Television
The TV shows my children allow me to watch at half-term
Half-term again, so naturally all my TV viewing plans have gone out of the window. In some households — my…
So long, Scandinavia. Bonjour, Benelux!
So long, Scandinavia. Bonjour, Benelux! BBC4, your subtitle-friendly channel, has filled the hole left by Nordic-noir The Bridge with Belgian…
How did Colonel Gaddafi get away with such evil for so long?
What a vile piece of work Colonel Gaddafi was. For some of you, perhaps, this will be a statement of…
Jeremy Paxman's Great War is great. But is 2,500 hours of WW1 programming too much?
Why are we so fascinated by the first world war? As its 100th anniversary approaches, we’re already mired in arguments…
The Three Musketeers is a triumph - because, like Game of Thrones, no one is safe
‘Pshaw!’ That was my first reaction to news of the BBC’s new ten-part Sunday night adaptation of The Three Musketeers.…
After Sherlock, TV will never be the same again
You know the holiday season is over when, instead of being torn between The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing…
James Delingpole: 'The Truth About Immigration' is anything but
Immigration. Were you aware that this has become a bit of a problem these past ten years? I wasn’t, obviously,…
Is Sherlock starting to suffer from ADD?
Sherlock’s not dead. A good thing, since on New Year’s Day BBC1 launched its third series of Sherlock, and it’d…
Is this the real First Lady of 'Borgen'?
Lloyd Evans tries to get a handle on Birgette Hjort Sorensen
Jeremy Clarkson brings Yuletide joy to the Delingpole household
So I’m looking at the seasonal TV schedules trying to find something — anything — to watch. Britain and the…
Are events in Last Tango in Halifax too bad to be true?
Does love run out when life runs out? Or does it intensify, touching and changing all around it? Two series…
Gary Bell is the real rudest man in Britain - and he's on your side
Gary Bell is the rudest man in Britain. I have known the bastard for years and no one —move over,…
Why doesn't Doctor Who travel far from Britain?
If I could go back in time, I’d watch Doctor Who from the very first episode. I wasn’t born in…
James Delingpole: Is the fight against environmentalism the new Cold War?
Gosh it isn’t half irksome when someone who went to the same school as you but is considerably younger than…
Come to the Spectator office, Gareth Malone, and hear our 'Carmina Burana'
They’re now televising proceedings from the Court of Appeal. Great. As if I didn’t have enough to do already, keeping…
James Delingpole: All students need a 'sense of entitlement' — ask my fundie friend Rupert
‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,’ said John Lennon. Quite apposite from a man…
Will the women of The X Factor stop perving?
Will the women on ITV’s The X Factor (Saturday) stop perving? I suppose there are two ways to tackle the…
James Delingpole: The Wrong Mans leaves me gasping with exhilaration and glee
Among the criticisms rightly levelled at the BBC are that its commissioning editors are overcautious, unimaginative, unadventurous and over-reliant on…
Introducing the celebs of Victorian reality TV
Did Dr Jekyll turn into Jack the Ripper? Besides becoming evil Mr Hyde, did Robert L. Stevenson’s fictional creation morph…
Can you trade love for wealth? The economics of Breaking Bad
The acclaimed television series Breaking Bad has ended. Steffen Huck on what it can teach us about economics
'Atlantis' shows our civilisation is doomed
This week saw the final episode of possibly the greatest television series ever. Breaking Bad wasn’t made by the BBC,…
Downton Abbey is now a weird parallel universe of the royal family. Except with less action
Are you following the world’s most watched aristocratic family? If you recall, they recently took into their ranks a member…
James Delingpole: As a Brummie, I am aggrieved with Peaky Blinders
You wait a whole lifetime for a lavishly shot, starrily cast, mega-budget gangster drama set in Birmingham to come along.…
The Wipers Times - 100 years on, this newspaper still lives
Funny what rises from the rubble. In 1916 British army officer Captain Fred Roberts was searching the bombed-out remains of…
After watching Bad Education, Big School is as embarrassing as watching your dad trying to DJ
You know you’re getting old when TV starts getting nostalgic about eras during which you were already feeling old and…
