Tonight we have the second episode in the simply fantastic Broadchurch starring David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Pauline Quirke and many others. The first episode was harrowing with the murder of 11yr Danny Latimer who’s body was carefully left on the beach – was it positioned in a symbolical way? The character’s were perfectly portrayed, from DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) taking DS Ellie Miller’s (Olivia Coleman) promotion whilst she was on holiday to the family’s grief of losing their son and the secrets that are hidden amongst the town and the community. I can’t wait for tonight’s episode!

The Olympic torch went through my local town yesterday and we went along to see the event and it was amazing, I was surprised to see so many generations all coming out to support the event, it was really uplifting to see so many people getting behind the event to show their support to our local torchbearers and also the build-up to the start of the Olympics.

After the torch relay went through Havering we went down to Greenwich to go on the new Thames Cable Car that goes across from the O2 dome to the Royal Greenwich dock. This is an amazing setup and only £3.20 to make the crossing although on of my group isn’t too good with heights but the crossing is really smooth and the views are brilliant across the Thames, highly recommend giving it a go!

Travelling past the Olympic site as I do everyday you really get a buzz about the whole event and although I didn’t get any tickets that I applied for but now I really want to see if I can get even a park ticket just to view the finished park and I think they have big TV screens up around the park so can see what’s going on inside the various stadiums. The commute to work is going to be horrible but this will be a minor inconvenience compared to amazing time everyone else will experience during the games.

Come on Team GB….. 

So after a fantastic first evening hosted by Suzie, it was on to Vanessa’s for night two.

Here is a bit about Vanessa:

Job Title: International Sales Manager

Years at Acorn: 3 years

Favourite DVD by Acorn: A Dance to the Music of Time, Camomile Lawn – yes I like the classics!

Best thing about working at Acorn: Great people, no tube journey, fun nights and lovely environment to work in

Vanessa’s menu:

Starter

Spicy Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup from Kio Penal Region

Main 

Free Range Gloucester Old Spot pork Belly Slow Cooked with Crackling, Potato and Celeriac Mash and sautéed Irish Cabbage 

Dessert

  English Garden Panacotta

Followed by all yer favourite’s cheeseboard

We were all looking forward to seeing Vanessa’s house as we had heard so much about all the decorating she had been doing and, judging by the sneak-peak photo she had sent us, we were anticipating something straight out of Footballer’s Wives!

Vanessa definitely knows how to entertain and her kitchen was the perfect place to do just that! Spacious, clinically clean with a hint of vibrancy and lots of hi-tech gadgets for us to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over!

As for the food, slipping in an extra course early on proved Vanessa was in it to win it…or just loved rising to the challenge. I really don’t think there are enough adjectives to describe the feast we had in front of our eyes. Aside from a minor oven-setting error which lead to momentary hysteria, it was another top notch evening of food and entertainment.

Until next week, when we’ll be venturing out of London to an undisclosed location…

In the first of our Come Dine With Me evenings, Suzie was our host.

Here is an introduction to Suzie:

Job Title: Customer Services

Years at Acorn: 8

Favourite DVD by Acorn: The Choir Series 4 Military Wives

Best thing about working at Acorn: Helping our customers on a daily basis.

On Suzie’s inaugural menu:

Starter

Grilled Haloumi with Suzie's special Sauce accompanied with warm ciabatta and a rocket salad 

Main Course

Chicken Basque and oven roasted new potatoes

Dessert

Mini Zesty Surprise

Cheese Board

The great thing about being a small, friendly company is that so many of us get on board with company social events. I can’t imagine staff at the BBC or ITV managing to organize such an event!

Back to the evening and, being such a naturally chatty and warm person, Suzie was very welcoming and attentive. No glass was left empty for long and food was in abundance. 

Delicious, rich, spicy, sweet…If the standard continues like this, we’ll soon all be needing a little help from Jillian Michaels! All in all, it was a cracking first evening.

If you ever need to speak on the phone to us, do ask Suzie about it! She would love to tell you more and our pledge to provide exceptional customer service is what we’re all about.

Roll on night two!!

Here at Acorn Media UK, we’re all about creating a great office culture!

A small company, we have a strong work hard, play hard ethic!

When we’re not busy rushing out the latest Midsomer Murders DVD or reviving TV classics such as Solo or Brush Strokes, we like to indulge in some healthy team socializing.

Our most recent ‘event’, still being digested, quite literally, was Acorn’s take on the hit Channel 4 show ‘Come Dine With Me’. Move over Heston Blumenthal, Jamie Oliver…The Acorn Superchefs mean business!

Comprised of Suzie (Customer Services), Vanessa (International Sales), Jason (Acorn Direct) and Jordan (Online Sales and Marketing), the past two weeks have seen our group devour four sumptuous 3 course meals at each other’s homes. It certainly was The Good Life!

Below is a taster of the culinary delights created by my colleagues.



If you’re feeling inspired, check out the latest Come Dine With Me DVD – available at a sale price of only £7.99 in our Spring Sale.

We’ll be revisiting the individual nights of dining through our blog shortly, so follow us on Facebook and get to know some of the faces behind our unique company.

This was the first episode from series 15 and it kicked off in style with a reinactment of the Civil War, a mysterious headless horse man and of course a murder or two! Barnaby and Jones are called in to find the murder amongst an aristocratic family of Quitewell Hall.

Set in beautiful countryside this stately home certainly set the tone for the episode, some of your may have noticed that this was actually Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. This episode was also produced for the first time by Jo Wright the former drama chief at BBC, LWT and Talkback Thames. Jo is planning to explore the relationship between Barnaby and Jones as she see’s a definite bromance going on!

Watching the final 15 minutes I felt the big reveal was very reminiscent of the classic ‘murder reveal in the library’ from a Miss Marple or a Poirot, brilliant stuff!

Good News, if you did miss the episode on ITV1 or are waiting for the DVD we are going to be releasing this shortly (just awaiting materials) and we have negotiated to get an exclusive Neil Dudgeon commentary as an extra on the DVD. You can pre-order your copy now and we will send out the DVDs as soon as they are ready (weeks ahead of general release).

Sean Bean to star in Jimmy McGovern’s award-winning series Accused on BBC One

Sean Bean, Anna Maxwell Martin and Stephen Graham are to star in Jimmy McGovern’s award-winning series Accused on BBC One in 2012.

Stellar British actors Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, Sharpe), Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire, Occupation, This Is England) and twice BAFTA-winning actress Anna Maxwell Martin (South Riding, The Night Watch, Bleak House) are to star in the two episodes of Accused, made by RSJ Films for BBC One, which film this year.

Sean Bean plays English teacher Simon, whose alter ego Tracie's unconventional quest for love entangles him in an affair that leads inexorably to a terrible crime of passion. Stephen Graham stars as Tony, a satellite and aerial engineer, and Rachel Leskovac (Coronation Street, Holby City) plays his wife of 12 years, beautician Karen. Little do the trio know that once their paths have crossed their lives will change irrevocably. This episode is written by Shaun Duggan (EastEnders, Moving On) and Jimmy McGovern. The director is Ashley Pearce (Downton Abbey).

Commenting on his new role Sean Bean says: “I’ve wanted to work on a Jimmy McGovern drama for a while and I think this cracking script really delivers a powerful, emotional drama for the audience."

Acclaimed actress Anna Maxwell Martin stars as Tina Dakin, a married mother of three, who is overstretched at home and at the juvenile detention centre where she works as a prison officer. But something doesn’t seem right when new inmate Stephen Cartwright (Robert Sheehan) arrives and before long she is to meet his father Peter (John Bishop) in the worst circumstances imaginable. This episode is written by Isabelle Grey (Genghis Khan, Midsomer Murders) and Jimmy McGovern. It is directed by Ashley Pearce.

Two episodes of Accused were filmed last autumn. Anne Marie Duff and Olivia Colman star as mothers trying to do the right thing by their sons and their community; Robert Sheehan plays Stephen, who suspects his mother’s palliative care nurse (Sheridan Smith) of serious wrongdoing. John Bishop plays Stephen’s father Peter and Josh Bolt plays Stephen’s younger brother, Dom.

Accused was re-commissioned by BBC One Controller Danny Cohen and Controller of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson. It is executive produced for the BBC by Polly Hill, Head of Independent Drama. Sita Williams is the producer and she executive produces with Jimmy McGovern and Roxy Spencer for RSJ Films.

The series directors are David Blair (The Street, Accused) and Ashley Pearce (Downton Abbey). The first series shown on BBC One in 2010 scooped two international Emmy Awards last year: Christopher Eccleston won best performance by an actor and Accused won in the best series category. 

Last night saw the return if Midsomer Murders with episode 8 from series 14 – A Rare Bird starring Neil Dudgeon and Jason Hughes.

There were many people who wondered if the series could continue with the departure of John Nettles at the end of series 13 but last night’s episode was watched by over 5.3 million viewers proving there’s still life in Midsomer (despite all the murders!)

Last night’s episode centered around the sighting of the very rare blue crested hoopoe which was spotted in the woods around Swansdown Lake, and that’s a big deal apparently. Then their overbearing president is murdered after accusing the twitcher who spotted it of lying.

If you missed the episode last night, fear not you can get your DVD direct from Acorn Media and get it months before it is available from any other website or shop, not only that but you will save £5 as its only £11.99 from Acorn.

I hope you all had a good Christmas and a happy New Years. I had a great holiday with family and friends that included cooking for 17 on Christmas Day (big thanks to Delia, Heston and Jamie Oliver for recipe tips) and a short trip to Cheshire to stay with some family that we couldn’t fit in for Christmas dinner!

With a few days off I was able to catch up with some great new TV like Young James Herriot, Great Expectations, Earth Flight, Caroline Quentin’s Cornwall  and Shelock S2. It seems that there is a real build up of brilliant new TV series and it’s a struggle at times to keep up with all these great shows, I know I’ll end up missing some and end up watching them again on DVD (which I prefer anyway, no adverts!).

Not forgetting next week we have to remember to watch the new series of Wild at Heart which begins on Sunday (8^th Jan) on ITV1 at 8:30pm for a ten week run plus Above Suspicion begins a new three part series on Monday (9^th Jan) at 9pm on ITV1.

We have our January catalogue mailing out over the next couple of weeks so look out for it or you can read it via our online pdf – click here for the link.

Lastly, we have recently made a change to our Newsletters so give you more control over what you want to hear about. So if you only want news on the latest Crime or Drama series log into you account and update your Newsletter Subscription and we will start updating you with want you want to know.

After being so used to Christopher Timothy portraying James Herriot for so many years in All Creatures Great and Small, I was a little apprehensive as to what to expect from the new BBC introduction of the YOUNG JAMES HERRIOT.  Well, I am glad to say that I was not disappointed.   Iain de Caestecker played the character of young James fantastically, a little quirky but an extremely likable fellow that you could relate to.  He is inquisitive and has this blundering quality which gets him caught up in some tricky situations both with the college professors and the animal owners alike, but his passion for animals shows the early signs of a great Vet in the making.  Here we have seen James at the start of his college years, with little money, in digs and experiencing those student days we all know so well.  But James cannot take his alcohol too well and he is very wise to steer clear of it.

There is a great support cast of his student friends relatively unknown to me before this series.  Whirly Tyson played by Amy Manson has a crush on James which he is totally oblivious to, but you can see there may be room for this to develop possibly into a romance.  Lets hope so, everyone likes to see the sparks of love.  And Ben Lloyd-Hughes who plays Rob McAloon is a charming cad who likes to gamble playing cards and is always on the look out for that opportunity to make some money even if slightly unethical but his heart seems to be in the right place.  Oh, by the way, he also has a crush on Whirly so this could get quite interesting….

All in all I think that YOUNG JAMES HERRIOT was brilliant and I certainly hope that more are commissioned.  There is a lot of scope for this series to develop and I will be looking forward to it with baited breath!

We are releasing this new series on DVD in early 2012 and you can pre-order your copy now - click here for details.