mon 06/10/2025

TV

Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of Champton

Rockin’ vicar the Rev Richard Coles is not only a C of E priest and former member of Bronski Beat and The Communards, but also a purveyor of crime fiction in the shape of his Canon Clement mysteries. The first of these was Murder Before Evensong,...

Read more...

Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New York City

They say no good deed goes unpunished, so when New York restaurateur Jake Friedken (Jude Law) allowed his wayward and star-crossed brother Vince (Jason Bateman) back into his life, he might have expected to experience a little turbulence. Instead,...

Read more...

The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals

The latest instalment of the ITV drama department’s attempts at trial by television is another anatomy of a scandal, but with little of the emotive power of Mr Bates vs The Post Office. It’s an odd, ungainly construct that attempts to meld two...

Read more...

Slow Horses, Series 5, Apple TV+ review - terror, trauma and impeccable comic timing

Fifth time around, Slow Horses continues to show the rest of the field a clean pair of heels. Or hooves. The adventures of Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his peculiar little band of secret service misfits have come to exert a fierce stranglehold on...

Read more...

Coldwater, ITV1 review - horror and black comedy in the Highlands

Scripted by Belfast-born playwright David Ireland, Coldwater is a smart and addictive thriller, which manages to squeeze some fresh twists out of its murderous narrative. It also benefits hugely from an excellent cast firing on all cylinders, while...

Read more...

Blu-ray: The Sweeney - Series One

You’ll have absorbed key strands of The Sweeney‘s DNA even if you’ve never watched an episode, ITV’s groundbreaking police drama having had an impact and influence far bigger than its creators could ever have imagined. Writer Ian Kennedy Martin had...

Read more...

I Fought the Law, ITVX review - how an 800-year-old law was challenged and changed

ITV continues its passion for docudramas about injustice, which you can’t blame it for after the rip-roaring success of Mr Bates vs the Post Office. The issue in I Fought the Law is, from one angle, of national (even International) importance,...

Read more...

The Paper, Sky Max review - a spinoff of the US Office worth waiting 20 years for

Fans of the US version of The Office may wonder what happened to the assorted oddballs of Dunder Mifflin, proud creators of paper products in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They will be none the wiser after watching the pilot episode of The Paper,...

Read more...

The Guest, BBC One review - be careful what you wish for

Why isn’t Eve Myles a superstar? Though well known for her appearances in the likes of Torchwood, Broadchurch and the brilliant Keeping Faith, you’d imagine that by now she’d have been snapped up for some mega-budget extravaganza on Amazon or Apple...

Read more...

theartsdesk Q&A: Suranne Jones on 'Hostage', power pants and politics

If she decided to run for election, Suranne Jones would probably stand a good chance of winning. The Chadderton-born actress and producer has been a driving figure in British television ever since she became known for playing Karen McDonald on...

Read more...

King & Conqueror, BBC One review - not many kicks in 1066

In this strangely dreary recreation of 11th century history, it’s not just grim oop north, it’s grim everywhere. King & Conqueror purports to be the story of how the Norman monarch William (the titular Conqueror) and England’s King Harold found...

Read more...

Hostage, Netflix review - entente not-too-cordiale

Conceived and written by Matt Charman, whose CV includes an Oscar nomination for his work on Steven Spielberg’s film Bridge of Spies, Hostage is a rather puzzling mix of political thriller and domestic drama which can never decide whether it’s...

Read more...
Subscribe to TV