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Produced by Silverback for National Geographic UK, directed by Charlie Hamilton James and with Jeff Wilson taking producer credits, “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story,” won Wildscreen Festival’s Golden Panda for best production, as well as Panda Awards for producer/director and scripted narrative.

Other Panda Award winners included BBC Studios’ ‘Wild Isles: Ocean’ (cinematography), Nat Geo-Wildstar’s ‘Queens’ (best series and production management team), Juli-Perpetuo’s ‘Patrol’ (impact), BBC Studios’ ‘The Watches 2023 (sustainability) and Netflix’s Chimp Empire (editing and music).

“Billy & Molly” had its world premiere at Match’s South by Southwest and recently secured six nominations in the 9th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards. Producer Jeff Wilson said he originally pitched the doc to Nat Geo as a Mary Poppins-style story in which an otter sheds light into a man’s world and makes the world a better place.

Taking place in Bristol,...

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The Diplomat is a political thriller comedy-drama series created by Debora Cahn. The Netflix series follows the story of Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who is married to a political star as she is recruited as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom amid an international crisis. The Diplomat stars Keri Russell in the lead role with Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Rory Kinnear, Georgie Henley, Ato Essandoh, Ali Ahn, Jess Chanliau, and Nana Mensah starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the hilarious comedy, political thrills, and compelling characters in The Diplomat here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Madam Secretary (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – CBS

Madam Secretary is a political thriller drama series created by Barbara Hall. The CBS series follows the story of Elizabeth McCord, a former CIA analyst...

National Geographic released the trailer and key art for its “pulse pounding” new documentary special “The Devil’s Climb,” which is set to premiere on October 17 at 9/8c. Streamers can catch it the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. From Plimsoll Productions, “The Devil’s Climb” follows world-class rock climbers Alex Honnold (“Free Solo”) and Tommy Caldwell on an epic expedition to tackle one of the most daunting challenges of their careers: summiting the infamous Devil’s Thumb, a sinister tower and legendary 9,000-foot peak in the Alaskan wilderness surrounded by old-growth rainforest and known as one of the most dangerous mountains in North America.

Alex and Tommy are two of the greatest rock climbers of all time — and best friends. Together, they set off on an emotional and physical journey, traveling 2,600 miles by bicycle, sailboat and on foot through the American West, Canada and Alaska to a daring climb of the Devil’s Thumb.

National Geographic has released the trailer and key art for the thrilling documentary special The Devil’s Climb, which is set to premiere on Oct. 17 at 9/8c on National Geographic and available to stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

From Plimsoll Productions, The Devil’s Climb follows world-class rock climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell on an epic expedition to tackle one of the most daunting challenges of their careers: summiting the infamous Devil’s Thumb, a sinister tower and legendary 9,000-foot peak in the Alaskan wilderness surrounded by old-growth rainforest and known as one of the most dangerous mountains in North America.

Alex and Tommy are two of the greatest rock climbers of all time — and best friends. Together, they set off on an emotional and physical journey, traveling 2,600 miles by bicycle, sailboat, and on foot through the American West, Canada, and Alaska to a daring climb of the Devil’s Thumb.

The Girls on the Bus is a political comedy-drama series created by Amy Chozick and Julie Plec. Inspired by Chozick’s 2018 memoir Chasing Hillary, the Max series follows the story of 4 journalists on different sides of political isles as they follow a parade of flawed presidential candidates while bonding with each other. The Girls on the Bus stars Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore, and Natasha Behnam in the lead roles with Brandon Scott, Griffin Dunne, Hettienne Park, Mark Consuelos, Scott Cohen, Kyle Vincent Terry, and P.J. Sosko starring in supporting roles. If you loved all the political satire and friendships in The Girls on the Bus here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Veep (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – HBO

Veep is a political satire and dark comedy series created by Armando Iannucci. The HBO series follows the political career of Selina Meyer as she goes from...

An intense and often funny drama starring the best fake news anchor and created by the guy who has made too many legal dramas and all of them are brilliant. A Man in Full is a drama miniseries created by David E. Kelley. Based on a 1998 novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe, it follows a real estate mogul Charlie Croker as he faces bankruptcy and his enemies circle him to gain something from his misfortune. A Man in Full stars Jeff Daniels in the lead role with Sarah Jones, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Tom Pelphrey, Evan Roe, Jon Michael Hill, Josh Pais, and Jerrika Hinton starring in supporting. So, if you loved Daniels’ incredible performance and the story of a man’s fall from grace and too much arrogance in A Man in Full here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Dynasty (Netflix & Rent on Prime...

ITV and UK-based natural history producer Plimsoll Productions, an ITV Studios company, have teamed on Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters, a reality series that is not for the celebrity faint-of-heart.

The entertainment and wildlife crossover format will dare a group of ocean-phobic celebrities to confront their greatest fear – sharks. “Throughout their adrenaline-fueled, challenge-heavy journey in the Bahamas – the shark capital of the world – these A-listers will push past their limits to come nose to nose with nature’s ‘villains,’ according to the official synopsis. “Their firsthand experiences will provide immeasurable excitement and new perspective; they’ll come to appreciate sharks’ valuable place on the food chain and in our ecosystem, recognizing that a world devoid of these notoriously terrifying creatures is downright frightening.”

The series is slated to air next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film Jaws. Celebrity casting is currently underway,...

Yard Act have announced a new batch of North American tour dates set for this fall in support of their upcoming sophomore album, Where’s My Utopia?

The new dates follow Yard Act’s previously announced UK and Europe tour, and commence on October 2nd in Minneapolis. They’ll then make their way east, hitting cities like Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia, New York City, and Atlanta. The brief North American jaunt concludes on October 19th with a date at Mexico City’s Foro Puebla. See Yard Act’s full 2024 tour routing — including a brief, previously announced west coast run in early June — below.

A Live Nation pre-sale for Yard Act’s 2024 North American tour will begin on Thursday, February 15th at 10:00 a.m. local time (use access code Energy). Tickets will go on-sale for the general public starting Friday, February 16th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.

Yard Act have shared “Petroleum,” the latest single from their upcoming album Where’s My Utopia?.

“Petroleum” is a dose of funk-inspired post-punk that gradually builds into a shimmering breakdown, as vocalist James Smith pores over the pros and cons of following your dreams: “My bones burn/ And the brain that’s controlling them/ Knows that the soul needs petroleum/ That’s how it goes.

“I lost it with the crowd in Bognor Regis and told them I was bored and I didn’t want to be there,” Smith says of the backstory to the track. “Me and Ryan [Needham] had a row after, and Ryan rightly dressed me down for the way I acted. It got me pondering the idea that, now this is a job, what are the requirements of it? People think they want honesty but they don’t, they want me to portray the version of honesty...

Yard Act have announced their new album Where’s My Utopia?, out March 1st via Republic. Along with the news comes the record’s lead single “Dream Job,” as well as an extensive run of 2024 tour dates in North America and Europe.

Written in the middle of tour as they watched their own rise to rock stardom, Where’s My Utopia? sees Yard Act incorporate influences ranging from Afrobeat to film scores to Edm. It’s billed as “a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters” for the Leeds band, who intersperse their recordings with strings, choirs, and even voice-acting clips.

“The main reason that ‘post-punk’ was the vehicle for Album One was because it was really affordable to do, but we always liked so much other music and this time we’ve had the confidence to embrace it,” vocalist James Smith explains in a press release.

Plimsoll Productions, an ITV Studios company, has promoted veteran producer James Smith to head of adventure.

In his new position, Smith will focus on adventure programming and report to Martha Holmes, Plimsoll’s chief creative officer of natural history and science. Currently, Smith oversees “Free Solo” rock climber Alex Honnold’s series for Disney+ and National Geographic, including the Alaskan expedition quest “The Last Frontier” and the upcoming “Arctic Ascent.” Smith also worked on the Emmy-nominated docuseries “Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World,” narrated by Pedro Pascal.

Previously, Smith headed Plimsoll’s special and live events department, executive producing National Geographic’s “Yellowstone Live” and “Earth Live.” Prior to Plimsoll, Smith worked in the BBC’s national history unit, where he directed the BAFTA-winning series “Tribe,” hosted by Bruce Parry. He also worked on the Parry-hosted “Amazon” and its follow-up series “Arctic,” as well as docuseries “Springwatch,” “Autumnwatch” and “Winterwatch.

Underoath and The Ghost Inside have announced a co-headlining Summer 2023 North American tour. We Came As Romans and the just-formed supergroup Better Lovers will support the trek.

After Underoath and The Ghost Inside play the Inkcarceration festival on July 15th, the tour will properly kick off on July 16th in Chicago. The month-long run wraps up August 19th in Santa Ana, California.

An artist pre-sale has already begun via Ticketmaster using the code Letgo. A Live Nation pre-sale begins Thursday (April 20th) using the code Vinyl, while a general sale starts Friday (April 21st). Fans can also look for deals or find tickets to sold-out show via StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program.

Underoath took to Facebook, stating, “First ever co-headlining tour and woooow...

Exclusive: Plimsoll Productions, the production company behind series including Nat Geo’s Hostile Planet and Yellowstone Live, has secured multi-million-dollar investment from private equity firm Ldc.

The investment firm has taken a minority stake in the natural history and wildlife producer, which was founded by former Zodiak USA chief Grant Mansfield. The deal values the company at around $100M.

Headquartered in Bristol, UK, Plimsoll was founded in 2013 and has more than 400 employees across the UK and La. It is behind more than 50 series, 14 live shows and seven films including Channel 4’s Rescue Dog to Super Dog and ITV’s Life at the Extreme. It is also making a raft of series for streaming services, including commissions from Apple’s forthcoming platform.

The company is on track to generate sales of around $42M for its financial year ending August 2019 including sales to a slew of international broadcasters via distributor Magnify Media,...

Are you a fan of the BBC One TV show, Boomers? Has the long hiatus made you concerned that it has been cancelled? Well, keep calm and carry on. BBC One has renewed the comedy for a second series (i.e. "season" in Us parlance). Boomers series two is set to return with six episodes in 2016. Boomers stars Russ Abbot, Stephanie Beacham, Phillip Jackson, James Smith, Alison Steadman, and Paula Wilcox. The last new episode of Boomers first aired on BBC One, on September 19, 2014. Read More…...

Boomers will be back on BBC One for a second series.

The comedy is returning for six new episodes in early 2016, starring Russ Abbot, Stephanie Beacham, Philip Jackson, James Smith, Alison Steadman and Paula Wilcox.

Following the ups and downs of three couples living in Thurnemouth, the new run will see the characters dealing with sexual experimentation, drug abuse and camping trips.

"The new series pushes our merry band of retirees into evermore agonising and ridiculous situations whilst crackling with sharply observed dialogue," said BBC comedy commissioning controller Shane Allen.

"It's a privilege to see these well-loved and hugely accomplished performers in full flow with such richly comic material."

Producer Paul Schlesinger added: "It's great to welcome back this particular group of friends and to see their jealousies, general resentment and disappointment with life come off the page even more vividly than series one - all brought to life by a stellar comedy cast.

The Britain's Got Talent final is now just days away - excited? - and there are only a few people who know what that's like for the acts. Luckily, we got one of them - Richard of Richard & Adam - to blog for us about what they'll be feeling, who he's backing and which act is his nan's favourite...

"It was absolutely incredible returning to perform on the show on Saturday. It was a bit of a mad experience getting back to that situation where you're standing on that stage in front of the judges, but it was just so good to get back there and to give it 100%, and it was just such an enjoyable experience to meet up with the team again, say hello to the judges - it was brilliant. We loved every single second of it and we hope we can do it again. It was still really nervewracking obviously,...

The online streaming service forged a partnership with BBC Worldwide Americas to co-produce the fourth season of The Thick Of It, a UK political sitcom. It was created by writer Armando Iannucci, who also wrote HBO’s Veep and the film In The Loop. Starting July 29, Hulu and Hulu Plus will have exclusive U.S. rights to all episodes of the first three seasons. Then, this fall, the Hulu services will show new episodes from the fourth season the same day they air on the BBC in the UK. BBC America will run the series early next year. The Thick Of It is “ideal for Hulu’s audience which enjoys cutting-edge comedy television,” says BBC Worldwide Americas Evp Sales & Co-Productions Matt Forde. The often profane series is shot with hand-held cameras and takes viewers “into a world of political embarrassment, backroom deals, policy U-turns, spin-doctoring, political backstabbing and wild media speculation,...

Malcolm Tucker had better get his coins ready for the swear box.

The foul-mouthed spin doctor will be returning for a fourth series of The Thick of It, Armando Iannucci's award-winning political comedy, the BBC confirmed today.

Malcolm Tucker can't get into Number 10 any more, but he's waiting...

In the light of the Leveson Inquiry, it seems perfect timing for another round of government embarrassments, ministerial cock-ups, Coalition backstabbings, frantic policy U-turns and burying bad news on good news days.

Iannucci is a busy man - his American version of the show, Veep, is currently airing in the Us and on Sky Atlantic and has been commissioned for a second series already. This comes on the back of his Oscar-nominated comedy In The Loop, which took some of the cast of The Thick of It on a fact-finding mission to Washington, back in 2009.

Huffpostuk Review: With Veep, Has...

Producers of The Thick Of It have shelved plans for a poll-night special. According to The Sun, executives are worried that they may get the outcome wrong and have delayed writing the third series until after the poll has taken place. James Smith - Gleen Cullen on the political series - said: "Armando [Iannucci] wanted to do an election special but we thought that it would look foolish if we got the wrong (more)...

Everyone is enjoying the holiday here at PlanetdoorQ. We might be back later this weekend. We might all get drunk, hook up with hotties while singing the Star Spangled Banner and dance in the streets wearing nothing but sparklers and a smile. Until next we meet, enjoy the Holiday, be safe, and take a moment to remember all of those who lived, fought and died, for the hope, for the dream, for the reality of America.--Tann Declaration of Independence

Here is the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.

The original spelling and capitalization have been retained. 

(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)

The Unanimous Declaration

of the Thirteen United States of AmericaWhen, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station...