Amazon’s The Rig welcomes Line Of Duty stars Mark Bonnar and Martin Compston
AMAZON Prime Video’s big-budget drama The Rig is starting to look more like a Line Of Duty reunion.
The cast now includes Mark Bonnar, who played Deputy Chief Constable Mike Dryden on the BBC1 police corruption series.
He follows in the footsteps of Martin Compston, better known as AC-12 hero Steve Arnott, who has already signed up for the project.
Line Of Duty’s director, John Strickland, is even taking charge of the action.
A TV insider said: “Mark is the latest recruit to the cast of The Rig, which is clearly going to be dominated by top Scottish actors.
"And they’re going to have a serious feeling of déjà vu when they walk on set and start filming the supernatural thriller this month.”
In series two of Line Of Duty, Mark’s character Dryden had a secret relationship with DI Lindsay Denton, who was played by Keeley Hawes.
The actor was last seen playing producer Paul Smith on hit ITV drama, Quiz, which revisited the 2001 cheating scandal surrounding Major Charles Ingram on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
On The Rig, Mark plays communications officer Fulmer who, along with his colleagues, ends up trapped on an oil rig in the North Sea as a mysterious fog envelopes them.
Fulmer is fascinated with codes and feels more at home in his radio room than joining in the banter with his workmates.
The six-part drama is very much a Scottish project.
As well as the Caledonian cast, it will be filmed exclusively north of the border at studios in Edinburgh, which also happened to be the home of the show’s creator, newcomer David MacPherson.
I suspect there will be a lot of whisky consumed during breaks between filming.
Alex is reddy to race
NEW Question Of Sport host Alex Scott will be hoping she isn’t left with egg on her face attempting Comic Relief’s latest challenge.
The ex-footballer will go head to head with Jermaine Jenas in the Red Nose And Spoon Race.
In a test of their fitness and dexterity, Alex and the former Spurs midfielder will each captain rival teams and race in a three-day, 62-mile hike while balancing Comic Relief’s iconic red nose on a spoon.
Each time they drop their nose it will result in a time penalty that could make the difference between their sides winning and losing.
Alex, who played for Arsenal and England, said of the event that starts on Wednesday: “I am feeling so emotional. I am doing it alongside two amazing team members, who have really struggled with their mental health.
"To see what it means to them is so special and I am extra nervous now, as I cannot let them down.
“That said, my inner competitive streak is still there, and I’m going for the win. Afterall, is there anything better than getting one over an ex-Spurs player?”
This is going to be the most highly contested egg and spoon race since my victory at Reading’s Downsway Primary School sports day in 1998.
John: No ender repeats
LIFE on Albert Square can feel like an endless cycle of misery – and not just for its residents.
John Altman, who played baddie Nick Cotton from the first episode in 1985 until 2015, said he pities writers tasked with keeping the show fresh.
He said: “It’s hard. I wouldn’t want to be a writer on it, to come up with something that hasn’t been repeated before – like a murder, a divorce, drug addiction, burglary.
“You can’t avoid repeating old storylines with different characters.”
John, who recently released an album, Never Too Late To Rock And Roll, and has a new single out called Looking For The Love Of My Life, reckons EastEnders will be with us for a while yet.
He added: “I’ve never thought about it ending. Coronation Street has been going since 1960. It’s like having a football team. They are pretty die- hard fans.”
Career relaunch
DANNII Minogue has no idea why Simon Cowell gave her The X Factor job that relaunched her career.
She told the White Wine Question Time podcast: “I remember people saying, ‘Why are you here on this judging desk? What do you know?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, I just got asked to be here’.”
Back to bridge the gap
THE team behind Netflix bonkbuster Bridgerton are ready to go again.
Filming for the second series begins any day now and the show’s Hollywood contingent of producers are on their way, according to writer Jess Brownell.
She told iHeart’s Bridgerton podcast: “I just booked my flight to London for season two production. It’s all happening – it’s beginning.
“The sets are going up, the actors are getting ready, we are about to start filming.”
The storyline is expected to shift focus from Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page's lovers to head of the family Anthony Bridgerton, played by Jonathan Bailey.
I revealed in January that bosses had applied for permission to build fake stately homes for series two to avoid clashing with Netflix stablemate The Crown over filming locations.
Hit out
DRAG queen A’Whora, who has been eliminated from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, hit out after believing she was edited as the villain of the BBC competition.
She told Digital Spy: “I wasn’t happy. There are some key things that can really change the way that people perceive you and react online.”
Crackers course from AJ
REMIND me never to accept an invite to a dinner party at AJ Odudu's house.
The Don’t Rock The Boat host revealed she once served guests an entire packet of cream crackers as the main course – as it’s one of her favourite “meals”.
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Her admission is made all the more shocking by the fact she trained as a nutritionist before finding fame.
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But as she explains on tonight’s episode of Would I Lie To You? on BBC1: “Does a kidney doctor not drink alcohol? Kidney doctors drink booze, do you know what I mean?”
Unlike her signature dish, there’s nothing dry about AJ’s personality.
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