News Archive 2011

30th November

1. The Captain America: The First Avenger DVD is released in Australia on December 1, 2011. Links to JB Hi Fi and EzyDVD. Thanks to Pauline.

The DVD is released in the UK on December 5, follow the Amazon links above to order and raise commission for charity from Amazon. There are two UK links above, under the pic of the day – the RAnet Amazon store and the Amazon logo which will take you straight to Amazon containing the RAnet code. Thank you!

2. Strike Back series 1 in Russia: the first series will be shown on Sunday 4 December at 12.00pm on СТС channel. The programme information describes series 1 despite showing a picture from series 2. Thanks to GizGunslinger.

3. Thanks again to GizGunslinger for her drawing of Richard as Richard III which is now on the Artwork page.

4. A Moscow publisher “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” (MK) has started producing booklets for popular European classical literature which have been filmed or televised as part of a series called “Great cinema novels”. North and South featured in today’s issue, consisting of a 23 page booklet with the DVD. There is a brief biography of Elizabeth Gaskell, a short interview with the person who translated the book in May 2011 and a description of the BBC TV production. There is very little information about Daniela Denby-Ashe, much of it is concerned with ‘Richard Crispin Armitage’ as he is referred to in the booklet. There are several quotes from his interviews.

With thanks to GizGunslinger for the scans and this translation:

Richard is mentioned on p12 – 15. It is said that the episode where Thornton is saying “Look back at me” is one of the key moments in John and Margaret’s relations and that Richard remembers it with trepidation. Also that this role was very significant for him not only because it was his first main role but also because he liked the book even before he read the script. There is a quote from his interview where he is talking about how he got this role. After that he absorbed much about the age: learning about the cotton industry, reading books about XIX century, about traditions and manners and he visited some museums. In another quote he’s saying that it’s really unusual period drama because the style of shooting and acting are quite modern but at the same time this film is historically accurate.

Scan 2: Performer of the main male role actor Richard Armitage.
Scan 3: Frame from the film: Margaret at the cotton mill.
Scan 5: Actress Daniela Denby-Ashe.

       

28th November

1. Another Hobbit set report today from Eric Vespe of Aintitcool.com: ‘Thorin’s Dilemma’. There are details of an intense scene between Thorin and Gandalf, but no pictures of Richard as Thorin unfortunately – although in one picture of the dwarves on horses, that might be him emerging from behind a rock…(on second thoughts, I think it’s Kili/Aidan Turner).

2. Elijah Wood has said that he believes The Hobbit trailer will be shown before Tintin when it is released in the US. Tintin is already showing at cinemas here in the UK, so the trailer is rumoured to be shown before the second Sherlock Holmes film.

26th November

Two new galleries have been added to the Promotional Pics & Photoshoots gallery today: the 2008 Promo gallery and the Recognise magazine gallery.

24th November

1. There are three news reports today about Hobbit filming with some descriptions of scenes that were filmed at Beorn’s house, a purpose built set in Paradise, near Glenorchy and Queenstown.

• Tree’s demise Hobbit-sized crisis in the Otago Daily Times
• Sir Peter Jackson luges in Queenstown at scene.co.nz
• Sir Peter’s great southern inspiration in the NZHerald

2. Another Hobbit set report is up on AintItCool.com with spoilers about scenes they have been filming with the dwarfs, Gandalf, Bilbo and Radagast. Apparently we will enjoy the next report which is due very soon.

3. Three of the four videos shown in the iPad only Project magazine have been uploaded to Vimeo by Dan Stoddart who was responsible for the sound on each clip. Each video is listed on the left-hand side of the Vimeo window. Project magazine is an iPad only magazine and these videos were not broadcast anywhere else. The full Project magazine photoshoot is in the gallery, which contains stills from all four videos on page 1 of the gallery.

22nd November

1. Thanks to DarkJackal for sharing her fantastic drawing of Thorin Oakenshield, which is now on the Artwork page. Click the picture to enlarge.

2. Some new wallpapers added to the site with thanks to Tanni.

• one Guy of Gisborne wallpaper
• one John Thornton wallpaper
• two Lucas North wallpapers

There are more wallpapers on her website.

21st November

1. There are articles about The Hobbit in two french magazines with plenty of pictures and these are now on The Hobbit career page. Where there are quotes about Richard I have provided a translation. Many thanks to Fred for the Studio Ciné magazine scans and Joane for the L’écran Fantastique scans.

2. As mentioned below on 16th November, Black Friday deals are available on Amazon.co.uk this week. This link to Amazon UK shows all the deals available and contains the RichardArmitageNet code to earn referral fees payable by Amazon.

20th November

The french movie magazine Studio Ciné Live has 12 pages dedicated to The Hobbit in the latest issue. Scans of the article will be on this site tomorrow. In the meantime, you can see a small version of the magazine online. The Hobbit article starts with a double page picture of Thorin on page 50. Click the red ‘Feuilleter ce magazine’ button to see the pages. Thanks to Fred.

18th November

I’ve added an original Radio Times article to the Robin Hood Reviews page, which had a picture of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne on the cover to celebrate the start of the series on Saturday 7 October 2006. Each picture can be enlarged and the cover will increase to quite a large size as this is the only version of this picture of Richard that I have. If you have any old articles or interviews that are not on this site and are willing to share, please email me (Ali) at [email protected]“>[email protected] Thank you.

17th November

1. Spooks series 9 in Belgium: digital channel 8 will start showing series 9 on Thursday 24 November at 20:45. Thanks to Anne.

2. WhatCulture.com have listed Richard as their #3 choice to play Doctor Who in the forthcoming film, which will be directed by Harry Potter director David Yates. What do you think of the list? We asked if you thought Richard should be Doctor Who in a previous poll and most of you voted ‘no’. Vote in the poll on the left-hand side to see if you agree with the choices made. Thank you.

16th November

1. Amazon UK are promoting Black Friday deals, which means that between 21 and 25 November you can save money on your Christmas shopping. This link to Amazon UK contains the RichardArmitageNet code so that purchases you make after clicking that link will earn referral fees, which are paid by Amazon to this site and will be donated to charity. Amazon Associate FAQs are found here.

2. Robin Hood series 1 episode 1 screencap gallery has been recreated for more pictures and better quality. Other episodes from the series will be recreated soon.

15th November

Andy Serkis, aka Gollum in The Hobbit and also Second Unit Director, has told IGN.com that a Hobbit trailer will be shown “fairly soon, actually. Around Christmas time, I believe.”

13th November

Ian McKellen has updated his Hobbit blog after almost six months. After recounting some memories from his acting career he mentions the following about filming The Hobbit: “Musings during a long wait today, which has been a respite from a lot of fighting in Middle-earth. In The Hobbit, Gandalf is part old duffer but more he’s a soldier.  Peter Jackson, who likes to see the old guys fighting it out, reminded me the other day that Gandalf is a commander, a general.  Having slain the Great Goblin I was being a bit too indulgent with the dwarves who meanwhile had mislaid Bilbo in the goblin tunnels.  I’ve played enough soldiers to see that PJ was right and in the next take I was very stern.”

12th November

1. Latest reports from the NZ press suggest that location shoots for The Hobbit are taking place near Dunedin, Otago and also at Tataka Hill, Tasman near the Golden Bay.

2. Strike Back Project Dawn in Israel: the second series of Strike Back will be shown on Tuesday 15th November at 10.00pm on the Yes Action channel. Thanks to Naama.

3. An advertisement for the french version of the North and South DVD has appeared in a free newspaper in UGC cinemas. Click the image below to enlarge. Thanks to Joane for the scan.

11th November

MI-5/Spooks series 7-10 in New Mexico: KNME-TV (PBS) will begin showing series 7 this Saturday 12th November at 9.00pm on channel 5.1. It will be repeated on Sundays and Mondays and also shown on Tuesdays at 10pm on channel 9.1. Thanks to Karen for this information.

7th November

1. The Discovery channel documentary HMS Ark Royal, which Richard narrated and was broadcast in February of this year, is now available on DVD from Amazon UK. Here is a direct link to Amazon including the code for this website to ensure that commission will earned for charity, or you can order via the RichardArmitagetNet Amazon UK store.

2. Thanks to Joane for her latest drawing of Richard, which is now on the Artwork page.

6th November

Two new wallpapers using pictures from the Recognise magazine photoshoot are now on the Richard wallpapers page, wiith thanks to Rossella.

4th November

There is a new video blog from Peter Jackson on his facebook page. The blog describes the 3D technology they are using and there are lots of quick glimpses of actors and scenes from the film. Screencaps of Richard as Thorin are in the Hobbit gallery.

3rd November

The french version of the North and South DVD is already #1 in the best seller list on the distributor’s website Koba Films. Click the N&S image at the top for more details and a video extract.

Joane was pleased to discover a half page advert in a free Parisian newspaper ’20 minutes’ today and has provided the scan below (click to enlarge). She tells me that the image quality is the same in all copies of the newspaper.

Translation:A love affair in the same vein as “Pride and Prejudice”Discover in video the romantic master-piece of Elizabeth Gaskell. A wonderful love story in Victorian England between the young Margaret Hale and the dark John Thornton. A new successful work by BBC after the huge success of “Pride and Prejudice”.

2nd November

1. Three new pictures of Richard from the Recognise magazine photoshoot (still no news on this magazine by the way) are on this website in an article about photo post production. Scroll down or click the thumbnail below to view:

There are two more pictures on the website that completed the post production: The Hut in the Forest. Click ‘show thumbnails’ to see two more pictures.

Update: click these pictures below for larger versions, courtesy of Bccmee.

Also on the Hut in the Forest’s facebook page (you do not need to be a member of Facebook to see these pictures). The 2nd and last images are the correct way around here. Also below:

2. North and South French DVD: this DVD is released today in France as reported previously on 13 July. Amazon France have reduced the original price to 19.98 Euros. Thanks to mondeencouleurs.

31st October

Following the news on 27th October that Eric Vespe will be reporting from the Hobbit set, his first report is now up. Spoiler warning: there is some detail and pictures about scenes that were filmed in Hobbiton (Matamata). There is no Richard in this report – Eric describes scenes with Elijah Wood as Frodo.

30th October

Series 1 of George Gently, including the first episode with Richard as Ricky Deeming, will be released on Blu-ray on 17 January 2012, that’s three episodes in 1080i widescreen format. More details.

28th October

1. The Hobbit premiere will be held in November 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. Reports with video on Stuff.co.nz and TVNZ.

2. Robin Hood and Macbeth downloads in France: episodes of Robin Hood and Macbeth from the Shakespeare Re-Told series can be rented for 30 days via a download player ‘CANALPLAY’. This link shows all the Richard Armitage programmes that are available. Two episodes of Robin Hood costs 2.99 Euros. Once downloaded, you have 30 days to watch the episodes. After watching once, you can watch again as many times as you’d like during 48 hours. The CANALPLAY player is free and must be downloaded first (PC only). Thanks to Joane.

3. Spooks season 9 on BBC Canada: this season is being reshown on Thursday evenings at 7pm ET on BBC Canada. Episode 1 was shown last night. Thanks to Calexora.

4. Richard on TV in Hungary: TV listings here show that The Impressionists will be shown on 6th November at 9.00pm on the Viasat History channel, and on the same day Robin Hood series 3 will be on RTL Klub at 12.40pm. Thanks to Zsuzsanna.

Update: The Impressionists is also showing in Poland on Viasat History during the same times as above. TV listings here. Thanks to Sylwia.

27th October

1. Captain America DVD Extras: details of the extras are at the bottom of this detailed review of the movie on TheHDRoom.com. Richard appears briefly (about 10 – 15 seconds) in the third featurette about the technology used in the film, showing him filming scenes in the submarine. He is also praised in the audio commentary. Thanks to Shirlz1123 on twitter for this info.

2. Eric Vespe of Aintitcool.com has announced that he will be reporting from the set of The Hobbit on a regular basis: “I am currently in New Zealand on the set of The Hobbit and I will be reporting biweekly from the set. I’m embedded with the crew as they run around the North and South Islands of New Zealand for the next two months on their location shoot and will be bringing you guys reports as we go along.” In the comments that follow the article he states that a video blog from Peter Jackson may be imminent (click the comment by Quint dated Oct 27, 2011 5:44:48am). Eric is also on twitter: @EricVespe.

26th October

1. Stylist magazine, 26 Oct 2011, has an interesting article about the end of Spooks, with a summary of the fate of 9 major characters including Lucas. Thanks to Kaprekar for the scan which is on the Spooks Reviews page, along with an online article from the Telegraph, one of the better articles analysing the end of the series.

Thanks to Karin for pointing out that the online version of the Stylist magazine article has a link to another article about handsome men in period dramas. You can vote for John Thornton if you wish.

2. Richard is on UK television tonight in Miss Marie Lloyd on BBC4 and narrating Leopards of Dead Tree Island on the National Geographic Wild channel. See menu on left-hand side for UK TV listings.

3. New poll on the left-hand side asking if you will buy the Captain America DVD, which was released in the US on 25 October and will be released in the UK on 5 December. Thanks for voting. Previous poll results are here.

25th October

1. Added more pictures to the Project magazine photoshoot gallery with thanks to the Russian RA site.

2. Strike Back series 1 in the UK: Sky are repeating the first series featuring John Porter, which will be shown on Sundays at 9pm and Wednesdays at 11.00pm.

3. Filming of The Hobbit has gone on location to Matamata’s Hobbiton film set and also to Queenstown, as reported in the NZ press.

4. Captain America: The First Avenger DVD has been released today in the US. If you order this DVD, please click the Amazon links on this site to earn commission for charity.

5. More jigsaws have been added today to the Jigsaw page.

21st October

1. Robin Hood in New York/Ontario: season 1 is being shown on Thursday nights at 10pm ET on WPBS and WNPI. Next Thursday will be episode 6. Thanks to Calexora.

2. Warner Bros are planning to release a video game of The Hobbit next year before the film is released. It is not yet clear if this is a tie-in with the movie or if it will be a Lego version. More details on Filmomic.com.

3. Leopards of Dead Tree Island, narrated by Richard, will be shown again in the US on Sunday 30 October at 22:00 on the Nat Geo Wild channel (change settings under ‘local listings for’ to see your region). Thanks to Charlotte for this info. It will be shown in the UK on Wednesday 26 October at 20:00 and 23:00 on the Nat Geo Wild channel and also on Sunday 30 October at 21:00.

19th October

1. There is a Hobbit article in the latest issue of the french movie magazine Studio Ciné Live, which has some pictures of Richard and the dwarves. Click the thumbnails below to see the scans in full size.

The article mentions the length of filming and the cost, the location of the studios in Wellington and quotes from Peter that we have heard in the video blogs that he has posted on facebook so far. On the left hand side of the main article they list the ‘Three new actors arriving in Middle-earth’

• Martin Freeman the British actor, who will have the main role of Bilbo. Mostly known for his funny roles in sitcoms.
• Richard Armitage, an Englishman, that we could see in “Captain America” and who is famous in British television, will be Thorin the chief of dwarves.
• Evangeline Lilly, the star of “Lost” will be an Elf. Her character of Tauriel does not exist in Tolkien’s novel.

Many thanks to Joane for the translation and the scans.

	Contents page:

2. The Telegraph has named its Top 10 Moments in Spooks, with the Lucas North/John Bateman twist coming in at number 2.

18th October

Spooks series 8 in Hungary: this series starts on Wednesday 19th October at 22:40 on the Story4 channel. Link with video and TV schedule. Thanks to Karima.

Strike Back series 1 in South Korea: series 1 will be on Channel Screen in South Korea on 27th October at 22:00. Thanks to @kkaeldotcom on twitter.

16th October

Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall will be repeated on BBC4 on Wednesday 26 October at 10.00pm. Richard played Percy Courtenay in this drama first shown in 2007 as part of BBC4′s Edwardian season.

13th October

Some new artwork added to the site, with thanks to Linda and Lady Prisca for their drawings of Richard and Guy of Gisborne respectively. Click the images to enlarge. There is a comments box at the bottom of the Artwork page if you’d like to leave feedback. Thanks!

12th October

Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be shown on Saturday 22 October at 5.55pm in the UK on ITV3. Richard played Philip Durrant in this one off drama first broadcast in 2007.

11th October

1. Ultimate Force series 2 which included Richard as Captain Ian Macalwain, is available to watch free and online via the IMDB episode list page if you are a US resident. This is not available in the UK but click the link to see if it’s available in your country. Here’s a screencap from the US page to show you what it looks like when the videos are available. Thanks to Bccmee.

2. The Anglophenia blog on BBC America has a page on Richard Armitage in a feature called ‘Men of BBC America: how they are conquering Hollywood’.

10th October

1. Thanks to a quick email from Arfan, it appears that North and South was shown on BBC Entertainment in Israel and some European countries this evening, starting at 18:10. Check the TV Schedule (choose region first) for showings of North and South in your area – it is being shown at different times in various different countries.

2. Pauline has left a comment on this site regarding the latest on the publication of Recognise magazine. ‘Issue 9 is completed and we are simply waiting for new publishers to complete a takeover and subscriptions etc. will run as promised.’ To read Pauline’s comment in full, click the ‘Write Comment’ link on the home page of this site above the news. An interview and photoshoot with Richard is due to appear in the next issue of Recognise magazine – see news 2nd September below for preview pictures.

9th October

ComingSoon.net have announced that The Hobbit movie merchanise will be produced by The Bridge Direct Inc. Thanks to Ana Cris on the C19 forum.

“Warner Bros. Consumer Products is pleased to announce today that it has awarded the worldwide master toy and game licensing rights for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again to The Bridge Direct, Inc., the global children’s consumer products company. The Bridge will develop an exciting array of products inspired by the two films being directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson—who previously brought Middle-earth to life with the award-winning blockbuster The Lord of the Rings trilogy—including action figures, playsets, and role play accessories, which are expected to debut at retail in fall 2012 prior to the December 14 release of the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Read more…

7th October

1. Richard has appeared on the cover of an Italian puzzle magazine, which has the largest circulation of its type in Italy. There aren’t any clues in the puzzle about Richard, but his picture appears nevertheless! Thanks to Mamma_T for the scan – click to enlarge.

2. Thanks to Adelbert for her drawing of Richard which is now on the Artwork page.

3. Thanks to Smitkit for pointing out this fact: five years ago today Guy of Gisborne first strolled on to our screens on BBC1. An event which brought a lot of my friends together and therefore the reason that this site exists. Link to RH episode 1 screencap gallery.

3rd October

1. The picture of the day archive for September 2011 has been added to the Multimedia menu on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

2. Richard dressed as Thorin appears on the front cover of the Mexican movie magazine CinePREMIERE this month. Thanks to Ana Cris.

Update 8th October: WarnerBros have requested that the images are removed as there are logo issues with the pictures on the CinePREMIERE site.

3. Spooks 8 in PBS Houston: MI5 season 8 will be re-shown on Thursday 6 October at 9.00pm on PBS Houston, Texas. Thanks to Patricia.

4. The documentary for the National Geographic Wild channel that Richard narrated, Leopards of Dead Tree Island, will be shown in the UK on Wednesday 26 October at 8.00pm and 11.00pm. There is a clip of the documentary here but with a warning that animal lovers will find it difficult to watch!

5. More jigsaws have been added today to the Jigsaw page.

6. Strike Back in Portugal: a new cable-only channel which started today called TVSeries is showing Strike Back series 2 at 22:10 tonight. The TV Schedule states series 1, but all the adverts have shown series 2. Robin Hood series 1 will be shown on this channel tomorrow. Thanks to Xanoquita.

30th September

Peter Jackson was interviewed by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key earlier today on NZ station RadioLive and an eight minute extract is on this RadioLive site. Peter Jackson says they are on day 94 or 95 of a 250 day shoot, filming with about 30 goblins, dwarves and the hobbit today. Yesterday he says “we spent all day in the middle of a storm we had dwarves walking up a rocky path on the side of a cliff… today we show up and we have flames and fire and goblins…”. He also says they will be filming until the middle of next year. Thanks to vikszabo74 on twitter.

29th September

1. Homes from Hell narrated by Richard, is starting on GEM in Australia at 7.30pm tonight. Thanks to Mezz.

2. Robin Hood on BBC Entertainment: check the TV schedule for broadcasts of Robin Hood if you receive this channel as series 3 is currently being shown in many countries on Fridays and other days throughout the week. Click ‘change country’ at the top of the window to view your TV schedule. Thanks to Sylwia.

3. Spooks on BBC Canada: the advertising hasn’t been clear which series will be shown, but Spooks is scheduled for 7pm Eastern time/4pm Pacific time on Thursdays. We think it may be series 9. Thanks to Audrey.

4. As you may have noticed from the logos under the pic of the day this website is now an Amazon Associate, which means that if you purchase anything from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com this site will earn referral fees, which will be donated to one of Richard’s four Just Giving charities listed above. Further details are on the RA on DVD page.

5. Cinemax have uploaded the first 2 episodes of Strike Back: Project Dawn to youtube. You need to sign in using a Google account to see the complete episodes. Thanks to Miriam for the email. Links to Episode 1 and Episode 2.

27th September

1. The Captain America DVD is now available to pre-order from Amazon UK for £12.97. It’s released on 5 December 2011. The region 1 copy is available from Amazon.com on 25 October 2011. All other links and prices to Blu-ray versions are on the RA on DVD page. Thanks to Vicki for the update.

2. Spooks series 8 on BBC Entertainment: series 8 starts on Saturday 1 October at 21.50 in Norway, Sweden and Denmark on the BBC Entertainment channel, with episodes 1 and 2 showing on that date. Here is the Norwegian TV schedule. Click ‘change country’ at the top of the window to check the schedule in your region. Thanks to MillyMe.

26th September

1. In an interview with Peter Firth and Nicola Walker by Radio 4 Extra, Nicola describes watching Richard come to terms with the change in Lucas North’s character (4 mins in). This clip can only be heard in the UK, so here’s the bit about Richard. The full interview is now available on youtube thanks to richliga: part 1 and part 2.

2. Thanks to Julia for an excellent drawing of Lucas North, now on the Artwork page.

24th September

Lost Land of the Tiger on DVD: this DVD was released in a boxset with two other documentaries from the same team on 29 August 2011. It costs £15.99 from Amazon UK. All other links and prices are on the RA on DVD page. Thanks to LadyCassia for this information.

23rd September

Captain America DVD release dates: in the US it will be available from Amazon.com on 25 October 2011 at a cost of $17.99 ($24.99 for Blu-ray). Amazon UK haven’t confirmed the price yet, but the release date is currently 5 December 2011.

Update 25 Sept – DVD release in Germany: on Amazon.de, the DVD release date is 19 December 2011 at a cost of €20.97 and the Blu-ray version for €26.97. Thanks to Barbara and Linda60 for this information.

All Richard Armitage DVD links and prices are on the RA on DVD page.

  

22nd September

Lara Pulver was on ITV1′s This Morning programme today and she once again mentioned receiving an email and advice from Richard Armitage prior to filming Spooks series 10 (see news 16 September below for more). The clip is here on youtube.

8th September

1. Clips from the two episodes of Fraud Squad, which Richard narrated for ITV, are on the Fraud Squad page.

2. Spooks series 10 will start on Sunday 18 September at 9pm on BBC1 and BBC1 HD. The last episode of series 9 was shown on BBC1 HD so this the first time the whole series will be in high definition. Although Richard is not in this series, there is mention of Lucas North in episode 1 – see news 23 August below. There are spoilers in this BBC press release.

3. A reminder that BBC Canada are showing Spooks series 9 today (Thursday evening) at 7.00pm (EST). Check your local TV schedule, as it’s showing at 4.00pm in British Columbia on Thursdays.

4. On 30 August in France, a documentary called Secrets d’histoire about Claude Monet was shown on channel France2. This documentary showed quite a few clips of Richard as Claude Monet from The Impressionists. French residents can still watch the episode on this site – it may be possible to view from other countries but it doesn’t work for me in the UK. Thanks to Lady Prisca, Joane and Laure.

5th September

The documentary Leopards of Dead Tree Island, that Richard has narrated, will broadcast during October in the UK (see news 2nd Sept below). National Geographic UK on twitter have confirmed it will be shown on the National Geographic Wild channel, but the exact date is still to be confirmed.

4th September

1. New addition to the Sparkhouse page – quotes from Richard made in 2002 from the Sparkhouse BBC press release. “…there is a simplicity to John; he doesn’t always understand all the nuances of what is going on around him. In some ways he is like an old man on the outside, but there is a real naivety about him…”

2. Tonight at 19:30, E! Latino in Argentina will show a Behind the Scenes of Captain America half hour programme with clips and interviews. No information on whether Richard appears I’m afraid. Thanks to Beth.

3rd September

1. On 2nd October last year, a guestbook entry was left on this site from an actor who worked on Captain America: The First Avenger during scenes filmed in Liverpool. The rest of his comments are now available to read on the Captain America page, not previously printed due to contractual agreements. I have proof of his role on the movie and that his report is genuine.

2. Strike Back series 1 in Norway: episodes 3 and 4 of series 1 will be shown on Tuesday 6 September on NRK3 at 21.30 and the last two on Tuesday 13 September on the same channel at the same time. Thanks to MillyMe.

3. Spooks series 10 will start week of 17-23 September according to the BBC Press Office, no exact date or time yet. Although Richard is not in this series, there is mention of Lucas North in episode 1 – see news 23 August below.

2nd September

1. Recognise magazine have posted a few pictures from their photoshoot with Richard on Facebook, which will appear with an interview in their August issue – out soon, no exact date given yet. The photoshoot took place on 14th June, see June news archive, 23 and 24 June for more info. The image is also below, click to enlarge.

2. Richard has narrated a documentary called Leopards of Dead Tree Island for National Geographic and there’s a clip on their website. Warning: animal lovers may find this very sad! It was shown in the US on 25 August, but I’ve no information yet on when it will be shown again or in other countries. Thanks to Kaprekar for all the info.

3. BBC Canada showed the first episode of Spooks series 9 last night at 7.00pm (EST) but there was no advertising it seems, so episode 2 will be on next Thursday at the same time. I’m told there is quite a bit of editing by BBC Canada, e.g. Ros’s funeral was cut at the start of last night’s episode. Thanks to Calexora and Susmita for the emails. Update: this was not available in British Columbia although we do not know why!

4. Details of the Captain America DVD extras have been announced here.

1st September

The latest Naxos Audiobooks blog post by Nicolas Soames mentions Richard’s role in Captain America, and there’s a nice quote about work he has done for the company in the past (Richard has read 3 Georgette Heyer abridged novels for Naxos): “we know him as a man who quietly, and generally on a Saturday, slopes in to read a Georgette Heyer and entertain thousands of his followers around the world.” Thanks to Annette from RAOnline.

31st August

1. A brilliant pencil and pen drawing of John Porter by GiztheGunslinger has been added to the Artwork page.

2. The Radio 4 play Clarissa broadcast March 2010, in which Richard played Robert Lovelace, is no longer available from the BBC but the download is now available on the Clarissa page. Scroll down the page until you reach the ‘Clips’ section.

30th August

Strike Back series 1 in Norway: series 1 is being repeated on NRK3 in Norway tonight at 21:30. Thanks to MillyMe.

29th August

Robin Hood in Russia: Robin Hood will be shown by the Russian channel TV3 starting with series 1 from Tuesday 30 August at 15:00 Monday-Friday. Thanks to Nadia.

28th August

1. David Stephenson of the Sunday Express has reviewed Strike Back series 2, with a few paragraphs discussing Richard’s career. “Armitage has now moved to films in the form of The Hobbit but we look forward to him appearing in a spy drama again on TV. He is strangely more believable and effective than the real thing.” Read it on the Strike Back reviews page. Thanks to Smitkit for the scan.

Previous interviews with Richard by David Stephenson are on the Interviews page: scroll to 19 September 2010 and 2 May 2010.

2. Cultbox have listed the five characters they feel have made the biggest contribution to the success of Spooks. Of Lucas North: “His final confrontation with Harry Pearce on a rooftop was one of the most memorable series finales in the show’s history.” Spooks series 10 will air on BBC1 next month.

27th August

1. Strike Back on DVD: Amazon UK and Play.com are releasing series 1 and 2 on a 5 disk DVD set, available 14 November 2011. Links: Bluray at Play.com – DVD at Play.com – Bluray at Amazon.co.uk – DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Each series is also available to buy separately. Series 2 DVD will also be released on 14 November. Thanks to Mamma_T for the email.

2. As mentioned on 18 August, Richard narrated a documentary called Fraud Squad on ITV1 last night. It’s now available to view on ITV Player. Clips from last night’s programme will appear on this site in a couple of days.

3. The Captain America DVD is available for pre-order from Amazon.com, but not yet from Amazon UK, but there is no availability date yet. The DVD is also available in Bluray and 3D versions. Thanks to Squidknox and Redliverpool for the emails.

25th August

1. Richard has sent a new message today which you can read on RichardArmitageOnline.

2. Richard Armitage on Hungarian TV: Spooks series 7 episode 1 on Sunday 28 August at 22:15 on STORY4, The Impressionists on Monday 5 September at 22:00 on History Viasat, and The Golden Hour on Tuesday 6 September at 23:30 on RTL Klub. Thanks to Zsuzsann. TV listings here.

24th August

1. Strike Back series 2 episode 1 images of Richard as John Porter have been added to the Strike Back gallery. These images are high definition: click ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner when viewing each picture to see the full size.

2. Spooks 7 in Hungary: the 7th series of Spooks started in Hungary today at 9.40pm on the Story4 channel. Thanks to Karima, who has clarified that despite this link saying series 6 episode 11, they actually mean series 7 episode 1.

23rd August

1. Some clippings from the Saturday and Sunday Mirror magazines with pictures of Richard as John Porter from Strike Back are on the Strike Back reviews page. Thanks to Smitkit. Three UK reviews of Strike Back episode 1 are also linked on that page.

2.  Some new artwork added to the site today:

• A Richard Armitage drawing from Joane on the Artwork page.
• 4 wallpapers by Teena on the Richard wallpapers page.

3. The freelance journalist Ian Wylie told me via twitter earlier today that there is a brief mention of Lucas North in the first episode of Spooks series 10, which returns to BBC1 sometime in September. He also confirmed that Sophia Myles’s character Beth gets a mention – Beth does not appear in Spooks series 10.

22nd August

1. The Guardian have written an article about TV hardmen and stated that Richard Armitage is the best thing about Strike Back series 2…although of course he’s not in it much this series!

2. Thank you for all the birthday messages which have been coming in thick and fast today. The comments box will be closed at approx. 6.00pm GMT today and messages will be forwarded to Richard.

21st August

1. The birthday message page will remain open for messages until approximately 6.00pm GMT on Monday 22 August, if you wish to leave Richard a birthday message and haven’t done so yet. Thank you for all the wonderful messages left so far.

2. Strike Back: Project Dawn episode 1 will be on Sky1 and Sky1 HD tonight in the UK at 9.00pm. Sky1 Strike Back page.

18th August

Richard is narrating a new two part documentary for ITV1 on Friday 26 August at 9.00pm called Fraud Squad. It follows an investigation led by police detectives hoping to recover £20million stolen from victims of one of Britain’s biggest share frauds. Details on Locate TV.

17th August

1. North and South has been voted the 2nd most popular British TV drama of all time by visitors to the BBC America Anglophenia site. North and South was edited heavily when shown on BBC America in 2005, so hopefully this will persuade them to show it again uncut.

2. Strike Back series 2 in the TV magazines: articles about the new series have appeared in many UK magazines, with brief mentions of Richard Armitage/John Porter and very few pictures of him. There are two scans on the Strike Back reviews page – the article inside TV Guide magazine (thanks to Jen for the scan) is one of the longer articles in all of the TV magazines, mentioning John Porter briefly but with no additional picture, however the cover of TV & Satellite week magazine shows Richard alongside the new stars of the series.

3. Richard has recorded a new advert for Sky Sports. You can watch it on the 2011 Adverts page.

16th August

1. Scan of Hobbit feature in Total Film magazine September 2011 (click to enlarge):

2. The print edition of The Scotsman interview with Richard Armitage has been rescanned for better quality – see news 26 July below or Interviews page.

3. I’m adding jigsaws to the Jigsaw page all the time so please keep checking for more.

15th August

1. Thanks to Joane for another excellent drawing of Richard which is now on the Artwork page.

2. The first series of Strike Back is showing again on Sky2 tonight at 10pm, continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday. The second series starts on Sunday 21st at 9pm on Sky1 and Sky1 HD. Check TV listings on the left-hand side of this page.

13th August

1. US residents can watch Strike Back: Project Dawn online from the Cinemax site – further details on Bccmee’s blog and the Strike Back facebook page.

2. Richard has reached the quarterfinals of the BBC America Anglophenia poll. You can vote here.

3. Birthday messages to Richard can be left on the Birthday Message page, which will be open until 22 August for you to leave a message if you wish.

12th August

Strike Back: Project Dawn will be shown in the US tonight at 10.00pm on Cinemax and in Canada at the same time on HBO Canada – check your TV listings for regional times. Here in the UK we have to wait until 21 August so no spoilers please!

Sky1 publicity have given this website three extra large images of Richard as John Porter to promote the new series. These are numbers 4-6 in the Strike Back 2 Promo gallery – press F5 to refresh your screen if you cannot see the new pictures and click ‘original image’ to see the images in their full size.

Reviews

Strike Back has received mixed reviews in the US media (some spoilers throughout these reviews): the LA Times gives it a positive review (although the reference to Pride & Prejudice is a little bizarre), the Boston Herald is not too flattering and describes Richard’s role as a ‘tense cameo’ and Popmatters gives it an average review stating “Despite some obvious faults, Strike Back is a decent enough action yarn with slick production values.”

11th August

1. In a BBC press release today, it was announced that the production company Kudos will no longer make any more series of Spooks after series 10 airs on the BBC this autumn. Many media sites have reported on this, but The Telegraph shows a picture of Richard as Lucas North and states: “Kudos promise an explosive finale, full of trademark twists, turns and double-crosses. Faces from the past might even return – Keeley Hawes, Richard Armitage and Matthew Macfadyen’s characters, for example, are still out there alive somewhere.” Note that appears to be contradicted by Richard in his interview with Project magazine. Ian Wylie has written an interesting blog piece about the end of Spooks, with audio from Nicola Walker and the BBC press release in full at the end.

2. As mentioned on 7th August below, the first 6 minutes of Strike Back series 2 are online but not available outside the US. Bccmee has uploaded the clip to youtube and it’s also available in HD if you change the pixel setting under the video window.

3. In Manhattan, New York, there is an interactive billboard showing clips from Strike Back 2 and information relating to the show, but Bccmee tells me there is no John Porter at all. There’s a related video on youtube, uploaded by BLToutreach.

9th August

1. Strike Back series 2 will be shown in Norway on Monday 12 September at 8.00pm on Canal+. Link to Canal+ Strike Back page.

2. Two new pictures added to the BAFTA 2009 gallery. Pictures 24 and 25 are new.

3. Robin Hood in France: series 2 and series 3 are being shown on the France 4 channel this month. Click here for details. Thanks to Joane.

4. A picture of Richard at the NYC screening of Captain America has appeared in two different French online newspapers: leParisien.fr and Le Point.fr Thanks to Joane. This picture is also here in the gallery. Captain America is released on 17th August in France.

7th August

Three new Strike Back promos overnight, one from HBO Canada which Bccmee has uploaded to youtube. There are lots of different clips from the series but the same glimpse of Richard Armitage that we’ve seen before:

Youtube clip

The second video is from Cinemax and has clips of John Porter that we haven’t seen yet. It’s on Bccmee’s blog with a transcript and closed captioning.

The Strike Back facebook page has uploaded the first 6 minutes of the series, but it’s not available to view outside the US. The clips of John Porter are exactly the same as the second video mentioned above, followed by clips already seen before of Scott and Stonebridge.

Strike Back series 2 Project Dawn will be shown on Cinemax and HBO Canada on August 12th at 10.00pm and Sky1 and Sky1 HD in the UK on August 21st at 10.00pm.

6th August

1. Round 2 of the BBC America Anglophenia vote is here.

2. Added some outtakes and a deleted scene to The Impressionists page. Thanks to Bccmee for finding the first clip.

3. The BAFTA 2009 gallery has been updated with new and larger images (click ‘original image’ to see the full size). Pictures 6-10, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 26, 28 and 29 are new to the gallery. Number 17 isn’t new but is now much larger – thanks to Bccmee for this pic. Press F5 to refresh the screen if you cannot see the new pictures.

4th August

Cinemax have released a clip from the first episode of Strike Back 2. There are no spoilers in this clip. For those outside the US, you can watch the video on Bccmee’s blog.

Screencaps here, click to enlarge:

   

 

3rd August

Strike Back series 2 will return to Sky1 and Sky1 HD on Sunday 21 August at 10pm, as reported by the Sky Media site. It will be shown on Cinemax in the US and HBO Canada on Friday 12 August.

2nd August

1. The Birthday Message page will be open until 22 August for you to leave a message if you wish.

2. There is a new jigsaws page on the site which you can find under the Multimedia menu or click here. Thanks to Sinjoor for the idea.

30th July

1. The BBC America blog Anglophenia are currently running a poll which puts Matthew Macfadyen and Richard Armitage up against each other for a bit of fun. You can vote here.

2. A second trailer for Strike Back: Project Dawn has appeared on Sky TV in the UK. Watch it on the Strike Back 2 page.

29th July

1. An early picture of Richard has appeared on a Star Wars autograph collecting site – click to view. Now added to the Miscellaneous gallery. This picture was received by the website owner in the year 2000.

2. Lots of wallpapers added to the site today, with thanks to Rossella and Teena:

• 1 Richard Armitage wallpaper by Rossella
• 5 Thorin wallpapers by Teena
• 2 Monet wallpapers by Teena

28th July

1. Some of you have already seen Captain America: The First Avenger and it is released around the world in the next few weeks: International Release Schedule. Please rate the movie in the poll on the left-hand side. I’ll keep this poll up for a few weeks. Previous poll results are here.

2. More pictures from the New York screening of Captain America, which Richard attended on 20 July have appeared on the VISA Signature Facebook page. They’ve been added to the NYC Screening gallery – pictures 20-32 are new.

27th July

1. The UK Premiere of Captain America will be held in Liverpool at the Odeon cinema at 7pm tonight. This is a charity screening for the North West Cancer Research Fund, which was founded in Liverpool. Further details on the Liverpool Echo site. There is no confirmation that any of the cast or crew are attending.

2. Empire magazine are running a feature showing the dwarves from The Hobbit in make-up alongside the actors who play them, with a short character and actor history. This is the Richard/Thorin page, page 6 of 6, but you can view the other pages from that link.

3. Gallery updates as follows. The new pictures are all extra large, so press ‘original image’ to see the full size. You may need to refresh your screen if you’ve visited the galleries recently.

• Golden Hour promotional images – #3, 4 and 5 are new and XL, with kind permission to display on this site by Sony Pictures Europe.
• New image added to the CA Premiere gallery – image #1 is new, source assignmentX.com
• Image #1 in the NYC Screening gallery is now much larger, click ‘original image’ to see full size. Source Visa Signature facebook page.
• Three larger and better quality images in the George Gently Promo gallery – #2, 6 and 9. Thanks to Izabelanna for finding these.

26th July

1. Gallery updates today as follows. If the galleries don’t display correctly, press F5 to refresh your screen (Ctrl-F5 on a Mac).

• Screencaps of the Captain America red carpet interview taken by Bccmee have been added to the CA Premiere gallery. See news 20 July to watch the two interviews on the red carpet in Hollywood.
• New Strike Back series 1 behind the scenes image (#11) added to the Behind the Scenes gallery, sourced by Bccmee.
• A new gallery added to the site – Strike Back Series 2 Promotional Pics. Source: Sky1 site.

2. Richard’s interview with the Scotsman which was published online yesterday, appeared in print on Saturday 23 July. Scans of the print edition are below with many thanks to Smithylass. Click to enlarge:

 

25th July

1. There is a detailed interview with Richard in The Scotsman online today. This article appeared in the magazine supplement of the print edition of The Scotsman, 23rd July. The interview covers a number of issues relating to the acting profession, including the level of detail involved in researching characters and why he is drawn to anti-heroes. And now…”I’m kind of indulging myself at the moment, doing loads of research, finding stuff that isn’t necessarily relevant, but it’s a luxury. This question people ask actors – ‘are you resting?’. It’s such a weird expression. I don’t think an actor can ever rest.”

Screenshots of the interview have been saved to the Interviews page and also below (click to enlarge and click again to read):

     

2. Today’s picture of the day was sourced by Jonia and has been added to the Lorraine interview 17 Sept 2010 gallery.

22nd July

1. An official photograph of all 13 dwarves together has been posted on The Hobbit Movie facebook page, showing Thorin/Richard in the centre of the image. This has been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery. If image #13 doesn’t appear at first, refresh your screen. Press ‘original image’ in the bottom right corner to see the full size, or click the image below:

2. Richard is interviewed in the Daily Telegraph today, due to his role in Captain America but the interview discusses other roles he has played in the past. He says: “I want to be strong enough to cope with the roles, but I don’t want to be cast as the guy that takes his shirt off. I’m looking forward to getting fat and old so I don’t have to lift weights.”

Online article here or scan below (click to enlarge):

21st July

1. Peter Jackson has published a third production video of The Hobbit on his Facebook page and it’s the best yet in terms of humour and action behind the scenes from the film. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to see the video. Richard Armitage appears a few times both in and out of dwarf costume, and it seems that Peter is currently in the UK filming at Pinewood Studios – a clue at the end of the video as to why he’s there. Screencaps from the video are in the Third Production Video gallery.

To see Richard-only parts of the video, with a transcription and closed captioning, go to Bccmee’s blog.

2. Richard was in New York last night at another screening of Captain America: The First Avenger at the AMC Lowes Lincoln Square theatre, with Hayley Atwell and Neal McDonough. The event was promoted by Visa Signature. Pictures are here in the NYC Screening gallery.

3. Update: There is a review of Strike Back 2 by On the Box, which on Thurs 21st included a huge spoiler about John Porter but today (Friday 22nd) it has been removed. Review of Strike Back 2

4. Heather and DiL have written a report after their red carpet experience at the Captain America Premiere on 19 July. Read it here. A gallery of Heather’s pictures are here. Thanks ladies!

 

20th July

1. Richard attended last night’s premiere of the movie at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CA and two video interviews have been made available on the Marvel.com site (Richard appears at 2.46) and on the AP Live site (click the first clip under ‘Previous clips’, Richard’s interview appears at 3.52).

I’ve captured just the extracts of Richard which you can view or download here:

• AP Live Interview or watch on youtube below (thanks Bccmee)

Youtube clip

• Marvel Interview – poor audio in places. Alternatively, watch on youtube below (thanks Bccmee). Karyn has provided a transcript which you can download here (updated 12.00pm UK time).

Youtube clip

• Bccmee has good quality screencaps of the AP interview on her blog.
• HeathRA, who has contributed graphics & videos to this site, met Richard at the premiere yesterday in Los Angeles and will be sharing photographs with us all. Here’s a starter (click to enlarge):

• More pictures from the Premiere in the gallery with thanks to Cesta.
• Richard spoke to What’s On TV while at the premiere: “I play king of the dwarves, so it’s the first time I get to be smaller than other people,” the 6ft 2in tall actor joked.

2. The Hobbit Movie facebook page has made high resolution images of the dwarves available – all except Balin and Dwalin which I’m sure they will get hold of soon. Thorin is also available in extra large high res without any logos adorning the image. These pictures are now in the Hobbit Stills gallery. Note the old gallery format is back, but with some improvements. The new gallery didn’t display all the thumbnail images to make it easy to select a picture, nor were images loading properly on occasion, so it has been abandoned in favour of the old format once more.

3. Another small image I hadn’t noticed before on the iPad only Project magazine – the contents page makes reference to the fact that Richard is modelling winter coats:

4. The Sky1 main page introduces Strike Back series 2, with the focus solely on Richard Armitage. Apart from the picture on the main page, there are 4 more images when you click the link showing a battered and bruised Porter. No date yet when this is showing on Sky in the UK, but it is showing on HBO Canada and Cinemax in the US on August 12.

 

19th July

1. Liverpool is to host the charity film premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger on Wednesday 27th July and the Liverpool Echo has offered the chance to win VIP tickets to the event. Liverpool and Manchester provided the backdrop to several scenes in the film, including scenes with Richard Armitage playing Heinz Kruger – photos of him on location are toward the end of the Captain America page.  Thanks to Bee for the email.

2. There is now a 2011 birthday page on this site for you to leave 40th birthday messages to Richard if you so wish. This page will be open until the 22nd August and on that date messages will be passed to Richard’s agent. Click Birthday Tribute page on the main menu on the left, or click here. Thanks!

3. Thanks to Angelfish69 and Bccmee for these two wonderful Thorin Oakenshield wallpapers. Click the images to enlarge and save to your desktop.

4. A reminder from yesterday’s news that the Captain America premiere is in Hollywood tonight at 7pm local time, and Richard is rumoured to be attending. Watch live streaming via livestream.com or marvel.com.

5. Reelz channel in the US will be showing a behind the scenes promo on Saturday 23rd at 9.30am and 7.30pm called Captain America: Behind The Shield, which will include cast interviews and clips of the movie. Thanks to Lisa.

 

18th July

1. Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence will be shown on Saturday 30th July at 5.55pm on ITV3 and ITV3 HD in the UK. Richard plays Philip Durrant in this episode, also starring Geraldine McEwan, Alison Steadman and Denis Lawson.

2. Richard is listed as one of the attendees of the premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger in Hollywood, CA tomorrow night at 7pm here and here. While this is unconfirmed, his name was not on the Reuters site a few days ago.

Live streaming sites: livestream.com and marvel.com.

 

17th July

Vote on Richard’s look as Thorin in the poll on the left-hand side. Previous poll results are here.

Theonering.net have posted a picture of Richard as Thorin Oakenshield on their site. Here he is:

As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. After slaughtering many of Thorin’s kin, the great serpent, Smaug, entered The Lonely Mountain and took possession of its vast store of gold and jewels. No-one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, and thus, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Through long years of hardship, Thorin grew to be a strong and fearless fighter and revered leader. In his heart a fierce desire grew; a desire to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that had brought such misery upon his people. So when fate offers him an unusual ally, he seizes the chance for revenge.

Wallpapers of Thorin on his own and Thorin and the dwarves are available on Theonering.net’s site. There are links to multiple sizes just above the first picture of the rest of the dwarves. Here’s one of the wallpapers:

These images have been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery.

 

16th July

1. Richard has been interviewed for his role as Heinz Kruger in Captain America: The First Avenger, which has been uploaded on to the Trailer Addict site. He describes his character’s role in the movie and his motivation. Screencaps from the interview are in the CA Interview gallery. The video has been closed captioned with a transcript on Bccmee’s blog.

2. New wallpapers: Many thanks to Angelfish69, Heathra and Bccmee for the following:

• a Heinz Kruger wallpaper by Angelfish69 on the Other Characters wallpapers page
• a wallpaper using images from the Project magazine photoshoot by Heathra on the Richard Armitage wallpapers page.
• 2 wallpapers using images from the Project magazine photoshoot by Bccmee on the Richard Armitage wallpapers page.

3. Theonering.net’s Hobbit in 5 video, a roundup of the week’s Hobbit news, includes a character study of Thorin Oakenshield and an abridged summary of Richard’s career to date.

Youtube clip

4. There are a few seconds of Richard as Heinz Kruger in this behind the scenes clip of the Captain America shoot. Richard appears at 1.52. Thanks to Calexora for finding this. Click the image below to enlarge.

5. This advert appeared in the cinema I happened to be in this morning. It’s for the LG Optimus 3D smartphone and is on youtube:

Youtube clip

6. Joane has submitted an excellent pencil drawing of today’s picture of the day, which has been added to the Artwork page.

7. More pictures have been added to the Project magazine gallery, including the Contents page which I’m afraid I forgot to add before, sorry!

 

15th July

1. Issue 8 of Project Magazine has an interview with Richard in which he talks about Captain America and being cast in The Hobbit, as well as photos from a new photoshoot. Project Magazine is an iPad only magazine and can be ordered here. The UK issue costs £1.99. Since the magazine is for iPad there are videos of Richard as well as pictures, which cannot be extracted since they are part of the magazine app. The last 4 images are snapshots taken from the video files.

Spoiler warning for his role in Captain America.

You can also read the interview by clicking on these images below:

   

2. A picture of Balin (Ken Stott) and Dwalin (Graham McTavish) have been posted on TIME online. Only Thorin (Richard Armitage) left to see now! This new picture has been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery as well as an extra large high res version of the Fili & Kili picture. Click ‘download original’ to see the full size.

3. Two new pictures have been added to the Hobbit Press Conference gallery – #2 and #15 – and 3 images have been replaced with larger versions – #5, 6 and 11.

 

14th July

1. Peter Jackson posted a picture of Bombur, Bofur and Bifur on his facebook page last night, played by Stephen Hunter, James Nesbitt and William Kircher respectively. With any luck we’ll have Balin and Dwalin today and Thorin on Friday!

This picture has now been added, with the other dwarf images so far, to the Hobbit Stills gallery. To see each image in its full size, click ‘download original’ under each image and click on the image again to zoom in.

2. Three more high resolution stills have been added to the Captain America Stills gallery – #5, 6 and 8. Click ‘download original’ under each image to see the full size. Thanks to Bccmee for finding these and check out this site for 200 high resolution images from the film.

3. Five more images added to the Spooks Promo gallery as follows: series7-14, series8-12, series8-19, series9-18, series9-19.

4. Strike Back in New Zealand: the Prime channel is showing Strike Back series 1, the first episode aired this evening (Thurs) and episode 2 will be shown next Thursday at 8.30pm. The Dominion Post has a detailed write-up about the series with a new image of Richard from the Hobbit Press Conference – warning there is a spoiler about the ending of Spooks series 9 if you haven’t seen it yet.

 

13th July

1. Three new pictures of Richard as Heinz Kruger from Captain America: The First Avenger have been released on ComicBookMovie.com. Click each picture to enlarge. Thanks to Izabelanna.

All high resolution stills of Heinz Kruger are now in the Captain America Stills gallery.

2. Amazon France is releasing a french version of North and South on 2nd November 2011 at a cost of EU 24.99, and here is the front cover (click to enlarge). Thanks to Joane for the email.

12th July

1. More wallpapers have been added to the site as a result of a recent competition held on the C19 forum. The Richard wallpapers page shows 3 new wallpapers from Heathra, 1 from myself, 2 from Grendel and 2 from Angelfish69. Click on the thumbnail images to enlarge to the full size (or the links underneath for Heathra’s wallpapers).

Lots of icons and signatures added to the site today, as follows:

• 11 Richard icons: 7 by Grendel, 2 by Abigail, 1 by tpeej and 1 by ddhockey
• 6 Monet icons by Grendel
• 1 Richard signature by Abigail
• 1 Richard signature by me (#5)
• 1 Richard signature by Angelfish69 (#4)
• 2 Richard signatures by Grendel (#2 – 3)
• 10 Richard signatures by Heathra (#1-10)
• 2 Richard signatures by JaimeR (#1 – 2)
• 1 Richard signature by RA’s Rose
• 1 Richard signature and icon set by Yelloweeee
• 2 Monet signatures by Grendel

A new drawing of Lucas North by Joane has been added to the Artwork page.

Many thanks to all the ladies for sharing their lovely artwork on this site.

2. The region 1 DVD of Spooks series 9 is released today for those living in the United States and Canada. The current price on Amazon US is $28.99.

3. Peter Jackson has posted a picture of Kili (Aidan Turner) and Fili (Dean O’Gorman) from The Hobbit on his Facebook page. We’ve now seen 7 of the dwarves – 6 to go.

 

11th July

The premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger will take place on July 19th in Los Angeles. Richard is not listed as one of the attendees. More details on the Reuters site.

 

9th July

1. Peter Jackson has posted a second production video on his Facebook page, stating that the first block of shooting has finished and most of the cast and crew are taking a break. There is a brief chat with some cast members, including Richard, about what they will be doing on their break and then an insight into what is involved when location scouting around New Zealand.

To see the video in full HD, click on this link.

Pictures of Richard are in the Second Production Video gallery.

This video on youtube is also available to watch in HD. Click on the button that says ’360p’ and change to ’720p’ for HD quality, then click on the ‘full screen’ button in the bottom-right corner.

2. Entertainment Weekly has released a second Cinemax trailer for Strike Back (previously there has been a Cinemax trailer and a Sky trailer for the US and UK broadcasts respectively). Richard Armitage does not make an appearance in this trailer I’m afraid.

3. I’ve uploaded a Robin Hood series 2 outtake that was posted on youtube when the series was first broadcast, but apparently the youtube video is not available outside the UK. It’s now on the Robin Hood series 2 publicity page (video #7).

 

8th July

1. The twitter competition to win a region 2 DVD of The Impressionists has now closed. Congratulations to the winner @MrsBrichloos.

2. Strike Back: Project Dawn will be shown on HBO Canada on August 12th as well as on the same date on the Cinemax in the United States. I cannot provide a link to HBO Canada as the site is blocked to non-Canadian residents it seems. Thanks to Susmita.

3. After yesterday’s picture of Nori, Ori and Dori, today The Hobbit movie’s Facebook page has released pictures of Oin and Gloin, cousins of Thorin Oakenshield. Wonder if this means pictures will be forthcoming on a daily basis and soon we’ll be looking at Thorin?

4. This week the Hobbit in 5 video report on the latest news for The Hobbit film mentions the interview with Richard in Total Film. See news #1 4th July for more information and a scan of the magazine interview.

 

7th July

1. A scan of the full interview with Richard in the August issue of Total Film magazine is now on the Interviews page and on The Hobbit page.

2. Thank you for the emails about the poetry readings which have appeared on youtube recently. The poems are from the A War Less Ordinary radio broadcast in November 2007 and the Words and Music radio broadcast in September 2010. Follow the links for full extracts and the youtube clips are at the end of each page.

3. A picture of three of the dwarves from The Hobbit, Nori, Ori and Dori, has been posted on The Hobbit movie’s Facebook page. No picture of Richard as Thorin yet, apart from the blurry pic in Empire and Entertainment Weekly (see The Hobbit page). This latest picture of the 3 dwarves has been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery.

 

6th July

1. Epix News has a short interview with Richard on the set of Captain America, which is part of the youtube video below. Thanks to Izabelanna on twitter for finding this.

Youtube clip

Here’s some pictures (click to enlarge)

     

Bccmee has transcribed and closed captioned the video on her blog.

The pictures of Richard above have been added to the CA Trailer gallery.

2. The North and South Promo/behind the scenes gallery has been updated into the new gallery format and includes 3 new pictures scanned from the Classic Drama magazine (see yesterday’s news). The new pictures are #12, #17 and #29. Many of the pictures in this gallery are very large. Click ‘download original’ to see the full size.

 

5th July

1. BBC Entertainment in Europe and the Middle East will start showing Robin Hood series 3 on Saturdays at 7.10pm starting 23rd July. Thanks to Maya for the email.

2. Just added a scan of an old article from 2005 published in the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine on the Interviews page: ‘In a taxi with…Richard Armitage’.

3. New poll on the left-hand side asking how long you’ve been following Richard’s career, i.e. how long have you been a fan… but we hate the word fan 😉 Previous poll results are here.

4. In 2007, BBC Worldwide produced a magazine called Classic Drama and parts 6 & 7 were dedicated to the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. The complete series on DVD was included with the magazines. I’ve had an enquiry about this (on the RA on DVD page), so I’ve put details of how to order these back issues and some scans from the magazine on the North and South career page. UPDATE: I’m afraid the company only ships to the UK, Eire and via British Forces post (BFPO).

 

4th July

1. In his first interview for over six months, Richard is interviewed in the August issue of the UK magazine Total Film about working on The Hobbit. There is a short preview on their website and the full article will be out on Thursday 7th July when the magazine is for sale. A scan of the article will appear here, but in the meantime the preview is also on the Interviews page.

2. Between the Sheets is available to buy from Australian retailer JB HiFi for $28.99. Thanks to Julie for this info, who confirms that it does play in her region.

3. Robin Hood in France: series 2 starts on channel France 4 on Wednesday at 3.25pm.

4. There’s a summary of Strike Back 2 and also the first series in the Brazilian online magazine VEJA and also a poster for the second series (no mention of Richard). Here’s an English translation. Thanks to Ana Cris.

5. The picture of the day archive for June 2011 has been added to the Picture of the Day archive (under the Multimedia menu) on the left-hand side, or click here to download all the individual pictures.

6. A new series of Homes from Hell will be shown on Tuesday 12th July 9.00 – 10.00 on ITV1 and ITV1 HD, and it seems that Richard Armitage might be providing the voiceover. Locate TV has listed him as narrator.

7. Now that the site has reached 2000 followers on Twitter, I’ve launched a competition for one follower to win a brand new region 2 DVD of The Impressionists. Follow the timeline of @RAnetdotcom and reply to the tweet announcing the competition to enter. I tweeted about it once yesterday and today and will repeat the invitation to enter a few more times in the next few days until the closing date of Friday 8th July 12 noon (UK time). Thanks to all the 2000+ followers for sticking around!

 

2nd July

Richard has recorded another voiceover for Sky Sports promoting their new ‘Sky Go’ feature. It’s a very brief voiceover at the end of the advert and is now on the 2011 Advertisements page. Thanks to Harryslass on twitter.

 

1st July

1. Just added a new wallpaper of Richard by Heathra to the Richard Armitage wallpapers page. There are 3 sizes, so click the size you’d like and right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) and choose ‘Set as Wallpaper/Desktop Background’ if you want to admire it further!

2. Thanks to Lady Prisca for her latest drawing of Guy of Gisborne, which is now on the Artwork page. It’s taken from series 2 episode 10 of Robin Hood.

3. A short statement about Richard, in the ‘Things we’ve learned’ banner, appeared on page 18 of the August issue of Empire, but I hadn’t noticed it until it was pointed out on the C19 forum. An odd but amusing quote (click to enlarge):