Tim Pigott-Smith, the BAFTA Award-winning British actor who appeared in such TV fare and films as The Jewel in the Crown, V for Vendetta and Downton Abbey, died today. He was 70. His death was announced by his agent John Grant. “It is with deep regret that I have to announce the sad news that Tim Pigott-Smith died…

Peaky Blinders alum Charlotte Riley is set to play Kate Middleton in BBC/Masterpiece co-production, King Charles III. Adapted by Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster) from his own Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated stage play, the future-history story is produced by Drama Republic. Shooting begins this month on the…

Masterpiece on PBS and the BBC are teaming on a television adaptation of the Tony-nominated play King Charles III, as the franchise looks to beef up its slate in the post-Downton Abbey era. It was among the announcements made by PBS’ Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton at the beginning of the Victoria panel…

This season’s prestige British import, Mike Bartlett’s serio-comedy opens in the not-too-distant future, at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Prince Charles, the monarchy’s longest-running heir apparent, finally is set to wear the crown, though the coronation is a few months off. “My life has been a lingering for the…

It has been more than three decades since Tim Pigott-Smith entered the American consciousness as the obsessive police captain Ronald Merrick during the final days of British rule in India, in The Jewel In The Crown. Sixteen years since he played the dubious misanthrope Larry Slade opposite Kevin Spacey’s Hickey in a…

Hard on the heels of the Broadway import of Wolf Hall from the Royal Shakespeare Company, and The Audience, with Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth, more Royal Crown is pouring this way. Producers Stuart Thompson (represented currently with Skylight and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time) and Sonia…