Edinburgh International Television Festival 2012 Opens Doors to Public

MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival has unveiled its full screenings programme, offering members of the public and Festival delegates an exclusive first look at some of this year’s most hotly anticipated television content.

The Edinburgh International Television Festival has not always been known to open their doors to the public, in fact the other Festivals tend to see it as the last weekend of the Fringe when the TV folk appear, some of us know it  as “do you know who I am?” weekend as producers and directors waiving their ID badges are turned away by doormen and press offices.

It’s good to see that this year they are opening their doors to their audience with this showcase, which plays out between Thursday 23rd August and Saturday 25th August at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.

It includes the world premiere of Victoria Wood’s film Loving Miss Hatto, the first Scottish showing of the long awaited seventh series of Doctor Who, and a first chance to see the new series of Channel 4 comedy Friday Night Dinner, which stars The Inbetweeners favourite Simon Bird. All of the post screening Q and As will be moderated by writer and broadcaster Andrew Collins.

Loving Miss Hatto, which charts the story of Joyce Hatto, the renowned 1950s and 1960s concert pianist who only achieved critical acclaim thirty years after she disappeared from the limelight, will be followed by a Q and A with comedienne Victoria Wood, who will discuss the inspiration behind the project.

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffatt will be on hand to answer fans’ burning questions in a live Q and A segment after the explosive first episode of the new series, while Friday Night Dinner stars Simon Bird and Tom Rosenthal and creator Robert Popper will be discussing the new series of the comedy.

The lineup is completed by action series Hunted, a co-production between the BBC and Cinemax. Writer Frank Spotnitz, of the principal writers on X-Files, and producer Jane Fetherstone, take part in the Q and A.

The full timetable appears below:

Thursday 23rd August

  • 3:00pm – 4:30pm: Friday Night Dinner

Friday 24th August

  • 12:00pm – 2:30pm: Loving Miss Hatto
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm:  Hunted

Saturday 25th August

  • 10:00am – 11:30am: Doctor Who

Tickets for Edinburgh Television Festival screenings available from The Filmhouse website.

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