MUMBAI: Uefa has announced the appointment of the BBC and ITV as the official broadcasters of Uefa Euro 2012 in the UK.

All 31 matches will be transmitted live across BBC and ITV. The broadcasters will further exploit all 31 matches via their respective internet and mobile platforms.

A daily highlights programme will also be shown on each match day during the tournament and the BBC has the right to provide extensive coverage of the competition across its radio channels.

Uefa Events marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein said, "Uefa is delighted to continue its relationship with the BBC and ITV, our traditional broadcast partners for the UEFA European Championships.

"We look forward to working with the UK?s leading free-to-air broadcasters and are convinced that they will provide fans in the UK with an exceptional depth of coverage of the tournament across all media platforms."

The BBC and ITV also confirmed the full split of matches between the two broadcasters across the tournament.

The broadcasters will show a total of 16 matches each including the final, which will be broadcast by both ITV and the BBC.

ITV controller of sport Niall Sloane said, "Major events such as the Euro 2012 Championships have huge significance for our viewers and attract some of the biggest audiences on television. I?m delighted that ITV has secured an outstanding selection of games through the tournament which includes England?s opening game against France as well as a potential peak time group decider against hosts Ukraine.

"ITV1 will also be the home of some terrific clashes between the top teams in Europe including Spain v Ireland, Spain v Italy, Portugal v Holland and Ireland v Croatia."

BBC Head of TV Sport Philip Bernie said, "The BBC is delighted to be showing the UEFA European Football Championship, a huge football event, which, along with the London Olympics, should ensure a fantastic sporting summer for BBC viewers.

"We are happy with the live matches on BBC One, as they give us a strong climax to the event, with both semi-finals, as well as England?s quarter-final if they progress. We also have some very appetising group games, including England?s second match, against Sweden, in peak time, Ireland?s final match, against Italy, and heavyweight clashes between Holland and Germany and Germany and Portugal."

MUMBAI: The documentary team behind ?Planet Earth? and the co-production partners of ?Life? will present ?Frozen Planet? in March 2012 on Discovery Channel in the US. The series will be narrated by actor Alec Baldwin.

Discovery Channel, TLC group president Eileen O?Neill said, "Discovery Channel is very excited to have someone as passionate and talented as Alec Baldwin to lend his voice to such an important landmark television event."

A Discovery Channel/BBC co-production four years in the making, the show aims to provide the ultimate portrait of earth?s polar regions, where the scale and beauty of the scenery and sheer power of the natural elements are unlike anywhere else on the planet. The show will reveal a world filled with creatures, variety, colour and spectacle including the birth of an iceberg bigger than the largest building on earth, a caterpillar with antifreeze in its veins, the greatest concentration of sea birds on the planet, and tiny baby polar bears, who at birth are 25 per cent smaller than human babies. Never-before-filmed sequences will include the growth of a saltwater icicle (brinicle) that freezes everything it touches and orca whales working as a team to create killer waves that wash seals off ice floes.

To capture nature?s majestic power - as well as its ultimate fragility the filmmakers utilised the latest cinematographic techniques and technology to capture groundbreaking imagery both above and below the ice in some of the most extreme and remote regions of our planet. Combined, the team filmed in every nation inside the Arctic and Antarctic circles during a record 2,356 days in the field, 1 1/2 years at sea, more than 6 months on the sea ice and 134 hours beneath that ice, filming in the polar oceans.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that its charity initiative BBC Children in Need has raised ?26.3 million the highest on-the-night total ever.

Celebrating its 32nd Appeal, the show marked the crescendo of this year?s activities through family entertainment in order to help raise money for disadvantaged children and young people right here in the UK.

At the helm was Sir Terry Wogan who was joined by TV stars Tess Daly, Fearne Cotton and Alesha Dixon to present the seven-hour entertainment marathon live from London?s BBC Television Centre.

The stage came to life with top musical stars including One Direction, The Saturdays, Westlife, Steps, Olly Murs with Rizzle Kicks, Will Young, Matt Cardle, Ed Sheeran and The Collective.

The extravaganza also featured the small screen and the West End who came together to show their spots to help raise money. The cats ?EastEnders? did Queen, Hollyoaks belted out ?Forget You? and the BBC Newsreaders did ?Strictly?.

Radio 2?s fundraising this year was once again led by Sir Terry Wogan and Chris Evans. And tonight they announced that their fundraising contributed a phenomenal ?2,032,642 to the 2011 Appeal.

Matt Baker?s phenomenal Rickshaw Challenge also helped drive the total even higher with an amazing ?1,263,272 raised.

BBC Children in Need David Ramsden said, "It is amazing that people across the UK have come together to raise the highest ever Appeal Night Total. Thank you so much for helping to change thousands of young lives across the UK."

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that the definitive cast list for the BBC Two Shakespeare films encompassing Richard II, Henry IV (Parts I and II) and Henry V has been confirmed.

Featuring Shakespearean actors, all four films have been commissioned by BBC Two for their Shakespeare season in 2012 as part of the BBC?s contribution to the London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad. The films were commissioned by BBC Drama Commissioning controller Ben Stephenson and BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow.

The historical plays are set in the medieval period. As principal photography begins on Henry V, the previously announced Kings - Ben Whishaw, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston - will be joined by an ensemble cast.

Whishaw said, "Playing Richard II has been a hugely rewarding experience. Working on this beautiful play with Rupert Goold and an amazing cast has been one of the most magical and memorable experiences of my career."

Irons added, "I am most grateful to have this opportunity of returning to Shakespeare, to film under the experienced eye of Richard Eyre, alongside such exciting actors."

In the first film of the cycle, Ben Whishaw will play King Richard II with Rory Kinnear as his challenger, Bolingbroke. John of Gaunt will be played by Patrick Stewart (The RSC?s Merchant of Venice), with David Suchet (Poirot) as The Duke of York and David Morrissey (South Riding) as Northumberland. Tom Hughes will play Aumerle and Mowbray will be played by James Purefoy. Clemence Po?sy (Harry Potter) will play the role of Queen Isabella and Lindsay Duncan (Alice in Wonderland) will play The Duchess of York. Other confirmed cast members include Lucian Msamati and David Bradley.

Completing the confirmed cast of Richard II are Isabella Laughland, Daniel Boyd, Finbar Lynch, Richard Bremmer, Harry Hadden Paton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Samuel Roukin, Tom Goodman-Hill, Adrian Schiller, Peter De Jersey, Simon Trinder and Rhodri Miles.

The second and third films will see Jeremy Irons playing Henry IV, supported by Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal. Simon Russell Beale (Spooks) will play Falstaff and Julie Walters (Mamma Mia, Mo) will play Mistress Quickly. Hotspur will be played by Joe Armstrong (Robin Hood) and Michelle Dockery is to play Lady Percy alongside Maxine Peake as Doll Tearsheet. Lady Northumberland will be played by Niamh Cusack with Alun Armstrong as Northumberland. Reece Shearsmith will play the role of Davy, Tom Georgeson will play Bardolph, Pistol will be played by Paul Ritter and Douglas Henshall (South Riding) will play Mowbray. Iain Glen will play Warwick and Geoffrey Palmer will play Lord Chief Justice.

Completing the confirmed cast of Henry IV are Henry Faber, James Laurenson, David Hayman, Robert Pugh, Alex Clatworthy, Stephen McCole, David Dawson, Ian Conningham and Nick Jones.

Tom Hiddleston will play Henry V in the final film. John Hurt will play The Chorus and Julie Walters will play Mistress Quickly

NBCUniversal International UK MD Gareth Neame said, "NBCUniversal International is delighted to partner with Neal Street, BBC and WNET to bring this definitive version of this cycle of the history plays to our screens. It demonstrates our commitment to finance and produce expressly British content and distribute it to audiences worldwide."

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced a bumper feast of new programmes and seasonal specials for Christmas.

Leading the line up of drama is an adaptation of Charles Dickens?s ?Great Expectations?, featuring Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Douglas Booth.

In another adaptation, Mary Norton?s classic children?s books will be brought into the 21st century in ?The Borrowers?, starring Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood and Christopher Eccleston.

The story of children?s book ?The Gruffalo?s Child? is told through a magical animation and voiced by Shirley Henderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.

There will also be a Doctor Who Christmas Special where the Doctor, played by Matt Smith, will be joined by a stellar cast including Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Alexander Armstrong.

In comedy two new episodes of ?Absolutely Fabulous? will see Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reprise their roles as the champagne-swigging Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone. They will be joined by the original cast of Julia Sawalha as Saffy, June Whitfield as mother and Jane Horrocks as Bubble.

Sir David Jason is back in a comedy role on BBC One for the first time in 20 years leading the cast of The Royal Bodyguard, and Sue Johnston stars in a new Christmas comedy, ?Lapland?.

Leading the laughs on BBC Two this yuletide will be a new four-part comedy adventure series ?The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff?. Kicking off the series there will be a one-hour Christmas special featuring an impressive cast of Robert Webb, Katherine Parkinson, Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Celia Imrie, Pauline McLynn and Johnny Vegas.

There will be a Michael McIntyre Christmas Special to look forward to and Christmas editions of Mrs Brown?s Boys, Rev, Outnumbered, John Bishop?s Britain, Have I Got News For You and The Graham Norton Show.

The ?Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special? will bring some seasonal sparkle to the Christmas schedule with five new celebrities donning their sequins and dancing shoes to battle it out for the crown of Strictly Christmas champ.

Spreading a bit of Christmas cheer will be a one-off special edition of Jim?ll Fix It. Presented by Shane Richie the programme will see a whole new generation of children have their dreams fixed for them.

In this year?s ?Top Gear Special?, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set out to boost the British economy by embarking on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world?s most fascinating and challenging countries.

Aled Jones introduces a very festive Songs of Praise, Big Sing from London?s Royal Albert Hall; meanwhile Carols from King?s tells the Christmas story, assisted by carols from the world-famous Chapel Choir of King?s College, Cambridge.

Heralding the 2012 bicentenary celebrations of Charles Dickens, Dickens on the BBC includes the documentary strand Arena on BBC Four, which opens the door on the vast Dickens onscreen archive that has been generated over a century across the globe. On BBC Two, Sue Perkins exposes the lesser-known reality of the Dickens family Christmas, looking at the marriage of Charles Dickens through the eyes of his wife, Catherine, in Mrs Dickens?s Family Christmas, and Armando Iannucci uses Dickens?s masterpiece David Copperfield to unpick the language and analyse the characters to explore the revolutionary development of Dickens as a storyteller.

BBC Vision director George Entwistle said, "At the heart of our 2011 Christmas offering, we have a number of programmes inspired by the work and life of one of Britain?s greatest writers, Charles Dickens. From a bold adaptation of Great Expectations to a brilliant new comedy The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff, and high-quality documentaries from Armando Iannucci and Sue Perkins, we have something to keep every member of the family entertained over the festive period.

"With the return to our screens of Absolutely Fabulous and Sir David Jason, with the Royal Bodyguard, it will be truly unmissable television here on the BBC this Christmas.??