So... 'Macbeth' in Chichester 21st September - 26th October 2019 .... AND  the 'Game of Thrones' prequel! 

John has certainly been busy this year! See below  'Macbeth' images.  Little is know about the Game of Thrones prequel yet... watch this space! 

It's been a busy year for John Simm, and for us fans, who had a real choice to make when BBC and ITV decided to pit John Simm in competition with himself by airing 'Collateral' and 'Trauma' on the same night, and the same time slot!  We had a few months to wait for 'Strangers' (formerly 'White Dragon') but the nice long run made up for it!  

In December and January, John will be appearing in the Pinter celebration, in two plays - 'Celebration' and 'The Birthday Party'. 

What else might 2019 bring?  We'll have to wait and see!

Admin

Note: I must apologise for the lack of updates in 2018 - it has been a busy year for the admin of this site, which meant I didn't have time to keep up with everything.  Luckily the wonderful  John Simm Society was keeping up with it all!  

Well, by now there can't be a John Simm fan in the country who doesn't know who the character above is... the first part of the two-part finale for series 10 of 'Doctor Who' marked the return of John's Master to the show after almost ten years. But for most of 'World Enough & Time', John was under prosthetics as a rather endearing character called 'Mr Razor'. That's him, above. Of course, he eventually revealed himself as the Master to a rather surprised Missy (the lovely Michelle Gomez). "Hello, Missy. I'm the Master, and I'm rather worried about my future."  

Hopefully, 'The Doctor Falls' will reveal what the Master has been up to since he was pulled back into the Time War with Rassilon at the conclusion of 'The End of Time' part II. This Master seems to make a habit of being around when the incumbent Doctor is about to regenerate, doesn't he?! 

​Here is Missy, CyberBill, and the Master as they face a shocked twelfth Doctor (the magnificent Peter Capaldi):

'Dr Who' photos (c) BBC Television

John was in Camberley, Surrey on 15th June filming scenes from his new drama for ITV, 'Trauma'. According to local news site 'Get Surrey', the production was filming outside a parade of shops on the Old Dean estate from early in the day until 11pm.  The same location has previously been used in 'Holby City'.

In 'Trauma' John plays factory owner Dan Bowker whose 15-year-old son Alex dies after being stabbed. Dan blames Jon Allerton, the surgeon who failed to save him (played by Adrian Lester). Described by ITV as  “an intricate, fast-paced thriller that questions what makes a man good and explores what happens when the very institutions established to protect us and those who represent them, let us down”, 'Trauma' promises to be another gripping drama of the kind we have come to associate with John!  The images show John on location, snapped by local Sian C******* with her son and below, (it looks like) in action as Dan Bowker.  

​More news when we have it!

Well, they say good things come in threes... with John's reprisal of The Master due to air very shortly, TV drama 'Collateral' in the can, and shooting for 'Trauma' for ITV having just begun,  John has returned to TV drama with a flourish!

Doctor Who - The Master Returns (again)

The leaked news that John would reprise his role as one of the Doctor's oldest antagonists, a fellow Time Lord known as The Master (and more recently as 'Missy') generated rather a lot of excitement on the Twitterverse. With perhaps one more week to go until viewers see how the character will evolve under Steven Moffat's penmanship, fans are getting impatient!  John's portrayal of the character was almost universally popular amongst the fans, and seems to have created a new surge of interest in the show amongst some viewers who had moved on.  

Collateral

Still with the BBC, David Hare's new three-part drama has John playing an ex-politician named David Mars  (any allusion to the show that re-introduced John to television audiences as a modern day detective who finds himself in 1973 following a car accident,  'Life on Mars', is surely unintentional...?) alongside Billie Piper (who also has associations with 'Dr Who' - she played Rose to both Christopher Ecclestone 's and David Tennant's Doctors), Carey Mulligan (who also appeared in Dr Who as Sally Sparrow), and Olivia Colman (who has worked with John before on Danny Brocklehurst's drama 'Exile' in 2011).  Shooting for 'Collateral' recently completed and the three-part drama will air in autumn 2017.

Trauma

This three-part drama for ITV, penned by playwright Mike Bartlett, sees John playing grieving father Dan Bowker opposite Adrian Lester (who was a regular on Hustle)  who portrays a Doctor who tries to save Dan Bowker's son - and fails. John has played a grieving father once before - in Chris Lunt's 'Prey', he was detective Marcus Farrow, who is accused of murdering his wife and youngest son.  

Both 'Collateral' and 'Trauma' represent a return to the grittier type of role that John is perhaps best known for - 'The Lakes', 'State of Play', 'Prey', 'Exile', and 'Intruders' - following his departure from style with ABC's lighter-hearted 'The Catch', in which John played bisexual con man/murderer Rhys Griffiths to great effect in the first (and only) two seasons! 

It's great to have you back on British TV, John! 

Sincere apologies for the very long gap between updates... due to circumstances somewhat beyond our control. But we're back, and will endeavour to keep you all updated with news of John's future TV/Theatre appearances.

Those of you who enjoyed John's appearance in season 1 of 'The Catch' may already be aware that his charmingly villainous character, Rhys, is back for season 2!  Filming has been ongoing and (we think) is now close to completion.  No news yet on an airdate for the second season, but season 1 is available on Amazon Prime.  Will there be a DVD release in the UK? No word as yet...

With John's new project 'Code of A Killer' slated for transmission over Easter (tbc), we thought it might be time to revisit Alison Jane Reid's 'longest ever' interview with John Simm - split into three parts, it is must-see viewing:

You may recall  that Ethical Hedonist magazine creator  Alison Jane Reid interviewed John Simm last year - a two-part video interview  and in print for Red magazine . Now Alison Jane is about to publish a detailed, in-depth profile interview with John in her revamped online magazine.  Using crowd-funding to bring readers the kind of big profile pieces she is well known for from her time on The Times and Lady  magazines, Alison Jane now brings us more John Simm!  

With a tantalising teaser for the main interview here, who would not want to pay roughly the price of a cup of coffee and a bun to hear about John's hectic 2014, and (we're hoping!) more information about his new role in Michael Crompton's  'Code of a Killer' with 'Men of the World' co-star David Threlfall (which he is currently filming)?  To read the next part of the interview, please click the button below and then click the 'donate' button - you know it's going to be good!

 It worked with 'Crime and Punishment'!  


Dear fellow fans/discerning viewers:


Fellow fan site The Railway Arms once helped persuade the BBC to make the decision to release a DVD of 'Crime and Punishment' (in which John played Raskolnikov) and for years we have bemoaned the fact that the only way to see this classic situation comedy,  'Men of the World' have been sub-standard quality recordings purchased online. Now obviously we would all much rather pay for a properly licensed and better quality product but if one isn't available...  


So please go and add your voice to this worthwhile cause - it won't take a minute!


Here's what we  said to Aunty Beeb, and there's a clicky link at the bottom:



The Petition

Dear BBC

We respectfully request that you release a DVD of the 1994 series situation comedy 'Men of The World', starring David Threlfall ('Shameless', 'What Remains' numerous theatre productions and films) and John Simm ('Crime & Punishment', 'The Lakes', 'State of Play', 'Exile', 'Sex Traffic', 'Mad Dogs',  'Doctor Who', 'The Village' and the upcoming 'Prey'...).

Not only are both actors now widely acclaimed, each with their own enthusiastic fanbase, but the series, written by Daniel Peacock ( The Young Ones, Little Armadillos, Only Fools and Horses, Robin of Sherwood, The Bill, Doctor Who, Casualty, One Foot in the Grave...) was a genuine comedy and a great example of two of our finest actors in their early years. 

Lenny Smart (Threlfall) and Kendle Bains (Simm) are flatmates and work together as travel agents in Manchester. Thirtysomething Lenny attempts, with the help of old friend Gilby (Peacock), to turn sensitive 23-year-old Kendle into a "real man". 

Please help a new generation who have never had the chance to see this classic learn what great comedy timing is. And it has a really catchy theme tune, too! 

Thank you for your consideration.
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To sign our petition, please go here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/men-of-the-world-please-release-it-on-dvd/

In the wake of so many interviews in the media with John just recently, it occurred to me that there are so many performances in John's back catalog which never get mentioned (or if they are perhaps they just don't make it into the finished article).  

 I had the idea that I would like to see if I could maybe put together a question and answer session of original and different questions from his admirers. There is no guarantee of course that I'll get a response since we know that John is busy with rehearsal for 'The Hothouse' at the moment, and we also know that he's not too great with the whole fan mail thing... but it seems worth a punt. Nothing ventured...

So.... If you could ask John anything about his career that hasn't already been asked, what would you ask? You can either post your questions here, or if you prefer send me a PM... or email me at johnsimmonline@hotmail.co.uk . You can use your own name or a user name of your choice.

Don't worry if you aren't sure whether your question has already been covered or not - I will check that and let you know if it has (and if I can, point you to the relevant interview online).

Again, let me stress that I don't know if this will happen or when, but hope springs eternal, as they say...