TV
The Truth about Amazon, Channel 4 review - buyer bewareWednesday, 22 April 2020
Amazon had already been declared the world’s most valuable public company before COVID-19 struck, but under the current stay-indoors regime, its online retailing and streaming entertainment services have been given an astronomical extra boost. The... Read more... |
A Country Life for Half the Price, Channel 5 review - Essex couple Sam and Lucy become rural entrepreneursWednesday, 22 April 2020
The “relocation in search of a new life” theme has become a dependable TV staple, from A New Life in the Sun to Relocation, Relocation and Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild, but this Channel 5 series by Kate Humble has been more entertaining than... Read more... |
DVD: The Year of the Sex OlympicsTuesday, 21 April 2020
Originally aired in BBC2’s “Theatre 625” slot in July 1968, Nigel Kneale’s The Year of the Sex Olympics has gathered a reputation as a groundbreaking piece of TV drama which uncannily anticipated the broadcasting future. Its depiction of a society... Read more... |
Quiz, ITV review - cheats never prosper. Well, hardly everThursday, 16 April 2020
James Graham’s play Quiz was a hit in Chichester in 2017 and then made a much-admired transfer to the West End. Considering its subject matter – the fabled “Coughing Major”, Charles Ingram, who allegedly cheated his way to the titular seven-figure... Read more... |
The Rise and Fall of The Clash, Now TV review - London fallingThursday, 16 April 2020
Open-mouthed incredulity is a reasonable reaction to this 2012 documentary on one of the UK’s prime punk-spawned bands, available on catch-up via streaming service Now TV’s tie-in with Sky Arts. There’s not much “rise” but there’s an awful lot of “... Read more... |
Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue, BBC Four review - a race against timeThursday, 16 April 2020
One year on the world is drastically altered, but footage of Notre Dame’s stricken spire collapsing in flames is no less shocking. That this event, endlessly replayed, has not paled against the new reality of daily death tolls is testament to the... Read more... |
Believe Me: The Cyprus Rape Case, ITV review - British teenager’s holiday from hellWednesday, 15 April 2020
The case of the British teenager allegedly raped by a group of young Israeli men in Ayia Napa in Cyprus last year, only to find herself convicted of “public mischief”, has built up a head of steam in the international press and has provoked outrage... Read more... |
Prue Leith: Journey with My Daughter, Channel 4 review - an emotional journey into the pastWednesday, 15 April 2020
Days before the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, orphaned baby Li-Da was flown out of the country, and was eventually adopted by Prue Leith and her husband Rayne. Leith’s culinary star was rising rapidly, and her husband... Read more... |
Run, Sky Comedy review - vicarious thrills for the self-isolation eraWednesday, 15 April 2020
Watching Run, HBO’s newest seven-part series, feels like off-the-rails escapism: it’s a fast-paced thriller about dropping everything, chasing intimacy and courting danger. It’s a vicarious adventure centred on a woman who has spent too long stuck... Read more... |
Killing Eve, Series 3, BBC iPlayer review - Eve and Villanelle resume operationsMonday, 13 April 2020
Instant spoiler alert: she’s not dead. But do we care? Prepare for the plumbing of new psychological depths from showrunner Suzanne Heathcote, previously story editor, appropriately enough, on Fear the Walking Dead, but that may not be enough to... Read more... |
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Netflix review - a friendly provocateurMonday, 13 April 2020
Interviewed in isolation last week by Hollywood Reporter, music mogul Clive Davis revealed that he’s using his time “either by listening to the newest singles that make the charts or by watching hit music videos. First to be aware of them and then... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: actor Gemma WhelanSaturday, 11 April 2020
She's not quite a household name yet, but Leeds-born Gemma Whelan is heading speedily in that direction. Having started out as a standup comedian, winning the Funny Women Variety Award in 2010, Whelan began notching up film and TV roles, en route to... Read more... |
