wed 25/06/2025

tv

Drag SOS, Channel 4 review - absolutely fabulous

Adam Sweeting

According to the Manchester drag collective the Family Gorgeous, “drag should be for everyone.” And on the evidence of Drag SOS (Channel 4) , engagingly voice-overed by Hugh Bonneville, the British public is eager to embrace them in all their spangly, fantastical glory.

Read more...

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2019 Final, BBC Four review - stage confidence, supportive set-up

David Nice

If ever there was an instance of the great being the enemy of the good, it happened after all the live singing on Saturday night. This year we all remember, with sadness for his early death and amazement at his burning, burnished talent, the Siberian baritone Dmitry Hvorostovsky (1962-2017), winner in 1989.

Read more...

Beecham House, ITV review - a cartoon version of 18th century India

Adam Sweeting

It has become routine to accuse Brexiteers of wanting to bring back the British Empire (though obviously it's OK to run an empire from Brussels), but the charge might more accurately be levelled at ITV.

Read more...

Mum, Series 3 finale, BBC Two review - superb comedy bows out

Veronica Lee

Always leave them wanting more, a wise man once said, and there can’t be a single fan of Mum who doesn’t want its creator, Stefan Golaszewski, to change his mind about making the third series the last. But then, when you achieve perfection perhaps it’s best to sign off at the top; the finale was just scrumptious.

Read more...

Years and Years, Series Finale, BBC One review - soggy ending fails to inspire

Adam Sweeting

As Russell T Davies’s doomsday odyssey reached its endgame on BBC One, feisty grandma Muriel (played by indestructible Anne Reid) got to deliver the moral of the story. With the Lyons clan gathered round that now-familiar dining table, she spelt it out for them.

Read more...

Ackley Bridge, Series 3, Channel 4 review - we gotta get out of this place

Adam Sweeting

In the Yorkshire town of Ackley Bridge, education is like war conducted by other means. As series three of the drama begins on Channel 4, we see that everything has changed at Ackley Bridge school since Valley Trust took it over...

Read more...

Thatcher: A Very British Revolution, Finale, BBC Two review - a heartbreaking account of her decline

Marina Vaizey

The surprisingly touching conclusion to BBC Two’s five-part chronicle of the Thatcher years was a masterpiece of contemporary history.

Read more...

Wild Bill, Episode 1, ITV review - an American in Lincolnshire

Tom Baily

All is not well in Boston, Lincolnshire. Unemployment, immigration concerns, Brexit frustration, and the highest murder rate in the country. How do you solve the problems of contemporary Britain? Send in an American. And not just that.

Read more...

What's My Name: Muhammad Ali, Sky Atlantic review - why they called him The Greatest

Adam Sweeting

As Anthony Joshua’s shock defeat by the unfancied Andy Ruiz Jr suggests, heavyweight boxers ain’t what they used to be.

Read more...

Years and Years, Episode 5, BBC One review - darker and darker

Adam Sweeting

Does every generation suffer its own form of doomsday paranoia? In Stephen Poliakoff’s BBC Two drama Summer of Rockets, it’s the late 1950s and everybody’s convinced they’re about to perish in a nuclear holocaust.

Read more...

Pages

 

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Brad Mehldau Trio, St George's Bristol review - exquisi...

There's something luminous about the Brad Mehldau Trio. The music they create with such joy shines with a special clarity, in which ever-changing...

Dangerous Matter, RNCM, Manchester review - opera meets scie...

Opera can take many forms and fulfil many purposes: this chamber opera by Zakiya Leeming and Sam Redway is about vaccination. Based on history, it...

Ian Leslie: John and Paul - A Love Story in Songs review - h...

Do we need any more Beatles books? The answer is: that’s the wrong question. What we need is more Beatles books that are worth reading. As the...

Album: BC Camplight - A Sober Conversation

A Sober Conversation is the work of a master songwriter, one who knows how to achieve their goals. As the album’s nine tracks pour from...

Schubertiade 3 at the Ragged Music Festival, Mile End review...

Aldeburgh offered strong competition for the three evenings of Schubert at the discreetly restored Ragged School Museum, but I knew I had to...

Showmanism, Hampstead Theatre review - lip-synced investigat...

I think my problem is that when I should have been listening in school assemblies or RE lessons, I had the Tom Tom Club’s joyous “...

Immersive Night Music Show, Makita, Londinium Ensemble, Worl...

To mark this year’s summer solstice, a small audience gathered at London’s newest concert venue, the World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens, a small and...

theartsdesk on Vinyl 91: Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, Tropical F...

VINYL OF THE MONTH

Frank From Blue Velvet I Am Frank (Property of the Lost) + Column258...