tv
Piers Morgan's Life Stories: John Lydon, ITVSaturday, 26 September 2015
The British, it is said, are victims of reserve – eschewing anger, open affection and hurt for crossface winkyface sadface. While an over-simplified (not to mention shockingly solipsistic) take on a far from unique tendency, there is a kernel of truth here. A difficulty, perhaps, in conveying emotions accurately. A mistrust of heightened states – a tendency to misconstrue and get caught up in guilt, blame and shame. Read more...
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Midwinter of the Spirit, ITVThursday, 24 September 2015
TV series about the clergy are usually farcical, self-deprecating or just plain wet, so it's a pleasant surprise to find one that's prepared to slug it out with issues of good and evil. Compared to Rev, a wistful tragi-comedy about managing the terminal decline of the C of E, Midwinter of the Spirit wants to mount up and ride into battle against the Ungodly. Read more... |
The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone, BBC TwoWednesday, 23 September 2015
It’s nearly 10 years since Gareth Malone’s series The Choir first brought amateur choral singing to an improbably appreciative television audience. Like baking, amateur choral singing is quintessentially British – most other cultures leave them to professionals – and their affectionate place in the national psyche has created successful viewing brands. Read more... |
The Go-Between, BBC OneMonday, 21 September 2015
Hot on the heels of Lady Chatterley's Lover, the Beeb has made another foray into literary depictions of English class warfare and scandalous sexuality with this new version of LP Hartley's novel (published in 1953 but set in 1900). To ease the didactic burden, the Corporation has discovered yet another phwoarr-factor leading man who obligingly gets his kit off at strategic moments. Read more... |
Downton Abbey, Series 6, ITVMonday, 21 September 2015
It began with the sinking of the Titanic all those series ago. However many holes Julian Fellowes has seen fit to build in to the design, his own ocean-going liner has valiantly refused to go down with all hands on deck. But by Christmas we will have seen the last of Lord Grantham and his household, until such time as they all get resurrected for a big-screen reunion, even the Dowager Countess Maggie. Read more... |
The Gamechangers, BBC Two / Narcos, NetflixWednesday, 16 September 2015
Starring Daniel Radcliffe as Sam Houser, who's portrayed as the dominant creative mastermind behind Rockstar Games and its phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto series, The Gamechangers (**) sought to depict legal battles over GTA's violent and sexually explicit content as landmarks in the history of artistic freedom. Read more... |
This Is England '90, Channel 4Monday, 14 September 2015
It’s been worth the wait. Read more... |
The King Who Invented Ballet, BBC FourMonday, 14 September 2015
Someone more unlike Louis XIV than David Bintley is hard to imagine. Read more... |
Gogglebox, Channel 4Saturday, 12 September 2015
So Gogglebox, a programme that allows voyeurs to watch viewers, has made it to series six. Rarely has telly been more knowingly “meta”. I can only think of Game for a Laugh’s catchprase, “Watching you, watching us, watching you, watching us,” but that was: a) nowhere near a true representation of how the show actually worked; b) creepy and weird. Read more... |
Doctor Foster, BBC OneThursday, 10 September 2015
Doctor Foster takes its name from a nursery rhyme, but don’t be lulled. From the moment its brunette protagonist finds a long blonde hair on her husband’s scarf, we are hurtling headlong into a revenge drama. Read more... |
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