RichardArmitageNet News

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 All news items for December 2010 have been archived here.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

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:

News will be archived from our main news page each month.

29th December

1. Sky magazine has a little anecdote from the set of Strike Back involving deadly snakes. Read more here.

2. Viewing figures for episode eight of Spooks have been revealed by Digital Spy. A very good result!

28th December
1. We found this via bccmee who found it via jonia. Very quick Strike Back promo on youtube.We will endeavour to get some screencaps up of this soon but Hedgey’s laptop and all its whizzy software is currently only any use as a doorstop. We’ve also loaded the youtube vid on to the Strike Back career page.
2. Some technical jiggery pokery and much swearing later – Caps from the promo.
3. More Spooks episode 8 reviews added here.

24th December

1. Spooks episode 8 reviews are being added here.

2. Screencaps from Episode 8 of Spooks are now in the gallery

3. The zip file for these caps can be found here

23rd December

1.Two articles in the newspapers are listed in Spooks reviews, previewing Spooks episode eight which will be shown tonight on BBC1 at 9pm. Warning – spoilers.

2. Richard has sent a Christmas message to RAonline. You can read it here.

22nd December

The Vicar of Dibley ‘The Handsome Stranger’ episode will be shown on Dutch TV tonight at 23.35 hrs on the Ned2 channel. ‘The Vicar in White’, the last VoD episode, will be shown on the 29th December at 23.45. Thanks to Tessa for this info.

21st December
1. Two new scans previewing Spooks episode 8 have been added to Spooks Reviews. Thanks to Jen for the scans.
2. The biography has been updated.
3. The first picture of RA as John Porter has been released. Read More

20th December
1. Added a scan previewing episode 8 of Spooks from the Sunday Mirror to Spooks Reviews, courtesy of JJ.
2. Alice has sent us a Christmassy poem about Little Guy which is in our Artwork section. Thanks Alice.
3. The Interviews page has been updated today and archive interviews with Richard will be added as we find them. This list contains print and online interviews, all general articles and reviews are in Press Reviews.

19th December
1. Ben Richards and Richard McBrien, two writers for Spooks were interviewed on Radio 4′s Front Row last night and suggested that Spooks had been recommissioned for a 9th series. You can listen here (suspect it may not be available outside the UK). Thanks to Scoop on C19 for the tip off.
2. There have been a few comments about James Bond in our guestbook lately, so we thought we’d ask the rest of you what you think. The new poll is on the main page, left-hand side, thanks for your votes.

17th December
1. Spooks reviews for episode seven are here. I couldn’t resist that comment regarding Vicky Frost’s review, a tad unfair in my (Ali’s) opinion. And how do you back up an encrypted drive when you don’t know the encryption code asks Hedgey.
2. The Charlie page has updated following a chat given on the Charlie forum by Mike Ogden. Thanks to Mike and Bccmee on that forum.
3. Caps from Spooks episode 7 can be found here.
4. and a download of said caps can be found here. Didn’t forget this week.
5. Ian Wylie has given us a preview of Spooks episode eight, mild spoilers and a very amusing audio clip of Hermione talking about a particular day on set.

16th December

I was reminded that I hadn’t done this so here is the zip file of Episode 6 caps here. Enjoy

13th December
1.Added two small scans from the latest What’s on TV magazine to Spooks Reviews, courtesy of Jen. These articles contain spoilers.
2. Some new digital artwork added thanks to Sammy. Click here and scroll down to ‘Art by Sammy’ to see her Guy and Allan art.
3. News from November has been archived here.
4. The prices on the Richard on DVD page have been updated, plus Venetia is now available from The Book Depository at a cheaper price than Amazon. Click on our Book Depository link next to the Venetia picture and if you make a purchase from that link, commission will be made for charity and collected by RAOnline.

11th December
1. There’s an article in the Mail Online today with quotes from Hermione Norris and Richard here.

2. BBC America will show Richard’s Vicar of Dibley episodes over Christmas. Read More

10th December

1. Ian Wylie is teasing us again with a preview of episode seven of Spooks on his blog.

2. More Spooks episode six reviews are being added here as we find them.

3. Danielle has given us another lovely Harry Kennedy wallpaper which you can see here. Thanks Danielle.

4. Episode six caps are now up here. Be warned they are very spoilery toward the end.

5. New poll on the main page, left-hand side, tell us what you think of Spooks 8.

6. Added two new sound files of Lucas as the Russian oligarch – files are called Dogs and Wait.

9th December
1. Pam has sent us an amusing little article that appeared in the Evening Standard on Monday. We’ve added it to Spooks Reviews, or you can click here. Thanks Pam.
2. Danielle has given us a much needed Harry Kennedy wallpaper which you can find here. We are a bit thin on the ground for Harry wallpapers, please email admin@richardarmitagenet.com if you’d like us to display your artwork, whether Harry, Lucas, Guy, etc.

8th December

We’ve put up three calendars for 2010. One RA Character, one Lucas North and one Gizzy calendar (no longer available).

6th December

Added The Stage podcast interview with Richard Armitage and Robert Glenister to Spooks Publicity Downloads that took place on 27 February this year. Thanks to JJ for the reminder that it was missing

5th December

Film Review have a synopsis and pics from Spooks Episode 7. Spoilers ahoy of course but some great Lucas action pics. Edit: the pics have now been moved to the episode 8 synopsis here

The new pictures are now in our Spooks Promo gallery.

3rd December

1. Two reviews of Spooks episode five added to Spooks Reviews and a preview of episode six from Ian Wylie.

2. Picture of the Day archive for November has been added here and can be downloaded.

3. Caps of Spooks Episode 5 are now up in the gallery.

4. Zippy dippy file of the Ep5 Lucasy tattooed goodness here.

1st December
1. AnnetteG over at RAonline has found this little snippet where Peter Firth confirmed to a blogger at Collectormania that Spooks series 9 had been recommissioned and was due to start filming in February. There’s no official confirmation though.
2. A critical review of Spooks so far, although praise is given to Richard: Mark Wright of The Stage

News will be archived from our main news page each month.

30th November
Moving On will be shown on South African TV in December. Read More

29th November
Spooks Episode 4 caps download in zip file. Apologies for lateness. My excuse is that – I forgot. Sorry.

28th November
Film Review Online has pictures from episode six of Spooks. There’s only one of Lucas North, which is now in our Spooks 8 Promo gallery. The text is taken from the BBC Press office and contains spoilers.

27th November
Ian Wylie has interviewed Hermione Norris about episode five which is due to be shown on BBC3 tonight at 9pm. There are some mild spoilers about the episode and a brief quote from Richard.

26th November
1. Ian Wylie’s preview of Episode 5 with some bizarre references to cake and spoilers.
2. Den of Geek review of Episode 4
3. Vicky Frost’s amusing take on Episode 4
4. We’ve gone a bit mad with the caps. There are 420 from Episode 4 of Spooks. I blame Alicat.
5. Two previews of episode five in TV choice and What’s on TV magazines in Spooks Reviews. Thanks Jen for the scans.

24th November
1. More pictures added to our screencap gallery:

• More pics added to the Victoria & Albert museum promotional shoot gallery
• Screencaps from the BBC RH website interview with Richard, prior to series 2 of Robin Hood
• Screencaps from the BBC America interview with Richard, June 2008

2. Scan from this week’s Radio Times with a new pic of Ros and Lucas added to Spooks Reviews
3. Film Review online has more promo pics, which have been put into the Spooks 8 Promo gallery The text is taken from the recent BBC Press Release (spoilers).
4. Lots of new signature and avatar sets added today from Kiteflier and Bccmee, for Lucas, John Thornton, Guy and Richard. All signature sets can be viewed here Thanks ladies!

23rd November
Details of Spooks episode eight at the BBC Press Office

2. Previews of Spooks episode four (to be shown on Wednesday BBC1) from the Saturday magazines of the Daily Mail and Daily Express have been added to Spooks Reviews Thanks to Jen for these.

21st November
1. A short interview with Richard discussing Lucas’s relationship with Sarah in the Sun magazine has been added to here
2. Episode three caps can be downloaded in a zip file here

19th November
Three articles added to Spooks Reviews today:
- Another entertaining review by Vicky Frost of the Guardian (spoiler warning)
- An interesting blog entitled ‘Spying on Spooks’ with clips from fans who have caught moments of the crew filming Spooks in London
- Ian Wylie’s blog on episode 4: ‘this is Richard Armitage’s episode’. Shown first on BBC3 9pm tomorrow.

17th November
1. Radio Times has picked Spooks episode four as its TV choice for Weds 25 November. Short article and pic of RA in Spooks Reviews
2. New picture of Lucas from Spooks episode four here.
4. More articles from the press added to Spooks Reviews here. No mention of Lucas but there are spoilers.

13th November
1. We’ve added to our high quality Gisborne image gallery, lots more added. When viewing each image, click on ‘original image’ for larger size.
2. Added some promotional pics to The Golden Hour gallery.

12th November
1. A short article about the filming location for Strike Back has been posted in Strike Back Reviews and Articles
2. Episode two viewing figures released here. Figures are down but it was first shown on BBC3 last Friday of course.
3. New high quality pics added to the Spooks Promo gallery for episode two images. Click icon in bottom right corner for original larger size.
4. Screencaps for Episode 2 can be found here
5. You can download the screen caps in a 10Mb zip file here
6. It’s the swimming pool fight this Friday on BBC3 – a preview of episode three in Ian Wylie’s blog here.

11th November
1. Press office information about Spooks episode six is here. Spoiler warning.
2. Vicky Frost from the Guardian has released another amusing review of Spooks, this time episode two. Listed in Spooks Reviews. Spoiler warning if you haven’t seen it yet.

It’s already clear (and perhaps a little obvious) that North and South is the most re-watched show that Richard Armitage has appeared in, so we have modified the poll a little and now ask you to please vote again.

N&S has been removed from the list, so of the remaining shows, which one do you reach for the most often when in need of a ‘Richard’ fix?

Previous results showed that Spooks series 7 (15.4%) was the 2nd most popular, followed by Robin Hood series 3 (13%), but if N&S is no longer an option we’re wondering if this will affect the results.

Return to the homepage and see the poll options on the left-hand side.

Thanks for voting!

We are pleased to announce that there has been a new component added to the site which will allow you to comment on our news updates. Where ever you see the ‘Read More’ link it will bring you to our new News page.

It will still contain all the latest in Richard Armitage-related news, site updates and general tidbits, but it will also give us more room to elaborate on our news items and post relevant pictures.

Please feel free to comment on any of the items. Comments are screened before posting, please keep your comments to the PG13 rating

We have changed the poll this morning to see which of Richard’s projects you are most looking forward to.

The previous poll, to determine which is your favourite character, ended on a dead heat between Sir Guy and John Thornton, which seemed approrpriate since the lead frequently changed hands between those two characters.

Thanks for voting.

The DVD list has been updated with prices correct as of today.

There are also links to The Book Depository alongside the audiobooks Richard Armitage has narrated which will earn commission for RAOnline.All commission earned is donated to one of the charities Richard has mentioned in his messages.

New Strike Back page added to the career menu. We’ll update this as more info is made available.