tv | The Arts Desk

tv

Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism, BBC Four - brilliant appraisal

Matthew Wright Monday, 05 March 2018

By most measures, minimalism is the most successful movement in 20th-century music, certainly orchestral music.

Civilisations, BBC Two review - no shocks from Schama

Marina Vaizey Friday, 02 March 2018

Lord Clark – “of Civilisation”, as he was nicknamed, not necessarily affectionately – presented the 13 episodes of the eponymous series commissioned by David Attenborough for BBC Two in 1969; it was subtitled “A Personal View”, and encompassed only Western Europe (from which even Spain was excluded).

Comment

Save Me, Sky Atlantic review - it's grim down south

Adam Sweeting Thursday, 01 March 2018

Workrate of the Week award goes to Lennie James, who not only stars in this new six-part drama but wrote and executive-produced it as well. James (who starred in the first series of Line of Duty, and has hit it big in The Walking Dead) plays the central character Nelly Rowe, a wily chancer living on a Deptford council estate who suddenly finds his chequered past catching up with him.

Marcella, Series 2, ITV review - more twisted tales of detection

Adam Sweeting Tuesday, 27 February 2018

Marcella’s writer Hans Rosenfeldt was the creator of Scandi classic TV drama The Bridge, the one that made detectives with emotional disorders the flavour du jour, but you do have to wonder what kind of police force would continue to employ DS Marcella Backland (Anna Friel).

Working with Weinstein, Channel 4 review - portrait of a predator

Saskia Baron Wednesday, 21 February 2018

While this well-crafted documentary chose to open with footage of the stars and glitz of the American awards ceremonies, the focus of Working with Weinstein (Channel 4) was almost entirely on Harvey Weinstein’s involvement over more than 30 years in...

Comment

Mum, BBC Two, series 2 review - Lesley Manville is a discreet delight

Jasper Rees Wednesday, 21 February 2018

This week brings a tale of two comedies. Both half-hour sitcoms are about widowed mothers with grown-up sons still at home. Each woman has an unattached admirer. Both shows star fine comic actresses who learned much of their craft in the films of Mike Leigh. And the new series started two days apart. On BBC One was Hold the Sunset.

Hold the Sunset, BBC One, review - this is an ex-sitcom

Jasper Rees Monday, 19 February 2018

You need to be of a certain vintage to have any memory of the traditional suburban family sitcom. Like the Raleigh Chopper and the Betamax video, like amateur athletics and glamrock and key parties, it is an extinct cultural artefact. What did for it? The internet, mainly, and the kids not watching scheduled telly any more, and maybe the rise of stand-up.

Comment

Troy: Fall of a City, BBC One review - soapification of the Trojan War

Adam Sweeting Sunday, 18 February 2018

The plan to bring drama back to Saturday nights on BBC One enjoyed mixed success with Hard Sun, but now threatens to slide over a cliff with this trip back to the Homeric era. In the era of Game of Thrones and now Britannia, you can see why somebody fancied having a go at the swords-sandals-and-sorcery of the Trojan War. The question is, how?