Clarkson got a friend in X Files' Gillian Anderson who says Top Gear host is an 'institution'
By Baz Bamigboye
Daily Mail: 19 March 2015

Award-winning actress Gillian Anderson said Top Gear hooks its audience like a 'testosterone-filled injection’, and is devoured by fans like TV ‘comfort food’.

The star, who is in talks to resume playing FBI Agent Dana Scully in an X-Files TV re-boot, and will play murder detective Stella Gibson in a third season of The Fall, told me that embattled host Jeremy Clarkson was ‘very sweet’ to her when she was a guest driver on the popular BBC show recently. ‘People rely on it,’ she said. ‘He’s become an institution — and the show’s an institution.’

The actress, who in addition to her TV work has been nominated for an Olivier award for her scorching performance as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic, told me the hysteria over Clarkson’s suspension was understandable, because fans addicted to his controversial style weren’t ‘going to get their fix any more’.

In any event, Anderson understands all about satisfying TV viewers. She and Jamie Dornan, the hunter and the hunted, served up some pretty tasty fare in Allan Cubitt’s electrifying The Fall. She will once more don Detective Superintendant Gibson’s sensual silk blouses to film a third series next year. Oh, and some of those seen in season two will be back in series three. ‘She’s not going to suddenly get all new blouses!’ Gillian exclaimed. ‘The realism is important to me, and she’s obviously not going to let go of that wardrobe. So, there’ll be a mixture of old and new.’

Read more…

Variety: March 6, 2015

NBC has laid out premiere dates for a pair of its scripted dramas, “Aquarius” and “Hannibal.”

“Aquarius,” which explores the cat-and-mouse game between Charles Manson and the police in the years leading up to the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders in the late 1960s, will bow on Thursday, May 28 with a special two-hour opener. It will regularly air at 9 p.m.

“Aquarius” stars David Duchovny as LAPD Sgt. Sam Hodiak and Gethin Anthony as Manson.

“Hannibal” returns Thursday, June 4 and will air in the 10 o’clock hour.

Mrs Babcock by Gillian Anderson
TES magazine
6 March, 2015

The star of The Fall and The X-Files lacked self-belief at school and was frequently in trouble, but a steadfast English teacher knew the true Gillian was out there…

Mrs Babcock was either my English or my creative-writing teacher in early high school. She used to come and visit me when I was in house detention – I would have been acting like an idiot, getting in trouble. She encouraged me to write poetry. She made me feel like I could write, like I had talent, and she encouraged me to continue.

Mrs Babcock gave me attention. She went out of her way, came to me and sat with me. I started a charity a few years ago in South Africa with a friend of mine; it provides mentors to youths for a period of time. Having a person who’s reliable, who shows up – especially if you come from a situation where that was not the case, or you’ve been abandoned and realise you can’t necessarily trust anyone – gives you that consistency. So does knowing that someone has faith in you and will stick with you.

Read more…