Simm, Fassbender, Capaldi, West Star in The Devil’s Whore

OK, this is a BBC AMERICA viewer’s wet dream: check out the cast of the new Channel 4 miniseries, The Devil’s Whore. You’re ready for this? I really don’t think you’re ready:

John Simm from Life On Mars and Doctor Who.

Dominic West from The Wire.

Michael Fassbender from Hex.

Peter Capaldi from The Thick Of It and Skins.

Andrea Riseborough, who played Margaret Thatcher in a recent biopic.

What’s this all about? Well, The Devil’s Whore, according to C21Media, “gives a new perspective on the English Civil War through the eyes of Angelica Fanshawe (Riseborough), who is drawn to the anti-monarchist cause at a time when England executed its King in favor of an alternative form of government.”

It is written by Peter Flannery, who wrote what many believe is the best British TV series of the 1990s, Our Friends in the North. That 1996 miniseries had an equally impressive cast – Daniel Craig, Christopher Eccleston, Malcolm McDowell, and Mark Strong. (Watch a clip.)

If that level of quality is any indication, we’re in for a treat.

In other news:

• Mel C. is pregnant – she’s the last Spice Girl to become a mother.(E!)
• Can London 2012 even try to top the Beijing Olympics? The Daily Telegraph asks some prominent Brits how it could be done. Director Peter Greenaway says they shouldn’t even try: “Considering the British traditions of free speech and the individual, and the British suspicion of organized crowds, we would want to avoid the Leni Riefenstahl connotations which were there in Beijing. And the ceremony was too long.”
• John Barrowman may be the proverbial hardest-working man in showbiz right now, and the notorious workaholic tells Wales Online: “I never want to be pigeon-holed. I’m an entertainer – whether I’m entertaining a teenage girl who’s watching me judging on a TV show, a young guy watching Doctor Who or a couple watching Torchwood. The fact I can diversify is great.”
• io9 calls James Marsters‘ accent as Captain John Hart on Torchwood one of the worst ever.
• Sharon Osbourne plans to write a book about…”the glitzy world of reality TV competitions.” Good to see her stretching herself as an author.(Guardian)
• A 17-year-old X Factor contestant alleges that show producers forced her to talk about her hometown’s high youth suicide rate in order to draw sympathy from voters. (Telegraph)

Also, the Gavin of Gavin & Stacey, actor Mathew Horne, gives his idea of a perfect Sunday while wearing some very dodgy-looking glasses. Watch the video below: