NURGUL YESILCAY TO REPLACE BEREN SAAT IN 'KOSEM SULTANA' EPIC TV SERIES? TOBY SANDEMAN IS PRINCE OF MOROCCO IN 'ROYALS' SEASON 3! BBC TO TURN 'MINIATURIST' INTO 17 CENTURY SERIES! NBC BUYS 'THE ARK' SF DRAMA

'KOSEM SULTANA' EPIC SERIES

NURGUL YESILCAY TO REPLACE BEREN SAAT AT THE THRONE? 

Television news for you this Sunday, starting with the royal gossips coming from Istanbul's Topkapi palace which say that Beren Saat could be replaced in the second season of the worldwide hit saga KOSEM SULTANA by Turkey's best paid TV star Nurgül Yeşilçay! I must admit I'd welcome the replacement given how much the audience was dissatisfied with Beren's lack of any interest in giving some depth or personality to her portrayal of the 17th century sultana Kosem who ruled Ottoman Empire through her husband and later on her sons. With her shocking lack of expression and acting chops Beren has really  taken for granted the role which most actresses would consider an acting playground and a role of a lifetime. It is interesting that the second season will have an unprecedented full cast change, since all of the characters have been killed in the first one or have grown up and will be played by older stars. Caner Cindoruk, Burak Yamantürk, Metin Akdülger, Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Naz Elmas are just some of the stars I've heard could play Kosem's grown up princes and princesses and courtiers in the new season which should return this Autumn.

TOBY SANDEMAN IS 

MOROCCAN PRINCE IN 'ROYALS'
Speaking of royal courts, E!'s first scripted series ever which has set December 4th for the return in its third season, THE ROYALS has just cast Toby Sandeman as a Moroccan prince! Sebastian is described as being articulate and cerebral and has fully embraced everything that comes with being a contemporary royal including the scrutiny and attention it brings. He joins Elizabeth Hurley, Tom Austin and William Moseley in the popular drama.
NBC BUYS 'THE ARK' SF DRAMA
Meanwhile, NBC has bought a high concept sf drama THE ARK a modern retelling of the Noah’s Ark story from the Bible, following an engineer who, after the death of his wife, has a vision to construct a ship capable of sustaining life in space. When the build happens to coincide with the coming end of the world, the engineer realizes there may be a larger story at play.
BBC TO TURN 'THE MINIATURIST' INTO MINI SERIES
Across the pond, British national broadcaster BBC has announced that they're making a new period set series. They will adapt Jessie Burton's THE MINIATURIST into a three part series! The 2014 bestseller is set in 1686 with the story revolving around eighteen year old Nella Oortman, who arrives in Amsterdam to become the wife of wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. She receives a wedding gift of a doll's house from a mysterious Miniaturist, which she soon realises is mirroring the situation in her house, and predicting the future in unnerving ways.

FIRST LAVISH 'MAGNIFICENT CENTURY: KOSEM SULTANA' EPIC TV SERIES TEASER WITH HULYA AVSAR, EKIN KOC, SARAH HYLAND AND BEREN SAAT.

'KOSEM SULTANA' 

EPIC TV SERIES GETS 1ST TEASER

Now, here's something lavish for you this Sunday! Tims Productions and Turkish Star TV have released the first, rather artsy, epic and intriguing first teaser trailer for their historical saga MAGNI- FICENT CENTURY: KOSEM SULTANA  (Muhteşem Yüzyıl Kösem) with Beren Saat in the lead role. Now, you can't actually see her in the teaser (I'm guessing they're probably saving her for the real trailer) but you can see gorgeous Hülya Avşar as her grandmother in law Safiye Sultana and Ekin Koç as Sultan Ahmet! The series should start airing October 1st in Turkey and a bit later on around The Balkans, Russia, Asia and Africa! The previous series which followed Sultan Suleyman was one of the most watched series worldwide.

BEREN SAAT, HULYA AVSAR, EKIN KOC LEAD THE CAST
The series will follow KOSEM SULTANA, played by Beren Saat and Sarah Hyland (in the younger version), who was born at the end of the 16th century as Anastasia and ended up in Topkapi Palace where, thanks to her intelligence and skill she became Sultan Ahmet's favourite concubine and mother of his children. She will quickly become one the most influential women in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Ekin Koç will play Sultan Ahmet who died when he was only 27. Hülya Avşar plays Safiye Sultana who was the wife of Sultan Murad, the son of Sultan Selim and Nurbanu Sultana who were characters in the MAGNIFICENT CENTURY previous series. After Ahmet's death two of his sons with KOSEM SULTANA will ascend to the throne thanks to the power of their mother. Alma Terzic will be Ahmet's mother Handan Sultana. Stay tuned for more official pics!

MAGNIFICENT FIRST PHOTOS FROM LAVISHLY EPIC NEW TURKISH SERIES 'KOSEM SULTANA' WITH BEREN SAAT, ERKAN KOLCAK KOSTENDIL AND HULYA AVSAR AS SAFIYE SULTANA

'KOSEM SULTANA' 

1ST PHOTOS FROM EPIC SERIES

Now, here's something stunning to start of the first day of summer in proper style: exactly a year ago lavish Turkish epic series THE MAGNIFICENT CENTURY ended its worldwide rule and now the same production team is ready to launch an even more lavish one KOSEM SULTANA series this September! Today, you can feast your eyes on the very first photos depicting gorgeous Turkish star Hulya Avsar in the full costume as the 16th century Safiye Sultana the mother of Sultan Mehmed III. As you can see her gowns are done in English style since she maintained good relations with Elizabeth I with whom she had personal correspondence. If I got it right (my Turkish ain't so good) the white cat is also a gift from the English monarch. As I've reported earlier Beren Saat will play the lead role of KOSEM SULTANA, Sultan Ahmed I will be played by Erkan Kolcak Kostendil, while Yıldız Çağrı Atiksoy will be Ayshe Sultana. The preparations took almost a year and a whole Ottoman city was built for the series.

SULTA- NATE OF WOMEN
Similarly to Hurrem Sultana, who was the hero of MAGNIFI- CENT CENTURY, Safiye also rose from being a slave in the harem to becoming sultana after she was chosen by  Hurem's daughter in law Nurbanu Sultana to be the wife of her son future sultan Murad. The main star of the series is of course KOSEM SULTANA, the wife of Safiye's grandson Ahmed I. She was a prominent figure during the Sultanate of Women (which started with the rule of Hurrem Sultana). She was official regent twice and was thereby one of only two women to have been formal rulers of the Ottoman Empire. She came to the sultan's palace in Istanbul as a 15 year old slave girl, but quickly became influential in the harem which will be shown in the new series.