tv
The Handmaid's Tale, Channel Four review - triumphant dystopian dramaMonday, 05 June 2017
The second episode of Bruce Miller’s brilliant dramatisation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale on Channel 4 finds Offred (the wonderful Elisabeth Moss) being penetrated by Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes, looking conflicted). Read more... |
Sgt Pepper's Musical Revolution, BBC Two review - how the Fab Four changed pop music foreverSunday, 04 June 2017
It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the triumphant vindication of the Beatles' decision to quit touring and instead exploit the possibilities of the recording studio. Read more... |
Broken, BBC One review - things look bleak in McGovernvilleWednesday, 31 May 2017
This is Jimmy McGovern, so it’s no surprise to find ourselves up north and feeling grim. Read more... |
Paula, BBC Two review - Denise Gough's the real thingFriday, 26 May 2017
Playwrights have long migrated to the small screen in search of better pay and room to manoeuvre. Most don’t leave it as long as Conor McPherson, who was perhaps cushioned from necessity by the global success of The Weir. Read more... |
White Gold, BBC Two review – rattling pace and razor-edged dialogueThursday, 25 May 2017
In the dog-eat-dog world of White Gold it’s 1983, when greed was about to become good and (as the show’s creator Damon Beesley puts it) “a time when having double-glazed patio doors installed meant you were winning at life”. The streets were full of sludge-coloured cars from British Leyland, and Duran Duran and Bonnie Tyler ruled the charts. Read more... |
Three Girls, BBC One review - drama as shattering public enquiryFriday, 19 May 2017
Television dramas about catastrophic events in broken Britain are meant to be cathartic. They knead the collated facts into the shape of drama for millions to absorb and understand. Then we all somehow move on, sadder but slightly wiser. The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. Hillsborough. The Government Inspector. Read more... |
Kat and Alfie: Redwater, BBC One review – 'EastEnders' spinoff suffers from no fixed identityFriday, 19 May 2017
EastEnders habituees will be familiar with the colourful past of Alfie and (especially) Kat Moon, who have both been AWOL from the mothership since early last year. Read more... |
A Time to Live, BBC Two review - an exquisite legacyThursday, 18 May 2017
Imagine a doctor has just told you that you have only a year to live. What would you do? Learn to sky dive, spend every last penny you have, be brutally honest with anyone who has crossed you, or curl up in a ball and wait for the inevitable? Read more... |
Born to Kill finale, Channel 4 review – a full-blown psychotic nightmareFriday, 12 May 2017
Was it just a coincidence that budding serial killer Sam attended Ripley Heath High? Probably not. Born to Kill, written by Tracey Malone and Kate Ashfield, was keenly aware that it followed in the bloody footsteps of both real sociopaths such as Harold Shipman and fictional ones such as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley. And what a dance it led us! Read more... |
King Charles III, BBC Two review - royal crisis makes thrilling dramaThursday, 11 May 2017
Actor Oliver Chris, who plays William in Mike Bartlett’s ingeniously-crafted play about the monarchy, was doing some pre-transmission fire-fighting by going round telling interviewers he couldn’t see what anybody (eg the Daily Mail) could find to get upset about. Why would they? Read more... |
Pages
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Müller-Schott , RSNO, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - sp...
There was a neat conjunction of commemorations to this concert, the most obvious one being the fact that that 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of...
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions, Whitechapel Gallery review - cool...
Hamad Butt studied at Goldsmiths College at the same time as YBAs (Young British Artists) like Damien Hirst and Gillian Wearing; but whereas they...
Album: Van Morrison - Remembering Now
When Van Morrison last released an album of original songs, during the Covid pandemic, it didn’t go down well. Indeed for many,...
Ballerina review - hollow point
John Wick’s simple story of a man and his dog became a bonkers, baroque franchise in record time, converting Keanu Reeves’ limited acting into Zen...
Caroline, Islington Assembly Hall review - south London octe...
In 2022 I called caroline “perhaps the best band in the U.K” in my article about their debut, which I named my album of the year....
theartsdesk in Fes - world music central
With WOMAD not happening this year, where could one go for a feast of...
Songhoy Blues, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - West A...
No-one needs to be living in Trump’s USA to be aware that governments never feel that it’s in their interest to prioritise great art and music...
Album: Pulp - More
While the Gallagher brothers scrabble around in the dirt for their rich pickings, an altogether more...