TV
Stewart, Sky Documentaries review - touching and insightful portrait of Scottish race aceTuesday, 17 January 2023
“Stupid, dumb and thick” was how Jackie Stewart felt he was characterised at school in Dunbartonshire, and it wasn’t until he was 43 that he was diagnosed as being severely dyslexic. By that time he’d won the Formula One World Championship three... Read more... |
Happy Valley, Series 3, BBC One review - tension mounts as the Yorkshire crime drama approaches its conclusionMonday, 16 January 2023
In this glittering era of global streaming, the viewer is constantly bombarded with the latest and most sensational TV drama from South Korea, Australia, Denmark, California etcetera. But Huddersfield’s own Sally Wainwright continues to show most of... Read more... |
Stonehouse, ITV review - history repeats itself as farceThursday, 05 January 2023
A disclaimer in the opening credits confessed that some scenes in this three-part history of disgraced Labour MP John Stonehouse had been “imagined for dramatic purposes”, but there was no need. The man’s life story fell comfortably into the “you... Read more... |
Best of 2022: TVThursday, 29 December 2022
It may be the lack of old-fashioned blockbuster movies that explains the staggering success of Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick, and the explanation for the lack of blockbuster movies may be that all the money and effort are being poured into... Read more... |
Doc Martin Christmas Special, ITV review - Santa comes to Portwenn as the final curtain fallsTuesday, 27 December 2022
In 10 series stretching over the last 18 years, ITV's Doc Martin unobtrusively became an enduringly popular household name, but it finally reached the end of the road with this Christmas one-off. Unless, of course, there’s a prequel, a sequel, an... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Ghost Stories for Christmas, Volume 1Sunday, 25 December 2022
The BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas series first consisted of eight short films broadcast between 1971 and 1978, five of which were adaptations of short stories by MR James.Shot on 16mm film instead of videotape, most were directed by documentary... Read more... |
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special, Channel 5 review - life during wartime with the Yorkshire vetsSaturday, 24 December 2022
As the third series of All Creatures… ended a couple of months ago, Britain had just declared itself at war with Germany and the men of Darrowby were queuing resolutely in the town square to join the armed forces. Intriguingly, as the credits rolled... Read more... |
Harry & Meghan, Netflix review - at home with the HarklesFriday, 09 December 2022
There’s no stopping Harry and Meghan. Logic, reason and facts can’t stand in the way of their “war on oppression and injustice” and determination to become “advocates of healing”. Even though their notorious interview with Oprah Winfrey was littered... Read more... |
George & Tammy, Paramount+ review - alcohol, violence and heartache in NashvilleThursday, 08 December 2022
Some may consider country music to be corny, sentimental and a relic of a forgotten era. If so, this six-part dramatisation of the lives of Tammy Wynette and George Jones is a reminder of how powerful and soulful the best country music can be,... Read more... |
Slow Horses, Series 2, Apple TV+ review - Mick Herron’s spies make a welcome returnMonday, 05 December 2022
Apple TV+ is using the arrival of season two of Slow Horses to offer a generous three-month free trial to its streamer service. Ample time to catch up with season one and watch it multiple times before all of season two is available at the end... Read more... |
Tokyo Vice, BBC One review - murder, extortion and corruption in the Japanese capitalThursday, 01 December 2022
There was originally a plan to make Tokyo Vice a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe, but it has ended up as a TV series starring Ansel Elgort. It’s almost certainly the better for it, because the eight episodes of this first season – the way it ends,... Read more... |
1899, Netflix review - Atlantic voyage turns into cosmic nightmareThursday, 24 November 2022
Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese won delirious acclaim for their previous Netflix series Dark, a labyrinthine and fantastical account of children vanishing from a small German town. Anyone familiar with its baffling events and leaps across different... Read more... |
