‘A Very English Scandal’ Author Pens BBC Drama ‘Stonehouse’; Michael Palin To Reflect On His Travels In BBC Series — Global Briefs

John Preston Teams With BBC For Stonehouse
John Preston, the author of the book behind Golden Globe-winning BBC/AMC series A Very English Scandal, has been commissioned to pen a BBC drama about a British politician who faked his own death. Stonehouse, named after John Stonehouse who staged his death on a Miami beach in 1974, is a three-part series co-produced by UK indies Clearwood Films and Snowed-In Productions, with Banijay Rights handling international distribution. Clearwood founder Ellie Wood (Decline And Fall) and Ruth Kenley-Letts (Mrs Wilson) are executive producing, marking Preston’s second collaboration with Wood after they teamed on The Dig for Netflix, a feature starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James and Johnny Flynn. “There has never been a more bizarre true-life story than that of John Stonehouse, who miraculously came back to life a month after his own ‘death.’ I am thrilled to have the chance to dramatise a case which has fascinated me for as long as I can remember,” Preston said.

Michael Palin To Reflect On Travels For BBC Two Series
Monty Python star Michael Palin is going to reflect on four of his iconic travel shows in a four-part archive series for BBC Two, in which he will jog his memories through a collection of intimate interviews, readings from his diaries and clips from the original programs. Palin has presented series including Around The World In 80 Days and Pole To Pole and highlights from the shows will be drawn together in Michael Palin’s Travels by Firecrest Films. “In this series, I’m digging into my archives to revisit some of the amazing places and people I visited and asking myself – how did travel change my life?” Palin said. Iain Scollay is the executive producer.

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