Inside the Death in Paradise island bubble

Death in Paradise in COVID

UK series Death in Paradise has been renewed for a further two seasons. Source: TBI Vision

But, there is a new season of the show set to debut. Filmed during quarantine, producer Tim Kelly has explained how they were able to go ahead with filming:

We’re very lucky in some senses that we’re a show that can work through COVID in a way that other shows might not be quite so fortunate. So, we film outside, we’re on an island, which makes us not a true bubble but it makes us more of a bubble. We’re not filming in a city centre, we’re not using public transport, we don’t have a lot of sex scenes, we don’t have crowd scenes, we have lots of scenes of one or two people interviewing one or two people.

“And all of these things have meant that quite early on we felt we would be able to keep filming, subject to three things really. One is our insurance agreeing to let us go ahead, two is the island of Guadeloupe letting us go back there, and three is our cast and crew being willing to A) get going, and B) work with us with the protocols that we were going to have to put in place. And we were very lucky in all of those senses, that all of those things came together.

Source: Radio Times

RIP Marion Ramsey

Best known for playing Officer Laverne Hooks in the Police Academy series of films, actor Marion Ramsey has passed away aged 73.

A cause of death hasn’t been announced, but she was known to be ill in recent days.

Source: Deadline

Name That Tune debuts in the US

The first episode of game show Name That Tune has aired in the US. The show captured the attention of Always Be Watching thanks to its strange production. Made for the US market, the show was filmed in Sydney, Australia (home of ABW) making use of Americans living in Australia for its contestants. At the time of production, there was no community transmission of COVID in Sydney, making it a lot safer to film here than in the US.

Matt Webb Mitovich at TV Line has some thoughts on the first episode:

The Fox reboot is hosted by 30 Rock and Broadway vet Jane Krakowski, who about midway through the first episode really seemed to hit her stride. There’s a bit too much of the “Why yes, Kyle, that was [insert song title]!,” but her brief tap-dance duet with a contestant, the cute moment pictured above (where Cessalee knew but could do nothing with the song title “Tequila”), and her clear desire to boogie when the house band gets rocking, brought out her personality and skills as an entertainer.

Read: TV Line

Sony embraces Google TV

For several years Sony has had Android TV powering its smart TV functionality. In 2021, all of the Sony TV’s will instead use Google TV, which is the same interface available on the new Chromecast with Google TV devices.

Source: The Streamable

TeeVee Snacks

After writing the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and serving as head writer on Marvel’s Loki TV series, writer Michael Waldron has been tapped to write the new Star Wars movie being produced by Marvel head Kevin Feige. Source: Deadline
Dana Strong will become Group CEO of Sky in the UK. Previous roles included serving as Chief Operating Officer of (now defunct) Australian pay TV provider Austar and as President and COO of Virgin Media. Read: Sky
Aussie drama Secret Bridesmaids’ Business is set to be adapted by NBC in the US. Read: c21
Mel Buttle has quit the Australian I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here after just three episodes. Read: TV Tonight
Disney+ will launch in Singapore on Feb 23. Star will be one of the channels it offers. Read: Variety
There’s a Netflix price hike in the UK: The standard, HD two-device package will go up from £8.99 to £9.99 from Feb. The premium package rises £2 to £13.99. The basic £5.99 a month (standard definition - one screen at a time) remains as is. Read: The Guardian

Trailer Park

The Sister debuts on Hulu on Jan 22.

Almost a decade into his new devoted, married life, Nathan is rocked to the core when Bob, an unwelcome face from the past, turns up on his doorstep with shocking news, triggering a series of catastrophic decisions.