Television
Arrested development
Sometimes I wonder whether, of all the literary genres, graphic novels aren’t the most stupidly overrated. I can say this…
BBC1’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream seems deliberately designed to flush out purists
Spoiler alerts aren’t normally required for reviews of Shakespeare — but perhaps I’d better issue one before saying that in…
Impure thoughts
Spoiler alerts aren’t normally required for reviews of Shakespeare — but perhaps I’d better issue one before saying that in…
Isn’t it puke-inducing being lectured about poverty by millionaire comics?
Going Forward (BBC4, Thursdays) is a BBC comedy about the continuing adventures of Kim Wilde, the fat, cynical but lovable…
Counting on sheep
Going Forward (BBC4, Thursdays) is a BBC comedy about the continuing adventures of Kim Wilde, the fat, cynical but lovable…
David Attenborough used to steal the animals he found in the jungle and take them home
Let me start this week with an admittedly hard quiz question: in 1954, how did the sudden illness of Jack…
Animal attraction
Let me start this week with an admittedly hard quiz question: in 1954, how did the sudden illness of Jack…
James Delingpole is loving Ben Elton's new Shakespeare sitcom
There’s no way of saying this without shredding the last vestiges of my critical credibility, but this new Ben Elton…
Something to crow about
There’s no way of saying this without shredding the last vestiges of my critical credibility, but this new Ben Elton…
Even the sternest Leavisite critic would find it hard to resist BBC2's Peaky Blinders
The big returning show of the week began with servants laying out the silverware at a large country house in…
That’s entertainment
The big returning show of the week began with servants laying out the silverware at a large country house in…
It’s time Cersei destroyed the Corbyn-like High Sparrow: Game of Thrones, season six, reviewed
So: Game of Thrones. Finally — season six — the TV series has overtaken the books on which it is…
His dark materials
So: Game of Thrones. Finally — season six — the TV series has overtaken the books on which it is…
Downton Abbey with epidurals: BBC2's Five Star Babies reviewed
Five Star Babies: Inside the Portland Hospital won’t, I suspect, have been a hard sell to BBC2’s commissioning editors. Childbirth…
Special delivery
Five Star Babies: Inside the Portland Hospital won’t, I suspect, have been a hard sell to BBC2’s commissioning editors. Childbirth…
Trevor Phillips's documentary on Muslims was shocking - but not surprising
‘Our findings will shock many people,’ promised Trevor Phillips at the beginning of What British Muslims Really Think (Channel 4,…
An inconvenient truth
‘Our findings will shock many people,’ promised Trevor Phillips at the beginning of What British Muslims Really Think (Channel 4,…
BBC4’s Bob Geldof on WB Yeats was one of the best literary documentaries I’ve seen
In recent years there’s been a fashion for arts documentaries presented by celebs rather than boring old experts — presumably…
Singing Ireland into being
In recent years there’s been a fashion for arts documentaries presented by celebs rather than boring old experts — presumably…
First Dates is perfectly formed TV
Now the kids are back for the school holidays, I have a licence to watch complete trash again. No more…
Love at first sight
Now the kids are back for the school holidays, I have a licence to watch complete trash again. No more…
Line of Duty thinks – rightly – that there’s drama in the subsections of police acts
Which is better, British TV drama or American? A couple of years ago, merely asking the question would have had…
Good cop, bad cop
Which is better, British TV drama or American? A couple of years ago, merely asking the question would have had…
How does anyone keep up with all the good stuff out there on TV?
‘We have a problem. Yes. At the wind farm.’ Any conspiracy thriller with lines like that has definitely got my…
Greedy greenies
‘We have a problem. Yes. At the wind farm.’ Any conspiracy thriller with lines like that has definitely got my…
