tv
The Bombing of Pan Am 103, BBC One review - new dramatisation of the horrific Lockerbie terror attackMonday, 19 May 2025
The appalling destruction of Pan Am’s flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 was put under the spotlight in January this year in Sky Atlantic’s Lockerbie: A Search for Truth. This focused on the dogged and agonising search for truth by Jim Swire (played by Colin Firth), whose daughter Flora was killed in the attack, and raised a host of possibilities and theories about who did it and why. Read more... |
The Trunk, Netflix review - stylish, noir-ish Korean drama wrapped around a beguiling love storyThursday, 08 May 2025
The trunk in the title is a luxury item, worth 50 million won – just north of £27,000 – shown sinking in deep water in the opening credits. It weaves through one of the classiest recent collaborations between Netflix and Korean TV, a haunting psychological drama that’s balm to the soul after the mob-handed violence on offer here at home. Read more... |
Malpractice, ITV1, Series 2 review - fear and loathing in the psychiatric unitTuesday, 06 May 2025
Following on from the first series of Malpractice in 2023, this second season again probes into issues of medical malfeasance and institutional corruption, in an environment where patient care frequently comes second to internal politics and self-preservation. The protagonist first time around was Niamh Algar’s Dr Lucinda Edwards, but this time it’s Tom Hughes as Dr James Ford, who works as a psychiatric registrar at the fictional Queen Mother’s University Hospital. Read more... |
Fake, ITV1 review - be careful what you wish forSunday, 04 May 2025
The art of the conman is persuading their victim to fool themselves, which is the premise that lies at the core of this Australian drama series. Read more... |
Formula E: Driver, Prime Video review - inside the world's first zero-carbon sportSaturday, 03 May 2025
The success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive not only provoked a viewer-stampede towards the world’s most expensive sport, but also triggered a chain reaction of similar behind-the-scenes sports documentaries. Suddenly we had Break Point (tennis), Full Swing (golf) and Tour de France: Unchained (cycling, obviously), hotly pursued by series on rugby, soccer and American Indiecar racing. Read more... |
Flintoff, Disney+ review - tumultuous life and times of the great all-rounderThursday, 24 April 2025
Documentaries about sports stars are now a dime a dozen, but you can only be as good as your subject matter. Read more... |
Your Friends & Neighbors, Apple TV+ review - in every dream home a heartacheMonday, 14 April 2025
It had begun to seem that Jon Hamm, whatever other roles he might appear in, was destined to be forever remembered exclusively as Mad Men’s Don Draper. Character and actor had made such a perfect fit that it was impossible to prise them apart. I always liked the idea of Hamm as a retro-James Bond set in Ian Fleming’s original 1950s period, but they wouldn’t listen. Read more... |
MobLand, Paramount+ review - more guns, goons and gangsters from Guy RitchieFriday, 04 April 2025
A year ago Guy Ritchie brought us the Netflix series The Gentlemen, and now here he is on Paramount+ with his latest romp through the verdant pastures of criminal low-lifery. It seems that top thespians are queueing up to bag a slice of Ritchie-world, and an impressive cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren. Read more... |
This City is Ours, BBC One review - civil war rocks family cocaine racketMonday, 31 March 2025
The dramatic allure of families neck-deep in organised crime never seems to falter, and Stephen Butchard’s new series continues that great tradition in rambunctious style. Sean Bean (pictured below) plays Ronnie Phelan, paterfamilias of a Liverpool cocaine-importing operation, with Jack McMullen as his son Jamie. Julie Graham steps up to the plate as Ronnie’s wife, Elaine. Read more... |
The Potato Lab, Netflix review - a K-drama with heart and witMonday, 24 March 2025
When the world’s darkness is too much, there is a Netflix rabbit-hole you can disappear down to a kinder place: the Korean romcoms section. This is a recommendation for romcom fans, a warm indulgent bubble bath of a watch. It's like turning the clock back to more innocent times, while full of contemporary pizzazz. Read more... |
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