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Midwinter of the Spirit, ITV

Adam Sweeting Thursday, 24 September 2015

TV series about the clergy are usually farcical, self-deprecating or just plain wet, so it's a pleasant surprise to find one that's prepared to slug it out with issues of good and evil. Compared to Rev, a wistful tragi-comedy about managing the terminal decline of the C of E, Midwinter of the Spirit wants to mount up and ride into battle against the Ungodly.

The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone, BBC Two

Matthew Wright Wednesday, 23 September 2015

It’s nearly 10 years since Gareth Malone’s series The Choir first brought amateur choral singing to an improbably appreciative television audience. Like baking, amateur choral singing is quintessentially British – most other cultures leave them to professionals – and their affectionate place in the national psyche has created successful viewing brands.

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The Go-Between, BBC One

Adam Sweeting Monday, 21 September 2015

Hot on the heels of Lady Chatterley's Lover, the Beeb has made another foray into literary depictions of English class warfare and scandalous sexuality with this new version of LP Hartley's novel (published in 1953 but set in 1900). To ease the didactic burden, the Corporation has discovered yet another phwoarr-factor leading man who obligingly gets his kit off at strategic moments.

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Downton Abbey, Series 6, ITV

Jasper Rees Monday, 21 September 2015

It began with the sinking of the Titanic all those series ago. However many holes Julian Fellowes has seen fit to build in to the design, his own ocean-going liner has valiantly refused to go down with all hands on deck. But by Christmas we will have seen the last of Lord Grantham and his household, until such time as they all get resurrected for a big-screen reunion, even the Dowager Countess Maggie.

The Gamechangers, BBC Two / Narcos, Netflix

Adam Sweeting Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Starring Daniel Radcliffe as Sam Houser, who's portrayed as the dominant creative mastermind behind Rockstar Games and its phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto series, The Gamechangers (**) sought to depict legal battles over GTA's violent and sexually explicit content as landmarks in the history of artistic freedom.

This Is England '90, Channel 4

Tom Birchenough Monday, 14 September 2015

It’s been worth the wait.

The King Who Invented Ballet, BBC Four

Hanna Weibye Monday, 14 September 2015

Someone more unlike Louis XIV than David Bintley is hard to imagine.

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Gogglebox, Channel 4

Barney Harsent Saturday, 12 September 2015

So Gogglebox, a programme that allows voyeurs to watch viewers, has made it to series six. Rarely has telly been more knowingly “meta”. I can only think of Game for a Laugh’s catchprase, “Watching you, watching us, watching you, watching us,” but that was: a) nowhere near a true representation of how the show actually worked; b) creepy and weird.

Doctor Foster, BBC One

Jasper Rees Thursday, 10 September 2015

Doctor Foster takes its name from a nursery rhyme, but don’t be lulled. From the moment its brunette protagonist finds a long blonde hair on her husband’s scarf, we are hurtling headlong into a revenge drama.

Treasures of the Indus, BBC Four

Marina Vaizey Tuesday, 08 September 2015

The BBC India Season is bringing us a cluster of programmes amounting to a fascinatingly varied series of visits to the subcontinent. Incidentally, and not coincidentally, there is also an India Festival with myriad exhibitions, conferences and lectures at the Victoria and Albert this autumn.