A round up of BBC announcements, press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output last week.
BBC Opera Season
This autumn, in collaboration with the V&A and Royal Opera House, the BBC will embark upon a season of opera programming featuring new films, documentaries, performances and special projects across BBC Two, BBC Four, Radio 3 and BBC Arts Digital, who in collaboration with Tomorrow’s World, will bring together science and opera in a series of experiments live from Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry.
Fifty years of Radio 4
To mark 50 years since the Home Service became Radio 4 the station has announced two special commissions. In a special five-part series, Sarah Montague and guests will consider how some of the earliest BBC Reith Lectures look from the perspective of 2017 and Adrian Mole who also turns 50, is returning to his early years in a brand new serialisation of his first Secret Diary for Book At Bedtime.
Good Omens
Filming has begun on the six part adaptation on the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman novel. Filming for the next six months in London, Oxfordshire and locations in South Africa, the show's cast includes Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Adria Arjona, Nina Sosanya, Jack Whitehall, Michael McKean and Miranda Richardson.
Announcements and Blogs
Drama
Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger will return in 2018 in the adaptation of Robert Galbraith's Strike - Career Of Evil. Patrick Holland and Shane Allen have commissioned Dave Allen At Peace, a dramatization of the life and career of the legendary comedian starring Aiden Gillan.
On Tuesday we published the media pack for BBC One's The Last Post, a drama by BAFTA winner Peter Moffat about army life in the 1960s.
Comedy
On Wednesday it was confirmed that Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will be back together this festive season as BBC Studios Comedy brings a special 30th anniversary episode of their award-winning sketch show French and Saunders to BBC One.
CBBC
On Thursday Blue Peter launched The Awesome Animation competition which gives viewers the opportunity to design their own prehistoric creature alongside Aardman. The competition closes at midday on 12 October and the winner of the competition will be announced in January.
Radio
BBC Radio 1Xtra has announced the line-up for this year’s 1Xtra Live. The station’s annual flagship event will take place at Manchester Arena on Saturday 11 November. On Friday Radio 4 revelealed new Poet-in-Residence, Alice Oswald, an BBC Radio Ulster presenter Linda McAuley was inducted into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame.
World Service
On Monday, BBC World Service Launched three new language services for Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the diaspora as part of its biggest expansion since the 1940s.
A new global poll conducted in 18 countries for the BBC World Service revealed that almost four out of five internet users worry about what is real and fake on the internet.
Blogs
On Monday the third and final series of W1A began airing on BBC Two, writer and director John Morton told us how he came to set his sights on the BBC for the hit series.
This week, 10 years ago, Gordon Brown officially opened the BBC Scottish HQ at a building on the banks of the River Clyde. BBC Scotland Director Donalda MacKinnon reflects on a decade at Pacific Quay. We also blogged about the BBC World News: Komla Dumor Award winner 2017 and published the BBC iPlayer Highlights 23-29 September.
Broadcast Highlights
Spacecraft Operations Chief Julie Webster holds up one of her favourite images in 'Horizon: Goodbye Cassini - Hello Saturn'
- Even Better Than The Real Thing, Saturday 16 September, BBC One
- The A-Z of Later... with Jools Holland: From Adele to ZZ Top, Saturday 16 September, BBC Two
- Cinema Through The Eye Of Magnum, Sunday 17 September, BBC Two
- Horizon, Goodbye Cassini - Hello Saturn, Monday 18 September, BBC Two
- W1A, Monday 18 September, BBC Two
- Charlotte And Lillian, Wednesday 20 September, BBC Radio 4
- Famalam, Wednesday 20 September, BBC Two
