5 January 2005: Pompeii the Last Day to be broadcast on US cable channel Discovery Channel. Please chech your local listings for times and and dates.

15 November 2004: Book at Bedtime on Tuesday (11/16) features Jonathan Firth reading Varengville; the story of a young boy must get out of the house and on one of his cycling trips he befriends a wise old painter. Book at Bedtime is on BBC Radio 4 and airs 10:45p-11p

11 October2004: dvd caps added to Luther dvd page
Please note the release date listed at amazon.com for Luther is 11/30/2004

7 September 2004: Jonathan Firth has won the CFT Excellence Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for Luther. Details to follow.

30 July 2004: Jon recorded a short story by William Boyd called 'Varengville for Radio 4 on the 19th July.

He is going to record 2 stories for a Radio 4 series called 'Hearts of Oak' the stories are called 'Youth' and 'I Have Been Drowned'.  They are being directed by Karen Rose from a company called Sweettalk for BBC Radio 4.

29 June 2004: Jonathan Firth has been nominated by the Intl Society for Excellence in Christian Film & Television for the CFT Excellence Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Luther.

Details of the CFT Excellence awards and the International Society for Excellence in Christian Film & Television can be found at ; http://www.cftexcellence.net

2003 CFT Excellence Awards Ceremony is scheduled to be  be held in W. Chicago, IL USA on October 9th, 2004

6 June 2004: Jonathan Firth will be in BBC Radio 4's  Afternoon Play First Born on Monday 7 June 2004 2.15-3.00pm

31 May 2004: Jonathan Firth will be a featured cast member in the BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial drama  Good Behaviour. The programme will air Sunday 13 June 2004 3.00-4.00pm

8 April 2004: Listen to digital archived files of The Parasites witih RealOne player (the urls can be found here). Jonathan plays Niall Delaney, one of three siblings which the story revolves around. More details here.

18 March 2004: Jonathan news - keep a look out on BBC Radio 4 for The Parasites. Jonathan plays Niall Delaney, one of three siblings which the story revolves around. More details here.

Available on audio tape and cd; Shadows of Glory and Sepulcher by James Herbert. Please see details below.

Audio Cassette (March 5, 2004) 
Publisher: Macmillan Audio 
ISBN: 1405021284 

Synopsis A conflict of evils There is a house called Neath that holds a dark and terrible secret.....In that house there is a psychic called Kline who is part of its secret.....The Keeper is guardian of the house, of the psychic, and of the secret.....But now an outsider must protect them from a terrible danger.....Halloran will combat men who thrive on physical corruption; he will find love of a perverse nature; he will confront his soul's own darkness.....And eventually he will discover the horrific and awesome secret of the Sepulchre... REMEMBER WITH FEAR 

11/28/03  Watch Bait on BBC America Saturday 11/29/03

08/31/03 Added some stills from Henry VI thanks Andrala
In case you missed them last year, here is the photoshoot Jon did to promote Victoria and Albert in September 2002

08/12/03  The official site for Luther is now up, you can click here to reach the site. You will need Macromedia to play the page.  You can watch/download the trailer here    Thanks Murph

07/29/03  From the BBC One presspack for their Autumn 2003 programs;

Pompeii - The Last Day follows the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and brings to life this remarkable 24-hour period.

Using historical and forensic evidence to re-enact an account of this last day, the programme explores the horrific impact of the natural disaster on the city through its people. 

More from the BBC press packet

04/06/03 - a new audio book is reviewed in today's London Times which is read by Jon;

THE SNOW GEESE 
By William Fiennes
Read by Jonathan Firth
Macmillan, £9.99, abridged
ISBN 1 405 00629 3

AT THE age of 25, William Fiennes was struck down by a mysterious 
debilitating illness. Convalescing in a hotel, he discovered a copy of Paul Gallico's children's story, The Snow Goose. Re-reading the fable ignited an interest in birds, while its themes chimed with his intense longing for home and a simultaneous desire for escape. 

He resolved, once better, to follow the migration of the snow geese from their winter residence on the Gulf coast of America to their breeding ground in the Arctic, 2,000 miles away. This resulting book belongs to the genre of travel writing pioneered by Bruce Chatwin: part scientific study, part adventure story, part biography and part meditation. While it would be understandable for an author to choose migration as a subject more for its thematic potency than because of an interest in natural history, Fiennes seems to be fascinated by the vast flock that he is following. 

Interesting as his musings undoubtedly are on the human nesting instinct, for example, and the tension between desire for adventure and for familiarity it is to the book's credit that he does not give his inner journey more weight than that of the birds above his head. Fiennes (yes, he is related to Ralph and Joseph) is an astute and highly engaging writer with great descriptive powers. 

Occasionally, his poeticism tilts towards preciousness, but this lyricism is well suited to his awesome, solitary experiences: the sight of a quarter of a million geese in the air; the northern lights and the endless Canadian wilderness. This audiobook has been thoughtfully abridged, and Firth (and yes, he is Colin's brother) reads with precision and assurance.

12/20/02 - Jonathan has recorded an audio book for BBC Audio Books - The Dark Horse by Marcus Sedgwick for possible release early 2003. 

No release date as of yet for Luther.

10/31/02 - Jonathan was in the Afternoon Play today titled Double Vision. Jonathan played the twin brother of a widowed doctor. Her friends and family suspect the worse of this stranger. You can listen to the play on the Radio 4 site until 11/01/02 9am EST

10/30/02 - Jonathan news : he's just finished recording a radio play called Double Vision the part of Simon Walton, dir Eoin O'Callaghan prod co. Pacificus Productions for Radio 4.  We do not have a [broadcast] date [yet].

09/20/02 - Jonathan kindly answered some questions about his character in the upcomng film Luther (starring Joseph Fiennes).  The beginnings of a Luther page can be found here

Read Jonathan's reply here below

Date: Thursday, September 19, 2002 3:17 pm
From: Jonathan Firth

Hi Mickie. Thank you for your questions.

About Aleander-

Although  Aleandro (or Aleander as he is called in the film) is Luther's opponent and therefor by default the "bad guy", the film is more sophisticated than a simple contest  between heroes and villains. As a highly intelligent and educated man he can see the truth behind many of Luther's criticisms of the church and recognises the need for reform, but as a loyal Catholic he cannot consent to the damage being done  by Luther's teaching. He is confident to the point of arrogance and this leads him to seriously underestimate Luther, thinking that he is simply dealing with an illiterate monk. Aleander quickly comes to recognise the threat Luther poses to his own ambitions, and from there (at least from Aleander's point of view) the contest becomes personal. They come face to face at the Diet of Worms where much of the dialogue comes from the original transcripts of  the trial.

Aleander is not originally a church man, he is an academic who is made a cardinal, which was quite common at that time. I was therefor not tonsured for the role  but had the long hair typical of the period together with an extraordinary array of headwear. You can say what you like about the middle ages, they certainly knew about hats!

With regards to the music, the only singing in the movie is done by monks and priests etc. during religious services and no, I don't take part!

It was interesting after "Albert" to be playing a real person again, although there was nothing like the amount of background material available as there was then. This though gave me a degree of freedom that I didn't have with Albert -there was for example no pressure to make myself closely resemble Aleander. It was also fascinating to learn about one of the most crucial periods in history. I already knew quite a lot about the Renaissance as I had done art history at school, but I knew very little about the Reformation. 

Hope this is of some interest, Mickie. Thanks once again for the tremendous amount of work you have put into the site. I'm really very flattered by it and have found it quite useful , when discovering U.S tx dates for example.
Hope you're well.

09/06/02 -                          **Alert** 
Jonathan is starring in a dramatisation of "New Grub Street" by George Gissing.  This is being serialised in three parts and being broadcast as BBC Radio Four's classic serial.  The first episode is being broadcast on Sunday 8th September at 3pm and will be repeated the following Saturday at 9pm.  Harold Pinter is the narrator and Jonathan Cake and Emilia Fox are also starring. 
(update courtesy of Barbara T. and Gill)

New Grub Street, Part 1 

By George Gissing, dramatised in three parts by Tony Ramsay 

Harold Pinter narrates the story of a group of struggling writers, whose battles between artistic integrity and the dictates of the market place, are fought out in pokey garrets or the Reading Room of the British Museum in the 1880s. 

With Harold Pinter, Jonathan Firth, Emilia Fox, Jonathan Cake, Kenneth Cranham, Ann Beach, Tracy Ann Oberman, Ian Masters, Helen Longworth, Paula Jacobs, David Timson, Martin Hyder, and Carl Prekopp. Music by Mia Soteriou. Director Janet Whitaker. 

Sunday, 15:00-16:00  (first broadcast) 
Saturday, 21:00-22:00 (repeat broadcast the following weekend)
(All times GMT, +8 PDT)

04/02/02 - Inspector Lynley series begins Monday 8 April 2002 on BBC One TV. One of the episodes from this series is A Payment in Blood. Please keep an visit this url for episode information

03/29/02 - Added interview with Jonathan for V&A in the UK, please click on this link.  Also added info for A Payment in Blood

1/30/02 - article on A Likeness In Stone

Here is an excerpt from an email from Jonathan regarding his latest project and his good wishes to you his fans 

I have just completed work on a 90 min film for television  (Bait) to be screened   on ITV however, it will be some time before we receive a air date.   It was directed by Nicholas Renton who I worked with before on 'Far from the Madding Crowd' and  features John Hurt, Sheila Hancock & Angeline Ball.  It was a contemporary psychological thriller about a middle aged man obsessed with finding his missing daughter. 

 With regards to 'Payment in Blood' it was a slightly  more conventional detective genre piece, country house murder mystery, in which I am the prime suspect!!    You're right in thinking Julian Wadham is in it along with Ronald Pickup who played my father in 'Henry IV'. If you're particularly sharp eyed you may recognize the location from  'Victoria & Albert'.  Again  it will be some time before we know when it will air as they are still filming the final ep.

That about sums up my recent activity!

Best wishes,
Jonathan 
11/27/01
 

9/25/01: Jonathan is currently filming an episode of Inspector Lynley. It stars Nat Parker as Inspector Lynley. You might remember that Jonathan and Nat played in FFTMC together. The character Jonathan is playing: Rhys Davies Jones in "Payment in Blood" dir Kim Flitcroft. He is filming till the end of October. Link to Payment in Blood page. 

For articles of Victoria & Albert, please follow this link. Victoria & Albert will have its US premiere on A&E 7th & 9th October.
 
 

7/23/01- Update on Victoria and Albert on the news page

7/21/01: Excerpt from Saturday's Daily Telegraph below (Thanks Peggy). 

Queen Victoria will not step out of her costume drama 

MUCH hyped and trailed, the BBC Drama department’s contribution to the centenary of : Queen Victoria's death was supposed to be a £5 million all-star, bodice-ripping, two-part : costume drama about the sexual magnetism between Victoria and Albert. Sex and the Saxe-Coburgs, one might call it. 

The production, boasted the producers,” would peep through her bedroom door” and show plenty of “lace and garter.” Alas, it was scheduled for the spring, but never saw the light of day. Now, I gather, we should be seeing it on August Bank Holiday weekend. But, the BBC, which refuses to confirm : the new date, is now saying emphatically that “there’s no : bonking” .Why the delay and coyness? “It was never actually announced for the spring,” says a BBC apparatchik. “Maybe there were problems with it being late or with scheduling, but please don't say it’s going out over the Bank Holiday. Schedules get changed at: the last minute, and we can’t confirm anything until a fortnight before.” All of which seems an odd way to treat a flagship programme with £5 million from the licence payer.

Victoria Hamilton and Jonathan Firth star in the series as Queen and consort, and there’s a cameo: a minute from the likes of Sir Nigel Hawthorne, Dame Diana Rigg, Sir Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.

Another BBC drama, Station Jim - also to be shown in the autumn - will feature Prunella Scales as Queen Victoria. By strange chance, Hamilton and Scales will be teaming up on stage in: September at the New Ambassador’s in the West End for a revival of Peter Nicholls’ A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. [ed note - Wit