mon 18/08/2025

tv

A House Through Time, Series 3, BBC Two review - Bristol under the microscope

Adam Sweeting

David Olusoga’s A House Through Time concept (BBC Two) has proved a popular hit, using a specific property as a keyhole through which to observe historical and social changes. After previously picking sites in Liverpool and Newcastle, this time he’s chosen Bristol, the city where he has lived for over 20 years.

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Defending Jacob, Apple TV+ review - does murder run in the family?

Adam Sweeting

Since it debuted in November last year, Apple TV+ has barely made a dent in a market largely shaped by Netflix, but this eight-part adaptation of William Landay’s bestselling novel is a decisive step in the right direction.

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A Very British Hotel Chain: Inside Best Western, Channel 4 review - requiem for the hospitality industry?

Adam Sweeting

Do TV companies get some sort of financial incentive to use the phrase “A Very British…” in their programme titles? This now-meaningless descriptor has been applied to airlines, brothels, political coups, the Renaissance, Margaret Thatcher, sex scandals, Brexit and lord knows what else. When you can’t think of an original title, you know what to do.

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Harry's Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh, ITV review - jokey documentary delivers painful emotional truths

Adam Sweeting

Former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly famously commented that football is far more serious than a matter of life and death.

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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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