Nothing from Claire Foy in The Promise

There was more nudity avoidance from Claire Foy in the last episode of The Promise. There was nudity from Katharina Schüttler and extras in the series and Foy avoided proper nudity in the otherwise nudity-friendly Pulse pilot on BBC3 last year. Sadly it looks like she probably has to be added to the Women Who Won't list.

Nude Camelot

The US is the place to be if you want to see UK actresses nude. Starz aired a special preview of Camelot episode one. Tamsin Egerton is topless in a sex scene and when emerging from the sea, although that particular scene is somewhat blurry. Claire Forlani shows her right breast without nipple nudity. The previously unknown Mieke Dockley shows breasts and butt in a sex scene. Camelot airs in April in the US. Clips from the preview are available in the usual places.

Juno Temple in Kaboom clip now online

A clip of Juno Temple topless in Kaboom is now online at DeepAtSea's blog, where you can also find the Emma Stansfield clip from last night's Skins. The Sophie Stone Marchlands clip can be found on the Tarty Doris forum.

Emma Stansfield topless in Skins episode 5

Skins has avoided proper nudity for a long time now with none since we saw some extras playing strippers in the second episode of series 3. The last nudity from a credited actress was late in series 2. Tonight it surprised us with a very brief topless shot from Emma Stansfield. Could this be the start of a Shameless-style nudity comeback?

Probably not.

Sophie Stone topless in Marchlands episode 4

I didn't expect anything more from Marchlands after two very covered sex scenes in episode 3. Episode 4 looked like it was going the same way with another scene in which Sophie Stone kept making sure that the sheets were covering her but we finally got a brief but nice view of her left boob towards the end of the scene.

and more nothing

British TV's disappointing spell has continued.

The trailer for this week's episode of Bedlam showed shots of Lily Loveless lying face down naked in bed and a head and shoulders look at her naked in the shower. The episode itself had nothing more than these shots. So the trend Popven pointed out in the comments continues, once Skins regulars have done coy sex scenes in Skins they've all avoided doing proper nudity afterwards.

I wouldn't say for sure that this was Lily's decision though. Charlotte Salt has had a sex scene in her undies every episode and she's not been shy before, showing T&A in The Tudors as well as her topless scene in the first episode. Bedlam gave us a nudity teaser in the first episode but has avoided it ever since, a classic technique in luring us gullible saps who want to see flesh in a programme and getting us to watch it every week. So I don't think we'll see anything else from it.

Even more disappointingly, The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl isn't satisfied with just using a body double for Billie Piper. Lily James had a long awaited sex scene in this week's episode but it was carefully shot and she clearly kept her knickers on. Worse, shots which should have been clear topless shots were quick cut and nipple pads weren't visible but nor were nipples. It's possible that some digital trickery was used to hide her nipples, it's more likely that she wore pads that were much more discrete than the knickers.

Something at last. The trailer for next week's E4 episode of Shameless shows Pauline McLynn topless again.

A whole lotta nothing

Its been a week where there's been a lot of avoided nudity on TV.

Jodie Whittaker and Sophie Stone stayed covered for sex scenes in episode 3 of Marchlands, I wouldn't expect anything more from this series.

The BBFC clearances for clearance for nudity in Skins episode 4 was based on a male arse and a side boob from Laya Lewis, which is normal for Skins. They'd mentioned sex in the first episode of South Riding but there was nothing on view.

Claire Foy's character had sex in episode 3 of The Promise but it cut straight to after the sex, with her covered by a sheet and then when she got up it was shot to avoid showing anything.

In the week ahead, there's Lily Loveless's appearance in Bedlam (the trailer looked promising but I wouldn't take any bets on it) and the clearances for Silk don't suggest much chance of anything. The BBFC promised us Sex in episode 4 of The Promise but I don't think we'll see anything of Miss Foy now.

Starz will show their "sneak peek" of Camelot episode after Spartacus ends on Friday night. Tamsin Egerton was topless in the trailer, Claire Forlani is also a regular.

Will the BBC sanitise D.H.Lawrence?

There was no nudity in last night's Bedlam but next week's episode may be promising. In the trailer, Lily Loveless was shown apparently naked face down in bed and also in the shower. Nothing definite but worth watching out for.

The Daily Mail's website has an interview with Olivia Grant talking about filming a nude scene for Women in Love which is on BBC4 next month. The article says that "all the actors have at least one bedroom scene in this two-part drama adapted for television by William Ivory". Unfortunately the article goes into detail about how they attach strings of pearls to Grant's breasts to preserve her modesty. I hope this is just because Grant is modest. Ivory's written nudity in his programmes before, the cast contains Rosamund Pike, Rachael Stirling and Saskia Reeves who all have nudity form, this is an adaptation of a D.H.Lawrence novel. Surely the BBC couldn't sanitise this?

Would Like To See polls now open

The Would Like To See polls are now open for the next month.

I've rearranged the nominations a bit. Felicity Jones and Emily Blunt had been nominated in the Would Like To See category but have both been topless on screen before. Michelle Ryan and Suranne Jones had been nominated for the Would Like To See Do Better category when they haven't done proper nudity (Ryan used nipple pads for the topless scenes in Mr Eleven, Jones has always used camera angles and sheets to stay covered).

The final list of nominees is below.

Would Like To See
Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Emma Watson
Hayley Atwell
Jessica Brown-Findlay
Karen Gillan
Kaya Scodelario
Lenora Crichlow
Lucy Griffiths
Michelle Ryan
Miranda Raison
Natasha Little
Olivia Hallinan
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Rachel Hurd-Wood
Ruth Wilson
Shelley Conn
Suranne Jones
Tina O'Brien

Would Like To See Do Better
Carey Mulligan
Claire Foy
Elaine Cassidy
Emily Blunt
Emma Pierson
Felicity Jones
Holliday Grainger
Joanna Higson
Susannah Fielding

Update on Sunday night prospects

Being Human seems to have reverted to type. The sex scene the BBFC had listed in episode 4 featured Michelle Luther keeping her bra on.

The Promise is showing more... promise. The sex scene in episode 2 contained a well shot topless scene (Katharina Schüttler as expected) so I still hope that the promised sex in episode 4 will give us some more of Claire Foy.

Kelly Brook Nude Exhibition

Kelly Brook is nude giving a clear view of her labia in the premiere issue of Exhibition magazine. Pictures available from usual sources.

Nude on Stage - Frankenstein

Andreea Padurariu is nude in the National Theatre production of Frankenstein. There is extensive male nudity from Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller who alternate in the title role.

The performances are sold out until April but two performances will be shown in cinemas as part of National Theater Live.

Jaime Murray topless in Spartacus episode 4

Jaime Murray was topless for the fourth successive episode of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Julia Bradbury is partially naked while being painted by John Myatt as the Greek goddess preparing to meet her lover, in Peter Paul Ruben’s sensual Venus In Front Of The Mirror for the Sky Arts programme Fame In The Frame.

Honeysuckle Weeks nudity in The Wicker Tree

Thanks to Popven in the comments for a heads up about Honeysuckle Weeks who can be seen topless in the trailer for The Wicker Tree.

It looks like Mad Dogs will be heavy on male nudity but a non event for female nudity. The promised sex scene in the first episode saw Eloise Joseph keep her dress on throughout.

Nudity in Skins? Or on BBC1?

The BBFC clearance for episode 4 of this series of Skins lists nudity. Amazingly, this is the first time the BBFC have ever listed nudity as a reason for a certificate for a Skins episode. I'm not convinced by this one, particularly as this is Liv's episode and I mentioned a Laya Lewis interview a few weeks ago where she talked of being naked but nothing being shown. It's possible that one of the guest cast will be naked but if it's female nudity, it's more likely to just be an extra.

There are two new BBC1 series coming up. A new version of South Riding starring Anna Maxwell Martin starts on Sunday February 20th and was recently cleared by the BBFC with "moderate sex" listed for the first episode. Two days later, BBC1 has a new legal drama called Silk. This is written by Peter Moffat who was behind North Square, a very nudity friendly series that was on Channel 4 about 10 years ago. From the description it looks like a near remake of North Square as well. Maxine Peake is the lead star and the BBC's press release says that Natalie Dormer's character ends up sleeping with Rupert Penry-Jones's character. Both Peake and Dormer have a good nudity history but this is on BBC1 which doesn't give us much very often.

Shameless body doubles

This week's E4 episode of Shameless resorted to an obvious body double for topless shots in a sex scene involving Aysha Kala. Given that they're normally happy to shoot clothed sex or discrete camera angles for actresses who don't want to do nudity, it's surprising that they'd want to go to the effort of a body double but this is the second time that they've done so.

...or not so slight

The slight chance in Bedlam turned out not to be quite so slight. It spent the first 50 minutes showing pretty young things in their skimpies including the obligatory sex in a bra scene. Then in the last few minutes, it surprised with a brief topless scene from Charlotte Salt.

The BBFC have now cleared The Promise and list one sex scene in next week's episode (I'm guessing with German actor Katharina Schüttler). They also list sex in the final episode which airs on Sunday Feb 27th. So maybe there's hope for Claire Foy in that episode.

Slight prospects for the next few days

There are several possibilities on TV over the next few days but nothing that's very likely.

There was brief T&A from two extras in the first episode of The Promise on Channel 4 last night. From what we've seen so far, I don't think it's very likely we'll see anything from Claire Foy or Perdita Weeks in the last three episodes.

Sci-fi series Outcasts starts on BBC1 tonight and ghost series Bedlam starts on Sky Living tonight. I don't expect much from either of them, the BBFC listings for the first 5 episodes of Outcasts don't suggest anything interesting. Bedlam has been described as sexy but I've also seen a feature which said they made it for a post watershed timeslot but with the possibility of repeating it at 8 pm.

An update on a couple of series I've mentioned previously, Mad Dogs gets underway on Thursday. The BBFC clearances list sex for episode 1 only. The BBFC clearances also listed sex for episodes 5 and 6 of Episodes, episode 5 is on tonight but it's very unlikely that either of the British women in the cast will be involved.

A clip of Keira Knightley's blink and you'll miss it topless scene is already online but Never Let Me Go opens at the cinema on Friday.

Women Who (almost certainly) Won't

A coy camera angle, tactically placed sheet or nipple patch doesn't always mean that the actress is unwilling to do nudity. Sometimes the director or producers of a production have made a decision to avoid showing anything. Sometimes the actress won't do it for this role but if it's a role they feel more strongly about they'll be willing. Sometimes it's all about the money.

But then, if an actress won't show anything in a production that others show the goods in or if an actress uses a body double for their nudity, we can probably assume they're not willing to go naked.

Sometimes actresses change their minds. Billie Piper had no problem showing her body prior to having a baby but has used a body double for Secret Diary Of A Call Girl since then. Many actresses will show the goods in order to get work at the start of their careers but will become unwilling once they're well known and in demand. Some will do nudity to revive a flagging career or to change their image. There are some though who I think we just won't see any more of.

Two of the most common actresses in the search keywords bringing visitors to the blog at the moment are Hayley Atwell and Aysha Kala. Atwell and Ruth Wilson have also had a few nominations for the Would Like To See poll, as have Natasha Little and Elaine Cassidy.

Sadly I think they're all unlikely to show anything.

Hayley Atwell has had a few opportunities to do nudity. In The Pillars Of The Earth while other actresses were showing the goods, she used a body double for an arse scene and nipple patches for a topless scene. She also wore nipple patches for a topless scene in Any Human Heart. It looks like the (just about) topless photo I linked to in December is the best we'll get.

Ruth Wilson has been vocally anti-nudity in interviews. She wore nipple patches in Small Island and did an interview where she'd made it clear that she'd had a no nudity clause in her contract. She slagged off Alice Eve for her see-through nudity in Sex And The City 2 and said that she'd never do nudity in a film and that it was gratuitous and unnecessary. A month afterwards she was showing her arse on the London stage but it's still unlikely she'll show anything again.

As I posted recently, Aysha Kala said in an interview that she'd discussed with the producer the things she was willing to do as a Muslim. It's pretty unlikely that nudity is one of them. She's shown some nice cleavage in Shameless but had a scene where Sita flashed her tits in a recent episode and it was shot from the back in a way that avoided her having to show anything to anyone.

Elaine Cassidy had a spell when she'd be nearly naked in everything she did but there would always be a camera angle stopping us seeing anything or a nipple pad in view. Natasha Little had fewer nudity chances at the peak of her career in the late 90s but when she had them, she again made a point of covering up.

There are bound to be more and I'm sure there will be a part 2 to this in the future. If you've any suggestions, please add them in the comments or email me.

Jaime Murray full frontal in Spartacus episode 3

Jaime Murray was full frontal during a steamy threesome with Lucy Lawless and John Hannah in the third episode of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Jaime may well have been wearing a merkin as is usual with the ladies of Spartacus but it was the tiniest of merkins. Clips are again in the usual places.

Alex Kingston topless in Marchlands episode 1

17 years after her first nude scene, Alex Kingston can always be relied on when nudity is needed. In the first episode of Marchlands she was topless in the bath. Clips should be online tomorrow.

The Secret Diary of a Call Girl

As expected Billie Piper's over-worked body double made an appearance in the first episode of Season Four of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Three US tv series featuring nudity from young British actresses will premiere in April. Camelot (April 1, Starz), The Borgias (April 3, Showtime) and Game of Thrones (April 17, HBO). Trailers have featured nudity from Tamsin Egerton (Camelot) and Holliday Grainger (The Borgias) and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) mentioned doing nudity in an interview.

A new contributor

Readers who visited this blog's predecessors may remember NudeNews who ran the Nude Ramble blog for a time. He was also a regular commenter on BestPossibleTaste and has continued to do so on this blog. He's agreed to become a new contributor to the blog so welcome aboard to him.

Nominations for Would Like To See in 2011 poll

In the comments for this post, please give me your nominations for two categories of a new poll, the Would Like To See poll. You can nominate up to 5 actresses you'd like to see doing their first nudity this year and up to 5 actresses you'd like to see doing better nudity this year. The poll will start in the middle of February.

While nominations are open, this post will be kept at or near the top of the page, so look underneath for newer posts.

2010 British Nude Scene of the Year results

A close race between two frontrunners ended as a draw with over a quarter of the voters voting for Gemma Arterton or Roxanne Pallett. Here are the full results.

33 votes:
Gemma Arterton, The Disappearance of Alice Creed (t, a)
Roxanne Pallett, Lake Placid 3 (t, a, f)

11 votes:
Kelly Brook, Piranha (t, a, f)

9 votes:
Joanna Higson, Shameless (t)
Pauline McLynn, Shameless (t, a)
Carey Mulligan, The Greatest (t)
Niky Wardley, Shameless (t)

8 votes: Lydia Wilson, Any Human Heart (t, a)

7 votes: Naoko Mori, Lennon Naked (t, a, f)

5 votes:
Rebecca Atkinson, Shameless (t, a)
Kacey Barnfield, Lake Placid 3 (t, a)
Emily Beecham, Pulse (t, a)
Alice Eve, Sex and the City 2 (see-through t)
Holliday Grainger, Any Human Heart (a)
Neve McIntosh, Salvage (t, f)
Naomi Watts, Mother and Child (t, f)

4 votes: Ruta Gedmintas, Lip Service (t, a)
Natasha O'Keeffe, Lip Service (t)
Heather Peace, Lip Service (t, a)

3 votes:
Gemma Atkinson, Boogie Woogie (t)
Tamsin Egerton, 4.3.2.1. (t)
Joanne King, The Tudors (t, a)
Maxine Peake, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (t)

2 votes:
Susannah Fielding, 4.3.2.1. (a, semi f)
Laura Fraser, Lip Service (a, f)
Holliday Grainger, Above Suspicion (t)
Anna Madeley, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (t)
Roxanne McKee, Lip Service (a)
Tamzin Merchant, The Tudors (t, a)
Helen Mirren, Love Ranch (t)
Kimberley Nixon, Cherrybomb (t)
Amanda Ryan, Midsomer Murders (t)
Kierston Wareing, Fish Tank (t, f)
Kierston Wareing, Bonded By Blood (t)
Rachel Weisz, Agora (t, a)

1 vote:
Esme Bianco, Any Human Heart (t)
Fiona Button, Lip Service (a)
Sofia Hayat, Jonathan Creek (t)
Sinead Keenan, Being Human (a)
Ashley Madekwe, Secret Diary of a Call Girl (t)
Vicky McClure, This is England '86 (t)
Wunmi Mosaku, Father and Son (t)
India Wadsworth, Lip Service (t)
Shanika Warren-Markland, 4.3.2.1. (t)

0 votes:
Eva Birthistle, Five Daughters (t)
Lucy Gordon, Gainsbourg (a)
Emily Hamilton, Perfect Life (a, f)
Rosamund Hanson, This is England '86 (t)
Lisa Millett, The Pillars of the Earth (t)
Kate Sissons, Pimp (t)