Television
How the other half of the press parties – a war correspondent’s letter from Washington
This week has been all about the election, the US presidential election that is. It is 18 months away but…
Make no mistake: the Top Gear brouhaha is cultural warfare
It’s a famous quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one that Elton John should ponder (when he’s not out shopping, that…
What Samsung’s new TVs owe to Jeremy Bentham
Watching brief Samsung warned users of its voice-activated televisions that what they said in front of the TV could be…
My moment of mortification with Saint Joan Collins
My time with Joan Collins was wonderful – except for one mortifying moment
EastEnders wanted to show Thatcher’s Britain. These days it would make Maggie proud
How EastEnders became a positive reflection of Tory values
From Umbrella Man to the Coughing Major, the truth is often very strange
Are you sitting comfortably and wearing your tinfoil hat? If so, open YouTube and watch a full-screen version of the…
How Alex Brooker made political interviews interesting again
The other night on Channel 4, I watched the best political interview I’ve seen all year. It was with Nick…
Tom Holland’s diary: Fighting jihadism with Mohammed, and bowling the Crown Prince of Udaipur
As weather bombs brew in the north Atlantic, I’m roughing it by heading off to Rajasthan, and the literary festival…
Dear Mary solves problems for Jim Broadbent, N.M. Gwynne, Jesse Norman and others
Once again Mary has invited some of her favourite figures in the public eye to submit personal queries for her…
The perils of being a posh boy on the telly
There’s nothing like getting your face on the telly to turn you into a narcissist overnight
Jeremy Paxman’s diary: Why must Songs of Praise chase advertiser-friendly viewers?
The most unfashionable show on television, Songs of Praise, has had a makeover. The BBC had apparently discovered that the…
Pity I’m a Celebrity’s token old guys
I had thought that my days of being approached by reality show producers hoping to put together a cast of…
Does Joey Essex know what ‘reem’ actually means?
Joey Essex is a celebrity who appeared in the ‘scripted reality’ programme The Only Way is Essex, named not after…
You shouldn’t watch Dapper Laughs. But you really shouldn’t let the likes of me stop you
As you’ll know by now, I’m big on thinking the right things. Should a thought strike me that m’colleague Rod…
I nearly missed out on The Walking Dead. You shouldn’t
I’m ashamed to say it took me a while to watch an episode of The Walking Dead, the fifth season…
We're great and baboons are losers: this week's lesson from Brian Cox
Anybody feeling a bit depressed about the shortcomings of humanity could do worse than watch Brian Cox’s new series Human…
Paul Merton’s is the most boastful autobiography in years
Has there ever been a nun or a priest who wasn’t a bent sadist? Because here we go again. At…
The ‘no’ campaign’s problem was that it sounded like me
Journalistically speaking, it’s been a good year to be Scottish and Jewish. Had I been a Welsh Zoroastrian, say, I…
Frankie Boyle is a cowardly bully, and I’m ashamed I ever stood up for him
‘Outspoken comic Frankie Boyle has called on the BBC to sack “cultural tumour” Jeremy Clarkson.’ Can anyone tell me what’s…
Switching on to a new generation gap
In the world of YouTube and Netflix, generations no longer share a culture
From Anthony Trollope to Meryl Streep: the theatre of politics on stage and screen
On 1 October 1950 the BBC broadcast a seemingly innocuous little play by Val Gielgud. A light-hearted and critically unremarkable…
Why the BBC will never match Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation
No modern critic would dare match Kenneth Clark’s fearless way with sweeping statements
Without Paxman, the BBC will have just one interrogator: John Humphrys
In a double blow for the beleaguered BBC, the corporation has lost three of its most compelling attractions in little…
Six months as a TV critic, and I’ve seen enough corpses to last a lifetime
It was Shetland that tipped me over the edge. Not the place, but the TV series. Although that’s set in…
Penelope Lively’s diary: My old-age MOT
My surgery has been calling in all those over 75 for a special session with their doctor — a sort…
