KOOL TV BABE OF THE WEEK. 'SLEEPER CELL' AND 'HIDDEN's THEKLA REUTEN

Netherlands delight. Sexy actress Thekla Reuten. Image: via ULIKE.

Joining the welcome rising tide of elite international actresses making their notable and striking way into British and American film and TV these past few years, lovely Dutch actress Thekla Reuten has played a series of strong and complex figures, of both good and evil, in hit shows like HIGHLANDER (opposite small screen incarnation Adrian Paul),  LOST (as the doomed Elsa, a shady member of Charles Widmore's business enterprises eventually killed by Iraqi hero Sayid (Naveen Andrews) in a memorable Season Four episode), as the determined and thoroughly deadly terorist convert Mina in the chillingly memorable US series SLEEPER CELL, terrifyingly ending the second and final series with a horrific and despicable self-sacrifice, and, most recently, on the UK's BBC 1, opposite MAD DOGS and LIFE ON MARS star Philip Glenister, as lawyer Gina Hawkes, in the ultimately so-so thriller enlivened by her thoroughly sexy presence- the three-part HIDDEN. On the big screen, she's showed her tough centre as Mathilda, a cold-centered and experienced assassin out to woo then "hit" sex symbol George Clooney, in 2011's understated but stylish thriller set in and out of a small Italian town, THE AMERICAN.

Making a curvaceous appearance as hitwoman Mathilda in the movie THE AMERICAN. Image: FOCUS FEATURES.

Alongside George Clooney in THE AMERICAN. Image: FOCUS FEATURES. 

Helping to unravel a mystery alongside Philip Glenister in HIDDEN. Image: BBC.

Always hard at work on quality projects, Reuten has three European productions in the works, but I'm sure it won't be too long before she once more makes just as welcome and provocative big-league contributions to English-speaking film and TV.

WELCOME TO HELL! 'MAD DOGS' SEASON THREE BEGINS...

Is orange the only colour? Life is grim for the trapped kidults of MAD DOGS. Image: SKY ONE.

As if their intense, squabbling mid-life crises weren't already enough, the previous mixture of sun-baked Spanish mayhem and murder that our four "heroes" of SKY 1's hit black comedy/drama MAD DOGS have so far suffered seem like small change compared to what's happened to them now: framed by a British ex-patriot crime lord, captured by Moroccan security police and sent to the gulag from hell - MIDNIGHT EXPRESS meets year three of PRISON BREAK-  where they have to find some way of escape and get home to the imperfect but now truly desirable confines of England.

Like little boys out of their league within the prisons dilapidated frame, and the dangerous felons that inhabit it, our dysfunctional brotherhood of stars John Simm, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren and Max Beesley look set to collide, comfort and blunder into the problems ahead, and provide a few laugh out loud moments along the way. Guest starring still rising star Jaime Winstone (daughter of Ray) as Mercedes, one of the other trapped and desperate inmates, she's one of the few un-bloodthirsty types who may help the quartet, though likely with an agenda of her own- let's face it, these guys don't really have much luck in picking friends, do they? There's hopes that this new four-part season, once again written by creator Cris Cole, will be a big improvement over season two, which started well and had a good baddie in David Warner, yet incredulously run out of plot by the end of episode two. Series Three airs in desert sweltering, reach for the bottled water HD from June 4th.

Preview: Mad Dogs series 3 trailer - Sky1 HD
Mad Dogs - Season 3 trailer - YouTube

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