![05[1].jpg](http://www.tvscoop.tv/05[1]-thumb-130x120.jpg)
I love hyping something up to the shoulders, and The Devil’s Whore is my latest New Favourite Thing Coming Soon On Telly. It’s on next week (Channel 4, Wednesday 19 November, 9pm) and what I’ve seen of it, it’s an absolute snorter of a dirty, grimy period drama. Set in during the English Civil War of the 17th century, it’s full of torn family loyalties, saucy passion, politics and has an amazing heroine at its heart (watch out for my Andrea Riseborough interview next week). It has also got John Simm in it, and today the man himself was featured on the cover of Radio Times. I almost wet myself.
For all our Devil’s Whore stuff (including an advacned look at the fits episode), go here.
I’ve been a John Simm fan for ages – Cracker, The Lakes and especially State Of Play – and it has always seemed to me that he just picks amazing projects to get involved in. He must have just about the best integrity as an actor in this country, either that or an amazing agent.
His role as morally corrupt mercenary Edward Sexby in The Devil’s Whore is a little bit of a departure for him, featuring as he does as something of a brooding man of few words. If you remember him as The Master in Doctor Who, he was all manic tapping and maloevolent energy. In The Devil’s Whore he’s scarred, silent and doesn’t really give a monkey’s about anyone. He’s great, really great.
In his cover Radio Times interview, he said: “The boots, the sword, the scar, the cloak… it’s not often you get to wander around slapping your thigh and flicking your wig as an adult.”
He’s got a point.
He went onto say that he was missing his seven-year-old son (thanks to the three-month shoot in South Africa), and this:
“When I started acting there was a list of parts I wanted to play – cowboy, knight, vampire, all those things. So… when I was offered the part of a swashbuckling hero with a scar and a metal hand, riding on horseback, rescuing the heroine and living feral in a wood, I thought, ‘Yes! I’ve never starred in a Western and this maybe the nearest I come. Sexby is like Clint Eastwood!”
And he’s really not wrong. When I think about it, The Devil’s Whore does play out like a period Spaghetti Western.
I can’t wait for next week!
Join TVScoop on Facebook for exclusive competitions and gossip
He’s also on the cover of TV&Satellite Week magazine. Big interview inside mag,
Does anybody still read the radio times? Last time I looked, it was just full of ads for chairlifts. Surely in this time of internet and onscreen program guides, nobody needs to buy these magazines anymore.
What do other tvscoop readers think? Is there one that’s actually worth buying or are they all a waste of paper?
Really good question Pete. I personally am not a fan of Radio Times, but there are some decent TV mags out there. The problem is (for them) is, as you point out, that people can read about their favourite TV programmes and contribute to the debate via sites like ours. Another factor the dedicated TV mags have is that every newspaper has a free TV supplement every week. It’s a tough market.
i get tv choice ( cheap) or the mag that comes with the sun (free). get tvtimes at chrismas cos reminds me of when i was little
I’m a Radio Times man myself.
Websites are all well and good, but I find having a magazine to hand is a lot easier than logging on to the computer or flicking through the sky electronic programme guide.
Have been getting the Radio Times for years, although must admit I don’t read much of the guff at the front. All the other TV mags seem to have soaps on the cover every week and the free one I get with my newspaper is not up to much.
Maybe TV Scoop should do a review of the TV mags – which ones have best listings and stuff, most interesting features and whatever? I’d be well up for a suggestion for an alternative to Radio Times.