The video itself can be viewed on YouTube.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : BBC Newsnight Review Captures

In fact, why not check out our last uploads to view everything that’s been uploaded these past busy days?

Guy Ritchie’s latest film has shot to the top of the UK box office charts, figures reveal.

RocknRolla, which premiered last week, opened at number one in the film charts and took £1,562,017.

The gangster movie, starring Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Gemma Arterton and Tom Wilkinson, is set in London and deals with a Russian real estate scam.

It has been described as a return to form by some critics following the disappointments of Ritchie’s Swept Away and Revolver.

The British director hit fame a decade ago with the gangster caper Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

Last week Madonna joined her husband on the red carpet for the opening of RocknRolla, which could be turned into a trilogy.

Source: The UK Press Association

The long awaited trailer for Quantum of Solace has finally surfaced online today. Or, at least, its Spanish version has. Agent Fields only appears in two “blink and you’ll miss them” scenes. And, surprise, surprise, Vesper (played by Eva Green in Casino Royale) can be seen (quick glimpse) on a photo with her mysterious Algerian boyfriend!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Quantum of Solace (2008) : Trailer Captures

I also have a magazine alert for Gemma fans from the UK (or from other places but who have access to British publications): our girl is in the brand new issue of Tatler that hits stands today. She appears with a darker skin tone that is part of her characterization for Prince of Persia.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Magazine Scans: TV And Satellite Week (UK) - September 13-19, 2008, thanks to Lorna
- Magazine Scans: What’s On TV (UK) - September 13-19, 2008, thanks to Lorna
- Magazine Scans: Radio Times (UK) - September 13-19, 2008, thanks to Lorna

Great stuff if you ask my opinion!

I’ve also updated the Tess of the D’Urbervilles filmography page.

Watch the first scenes of Bond girl Gemma Arterton’s starring performance in the new adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbevilles.

The sexy brunette, 22, looks fresh-faced in the latest BBC1 costume drama – in contrast to her saucy character in 007 film Quantum of Solace.

In this clip of the first episode Tess meets the suave Alec D’Urbeville and claims kinship.

Watch it here.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : Production Stills
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : Clip - Tess meets the suave Alec D’Urbeville and claims kinship

And also plenty of new scans thanks to the wonderful Lorna.

I took screencaps from the 1st episode (out of 4) of Lost in Austen that aired last Wednesday on ITV1. Gemma was absolutely lovely as Elizabeth Bennet. Too bad she didn’t have that much screen time, especially if we compare it with Jemima Rooper’s. I hope we’ll get too see more of Miss Arterton this week!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Lost in Austen (2008) : Episode 1 (September 3, 2008)

It was Bond girl Gemma Arterton who was both shaken and stirred when the wind got up as she was filming a crucial scene in Panama for the new 007 film Quantum Of Solace.

For Gemma, who plays alluring undercover operative Agent Fields, revealed rather more than she bargained for as she and 007 left a hotel in a hurry on the trail of a man Bond is chasing.

‘I had to wear a mac and boots with nothing underneath,’ she said, ‘and I had to be really careful because the mac kept blowing open.’

Read the full story »»

A year ago she was fresh out of college and up to her ears in debt.

Today Gemma Arterton is a rising star of everything from Bond films to bodice-rippers.

But lean times are not hard to forget and Gemma, whose mum brought her up alone while working as a cleaner, has an eye for a bargain at Primark.

Last night four million viewers watched Gemma, 22, playing Lizzie Bennet in ITV’s comedy period piece Lost in Austen. And she will soon take the starring role in Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, the BBC’s new costume drama.

But it’s not just prime-time TV that Gemma is fast conquering.

Read the full story »»

Today I’ve added 6 new Tess stills to the gallery, as well as a scan from the Sun featuring an iconic image from the book/movie: Tess tasting strawberries. Be sure to check out the Magazine Scans category for more Tess (and Lost in Austen) related material. There are plenty of good articles and pretty photos that aren’t in the Tess of the D’Urbervilles category itself.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : Production Stills
- Magazine Scans: The Sun (UK) - September 5, 2008, thanks to Lorna

The BBC’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles website is now ‘live’ with content, including an interview with our girl Gemma.

Gemma Arterton plays Tess

Gemma Arterton brings to life Hardy’s beautiful, iconic heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, the eldest daughter of a poor rural working family; a fresh, pretty country girl with a good heart and a sensitive soul.

However, Gemma explains this isn’t her first foray into the world of Tess: “I played the character of Hope, Tess’s younger sister, in a school play.

“Coming to the drama again almost 10 years later is a very different experience. I was too young to really understand it first time around.

“Tess is a straightforward country girl, very pretty, but unaware of her beauty. Although people chip away at her life, she grows stronger, which is the incredible thing about her. I definitely didn’t want to play her as a victim.”

Read the full story »»

Mari kindly uploaded the Tess of the D’Urbervilles trailer on YouTube and I immediately made screencaps from it for our site. The trailer is very short, but well worth our viewing!

Last but not least, please take the time to visit the great fansites dedicated to the two actors who play the men of Tess’ life: Angel Clare (Eddie Redmayne) and Alec D’Urberville (Hans Matheson).

Tess premieres on BBC1, Sunday September 14, at 9pm.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbevilles (2008) : Trailer

This is not a sentence that you often hear – but it’s been a good week for drama on ITV1. After The Children’s highly promising start on Monday, last night brought us the first episode of Lost in Austen. Of course, as many people have already spotted from its shameless blending of Pride and Prejudice with Life on Mars, the series does come with a distinct whiff of commercial calculation. Yet, so far at least, this only goes to show that commercial calculation can sometimes work rather well. The result can’t be called profound. Nonetheless, it does triumphantly achieve its main aim of being enormously good-natured fun.

Jemima Rooper plays Amanda Price, a Jane Austen addict, who began last night living a typical (harsher critics might say stereotypical) twentysomething life in Hammersmith, complete with rubbish boyfriend burping away on the sofa. But then her literary heroine, Elizabeth Bennet (Gemma Arterton) suddenly stumbled through a door in the space-time-fiction continuum to pitch up in the bathroom. When Amanda went through the other way, without Lizzie, the door inevitably locked behind her, leaving her stranded in the Bennet family home.

Admittedly, some viewers may have felt this was a bit implausible. There is, however, one obvious counter-argument: who cares?

Read the full story »»

Guys and gals, we have plenty of new scans for you today! Most of them thanks to our faithful collaborator Lorna. But that’s not all. Tran was also kind enough to send us a scan from the Australian magazine Frankie. Please take a look to our last uploads to see what’s new.

Lost in Austen premieres in the UK this Wednesday, on ITV1, at 9pm. Be sure to watch it! However, I have to admit to admit that, while I love Jane Austen film adaptations, I’m most excited about Tess. I love Roman Polanski’s works and his 1979 film. In fact, I love period films and films based on masterpieces of literature. The BBC’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles website was updated with a trailer, but unfortunately you can only view it if you’re in the UK.

Gemma didn’t attend the London premiere of RocknRolla, that’s why you’re not seeing any photos from it in our gallery.

Last but not least, rumour says the second Quantum of Solace trailer will be on the 9th September 2008 at 9:00am CET instead of the 11th.

GALLERY LINKS:

Out of our recent gallery additions, I’d like to highlight the following articles:

- Magazine Scans: Frankie (Australia) - Issue 25 (September / October 2008), thanks to Tran
- Magazine Scans: Sky Magazine (UK) - September 2008, thanks to Lorna
- Magazine Scans: Sunday Times (UK) - August 31, 2008, thanks to Lorna
- Magazine Scans: Daily Mail Weekend Supplement (UK) - August 30, 2008, thanks to Lorna

Gemma Arterton, 007’s love interest in new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace, has become shaken and stirred by a tall, dark, handsome action man in real life.

The 22-year-old actress has begun a relationship with Spanish stuntman Eduardo Munoz, 19, on the set of her latest film, Prince Of Persia, in Morocco.

He was hired to teach her to ride a horse.

A source said: ‘Gemma has made no secret of her romance on the set. She and Eduardo are always kissing and cuddling. They are inseparable.’

Source: Daily Mail

“Oh my God, I have been told that I’m hideous, not to Bond-girl standard, that the only reason I’m working is because I must be shagging someone in the industry . . . I’ve read that everywhere. At first, I was like, ‘I’m an actress, I went to drama school, I did theatre, I’m serious.’ And then you go, ‘Ah, it’s some fat t*** with no life who wrote that, so they can sod off.’ I’ll just do my work, which I seem to be getting, and see what happens.”

Arterton is starring in two of the autumn’s biggest bonnet dramas, but gives them a modern edge

Gemma Arterton owns this autumn. First up, she’s playing the lead in BBC1’s mega-budget Hardy adaptation, Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Next, she’s slinking her way through Quantum of Solace as the cool MI6 handler Agent Fields (just don’t mention that she was taller than Daniel Craig when she wore heels). Then she’s punky and sharp-tongued in ITV’s twisted bonnet comedy, Lost in Austen, in which Arterton as Elizabeth Bennet swaps lives with a modern girl played by Jemima Rooper.

With roles in St Trinian’s and Stephen Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary, and a healthy stage career — all by the age of only 22 — you would expect a ripple from the regulars at the Hampstead pub when she glides through the crowd with a mischievous grin on her face. But nobody so much as blinks. And, to be fair, I’m not entirely sure this actually is the woman I’m supposed to meet. In Bond she’s a redhead with milk-white skin; in St Trinian’s she sports a jet-black bob; and as Tess she looks like the healthy daughter of a country farmer. But this woman is dark and sultry, with a pout that would flatten Rachel Weisz.

Read the full story »»

How Pride and Prejudice got a twist of Dr Who

The Question: “what if?” has been a staple of television drama since Dr Who’s police box turned out to be bigger on the inside. The recent success of series such as Lost, Heroes and Life On Mars just proves that the formula has lost none of its viewer appeal.

But what if that same approach was applied to one of television’s sacred cows, the costume drama? Suppose you took a Life On Mars-style time traveller, with all the scope for cultural misunderstandings that entailed, and dropped her into the plot of a classic novel. Let’s say you chose Pride and Prejudice. What would that look like?

Read the full story »»

The London premiere for RocknRolla will be held September 1, 2008 at Odeon West End. It will be an eveing premiere and will start around 6-7pm. No word whether or not Gemma will attend as she might be filming - but here’s to hoping!

CommanderBond.net has published an interview with Quantum of Solace producers Barbara Broccoli And Michael G. Wilson. Here is a bit about Gemma’s MI6 character.

Q: And what about Gemma Arterton’s character?

Wilson: She is kind of like Our Girl in Havana. She happens to be in the Embassy in Bolivia as cultural attaché but probably working for MI6. She is very officious to start out with, you know, puts him on a plane and everything, but that hardly lasts more than an hour or two before she is in bed with Bond. But she is also very heroic and gets herself involved.

Broccoli: She was another one, Gemma walked in and we went ‘done, that’s her!’ Both of the girls are extraordinary and I’m sure they are both going to be big stars. Both have some much to offer and they are unique.

Coming soon to ITV1, Lost In Austen is a reinvention of the classic novel Pride And Prejudice, in which Jane Austen’s story is thrown off track by a very modern heroine. Gemma Arterton plays Elizabeth Bennet.

What drew you to the role of Elizabeth Bennet?

Pride and Prejudice is a classic and it’s a compliment to be asked to read for Elizabeth Bennet as she’s such a fantastic, witty and intelligent character. Also she’s ahead of her time and that’s the reason she fits into the modern world.

Do you think the Lizzie Bennet you play in Lost in Austen is true to Jane Austen’s character in Pride and Prejudice?

The characters in Lost in Austen are really affected by what happens when Lizzie and Amanda swap places. Obviously, if you are taken to another world you’re going to change, but their personalities are those that were created in Pride and Prejudice, so Elizabeth’s strength and forward thinking nature stands her in good stead.

Read the full story »»

Gemma’s new mini-series, Lost in Austen, kicks off on The UK’s ITV on September 3, 2008. Be sure to check out the official site. It will be released on DVD September 29.

According to sources, Tess of the D’Urbervilles will start Sunday, September 14. It will be released on DVD October 27.

By the way, we will probably wait for the DVD releases before adding screencaptures or videos on the site. None of us will be in the UK during the releases so to make things less complicated, I will bring you the high quality coverage once the DVDs are available.

By the way, RocknRolla will be released September 5 (UK), October 3 (USA, limited) and October 31 (wide).

I think it is fair to say that September 2008 will be the month of the Gemma.