Clarkson got a friend in X Files' Gillian Anderson who says Top Gear host is an 'institution'
By Baz Bamigboye
Daily Mail: 19 March 2015

Award-winning actress Gillian Anderson said Top Gear hooks its audience like a 'testosterone-filled injection�, and is devoured by fans like TV �comfort food�.

The star, who is in talks to resume playing FBI Agent Dana Scully in an X-Files TV re-boot, and will play murder detective Stella Gibson in a third season of The Fall, told me that embattled host Jeremy Clarkson was �very sweet� to her when she was a guest driver on the popular BBC show recently. �People rely on it,� she said. �He�s become an institution � and the show�s an institution.�

The actress, who in addition to her TV work has been nominated for an Olivier award for her scorching performance as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic, told me the hysteria over Clarkson�s suspension was understandable, because fans addicted to his controversial style weren�t �going to get their fix any more�.

In any event, Anderson understands all about satisfying TV viewers. She and Jamie Dornan, the hunter and the hunted, served up some pretty tasty fare in Allan Cubitt�s electrifying The Fall. She will once more don Detective Superintendant Gibson�s sensual silk blouses to film a third series next year. Oh, and some of those seen in season two will be back in series three. �She�s not going to suddenly get all new blouses!� Gillian exclaimed. �The realism is important to me, and she�s obviously not going to let go of that wardrobe. So, there�ll be a mixture of old and new.�

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Variety: March 6, 2015

NBC has laid out premiere dates for a pair of its scripted dramas, �Aquarius� and �Hannibal.�

�Aquarius,� which explores the cat-and-mouse game between Charles Manson and the police in the years leading up to the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders in the late 1960s, will bow on Thursday, May 28 with a special two-hour opener. It will regularly air at 9 p.m.

�Aquarius� stars David Duchovny as LAPD Sgt. Sam Hodiak and Gethin Anthony as Manson.

�Hannibal� returns Thursday, June 4 and will air in the 10 o�clock hour.

Mrs Babcock by Gillian Anderson
TES magazine
6 March, 2015

The star of The Fall and The X-Files lacked self-belief at school and was frequently in trouble, but a steadfast English teacher knew the true Gillian was out there�

Mrs Babcock was either my English or my creative-writing teacher in early high school. She used to come and visit me when I was in house detention � I would have been acting like an idiot, getting in trouble. She encouraged me to write poetry. She made me feel like I could write, like I had talent, and she encouraged me to continue.

Mrs Babcock gave me attention. She went out of her way, came to me and sat with me. I started a charity a few years ago in South Africa with a friend of mine; it provides mentors to youths for a period of time. Having a person who�s reliable, who shows up � especially if you come from a situation where that was not the case, or you�ve been abandoned and realise you can�t necessarily trust anyone � gives you that consistency. So does knowing that someone has faith in you and will stick with you.

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