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Market forces relocate the second series of McMafia to the US, while the Saatchi Gallery charges top dollar to see King Tut
McMafia is to return. After much agonising, the BBC One drama series, which ran at the start of last year, is to get a second series. But with some considerable changes. The story, initially based around a British-based, exiled Russian family whose son, played by the suave James Norton, was decidedly anglicised, is moving to the US. More than likely because the BBC’s co-funder, AMC, is American-based and wants its viewers to feel at home. There’s a new writer, too, in Paul Webb, best known for scripting the Hollywood movie Selma, about Martin Luther King. My main criticism of series one was that Norton, who made his name in the ITV drama Grantchester and is soon to be seen as Stephen Ward in a new Beeb drama about Christine Keeler, was too anodyne a character. Intriguingly, I gather that Norton has been given script approval over his role as the banker. Hope it will mean more pizzazz.
Talking of Grantchester, James Runcie, author of the mysteries on which the TV series was based, is to give up his role as commissioning editor of arts at Radio 4. He wants to return to full-time writing. How about a biography of his remarkable parents - Robert, former Archbishop of Canterbury, who fell out with Margaret Thatcher, and Rosalind, a professional concert pianist who restored the gardens at Lambeth Palace. Continue reading...