Television
Let us eat cake
I’m not crazy about cookery shows. I suspect they indicate how little we are cooking, rather than how much. We’re…
Harrowing journey
One of Boy’s more annoying teenage rules of thumb is that, if Dad likes it, it must be crap. This…
Tragic comedies
How did our comedies become so sad? BBC1’s new sitcom Big School (Fridays) opened with a scene that would probably…
Anglo-Saxon disaster
‘Somerset. Winter 877,’ said the subtitles below an arty, BBC-nature-doc style close-up of a coot paddling amid the reeds on…
The fake and the furious
I watched Top Gear (BBC2, Sunday) for the first time in my life last week (the rock under which I’ve…
Public lives
Watching Burton and Taylor (BBC4, Monday) I felt a bit like I do when I go to the theatre —…
Poking fun by proxy
I sincerely hope you’re not watching television. With the glorious summer sun we’re having, you should be having picnics and…
Institutional Toynbeeism
Last week I was on holiday with my family on the Algarve. The good news was that, thanks to the…
Dark pleasures
Luther is back, in Luther, and so is Donny Osmond, of Donny & Marie fame. Could there be two more…
