sat 16/08/2025

tv

The A Word, Series 3, BBC One review - Christopher Eccleston steals the show

Adam Sweeting

Christopher Eccleston isn’t the easiest actor to love, because he gives the impression he’ll reach through the screen and grab you by the throat if you don’t appreciate his ferocious thespian intensity, but with the role of Maurice Scott in The A Word (BBC One), he’s found the perfect vehicle for his particular set of skills.

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Westworld, Season 3 Finale, Sky Atlantic review - Dolores’s plans come to fruition

Joseph Walsh

After a season that sought to redefine what Westworld could become, the finale exposed the confused arc, before limping towards an emotionally weak ending.

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Code 404, Sky One review - surreal cop comedy presses the right buttons

Markie Robson-Scott

DI John Major (Daniel Mays) has been dead a year, shot in the line of duty, though we’re far from that series in terms of tone. Now he’s back at the London Met, artificially augmented, but not very intelligently. If anything he’s a bit more shit than he was before, as one of those involved in the shooting observes.

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Blood, Series 2, Channel 5 review - expertly-crafted thriller turns the screw

Adam Sweeting

Veterans of the first series of Blood will be familiar with writer Sophie Petzal’s fondness for leading the viewer up the garden path and round the mulberry bush as the story develops. Get ready to go through it all again.

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Paul Hollywood Eats Japan, Channel 4 review - Mr Bake Off gets culture shock

Adam Sweeting

“Paul is in Japan to eat,” announced Rebecca Front’s smart-alecky voice-over, introducing this new series for Channel 4, but he was also there to do that very British thing of wallowing in blissful ignorance of foreign customs and traditions. A Very British Travelogue, in fact.

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The Village, ITV review - the weird and wonderful micro-climate of Portmeirion

Adam Sweeting

Portmeirion, the Italianate village created by architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis on the River Dwyryd estuary, might have been designed to provide the perfect surreal setting for the 1967 TV series The Prisoner. But though it resembles an opium...

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Normal People, BBC One review – adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel evokes the deep cut of first love

Joseph Walsh

Sally Rooney’s 2018 novel, which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, was a psychologically rich, emotive journey into the psyches of two Irish teenagers who fall in love. Only two years on from publication, it has been turned into a 12-part series from the BBC and Hulu. 

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Grayson's Art Club, Channel 4 review - too many clichés and platitudes?

Marina Vaizey

The national treasure that is Grayson Perry, CBE, RA, is hosting a six-episode national art club on Channel 4 for professional artists, amateur artists and the public. Since Perry came to national attention when he won the Turner Prize he has been happily ubiquitous.

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Van der Valk, ITV review - can the Dutch detective make a successful comeback?

Adam Sweeting

Between 1972-1992 five series of Van der Valk were made for ITV, starring Barry Foster as the eponymous Amsterdam detective. Nearly 30 years later comes this reincarnation with Marc Warren in the title role, no doubt hoping to find a regular home in the juicy two-hour Sunday night slot.

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Westworld, Season 3, Sky Atlantic review – a cyberpunk triumph

Joseph Walsh

In the time since the show’s inception four years ago, arguments have raged as to whether Westworld is a dud or a cult classic. For every dedicated fan, there’s someone out there crying, "The Matrix did it first!" and complaining that the plot didn’t make sense (it did).  

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