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Marilyn back in the Bay
Marilyn Chambers, aka Emily Symons, returns to Home and Away tonight as a permanent cast member.
Symons played the always-vibrant Marilyn Chambers / Fisher from 1989 – 99.
She went on to appear in Emmerdale in the UK from 2001 – 2008.
Her return marks the soap’s concerted effort to lift the tone from grim, police-laden plots to lighter fare.
It airs at 7pm tonight on Seven.
Brits love Marge as a TV mum …and Neighbours’ Susan too
Marge Simpson has been voted the most popular TV mother according to a survey of 3,000 British mums.
She beat Pamela Shipman from Gavin And Stacey, and Susan Harper from My Family, to the title.
Fourth place went to Linda Bellingham who plays a mother in an advertisement for Oxo (sheesh), while Ma Larkin from Darling Buds Of May was voted fifth.
Sue Johnston’s Barbara Royle from The Royle Family was voted sixth.
And our very own Jackie Woodburne as Susan from Neighbours was voted seventh as viewers identified with love for her family. …
April 09: SuBo, Deal v Hot Seat, IceTV victory, Talia wins Dance
April:
Naylor will cuts son from family estate
Andrew G to front Idol solo
‘Fugly’ creator calls it quits
Minister Conroy for sale on eBay
Guiding Light switching off
Profits tumble at TEN
Dateline scoops coup
Gavin & Stacey star collapses from exhaustion
Girls turn it on for Ladettes auditions
Andre Rieu in Ramsay Street
The very scholarly Kerry O’Brien
Leckie sells network shares
Game on. It’s Eddie v Andrew
Star Trek premieres at Opera House
Fennessy brothers to Shine for Murdoch
TEN backtracks on House promise
Neighbours producer: Lack …
7TWO to launch November 1st
Channel Seven has unveiled its free-to-air digital channel 7TWO, a broad entertainment channel set to launch on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 12noon on Channel 72.
Channel Seven’s Director of Programming and Production Tim Worner said, “I am pleased to announce that 7TWO will be the new home for premiere episodes of our international hits including J.J Abrams’ Lost, Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24,” said Worner.
“We’ve been strategic in putting together a program schedule for 7TWO that allows us to grow our audience between our two channels, without sacrificing one for …
BAFTAs 2009: TV Winners
The Bill has won BAFTA’s Continuing Drama award at a star-studded ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall, just after it had been cut back to once a week by ITV.
One show source said: “It is pretty embarrassing to axe something that seems to be performing at its peak.
“Some of the stars that helped win this BAFTA will be sacked soon.”
It was a first win for The Bill in its 25-year history in the category, beating Casualty, EastEnders and Emmerdale.
Wallander won Best Drama ahead of Doctor Who, Spooks and Shameless. Skins won …
Anne Charleston axed from Emmerdale
Former Neighbours star Anne Charleston has been told by ITV that her character in Emmerdale, Lily Butterfield, will be written out of the series within months.
The 66-year-old actress said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing Lily for the last couple of years, but have agreed with the producers that the time is right for me to move on.”
“I’ve a couple of projects in the pipeline that I am now looking forward to enormously,” she said.
One Emmerdale source said Charleston was determined that her exit from the show “be as exciting as possible”.
After leaving …
ITV axes shows, cuts staff
ITV is preparing to slash prime-time drama, cut stars’ salaries, show more repeats and axe 600 jobs in the biggest wave of cutbacks in the channel’s history.
Executive chairman Michael Grade blamed the ’short-term horrors’ of the economic downturn for the company’s worst-ever annual results. ITV posted pre-tax losses of £2.73billion. The equivalent of $300 million AU will be slashed from the programming budget by 2011 in the biggest cuts in the broadcaster’s 54-year history.
Amongst confirmed casualties, there will be no new episodes of popular crime drama Wire in …
Coronation Street to be sold?
The impact of the global recession continues to impact on air with speculation that long-running British soap Coronation Street may be sold off to an independent production company due to severe cutbacks at ITV.
The legendary series may no longer be produced by Granada Television. And as an “interim measure”, Emmerdale may start to be made in Manchester rather than by Yorkshire Television in Leeds.
Last week, ITV’s executive chairman Michael Grade conceded, “I have seen the cycle come and go over the years. I have never seen anything quite as dramatic or …
Joe Mangel rules out return
And to think we were really worried it might happen too….
Mark Little has confirmed that he has no plans to return to a stint as Joe Mangel in Neighbours.
Little played the role from 1988 until 1991 and reprised it in 2005 for the show’s 20th anniversary.
“I think I’ve done my bit in Neighbours,” Little is quoted by The Press Association as saying. “Joe Mangel is just a fond memory, and he certainly is that for a lot of people who still remember Joe. I was only three years in that soap, …