The Thirty-Nine Steps - Pictures

The adaptation of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" was broadcast last night on BBC One. It wasn't a patch on the 1935 Hitchcock film, but nevertheless a perfectly entertaining 90 minutes on a Sunday evening.

Captain Kell is the head of the Secret Service Bureau, an organisation that is contactable via the operator apparently! A few screen grabs:


Alex doesn't feature in this too much; my best advice would be not to blink!

The film is available here on the iPlayer until the 4th of January.

Amusing Chatter in the Cocktail Party

The rehearsed reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party" was reviewed by Nicholas De Jongh in the Evening Standard:

"Adultery, favourite pastime in plays of the period, rears an indiscreet head when Alex Jennings’s Edward, absolutely superb in his shuttered anguish, after romancing Rosamund Pike’s Celia, and Chancellor’s Lavinia own up to sexual dallying. The play shifts with mesmerising stealth into terrain of suffering and death."

Full story: Evening Standard.

The Old Curiosity Shop

BBC Radio 7 are repeating the 25 part, 15 minute full-cast adapation, with Alex narrating, of "The Old Curiosity Shop" from the 29th of December at 10am every weekday morning, with an omnibus on Sunday mornings at 8am.

The Cocktail Party

There is to be a rehearsed reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party" at the Donmar on December 17th, as part of it's T.S. Eliot festival.

Alex will participate along with: Rosamund Pike, Anna Chancellor, Charlie Cox, Rosalie Craig, Nicky Henson, Paul Phys and Una Stubbs. Jamie Lloyd is directing. Tickets cost £10.

How To Be An Internee With No Previous Experience

Another week, another Afternoon Play; this time in the second of a two play PG Wodehouse special, Alex will play Malcolm Muggeridge. It will be broadcast on Tuesday, 16th December on Radio 4.

How To Be An Internee With No Previous Experience

By Colin Shindler

In 1944, Wodehouse was questioned by MI5 after broadcasting to America from a German internment camp. One of the interrogators was an up-and-coming journalist called Malcolm Muggeridge. The other was Major EJP Cussen, who later became a high court judge. The stakes were high: one of Britain’s best loved authors was facing the possibility of the death penalty.

Wodehouse .....Tim McInnerny
Muggeridge ...... Alex Jennings
Cussen ..... Anton Lesser
Connor ..... Stephen Critchlow
Flannery ..... Gunnar Cauthery

Producer/director Peter Leslie Wild.

It will be available on the BBC iPlayer until Tuesday, 23rd December.

The People's Princess

The afternoon play on Thursday 11th December on Radio 4, stars Alex as an earlier Prince of Wales, George the IV.

The People's Princess

By Shelagh Stephenson

Facing financial ruin George, Prince of Wales is obliged to marry his first cousin - Princess Caroline of Brunswick. But if he had been expecting a docile partner with whom he could maintain appearances, George has seriously underestimated his wife-to-be.

George IV ...... Alex Jennings,
Caroline of Brunswick ...... Rebecca Saire
Henry Brougham ...... Julian Rhind Tutt
Lord Sidmouth ...... Chris McHallem
Lord Liverpool ...... Richard Howard
Sir Robert Gifford ...... Mark Lambert
Lady Jersey ...... Jill Cardo
Mr Majoucci ...... Nial Cusack

Director Eoin O’Callaghan.

Available on the BBC iPlayer until Thursday 18th December.

Captain Kell

Alex will play a character called Captain Kell in the BBC's adaptation of "The 39 Steps". The episode is set to air on Sunday the 28th of December at 8pm.

For more information please see the BBC Presspack article.

Exmouth Community College

Alex will be at Exmouth Community College talking to the students of Filmclub. on Wednesday, December 3 between 2pm and 4pm to talk to its members about his role as Prince Charles in feature film The Queen.

See FilmClub.

Evening Standard Awards

Alex attended the Evening Standard Awards at the Royal Opera House today. Here he is with Kenneth Cranham. More pictures of the event at Whatsonstage

Cambridge Charity

Alex will be appearing in Cambridge on 10 December in a charity event to raise money for the Vet School's Hope Appeal. Tickets are £20 each and the evening starts at 6.30 pm.

The evening is described as follows:

“Hosted by Julia McKenzie (the new Miss Marple) and featuring Brian Kay, Alex Jennings, The Classic Buskers and the A-Cappella Company, this evening will be jolly, friendly and a nice event for a local good cause. Join us for a wonderful evening - singing and enjoying the music, readings and refreshments - to raise funds for The HOPE Appeal for Cambridge Veterinary School’s Cancer Therapy Unit,” says Meredith Lloyd-Evans, a Hope Appeal Trustee and local businessman.

Suitable for company outings, families and anyone who would like to have a good time and raise money at the same time!"

For more information check: Cambridge Network

Silent Planet

Alex will be reading C.S. Lewis sci-fi thriller "Out of the Silent Planet" on BBC Radio 7 starting Monday 24 November. There are 12 episodes. BBC Radio 7

My Year Off

The afternoon play last Thursday has Alex playing one of the characters:

My Year Off

By Robert McCrum

At the age of 42, Robert McCrum, the chief editor of Faber and Faber suffered a devastating stroke. This is a searingly honest account of his experience which includes extracts from his diary and that of his wife Sarah.

Robert McCrum ...... Alex Jennings
Sarah Lyall ...... Madeleine Potter
Doctor/Dentist/
Occupational Therapist ...... Richard Laing
Paramedic/Speech Therapist/Physiotherapist……Rachel Atkins

Sound design by David Thomas; producer Karen Rose.

You can listen on the BBC iPlayer until Wednesday!

iPlayer

Thanks to Penny!

Bond, James Bond

Next Monday Alex will start reading "Casino Royal" on BBC Radio 7 in five daily episodes.

Check: BBC Radio 7 for details.

Drama Queens Pictures

The Joseph Fiennes web has some pictures of the actors on stage with their characters at the Old Vic:

Joseph Fiennes Web

Swearing and Grumbling?

Just a couple of details of Alex's performance at:
Artinfo

Solid Granite

Louise Jury at the Evening Standard has reviewed Alex's performance as solid granite block:

"Bravo to the Old Vic for presenting one of the most weird and wonderful British premieres I've seen in quite some time.

Drama Queens, the brainchild of German artists Elmgreen and Dragset, presented five remote-controlled sculptures on stage with the actors providing a live voiceover from the sidelines.

Joseph Fiennes played an abstract, angular sculpture by Sol Lewitt flirting monstrously with a Barbara Hepworth sculpture played by Lesley Manville.

Spacey himself gave voice to an infuriatingly chatty silver rabbit based on the famous work by the American Jeff Koons. Jeremy Irons played Giacometti's tall thin walking man while Alex Jennings voiced a solid granite oh-so-Germanic untitled block inspired by the German artist Ulrick Ruckriem. [u umlaut]"

Full story at: Evening Standard

Sherlock Holmes

And there is more Alex on BBC Radio 7 this week. On Wednesday at 10.15 a.m. they will broadcast an episode from the Sherlock Holmes recordings, recorded in July 1993, called "The Dying Detective". Alex plays Savage. As usual, the show. can be listened to for a week after initial broadcast.

BBC Radio 7

Drama Queens

Alex is due to "appear" in a production of "Drama Queens" at the Old Vic on 12 October. This is a Gala event to raise money for The Old Vic Theatre Trust Creative Development Programme.

For more information see: Old Vic Theatre

Sentimental Education

Well, there's more Alex on BBC Radio over the next couple of weeks. He is reading the book at bedtime, Sentimental Education, by Gustave Flaubert. Readings are availabe for seven days after the original broadcast. The first episode was broadcast on 6 October.

Book at Bedtime

Thanks to Penny!

Miss Marple, Murder and Mirrors

Alex plays Inspector Curry in an episode of the Miss Marple mysteries. The episode is called "They Do It With Mirrors", Julia McKenzie plays Miss Marple, Joan Collins, Tom Payne and Penelope Wilton also appear. The episode is due to be broadcast in 2009 on ITV1.

39 Steps

Filming has started in Scotland on a new adaptation of John Buchan's "The 39 Steps". The IMDb has Alex in the cast list, but doesn't say which part he plays. The film is due to be broadcast by the BBC on Boxing Day this year.

Thanks to Lori!

Irish RM

On Sunday 5 October from 3.00 to 4.00 pm Alex can be heard in the classic serial "The Experiences of an Irish RM". The BBC gives the following description:

"When the affable, if somewhat foolish, Major Sinclair Yeates leaves the British Army and opts to become a Resident Magistrate in turn-of-the-century Ireland, he has no idea what adventures await him. As he tries to get on with his job, he finds the locals are out-thinking and out-manoeuvring him every step of the way. He plods on, trying his very best to do his job, but finds himself frustrated by a people whose every waking moment seems dedicated to thwarting the poor man.

The Experiences Of An Irish RM stars Alex Jennings as The Irish RM and Mark Lambert as Flurry Knox. Other cast members include Marion O'Dwyer, Cathy Belton, John Hewitt, Ingrid Craigie and Miche Doherty. The Experiences Of An Irish RM was dramatised by Christopher Fitz-Simon."

Radio 4

Thanks Penny!

Candide

This Saturday BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a recording of ENO's "Candide" with Alex playing the roles of Voltaire, dr. Pangloss and Martin. The BBC press release gives the following information:

"From the opening bars of the overture, the scintillating score and succession of brilliant and witty numbers, Leonard Bernstein's Candide is an enthralling, breathtaking, roller-coaster of a piece. With its affectionate parodies of operatic conventions and forms, it was a personal favourite of Bernstein's and, from its 1956 première, he tinkered with it, on and off, for three decades.

Candide is based on Voltaire's savage satire on 18th-century institutions and manners, whose ridiculously optimistic dictum "All's for the best in the best of all possible worlds" is relentlessly disproved by an unending sequence of misfortunes and disasters, death and destruction.

In this controversial production, recorded at the English National Opera in July, director Robert Carsen triumphantly updates the often surreal action from 18th-century Europe to Fifties America, and beyond, revealing the dystopian reality of the American Dream. Westphalia becomes West-Failure; the Spanish Inquisition is transformed into Senator Joe McCarthy and the Ku Klux Klan; Venice is Vegas; Eldorado, Texas. And, in a move that nearly caused the cancellation of the show in Milan, Voltaire's five deposed kings become Blair, Chirac, Bush, Putin and Berlusconi.

The acclaimed cast comes from the worlds of musical theatre and opera: the multi-talented Alex Jennings plays Voltaire, Pangloss and Martin; Beverly Klein is the Old Lady; Soprano Marnie Breckenridge is a sparkling Cunegonde; and the title role is taken by leading British tenor Toby Spence. Rumon Gamba conducts them and the Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera."


Opera On 3 – Candide
Saturday 4 October
6.00-9.30pm BBC RADIO 3

Radio 3 - Candide

Thanks again to Penny!

Wodehouse, Second Part

This Friday Alex will be reading the second part of "Without the Option" by P.G. Wodehouse. The programme can be heard on BBC7 from 17.00 to 17.30, and for seven days after the original broadcast through the Listen Again service. Part one is still available there, until Friday.

BBC7

Jeeves - Without the Option

This Friday Alex will be reading part one of one of P.G. Wodehouses stories, "Without the Option" on BBC Radio 7. The reading will be broadcast at 5 pm and 6.30 am. The story can be heard for a week after the original broadcast through the Listen Again option.

Listen at: BBC7

Frightfest

Alex's latest film, "The Disappeared", will be shown at the Frightfest Film Festival in London on 25 August at 3.40 p.m. The festival takes place at the Odeon West End.

For more information see the Frightfest website.

There is a picture gallery at the film's website now, which has some pictures of Alex. See: Disappeared Picture Gallery.

Return of Ashenden

Alex is back reading Ashenden, Gentleman Spy on BBC7: Alex Jennings reads Somerset Maugham's series of short stories, based on his own experiences during the First World War and featuring Ashenden, recruited by the British Secret Service as a spy. Abridged by Neville Teller the producer was Eoin O'Callaghan and it was an original BBC 7 commission.

Monday to Friday at 9.30am 8.30pm and 1.30am

Saturday Review

BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review has an item on Candide. It was mentioned that BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a recording of the production in the autumn!

The review can be heard until 4 July on Radio 4.

More Candide

MusicalCriticism.com has a good review of Candide and seems happy with Alex: "Thank goodness for the sensational, suave Alex Jennings: he's perhaps the only person completely at home and relaxed with the material, which is miraculous given the challenge of the triple role he plays. As Voltaire, he draws the audience in with his ironic declamations; as Pangloss, he plays the bogus teacher to a tee; and his portrayal of Martin's deep cynicism is one of the most touching moments of the evening. His singing and diction are just right for the piece, and, in a way, it's worth going just to see him."

They also have the first picture!


Full review: Musical Criticism

More mixed feelings about the production from Edward Seckerson in The Independent, but again only praise for Alex: "It was Bernstein and Hellman’s idea that Candide’s tutor, the philosopher Dr. Pangloss, should, as a re-embodiment of Voltaire, become our master of ceremonies. Subsequent rewrites have made this more explicit and here we have the brilliant Alex Jennings slipping nonchalantly between the two – not to mention Pangloss’s alter ego, the cynic Martin, whose belief in “the worst of all possible worlds” achieves greater resonance in this production with his bitter laughing song “Words, Words, Words”. Jennings nails that."

Full review: The Independent

First Candide Reviews

The first reviews are in. Richard Morrison in the Times on line isn't happy about the production but puts brilliant and Alex Jennings in the same phrase: "a smartypants Rumsfeld-like Doctor Pangloss (the brilliant Alex Jennings, who is also Voltaire, a cynical dustman, and the night’s chief redeeming feature)".

Full review: Timesonline

Fiona Maddocks on Thisislondon.co.uk has mixed feelings about the production, but "We're tuned to Volt-Air TV with the French Enlightenment philosopher himself as the channel-flicking narrator - played superbly by Alex Jennings who, doubling as the perfectly flossed optimist Pangloss and the old tramp-pessimist Martin, stole the show."

Full review:This is London

Rupert Christiansen in the Telegraph calls Alex's performance "deliciously wry".

Full review: Telegraph

More From Toby Spence

Toby Spence has more to say about Alex in a preview in the Independent:

"In this production the actor Alex Jennings will play Pangloss. Can he sing? "Yes – he did My Fair Lady – but when you ask me a question like that, I have to ask you, what is singing?" OK, what is singing? "It's projecting words through music. Which is why actors often make fantastic singers." But has he a voice? "It's quite annoying – he can't read music, but he sings on pitch, and he's got a good ear. He's a really good Pangloss.""

The Independent

Toby Spence on Candide and Alex

The Times Online has an interview with Toby Spence on his part as Candide. He mentions Alex and the difference between actors and opera singers:

"Spence obviously can't wait. He thrives on Carsen's brand of aggressive theatricality, and is keen to work with stage actors (Alex Jennings plays Pangloss). “Every day I see him adding something, or taking something out. Whereas we opera singers arrive having made a lot of decisions, he's putty, and that's fascinating for me.”"

For the full interview see: Times Online

Candide Goodies

English National Opera has published more information on Candide on their website.

There is a short trailer on their weblog, which does not feature Alex but has information on the production. This is the first instalment. You can find it at English National Opera's Weblog.

Then there is a podcast with director Robert Carsen, conductor Rumon Gamba, Jamie Bernstein, Alex and Toby Spence discussing Candide. You can download it from: ENO podcasts.

Scarlet on Black

Alex is back on BBC Radio 7 this week, in Roger Danes' fast-moving thriller, "Scarlet on Black", set in Paris. David Calder stars as Commissaire Grosset, and the cast also features Peter Jeffrey and Jonathan Tafler. This production was fist heard in 1992. Saturday 31 May at midday and 1am on BBC7.

51

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Midwich Cuckoos

Alex's weekly appearance on BBC7 Radio will this week be on John Wyndham's sci-fi classic "Midwich Cuckoos". It was first broadcast on The World Service in 1982. It is about a mysterious force-field which descends upon a sleepy English rural village, but then vanishes. Later it emerges that all the female villagers have become pregnant and the resulting children appear to have strange powers.

This also stars Charles Kay, Pauline Yates, William Gaunt, Rosalind Adams, Ronald Baddiley and Peter Tuddenham. Wednesday – Friday at 6pm and Midnight, with a chance to "listen again" for 7 days after the original broadcast.

The Week on BBC Radio 7

A few chances to catch Alex again on BBC 7 this week.

First, on Saturday he can be heard in "Small Gods", which is part of the mini-season celebrating Terry Pratchett’s 60th birthday. Small Gods is dramatised in 4 parts by Robin Brooks and the cast features Anton Lesser, Patrick Barlow, Carl Prekopp, Alex and Michael Kilgarriff. It will be broadcast on Saturday at 6.30pm and 00.30am

Then, he can be heard in "Stolen" by Ray Jenkins. The short play is about a German archaeologist who gets involved in a race to steal Buddhist treasures from ancient lost towns along the Silk Road. With Siobhan Redmond, Sean Baker and David Tse, it was directed by Janet Whitaker and first heard in 1999. The programme will be broadcast on Monday at 10.15am, 9.15pm and 2.15am

As usual the programmes can be heard for seven days after the original broadcast on the "Listen Again" page at
BBC7.

Torture Team

On May 18 Alex will appear at the Tricycle Theatre in London in TORTURE TEAM: the people who brought cruelty and criminality to Guantanamo. Vanessa Redgrave, Philippe Sands, Joanna Lumley, Bill Hoyland, Clive Stafford-Smith and Paul Bhattarchargee will also appear. Proceeds from the event, which has been devised by Redgrave,Sands, and Nicholas Kent, will benefit the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and Reprieve.

For more information see the Tricycle Theatre.

The Disappeared Website

Alex appears in a film called "The Disappeared". The website for the film is at: The Disappeared.

Apart from some background information you can see the trailer for the film there. The film is due to be released later this year.

Book at Bedtime

Alex is one of the readers of the Book At Bedtime from Monday 28 April to Friday 9 May from 10.45-11.00 pm on BBC RADIO 4. The book is The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. The BBC press release gives the following information:

"As she nears her 100th birthday, Roseanne McNulty faces an uncertain future, the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, where she has spent the best part of her adult life, is soon to close. In the weeks leading up to this upheaval, Roseanne talks with her psychiatrist, Dr Grene, and their relationship intensifies and becomes increasingly complicated.

The story is told through Roseanne and Dr Grene's fictional journals, and it is at once both shocking and deeply beautiful. Refracted through a haze of memory and retelling, Roseanne's story becomes an alternative, secret history of Ireland's changing character and the story of a life blighted by terrible mistreatment and ignorance, and yet marked still by love, passion and hope.

Roseanne's journal is read by Doreen Keogh and Dr Grene's by Alex Jennings."

A Dance to the Music of Time

Alex is appearing in the BBC Radio 4's classic serial "A Dance to the Music of Time", the first episode was broadcast on 6 April. You can listen to each episode for seven days after the original broadcast. To listen to the latest episode go to the Classic Serial webpage.

Thanks to Penny for all the radio news!

Archers

Alex appeared on the Archers all of last week, playing a barrister in the trial. The trial isn't over yet, so he might appear again this week. Last week's episodes can be downloaded as podcasts from the BBC Archers webpage.

Hancock and Joan - The Reviews

Robert Hanks in the Independent was not impressed by the play but he was impressed by Alex's performance: "Ken Stott and Alex Jennings played Hancock and Le Mesurier, neither of them looking remotely the part, but both managing at times to evoke them quite beautifully. I especially liked Jennings's impression of that self-depreciating wave of the hand Le Mesurier did: such a distinctive gesture, but so hard to pin down, a matter of angle and speed that you could never measure."

David Belcher in The Herald was less impressed by Alex: "John Le Mesurier was the good old boy whom Joan married but didn't truly fall for, unluckily for him. Unluckily for us, Alex Jennings didn't get very far beyond providing a pallid impersonation of the languid Dad's Army star, an innate gentleman who chose not to kick up a bally fuss about having his heart broken by his best pal's theft of his wife because he simply loved them both, don't you know."

Goldfish Girl

This Wednesday, 2 April, Alex appears with Juliet Stevenson in the play "Goldfish Girl" on BBC Radio 4. The Publicity Department gives the following synpsis:

"What if you couldn't remember a single minute of the 10 years you'd spent with the love of your life? Goldfish Girl, by Peter Souter, is a romantic and tender play. A husband slowly leads his amnesiac wife, who is lying in a hospital bed recovering from a brain injury, through the story of their passionate love affair and on to the terrible and tragic reason that they are no longer together.

The journey he takes her on, day after day, is to help her recover – but he knows that recovery will inevitably lead to his ultimate rejection."

Whitechapel

According to the IMDb Alex is working on a three-part thriller for ITV called "Whitechapel". He plays the part of Commander Anderson, other parts are played by Rupert Penry-Jones, Philip Davis, Johnny Harris, Steve Pemberton. The release date says 2008, other websites say it is part of ITV's autumn schedule. The series is about a modern day Jack the Ripper.

Candide Trailer

The ENO have posted a Candide trailer on their weblog. You can find it at the: ENO weblog. The trailer gives a sense of the production.

The ENO have also set up a website for the production. There is an image gallery with images from earlier productions and there is a competition to win tickets to the opening night.

Candide website.

Failure Is Not an Option

Tonight Alex plays the role of Vincent, the Commons Whip, in the BBC serial "10 Days to War".

Hancock and Joan

Alex plays the role of John Le Mesurier in a BBC4 drama on the relationship between Joan Le Mesurier and Tony Hancock. It's an episode in the series "The Curse of Comedy" called "Hancock and Joan". Broadcast date is Wednesday March 26, Ken Stott plays Hancock, Maxine Peake plays Joan. More information on:

BBC 4

Memory

Last Sunday 2 March Alex was one of the readers in the BBC Radio 3 broadcast "Memory", one in the "Words & Music" series. He reads works by D.H. Lawrence, Seamus Heaney, Billy Collins, Kenneth Grahame. Ted Hughes, Patrick Kavanagh and Philip Larkin.

The programme is available on the website for 7 days after the broadcast at Listen Again.

Rapunzel

BBC Northern Ireland has created a mini-site for the fairy tale 'Rapunzel', which was broadcast last January. It has this nice picture of Alex in his role as "smoothie" Roger Bateman.

The website: BBC Northern Ireland

10 Days to War

Alex will appear in an episode of a new series of short dramas to be broadcast on BBC2 over the next couple of weeks. The series starts on Monday 10 March, Alex appears in episode 7, "Failure Is Not an Option", on Tuesday March 18. The series deals with the run-up to the war in Iraq.

More information on:BBC website

Blinded By the Sun

From Saturday 8 March Alex stars with Harriet Walter in a new radio version in 4 parts of an award-winning play about scientific fraud by Stephen Poliakoff on BBC 4 at 14.30.

For more information check the BBC Press Release

Still Life

Owen from London went to see the reading of "Still Life" at the National Theatre in which Alex played/read Alec last January. His personal review is at:

Plastic Bag

Cranford - Behind the Scenes

A picture of Alex waiting to start his scene is at:

Judi Dench fansite

Cranford - Last episode

Penny has provided some more pictures, thanks again!

Alex Plays Voltaire

Alex will make his operatic debut this summer in English National Opera’s new version of Candide which runs at the London Coliseum for 13 performances only from 23June 2008.

For more information and tickets, check the ENO website.

Back

Well, I´m back from a long working holiday in the far south, and over the next few days I will try and add some old and new news to the blog. If you have more, let me know!

Cranford - part 4

Penny has added part 4 of Cranford to "Penny For Your Dreams".

She has also supplied some more pictures: