Latest reviews

Frontier

Frontier (2016)

Frontier

Chronicling the North American fur trade in late 1700s Canada, the series was co-produced by Discovery Canada, as the channel's first original scripted commission, and Netflix. There's a great tale to be told - but did this production tell it?

Potty Time

Michael Bentine's Potty Time (1973)

Potty Time

Created, written and presented by the multi-talented Michael Bentine, Potty Time was a marvellously madcap puppet series for pre-school children that re-enacted some of the world's greatest historical events and shed new light on mysteries ancient and modern all with a unique Potty slant. Adults loved it too.

Clayhanger

Clayhanger (1976)

Clayhanger

Edwin Clayhanger's wish is to become an architect - but his domineering father, Darius, the owner of a successful printing works, has other ideas for the lad's future. Arnold Bennett's epic story of life, love and conflict was brought to our screens in a lavish 26-part series in 1976.

A Christmas Carol 2019

A Christmas Carol (2019)

A Christmas Carol 2019

This original and distinctive take on Dickens's iconic ghost story is a spine-tingling journey into Scrooge's dark soul, and one of the most chilling depictions of the story ever. But did it miss the whole point of the tale?

Lilyhammer

Lilyhammer (2012)

Lilyhammer

A New York mobster goes into hiding in rural Lillehammer in Norway after testifying against his former associates.

The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds (2019)

The War of the Worlds

"Across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us."

Dracula

Dracula (2020)

Dracula

Transylvania, 1897: A British lawyer is summoned to meet a new client who resides in a dark foreboding castle. Count Dracula plans to move to England, but first he needs to feed...

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows (1966)

Dark Shadows

Imaginative, unique and ground-breaking in its daring and successful use of horror motifs in the then otherwise conservative US television field, Dark Shadows even to this day commands an affection and respect from its legions of fans.

Donny and Marie TV Show

Donny & Marie (1976)

Donny and Marie TV Show

Just as Britain was about to go Punk and the Sex Pistols were about to tell us to never mind the you-know-whatevers, US television in the 1970s was producing a series dressed up with enough kitsch to sink the entire decade with clichéd, stereotypical vapidity. Thank goodness for the Brits!

Fall of Eagles TV series

Fall of Eagles (1974)

Fall of Eagles TV series

1970s BBC historical dramatisation about the collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.

The Bridge

The Bridge / Bron / Broen (2011)

The Bridge

When a body is found on the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, right on the border, Danish inspector Martin Rohde and Swedish Saga Norén have to share jurisdiction and work together to find the killer.

Seven Up documentary

Seven Up! (1964)

Seven Up documentary

Originally conceived as a one-off film in the early 1960’s, Seven Up! went on to become one of the most remarkable social documents in the history of television, becoming a lifelong documentary in the true sense of the word.

Grand Slam

Grand Slam (1978)

Grand Slam

It's not every day you have a weekend in Paris, especially when you know Wales is going to win - no question about it.

Health and Efficiency

Health and Efficiency (1993)

Health and Efficiency

1990s sitcom in which the doctors in Surgical B try to provide the best service for patients while they are in a constant battle with the stringent management who cut back in order to save money; often without thinking about the welfare of the patients.

Mrs Wilson

Mrs Wilson (2018)

Mrs Wilson

Drama based on true events - After the sudden death of novelist and ex-Secret Intelligence Service man Alexander Wilson, his wife Alison is forced to investigate when she discovers that her seemingly ideal husband lived many secret lives.

Edward the Seventh

Edward the Seventh (1975)

Edward the Seventh

A prime example of the lavish and epic period dramas that British television is famed for, the award winning Edward the Seventh fulfilled its early promise with a superb cast, excellent story telling, sumptuous locations, colourful costumes and high production values.

Gavin & Stacey

Gavin & Stacey (2007)

Gavin & Stacey

In a 21st century where the British sitcom is at a low in both brilliance and output, Gavin & Stacey is one of the very few that proved that mainstream comedy can be both well written and appeal to a mass audience.

The Killing

The Killing / Forbrydelsen (2007)

The Killing

Detective Inspector Sarah Lund is all set to emigrate to Sweden but her plans are put on hold when the police investigation into the murder of a young girl in Copenhagen turns out to have implications in high places.

Crackerjack

Crackerjack (1955)

Crackerjack

"It's Friday, it's five o'clock, yes it's Crackerjack!" From 1955 and for almost 40 years the BBC bought us children's entertainment in front of a live theatre audience. For many, Crackerjack is remembered with great nostalgia and even greater affection and is very firmly placed in the annals of television history.

The Offshore Island

The Offshore Island (1959)

The Offshore Island

Post-apocalyptic drama - one of the first TV plays on a politically sensitive topic, about the survivors of a nuclear attack on the British isles.

Justified

Justified (2010)

Justified

Western-style, gun-slinging U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens confronts murder, drugs, bank heists, mobsters, crime families, corrupt politicians and even his own tumultuous past – and never backs down.

Codename Kyril

Codename Kyril (1988)

Codename Kyril

Superior Cold War espionage thriller with an all-star cast. Regarded as probably one of the best and almost certainly one of the last of the Cold War dramas of the 1980s.

The Magical Mystery Tour

The Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

The Magical Mystery Tour

In 1967, The Beatles were riding high on popularity following the release of their concept album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Then they made a film that many judged to have signalled the end of an era. But were they right?

Michael Parkinson

Parkinson (1971)

Michael Parkinson

The most loved interviewer in Britain, Michael Parkinson interviewed the last of Hollywood's golden greats from James Cagney to James Stewart. He introduced us to Billy Connolly and laughed along with the best of British. He crossed swords with Muhammad Ali and was attacked by "that bloody Bird."

Lonesome Dove

Lonesome Dove (1989)

Lonesome Dove

Miniseries about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana by a small crew led by two legendary Texas Rangers. Lonesome Dove is basically a very long feature film that happened to be made for the small screen rather than the cinema. It may very well be true that it is the greatest "miniseries" ever shown on television.

Entertaining Mr Sloane

Entertaining Mr Sloane (1968)

Entertaining Mr Sloane

A handsome, sexy and completely amoral young man, joins Kath's household as a lodger and proceeds to manipulate her and her brother. Joe Orton's play made its television debut almost a year after the author was bludgeoned to death by his partner.

Torchwood

Torchwood (2006)

Torchwood

Doctor Who spin-off in which a top-secret team of investigators led by Captain Jack Harkness, a visitor from another world, use scavenged alien technology to protect the Earth.