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BBC News - Entertainment & Arts
The latest stories from the Entertainment & Arts section of the BBC News web site.
The US cult of Downton Abbey
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:32:47 GMT
What's behind US cult appeal of Downton Abbey?
'Viewers want clearer TV credits'
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:14:37 GMT
Actors should be given more prominence in TV credits that are shown at the end of programmes, according to a survey carried out by the acting union Equity.
AUDIO: 'How I got to play Sigmund Freud'
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:19:14 GMT
Actor Viggo Mortensen told Radio 5 live how he got the part of Sigmund Freud in new film A Dangerous Method.
Connolly ends shows after heckles
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:31:43 GMT
Comedian Billy Connolly is criticised for ending two of his stand-up shows early in the past week due to hecklers.
Radio 1's Hackney 2012 revealed
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:05:30 GMT
BBC Radio 1 have announced more than 25 acts to take part in the Olympic Hackney weekend festival.
In pictures: Copycat exhibition
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:04:00 GMT
Original artworks hang alongside copies in new exhibition
£18m arts centre shows revealed
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:15:44 GMT
Belfast's new £18m Metropolitan Arts centre - MAC - is prepares to open its doors in the city's Cathedral Quarter.
ITV's Fred West drama wins award
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:02:58 GMT
Appropriate Adult, ITV1's dramatisation of the arrest of killer Fred West, picks up best single drama at the Broadcast awards in London.
VIDEO: Iran 'intimidating BBC Persian'
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:25:09 GMT
The BBC's director general Mark Thompson has accused the Iranian authorities of intimidating those working for its Persian service.
Poster 'threat' to Dujardin Oscar
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:07:31 GMT
Movie billboards in Paris featuring The Artist actor Jean Dujardin might affect his chances of winning an Academy Award, according to French press.
Bond team release Skyfall image
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:57:11 GMT
Actor Daniel Craig is shown wielding a gun and sporting stubble in the first official image from the new James Bond film Skyfall.
Artist set for Facebook windfall
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:13:34 GMT
A US graffiti artist who painted Facebook's offices is set to become a millionaire when the social network begins trading as a public company.
Gruffalo author pens protest poem
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:11:54 GMT
Children's laureate and Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson writes a poem in protest at planned library closures across the country.
BBC accuses Iran of intimidation
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:47 GMT
The BBC's Director General, Mark Thompson, accuses the Iranian authorities of intimidating those working for its Persian service.
Acting veteran Ben Gazzara dies
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:27:26 GMT
US film and Broadway actor Ben Gazzara has died in New York at the age of 81.
VIDEO: Film 24 - the week's new films
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:21:07 GMT
Mark Kermode reviews the latest UK film releases including Martha Marcy May Marlene, Man on A Ledge and Young Adult.
Sharon to make EastEnders return
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:10:26 GMT
Actress Letitia Dean is to return to Albert Square after an absence of six years.
King's Speech premieres on stage
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:59:05 GMT
Almost a year after the film reigned supreme at the Oscars, the stage version of The King's Speech has its world premiere.
Grant 'on board' for Jones film
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:26:26 GMT
Actor Hugh Grant will star in the third Bridget Jones movie, despite recent reports that he had pulled out of the sequel
Calvin Harris named top hitmaker
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:20:58 GMT
Pop star Calvin Harris was the most successful songwriter in the UK singles chart in 2011, according to research from trade magazine Music Week.
Asian TV characters 'stereotyped'
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:26:11 GMT
Australia is more forward-thinking than the UK when it comes to portraying ethnic minorities in soaps, says Neighbours actor Sachin Joab.
VIDEO: Art by animals goes on show
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:06:30 GMT
A work of abstract expressionism by a chimp and a still life of a flower by an elephant are part of a new exhibition in London of artworks created by animals.
VIDEO: The Queen's unofficial portraits
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:37:12 GMT
One of the first events to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee is taking place at the Cartoon Museum in London.
Gospel singer David Peaston dies
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:47:52 GMT
R&B and gospel singer David Peaston, best known for the tracks Two Wrongs (Don't Make it Right) and Can I?, dies aged 54.
VIDEO: Behind the scenes with The Queen
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:01:30 GMT
Andrew Marr is presenting a new documentary to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
In Pictures: Paintings by animals
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:52:25 GMT
London exhibition of works of art by elephants and apes
Depardieu to star as Strauss-Kahn
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:30:11 GMT
Gerard Depardieu is to star in a movie about the sex scandal that caused IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign.
VIDEO: Scarlett's big prize and more news
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:26:49 GMT
Scarlett Johansson's among the winners at Germany's Golden Camera Awards and Daniel Radcliffe opens up about his drinking plus the rest of the day's top entertainment headlines.
Old strips and online aid comics
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:18:21 GMT
Why nostalgia and the internet are increasingly important for comics
Vettriano's Butler in rare show
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:16:20 GMT
One of the most famous paintings by Fife artist Jack Vettriano has gone on public display for the first time in two decades.
Residents say no to film-makers
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:14:40 GMT
The residents fed-up with movie stars and camera crews
Dickens 'beyond' modern children
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:30:44 GMT
Charles Dickens biographer Claire Tomalin says children are not being taught to read with the attention span necessary to appreciate the novelist's works.
David Jason moves behind the camera
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:26:19 GMT
Sir David Jason moves behind the camera
Crime dominates library lending
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:55:18 GMT
Novels by authors such as James Patterson and Lee Child are among the most borrowed books from British libraries.
Hunt for lowest ever bass singer
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:58:45 GMT
A record company has begun a worldwide search for the singer who can sing a note so low that it is thought never to have been sung before.
Noises Off transfers to West End
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:01:42 GMT
Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off is to transfer to the West End after breaking box office records at the Old Vic.
Film-maker Zalman King dies at 70
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:05:50 GMT
Film-maker Zalman King, best known for writing and producing the hit movie Nine and a Half Weeks, dies aged 70.
Critics' awards crown Gary Oldman
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:25:00 GMT
Gary Oldman wins his first acting award in more than two decades for his role as spymaster George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
AUDIO: Farce, theatre's new force
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:55:16 GMT
Arts editor Will Gompertz has been speaking to the writers and performers of farce to find out the genre's pitfalls and problems.
'Cult' film explores sect secrets
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:46:44 GMT
Martha Macy May Marlene explores the attraction of cults
Gibb says he feels 'fantastic'
Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:59:19 GMT
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb says he is making a "spectacular" recovery from cancer and that he is feeling "fantastic".