TV
United Kingdom! Radical TV Drama, BFI SouthbankTuesday, 03 November 2009
Nostalgists often hark back to a “golden age” of TV drama, referring to the likes of ITV’s Brideshead Revisited, or the BBC’s I Claudius or The Forsyte Saga. This week on the South Bank, the BFI launches a season which examines a lost age of a... Read more... |
Garrow's Law, BBC One / Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop, BBC OneMonday, 02 November 2009
In Garrow's Law: Tales from the Old Bailey, writer Tony Marchant has turned to the real-life archives of the Old Bailey to find cases to illustrate the pioneering legal work of William Garrow. In the late 18th century, courtroom trials bore more... Read more... |
Into the Storm: creating ChurchillMonday, 02 November 2009
A few years ago he was voted the greatest Briton in a national television poll. Among his many books is A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. He went to Harrow, for goodness’ sake. And he is always played by English actors. Always. You name... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Cheltenham: Screenwriters gatherSunday, 01 November 2009
The Victorian Gothic (with 1970s additions) maze of Cheltenham Ladies’ College is a far cry from the sun-blasted soundstages of Los Angeles, particularly at this time of year when it’s surrounded by deep piles of swirling autumn leaves. Nevertheless... Read more... |
The World's Greatest Money-Maker: Evan Davis Meets Warren Buffett, BBC TwoMonday, 26 October 2009
If you’d invested a thousand dollars with Warren Buffett in 1965, your stake would have grown to more than than five million bucks today. If the UK had followed one of Buffett’s golden rules of investment – Don’t Get Into Debt – our clapped-out rust... Read more... |
The Thick of It, BBC TwoSunday, 25 October 2009
To think the unthinkable, are we now getting towards the thin end of The Thick of It? The show remains unchallenged as the most bilious, urgent comedy on television. No argument there. It coruscates, it eviscerates – even a thin Thick of It does all... Read more... |
Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany, BBC FourSaturday, 24 October 2009It's over-egging it a bit to equate Krautrock with the entire rebirth of Germany. It's also slightly jarring to entitle the film Krautrock when its narrator then blames the World War Two-obsessed British music press for inventing such a disparaging... Read more... |
Modern Family, Sky1 / Question Time, BBC OneThursday, 22 October 2009American critics have been fanfaring Modern Family as something of a sitcom revolution for its wit, intelligence and the cast's all-round expertise. It might take longer to grow a British fanbase, because you need a few spins around the circuit... Read more... |
Defying Gravity, BBC TwoWednesday, 21 October 2009
In space, no-one can hear you snore. The opening two-parter of Defying Gravity introduced us, in a sluggish and tortuous manner, to the six-year mission of the spacecraft Antares, which contains eight astronauts and will visit seven planets,... Read more... |
Murderland, ITV1Monday, 19 October 2009You can only assume they decided to confront the, er, generously proportioned mammal in the room. ITV launches a new police procedural starring the star of an old police procedural. Said star is a sizeable Scot with an old Toby jug of a face and, oh... Read more... |
Ludovic Kennedy, 1919-2009Monday, 19 October 2009Ludovic Kennedy, whose death at the age of 89 was announced today, will be remembered for many achievements beyond his contribution to broadcasting. But for those who grew up when there were only three channels to choose from, he informed a... Read more... |
Synth Britannia, BBC FourFriday, 16 October 2009Would-be axe murderers of the BBC often propose to lop off (among other things) TV channels Three and Four, but Four’s music coverage is vastly better value for viewers’ money than the executive pension fund. Synth Britannia stuck firmly to Four’s “... Read more... |
