thu 31/07/2025

tv

The Crown, Season 4, Netflix review - royalty rocked by personal and political turbulence

Adam Sweeting

Pre-release excitement about the fourth coming of The Crown (Netflix) has centred on Emma Corrin’s portrayal of Princess Diana, still big box-office 23 years after her death.

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David Crosby: Remember My Name, Sky Arts review - a rock icon looks in the mirror

Liz Thomson

Rock documentaries are so often disappointing, the result less a portrait than a whitewash.

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His Dark Materials, Series 2, BBC One review – upping the ante whilst retaining the magic

Joseph Walsh

The first series of the BBC and HBO’s fantasy adventure His Dark Materials felt even more timely than when author Phillip Pullman first published Northern Lights twenty-five-years ago.

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The Queen's Gambit, Netflix review - chess prodigy's story makes brilliant television

Adam Sweeting

It’s surprising, perhaps, that the dramatic potential of chess hasn’t been more widely exploited. There was a nail-biting tournament in From Russia with Love, while the knight’s chequerboard struggle with Death was the centrepiece of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

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Harlots, BBC Two review – sublime, ridiculous, and always entertaining

Laura De Lisle

Back to Georgian brothels, now – at least, for those of us who don’t have a Hulu subscription. The BBC’s airing of the second series of Harlots over the summer felt strangely timely. Barely an episode in and an angry crowd was hammering at the local judge’s door, demanding justice after the needless death of one of the city’s poorest residents.

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The Same Sky, More4 review - Cold War thriller from both sides of the Berlin wall

Markie Robson-Scott

“Make contact with the left eye - it is a direct pathway to the emotions. Then make yourself scarce so that the desire in her can grow.” This fine flirting advice comes from a Stasi officer to his students, preparing them for a honey-trap mission to seduce West Berlin intelligence officers.

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The Sister, ITV review - half-baked dramatisation of esteemed novel

Adam Sweeting

Neil Cross’s novel Burial was hailed for its skilful plotting and insightful characterisations, as well as its macabre atmosphere. Disappointingly, the author’s own adaptation of the book looks clumsy and uncomfortable on TV.

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The Undoing, Sky Atlantic review - trouble in paradise for gilded Manhattan couple

Adam Sweeting

Plenty of pedigree wattage has been packed into this slickly addictive new HBO drama (showing on Sky Atlantic). The twin headliners are affluent Manhattan couple Grace and Jonathan Fraser (Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, the latter basking in the high-end prestige which has accrued since his virtuoso performance as Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal).

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Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You, Apple TV+ review - his new album is a matter of life and death

Adam Sweeting

Towards the end of this new documentary, an account of how he recorded his new album Letter to You at his home studio in New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen delivers a eulogy to the E Street Band.

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Roadkill, BBC One review - David Hare pokes under the floorboards of the Conservative party

Adam Sweeting

A lifelong socialist who has regularly written about the Labour party, playwright David Hare admits that in his career he has “rarely looked closely at the appeal of Conservative values”.

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