Down Cemetery Road, Apple TV review - wit, grit and a twisty plot, plus Emma Thompson on top form

★★★★ DOWN CEMETERY ROAD, APPLE TV Wit, grit & a twisty plot, Emma Thompson on top form

Mick Herron's female private investigator gets a stellar adaptation

Back in 2003, when Mick Herron was a humble sub-editor, his debut novel was published, the first of what became a four-volume series, the Zoë Boehm thrillers. Inevitably, after the success of his later Slow Horses series, television has snaffled this character up too. Morwenna Banks works on both series as a writer-producer. And it shows.

Mr Scorsese, Apple TV review - perfectly pitched documentary series with fascinating insights

Rebecca Miller musters a stellar roster of articulate talking heads for this thorough portrait

This five-parter by Rebecca Miller is essential viewing for any Martin Scorsese fan – and for anybody who wants to understand the process of movie-making, full stop. Miller has interviewed all the key figures from the director’s life, not just film luminaries but his family, his childhood friends, an ex-wife, the priest who inspired him.

theartsdesk Q&A: director Stefano Sollima on the relevance of true crime story 'The Monster of Florence'

Q&A - DIRECTOR STEFANO SOLLIMA On the relevance of true crime 'The Monster of Florence'

The director of hit TV series 'Gomorrah' examines another dark dimension of Italian culture

In his celebrated TV-series Gomorrah (based on the bestseller of the same name by author Roberto Saviano) Italian director Stefano Sollima depicted the mafia ridden neighbourhoods of Naples in its rawest form – without myth, without any gloomy underworld charm or even the slightest hint of supposed gangster morality. The message Sollima wanted to get across was clear: there are no role models, no heroes. No one is happy here. 

The Diplomat, Season 3, Netflix review - Ambassador Kate Wyler becomes America's Second Lady

★★★ THE DIPLOMAT, SEASON 3, NETFLIX Soapy transatlantic political drama keeps the Special Relationship alive

Soapy transatlantic political drama keeps the Special Relationship alive

The return of this entertaining political drama is always welcome, though its soap-tinged mix of transatlantic politics and volatile personal relationships is beginning to look a little too genteel for our current age of ever-worsening crises.

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

★★★ MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG, ACORN TV Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen

The Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen

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, and now it has arrived on Acorn TV, where they do a lot of this sort of thing.

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

Jude Law and Jason Bateman tread the thin line between love and hate

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, he finds himself engulfed in a hair-raising struggle to save his career and even his life.

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

★★ THE HACK, ITV Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material

Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material

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. 

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

★★★★ SLOW HORSES, SERIES 5, APPLE TV+ Terror, trauma and impeccable comic timing

Jackson Lamb's band of MI5 misfits continues to fascinate and amuse

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 the viewing public. Horses must be perilously close to being officially declared a cult.