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Jonathan Meades: The Joy of Essex, BBC Four

Adam Sweeting Wednesday, 30 January 2013

For a man who lives in an agreeable region of France, Jonathan Meades grew strangely passionate in the course of this fascinating excursion around Essex. The thuggish-looking narrator travelled by small, functional Toyota rather than Magical Mystery Tour-style charabanc, though the latter would have been perfectly apt for tales of Cockneys seeking escape in the county described by one sneering commentator as "the dustbin of London".

Comment

Storyville: The Queen of Versailles, BBC Four

Emma Dibdin Tuesday, 29 January 2013

As a parable on the dissolution of the American Dream, the story of self-made billionaire David Siegel is almost too good to be true.

Prince Harry: Frontline Afghanistan, BBC Three

Jasper Rees Tuesday, 29 January 2013

The television channels have been making documentaries about our boys, and indeed girls, in Afghanistan for the best part of a decade. We’re used by now to the imagery, which mainly consists of dust, joshing, weaponry and boredom. Prince Harry: Frontline Afghanistan was an occasion to stir an extra ingredient into the brew: dust, joshing, weaponry and boredom, plus a chap who when he loses at strip poker makes the front page of every newspaper in the western world.

The Good Wife, Series 4, More4

Adam Sweeting Friday, 25 January 2013

My only real complaint about the ever-excellent Good Wife is that they cram so much into every episode that it's notoriously difficult to keep track of all the plots, subplots, new names and cunningly tangled relationships. It's a bit like a televisual zip file, where you have to unpack it before you can extract all the contents.

Bob Servant Independent, BBC Four

Adam Sweeting Thursday, 24 January 2013

As political campaigns go, Bob Servant's bid to win a by-election in Broughty Ferry (a real-life seaside suburb of Dundee) looks more like a drunken practical joke, or the result of an ill-judged bet. A fluent and shameless liar whose only credentials are a lifetime of dodginess, Servant's motives are venal and his ambitions entirely self-centred. He knows nothing about politics or, apparently, anything else, expect perhaps selling hamburgers, which he has done for many decades.

Comment

Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice, BBC Four

Fisun Güner Wednesday, 23 January 2013

We love the snow but hate the cold, and for almost 300 years Northern European winters were bitterly, catastrophically cold. Crops failed, there were famine riots and people died of hypothermia during the Little Ice Age. From the 16^th to the 19^th centuries, no population suffered at the hands of Old Man Winter quite as much as those in the Low Countries.

Great Houses With Julian Fellowes, ITV1

Veronica Lee Wednesday, 23 January 2013

It was surely a no-brainer for ITV to produce a series about grand houses presented by Julian Fellowes with stories about those who lived and worked in them. But while it may sound wholly derivative to many, at least Fellowes - unlike a raft of celebrities presenting television programmes these days - has the wherewithal.

Call The Midwife, Series Two, BBC One

Lisa-Marie Ferla Monday, 21 January 2013

I somehow avoided the period medical drama phenomenon that Call the Midwife became in its first series until the Christmas special. As befits the holiday season its storyline was trite, focusing on a teenage mother who miraculously managed to single-handedly give birth in a cupboard with no mess and little fuss.

Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy, BBC Four

Kieron Tyler Saturday, 19 January 2013

Although there was no shortage of interview clips with Glen Campbell [who has died at the age of 81] in this fine overview of his career, the tragedy was that archives were so heavily drawn on. Tragic because pop-country stylist Campbell has Alzheimer’s and is limited in what he can contribute.