tv
Time, BBC One review - grim and gritty study of life behind bars by Jimmy McGovernMonday, 07 June 2021
Jimmy McGovern’s new three-part drama about prison life is about as far as you could travel from Ronnie Barker’s Seventies sitcom Porridge, even if they are both on the same TV channel. Read more... |
Anne Boleyn, Channel 5 review - whispery and weepyFriday, 04 June 2021
"Get out!" The order, spoken some way into the third and final episode of Channel 5's entry into the Tudor drama sweepstakes, Anne Boleyn, certainly seizes one's attention. Read more... |
Mare of Easttown, Season Finale, Sky Atlantic review - great performances in a town called maliceTuesday, 01 June 2021
With the last series of Line of Duty having left portions of its viewership dismayed and disgruntled, one consolation prize has been the way the many fine qualities of HBO’s Mare of Easttown (on Sky Atlantic) have seen it promoted it into the “unmissable” bracket. Read more... |
Before We Die, Channel 4 review - Lesley Sharp excels as a detective in crisisThursday, 27 May 2021
Perhaps inspired by its ever-intriguing Walter Presents strand, Channel 4’s new thriller Before We Die is based on a Swedish original called Innan vi dör (“before we die” in Swedish). Read more... |
1971, Apple TV+ review - rock'n'roll's golden year?Sunday, 23 May 2021
Back in the mid-Eighties, BBC television started broadcasting The Rock'n' Roll Years, one of the first rock music retrospectives. Each half-hour episode focused on a year, with news reports and music intermixed to give a revealing look at the development of rock culture against the context of current affairs. Read more... |
We Are Lady Parts, Channel 4 review - female Muslim punk band rocks the houseFriday, 21 May 2021
It’s crazy, but could it possibly work? Writer Nida Manzoor (a veteran of Doctor Who and BBC Three’s sitcom Enterprice) grew up in a Muslim family, but that didn’t stop her being a fan of punk rock, Blackadder and This Is Spinal Tap. Read more... |
Trying, Apple TV+ review - the road to parenthood takes a fresh pathFriday, 21 May 2021
An attractive and likeable cast remains the principal drawing card of Trying, the Apple TV+ romcom centred around the efforts of a 30something couple to adopt a child. Following on from the first season aired last spring, Andy Wolton's creation gives pride of place to a terrific assemblage of actors, who carry the day even when the piece itself seems to tread faintly overfamiliar ground. Read more... |
The Underground Railroad, Amazon Prime review - a horrifying ride through America's heart of darknessMonday, 17 May 2021
Many a director might have considered that televising Colson Whitehead’s novel The Underground Railroad was impossible, but Barry Jenkins, Oscar-winning director of Moonlight, has proved it can be done. Read more... |
Domina, Sky Atlantic review - a little less conversation, a little more action requiredSaturday, 15 May 2021
Ancient Rome has always been a popular playground for film and TV, whether it’s Ben Hur, Gladiator or the 2005 TV series Rome. This Italian-made series for Sky Atlantic was shot at the renowned Cinecittà Studios in Rome, where Visconti, Leone, Scorsese and Bertolucci have all worked, but sadly none of that old-time movie magic has rubbed off on it. Read more... |
Danny Boy, BBC Two review - when law and war collideThursday, 13 May 2021
The issue of public inquiries into the conduct of the military is in the headlines again, with a current focus on Northern Ireland, but at the centre of screenwriter Robert Jones’s Danny Boy was the attempt to find British soldiers guilty of war crimes in Iraq. Read more... |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
A Complete Unknown review - how does it feel?
Being unknowable has been almost as much of a preoccupation for the erstwhile Robert Zimmerman as writing songs. Previously on film he has played...
Vermiglio review - a simple tale, simply but beautifully tol...
Another new release opens with the sounds of people in bed playing over the credits, but these are not Babygirl’s sighs of a...
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel, Barbican review -...
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela took the Barbican by storm last night with a thrilling account of Mahler’s...
Jenůfa, Royal Opera review - electrifying details undermined...
This was always going to be Jakub Hrůša’s night, his first at the...
German National Orchestra, Marshall, Cadogan Hall review - s...
This concert was an effusion of pure joy. Billed as the German National Orchestra, the Bundesjugendorchester (Federal Youth Orchestra), all of...
Chris McCausland, Winchester Theatre Royal review - Strictly...
By all accounts Chris McCausland had to be persuaded to take part in the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing, which he won with...
Album: The Weather Station - Humanhood
Four of Humanhood’s 13 tracks are short, impressionistic mood pieces. Between 48 seconds and just-over a minute-and-a-half long, they...
Oliver!, Gielgud Theatre review - Lionel Bart's 1960 ma...
Into a world of grooming gangs, human trafficking and senior prelates resigning over child abuse cases comes Oliver!, Lionel...
What's the Matter with Tony Slattery?, BBC Two review -...
In the late Eighties and Nineties, Tony Slattery became one of the most ubiquitous faces on television, appearing regularly on Whose Line Is...