Dominic Cooper to play Ian Fleming in new Sky drama

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Mamma Mia! star Dominic Cooper is to play Ian Fleming in a new drama about the James Bond creator, to be screened later this year.



The British actor will portray the author in a "no-holds barred" four-part drama on Sky Atlantic.

Cooper said: "Stepping into the shoes of the spy who not only created 007 but fantasised about being him has to be every actor's dream."

Kylie Minogue has also been recruited by Sky to star in Playhouse Presents.

The actress-turned singer is keen to return to her roots, having made her name playing the role of Charlene in Australian soap opera Neighbours in the 1980s.


Kylie Minogue and Peter Serafinowicz Kylie Minogue stars alongside Peter Serafinowicz

She will appear in Hey Diddly Dee, a play written and directed by actor Marc Warren.

"When the script was sent to me, I read it and knew instinctively I wanted to be part of this project," said Minogue.

"In Hey Diddly Dee, Marc has created a beautiful and quirky story. I have also enjoyed many of the Playhouse Presents series and love that they have created a platform for this type of work."

Minogue joins a raft of talent including Vanessa Redgrave, Kathy Burke, Anna Friel and Matthew Horne in the new series, while Matt Smith and Idris Elba join Warren in making their directorial debuts.

Other announcements in the Sky drama schedule include The Reckless Season - five original dramas from some of Britain's most critically-acclaimed female screenwriters, including Sally Wainwright, Gwyneth Hughes and Annie Griffin - and the two-part finale of Mad Dogs, starring Philip Glenister and John Simm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21041593

This isn't what the proposed big-screen Fleming biopic has turned into instead, is it? :suspect:

http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=11196&t=mi6&s=news

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out. I'm not sure of the casting, but I do like Cooper and I'll give him a shot.

It looks pretty clear now that they're taking a more fictitious approach to depicting Fleming's life leading up to writing Bond, right down to how he gets the name. I haven't been keeping up to date with the production of this mini-series, but it certainly wasn't something I was expecting. It's like a blending of Fleming and the Bond books. I won't really know how I feel about it until I watch it all, but I hope it's fun. If anything, at least it's not taking a critical approach to Fleming's character and politics, something a lot of Fleming's harshest critics might actually complain about.

Looks like it'll have Fleming doing parkour through the streets of Berlin.

Unfortunate. We've seen this sort of approach before, overglamourizing Fleming to the point of turning him into James Bond, when really Bond was his fantasy version of what his life should have been like, his escape. Dude had a cool life, but it wasn't an Austin Powers movie.

So far the only screen treatment of Fleming's life I've enjoyed was the Charles Dance project, and even that had its number of issues.

Ugh, who decides that a colleague/friend of Fleming's coming up with Bond's name is a better story than what ACTUALLY happened?  

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ugh, who decides that a colleague/friend of Fleming's coming up with Bond's name is a better story than what ACTUALLY happened?  

Exactly. I thought this was going to be a historically accurated, instead it seams they're trying to replicate the success of Bond movies.

Sorry fellas, more necromancy...

Realised this is on Stan in Oz, so gave the first ep a watch. Very glossy production with a hint of the Bond theme in the score, but Dominic Cooper is a curious choice to play Fleming, and the writing of his character suggests a much different interpretation of the person I believed him to be. Anyone else seen this?

I think i caught a few minutes of it on TV ages ago. Pace and dialogue seemed rather frenetic.

Looks crap but happy to be convinced otherwise by those brave enough to watch the whole thing.

Watched all four episodes. I'm not sure if it was a conscious decision to portray Fleming in the worst possible light, even at the expense of fact for-- I'd say dramatic effect but why sensationalise an already sensational life? And further, why do it with no pay off? It's a huge mess, which is a damn shame.

Though, the music and cinematography are nice. Art department created very sanitary war scenes, however.