TV drama
Law and Order, BBC Four review - not a fair copFriday, 13 April 2018
In the late 1970s the British establishment sustained a bloody nose. Roland Huntford published his debunking of Captain Scott and Anthony Blunt was outed as the Fourth Man, while the Old Etonian Liberal party leader Jeremy Thorpe was tried for... Read more... |
Deep State, Fox review - secrets, lies and spiesFriday, 06 April 2018
Fox is very keen to stress that Deep State is the first original production by its Europe & Africa division, the most obvious sign of which is that none of it was shot in New York or LA. But it has clearly been designed as a sleek international... Read more... |
Ordeal by Innocence, BBC One, review - Agatha Christie goes nuclearMonday, 02 April 2018
Ordeal by Innocence belongs to a new and, you hope, short-lived sub-genre. The only other stablemate is All the Money in the World. Both were in the can and good to go when very serious sexual allegations were made against a member of the cast. For... Read more... |
Come Home, BBC One review - a drama of family disintegration, divided loyaltiesWednesday, 28 March 2018
A woman walks out on her husband and their three kids – two teens, one five-year-old - after 19 years of marriage. She doesn’t want custody. What could be so wrong with the man that she’s driven to such drastic action? Eleven months later, Greg (... Read more... |
The Good Fight, Series 2, More4 review - the longer they do it, the better it getsFriday, 23 March 2018
The mystery remains of why they keep tucking away The Good Fight on More4, as they did with its illustrious predecessor The Good Wife. No disrespect to 4’s ancillary channel – now seemingly the designated last resting place of Grand Designs – but it... Read more... |
The Durrells, Series 3, ITV review - a winter warmer from CorfuMonday, 19 March 2018
When ITV scheduled this new series of The Durrells for mid-March, they probably didn’t imagine it would coincide with the return of the Beast from the East, with its blizzards and plummeting temperatures. Under these deep-frozen circumstances, what... Read more... |
13 Commandments, Channel 4 review - murder most FlemishMonday, 19 March 2018
To Belgium for the latest continental instalment of murder really rather unpleasant. 13 Commandments, yet another crime drama brought to Channel 4 under the auspices of Walter Presents, began with the grizzliest manner imaginable. A man arrived at... Read more... |
Below the Surface, BBC Four review - terror in CopenhagenSunday, 11 March 2018
Read Adam Sweeting's review of the Below the Surface FinaleAfter recent experiences with the likes of McMafia, Troy and Collateral, mysteriously moribund affairs apparently designed by a committee of box-ticking zombies, many a viewer will turn with... Read more... |
Collateral, series finale, BBC Two - Carey Mulligan hares to the finishTuesday, 06 March 2018
In a revelatory interview for the Royal Court’s playwright’s podcast series, David Hare admits to a thin skin. In his adversarial worldview, to take issue with him is – his word – to denounce him. He’s quite a denouncer himself, of course. In... Read more... |
Trauma, ITV, review - surgically imprecise revenge dramaThursday, 15 February 2018
When you’re hot, you’re hot. In the past two years Mike Bartlett has had the following works staged or broadcast: Wild, a play about Edward Snowden at Hampstead Theatre; Albion, a three-hour neo-Chekhovian state-of-the-nation play at the Almeida; an... Read more... |
Collateral, BBC Two review - a lecture or a drama?Thursday, 15 February 2018
It says something about the state of television that sooner or later every actor has to play a cop or a spy. Latest in line is Carey Mulligan, starring as DI Kip Glaspie in David Hare’s new four-parter Collateral.This is, on the face of it, a... Read more... |
McMafia, Series finale, BBC One review - the last bite is the cruellestMonday, 12 February 2018
McMafia has taught us to recognise one thing – you might call it the “Norton stride”. As the charismatic Alex Godman, James Norton has been advancing, confidently at screen centre, towards one challenge after another, and they have been coming (... Read more... |
