Emma Thompson to play the Queen

Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson is to portray the Queen in a TV drama based on Michael Fagan's Buckingham Palace intrusion 30 years ago. Entitled Walking The Dogs, the film will tell the tale of how Fagan gained entry to the palace and entered the Queen's bedroom in 1982. Eddie Marsan and Russell Tovey will also star in the dramatisation. The film, to be screened later this year, is part of a new drama series for Sky Arts called Playhouse Presents. Brenda Blethyn, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant and Sheila Hancock have also been lined up to star in new dramas that have been commissioned for the channel. It has also been announced that veteran chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson is to return to TV, four years after he retired. The star, who bowed out from his ITV series in 2007, is to front a six-part series called Masterclass with Michael Parkinson. The show will focus on a different star each week and Sir Michael will uncover how they perfected their art. The 76-year-old said he was "delighted" to have landed the new role. The series will be filmed in front of a studio audience, who will also be able to ask questions. Channel director James Hunt described Sir Michael as "one of our country's finest broadcasters". He added: "This new interview series will allow Sir Michael to get closer than ever before to his subject, extracting the essence of their character in a way that only he can."