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.

The Railway Children, Glyndebourne review - right train, wrong station

★★★ THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, GLYNDEBOURNE Right train, wrong station

Talent-loaded Mark-Anthony Turnage opera excursion heads down a mistaken track

If the distance from Festen to The Railway Children looks like a long stretch of track, remember that Mark-Anthony Turnage’s operas have often thundered through the drama of shattered families mired in mystery and secrecy – all the way back to the Oedipal conflicts of Greek in 1988.

Anemone review - searching for Daniel Day-Lewis

The actor resurfaces in a moody, assured film about a man lost in a wood

Given that the film industry is a fairly vain business, it follows that every movie is to some extent a vanity project. So it seems churlish to describe this new Daniel Day-Lewis picture, which he co-wrote with his son, Ronan, for Ronan to direct and himself to star in, as other than a welcome return for the superman actor.

Iron Ladies review - working-class heroines of the Miners' Strike

★★★★ IRON LADIES Documentary salutes the staunch women who fought Thatcher's pit closures

Documentary salutes the staunch women who fought Thatcher's pit closures

The enduring image of the 1984-1985 Miners' Strike is that of men standing arm in arm against police and of mass protests devolving into mayhem – with protesters being beaten and knocked to the ground.

Lee Miller, Tate Britain review - an extraordinary career that remains an enigma

★★★ LEE MILLER, TATE BRITAIN An extraordinary career that remains an enigma

Fashion photographer, artist or war reporter; will the real Lee Miller please step forward?

Tate Britain’s Lee Miller retrospective begins with a soft focus picture of her by New York photographer Arnold Genthe dated 1927, when she was working as a fashion model. The image is so hazy that she appears as dreamlike and insubstantial as a wraith.

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.

Measure for Measure, RSC, Stratford review - 'problem play' has no problem with relevance

★★★★★ MEASURE FOR MEASURE, RSC STRATFORD A landmark production 

Shakespeare, in this adaptation, is at his most perceptive

An opening video montage presents us with a rogues' gallery of powerful men who have done bad things. Plenty of the usual suspects appear to stomach-churning effect, but no ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, sentenced last week to five years in prison by the usually tolerant French. So the problem certainly hasn’t gone away with the Clintons, Weinsteins and they’re ilk. We all know the “power corrupts…” quote, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised and, maybe, we should be a little wary of vesting so much power in such men – that is, most men.

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. 

Album: Robert Plant - Saving Grace

★★★★★ ROBERT PLANT - SAVING GRACE Mellow delight from former Zep lead

Mellow delight from former Zep lead

Robert Plant is magnificently well-equipped to shine as a consummate musical survivor: not only has his voice kept its magic, with a range from sensual caress to ecstatic howl, but he’s deeply rooted in timeless music, Scots-Irish and American folk as well as the country blues.

The Lady from the Sea, Bridge Theatre review - flashes of brilliance

Simon Stone refashions Ibsen in his own high-octane image

Like the lighting that crackles now and again to indicate an abrupt change of scene or mood, Simon Stone's version of The Lady from the Sea is illuminated by the sense of adventure and excitement one has come to expect from this singular artist. That's the case even if the cumulative effect falls short of his devastating achievements with the National Theatre's Phaedra or, before that, Billie Piper in Yerma. 

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