Watch out for...

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

Last updated at 14:08 28 September 2007


• Penelope Wilton, Sinead

Matthews and Daniel Mays,

who star in director Tim

Fywell's ITV film Half Broken

Things. It's based on Morag

Joss's novel about a housesitter

(Ms Wilton) who is

about to retire. Her last

posting is looking after a

beautiful manor house while

the home's owners are in

South Africa for several

months through the

summer. One way or

another, she meets up with

characters played by Ms

Matthews and Mr Mays. On

the one hand it's a

fascinating psychological

thriller, while on the other

you could look at it as a

middle (to upper) class

horror story. I mean, what

do we really know about

the people who mind our

homes? It goes out some

time in October and I urge

you to watch it. ITV is clearly

improving its game with regard

to drama. Mr Fywell has just

started filming Affinity, based on

Sarah Waters's novel. Adapted by

Andrew Davies, it stars Anna

Madeley, Zoe Tapper, Amanda

Plummer and Anne Reid. By the

way, Ms Matthews will be seen in

Women Of Troy at the National

Theatre in November. She also

happens to be one of film

director Mike Leigh's favourites,

as is Mr Mays.

• Stella Rimington, the

former MI5 chief who has

written three spy thrillers

featuring fictional heroine

Liz Carlyle. Verity Lambert is

hoping to turn the first

book, At Risk, into a

television movie. The thing

about Ms Rimington's stories

is that they have the smack

of authenticity. I read one

on a plane and the first

thing I did (even before

going home) was to pick up

the other two books, Secret

Asset and Illegal Action. Liz

Carlyle would make great TV.

• John Owen-Jones, the current

Jean Valjean in Les Miserables at

the Queen's Theatre, who is

switching to the Great White Way,

where he will join the U.S. version

of the Cameron Mackintosh

production. Speaking of the great

Mackintosh, the Andrew Lloyd

Webber show Phantom Of The

Opera, which Cameron produced,

celebrates its 21st year at Her

Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket on

October 9. Worldwide, Phantom

has taken £1.9billion at theatre

box offices. I can still remember

how nervous the creative team

were during the interval of the

first preview. They were all

huddled together, wondering if

the show would work. Really, they

had to know it would!

• Helen Mirren is talking with

Nicholas Hytner about doing a

play at the National Theatre,

hopefully late next year or early

in 2009. The Oscar-winning actress

told me a while back that if she

and Hytner could decide on 'the

right play' she'd be back at the

National in a shot. It would be

good to see one of our national

treasures treading British boards

once more.

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