Your Noon Briefing: The Beano, Waterloo Road, etc

BEGINS the publisher of The Beano comic, DC Thomson: “The Beano celebrates Red Nose Day with a red and gold pop art inspired cover. Unlike any previous covers, it features Dennis the Menace’s many faces (and noses) to encourage readers to support Red Nose Day’s ‘make your face funny for money’ campaign. The special issue of The Beano goes on sale [tomorrow] Wednesday 11th March 2015.”

Read more, here.

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BEGINS the organisation behind arguably the most prestigious documentary filmmaking competition in the UK: “The Grierson Trust is on the hunt for the next generation of documentary filmmakers.

“The 2015 Grierson Trust DocLab is an opportunity for 18-25 year-olds to turn their passion for television and factual storytelling into reality.

“The Trust is now seeking applications from young people who have ideas on what they can contribute to the industry and who can offer fresh perspectives which are not being reflected on the screen.”

For more, click here.

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ONE of the creators of the TV drama series, Waterloo Road, has expressed her disappointment that its run has come to an end, not least because – being made, latterly, in Scotland – of the impact it had on Scotland’s TV production sector.

Eileen Gallagher is quoted in the Sunday Mail newspaper, as saying: “All my life I have argued for the real need Scotland has for a continuing network drama.

“It has never had it and this was an attempt to establish one.

“I’d hoped it would become Scotland’s Holby City or EastEnders – the kind of drama which is there year in, year out.

“In terms of creating a critical mass of TV drama talent, you need something like that. It’s a big railway sleeper.

“You can grow talent, you can keep an experienced base of crew who have work they can rely on.

“All of that is fundamental to create a network production hub, which Scotland should be.

“I do think it is a real shame, a lost opportunity, that they have closed it down.”

Read more, here.

The final episode was broadcast last night, as noted by the BBC, here.

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BEGINS the Huffington Post: “A cartoon featuring Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond by one of the in The Guardian’s most prestigious satirists has been branded racist for including a joke about incest.

“Steve Bell’s Monday cartoon shows the SNP leader saying she would work with a Labour government after the May election but would not compromise on its ‘core demand’ of ‘incest and Scottish Country Dancing’.”

Read more, here.

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MID-WAY through his latest article on the website, Scot-Buzz, co-editor and former editor of The Scotsman, John McGurk, writes: “But there’s another irony about the pollsters’ conclusions that Scotland is now virtually a nationalist country and that is this: the majority of nationalist supporters prefer right-wing newspapers whose editorial headquarters are in London.”

Intrigued? Read more, here.

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BEGINS an announcement from STV: “Brand new series, Elaine C. Smith’s Burdz Eye View, travels across Scotland with acclaimed actress and comedian Elaine C. Smith as she takes to the road for her first stand up tour in ten years.

“The six-part series on STV, which airs on Monday evenings at 2000 from 23rd March, visits many of Scotland’s once much sought after holiday destinations by the sea. From Stonehaven to St Andrews, and North Berwick to Port Patrick, Elaine travels to places she has never toured before.”

Read more, here.

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BEGINS Martyn McLaughlin, in today’s Scotsman: “If the committee of a parliamentary inquiry designed to champion Scotland’s film industry included politicians who admitted they had never set foot in a cinema, what might the response be?

“Charges of ignorance, perhaps, with accusations of philistinism and questions over whether they were best suited to such a vital role? What if the inquiry’s remit included supporting the gaming industry, a field in which Scotland has the potential to be world leading? The answer, it seems, is silence.

“Tomorrow, members of the Scottish Parliament’s economy, energy and tourism committee will meet in private to consider a draft report of its inquiry into the economic impact of the creative industries. The four month-long endeavour hopes to find way to sustainably grow the nation’s television, film and gaming sectors. The latter has long been overlooked and misinterpreted. It seems unlikely that will change.”

Read more, here.

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BEGINS the website, radiotoday.co.uk: “The Kingdom FM Breakfast show team have climbed Forth Rail Bridge, not long after climbing the Forth Road Bridge for its 50th anniversary.

“Dave and Vanessa were invited by Network Rail Scotland as part of the 125th birthday celebrations for the Bridge so, being lifelong Forth Bridge fans, they jumped at the opportunity.”

Read more, here.

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