Simply Anna • Anna Maxwell Martin Fansite •

Anna Maxwell Martin, Raad Rawi and Luke Treadaway star in the first of a season of factual dramas exploring the history of oil - and the price we've paid for it. This is the colourful tale of how British Oil was thrown out of post-war Iran. Anglo-Persian Oil (later BP) was specially formed to exploit the 60-year oil concession to drill for oil, which was signed in 1901 by the then Shah of Persia. Prompted by Winston Churchill, the British Government bought 51% of the company's shares. Persian oil soon became Britain's "single largest overseas asset". But in 1951, newly-elected Prime Minister Mossadegh declared the concession 'immoral', unilaterally cancelled it, and on 1st May successfully passed a law which nationalised Anglo-Persian - and all the oil. There are riots, demonstrations, and a blockade of shipping. And in the great oil refinery on the island of Abadan, a shocked British ex-pat community struggle to understand the new world which has j...

Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Macfadyen explore through poetry and prose a subject that has exercised some of the greatest minds of all time: self-improvement. What is the value of seeking out knowledge, physical improvement and enlightenment through self-teaching and motivation? With words of wisdom from a variety of sources across the ages including Confucius, Kant, Tennyson, Charlotte Bronte and Alan Bennett, together with music by Elgar, Clementi, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Bob Dylan. Airs tomorrow at 10.15 on Radio 3.  Source

Jack O’Connell, who will star with Ruth Wilson and Anna Maxwell Martin in the film You Want Me To Kill Him?, based on the true story of a young man who hacks into an internet site and becomes embroiled in a murder. Source

A huge congrats to Anna for being nominated for the leading actress category at the Television Baftas for her role as Sarah Burton in South Riding, I hope its third time lucky as she was brilliant in SR and she previously one it twice. To read who else has been nominated click at the link >> Noms

  Anna will be reading a story on CBeebies Bedtime Stories at 6.50pm on Monday 21 February.  An exciting story read by a special guest. Anna Maxwell Martin reads Tortoise Vs Hare - The Rematch, by Preston Rutt and Ben Redlich. Source

The first episode of SR will be airing on 20th Feb at 9.00 pm on BBC.

 Time and Date are still to be confirmed but it will be at the end of  February, will keep you all posted when it gets confirmed. 1/3 In the long aftermath of the First World War, 30-year-old Sarah Burton comes home from London to Yorkshire to take up the headmistress-ship of a struggling Yorkshire high school for girls. She is the very image of a modern woman, much more recognisable to her sisters in 2010 than she would have been to her contemporaries in 1935 – full of ambition, passion and fire to take her life into her own hands and live it to the very limit of her strength. But the homecoming is more complicated than she thinks and before long her ambitions are in conflict with her feelings for the man least likely to have won her heart – Robert Carne, the handsome, haunted gentleman farmer she clashes with. South Riding is a rich, compassionate and humane story of politics in small places and, in the end, the indestructibility of the human spirit.

 SOURCE Anna Maxwell Martin plays Sarah Burton, a modern career woman who returns home to take up the headmistress-ship of a struggling Yorkshire high school for girls. Full of ambition, passion and fire to take her life into her own hands, Sarah falls for the man least likely to have won her heart, in Andrew Davies's new three-part drama serial South Riding for BBC One. "Sarah Burton is a teacher who was born and brought up in South Riding, which is technically East Yorkshire," says Anna Maxwell Martin. "She left to go to work in London and she returns to be a Headmistress of a local girls' school. "She is a very opinionated woman. I suppose she is verging on being a feminist, quite left-wing and very progressive and she has big plans for the girls of the South Riding. "When Sarah returns to the South Riding and is offered the post of Headmistress, she sort of goes in guns bl...

Introduction Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrissey lead the cast in South Riding , Andrew Davies 's new three-part adaptation for BBC One of the novel by Winifred Holtby . Producer Lisa Osborne says: "South Riding is a sweeping, panoramic story about an entire community living on the edge of England in the 1930s, beset by economic crisis, doing what they can to make the world a better place. "It's deeply attractive from a producer's point of view for the chance to bring to the screen a little-known novel, set in a rarely seen English landscape, with a great cast of rich and real characters, and with universal themes that make it as accessible to a contemporary audience as it was when it was written. "From Sarah Burton ( Anna Maxwell Martin ), the crusading head teacher who arrives in Yorkshire with a mission to reform; Lydia ( Charlie May-Clark ), the slum child with a passion to...

Press Release ; Anna Maxwell Martin (South Riding), Claire Foy (Little Dorrit), Jodie Whittaker (Accused), and Harry Treadaway (Fish Tank) will star in a tragic and tender adaptation of Sarah Waters ' best-selling novel, The Night Watch . Adapted by award-winning British writer, Paula Milne (Small Island, Endgame, The Virgin Queen and The Politician's Wife) and made by BBC Drama Production . Paula Milne said: "One of the themes which attracted me to Sarah Waters' delicate and haunting novel The Night Watch is its theme of invisibility – how in the Second World War, under the deathly mantle of darkness as the air raid sirens wailed, her characters found an invisible arena to explore their sexuality. In that sense it is truly a noir novel. Add to that its wayward structure, jettisoning the story from the present back into the past, it was simply a challenge I couldn't resist." Set against the turbulent backdrop of...

Anna will be reading extracts for a Radio 4 programme called Juvenile Jane about the author Jane Austen's life and works ,  It will be on Radio 4 on Tuesday 23 November 2010 at 11.30am Source

According to This is Bath ; Anna was filming a new war time drama for the BBC called The Night Watch based on the lesbian novel by Sarah Waters, also in the cast is Clare Foy, Anna Wilson-Jones and Kenneth Cranham. I can't find any cast announcement or other info as of yet but will update as soon as I do.

Anna has made it on too the long list of contenders for The Natasha Richardson Award For Best Actress at The Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her role as Isabella in Measure For Measure, the winners will be revealed on November 28th, my congrats to Anna on the nomination and good luck.   SOURCE

Can't believe I missed this but Anna has another radio drama for Radio 3 called Faust ,the other one I've already posted about, press release below. BBC Radio 3 today announced all-star casts for two bold new classic drama commissions. Sam West (Enron, Desperate Romantics), Toby Jones (The Play What I Wrote, Doctor Who), Anna Maxwell Martin (Measure For Measure, On Expenses), Frances de La Tour (Rising Damp, The History Boys) and Sir Derek Jacobi are just some of the stars involved in the two classic commissions. Faust by Goethe and The White Devil by John Webster will be broadcast this autumn. Faust by Goethe, in a modern translation by John R. Williams , is presented in a major new four-hour production. Starring Sam West in the title role, Toby Jones as the tempter Mephistopheles and Anna Maxwell Martin as the wronged innocent Gretchen, this is an epic interpretation of the scholar who sells his soul in return for knowledge and power. The play is an Ukemi Pr...

Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrissey lead the cast in Andrew Davies 's new three-part adaptation of South Riding , by Winifred Holtby , for BBC One . This 20th-century classic is a rich and panoramic portrait of a Yorkshire community in the Thirties that carries surprising and refreshing echoes of our own time. Writer Andrew Davies says: "What appealed to me most about South Riding is how fresh and relevant it feels, even though it was written and set in the Thirties. It's a terrific love story but it's also a portrait of a whole community in turmoil, with the country in recession, and bitter struggles between the advocates of change, like our heroine Sarah the new forward-thinking headmistress, and the forces of conservatism embodied in Robert Carne. "It's also full of rich comedy, with some wonderful minor characters, splendidly cast. I feel as if we've rediscovered a forgotten masterpiece." Ben...

The Wings Of Dove will be airing their first episode this Sunday at 3.00 o'clock on Radio 4 and then for the next 3 weeks, the cast look excellent can't wait to listen too this. Classic Serial – The Wings Of The Dove Ep 1/3 Sunday 1 August 3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4 The Wings Of The Dove is Henry James's story of love, passion and money, dramatised by Linda Marshall Griffiths. Kate Croy is in love with Merton Densher, a poor writer. However, her rich aunt Maud, with whom she has lived since her mother's death, disapproves. Maud has offered Kate a wealthy existence but if Kate chooses to marry Merton she risks losing it all. Maud desires marriage for Kate and the suitor is Lord Mark. Merton cannot offer money or status; he cannot compete, so Kate must reconcile these two worlds to find happiness. Merton takes a journalistic posting in New York but, before leaving, Kate and Merton become secretly engaged. Kate is determined that sh...

Anna Maxwell Martin has been announced to play journalist and campaigner Heather Brooke , whose tenacious investigations brought about the disclosure of MPs' expenses, in one-off drama Bringing Down The House for BBC Four . Brian Cox will star opposite Anna as Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin, who was forced to resign after finding himself in a battle against Heather's determination for Freedom of Information relating to MPs' expenses and allowances. Written by Tony Saint , the humorous 60-minute drama will focus on the events leading up to one of the biggest political scandals in recent history, and reveal the David and Goliath tale behind the now infamous headlines. Bringing Down The House will also star Alex Jennings , as Fees Office head Andrew Walker, the man in charge of approving MPs expenses; Tim Pigott-Smith as Labour MP Alan Keen; and Neil Pearson as Hugh Tomlinson QC, who successfully led the legal campaign to force the Commons to publish ...

Anna Maxwell Martin will perform in one of six plays at the Old Vic in a 24 hour period with a host of other stars. According to The Press Association ; Hosted by Graham Norton, the event promises "never to be seen again" performances, with six short plays being conceived, written, cast, rehearsed and then performed in 24 hours. The 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala was first staged in the UK in 2004 and tickets range from £75 to £250. The Old Vic's artistic director, Kevin Spacey, said: "The 24 Hour Plays always give audiences a rollercoaster ride of performances.   "It's an electrifying experience at the theatre and I'm thrilled that so many great people have thrown their hats into the ring this year."

Anna Maxwell Martin took part in a 5 part/15 mintue BBC Radio 4 radio drama called Au Pairs in Septemeber, she played a character called Dorkia. Unfortunately it looks as if they no longer on but I will try and get hold of some sound clips if anyone is interested. thanks to Vulpecula for the tip.

Rory Kinnear will play Angelo, Anna Maxwell Martin will be Isabella, and Ben Miles will be the Duke in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure , to run February 11 - April 10 at the Almeida Theatre . Michael Attenborough will direct. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, Kinnear will also play the title role in Nicholas Hytner's staging of Hamlet at the National Theatre next year. The creative team includes Lez Brotherston (production design), David Hersey (lighting design), Stephen Warbeck (music), and John Leonard (sound design). For further information, visit www.almeida.co.uk . SOURCE