Actor Michael Brandon will make a TV comeback in popular British police drama Dempsey And Makepeace.

New York-born Brandon, who played Lieutenant James Dempsey in the Eighties show, will appear alongside wife and co-star Glynis Barber in a revival of the series, which ended in 1986.

He says: “We’ve got a script now and it’s going to be happening very soon. We’re very excited about it.”

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are going back to war as the producers of a new US cable TV mini-series about the World War Two battles between America and Japan.

The movie star pals, who joined forces for Saving Private Ryan and acclaimed mini-series Band of Brothers, will revisit the Second World War again in The Pacific.

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher and movie moguls Garry Marshall and Brett Ratner will serve as judges on Steven Spielberg’s new reality TV contest On The Lot.

The trio will join director Jon Avnet as the four people responsible for dismissing wannabe filmmakers who fail to impress on the upcoming show.

The much-anticipated new show will debut in America next month, when 50 hopefuls pitch their projects to the judges, who will then narrow the competition down to 18 wannabes.

Composer Marc Shaiman has claimed the Henry Mancini Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the music of film and television at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Film and Television Music Awards.

Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal presented the award to Shaiman, while other famous pals like Robin Williams, John Travolta and Queen Latifah recorded video tributes.

Hollywood actor Zach Braff is the latest big name to pull out of upcoming Fletchl, Fletch Won, after being offered the chance to develop his own movie.

The Garden State star joins celebrated director Kevin Smith, who also walked away from the project.

Sequel director Bill Lawrence, who also oversees filming on Braff’s hit sitcom Scrubs, says: “Zach is writing and directing his own film at Paramount. I’m very happy for him. We were looking forward to doing this thing together, but when you get an opportunity like that, you’ve got to take it.”

British singer Marianne Faithfull fears she will be a “penniless pensioner” and is desperately trying to save cash to fund her retirement.

The former girlfriend of rocker Mick Jagger hopes money from her upcoming European tour, Songs of the Innocence and Experience, will enable her to live in comfort.

Veteran comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have teamed up with Asian comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar to write Mumbai Calling, a sitcom set in an Indian call centre.

The Jewish duo are best known for such hits as Birds Of a Feather and Shine On Harvey Moon.

The sitcom, which will have a pilot show made in India and the UK, will be shown later this year on ITV1.

Actor Shia LaBeouf is worried he’ll forever be associated with ruining the Indiana Jones franchise if the upcoming sequel is a critical or commercial failure.

The 20-year-old has been cast as star Harrison Ford’s “sidekick” in the Steven Spielberg/George Lucas movie - and he’s worried the film won’t live up to expectations.

Superstar Barbra Streisand is considering a return to European stage after over a decade of absence.

The Way We Where singer and Yentl actress has rarely performed since her 1998 marriage to actor James Brolin, but staged a long-awaited comeback to the US stage last year.

Michael Douglas is set to play a real-life attorney who tackled the Ford motor company on behalf of a crippled Texas mother.

The movie star will play Tab Turner in upcoming courthouse drama Tragic Indifference.

Turner took on the bosses of the motor giants in 2000 after Texas housewife Donna Bailey was left paralysed in a car accident.

Bailey’s Ford Explorer flipped over in the crash. Her attorney helped win her a huge settlement from Ford.