CBC TV
As season two of The Tudors begins, CBC interviews Michael Hirst, the man behind the scenes
Posted by Words At Large Admin on September 30 at 12:00 AM
Jian Ghomeshi interviews screenwriter Michael Hirst about the return of The Tudors.
Season two of The Tudors airs on Tuesdays starting September 30 at 9 p.m. Words at Large interviewed screenwriter Michael Hirst last year. Originally posted on October 22, 2007.
Jian Ghomeshi's interview with Hirst aired September 29, 2008, on Q.
Michael Hirst is a English screenwriter who wrote the 1998 award-winning movie Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett, and its current sequel, Elizabeth, The Golden Age. Hirst also wrote and produced the 2007 TV drama series The Tudors. The critically acclaimed series brings to life Henry VIII's tumultuous early years and follows the intrigues, dramas and desires of this sexy young king from 1520 to 1530. The Tudors airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC. Episodes are available for streaming online, after they have aired on CBC Television on the official site.
The Englishman's Boy
Posted by Words At Large Admin on March 02 at 12:00 AM
CBC Television has adapted some of this country's most compelling and popular works of CanLit. This week, The Englishmans Boy continues that tradition with Guy Vanderhaeghe adapting his own critically acclaimed, Governor General Award-winning novel.
The story links together 1920s Hollywood with one of the bloodiest events of the nineteenth-century Canadian West the Cypress Hills Massacre. In it, young Canadian writer Harry Vincent (Michael Therriault) is hired by a movie mogul (Bob Hoskins) to track down an elusive old-time Western actor (Nicholas Campbell) whose story will be the basis of a new film. Vincents relationships with both the actor and the megalomaniac studio boss lead to disturbing revelations about the dark side of myth-making.
In contrast is the haunting story of a young drifter known simply as the Englishmans boy (Michael Eisner). In 1873, the boy joins a group of wolf hunters led by the brutal Hardwick (R.H. Thomson) en route north into Canada on the trail of horse thieves. It is a journey through an unforgiving land which climaxes in a brutal encounter with the Assiniboine Indians in the Cypress Hills of what is now Saskatchewan.
The two-part mini-series airs March 2 and 9 at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC television. For more information, visit the website.
As well as adapting his book for the screen, author Guy Vanderhaeghe was given a role to play in the mini-series. Is there an acting career on this writer's horizon? The CBC Radio morning show in Regina called up Guy Vanderhaeghe to talk to him about his important scene plus what it was like turning a novel into a movie. Have a listen.
The Tudors
Posted by Words At Large Admin on October 16 at 01:33 PM
Sex, betrayal, corruption and desire -- King Henry VIII as you’ve never seen him before.
If the name Henry the VIII conjures up an image of a “finger-licking good” staunchy heavyweight, you may be in for a bit of a shock with CBC Television’s latest drama, The Tudors. Jonathon Rhys-Meyers plays England’s most infamous royal at the beginning of his career, an 18 year old known at the time as “the handsomest prince in Christendom”.
The critically-acclaimed series follows the intrigues, dramas and desires of this sexy, young king from 1520 to 1530.
Upon inheriting his brother’s widow, Queen Catherine of Aragon, young Henry is bored. He soon becomes obsessed with Anne Boleyn and the possibility of divorce. As the newly named “Defender of the Faith” a title bestowed upon him by the Pope, he is advised against thoughts of divorce by the Catholic philosopher Thomas More. Henry also has to contend with the politically cunning Cardinal Wolsey, head of the Catholic Church of England, who wants nothing less than to be named as Pope himself.
The Tudors is a drama about power, lust, betrayal and a king who would change Church and State forever.
Simon & Schuster is publishing two books associated with the series:
- It’s Good To Be King (scripts from Season One) by Michael Hirst
- The Tudors: The King, The Queen and the Mistress (a novelization of season one) by Anne Gracie
This Emmy nominated series is a Canada-Ireland co-production, produced by CBC in association with Toronto’s Peace Arch Entertainment and Showtime Networks. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the King, Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam, Henry Czerny and Kris Holden-Ried and was written by Michael Hirst, screenwriter for the feature film Elizabeth.
The Tudors airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC. Episodes are available for streaming online, after they have aired on CBC Television on the official site.
UPDATE: The ten episodes of Season Two will be broadcast in the fall schedule starting late September. More info will be announced at the season launch on May 26th. Check the official site after that date for more information on season two.
Heartland
Posted by Words At Large Admin on October 12 at 03:19 PM
CBC Television brings a new family series to the screen, Heartland, debuting Sunday October 14th at 7 p.m.
Heartland is based on the internationally best-selling novels by Lauren Brooke, published by Scholastic Canada.
The books are aimed at young adults, aged 8-12, and centers around Amy Fleming and her family ranch called Heartland. There are a total of 21 books in the Heartland series, following Amy through her tough teenage years right through to high school graduation. In addition to telling the daily struggles of the Fleming family as seen through Amy’s eyes, the books also focus on the horses at the Heartland ranch who are in need of healing.
Words at Large is CBC’s online destination for Canadians who love books. Look for something new every day, from CBC programs and podcasts, to interviews with writers and more. Stay tuned for our newly designed and expanded site.
Recent Stories
- Some of Canada’s best actors read episodes seven to nine of The Last Crossing
- Frontier justice is a missed blessing in this week’s Between the Covers podcast
- High adventure marks this Between the Covers podcast of The Last Crossing
- Between the Covers wraps up a road trip across Western Canada with Open Arms
- The latest episodes of Open Arms take us from a house with no windows to a down-home bar
- Listen to episodes 9 and 10 of Marina Endicott’s Open Arms
- Events come to a boil in episodes seven and eight of Open Arms
- It’s a mix of family feud and French farce in episodes five and six of Open Arms
- In the latest episodes of Open Arms, divorce seems like a better option even to the kids
- Rock ’n’ roll meets a teenage road show in Marina Endicott’s Open Arms
Podcasts
Between the Covers Podcast
The Last Crossing episodes 10-12
Listen as ghosts stalk a search party in Guy Vanderhaeghe's book The Last Crossing.
Subscribe to the Between the Covers podcast.
Click this URL, then copy it, and paste it into your podcatching program.
CBC Radio
Listen to CBC Radio
CBC Radio One and Radio 2 online
Frequency Guide
Find CBC stations on your radio dial
