Gabriel Byrne to star in Channel 4 drama 'Coup'

Gabriel Byrne to star in Channel 4 drama 'Coup'

Gabriel Byrne is to take the lead role in forthcoming Channel 4 drama Coup.

The conspiracy thriller - based on former Labour MP Chris Mullin's novel A Very British Coup - will see Byrne play reluctant hero Tom Dawkins.

Following a suspicious industrial accident in Teeside, politician Dawkins will rail against the establishment to uncover the truth and get justice for the families affected by the disaster.

Struggling to keep his party onside and the electorate behind him, he gradually unravels a sinister government conspiracy.

Byrne is best known for his film credits, including roles in 1990's Miller's Crossing, 1995's The Usual Suspects and 1999's End of Days.

He also appeared in HBO drama In Treatment for three seasons, until the show was cancelled in March 2011.

His last UK television appearance was a 1994 production for BBC Two's single drama Screen Two.

Coup has been adapted by Lennon Naked scribe Robert Jones and will be produced by The Shadow Line's Johann Knobel.

The four-part series - made by Company Pictures and Newscope Films - is due to begin filming in February and will air on Channel 4 later this year.

Celebrity Big Brother housemates set 'Flour Mountain' task

Celebrity Big Brother housemates set 'Flour Mountain' task

The Celebrity Big Brother housemates have been set a Flour Mountain task today (January 24).

Big Brother will call the celebrities into the Diary Room one by one, where they must battle with a mountain of flour.

Hidden within the flour is a cinema ticket, which they must find as quickly as possible. The housemates will be blindfolded and must dig through the flour with their hands tied behind their backs.

If the ticket falls out of the mountain or they blow the flour, they will fail the task. The housemate must show Big Brother the ticket in their teeth to win the task.

Whoever finds the ticket the quickest will win themselves a cinema pass and a plus one for their housemate of choice.

The reward will be a screening of either Bridesmaids, The Hangover, Invictus, The Social Network or Michael Madsen's Reservoir Dogs.

Celebrity Big Brother continues every day this week on Channel 5.

Kristen Bell: 'I joined House of Lies to work with Don Cheadle'

Kristen Bell: 'I joined House of Lies to work with Don Cheadle'

Kristen Bell has revealed that she instantly agreed to join the cast of House of Lies in order to work with Don Cheadle.

The actress plays management consultant Jeannie Van Der Hooven in the Showtime comedy, which premiered in the US earlier this month.

She explained that she didn't need to know too much information about the part for her to accept the role, because she was so excited about the prospect of working with Cheadle.

"Before [the producer] finished the 'le' in Cheadle, I said yes. I just flew by the seat of my pants," she told TV Guide.

"What they initially said was, 'You're a small role in the pilot, but don't worry we're going to develop your character. It's going to be great', which I can tell is the pitch that everyone gets when you have under 20 lines in a pilot. They always promise you the world. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

"Even if they were yanking my chain about developing the character, I said to myself, 'It's fine. If I have to support Don Cheadle in a series, there are worse jobs you can have'."

Kristen Bell recently described Don Cheadle as one of the "best actors of the past 20 years".

She also spoke of her hopes for a Veronica Mars movie adaptation to be made in the future.

'Geordie Shore' Gary Beadle 'in bust-up with new co-star Ricci'

'Geordie Shore' Gary Beadle 'in bust-up with new co-star Ricci'

Geordie Shore star Gary Beadle has reportedly had a bust-up with co-star Ricci Guarnaccio, say reports.

According to the Daily Star, the duo had a "violent scrap" after taunting each other about sleeping with a girl.

The newspaper claims that Beadle was given a "dressing down" by producers over the spat and that he was fined and banned from filming one episode.

Guarnaccio and Rebecca Walker have joined the cast as full-time flatmates for the rating hit's second run.

'Spartacus' exec: 'Game of Thrones changed our new season'

'Spartacus' exec: 'Game of Thrones changed our new season'

Spartacus showrunner Steven S DeKnight has revealed that the series' second season was influenced by Game of Thrones.

DeKnight told IGN that an incest sub-plot was removed from Spartacus: Vengeance to avoid comparisons with HBO's fantasy drama.

"All of us writers on Spartacus love Game of Thrones," he said. "It's just so well done.

"It's interesting because we did have an incest plot planned for Vengeance, with the twin characters of Seppius (Tom Hobbs) and Seppia (Hanna Mangan), but when I heard that Game of Thrones had it as an integral part of the story... we didn't go there."

DeKnight continued: "We didn't want to repeat something that somebody else was doing. And Game of Thrones did it so brilliantly [with the relationship between Cersei and Jaime].

"We have to find our unusual extremeness in other ways. Which, believe me, by the end of the season we do."

Spartacus star Nick Tarabay (Ashur) recently promised that future episodes will shock fans.

"Whatever you think you know about Spartacus or the characters of Spartacus, forget it," he warned. "The people that you love, you're going to hate. The people that you hate, you're going to love. And just when you think you've got it figured out, it changes again."

Spartacus: Vengeance begins on Friday on Starz in the US and will air on Mondays on Sky1 in the UK.

Jason Ritter show, 'Friday Night Dinner' remake among NBC pilot orders

Jason Ritter show, 'Friday Night Dinner' remake among NBC pilot orders

Projects starring Roseanne Barr and Jason Ritter are among the ten pilots which have been picked up by NBC.

Ritter, who has appeared in Parenthood and The Event, will take the lead role in County, TV Line reports.

The project focuses on a group of people working in a struggling Los Angeles hospital and has been created by Parenthood and Friday Night Lights producer Jason Katims.

Barr's project Downwardly Mobile, which sees the comedian playing the maternal owner of a trailer park, has also received a pilot order.

Elsewhere, a remake of the British comedy Friday Night Dinner, shepherded by The Office producer Greg Daniels and starring Anchorman's David Koechner, has been asked for an episode.

Other projects receiving pilot pick-ups include a new firefighting drama from Law & Order showrunner Dick Wolf called Chicago Fire and a comedy called Animal Kingdom, which focuses on a vet who loves animals but isn't really a people person.

Friends writer Scott Silveri got an order for an episode of his comedy Go On, while a project produced by Jimmy Fallon - which focuses on a group of three immature fathers - was also picked up.

Meanwhile, Community writer Hilary Winston is penning a pilot about a woman whose colleagues help her get revenge on her ex-fiancé.

Other comedies include Next Caller Please, which focuses on an alpha male DJ and his new feminist co-host, and Daddy's Girl, which follows what happens when a woman returns home from abroad to discover that her father is dating the "mean girl" from her school.

NBC has already ordered pilots including Anne Heche comedy Save Me and sci-fi drama Beautiful People.

Amanda Holden under observation in hospital, misses 'BGT' auditions

Amanda Holden under observation in hospital, misses 'BGT' auditions

Amanda Holden will miss Britain's Got Talent auditions in Blackpool today (January 24) after admitting herself to hospital yesterday.

The judge, who is due to give birth to a baby girl, rejoined the panel last week as auditions kicked off in Manchester.

However, the 40-year-old will not appear alongside Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon today as she remains under observation in a London hospital.

Holden recently joked that she would make Cowell her new daughter's godfather, saying: "He could set up a trust fund with stacks of money in it because it's a girl - so she'll need shoes."

The former Shrek: The Musical star and husband Chris Hughes suffered a stillbirth last year. Recalling the discovery of her current pregnancy, Holden said that she had "burst into tears".

A Britain's Got Talent spokesperson confirmed that auditions would continue with the three remaining judges.