DAN WOOTTON: Five-year home run for Damian Lewis

Big hits: Claire Danes and Damian Lewis in Homeland

After his surprise Emmy Best Actor win, it’s no surprise Homeland’s Damian Lewis is being chased by countless Hollywood producers.

But I can reveal that the British thespian, 41, is not leaving the hit drama any time soon — he’s just signed a multi-million-pound deal to play Nick Brody for five more years.

The extended contract with 20th Century Fox means that Homeland — which returned to Channel 4 last weekend — could run for seven series in total.

My Hollywood source says: ‘There is no Homeland without Damian. It was crucial for the producers to secure him. It doesn’t necessarily mean there will be five more series, but it gives them the option.’

Fellow Brit David Harewood, who plays CIA counter-terrorism director David Estes, has also signed for a further five years, my insider confirms.

It means the pair will continue to spend several months a year at the remote studio complex in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the show is filmed.

Homeland, which also stars Claire Danes as the female lead Carrie Matheson, has become the most critically acclaimed new drama since Mad Men, with even US president Barack Obama saying he regularly watches it.





Brendan Coyle thought his character was going to be axed from Downton Abbey

I thought I was a goner

Downton Abbey favourite Brendan Coyle has admitted he thought his character Mr Bates was being axed.

But the Emmy-nominated actor, 48, was happy at the prospect.



He was sure Bates would be written out once he was in prison, telling me: ‘I thought he was going to hang. But I actually thought killing me would be a really powerful, dramatic thing to do.

‘And there are always other jobs!’ He is now expecting to return for a fourth series. ‘I’d be surprised if there wasn’t one,’ he says.





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It’s a worrying time for Wossy — ratings for his ITV1 Saturday-night chat show have plunged to below two million. That’s half the number BBC1 rival Graham Norton got during his last series, and fewer than some of C4’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man shows.

My source says: ‘It was previously un-thinkable that Wossy would rate only 1.8 million some nights. It will now be much harder for him to convince big names like Tom Cruise to come on his show.’

Last autumn, when The Jonathan Ross Show began, it pulled in 4.3 million viewers.



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Strictly Come Dancing will be even more special this year as it’s the last time it’ll be filmed at TV Centre. Next year it moves to Elstree Studios, where EastEnders is shot.



My show source says: ‘We’ve been at TV Centre for ten series. It feels like home, so we want to go out with a bang.’

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Former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne is so keen to make a comeback that she’s said she’ll even appear with arch-rival Dannii Minogue. again if that’s what it takes.

A friend of Sharon, 60, tells me: ‘She’s made it clear she will work with Dannii again. There’s a feeling that a line-up featuring Dannii and Sharon would strengthen the show.’

Simon Cowell is said to be planning a big shake-up of the panel for next year’s 10th series, in a bid to stem falling ratings.

Keen for comeback: Sharon Osbourne is so keen to make a comeback that she's said she'll even appear with arch-rival Dannii Minogue



