... The voice has Hart SEEKING centre stage, Spectrum Radio's Jonathan Hart is setting off for The Palace Theatre to take on an act ing role in the hit musical Les Miser ables. Jonathan, who is Spectrum's multi-tal ented commercial production manager, has written and produced many of the commer cials for the London-based multi-ethnic station. He starts rehearsal later this month for The Swing part ...

... Tilston goes it alone FORMER Central Television press officer PENNIE TILSTON has set up her own entertainment and media PR consultancy. During her two-and-a-half years, Tilston worked on such Central pro grammes as Boon, Root Into Europe, Woof! and Press Gang. Her new consultancy, Publicity Unlimited, is based in Bristol, but will operate nationwide in artist promotion, unit publicity and ...

... Broadcasters attacked over casting BROADCASTERS--and the ITV Network Centre in particular--came under fire this week from the Directors Guild of Great Britain for interfering in casting decisions. And there have also been allegations that the Network Centre, which commissions all ITV's network pro grammes, has in some instances demanded to changes to shows in order to make them more ...

... LWT spots talent LONDON Weekend Television is to produce a special documentary about the 291 Club, the talent contest held at London's Hackney Empire, with a full series featuring performers expected to follow later in the year. Now in its third season, the 291 Club is loosely based on the talent competitions held at the Apollo Theatre in New York's Harlem district, where acts face fiercely ...

... Creating a bad impression MOIRA PETTY despairs of Bobby Davro's brand of plastic comedy ITV Davro THE PROBLEM with this kind of light-veined comedy impressionism is finding a reason to prolong that initial chuckle of recognition. We know that Bobby Davro (who will really have arrived when he feels confident enough to drop the Davro rather than the Bobby) is a skilled practitioner in ...

... Now Sir Robin Sky News LAST year Sir Robin Day, an apparently established BBC fixture if ever there was one, joined a bunch of satellite-bound celebrity defectors that included Selina Scott, David Frost, Nina Myskow, Debbie Greenwood and Mike Smith. Of these, only Sir Robin and Scott survived the Sky/BSB merger and are now employed to host Sky News shows. Day brought with him his ...

... Taking The Floor BBC1 WHATEVER the quality of the series there are two reasons for welcoming this new show from the busy Alamo production stable. At least it is about a subject the precious world of competitive ballroom dancing and in particular the Latin American division which has not yet been tackled by sitcom, and it introduces two bright and fresh faces. The hero of the slow-slow-quick ...

... Independent move for personnel man ANDREW VALE, a name known to anyone who has ever tried to get a job at LWT, is leaving the com pany after 20 years to become a director of Sarner Television, an independent production company in West London. Currently personnel manager with LWT, Vale says he has decided to make the move because he sees a major role for independents in the 1990s. There may ...

... Agents could be the next new faces AN AGENT and his protege will be waging a war on the ratings this Saturday with appearances on television at the same time but on diffe rent channels. While comedian Shane Richie appears as a trendy vicar in BBCl's Noel Edmonds Satur day Roadshow his agent Stan Dallas could well be on his own way to stardom as a TV pundit when he makes his debut as a ...

... Dirk Bogarde: Above the Title YORKSHIRE PHILIP NORMAN'S recent attack on Russell Harty in the increasingly waspish Sunday Times was neatly torpedoed by the latter's remarkable interview with Dirk Bogarde. Men of Bogarde's privacy and intelligence do not suffer fools at all, let alone inarticulate Dseudo-intellectuals, as Norman branded Harty. That said, it cannot be denied that Harry's ...

... Russ Abbot Show BBC-1 THERE are bitter-sweet moments in any Russ Abbot performance when it seems the revered Tommy Cooper, a good friend, is back with us. The similarities of build, the outsize chin, and the untrammelled lunacy revive fond memories of Tommy. But we live in the present and while enthusing about his change of networks I would suggest that this Abbot was right to quit ITV. The ...

... Famous Last Words BBC-2 HAVE you ever dreamed of attending vour own funeral? This new series from BBC-2 confronts ageing personalities or figures of controversy with their own obituaries, an experience which could turn out to be as soul-destroying as it is ego-boosting. The first casualty was Dr. Timothy Leary, a poor choice for two reasons. A whole generation of viewers has never heard of him ...