England
theartsdesk Q&A: Suranne Jones on 'Hostage', power pants and politicsFriday, 29 August 2025![]() If she decided to run for election, Suranne Jones would probably stand a good chance of winning. The Chadderton-born actress and producer has been a driving figure in British television ever since she became known for playing Karen McDonald on... Read more... |
King & Conqueror, BBC One review - not many kicks in 1066Thursday, 28 August 2025![]() In this strangely dreary recreation of 11th century history, it’s not just grim oop north, it’s grim everywhere. King & Conqueror purports to be the story of how the Norman monarch William (the titular Conqueror) and England’s King Harold found... Read more... |
Juniper Blood, Donmar Warehouse review - where ideas and ideals rule the roostThursday, 28 August 2025![]() Playwright Mike Bartlett is, like many writers, a chronicler of both contemporary manners and of the state of the nation. In his latest domestic drama, which premieres at the Donmar Warehouse, he examines our anxieties about food, farming and the... Read more... |
Hostage, Netflix review - entente not-too-cordialeSunday, 24 August 2025![]() Conceived and written by Matt Charman, whose CV includes an Oscar nomination for his work on Steven Spielberg’s film Bridge of Spies, Hostage is a rather puzzling mix of political thriller and domestic drama which can never decide whether it’s... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2025 reviews: Ordinary Decent Criminal / InsidersSaturday, 16 August 2025![]() Ordinary Decent Criminal, Summerhall ★★★★★ Frankie learnt a thing or two about the police and how they work from his years as an activist. Fighting for crucial political causes, however, never seemed at odds with a sideline in drug-dealing –... Read more... |
Every Brilliant Thing, @sohoplace review - return of the comedy about suicide that lifts the spiritsSaturday, 09 August 2025![]() The Fringe piece Duncan Macmillan devised with Jonny Donahoe in 2014 has since been round the world and back, finally landing in the West End. It feels as freshly minted as ever.The premise is simple: a performer takes an audience through the story... Read more... |
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Rambert, Sadler's Wells review - exciting dancing, if you can see itSaturday, 09 August 2025![]() If you have never watched a single episode of the BBC period gangster drama Peaky Blinders, I am not sure what you would make of Rambert’s two-act ballet version. I have watched all six series, and I still left confused. Confused, but also... Read more... |
Folkestone Triennial 2025 - landscape, seascape, art lovers' escapeMonday, 04 August 2025![]() A rare cloud form envelopes the headland and to the east and the west Folkestone is cut off from the known world. This mist shortens the visual range, drawing attention to the chalky soil, the sea gorse and the looping swifts. It also softly frames... Read more... |
The Winter's Tale, RSC, Stratford review - problem play proves problematicTuesday, 29 July 2025![]() There’s a deal to be made when taking your seat for The Winter’s Tale. It’s one the title alone would have signalled to the groundlings as much as those invited to rattle their jewellery upstairs back in the 17th century – it’s a fairytale, a... Read more... |
Blu-ray: The Rebel / The Punch and Judy ManTuesday, 22 July 2025![]() Comedian Tony Hancock’s vertiginous rise and fall is neatly traced in the two films he completed in the early 1960s. The warning signs were already present when 1961’s The Rebel (★★★★) was released. Hancock’s BBC career had been enormously... Read more... |
Sir Brian Clarke (1953-2025) - a personal tributeWednesday, 16 July 2025![]() Brian Clarke died on 1 July 2025, after a long illness. He was one of the most original British artists of our time – wide-ranging, ground-breaking and influential. His painting was first-class, but it was in the field of architectural stained... Read more... |
Falstaff, Glyndebourne review - knockabout and nostalgia in postwar WindsorTuesday, 15 July 2025![]() From the animatronic cat on the bar of the Garter Inn to the rowers’ crew who haul their craft across the stage and the military ranks of “Dig for Victory” cabbages arrayed in Ford’s garden, all the period flourishes that helped make Richard Jones’s... Read more... |
- 1 of 63
- ››
