The fifth season of Mad Men will debut in the UK just two days after its US premiere.

The AMC drama – which stars Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks – will air on Sky Atlantic from March 27.

The new run will begin with two-hour premiere ‘A Little Kiss’, penned by series creator Matthew Weiner.

“There’s a time jump,” said Weiner. “There are some new people. Changes have happened off screen, and the audience will have to catch up with that. Even though Don (Hamm) ended up making this overture to Megan (Jessica Paré), and the audience felt sort of peculiar about it, so did the people in the office. That’s something that we play on.”

Weiner previously hinted that future episodes will include “a feeling of being in the midst of change”.

“There’s this sensation, which I think people have right now… there is just so much change going on,” the showrunner explained. “I don’t know if anybody else identifies with that, but that’s a big part of the season. Just trying to hold on.”

Following the addition of Sky Atlantic to Sky Go this week, customers will also be able to watch the new Mad Men episodes on an iPad and selected smartphones.

Jon Hamm will direct the third episode of the new season, while his co-star John Slatterywill also direct several instalments.

Mad Men returns to the UK on Tuesday, March 27 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.

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In a rather surprising celebrity and brand pairing, “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks has lent her coquettish voice to Baskin-Robbins ice-cream stores.

Ms. Hendricks is the voice-over talent for a campaign by Baskin-Robbins to remind customers that flavors, not toppings, are what matter. Above is the first of a flight of 15-second ads for the brand by its agency of about two years, Atlanta-based 22Squared. We’re told the spots will run on the following networks: ABC Family, Animal Planet, Bravo, Food Network, Nick @ Nite, Oxygen, Style, TLC, WE and WGN.

Ms. Hendricks, who plays the attractive office secretary Joan Harris and behind-the-scenes manager of the agency in “Mad Men,” follows in the footsteps of costars cashing in with brands. Jon Hamm –better known as Don Draper — is the voice of Mercedes-Benz, while John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling and Ms. Hendricks‘ sometime love interest on the show, appears in Lincoln ads.

Strangely, Baskin-Robbins isn’t touting its new spokeswoman, and it’s unclear whether Ms. Hendricks will actually show up in the ads at some point. Perhaps they didn’t want her steaminess to melt all the product.

You can watch/hear the video at the source.

The PaleyFest’s annual TV series panels kick off March 2 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills with FX’s American Horror Story. Highlights include a Mad Men session on March 13, just more than a week before the AMC series returns for the start of its long-in-the-works Season 5.

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Get your DVRs ready: Jon Hamm has confirmed that Mad Men will return on March 25! The AMC drama has been on hiatus since the Summer of 2010, but now Season 5 is just mere months away.

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The big takeaway from Mad Men is that Christina Hendricks belongs in the 1960s.  In lieu of time travel, we can keep casting her in period dramas.  Writer/director Sally Potter (The Man Who Cried) is doing her part by casting Hendricks in Bomb, which follows two teenage rebels (Elle Fanning and Alice Englert) who “become involved in the Ban the Bomb movement and the sexual revolution.”  Alessandro Nivola also stars as a freethinking writer who wrecks his relationship with his daughter (Fanning) when he has an affair with her friend.  According to the Daily Mail, Annette Bening is in talks for an unspecified role.

Even before Bening joins, Potter has a nice cast.  Hendricks is terrific.  I have fond memories of Nivola in Junebug.  Fanning is perhaps the best actress in Hollywood who can’t drive yet.  I haven’t seen Englert in anything, but her mother is Jane Campion, and that has to count for something.  With Christopher Sheppard producing, Bomb is scheduled to shoot in February in England.

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The venerable Need for Speed franchise is getting some new blood in its upcoming 18th installment. EW can exclusively report that through the magic of motion-capture technology, Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks will play a leading role in the upcoming Need for Speed: The Run. She plays Sam Harper, a presumably badass big wheel in the exciting world of outlaw street racing, who serves as the player’s eyes and ears on the course.

“She’s got a relationship with the main driver player,” explains Hendricks, referring to the game’s protagonist Jack Rourke (played by Sean Faris who, in a bit of ambient gamer lore, played Kyo Kusanagi in the film adaptation of The King of Fighters.) “They come from the same hood. She gets him involved in the cross-country race with a lot of money at stake. There’s an element of pushing him but also taking care of him.”

Hendricks admits that she’s not a gamer, though she explains, “My husband and my brother are huge game players. My husband’s constantly running to GameStop because something’s being released the next day.” This is her third car-themed role in the last year, after last month’s Drive and 2010′s Life As We Know It (where her character died in an off-screen car accident), but Hendricks sounds a bit embarrassed describing her own choice of wheels. “For years, I have been driving a PT Cruiser. I like that I can put tons of stuff in it.”

She laughs. “I don’t think you’re gonna see a PT Cruiser in Need for Speed. It’s really not an action car.” We’ll soon find out — Need for Speed: The Run will hit North America on November 15 for XBox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, and PC, so there’s still time for the developers to add “Christina Hendricks’ PT Cruiser” as limited-edition Downloadable Content.

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Helen Hunt, Aaron Paul (”Breaking Bad“) and Maggie Grace have joined the cast of indie drama-comedy “Decoding Annie Parker” alongside Samantha Morton in the title role and Christina Hendricks.

Lensing is set to begin later this month in Los Angeles.

“Decoding” is directed by Steven Bernstein from a script he co-wrote with Adam Bernstein. The story centers on the irrepressible Parker, a breast-cancer patient who stops at nothing to solve the mystery behind her illness despite the beliefs of the medical establishment.

Pic is produced by Clark Peterson, Stuart Ross, Keith Kjarval, Mary Vernieu and Ron Senkowski. Jonathan Brownlee and Sahil Chanana exec produce.

Based on a true story, project originated with Steven Bernstein and Clark Peterson.

The production was one of 27 named in June to receive the state of California’s tax credit incentive in the third year of that program — aimed at preventing production companies from moving their projects, jobs and spending out of the Golden State.

”Decoding” is the feature directing debut for Bernstein, who was the cinematographer on “Monster” and “Like Water for Chocolate.” Bernstein and Peterson collaborated on ”Monster” and several other projects.

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Finally it’s Emmys Day! Christina Hendricks is nominated as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and thanks to PopSugar we’ll be able to see LIVE the event starting at 3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET.

ALTHOUGH attempts at a new Wonder Woman TV series were ill-judged and disastrous, the long-held dream of seeing the Amazon princess on the big screen is edging closer to reality.

In May last year, Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising) said it was his ambition to make a new film featuring the superheroine.

And now, speaking at London film festival Empire Presents… Big Screen, the director addressed the issue once again, explaining that he could get the chance if he does a good job with the new adaptation of Logan’s Run, starring Ryan Gosling.

He said: “I would love to make Wonder Woman. And I also think that Christina Hendricks would be the perfect Wonder Woman, but Warner Bros haven’t called yet. But I’m getting closer with Logan’s Run. I think someone said to me in a meeting that if I get Logan’s Run right, then I’ll get Wonder Woman.”

It’s not the first time Refn has campaigned for Hendricks, and the actress herself has said she is keen on the suggestion, previously admitting: “I love it, I’ve been wanting to wear that outfit my whole life. That would be so much fun.”

Hendricks appears in Refn’s upcoming crime thriller Drive, released in the UK on September 23, and is a regular on hit TV series Mad Men. The 36-year-old made her first foray into the DC Comics world when she voiced Lois Lane in this year’s animated DVD release All-Star Superman.

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Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenburg, Heidi Klum, Nicki Minaj and Christina Hendricks are among the designers and celebrities who will celebrate this year’s Fashion’s Night Out.

The third annual event, a shopping paradise designed to boost the economy, will be held in cities across the USA on Sept. 8. Shoppers will be treated to extended retail hours, limited-edition merchandise, fashion shows, live performances, celebrity appearances and other fun extras. (Beverly Hills shoppers can take a ride on a Ferris wheel mounted in the center of famed Rodeo Drive.)

New for 2011: More than 200 e-tailers will participate virtually in the event.

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