Julian Assange embassy exile inspires BBC comedy

Julian Assange sought political asylum in the Ecuadors Lond embassy in June 2012. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Julian Assanges two-year stay in the Ecuadorian embassy has inspired a new BBC4 comedy called Asylum.

Created by Fonejacker star Kayvan Novak and producer Tom Thostrup, according to the BBC Asylum is a satirical comedy about a government whistleblower and a millionaire internet entrepreneur trapped together in a London embassy.

Assange sought political asylum in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid a perceived threat of extradition to the US for publishing military secrets. Swedish prosecutors want to question him about allegations of rape and sexual molestation, although he has not yet been charged.

Asylum will air early next year and is being made by 2LE, the independent production company behind prank E4 show The Work Experience.

Written by Thom Phipps and Peter Bowden, the comedy is part of a BBC season next year called Taking Liberties, celebrating 800 years of the Magna Carta and exploring democracy in the run-up to the general election.

The season will begin on 5 January with a four-part Radio 4 series on the Magna Carta, presented by Melvyn Bragg.

Other highlights include a day of live events under the title Democracy Day on 20 January the 750th anniversary of Englands first parliament plus a four-part BBC2 series by acclaimed political documentary-maker Michael Cockerell called Inside the Commons, in which he gets unique access to the inner workings of the institution, from clerks to MPs.

BBC3s contributions include Magna Carta 2.0, a documentary packed full of stunts, fun and comedy from The Revolution Will Be Televised comedian Jolyon Rubenstein.

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Julian Assange embassy exile inspires BBC comedy

Assange inspired new BBC comedy show

Julian Assange's stay in London's Ecuadorian embassy is the inspiration behind a new BBC comedy.

The BBC is making a new comedy inspired by WikiLeaks Australian founder Julian Assange's stay in the Ecuadorian embassy.

The show, called Asylum, is described as "a satirical comedy about a government whistle-blower and a millionaire internet entrepreneur trapped together in a London embassy".

It was dreamt up by Kayvan Novak and his Fonejacker producer Tom Thostrup and is written by newcomers Peter Bowden and Thom Phipps.

Assange has been in the South American country's central London embassy for more than two years after taking refuge there to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces sex-related allegations.

He has said he believes he will be extradited to the United States if he travels to Sweden.

The comedy is one of a string of shows created to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta which was one of the first attempts to limit the powers of the monarchy and develop a functioning legal system and parliamentary democracy.

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Assange inspired new BBC comedy show

Julian Assange to Deliver Video Remarks at L.A.’s PEN …

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who has been living in asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012, will deliver real-time video remarks at 24th Pen Literary Awards.

The event, hosted by Aisha Tyler, is scheduled for Nov. 11 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Assange has been living in the embassy to avoid possible U.S. prosecution for his role in leaking documents supplied by Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning). In The Fifth Estate, a 2013 film about the case, Benedict Cumberbatch played Assange.

Pen Center USA also announced that VICE Media will be presented with the organizations prestigious Award of Honor for its excellent writing.

Writer-director Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon) will present the Freedom to Write Award to Jose Antonio Vargas, who won a Pulitzer for being part of the team at the Washington Post that covered the Virginia Tech shootings and who revealed his status as an undocumented immigrant in a powerful 2011 New York Times essay.

Amy Poehler will present Norman Lear with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other previously announced Literary Award winners include Gretel Ehrlich; Octavio Solis; Lindsay Hill; Craig Malisow; Victoria Chang; Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis; Ben Coccio, Derek Cianfrance and Darius Marder; Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham; Wayne A. Rebhorn; Margarita Engle; and Mimi Pond. In addition, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras will receive the First Amendment Award.

Read more Julian Assange Says He is to Leave London's Ecuadorian Embassy "Soon"

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Julian Assange to Deliver Video Remarks at L.A.'s PEN ...

Benedict Cumberbatch Is Proud Of Email To Julian Assange

Benedict Cumberbatch is adamant an email he penned to whistleblower Julian Assange following his criticism of The Fifth Estate is "the best pieces of writing I've ever done".

The Sherlock star portrayed the controversial WikiLeaks founder in the 2013 movie about the website's publication of thousands of classified documents.

Before the shoot began, Assange wrote a letter to Cumberbatch trying to convince him to withdraw from the role, but the actor refused and wrote a lengthy, impassioned email in response explaining why he was right for the part.

Telling Telegraph Magazine about Assange's letter, he says, "There was a huge amount of passive aggression in that. I'm not stupid. I knew what he was doing; I knew that he was blindsiding me with praise, thinking my ego would be massaged by some fat, fictitious pay cheque or the idea of being 'a movie star' by playing him, and that would persuade me to be some talking piece for the State Department...

"I wrote back a very strong email that, unless he shows it, it will never see the light of day. It's one of the best pieces of writing I've ever done, I'm proud to say, and he was very polite in response. But I don't feel the need to publish that correspondence, and I'm not going to talk about it."

However, it appears Cumberbatch is unaware that both of their responses were published last year (13).

Assange has been living at the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012 after he was given political asylum following accusations of sexual assault and rape in Sweden.

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Benedict Cumberbatch Is Proud Of Email To Julian Assange

UK Minister of State Hugo Swire Statement to Parliament on Sweden and Assange – Video


UK Minister of State Hugo Swire Statement to Parliament on Sweden and Assange
UK Foreign Office Minister of State Hugo Swire responds to question on possibility of Swedish prosecutor questioning Julian Assange in London. (28 October 2014) Transcript: https://archive.today/...

By: mmcetera

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UK Minister of State Hugo Swire Statement to Parliament on Sweden and Assange - Video