Gordon's Republic

Gordon Macmillan

Hugh Laurie, who returns to British TV on Sunday has apparently modelled his life on Jane Seymour. This line alone made a piece worth reading this week in The Guardian about the success that a lot of British actors are currently enjoying on US TV. There are absolutely loads. Including Jane Seymour devotee Laurie.

Cue lots of headlines about the British are coming or have already moved into to a Los Angeles pad near you.

Some have, of course, been more successful than others. Laurie in 'House' is more like the exception than the rule as the show he stars in moves into its fifth year. Others, more than 40% will get cancelled. Some barely making a first season before the axe falls in the tough world of US network TV.

I was really late to the whole 'House' thing and only started watching it after a boredom accident when I picked up a box set of the first three seasons for £7 (two Golden Globes and three Emmy nominations can't be wrong). At that price it seemed rude not to. Anyway, I got sucked right into Laurie and his portrayal of pill popping misanthrope Gregory House who, so the story goes, got his break after one of the producers of the show mistook him in his audition tape as an "all-American guy".

Be interesting to see if the numbers hold up for Sky which performed its seasoned trick, mugging poorer terrestrial networks. This time Five was the loser. It always did pretty well out of 'House'. It pulled in as many as 2.6m viewers.

It's unlikely that 'House' will get the same numbers after its move as the story so far has been that all shows moving from terrestrial to digital have seen numbers drop. The same was true for the first two seasons of '24', which then jumped from BBC Two to Sky One and then Lost, which went from Channel 4 to Sky One.

Anyway, I digress, 'House' is back with its fifth season and Laurie talking to the Guardian had this to say regarding the Brit invasion.

"I know I'm not the first British actor to play an American in a network TV show - in this, as in so many other aspects of my life, I have modelled myself on Jane Seymour - but I have tried to represent the UK as well as I know how. I am punctual, sober, I know my lines and I haven't threatened any of my co-workers with a gun. If that has helped smooth the way for other British actors, hooray!"

We can look back a long way and see Brits doing well over there, but recently the latest crop seems larger. Some good and others not so good.

Most recently Laurie has been joined by 'Shakespeare in Love' star Joseph Fiennes and 'This Life'/'Pirates of the Caribbean' Jack Davenport in a new sci-fi drama on ABC called 'Flash Forward'.

Over on CBS Jeremy Northam and Richard Coyle head up Jerry Bruckheimer's 'Miami Trauma' while 'Spooks' star 'Rupert Penry-Jones' is in ABC's 'The Forgotten'.

Not to forget 'The Wire'. I'm way late to this and am only now making my way from Season One. I admit, it is good, but I would never have guessed that Dominic West (who plays Jimmy McNulty) and Idris Elba (who plays Stringer Bell) were British.

There are loads more so here's a handy list I made earlier (no particular order).

1. Stephen Moyer in HBO's 'True Blood'  
2. Robert Carlyle in 'Stargate: Universe'
3. Tim Roth in Fox's 'Lie to Me'
4. Kelly Macdonald in HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire'
5. Rufus Sewell in 'Eleventh Hour' on CBS (cancelled)
6. Alex Kingston and Parminder Nagra in NBC's 'ER'
7. Ashley Jensen in ABC's 'Ugly Betty'
8. Michelle Ryan in NBC's 'Bionic Woman' (cancelled).
9. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver in ABC's 'The Riches'
10. Anna Friel in ABC's 'Pushing Daisies'
11. Ian McShane in HBO's 'Deadwood' (cancelled)
12. Joely Richardson in Fox's 'Nip/Tuck'
13. Louise Lombard in CBS' 'CSI'
14. Lena Headey in Fox's 'Terminator Sarah Conor Chronicles' (cancelled)
15. Sophia Myles in CBS' 'Moonlight' (cancelled)
16. Kevin McKidd in NBC's 'Journeyman' (cancelled)
17. Naveen Andrews in ABC's 'Lost'.
18. Damian Lewis in NBC's 'Life' (cancelled) and HBO's

There are probably loads more. Some we will never see. Most will probably run late night on digital channels and come and go. Rufus Sewell for instance? Missed that one.

I did catch a couple of episodes of 'Life' after reading a good review in The Guide, but that's already been axed. Shame, that was good, and like Laurie Lewis has that certain quirkiness (not to mention he was very good in 'HBO's 'Band of Brothers' a few years back.

Oh I suppose we should mention Jane Seymour. She was in something it ran for five years. It was called 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'. I have no idea what it was about other than it involved Jane Seymour who, you know, played a medicine woman, and who Hugh Laurie later modelled his life on. Good work.

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