 page. Alternatively, you can listen to or download just Richard’s readings on the Words and Music page. I’m very grateful to Bccmee for this clip as she saved me a job this morning!

12th September

1. There is a full page interview with Richard in today’s Sunday Times magazine. It’s a feature called ‘A Life in the Day’ in which Richard describes his typical daily routine both on filming days and non-filming: discussing food, running to the gym, not having a cleaner and trying not to lose top secret scripts! You can read a scan of the article on the Interviews page. (The Sunday Times online is only available if you are a subscriber, so I cannot provide a link to the online article.)

Many thanks to Orpheus of the C19 forum for this picture which accompanied the online article:

2. Sky1 and Sky1 HD are repeating Strike Back tonight at 10pm. They are showing episodes 1 and 2 tonight and then the remaining episodes on the next two Sundays at 10pm.

3. Richard will be on Radio 3 at 10.45pm tonight – further information on the Words and Music page.

4. Added a new wallpaper to the Lucas wallpapers page which uses today’s pic of the day, courtesy of Bccmee.

11th September

1. Four new pictures of Lucas North have been passed to me which are in extra large size and are high quality. One of them is from episode 2 but I don’t think it needs a spoiler warning. You can view them in the Spooks Promotional Pics gallery. Click on an image to view it and then click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner to see the extra large size. Enjoy!

2. The Radio 3 site now has a more detailed description of its Words and Music programme which will air tomorrow evening at 10.45pm. Scroll down the page for details of exactly what Richard will read. There is also a large photograph of Richard, the one used on his United Agent’s page (larger version here). UK and overseas listeners will be able to listen to this programme via BBC iPlayer on this Radio 3 page.

10th September

1. Vulpes Libris have an excellent review on their website today of Richard Armitage’s reading of The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell. In July 2009, Vulpes Libris ran an interview with Richard which you can read here. Details of how to order the audiobook are on the RA on DVD page.

2. Percy Courtenay will be on BBC4 again tomorrow evening. BBC4 are showing Miss Marie Lloyd at 11.15pm Saturday evening.

9th September

Spoiler alert: a synopsis of Spooks episode 2 has appeared on the BBC Press site, which will be shown on Monday 27 September, 9pm, BBC1.

8th September

1. The BBC press office has now confirmed the date and time for episode 1 of Spooks series 9. It’s Monday 20 September, 9pm – 10pm on BBC1.

• Radio Times online guide
• BBC Press office (no spoilers)
• BBC Press office (details of episode 1 with spoilers)

2. A new Lucas wallpaper made from this image has been added to the Lucas wallpapers page, with thanks to Bccmee.

7th September

1. I’ve been contacted by SeeSaw.com to inform Spooks fans (UK residents only) that there is a special Tuesday offer to watch series 1 for 99p available today only. Spooks series 7, in which Richard first appeared, is also available on their Spooks 7 page.

2. Two clips from last night’s Surgery School can be viewed or downloaded from the Surgery School career page.

3. Previews for next week’s TV magazines (thanks Jen for the scans):

Total TV Guide		What’s on TV

6th September

1. Robin Hood series 2 is being shown on BBC Entertainment throughout Europe and Asia on Saturday evenings. The home page has a large picture of the cast (but no Guy). You can check what time Robin Hood is broadcast this Saturday by clicking on ‘TV Schedule’, choose your country and select the date.

2. Thank you to Maryp who has given me copies of her six BAFTA red carpet pictures. One is blurry but some may still like to see it. View them at the end of the BAFTA candid gallery here.

3. Richard is narrating Surgery School tonight on ITV1 at 10.35pm, and also the next two episodes to be shown on Monday 13th and Monday 20th September at the same time. I’ll put a couple of clips on the site tomorrow.

5th September

A picture of Richard taken during Spooks filming has turned up on Digital Spy. Also in the picture are DS’s journalist Catriona and Richard’s co-star Laila Rouass.

Click to enlarge:

4th September

1. The latest Santander advert is now on the 2010 Adverts page. Richard has provided a new voiceover to advertise their Loyalty Tracker Bond, but the visuals are the same as a previous advert.

2. The first George Gently episode co-starring Richard is on the Alibi channel in the UK this evening at 9pm.

3rd September

1. Following the news yesterday about a new three-part series called Surgery School, ITV have informed me that Richard will be providing the voiceover for all three episodes. The first episode will be shown at 10.35pm on Monday 6th September on ITV1.

2. Richard will be reading poetry and prose on Radio 3 on Sunday 12th September from 10.45pm to 11.45pm as part of a Words and Music programme, evoking the atmosphere of the city. More details here on the UK TV Guide. UK and overseas listeners will be able to listen to this programme via BBC iPlayer on this Radio 3 page. Many thanks to Annette of RAOnline for this info.

3. Spooks series 7 started last night on the PBS 30 channel in Atlanta, Georgia – sorry for the late notice! Episode 2 information here. Thanks to Georgia Peach for the email. And Sandra has left a guestbook entry to tell us that Spooks series 8 is currently on PBS channel 8 in Phoenix. 10.45pm on Thursdays, repeated the following Saturday.

4. Just captured a new Sky Sports advert. This time Richard has provided the voiceover to an advert promoting football coverage on Sky’s HD channels and also ESPN. You can view or download on the 2010 Adverts page.

2nd September

1. The BBC Press Office has revealed that episode one of Spooks series 9 will be broadcast week beginning 18 September. No exact date and time has been given. There is an interview with Richard (with some spoilers) about what we can expect from Lucas in this series, plus episode one information (spoilers again). Here are all the links:

• Interview with Richard with this picture:

• Episode 1 programme copy
• Picture of Lucas/Harry also here:

2. New picture of Lucas and Beth (Sophia Myles) from an episode of Spooks series 9, courtesy of Mia from Simply Sophia Myles. View it and the other new promo picture on the Spooks career page.

3. Two pictures we haven’t seen before from Spooks series 7 episode 5 and episode 8 have been discovered on the Dutch TV site Vara. These are large, high resolution images and I’ve added them to the Spooks Promo gallery here and here. Click on ‘original image’ to view the full enormous size! Needless to say this one has already been requested as pic of the day and will appear soon. Thanks to Violet for the email. Spooks 7 will appear on Dutch television soon – dates to be confirmed.

4. Richard has provided the voiceover for a new series on ITV1 called Surgery School, the first episode of which will be broadcast on Monday 6th September at 10.35pm. The Radio Times only lists his name in episode 2, although it seems likely that he will narrate all 3 episodes of this series. Episode 1 info here and episode 2 info here. Thanks to the German RA board for this info.

1st September

1. Thank you to Heathra for her latest excellent wallpaper of Richard. There are three different sizes to fit your desktop which you can download from the Richard wallpapers page.

2. The picture of the day archive for August 2010 has been added to the menu on the left-hand side, or you can view it and download all the individual pictures here.

3. Two new signatures added to the site today courtesy of Jessie. A Guy of Gisborne signature and a new John Porter signature (#5). Thanks J.

4. Thanks for telling us where you are from. We had nearly 1000 replies and the results are here. Our new poll is now up – please vote on the left-hand side. You may not have listened to them all, but please choose your favourite to give us a general idea of which of these are the most popular. Cheers.

26th August

Richard Armitage Central have garnered an interesting interview with Naxos about their audio books. Richard is a very busy man apparently. You can read it here

22nd August

1. Sky1 and Sky1 HD are repeating Strike Back, starting Sunday 12 September. Episode 1 starts at 10pm (UK time) with episode 2 following straight after, according to the UK TV guide.

2. Thank you SO much for all 201 birthday messages! A link to the Birthday page has been sent to Richard’s agent.

21st August

1. A new Guy wallpaper has been added to the Gisborne wallpapers page courtesy of Lady Enigma.

2. Added a new downloads page showing an old clip from 2006. The NTAs 2006 page is here.

19th August

1. Following a query I’ve had about acquiring Richard’s reading of Bernard Cornwell’s Lords of the North, I’ve received some ordering information from one of the sales advisers at The Audiobook Collection.

The complete and unabridged version of the Lords of the North audiobook is available to order exclusively via The Audiobook Collection and is priced at £22.99 plus £3.50 postage & packing. It comprises 10 CDs (or 10 cassettes if you prefer). To order, phone their dedicated Customer Service telephone number 01225 443400, (overseas +44 1225 443400) or email info@audiobookcollection.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

I was also told the following: “The Audiobook Collection is the mail order department within BBC Audiobooks, which has very recently (July 2010) been sold and so we are now known as – AudioGo Ltd. It’s really just a name change, we still provide the same service/titles etc… But it does mean that very soon, we will have a new AudioGo Ltd website where customers can search/order Lords of the North etc…”

All other DVDs and audiobooks are listed on the RA on DVD page.

2. Thanks to Alice for the amusing poem that I’ve posted on the Artwork page, in honour of Richard’s birthday in a few days.

3. Birthday messages can be left here until 7.00pm GMT Sunday evening.

4. It is looking more likely that Spooks could air in September this year (last year episode 1 aired on 4 November 2009). As reported on 12 August, Amazon and Play.com have brought the series 8 DVD release date forward to 20 September. Today, thanks to KK, we’ve discovered that the September print edition of the Virgin Media magazine lists Spooks series 9 as one of the programmes starting in September, but there’s no official airdate yet.

17th August

1. All July 2010 news items have been archived here.

2. Added a Strike Back series 2 career page where all news relating to the new series will be posted.

16th August

1. Spooks in New Zealand: UKTV is currently showing series 7 which is due to finish on Tues 17 August at 9.30pm. Series 8 starts the following week on the 24th. The UKTV Guide has more details. Thanks to Missy for the email.

2. Following yesterday’s news about the Laila Rouass interview, I’ve recorded the clip about Spooks for those who cannot hear it via BBC iPlayer. The clip is on the Spooks 9 career page.

3. Just captured yet another Sky Sports HD advert! View or download on the 2010 Adverts page.

4. Just added a new North and South Promotional & Behind the Scenes gallery. Some of these images are courtesy of the Russian RA website.

15th August

1. Laila Rouass has been speaking on BBC Asian Network radio about her character’s relationship with Lucas North in Spooks. She doesn’t give much away but it’s still food for thought. You can listen to what she has to say on the Spooks career page, scroll down to 11 August. Thanks to the Spooks Info Central forum for the link.

2. Another Sky Sports HD advert with voiceover from Richard is available to view or download on the 2010 Adverts page.

14th August

The Guardian have a review of The Convenient Marriage audiobook read by Richard today. A good review but there is no specific mention of Richard’s reading of the abridged novel.

12th August

Amazon UK have brought the release date of the Spooks series 8 DVD forward to 20 September. If you order via Amazon UK by clicking via the link on RichardArmitageOnline then commission from your order will go to charity.

10th August

1. The RA on DVD page has been updated with the latest prices and releases. Note: The Spooks series 8 DVD was due to be released on 11 October, but Play.com have updated the release date to 20 September 2010.

2. Thanks to Jane for pointing out that we’d missed off some pictures of Guy at the end of Robin Hood series 3 episode 8. The gallery has now been updated. How could we forget Guy in the cage!

9th August

The first episode of George Gently, co-starring Richard as Ricky Deeming, will be shown in Sweden on Kanal nio tomorrow at 9pm CET. Thanks Sara for the email.

7th August

1. There is a wonderful review of The Convenient Marriage audiobook on the Austenprose site. Well worth a read and no major spoilers.

2. Thank you for voting in the favourite character poll. John Thornton is the winner, Guy second and Lucas third – no major surprise perhaps? For a full breakdown of votes, click here. The latest poll was requested by a visitor who was interested in the nationalities visiting this site. Working out the regional divisions wasn’t easy, so I have used this map on Wikipedia, which you can refer to if your region is not obvious. Many thanks for voting.

6th August

Strike Back wallpapers added to the site today with thanks to Rossella and Mary, see the last three entries on the John Porter wallpapers page. Mary has also created a Robin Hood collage which you can see on the Guy wallpapers page.

5th August

Ricky Deeming is on UK television tonight – the Alibi channel is showing the first episode of George Gently at 8pm.

2nd August

Second series of Strike Back confirmed: The Guardian is reporting that Sky has commissioned a new 10 part series of Strike Back! Read more on The Guardian’s site.

Digital Spy are also reporting the news, and they state that the series is expected to air late in 2011.

1st August

1. If you would like to leave a birthday message on this site for Richard, you can do so on our new Birthday 2010 page. Thank you.

2. Thanks to Lady Enigma for a new Guy wallpaper which has been added to the Gisborne wallpapers page.

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

4. You can now download Richard’s reading of The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer from Naxos Audiobooks at a cost of £11.00.

28th July

1. It seems Richard has recorded quite a few of those Sky Sports HD radio adverts. There are now four on the 2010 Adverts page to listen to.

2. We still haven’t had official confirmation of a second series of Strike Back, but the Mirror is reporting on possible locations for series 2 according to ‘an insider’ : Mirror site.

27th July

1. I’ve put up some more John Porter artwork with kind permission from Teena today. Lots and lots of John Porter icons and 2 new John Porter signatures with matching icons. If you’d like to use any of these in forums, please help yourself but give credit to Teena. Thanks.

2. Richard has recorded a couple of new adverts for Sky Sports HD which are playing on many different local radio stations around the UK. I’ve captured one of them so far – link on the 2010 Adverts page.

3. More John Porter artwork thanks to Rossella. Three wallpapers just added to the John Porter wallpapers page.

26th July

1. Spooks 7 in Sweden: series 7 is starting on 12th August at CET 9.00pm showing both episodes 1 and 2 back to back. The Kanal9 site has more information. Thanks Sara for the email.

2. Thanks to Jessie for creating an excellent wallpaper from the Strike Back viral clip (see news 21 July). You can see it on the John Porter wallpapers page.

3. Four more John Porter wallpapers have been added courtesy of Teena. See them on the John Porter wallpapers page. Thanks T.

25th July

1. The documentary Too Poor For Posh School which Richard narrates, will be shown in New Zealand on TV1 in New Zealand at 9.25pm. Details about the programme are on the TVNZ site. Thanks Kiri for the email.

2. A reminder to Australians that Cold Feet series 5, which featured Richard as lifeguard Lee, will start at 9.30pm on ABC2. You can also watch the episode on ABC iView.

23rd July

Lady_t_220 has created some fantastic artwork from the Strike Back viral (see news 21 July). A white pencil drawing on black paper which you can see on the Artwork page (click to enlarge it) and 15 icons which are on the John Porter icons page.

22nd July

1. I couldn’t resist taking some screencaps of the Strike Back viral that appeared yesterday. View them here in the gallery.

2. The last part of Homes from Hell, which Richard narrates, is on ITV1 and ITV1hd tonight at 9pm.

21st July

A previously unseen clip of Richard has appeared on Vimeo, the video site, to promote Strike Back. It looks similar to the Sky advert promoting their HD box, which is the 3rd clip on the Strike Back downloads page. If you are a member of Vimeo (which is free to join) you can download a copy of the video, scroll down the page for a download link.

20th July

1. Marguerita has kindly shared a photograph that she took on Sunday while meeting Richard at Wandsworth Town Hall (see yesterday’s news). Click on the thumbnail to enlarge. Many thanks M!

This picture was taken during a break in filming later in the afternoon. They were filming a flashback scene to 1995.

2. Richard has provided the voiceover for another Sky Sports HD advert featuring Eric Cantona. You can watch or download from the 2010 Adverts page.

3. All June 2010 news items have been archived here.

19th July

1. Spooks filming yesterday: Richard was filming Spooks at Wandsworth Town Hall yesterday and met some fans who had patiently waited for a sighting. More than one crew member confirmed that Spooks series 10 has been commissioned and will start filming in February 2011.

RA’s next project: rumours are abound that Richard’s next project will be on the forthcoming Captain America film which is due to start filming in South Wales in September and will be released next summer. The information came from a crew member at yesterday’s Spooks shoot. WalesOnline confirms filming location.

Many thanks to Marguerita of the C19 forum for allowing me to post the above information.

2. Cold Feet in Australia: thanks to Sue for the email to confirm that Cold Feet series 5, in which Richard appeared, is now showing on Sundays at 9pm on ABC2.

3. Some new lovely icons have been put on the site, with thanks to Enough4, as follows:

• 1 Strike Back icon
• 7 North & South icons
• 7 Richard Armitage icons
• 12 Guy icons

16th July

There is very little news at the moment as it seems that Richard is just finishing off filming Spooks and there is no confirmation of what’s coming next…so while we wait, I’ve changed the poll to see which RA character is your favourite. The last time this question was asked we hadn’t encountered John Porter, so previously John Thornton and Guy of Gisborne came joint first with 42% of the votes each. Let’s see if John Porter has any impact on the results. Thanks for voting!

14th July

1. Thanks to Ann for sending us a scan of the latest review of Robin Hood in Australia’s Herald Sun. Episode 12 of series 3 will be shown this Saturday on ABC2.

2. A new Guy wallpaper has been added to the Gisborne wallpapers page thanks to Lady Enigma.

12th July

1. The Sun Online have a photo gallery of Richard which includes some pictures from the past that you may not have seen before. Scroll down the page and click on the picture of Richard.

#1 John Porter; #2 BAFTA 2007; #3&4 Spooks series 7; #5 attending Carrie’s War press night June 2009; #6 as Philip Durrant in Miss Marple 2007; #7 from a 2005 photoshoot; #8 as Alec Track from The Golden Hour 2005; #9 John Thornton; #10 Lucas North Spooks series 7

2. Added Miss Marple and Vicar of Dibley promotional pictures to the Richard Promo gallery.

3. A clip from Homes from Hell episode 2, which Richard narrated, can be viewed or downloaded from the Homes from Hell career page.

11th July

Three wallpapers of Gisborne added today and two of Lucas North, with many thanks to Rossella.

9th July

Some more artwork put on the site today, with thanks to Jessie, Kiteflier and Bee:

• A Strike Back signature from Jessie (see #4, predominantly John P, although Lucas is there too!)
• Two Richard Armitage wallpapers from Kiteflier (scroll to the end)
• Three Richard Armitage wallpapers from Bee (modified from KF’s design, scroll to the end)

8th July

1. The poll has changed again today as the last poll was pretty conclusive. 71% of you would rather Lucas does not leave Spooks and that there is a series 10. Please vote on the left in our new poll.

2. Richard is narrating the 2nd part of Homes from Hell tonight on ITV1 and ITV1 HD at 9pm.

3. There is now a Spooks series 9 career page on this site where all the latest news, press articles and pics from the set will be displayed.

6th July

For those living in the US, The Convenient Marriage audiobook is $10 cheaper at Barnes and Noble than if you buy through Amazon.com. Thanks Bandia53 for the email.

5th July

Updated the RA on DVD page with latest prices and availability for DVDs and Audiobooks. New info as follows:

• The Convenient Marriage audiobook can be pre-ordered from Amazon UK, Amazon US and The Book Depository. It’s released on 2nd August, at which time you will also be able to download a digital copy from Naxos Audiobooks. The audiobook will also include the full interview with Richard. Sample chapters and excerpt from the interview are on The Convenient Marriage career page.
• A Complete series 1-3 Robin Hood DVD has been released by Amazon UK (via marketplace sellers) and will be available on Amazon US on 14 September 2010.
• Read the text at the top of the RA on DVD page for information about earning commission for charity.

4th July

Robin Hood in Russia: Series 3 of Robin Hood will be shown on the Russian channel “Culture” (“tvkultura”) starting tomorrow (5 July) at 10.30am, showing episodes 1 and 2. Here’s a translation of the Robin Hood page into English for those who can’t read Russian Thanks to Nadia for the email, who says that TV3 will stop showing Robin Hood 3 after episode 8 – TV3′s showing of Robin Hood was mentioned in the news on 10 June.

3rd July

1. Richard has provided the voiceover to an advert promoting the five Sky Sports HD channels. Listen or download it on the 2010 Adverts page.

2. Richard has not revealed whether this autumn’s series of Spooks will be his last, although he has said that “Lucas isn’t who you think he is”, Sunday Mirror 30 May 2010. But do you think this should be Richard’s last series of Spooks? Vote in our poll on the left-hand side of the home page. Thank you!

2nd July

1. The opening clip of last night’s Homes from Hell, which Richard narrated, can be viewed or downloaded from the Homes from Hell career page.

2. Naxos have created a page for the audiobook of Georgette Heyer’s The Convenient Marriage which includes a longer extract from chapter one, the same extract from Richard’s interview that was sent to us on 22 June and also an analysis of Heyer’s novels. As a special treat, they have contacted me today with the complete audio for chapters one and two, which you can listen to on The Convenient Marriage career page – go to the section titled “Special Excerpt”. Thank you Naxos!

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

4. You can now pre-order The Convenient Marriage audiobook from Amazon.com for US$28.98 or Amazon.ca for CDN$21.99. It will be released between 1st and 3rd August.

1st July

1. Richard is narrating the first in the new series of Homes from Hell on ITV1 and ITV1 HD at 9pm this evening. I’ll put some clips on the career page tomorrow.

2. Spooks filming news on Twitter: “Spooks filming on Bermondsey St / Mon 12th Jul : There will be imitation firearms on display for filming + real police presence #dontpanic” View the tweet here

30th June

1. The creator of Spooks, David Wolstencroft, has written an article in the Guardian about the recent alleged Russian spy ring and writing espionage fiction. There’s a picture of Ros and Lucas too.

2. Another lovely Spooks signature from Jessie has been added to the Spooks signatures page.

29th June

You may remember voting for Richard, Spooks and/or Strike Back in the TV Choice Awards long list. Unfortunately neither he nor those 2 shows made it to the short list: TV Choice short list voting.

28th June

1. Strike Back in Australia: BBC Worldwide Australia, who own the distribution rights for Strike Back, have arranged the sale of Strike Back to ABC TV. Details here on Mumbrella.com. The series will be shown later this year.

2. Thanks to Jessie for some fantastic graphics which she has sent to us, as follows:

• 3 Strike Back signatures
• 1 Spooks signature
• 2 Spooks wallpapers
• 1 Ricky Deeming wallpaper
• 1 Guy Wallpaper

3. Richard has narrated a new series of Homes from Hell, according to the TVguide.co.uk site. This is a four part documentary series telling the stories of those who have had disastrous house buying/building experiences in the UK and abroad. The series will be in four parts, and the first will be shown on Thursday 1st July 9.00 – 10.00 on ITV1 and ITV1 HD and then repeated on Monday 5th July at 8pm on ITV2. According to the ITV Press Centre, the first episode will focus on dream homes in Dubai. The second episode will concentrate on Dream Developments, self-built homes in the UK. Details of the other episodes have not yet been released, but will be added to the Homes from Hell career page when we have more news.

4. While channel hopping this evening, I caught a new Santander advert on the GOLD channel with another voiceover from Richard. You can view or download it from the 2010 Adverts page.

5. Quotes from Richard in Digital Spy today – click for link but be warned about Spooks spoilers.

27th June

It’s one year ago today that we watched Sir Guy of Gisborne’s sad demise on British TV and the finale of Robin Hood, the TV series. Here’s our last screencap of this wonderful character to commemorate that fact and also because without Sir Guy, my online friends and I would not have met and neither perhaps would this site exist.

Any chance of a resurrection and a spin off series…please?

25th June

A few journalists interviewed Richard today to talk about Spooks at the PPRTV offices. David Stephenson, TV editor for the Sunday Express, announced this on twitter so there will be audio to listen to soon. Also TV.com posted this on twitter yesterday and many questions have already been submitted. TV.com have announced that the interview cannot be posted until September, however the lady that conducted the interview has posted a picture of Richard which is in this tweet and also here:

This is the Richard Armitage page on TV.com where the interview will appear (and also on their Spooks page).

23rd June

Screencaps from the Strike Back DVD Extras are now in the Strike Back gallery.

22nd June

1. A trailer for the Strike Back DVD has appeared on Amazon UK and Play.com and Bccmee has uploaded it to youtube and given us permission to link to it. Go to the Strike Back downloads page to view the video.

2. Strike Back in Canada: Strike Back will air on Friday 12th November at 10pm ET/PT on the Showcase channel. Thanks to cesta for finding this link. The TV schedule however, shows that it will be broadcast at 11am and 5pm. It seems that 2 episodes will be shown back to back, just as it was broadcast in the UK, so Strike Back will be on for 3 weeks in total.

3. Thank you to Naxos Audiobooks for sending us a 4 minute extract from the beginning of The Convenient Marriage audiobook by Georgette Heyer and also part of their interview with Richard. You can listen or download on The Convenient Marriage career page.

21st June

1. There’s a new Strike Back Promotional Pics gallery which contains all the promotional pictures and wallpapers for Strike Back, credited to the Sky site. Thanks to Bccmee for finding the first 2 pictures on the revamped Left Back Productions site. The last picture is courtesy of Daniel Kennedy and was reported in the news on this site on 26th April here.

2. Thanks to Bee for finding this page which details when the remaining parts of North and South will air on BBC Entertainment in Germany. Scroll down to news on 9th June for information about when North and South is broadcast across Europe and Asia on the BBC Entertainment channel.

3. Just caught this alert from Helen James on Twitter, who has interviewed Richard today for the Spooks series 9 DVD extra features. There is more information on the Spooks page of her website.

17th June

1. Ann has sent us another scan of a review of Robin Hood series 3 episode 8 in The Age’s Green Guide, read it on the Robin Hood Reviews page. A positive review although they have Toby Stephens mixed up with another actor! Thanks Ann.

2. Several more galleries have been added to the ‘Richard’ gallery which includes appearances and interviews over the last few years.

3. New artwork on the site today thanks to Rossella who has created some signatures and icons for John Porter, Lucas North and Alec Track.

4. Behind the Scenes pictures have been added to the Strike Back gallery, sourced from the Sky mini-site. Click here for the gallery.

16th June

A favourable review of Robin Hood series 3 episode 8 in today’s Herald Sun newspaper which airs this Saturday in Australia on ABC2. You can read it on the Robin Hood Reviews page. Thanks to Ann for the scan.

15th June

1. UK viewers: Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall in which Richard played Percy Courtenay is on BBC4 tonight at 10.25pm.

2. Our Sparkhouse gallery has been revamped. It’s now more extensive and seperated into each episode of the drama. Thanks to Jen for taking all the screencaps – much appreciated!

3. Thank you to June for our first BAFTA themed wallpaper. You can see it on the Richard Armitage wallpapers page. Also thanks to Rossella for 2 new Lucas wallpapers. See them at the end of the Lucas North wallpapers page.

4. The TV.com site has a lovely picture of Richard and Miranda Raison which is slightly different to the one I’ve seen before. I’ve added to the BAFTA 2010 screencap gallery.

14th June

Thanks to Laure for finding a short video of Richard talking to the press at the BAFTAs on the Getty site. I can’t lip read so I’ve no idea what he’s saying! The other videos on that page are from the Strike Back Premiere held on 15 April 2010.

13th June

1. 13 more pictures from the red carpet have been put up this morning donated kindly to our site. You can see them at the end of the 2010 Candid BAFTA gallery plus a video from youtube added to the 2010 BAFTA downloads page.

2. 2 high resolution pictures of Guy from Robin Hood series 2 episode 13 have been added to the Robin Hood Promotional Gallery courtesy of Jonia. The new ones can be enlarged and are as follows: this one and this one.

12th June

1. Six more press pictures of Richard on the red carpet have been added to the end of the BAFTA 2010 screencap gallery, thanks to Cesta.

2. Voting in the long list for the TV Choice awards has now closed. The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 29 June when we will be able to vote again. I’ll put up the link when the voting opens.

3. If you live in the UK or Ireland you can try your luck in a competition to win one of two Blu-ray copies of Strike Back, details are on the site cheapbluraymovies.co.uk. The closing date is 26 June.

4. I’ve disabled the registration system on this site as it’s no longer necessary, hence the Log In form on the left-hand side has been removed. All material on this site is freely available to all.

5. Thanks for voting in the Strike Back character poll. Layla was the most popular character with 31% of the vote and Katie came second with 19%. Our new poll is asking whether you have ever written to Richard or sent him anything in the post. You can write to Richard at his agent’s address which you can find at the bottom of the FAQ page.

10th June

1. Ann has sent us two scans from Australia with reviews of series 3 episode 7 of Robin Hood which you can read on the Robin Hood Reviews page. The Age is a lot more complimentary than the Herald Sun as you will see. Thanks Ann.

2. Thanks to Nadia for the email about Robin Hood series 1 which is currently being shown in Russia on the TV3 channel. Each Friday, three episodes are shown – here is the schedule for Friday 11 June. This is the same page translated into English using Google Translate as our Russian is a little rusty You can click on ‘Robin Hood’ to read more and see a clip.

3. Eight more pictures added to the 2010 Candid BAFTA gallery courtesy of Ady, many thanks to him for sharing with us.

9th June

1. The BBC Entertainment channel is showing North and South episode 1 today at 5.05pm in many countries across Europe and the Middle East. Check the schedule and select your country from the Time Zone box to see if it’s showing for you. The rest of the series will be shown each Wednesday at 5pm in most countries. Thanks to Rosie for the email.

2. All news for May 2010 has been archived here.

8th June

1. All BAFTA red carpet candid photos have been put into a new 2010 gallery. Many thanks to Tony, Siouxsie Sioux and JJ who generously gave their pictures, including Koolkat whose pictures I have just received. These ones are extra large and fantastic quality!

2. More pics in the 2010 Candid BAFTA gallery from Kiteflier. Thanks so much KF they are brilliant!

3. There’s now an edited version of the This Morning clip which shows mostly RA with Sharon Marshall, thanks to TEHI for editing the clip. View it on the 2010 BAFTAs page.

4. Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall in which Richard played Percy Courtenay, is being repeated on BBC4 next Tuesday 15 June at 10.25pm. More details on the BBC4 site or our Marie Lloyd career page.

5. Richard has recorded an advertisement for Platinum jewellery which you can listen to/download on the 2010 Adverts page or on the Sounds page (press the ‘play’ button to listen). Thank you Camila for recording this for us.

6. A couple more pictures added to the 2010 Candid BAFTA gallery from Sadie – thank you!

7th June

1. Thanks to TEHI for editing my clip (I’m still learning how to do this!) – the extended third clip of the BAFTAs has been edited to remove the nomination clips so it’s just Richard in the video now. Thanks also to Siouxsie Sioux for allowing me to post her candid shot of Richard on the red carpet yesterday. You can find all of this on the 2010 BAFTAs page and more pics will be added later today.

2. More pictures added to the BAFTA 2010 gallery, including bow tie-less pictures Thanks to cesta for the red carpet pictures.

3. Bccmee has created a lovely BAFTA signature & icon set. See it here.

4. JJ has written a BAFTA report telling us about her experience on the red carpet yesterday. It’s now in the main menu on the left or click here.

5. The ITV show This Morning had a report from the BAFTAs earlier today in which Richard appears several times. You can view it from the ITV.com website. Apparently this is not available outside the UK but there is a download and a couple of screencaps on the 2010 BAFTAs page. The download is taken from the website so the video quality is not the best.

6th June

1. You can download three clips of Richard at the BAFTAs on the 2010 BAFTAs page. Also many thanks to JJ for emailing me her pictures from the red carpet, apparently there are more to follow! I’m pleased to say that JJ  has agreed to write a BAFTA report for the site to tell us what happened when she met Richard earlier today. Watch this space.

2. There’s a picture of Richard on the red carpet on the BAFTA site. Picture #24. Click here.

3. Screencaps from the BAFTA awards shown on BBC1 this evening are in the gallery.

4. Unfortunately Spooks did not win in the category of Best Drama Series, that award went to the E4 show Misfits.

5. Photo of Richard on the WENN press site.

5th June

1. Hedgey has found her photoshop muse and created a gorgeous John Porter wallpaper – see it here.

2. IndieLondon has reviewed the entire series of Strike Back to coincide with the DVD release: ‘Armitage brought convincing muscular energy and wore the haunted look of a troubled but efficient killing machine in his portrayal of Porter…’. All reviews are on the Strike Back Reviews page.

4th June

1. David Stephenson, TV editor for the Sunday Express has published his full audio interview with Richard. Read More

2. It’s confirmed that Richard will attend the BAFTA TV awards on Sunday 6 June at the London Palladium and he will be presenting an award. An email from BAFTA has confirmed this, many thanks Patty for finding out.

3. The new Gisborne picture found on the Studio Canal site yesterday has been put into the Robin Hood Promo pics gallery. You can see it here and also a close up pic which I also found on the site here.

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

5. A scan of the interview that appeared in last Sunday’s Mirror Celebs magazine has now been added to the Interviews page (sorry, better late than never…)

3rd June

The Robin Hood series 3 DVD boxset is released today in France and Studio Canal has released some new promotional pictures of the cast to coincide with this release. There is a picture of Gisborne with his sword that is new to us, and I will add it to the RH promo gallery when I return from holiday tomorrow (my internet access is somewhat limited). Click here then scroll through the picture list on the right and see if you can spot the ‘new’ picture. Many thanks to Céline for the email.

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.

30th April

1. The full interview with Richard in the printed edition of the Reader’s Digest is now available to view on the Interviews page.

2. GMTV have confirmed that Richard will be appearing on their sofas on Tuesday. I will be all set to record it! GMTV is ITV’s breakfast show and Richard has appeared on there a few times before: on 25 March 2009 (gallery of pictures and download here), during a Spooks on set visit on 4 Nov 2009 which can be downloaded here and 3 October 2007 when he was interviewed by GMTV’s Lorraine Kelly about Robin Hood series 2 (download here).

3. A new interview on the AOL TV site has just appeared, again Richard is promoting Strike Back on the set of Spooks. Apparently this site cannot be viewed by all, so I’ve taken screencaptures and uploaded to the Strike Back Reviews page.

4. Following on from her interview on 28 April, Heather Hughes has written a glowing reivew of Strike Back on TV.com’s site. Both articles are also listed on the Strike Back Reviews page.

29th April

1. Two reviews today, in the Shortlist newspaper and Time Out magazine, with thanks to Stef and Orpheus respectively for the scans. Read them on the Strike Back Reviews page.

2. Excellent interview by Emily Phillips of Screenrush.co.uk just out. Lots of questions and very interesting answers. Play next year possibly, and he still plays the cello! Read it here.

3. Richard appears on the front cover of the May edition of Reader’s Digest, with a long interview inside. There is an online edition here and more in the printed copy which I will post later. Scroll through to page 4 and the interview continues to page 7. Thanks to jh of the C19 forum for spotting it.

4. We are accumulating some artwork for Strike Back which you can see on the John Porter signatures page, JP icons and JP wallpapers. Thanks to all the ladies who have contributed so far. If you would like to contribute your own artwork to this site, please email Ali at admin@richardarmitagenet.com

5. There’s an article in FHM magazine which you can see in Strike Back Reviews from their June issue. The text is very similar to articles in the recent TV magazines, but there is an excellent full page picture of John Porter and a summary of some of Chris Ryan’s other novels.

6. Five BRAND NEW videos on the Sky Strike Back website, interviews with Richard and the cast, new clips from the shows: click here for John Porter page and five new videos main page is here.

7. Amazon have changed the release date on the Strike Back DVD back to 7th June – thanks Vicki for letting me know.

28th April

1. Hood series 3 starts in Australia on Saturday 1st May at 7.30pm on the ABC2 channel. Thanks to Ann for the scan of the Herald Sun showing a picture of Guy of Gisborne, which you can read on the Robin Hood Reviews page.

Also it appears that George Gently will be shown on Australian UKTV at 8.30pm on Sunday 16th May, however it is not yet confirmed if this is Richard’s episode.

2. Chris Ryan is interviewed in today’s Telegraph about his experiences in the SAS and its relevance to his novel Strike Back. Read it online here.

3. Colin Watkins, who is a publicist for Sky1 has told us via twitter that Richard will be doing some broadcast press next Tuesday. Richard on TV and/or radio next week then! You can follow us on twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/RAnetdotcom

4. New interview with Richard on TV.com’s website: 10 minutes with Strike Back‘s Richard Armitage which is linked to this article: Richard Armitage plans Prequel to The Tudors.

5. TV Choice have alerted us to their blog entitled ‘Speaking to Spooks’ which has just been posted. ‘Big surprises in store for his character Lucas North’ apparently and there are other interesting tidbits of information about other members of the cast including Sophia Myles and Max Brown. Read the article here.

27th April

1. Many of this week’s television magazines have articles about Strike Back and interviews with Richard. Read them on the Strike Back Reviews page.

2. There’s an interesting interview with Richard in The Times’ Body & Soul section today. Read it on the Interviews page.

3. Added the Daily Mail October 2009 tuxedo picture without cropping or text overlay – in the 2009 Promo gallery.

26th April

1. Daniel Kennedy has posted a news item on his site about photographing Richard and Orla for the cover of Sky magazine. Read More

2. New poll on left-hand side. Please vote!

25th April

1. A new Strike Back trailer aired on Sky1 this evening, downloads and pics available. Read More

2. Billboards of Richard as John Porter in Strike Back are popping up all over the country. I saw one in London today and Koolkat took a pic of one in another part of the country. She’s shared her pics with us which you can find at the end of the Strike Back page.

24th April

1. OK TV have released video interviews with all the cast from the Strike Back premiere which can be found on the Daily Express website. The music is a bit loud and distracting to say the least, but it’s great to get another new interview.

2. There’s a full page article in the Daily Express magazine today with an interview with Richard. See the Strike Back Reviews page. Thanks to LadyJ for the scan.

23rd April

There are now behind the scenes pictures on the Sky Strike Back site here and larger versions of the wallpapers here.

22nd April

1. In the latest copy of The Stage, Richard has expressed his interest in returning to the stage soon with a preference for doing comedy. One of the options he’s considering is Aphra Benn’s The Rover. Thank you to Annette of RAOnline for the printed version on our Interviews page or there is an online version here. Thanks to Orpheus of the C19 forum for discovering this for us.

2. Another advert for tonight’s Leaders’ Debate heard on Classic FM today. Download on the 2010 Adverts page.

21st April

Richard Armitage and Orla Brady are on the front cover of this month’s Sky magazine, and there is a 3 page article inside in which Richard and Orla answer questions about the characters they play in Strike Back. There is also a tiny picture of Richard as John Porter in the TV Planner section of the magazine. All scans are in Strike Back Reviews, click on the images to enlarge.

20th April

1. There’s a full page advert for Strike Back in this week’s Radio Times showing Richard, he looks quite different I think. See it here (click on the image to enlarge).

2. Thank you so much to those who attended the Strike Back screening last night and who are leaving comments on our site. Could I ask that you leave your comments on our guest book please so that all the reactions can be found in one place? For those who already left comments in the news pages, I will copy your comments to the guest book. Cheers!

3. I’ve just found this page on WireImage which has captions under pictures of all the cast. It gives an idea of what Richard was discussing during the Strike Back premiere last Thursday. Unfortunately this is a press site so we cannot view the video, but it might be a taster of what will appear in the press soon.

• UPDATE: Richard’s video interviews can be viewed (with watermark) on the Getty site. Many thanks to colinfever for emailing the link.
• Other interesting interviews: Orla Brady (you can press the arrow top right to move directly to the next video)
• Andrew Lincoln
• Dhafer L’abidine
• Ewan Bremner
• Andy Harries

4. New interview with Richard today in the Mirror.co.uk and all the local news sites are now starting to print the same interview, e.g. here and here – article originates from The Press Association.

5. Another extra large picture of Guy added to our Promotional Pics gallery. Click here and then click ‘original image’ to fill the screen. Thank you Jonia for the picture.

6. Amazon UK and Amazon.com have updated their Georgette Heyer: Convenient Marriage audiobook page to show what the cover will look like. Does this mean it’s a bodice ripper? It’s come down in price too.

7. ANOTHER new interview, in which Richard reveals that Lucas North will be much less physical in series 9 than he has been in the past. Click here for the Press Association.

8. Richard was heard today advertising the General Election Leaders’ Debates on local radio around the country – thank you to those who contacted me about it. I’ve made an mp3 download which is available on the 2010 Adverts page.

19th April

The Sky Strike Back page is taking shape with a lot more content: an interview with Richard and other cast members, production facts, wallpapers, cast biographies, details of the story and photos (with spoilers). All banners can be found on this  news page. Thanks to Lynn for alerting me. More info on our news page.

Sorry I keep updating the news page above, but they keep adding information!

18th April

Short but very positive article in the Mirror online today about Strike Back, see Strike Back Reviews

17th April

1. There are now some very large pictures at the end of the Strike Back Premiere gallery, with thanks to Jonia for finding them. Click on ‘original image’, then you may need to click again so that the image fills the screen. Extra close ups!

2. Screencap gallery for Malice Aforethought has been added to the site.

3. Very short clip of Strike Back shown during the BBC entertainment news show E24 on the Strike Back downloads page.

16th April

1. The Strike Back Premiere took place in the Vue West End cinema in London’s Leicester Square last night. Yesterday’s news link. Unwatermarked pictures are now appearing on news sites all over the web so I’ve created a Strike Back premiere gallery and will add to this as more pictures surface. Enjoy!

2. Click here for a video of last night’s premiere arrivals including an interview with Richard. Screencaps are in the Strike Back Premiere gallery.

3. Thanks to Cami for leaving a comment on the site about this article in GQ online magazine. I’ve added it to the Strike Back Reviews page.

4. RichardArmitageCentral found this clip on youtube today, it’s an interview with co-star of Strike Back Dhafer L’Abidine at last night’s premiere and there are clips of Richard at the start. Thanks ladies!

5. There is also an interview with Andrew Lincoln on youtube with a couple of nice mentions of Richard and a tiny view of him at 4mins 50seconds.

6. Links to all downloads and screencaps for Strike Back are on the Strike Back page.

15th April

1. Sky have released programme information for week beginning 8th May which reveals that they will