ITV1 Bolsters Programming Slate

LONDON, August 22: ITV1
has commissioned Initial West, an Endemol company, to produce the Vegas-style
quiz show Spin Star, to air in
its fall schedule, and has announced the addition of Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon to the cast of its upcoming drama An
Englishman in New York.

Nixon will take on the
role of Penny Arcade, a performance artist and playwright who forms a close
bond with the show’s lead, Quentin Crisp, played by John Hurt. An Englishman
in New York, from Leopardrama,
picks up where the ’70s classic The Naked Civil Servant left off, with Crisp on the journey of a lifetime
in New York, where he gets wined and dined by celebrities.

Executive
producer James Burstall of Leopardrama said: "Choosing to
shoot the film in New York was a risky decision as the drama industry works
very differently in the U.S. from the U.K. But the huge amount of strategic
planning and the leap of faith are delivering a first-rate caliber of cast.
There is a real buzz about the project in Manhattan as Quentin was a much-loved
and notorious figure—everyone has an anecdote to tell about him. And
we've been touched by the number of friends and admirers of his (some of whom
he never knew) who have wanted to help with the project in myriad different
ways."

ITV1 will also air Spin
Star, which mixes the big-money
gamble of the casino with a game-show studio. The show features the
Moneyspinner, a large slot machine with reels that include cash, questions and
the names of the five contestants who will be answering those questions. But
the five players will not win money themselves, but rather are playing on
behalf of the Spin Star, the person who’s in charge of the giant slot machine.
The daytime series will be presented by Bradley Walsh.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski