Monkeying around

If there's one thing better than being involved in a successful film franchise, then it's becoming a fixture in two. Well, three if you count the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Yes, that's the excellent fate of Britain's very own Andy Serkis who, after creating the extraordinary Gollum for Peter Jackson's first tilt at Tolkien, has now successfully continued the character in the director's prequel film trio, The Hobbit.

But that's not all: Serkis is also back in simian mode for a further instalment of the Planet of the Apes prequel saga in which he again plays the heroic Caesar, leader of a growing nation of genetically evolved apes now threatened by a human band of survivors of a devastating virus.

Sequel to the blockbusting Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, is directed by Matt (Cloverfield) Reeves and co-stars Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Toby Kebbell and Judy Greer.

Wild about Harry

As if the imminent arrival on our big screens of North Norfolk Digital's Alan Partridge isn't bizarre enough - after all, his working practices surely suggest a "face for radio" - then you ain't seen nothing yet.

The odd-looking, quirkily-dressed frontman of TV Burp and the voiceover behind You've Been Framed has just gone in front of the cameras for The Harry Hill Movie which aims to be in our cinemas before the end of the year.

The publicity blurb goes like this: "What would you do if you thought your hamster only had a week to live, your chickens are attacking you with machine guns, and your Nan is just not giving you the space to spread your wings?

"When Harry and his petrol drinking Nan (Julie Walters) discover their hamster is seriously ill they set off on a road trip to Blackpool pursued by a lunatic vet (Simon Bird). Along the way, Harry falls in love with an undersea shell person (Sheridan Smith), witnesses canine superstars The Dachsund Five, and meets indie rock band The Magic Numbers - who run a B’n’B. 

"It all culminates in a fight on top of The Blackpool Tower. Who could be behind it all? Could it be Harry’s evil twin Otto (Matt Lucas), who was separated from Harry at birth and brought up by Alsatians?

Now you get the idea.