TV
James Delingpole remembers why he never watched TFI Friday - because it's dreadful
‘Cringe!’ said Boy, after I’d exposed him to a few seconds of last week’s special nostalgia edition of TFI Friday.…
Heroically unoriginal: Channel 4’s Humans reviewed
You’d think scientists might have realised by now that creating a race of super-robots is about as wise as opening…
BBC2’s Napoleon reviewed: does Andrew Roberts’s pet Frog need rehabilitating?
I adore Andrew Roberts. We go back a long way. Once, on a boating expedition gone wrong in the south…
Imagine if Are You Being Served? had starred Laurence Olivier: ITV’s Vicious reviewed
Monday saw the return of possibly the weirdest TV series in living memory. Imagine a parallel universe in which Are…
BBC2’s Armada has something for everybody - including three yummy female historians
It has been a while since the BBC really pushed the boat out on the epic history documentary front. Perhaps…
A bit silly: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell reviewed
BBC One’s 2015 choice of Sunday-night drama series is beginning to resemble the career of the kind of Hollywood actor…
Benefits Street reviewed: if anyone’s being exploited, it’s the taxpayers, says James Delingpole
My favourite scene in the first episode of the new series of Benefits Street (Mondays, Channel 4) — now relocated…
Don’t believe Orson Welles, says his biographer Simon Callow — especially when he calls himself a failure
Orson Welles would have been 100 this month. When he died in 1985, aged 70, the wonder was that he…
Channel 4’s No Offence reviewed: ‘hugely entertaining and wildly unconvincing’
With Clocking Off, Shameless and State of Play among his credits, Paul Abbott is undoubtedly one of the most respected…
Without Gallipoli, we’d have no Page 3
Some years ago I paid a visit to the site of the Gallipoli landings because I was mildly obsessed with…
W1A reviewed: so pitch-perfect as to be profoundly depressing
Ever since the days of Tony Hancock, many of the best British sitcoms — from Dad’s Army to Fawlty Towers,…
I wish Daenerys Targaryen would free the nipple: Game of Thrones series five reviewed
Blimey, there has been so much good stuff to watch on telly of late: the Grand National, the Boat Race…
Our hero worship of Bach is to blame for rubbish like ‘Written By Mrs Bach’
My impression that Bach has come to rival Shakespeare as a flawless reference point in the cultural life of the…
Why James Delingpole is addicted to Pointless
Ever since Boy got back from school my work schedule has fallen to pieces. Every few minutes, just when I’ve…
Channel 4's The Coalition reviewed: heroically free of cynicism
In a late schedule change, Channel 4’s Coalition was shifted from Thursday to Saturday to make room for Jeremy Paxman…
Will you miss Mad Men? James Delingpole won’t
Mad Men looked great but, as the final season draws to a close, was there really anything to it, wonders James Delingpole
Raised by Wolves review: council-estate life but not as you know it
Journalist, novelist, broadcaster and figurehead of British feminism Caitlin Moran, who writes most of the Times and even had her…
Jeffrey Archer’s diary: a pirate at the traffic lights, and other Indian wonders
This last week, in India, I visited six cities in seven days: Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta and New Delhi.…
Poldark review: drama by committee
By my calculations, the remake of Poldark (BBC1, Sunday) is the first time BBC drama has returned to Cornwall since…
The Great European Disaster on BBC4 reviewed: propaganda worthy of Leni Riefenstahl
My favourite bit of The Great European Disaster (BBC4, Sunday) was the lingering shot that showed golden heads of corn…
UKIP: The First 100 Days, Channel 4, review: a sad, predictable, desperate hatchet job
Just three months into Ukip’s shock victory as the party of government and already Nigel Farage’s mob are starting to…
The Heckler: how funny really was Spitting Image?
Hold the front page! Spitting Image is back! Well, sort of. A new six-part series, from (some of) the team…
Better Call Saul review: the box set equivalent of a (very) well-made play
I lost count long ago of the number of dinner parties and pub conversations where I’ve had to utter the…
Arabian Motorcycle Adventures review: enthralling and constantly surprising
There were great numbers of young men who had never been in a war and were consequently far from unwilling…
Could it be that Wolf Hall is actually the teeniest bit dull?
In January 1958, the British government began working on the significantly titled Operation Hope Not: its plans for what to…