12 Sunday May 2013
It’s a wrap for BBC TV drama The Whale as they finish filming in Malta today. Hope everyone has had a blast working on this project! 
The Whale starring Jonas Armstrong as Owen Chase, Adam Rayner (Captain Pollard) , Charles Furness (Thomas Nickerson ) and Jassa Ahluwalia (Owen Coffin) will air on BBC One and on the Discovery Channel (USA) later this year!
05 Sunday May 2013
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I think it was quite well known that Malta and its islands has been used as an ideal filming location for multiple historic or sea-swashbuckling movies and TV series.
In order to promote the Island even more, yesterday one of its Ministers visited the set of BBC’s The Whale which stars Jonas Armstrong as Owen Chase, to chat with the cast & crew and ask how it was all going.
You can watch a VIDEO of the visit here:(not in English)
Text version of what is being implied: http://gozonews.com/38368/minister-mallia-vists-film-studies-for-production-of-the-whale/
Synopsis
The Whale is the real story that inspired the classic novel Moby Dick, and is one of history’s greatest stories of survival at sea. The film follows the ill-fated voyage of The Essex through the eyes of the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson who, at 14, was the youngest member of the crew and one of only eight survivors of the shipwreck.
This is an action-packed narrative in which against all odds Nickerson comes through the worst that nature can throw at him, growing up fast in the process. He faces the destructive force of sea-storms, the power of whales, the brutal desolation of the sun and sea after the shipwreck, and finally the grim realities of cannibalism as his only means of survival.
At its emotional heart is Nickerson’s coming-of-age, where, as an orphan, he is confronted by three powerful male role models – the captain, the first mate, and a black steward. As our narrative develops his views on what makes a man switches dramatically as he sees how these role model respond under some of life’s most extreme pressures.
The Producers: “Throughout we explore some universal themes – What is Man’s place on Earth? How does humanity relate to the planet and its creatures? And what lengths will Man go to in order to survive. Woven within our story is a vivid depiction of the 19th century whaling industry, its importance to the world in an age before petroleum, the reality of its economics and operation, and the life and society of the sperm whale itself, one of the ocean’s greatest creatures”
- This is very good as was hoping like I wrote in my article about whaling (Room for Debate?) that they’d focus on the history of the industry so that we can put this into the larger context. Fingers crossed Discovery will do a piece about modern whaling today to open up the debate!
02 Thursday May 2013
I’ve been reading the book upon which the script by Terry Cafolla for BBC’s The Whale is based on : Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex as well as In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Unless you prefer not to know anything about the story, you may want to stop reading here as this post could contain *SPOILERS*. So be warned!
I know this is essentially a ‘fan-site’ for news about Jonas Armstrong’s projects but thought it’d be a missed opportunity if I didn’t address the current issue about ‘whaling’. Pinning my hopes on the fact Discovery Channel has put money into the film, and that they’ll be making a documentary to accompany the making-off of The Whale and address this debate.
30 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in Blog Updates, The Whale, TV Movies
Here we go again, another month has past so time for another Jonas Armstrong calendar wallpaper. Well it had to be Malta really this month. 
Hoping filming continues to go smoothly.
Taking inspiration from some of the filming locations for BBC’s The Whale and the pictures Jassa posted on twitter. We might not be able to go there and experience the lovely sunshine for ourselves but at least we can enjoy the views on our PC’s iPad etc…
If you’re looking for any of the previous calendar wallpapers: I’ve now put them all together under the top menu item ‘Wallpapers‘ above the header image.
Btw good luck to everyone who has to study for exams this month!
19 Friday Apr 2013
This week the cast & crew are filming scenes in the large tanks situated at the Mediterranean Film Studios in Malta. Fans of Game of Thrones might know the location as they used the very same studios and its Island surroundings in all three seasons of the HBO series.
In the story of The Whale, the crew of the whaleship Essex have to face multiple squalls, tropical thunderstorms and gale force winds during their 90 day ordeal. Actually they were confronted with a squall just days after leaving the harbour of Nantucket. I’m not exactly sure if they are planning to film every single one Owen Chase mentioned in his narrative, but let’s hope for the cast that they do a selection.
Click on the picture to learn more about the water tanks.
I’ve always loved the making-off of films almost as much, if not more since as long as I can remember watching films. I’m the kind of girl that likes to stay in the cinema and watch the entire credits roll by or is more than happy to watch hours of bonus features on DVD’s more than once! Especially when it comes to either special effects, props, costumes, lighting, storyboards or editing and naturally the audio commentaries from either director or cast. Yes the LOTR ultimate boxset might spring to mind as a perfect example of what I mean.
As Discovery Channel is co-producing the project, I really hope they’ll be making a documentary about the industry of whaling and whaleships like the Essex, to accompany the film. And if they do that they’ll mix in some kind of making-off as well , as I’m really fascinated how they build the ship for filming and of course how they used the water tanks to achieve the storms and the whale attacks! In Master and Commander (2003) I remember the entire ship could be tilted at all possible angles, but not sure if they’re using same principle here or not. So fingers crossed a making-off will be found on the DVD.
Really want to wish the entire cast & crew of The Whale the best of luck and fun while filming these sequences and hope none of you get injured!
If you want to stay up to date a reminder that Jassa Ahluwalia (Owen Coffin) just keeps making everyone jealous by posting pictures of the gorgeous sunny Malta filming locations and tweets almost every day what they’ve been up to. Many thanks indeed!
08 Monday Apr 2013
YAY BBC ‘s new TV film The Whale with Jonas Armstrong in the lead has now been officially confirmed by the press!
So past weekend I was able to tell you that Jonas is playing First Mate – Owen Chase and today thanks to the very lovely Luke from Custard Tv can provide you with a picture from the set!
Jonas Armstrong in a read through for BBC ONE’s The Whale with Alrick Riley, Director
Picture credit: BBC
Jonas Armstrong (left) during a read-through for BBC One’s The Whale with director Alrick Riley (Credit The Guardian)
Picture credit: BBC
Joe Armstrong who was his co-star in Robin Hood will play Lawrence, and you can find more info about his character if you click on the links I provided HERE
UPDATE 09/04 : Joe has now been replaced by Jolyon Coy you can read about the cast change at: http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2013/04/joe-armstrong-exits-bbc-ones-the-whale/
It’s very interesting that the project is produced by Mike Dormer who worked on Paul Abbott’s Clocking Off as Jonas starred in two Paul Abbott projects back to back last year: Hit and Miss & Twenty8k. Furthermore the co-producer John Chapman worked on The Street, and Jonas starred as Nick the wounded soldier returning from Afghanistan in Series 3. So Jonas must have left a strong impression to be cast as Chase in The Whale! Great stuff!
Disclaimer: as always no copyright infringement intended! The pictures provided remain the property of their respective owners (BBC)
06 Saturday Apr 2013
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Many thanks to Troika for the update as Jonas Armstrong is cast as ‘First Mate – Owen Chase’ in BBC’s TV film The Whale. That’s the officer who ranks just below that of the Captain of the ship.(played by Adam Rayner)
Owen Chase wrote his accounts down about what happened in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. Which would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
As first mate of the Essex, 21 year old Owen Chase left Nantucket on August 12, 1819 on a two-and-a-half-year whaling voyage. On the morning of November 20, 1820, the Essex was twice rammed by a Sperm Whale and sank 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of South America. After spending two days salvaging what supplies they could, the twenty sailors set out in the three small whaleboats with wholly inadequate supplies of food and fresh water.
Instead of heading west to almost certain salvation nearby Tahiti (the crew, led by Owen Chase, feared the islands may be inhabited by cannibals), the confident first mate with the cocksure attitude convinced the less assertive Captain Pollard to head east for South America several thousand miles away.
Of the 21 men in three whale boats who began the journey, eight survived; three who chose to remain on a barely habitable island and five in two boats who attempted to reach South America and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to remain alive.
If you want to learn more about the tragic story of the whaleship Essex go to:
04 Thursday Apr 2013
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Well apparently all is indeed going rather swimmingly! As mentioned below Jonas Armstrong is indeed confirmed filming BBC One new project The Whale together with Robin Hood co-star Joe Armstrong (again peeps NOT related!) Hurray!
They’re filming it as we speak in beautiful warm sunny Malta with blue skies, blue sea…yep not at all jealous lads! Filming is scheduled to last for about 5 weeks if all goes hunky dory! (sorry but double dose of fishy news this week with Pixar’s Finding Dory and now The Whale – kinda exited! LOL ).
Anyways so one of the members of the cast is tweeting about it all so you can just follow @OfficialJassa to keep up to date (apparently today was rowing training)
Will keep you all updated once BBC releases an official Press release with more concrete information about characters and more importantly when it will air!
30 Saturday Mar 2013
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Right first of all see the title with the stress on ‘Rumoured‘ new project! BUT anyhow if it does go ahead it will be rather brilliant! UPDATE: NOW CONFIRMED!!
BBC One have confirmed making a new 90 minute TV drama called ‘The Whale’ based on the book The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by A Whale and tells the story of the whaleship Essex which sunk in 1820. Basically this is the story that later inspired ‘Moby Dick’.
Along with Jonas Armstrong, his Robin Hood co-star Joe Armstrong is also mentioned as a member of the cast. It would be awesome to see them both together again on screen!
More info about it all read here: http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2013/03/bbc-two-greenlights-the-loss-of-the-ship-essex-sunk-by-a-whale-adaptation/
We’ll have to wait and see if this happens to be true or not…Jonas has wrapped on All You Need is Kill and Walking with the Enemy is back into Post-Production. It says that filming will start soon, so potentially Jonas would be free to work on this. Fingers crossed everyone!
01 Friday Mar 2013
Posted in Blog Updates, Secret of Chimneys
Is it just me or did February cruise by in a flash? 
March is here which means Spring will be on its way soon I hope,as the grey cloudy days are getting quite boring now!
I’ve chosen Miss Marple The Secret of Chimneys as this month’s wallpaper subject. Readers from Belgium and the Netherlands will sure know that the digital TV channel 13 Street is showcasing this particular Miss Marple episode with Jonas Armstrong at least once every few weeks.
Hope you guys like it! Xx
