tv
Defending the Guilty, BBC Two review - trials and tribulations of a trainee barristerWednesday, 18 September 2019
This new legal comedy is based on a well-received book by Alex McBride, but the transition from print to the BBC Two screen hasn’t been an unalloyed success. Read more...
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Love in the Countryside, BBC Two review - reaping a harvest of marital bliss?Wednesday, 18 September 2019
If you’re a farmer who works round the clock to feed sheep, milk cows and so forth, how on earth do you make time to find a partner and reap a harvest of marital bliss? Read more... |
Temple, Sky 1 review - down in the tube station at midnightSaturday, 14 September 2019
At first, the opening episode of Sky 1’s enticing new drama Temple looked like it was going to be mostly concerned with a heist gone wrong. Read more... |
Suicidal: In Our Own Words, Channel 5 review - why are so many men killing themselves?Wednesday, 11 September 2019
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, and Channel 5 marked the occasion with this sobering documentary. Focusing on male suicide – incredibly, now the UK’s biggest killer of men under 45 – it studied six patients at the Riverside Mental Health Centre in Hillingdon, west London. Read more... |
Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History, BBC Four review - Ulster's bitter sectarian war revisitedWednesday, 11 September 2019
“The Troubles” is a polite euphemism for the ferocious storm of sectarian violence and political chaos which convulsed Northern Ireland for 30 years, before being brought to a close by 1998’s Good Friday Agreement. Read more... |
The Capture, BBC One review - gripping drama about the surveillance societyWednesday, 04 September 2019
Ben Chanan's The Capture (BBC One), which he wrote and directed, is a bang-up-to-the-minute dystopian thriller about the increasingly surveilled society we live in. Read more... |
High Society: Cannabis Café, Channel 4 review - pointless investigation into drug-takingWednesday, 04 September 2019
This was the first of a two-part investigation into... well, I don't know what. The voiceover of High Society: Cannabis Café said it was an experiment “to test the alleged benefits of weed” and the people featured all had “a personal motivation for getting stoned” as they visited an Amsterdam coffee shop, where dope is sold legally. Read more... |
Sink or Swim, Channel 4 review - the Channel awaits for these celebritiesWednesday, 28 August 2019
Is there any challenge that television producers haven't filmed celebrities doing? They won't be happy until they've followed a bunch of them snowboarding down an Alp while baking a cake, conducting an orchestra and researching their family history. And if it involves a little sob followed by a group hug, bonus! Read more... |
The Affair series 5, Sky Atlantic review - a new cast member adds intrigueWednesday, 28 August 2019
There was a time when a new series of The Affair (Sky Atlantic) would cause the heart to quicken; now, not so much. Actually that sounds like the course of most extramarital affairs – an initial rush to spend time with the object of your affection, only for the desire to dwindle over time. Read more... |
Prince Albert: A Victorian Hero Revealed, Channel 4 review - dramatic documentary filled with intelligent detailSaturday, 24 August 2019
It may sound perverse to say it, but Albert was the perfect twenty-first century prince. Thrust into the heart of the British monarchy he was simultaneously an oppressed outsider who – despite his reputation as the most handsome prince in Europe (not least when wearing white cashmere pantaloons) – struggled to make his voice and intelligence heard. Read more... |
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
The Inseparables, Finborough Theatre review - uneven portrai...
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Personal Values, Hampstead Theatre review - deep grief that...
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April review - powerfully acted portrait of a conflicted doc...
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Album: Billy Idol - Dream Into It
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In a programme note for the St John Passion at the Barbican, the Academy of Ancient Music’s chief executive called their Easter performances of...