tv
A Country Life for Half the Price, Channel 5 review - Essex couple Sam and Lucy become rural entrepreneursWednesday, 22 April 2020
The “relocation in search of a new life” theme has become a dependable TV staple, from A New Life in the Sun to Relocation, Relocation and Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild, but this Channel 5 series by Kate Humble has been more entertaining than most. Perhaps it’s because we captive, locked-down TV viewers are yearning to roam free in wide-open spaces. Read more... |
Quiz, ITV review - cheats never prosper. Well, hardly everThursday, 16 April 2020
James Graham’s play Quiz was a hit in Chichester in 2017 and then made a much-admired transfer to the West End. Considering its subject matter – the fabled “Coughing Major”, Charles Ingram, who allegedly cheated his way to the titular seven-figure sum on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – it was a natural for TV. Read more... |
The Rise and Fall of The Clash, Now TV review - London fallingThursday, 16 April 2020
Open-mouthed incredulity is a reasonable reaction to this 2012 documentary on one of the UK’s prime punk-spawned bands, available on catch-up via streaming service Now TV’s tie-in with Sky Arts. There’s not much “rise” but there’s an awful lot of “fall” in The Rise and Fall of The Clash. Read more... |
Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue, BBC Four review - a race against timeThursday, 16 April 2020
One year on the world is drastically altered, but footage of Notre Dame’s stricken spire collapsing in flames is no less shocking. That this event, endlessly replayed, has not paled against the new reality of daily death tolls is testament to the scale of the loss. Read more... |
Believe Me: The Cyprus Rape Case, ITV review - British teenager’s holiday from hellWednesday, 15 April 2020
The case of the British teenager allegedly raped by a group of young Israeli men in Ayia Napa in Cyprus last year, only to find herself convicted of “public mischief”, has built up a head of steam in the international press and has provoked outrage among women’s movements and rights campaigners. Read more... |
Prue Leith: Journey with My Daughter, Channel 4 review - an emotional journey into the pastWednesday, 15 April 2020
Days before the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, orphaned baby Li-Da was flown out of the country, and was eventually adopted by Prue Leith and her husband Rayne. Leith’s culinary star was rising rapidly, and her husband was a successful writer and businessman. Their Cotswolds home became a fairytale setting in which their adopted daughter could make a fresh start. Read more... |
Run, Sky Comedy review - vicarious thrills for the self-isolation eraWednesday, 15 April 2020
Watching Run, HBO’s newest seven-part series, feels like off-the-rails escapism: it’s a fast-paced thriller about dropping everything, chasing intimacy and courting danger. It’s a vicarious adventure centred on a woman who has spent too long stuck at home. Read more... |
Killing Eve, Series 3, BBC iPlayer review - Eve and Villanelle resume operationsMonday, 13 April 2020
Instant spoiler alert: she’s not dead. But do we care? Prepare for the plumbing of new psychological depths from showrunner Suzanne Heathcote, previously story editor, appropriately enough, on Fear the Walking Dead, but that may not be enough to keep series 3 from veering into slightly dull and serviceable territory, judging by the first three episodes. Murderous clowns at a kids’ party, for example, have surely been done to death. Read more... |
Tigertail review, Netflix - a story of immigrant opportunities, taken and missedFriday, 10 April 2020
“Crying never solves anything. Read more... |
Alma's Not Normal, BBC Two review - bare-knuckle comedy pilot hits the spotThursday, 09 April 2020
Creating the opening episode of a new comedy series is like flipping pancakes with one hand while playing the Moonlight Sonata with the other. You have to introduce your characters and invent the world they live in, while squeezing in enough plot to keep the action moving. 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.
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