Bits and Pieces (2)

One or two things I've discovered this week:

July 2010 is looking good for fans of Scandinavian crime fiction with new series entries from Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Karin Fossum plus a debut novel from Camilla Ceder. More 2010 Scandinavian crime fiction can be found on my amazon list.

Richard Armitage is filming Chris Ryan's Strike Back. The six part series is due to be broadcast in spring 2010 on Sky.


David Morrissey is to play Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne. Mark reports on Facebook that "the TV series is in production and will probably be on screen in late Autumn next year..."

More Spooks

Good news for Spooks fans. An eighth series has been ordered. From Digital Spy:

Spy drama Spooks will return for an eighth series, the BBC has today confirmed.

The show, which will wrap up its current run next Monday, has regularly secured ratings of over 5.7 million for the broadcaster.

Executive producer Simon Crawford Collins said: "Spooks is currently enjoying an exceptional run on BBC One and BBC Three and viewers will be shocked when this series ends with a sting in its tale.

"As for next year... we're currently working with our fantastic team of writers to predict the big stories for 2009 to keep Spooks' prescience in these dramatically changing times."

Richard Armitage, who stars as Lucas North in the espionage show, added: "I'm thrilled with the response we've had to this series and I can't wait to find out what the next series has in store.

"If the climatic episodes at the end of series seven are anything to go by, I think series eight will be spectacular. I am excited about taking Lucas into deeper and more dangerous territory, and seeing if he can survive!"

Series eight of Spooks will begin production next March and debut on BBC One later in 2009.

Another Richard Armitage interview

The BBC's Newsbeat has interviewed Richard Armitage about joining Spooks:

Newsbeat speaks to Richard Armitage, best known as Sir Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, about his role in the show as an agent returning to MI5 after being imprisoned in Russia.

Read the interview, here.

Richard Armitage interview on Digital Spy

From Digital Spy:

He's married the Vicar of Dibley, killed Maid Marian and now Richard Armitage is entering the world of espionage for series seven of the BBC's slick spy drama Spooks. The Leicester-born actor joins the cast as Lucas North, an MI5 agent who has spent eight years detained in a Russian jail. Digital Spy caught up with Richard to discuss following in the footsteps of Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Penry-Jones, taking on dangerous stunts and his reluctance to off Robin Hood's iconic leading lady.

Read the interview here.

OT: Richard Armitage audio interview

Available to download from Talking Book Store is a nineteen minute interview with Richard Armitage talking about the show Robin Hood. It's free to download but you have to register and go through the checkout system.

Richard Armitage is also the narrator of the four Robin Hood talking books. More details about them can be found on the bbc shop website.

Richard Armitage to join Spooks

Digital Spy are reporting cast changes to Spooks in its seventh season. It's spoiler protected but you can have a peep if you want to know who's in and who's out.

The Sun reveals all, so don't click here if you want a surprise.

UPDATE: The BBC Press Release has all the details regarding series 7.