tv
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum, BBC Four review - moving picturesMonday, 18 September 2017
Magnum was founded just after the war in 1947 as a co-operative that ensured both the quality of its members, and their clout in dealing with the media world. Its longevity is testimony to its success. The original founders were war-hardened photo journalists and included Robert Capa and David “Chim” Seymour; the first woman member was Eve Arnold, who joined in 1951. Read more... |
Black Lake, BBC Four review – Nordic blanc falls flatSunday, 17 September 2017
What would Saturday nights be without BBC Four’s regular subtitle-fests? Read more... |
100 Year Old Driving School, ITV review – a warning with historyWednesday, 13 September 2017
While Horizon, on BBC2, was telling us that the first person to walk on Mars could well be walking among us now, ITV's 100 Year Old Driving School suggested that the space mission could take a major setback if that wannabe astronaut were to encounter Joan Beech on the roads. Read more... |
Rellik, BBC One review - tricksy procedural messes with timeTuesday, 12 September 2017
There are two Williams brothers – Jack and Harry – who are mainly known for two series of The Missing. No chance of the Williamses going missing. Quite the reverse. As of today – Monday 11 September – they seem to have cloned. Read more... |
Liar, ITV - who, if anybody, is telling the truth?Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Could handsome, successful, designer-stubbly Ioan Gruffudd really be a rapist? Yes, according to schoolteacher Laura Nielson (Joanne Froggatt). No, according to Gruffudd’s character Andrew Earlham, a distinguished surgeon and widower apparently horrified to be accused of such a thing. Read more... |
Tin Star, Sky Atlantic - broken characters stalked by remorseless fateMonday, 11 September 2017
Sometimes you can find yourself hankering after those old-fashioned TV dramas where you got a self-contained story every week, so you can drop in on it at any time and still keep up with what’s going on. With Tin Star, on the other hand, you need to stick with it for at least four episodes before the scope of the story begins to reveal itself and it starts to exert a painful grip. Read more... |
Cold Feet, series 7, ITV review - more comedy than dramaSaturday, 09 September 2017
When the ITV comedy drama Cold Feet returned last year after a 13-year break, it seemed something of a risk. Looking back, after the near-universal acclaim and excellent viewing figures, it’s difficult to think it could have been anything but a sure-fire hit. Read more... |
Safe House, series 2, ITV review - the abduction and captivity show returnsFriday, 08 September 2017
Forget Christopher Eccleston and the Lake District. Two years on, Ed Whitmore’s ready-mix thriller Safe House returns with Stephen Moyer in Merseyside. Read more... |
Doctor Foster, Series 2, BBC One review - belief suspended for a pacy and tense returnWednesday, 06 September 2017
They say that living well is the best revenge. To be fair, they also say it’s a dish best served cold and I’m pretty sure they’re thinking of gazpacho, so I’m not entirely clear how much real meaning is to be found in these dictums. Read more... |
Imagine... Alma Deutscher: Finding Cinderella, BBC One review - beguiling profile of a musical prodigyTuesday, 05 September 2017
Morag Tinto’s documentary is a profile of composer Alma Deutscher, who hit the headlines at the end of last year when her opera based on the Cinderella story premiered in... Read more... |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Album: Architects - The Sky, The Earth & All Between
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Gromes, Hallé, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review...
A cello concerto received its UK premiere in Manchester last night – almost 100 years after it was written. It’s by Maria Herz, a German-Jewish...
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They stopped making the BBC’s original Bergerac in 1991, so you can hardly complain that this reboot is premature. John Nettles became...
A Knock on the Roof, Royal Court review - poignant account o...
The war in Gaza has been going since 7 October 2023 – that’s about 15 months. But it’s strangely absent from British stages...
The Last Showgirl review - Pamela Anderson stars as a middle...
Shelly (Pamela Anderson) is a dancer. She’s been with Le Razzle Dazzle, an outdated Las Vegas show that’s full of “breasts, rhinestones and joy”,...
The Score, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - curious beast of...
Why is it so hard to write a decent play about Bach? Maybe, in part, because there are no words...
Album: Abel Selaocoe - Hymns of Bantu
The musician Abel Selaocoe reaches out to the ancestors, African and European, continuing a journey that spans continents and centuries, an...
The Ferryman, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin review - Jez Butterwort...
Dublin theatregoers have been inundated with Irish family gatherings concealing secrets or half-buried sorrows, mixing “bog gothic” with very real...