David Tennant
How come the only Palestinians Louis Theroux met were non-violent sweeties?
Louis Theroux: The Settlers was never likely to be a programme with much of a narrative arc – and so…
Calm down, it’s a joke
I have never been a contributor to Twitter, partly because my comments would not be subjected to the intensive hygiene…
Three roled into one
Good, starring David Tennant, needs more dosh spent on it. The former Doctor Who plays John, a literary academic living…
Around the World In Eighty Days is the worst TV this Christmas
‘In many ways, Phileas Fogg represents everything that’s alarming and peculiar about that old sense of British Empire. Potentially, it’s…
It’s who you know
All the world’s on stage again so where to go to for insight into what to see and why? Podcasts,…
The weirdness of Britain present and past
The new series of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema began with an episode on British comedy films. As ever, Kermode…
Did everyone in punk sell out?
For many people of a certain age (full disclosure: mine), punk has been a weirdly persistent presence. These days, we…
A slog – and why does Elizabeth look like Ronald McDonald? Mary Queen of Scots reviewed
Mary Queen of Scots is a historical costume drama that, unlike The Favourite, does not breathe new life into the…
An enjoyably gossipy whisk through half a century of fierce rivalries and bruised egos
At the beginning of Barneys, Books and Bust Ups: 50 Years of the Booker Prize (BBC4), Kirsty Wark’s voiceover promised…
Ways of seeing
Perhaps the news that Radio 5 live will be the only BBC station (under the new broadcasting rights agreements) to…
Losing the plot
Probably the two greatest advances in western culture in my lifetime have been the Sopranos-style epic serial drama and the…
Disaster movie
What We Did On Our Holiday is written and directed by Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton, the pair who created…
The night I fell back in love with Shakespeare
‘Dad, it’s three hours long,’ says Boy, worriedly. ‘Yeah. And whose bloody fault is it we’re going?’ I want to…
Kissing away kingship
Gregory Doran, now in command at Stratford in succession to Sir Michael Boyd, launches his regime with Richard II, intending…
Who’s Who?
Through the ages, the Time Lord has been a political weathervane
