wed 23/07/2025

tv

Arena: The Changin' Times of Ike White, BBC Four review - musical mystery becomes personal

India Lewis

The most obvious comparison for The Changin’ Times of Ike White (BBC Four) is 2012’s Searching for Sugar Man, with its story of a potential star having vanished into thin air at the brink of fame and fortune.

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Hollywood, Netflix review - rosy escapism serving good causes

David Nice

If you're catering for wish fulfilment, you might as well go the whole hog. Some say that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, in their latest peachy extravaganza, aim no higher than the cheesier fantasies of the late 1940s Hollywood they take into neverland.

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend, Netflix review - bold, but only a partial success

Adam Sweeting

Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s hit comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) ended its fourth series in January last year, but this belated interactive special suggested there could be new life in it yet.

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I Know This Much Is True, Sky Atlantic review - riding a carousel of catastrophe

Adam Sweeting

Adapted by writer-director Derek Cianfrance from Wally Lamb’s 1998 novel, this HBO production (on Sky Atlantic) presents a huge canvas for Mark Ruffalo, who plays the twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey.

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The Last Kingdom, Season 4, Netflix review - blood, guts and dirty politics

Adam Sweeting

Meanwhile back in the Dark Ages, Uhtred (son of Uhtred) is still seeking to reclaim his ancestral seat of Bebbanburg and manoeuvre through the treacherous currents of Saxon politics.

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Rob and Romesh vs Ballet, Sky 1 review - unlikely lads throw themselves in as bait

Adam Sweeting

The odd-couple comedy duo is a time-tested concept, and Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan have discovered a chemistry that works. Rob is the giggling excitable one, while Romesh, aided by a sleepy right eye which conveys a sense of harsh judgmentalism, adds a blast of deadpan scepticism.

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The A Word, Series 3, BBC One review - Christopher Eccleston steals the show

Adam Sweeting

Christopher Eccleston isn’t the easiest actor to love, because he gives the impression he’ll reach through the screen and grab you by the throat if you don’t appreciate his ferocious thespian intensity, but with the role of Maurice Scott in The A Word (BBC One), he’s found the perfect vehicle for his particular set of skills.

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Westworld, Season 3 Finale, Sky Atlantic review - Dolores’s plans come to fruition

Joseph Walsh

After a season that sought to redefine what Westworld could become, the finale exposed the confused arc, before limping towards an emotionally weak ending.

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Code 404, Sky One review - surreal cop comedy presses the right buttons

Markie Robson-Scott

DI John Major (Daniel Mays) has been dead a year, shot in the line of duty, though we’re far from that series in terms of tone. Now he’s back at the London Met, artificially augmented, but not very intelligently. If anything he’s a bit more shit than he was before, as one of those involved in the shooting observes.

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Blood, Series 2, Channel 5 review - expertly-crafted thriller turns the screw

Adam Sweeting

Veterans of the first series of Blood will be familiar with writer Sophie Petzal’s fondness for leading the viewer up the garden path and round the mulberry bush as the story develops. Get ready to go through it all again.

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