Infographic showing impressive New Year Stats for Actor & Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY's News Blog ...

An infographic displaying the world wide reach of Actor & Voice Artist SEAN CONNOLLY's News Blog ...

I am thrilled to announce that as the New Year arrived my News Blog surpassed the 19,000 views mark. This means that from mid October to New Years Eve the blog achieved over a thousand views a month on average, up from my usual 600 views per month. This was due in no small measure to the 'SHAUN THE SHEEP EFFECT!', with both 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE MOVIE' receiving its UK TV Premiere and 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' getting yet another festive repeat.

As my News Blog reached this landmark I thought it might be fun to do a little digging into the stats of my blog and explore 'WHERE ON EARTH?!' are those views actually coming from.

If you look at my first attempt at an infographic, you can quite clearly see that the UK would dominate the figures, followed (some way back) by the USA and Russia. Then Ireland, France and Germany featuring strongly and even Australia! The 'REST OF THE WORLD' category features countries as diverse as India, Canada, Ukraine, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, Italy, Spain, with South America surprisingly strong with views across Peru, Mexico and Argentina, perhaps it was the 'LLAMA EFFECT?!'.

I don't know what all this actually means, at the very least it means peeps from literally all around the world have clicked through to my News Blog and hopefully read something of interest?!

Acting website at www.seanconnolly.co.uk
Voice website at www.seanconnollyvoices.com

Thank you to everyone who has clicked through since I started my News Blog ...

Aardman's Christmas Double Whammy - UK TV Premiere of 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' & repeat of EMMY AWARD-WINNING 'THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' ...

AARDMAN ANIMATIONS voice actor SEAN CONNOLLY and some of the characters he voiced in 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE MOVIE' ...

Shaun is certainly the sheep that keeps on giving! This Christmas 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE MOVIE' get it's UK TV PREMIERE - if you haven't yet seen this Oscar, Golden Globe and TWICE BAFTA nominated classic then make sure you tune in to BBC ONE on BOXING DAY at 2.10PM. Still unbelievably proud to be a part of this wonderful film.

As well as the UK TV PREMIERE for 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE MOVIE', I'm also over the moon to announce that the INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARD-WINNING - 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' will also get a couple of SEASONAL REPEATS. Tune in to BBC ONE on CHRISTMAS EVE at 1.45PM and FRIDAY DECEMBER 29th again on BBC ONE at 10.25AM - so no excuses for a spot of LLAMA DRAMA!! I play HECTOR THE LLAMA in this half hour of madness ....

AARDMAN ANIMATIONS voice actor SEAN CONNOLLY plays HECTOR the LLAMA in the award-winning 'SHAUN THE SHEEP - THE FARMER'S LLAMAS' ...

SEAN CONNOLLY with Hector the Llama ...

Young Rose Bruford College actors chase top BBC Radio Drama prize!

Young radio actors from ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE representing the college at the BBC CARLETON HOBBS RADIO COMPETITION 2018 ...  

I am delighted to reveal the students I will be coaching from ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE for next years BBC CARLETON HOBBS RADIO COMPETITION.

SAM BAKER-JONES (top left) - POPPY FARDELL (top right)

RACHEL BENSON (bottom left) - CHOMBA TAULO (bottom right)

The prize for the eventual winner of course is an amazing FIVE MONTH CONTRACT with BBC RADIO DRAMA ... If you are regular listener to BBC Radio Drama then you will probably have heard one of last years winners TAYLA KOVACEVIC-EBONG in multiple dramas this year!! Tayla is also a graduate of Rose Bruford College and I had the great privilege to help coach him last year, so no pressure then Sam, Poppy, Rachel and Chomba!!

They really are super-talented foursome and I'm very much looking forward to working with them next year.

All change at BSA (Birmingham School of Acting) as it becomes the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - Acting!!

Actor and Voice Artist Sean Connolly outside his old drama school, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - Acting, formerly BSA (Birmingham School of Acting) starting another year of teaching Radio Drama ...

Blimey that went quickly! It seems like only yesterday that I had started my first academic year teaching Radio Drama at BSA (Birmingham School of Drama)! Well, just embarked on my second year with a whole new shiny batch of drama students at my alma mater. Exciting times ahead too, as BSA (Birmingham School of Acting) has joined forces with the (ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE) to become the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - Acting ... It makes complete sense to join these two esteemed training centres of excellence for music and acting. It is however tinged with a little sadness for me and probably all of my fellow BSA ex-students going all the way back to 1936, as of course the name change means no more 'Birmingham School of ...' Onwards and upwards!!

I really enjoyed my first year teaching at RBC - Acting, particularly seeing the progression of the students over the nearly six months I was with them. So massively looking forward to instilling my love for the dark art of radio drama with whole new group of Second Years!

Exciting too of course that the brand new £57 million facility of Birmingham Conservatoire also received its Royal Patronage earlier this year when HRH The Earl of Wessex became its first Royal Patron.

From the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire website: 

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principal, Birmingham Conservatoire said:

"I am delighted to announce that HRH The Earl of Wessex has accepted Birmingham Conservatoire's invitation to become its Royal Patron. This is an enormous accolade to receive from His Royal Highness and is a testimony to the wonderful achievements of our team at the Conservatoire."

The announcement not only acknowledges the artistic excellence of Birmingham Conservatoire, currently ranked top of all UK conservatoires for student satisfaction, but also further reinforces the City’s reputation as home to world-class music and performing arts.

Great to be part of it all ...

Flying in to the North Lakes for some Stage Radio Play Fun!!

Greatly looking forward to heading up to the North Lakes next week for a splendid time of fun and frolics! 'THE EARTH FROM THE AIR' by SHARON GOSLING, is a beautifully written, two-hander stage-radio play which I will be performing with my lovely wife BELLA HAMBLIN for TWO NIGHTS ONLY! on FRI 27th and SAT 28th OCTOBER in CROGLIN VILLAGE HALL. All proceeds from the two special performances will go towards the 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF CROGLIN HALL APPEAL, so a great cause!

'THE EARTH FROM THE AIR' is the story of what happens when GABE (played by Bella), a woman with a fear of flying, confronts her fears by trying to learn to fly out of Carlisle airport. I play HUW, her flying instructor. The play also skillfully weaves some history from the surrounding area into the narrative.

BELLA HAMBLIN and SEAN CONNOLLY photographed by IAN DAVIES for a project called #BrumCreatives ...

Sharon says "Because the play was written for radio, that’s how it will be performed, as a ‘live radio play’, that means the actors will have their scripts with them and their performances will be augmented by sound effects and music that has been composed specially for this production. We’ve had great support from the local community as well Eden Arts, the council and several local businesses. All the proceeds will be going to the Village Hall, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, to help keep it going as an important centre of village life for another 80 years."

As mentioned above, there are just two performances of this hour-long ‘live radio play’, on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th of October. Tickets are £12 each, and include dinner before the show: attendees, who should arrive for 7.30pm, will receive a Pie and a Pint, as well as the Play!

Tickets are available from WITHNAIL BOOKS, at the Brunswick Yard in Penrith (opposite Booths), or online at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-earth-from-the-air-tickets-38072940189

SHARON GOSLING is a successful author, her books include the trilogy 'The Diamond Thief' (which won the Redbridge Children’s Award in 2014), 'The Ruby Airship' and 'The Sapphire Cutlass', the teen horror novel 'FIR', and official TV tie-in titles for the popular CBBC series, 'Wolf Blood'. Sharon writes books and articles about television and film, and has written, produced and directed audio dramas. Sharon and I first met when we both worked for 'DOCTOR WHO' Audio specialists BIG FINISH ...

VOICING TWO - MITCHELLS & BUTLERS Apprenticeship VIDEO ADVERTS ...

I have recently found TWO video adverts extolling the virtues of an apprenticeship with MITCHELLS & BUTLERS (for which I did the VOICE OVER) on You Tube ... Since they've been posted they have attracted over SEVEN & HALF THOUSAND views, pretty impressive! Here they are ...

         

         

I remember the voice session being great fun and I think the final videos have a terrific fresh contemporary style ... MITCHELLS & BUTLERS offering some interesting options for students considering their POST 16 futures ... 

One last hurrah for ERNIE & HILDA MOORE in SEASON 11 of BBC RADIO 4's 'HOME FRONT' ...

If you've been following BBC Radio 4's First World War drama serial 'HOME FRONT' you will probably know (SPOILER ALERT!) ... that in SEASON 10 my character for over THREE YEARS - ERNIE MOORE and my wife HILDA MOORE (played by real-life wife BELLA HAMBLIN) were tragically killed in the historic BOMBING OF FOLKESTONE on 25th MAY 1917, leaving our daughter JESSIE MOORE parent-less!

Well, if you are keen reader of the RADIO TIMES you might have noticed that both ERNIE and HILDA appear in the cast list as SEASON 11 started it's run on 31st JULY!
If you'd like to know how this is possible, then click http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08yfhs7 to listen to yesterday's episode called '2nd August 1917 - Jessie Moore' with a description as follows;

"On this day in 1917, the heaviest rainfall in 30 years fell on Passchendaele, and in Folkestone, Jessie lives under a cloud."

Season 11 runs from July 31st through to September 22nd 2017 ...

                        

There's also a terrific new way to explore the series thus far on the BBC website called the HOME FRONT STORY EXPLORER you can find it here http://homefront.ch.bbc.co.uk/ ... There's some great content to explore and gives an excellent overview of the major themes of the series as well as some really terrific artwork on the mini-site including pictorial imaginings of ERNIE MOORE (above) and my wife HILDA (left).

If you haven't already listened to it yet or maybe you just missed it, there was a marvellous 45 minute one-off edition called  'HOME FRONT - A LIGHTENING' written by Sarah Daniels. The episode marks the centenary of Britain's first Gotha Air Raid, which devastated Folkestone on 25 May 1917. Weaving real historical figures and testimony with the stories and characters of Home Front. Here's the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08mjsvj

It's been a real privilege to be involved in such a ground-breaking radio series, made all the more special doing it alongside my wife HILDA, sorry ... Bella!!