What's on Stage Awards

Public Property has been nominated for the Best New Comedy Award and Julian Ovenden has been nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his part in Annie Get Your Gun.

You can cast your vote here.

Yorkshire Television Studios to be redeveloped

The main studios ITV at Kirkstall Road in Leeds are to be given a 5 million pound refit and will become home to Emmerdale. Is this good news for The Royal? Who knows, but at least it is good news for TV Production in Yorkshire.

Robert Daws in Public Property

Roberts Daws has been getting fantastic reviews as newsreader Geoffrey Hammond in the play Public Property:

The intimate Trafalgar studio 2 works well for this three hander and the cast act their socks off.

TUCKED away in London's theatreland is this gem of a play. Robert Daws is immaculate as the venerable Geoffrey…In this intimate theatre it's a rare treat to see such brilliant actors perform so well at such close quarters.

Robert Daws is outstanding as the flustered telly celeb,

Daws does an excellent job of showing the desperation behind the bluster, and his raw vulnerability when talking to or about his offstage lover provides the production's tenderest moments.

Sharp dialogue and characters who are at once very naughty, rather neurotic but somehow lovable have seen this show praised to the skies by critics


greatly helped by Robert Daws's remarkable performance as Hammond whose early conceit quickly evaporates as he proves to be a nice enough chap.

Damian O Hare in theatre

Damian O Hare (Dr Nick Burnett), can be seen in the John Steinbeck classic The Grapes of Wrath.


More information can be found here:



The play has recieved excellent reviews, such as:

From remotegoat.co.uk:
"There are a number of strong and outstanding performances starting off with young Tom Joad the now paroled killer who clearly has an explosive character. Damian O'Hare plays the role with a building tension that you know is going to blow right about now."

From the Birmingham post:
"But tellingly the first scene, the chance encounter on the road between Tom Joad, returning from jail, and Casey, the former preacher turned sceptic, has a focused intimacy (and a clarity of delivery from Damian O’Hare and Oliver Cotton that we don’t always experience in this theatre) which immediately gives a momentum to the narrative which is sustained throughout the first act"

And finally, the Stage:
"Tom, the convict on licence played by Damian O’Hare, is a man of many parts, who develops a philosophical attitude which is not always at one with his understandable anger."

The play, also starring Sorcha Cusack (Who played Sister Brigid's mother in the Ireland episodes), can be seen at:

West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 3rd-14th November
Hall for Cornwall, Truro, 17th-21st November.

Who's the fairest of them all?

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” - Michelle Hardwick, The Royal's receptionist, Lizzie Hopkirk stars in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Grand Opera House in York from 11th December 2009.

The magical fairy tale features all the great pantomime ingredients; a beautiful princess trying to escape the clutches of a wicked queen, Lynne McGranger (Irene from Home & Away) and a handsome prince Mark Griffin (Gladiators Trojan) who comes to her rescue. Plus of course bucket loads of songs, dances and lots of fun and laughter. Billed as "The perfect festive treat for the whole family"

Tickets are now onsale: The Grand Opera House York

Robert Daws in theatre

Robert Daws in Public Property
Actor Robert Daws, (Dr Ormerod in The Royal) is currently rehearsing a new play at Trafalgar Studio 2 in London. Performances run from 10th Nov to 5th Dec 2009 and tickets are now on sale. Robert plays Geoffrey Hammond, a popular TV newsreader, with Nigel Harman (Eastenders & Hotel Babylon) as his publicist Larry. For further information and tickets, please visit the website: http://www.publicpropertytheplay.com
Or you can follow Geoffrey Hammond on Twitter: http://twitter.com/GHammondat10

What is the Royal?

So what is The Royal?

The Royal is a Hospital drama set in 1960’s North Yorkshire, the name of the TV show echos the name of the cottage hospital, to give it it’s full title “St Aiden’s Royal Free” in the fictional town of Elsinby.
The show was first broadcast in January 2003, a spin off show from the ever popular police drama Heartbeat, we meet the first character from The Royal in Heartbeat series 12 episode 11 “Sins of the Fathers”, with the arrival of Dr James Alway (Francis Matthews), at the doctor’s surgery following the tragic death of Dr Tricia Summerby (Clare Calbraith), Aidensfield’s young GP.
We are first introduced to The Royal properly four weeks later in episode 14 of Heartbeat series 12 “Out of the Blue.” Vernon Scrips (Geoffrey Hughes) has become involved in a money making scam involving a tanker, which he is driving back from Hull early one morning, when a speeding car causes him to swerve on a narrow moors road and the tanker overturns. By the time PC Mike Bradley (Jason Durr) arrives on the scene, the unknown contents are spilling onto the road. An unconscious Vernon is taken by ambulance to The Royal and within hours the population of Aidensfield are suffering symptoms from contamination of the water supply by the contents of the tanker. Unable to cope with the never ending stream of patients, Dr Alway sends some of them for treatment at The Royal. And so we are introduced to Dr Jill Weatherill (Amy Robbins), Dr Gordon Ormerod (Robert Daws), Sister Bridget (Linda Armstrong) and Matron (Wendy Craig).
The appeal of Heartbeat has always been the subtle balance of serious police and medical based stories with the gentle humour of the other characters. The Royal adopts the same approach, introducing receptionist Lizzie Kennoway (Michelle Hardwick) through a comical misunderstanding with Heartbeat’s undertaker Bernie Scripps (Peter Benson) brother of the unfortunate and now unconscious Vernon. The comedy is carried through as Vernon regains consciousness and quickly enlists the help of porters Ken Hopkirk (Mickey Starke) and Alun Morris (Andy Wear).
"Out of the Blue" combines the two shows beautifully, the premise of Heartbeat has always been the mixture of police and medical stories and to a certain extent The Royal carries on this tradition, though with more emphasis on the medical aspects. Through out the first two series characters from Heartbeat occasionally appear in The Royal, a genius move by the producers, as the sister show was to share the same slot on a Sunday evening, and the continuity of familiar characters encouraged audience transference. The storylines of Dr Always continue seamlessly across the two shows and The Royal’s new recruit Dr David Cheriton (Julian Ovenden) is introduced at the beginning of the first episode of The Royal, “First Impressions” outside Heartbeat’s pub the Aidensfield Arms, as he gets directions from Gina Ward (Tricia Penrose).

ITV bosses were so confident that The Royal was going to be a sure fire hit that the second series was commissioned and filmed before the first series had even aired. Viewing figures soon bore out their confidence.Six years later, despite The Royal still being consistently ranked in the top ten terrestrial dramas the picture is far different and fans across the world are uniting to save the show. If you haven’t already done so please support the campaign by signing the petition to Save The Royal. http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/itv-the-royal.html