'Departed' Writer William Monahan Doing 1960s Drama 'Crime' for Starz

William Monahan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "The Departed," is writing and executive producing the 1960s drama "Crime" for Starz.

The series, the first TV show for Atlas Entertainment, is being produced in partnership with Henceforth Pictures for Starz and Sonar Entertainment. Starz described the series, now in development, as "a study of criminal enterprise and scandal across 1960s Britain."

“There’s very little more interesting to me than the Sixties in Britain,” said Monahan (pictured). “Taken from Profumo to psychedelia, from the London criminal world to the worlds of art and fashion -- all of which continually intersected. I know one thing: it’s very, very, funny.”

The project in development is being executive produced by Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and William Green with Monahan. Atlas’ Andy Horwitz and Henceforth Pictures’ Justine Suzanne Jones are co-executive producing.

Monahan recently completed the screenplay for "The Gambler" for Martin Scorsese and producer Irwin Winkler at Paramount, and Robert Rodriguez’s "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For."

Frank Skinner: 'I asked for a role on Doctor Who'

Frank Skinner has revealed that he has been trying to get himself a cameo role in BBC series Doctor Who.

The comic is a big fan of the sci-fi show and joked that he would be willing to take any part, no matter how small.

"I asked my manager to get me a part in Doctor Who. I didn't need a big part - a monster or a lunar rock - but I would love to be able to tell my grandchildren I was in it," he told The Graham Norton Show.

"My manager said, 'I'm sure it won't be a problem'. He got in touch and got an email back that said, 'We are really happy that it is something Frank would like to do…' Somehow the end of the email seemed to have been cut off..."

Former Doctor Who actress Billie Piper is also on this week's Graham Norton Show and Skinner confessed that he had accidentally called her by her character name 'Rose' when he met her backstage before the show.

The Graham Norton Show airs this Friday (January 4) on BBC One.

Josh Groban and Example are the other guests on the chatshow this week.

Celebrity Big Brother: Everything you need to know for launch night

Don't bother signing up for that New Year gym membership, Celebrity Big Brother is back this week to blow away those post-Christmas blues and have you glued to the sofa for the next three weeks.

In case you were too busy stuffing your face with Quality Street and partying over the festive season to catch up on your reality TV news, here's a super-quick roundup of what you can expect from the latest series.

When is it back?

It launches tomorrow evening (Thursday, January 3) at 9pm. There's a hefty two-hour launch show from giddy host Brian Dowling, followed by the first episode of spin-off series/human zoo Bit on the Side, presented by the delightful Emma Willis.

Of course, there will be a twist on the opening night and producers are promising a "house from hell" and "nasty twists". Business as usual then.

Soap star overload

The rumoured list of housemates is stuffed with more soap stars than the Rovers Return on New Year's Eve. Student icon Toadie from Neighbours (Ryan Moloney), ex-EastEnders cast-off Gillian Taylforth, someone who used to be in Heartbeat (Tricia Penrose) and a chap that was briefly in Corrie (Sam Robertson) are all potentially heading into the compound. Soap duo Bruce Jones and Wendi Peters have also been tagged to take part by some newspapers.

If you don't know your Corrie cobbles from your Albert Square don't worry, Claire from Steps, some models you'll never have heard of, Rylan from X Factor and Frankie Dettori are also apparently taking part. It's like a who's who of people you can expect to see in panto next Christmas.

Meet Lacey Banghard

A celebrity in the very loosest sense of the word, Lacey Banghard is a Page 3 Idol winner, whose claim to fame appears to be having a pair of 26GG breasts that she is happy to share. You may not know her now, but you can expect to have seen every curve, flash of flesh and nipple she owns on the Daily Mail sidebar by the end of the series.

Oh, and by the way, that really is her name apparently.

Lindsay Lohan is going in! No she isn't! Yes she is! No, she probably isn't!

The 'Lindsay Lohan is doing Celebrity Big Brother rumour' will just never die. The troubled Hollywood star and Mean Girls actress is tipped to take part every year - anyone would think the producers deliberately leak her name to stoke up interest. Hmm.

The 2013 Celeb BB Lohan rumours have gone into overdrive in this past week because the jail-friendly star has handily flown into the UK at the right time. However, we suspect this is going the same way as that Charlie Sheen rumour a few years back, so don't get your hopes up.

The crazy world of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag

If you've never heard of the double-headed reality TV monster that is Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag consider yourself very lucky. If you're planning on watching them in the Celebrity Big Brother house, you have our condolences.

The rubber-faced duo, who consist of 88% plastic boobs, 10% shiny teeth and 2% fake tan, found 'fame' in the US on the hit reality series The Hills. The duo are publicity hungry, headline-grabbing specialists who are fond of walking off reality shows, walking back into reality shows, getting married, getting re-married, splitting and getting back together.

Throw in some sex tape scandals, weird born-again Christian mumbo-jumbo, dodgy 9/11 conspiracy theories and a bit of bankruptcy and you'll understand a small slice of what you have to look forward to with this pair of oddballs.

They'll make Rylan look like a University Challenge contestant.

Channel 5 cut costs when it came to re-designs of the house and the Diary Room, with minimal changes between series. There is supposedly some sort of high-tech ice hotel/ski-lodge/IKEA closing-down sale theme, but to be honest, it looks pretty similar to every other house there's been on Channel 5.

Except for one thing. There's an igloo at one end of the garden. Which is pretty cool. Cool? Igloo? Geddit?

Celebrity Big Brother launches on Channel 5 on Thursday at 9pm.

Al Jazeera Completes Purchase of Current TV

Al Jazeera's purchase of Current TV will end Al Gore's liberal-minded station and give the Qatar-financed network access to 60 million U.S. homes for the first time.

In a statement, founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said that they are "proud and pleased" by the takeover, noting that the two news agencies share similar goals. Al Jazeera plans to discontinue Current's programming -- including a primetime lineup of liberal hosts -- and replace it with its own broadcasts.

No purchase price was disclosed, but The New York Times cited people with direct knowledge of the deal who said it was $500 million. That would mean a $100 million payout for the former vice president, the paper said.

Al Jazeera has long claimed independence from Qatar, saying it is much more than a propaganda arm for the small Middle Eastern country. Its efforts to build its journalistic reputation have been hindered by accusations of the Qatari royal family meddling in its coverage.

"We are proud and pleased that Al Jazeera, the award-winning international news organization, has bought Current TV," Gore and Hyatt said in a statement provided to TheWrap. "Since its founding in 2005, Current has grown into a national network available in nearly 60 million homes, offering thought-provoking commentary and Emmy and Peabody award-winning programming."

However, the newly purchased Current TV won't be seen by customers of Time Warner Cable. The cable carrier said Wednesday that it is terminating its carriage agreement with Current "as quickly as possible."

Current TV launched in 2005 with the goal of providing a progressive, independent voice in cable news. It has since assembled a liberal-minded primetime lineup, made up largely of personalities who came from other networks. Its most ambitious effort -- recruiting Keith Olbermann -- flamed out when the former MSNBC host failed, as he tends to do, to get along with his new bosses.

Olbermann's exit left others to try to meet the higher ratings he was expected to bring. But the rest of Current's personalities -- including former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and ex-CNN host and New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer -- struggled for audiences.

Al Jazeera, meanwhile, sought a larger U.S. audience. Al Jazeera is now available in only a few U.S. cities, including New York and Washington, but would establish a new U.S. channel based in New York, according to The New York Times. It would provide about 60 percent of the network's coverage, with the rest coming from Al Jazeera English, the network's existing English-language channel, the newspaper said.

Though Current's prospective buyer is a surprise, the possibility of a sale is not. Hyatt said in October that Current has had three inquiries from prospective buyers in the past year, and that it was weighing its options.

Celebrity Big Brother: Steps star Claire Richards hints at involvement

Claire Richards has fuelled reports that she is joining the upcoming series of Celebrity Big Brother in a new Twitter message.

The Steps singer has been rumoured as one of the stars to enter the Big Brother house this year, alongside the likes of Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, and Rylan Clark.

Richards has remained coy about her involvement, neither confirming nor denying the reports.

However, she appeared to hint at her involvement on Wednesday, tweeting : "Right my lovely tweethearts! I wont be able to tweet you for a while…. so please follow @UrbanAssociates whilst i'm away… lots of love C."

Later, her husband Reece Richards tweeted from her account: "Hi, it's Reece here (Claire's husband) Just got home from work, she's not here and her suitcases are missing. Anyone got any ideas?!!"

The singer would be following in the footsteps of her bandmate Ian 'H' Watkins, who appeared on the show in 2007.

The new series of Celebrity Big Brother begins tonight (January 3) on Channel 5 at 9pm.

Time Warner Cable Might Drop Lifetime, E!

Sorry -- or, perhaps, congratulations -- Time Warner Cable subscribers: you may soon lose access to the networks that brought you  "Liz & Dick" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Time Warner cautioned its customers this week that it may drop a number of networks, including Lifetime, E! and Starz, which all have agreements with Time Warner that are due to expire soon.

Numerous Encore networks and Al Gore's Current TV are also among the networks that could go on the chopping block, according to a notice published on Time Warner Cable's website.

"Time Warner Cable’s agreements with programmers and broadcasters to carry their services and stations routinely expire from time to time. We are usually able to obtain renewals or extensions of such agreements, but in order to comply with applicable regulations, we must inform you when an agreement is about to expire," the notice reads. "The following agreements are due to expire soon, and we may be required to cease carriage of one or more of these services/stations in the near future."

On New Year's Eve, Time Warner Cable decided to drop the arts-centric network Ovation along with its HD channel. The carrier did, however, strike a long-term deal with Crown Media Family Networks to continue carrying the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel. Time Warner also forged a short-term agreement with AMC Networks to keep airing AMC's IFC and WE tv, while the two companies continue to hammer out a more permanent pact for those networks.

John Barrowman: 'Doctor Who anniversary snub would be disappointing'

John Barrowman has said that he would be "disappointed" if Captain Jack Harkness doesn't return to Doctor Who for the show's 50th anniversary.

The Torchwood actor has been vocal about his desire to return to Doctor Who, despite the fact that he is currently playing Malcolm Merlyn on US series Arrow.

Barrowman has now suggested that he is still hoping to receive a call from Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, according to The Los Angeles Times.

"I haven't been asked. I would love to [come back to Doctor Who] if they ask me," he stressed.

He went on to say: "[Arrow producer] Andrew Kreisberg has already said if they want me in the 50th anniversary, he will give me the time off to do it. But it's not up to me."

Barrowman's character Captain Jack Harkness debuted in the series one two-part story 'The Empty Child'/'The Doctor Dances', which was written by Moffat.

Captain Jack subsequently teamed up with The Doctor again in three episodes in the third series, and in the series four finale 'The Stolen Earth'/'Journey's End', where Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble foiled a universe-ending plot by Davros and the Daleks.

Barrowman's spinoff show Torchwood aired its fourth series in 2011.

New Doctor Who companion Jenna-Louise Coleman recently promised that the 50th anniversary will be an event fans will remember for the rest of their lives.

The series returns with new episodes later this year on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US.