Seasoned viewers of period drama will be well aware that the past is a foreign country and that folk do things differently there. Even so, The Great (currently in its second season on Channel 4) is that little bit more different. The exuberant comedy-drama on the rise...
Marriage revels in the complexities of everyday life.
Those of us who fell for Him & Her and Mum will have done so because of the unique writing from the creator of both shows Stefan Golaszewski. Both shows showcased his knack for realistic dialogue. Though both were billed as comedies they were both really character...
Better Things: The brilliantly intimate comedy comes to end.
One of the best recent comedies is ending and it's entirely possible you haven't seen any of it. Pamela Adlon's brilliantly personal Better Things finished with its fifth season earlier this year on FX and is currently quietly airing on BBC Two on Sundays or all on...
Under the Banner of Heaven uses a shocking crime to look deeper at religious beliefs.
After watching the first episode of “Under the Banner of Heaven,” I was admittedly sceptical. The first episode starts out slow, simply introducing the murder at the centre and the detective who will be solving it. Everything about the first hour of the show told me...
Better Call Saul’s “Fun and Games’ reaches the full Saul Goodman
It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment I started to worry about Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). The relationship between Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim is, in my view, one of the most interesting partnerships on television. Incredibly, nauseated, connected by their mutual...
Better Call Saul delivers one of TV’s most exhilarating and exhausting episodes in ‘Point and Shoot’.
One of the things I admire most about the Breaking Bad universe is how everything feels so methodically planned. In truth, when the Breaking Bad team sat down for their final season they placed a machine gun in the trunk of Walt's station wagon. It was a decision that...
The Midwich Cuckoos proves adaptations can work as a homage to original whilst asking new questions.
Adaptations either work out extremely well and are applauded or they completely annoy the longstanding fanbase and divide any newcomers. Those adapting beloved works are fighting a constant battle between honouring the original text and the ideas that inspired...
The Undeclared War is telling a worryingly timely story.
While I don’t yet know whether The Undeclared War is BAFTA magnet Peter Kosminsky’s best work, after watching the opening episode, I am prepared to say it is his most intelligent and timely. Cybersecurity is a major subject in modern society as technology relentlessly...
Borgen proves TV revivals can work.
Borgen is the best political series on television. It's not an area television drama dabbles in that often. There's the original House of Cards and the Netflix version which now feels sullied, The West Wing (don't ask me my opinion of Sorkin) and Sky's OTT drama...
Atlanta” isn’t in Atlanta anymore. But it’s still just as good.
Atlanta has always been a genre-defying show. The pilot episode leads you to believe otherwise, that the series is a straightforward comedy-drama following the rise of Atlanta rapper Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) and his cousin/manager Earn (series creator Donald...
Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building.
The first season of Only Murders in the Building was one of the best shows of last year. Funny, warm and with a new take on the mystery genre it was unpredictable and absolutely delightful. For those who need a refresher, the series follows Charles (Steve Martin),...
BBC drama Sherwood tells a uniquely British story about what happens when we let politics divide us.
The BBC's new crime drama Sherwood is brilliant. A starry cast, tackling a uniquely British story with an intriguing central mystery that feels tied to its surroundings rather than tacked on to keep viewers interested. The residents in this former mining village are...
Big Boys: The poignant comedy that shines the light on the importance of male friendship.
The odd couple is a much-mined sitcom premise, with a myriad of shows built upon the fastidious, introvert forced by circumstance to spend time with a casually confident, careless extrovert. Looking at the trailers for Channel 4’s latest sitcom Big Boys, you might...
Apple TV’s For All Mankind is the best recent example of prestige TV.
America is reeling from a gigantic loss in the Cold War – of prestige, of humiliation. In other words: A Red Moon. We are introduced to Ronald D. Moore’s For All Mankind as it throws us for an alternate history style scenario establishing the gauntlet from the get-go...
Seven series in, Inside No.9 remains the most inventive show on television
Inside No. 9’s most surprising twist might be that seven series in, it’s just as high-quality as it was at the start. With the latest run of episodes, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have proved that they’re still perfectly capable of entertaining us, moving us...
David Simon returns. We Own This City and the vindication of The Wire
A new David Simon project dropping has roughly the same effect on critics that a designer drug has when it debuts among addicts. So with We Own This City beginning on Tuesday 7th June on Sky Atlantic expect a deluge of podcasts, blogs and think pieces marking the...
Abbott Elementary is a warm and engaging comedy that you can’t help but for in love with.
It’s unsurprising given the world events of the past couple of years that TV has been turning to more positive, heartwarming comedies for escapism. Shows like Schitt’s Creek and Ted Lasso have given us an antidote to the harshness of life around us, by leaning hard...
Barry is quietly having its best season and it only keeps getting better.
HBO's Barry is having its best season yet. The lengthy gap between its second and third season (thanks again Covid) allowed creative team Bill Hader and Alec Beg not only to go back and tweak elements of the scripts of season 3 they weren't entirely happy with but...
Better Call Saul’s Plan and Execution is an tense and moving watch.
If you've seen the mid-season finale of Better Call Saul then you're probably still sat aghast. I spent its closing moments with my hand clasped over my mouth as if I'd just witnessed something horrific. Thinking about it now, with a few days to let the episode sink...
Better Call Saul ‘Rock and Hard Place’ delivers heart stopping action
During its fifth season, a conversation arose about whether Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul was actually a better show than its predecessor. Breaking Bad is my favourite TV show of all time, it blew my tiny mind but even I started to question it. What I loved...
Call My Agent! British remake stands on its own but perhaps lacks the bite of the original.
Why remake perfection? This is what many Call My Agent! fans asked when it was announced that a British version of the hit French Netflix series was being made. A fabulous comedy about acting agents and the diva-like behaviour of the celebrities they were tasked with...
Heartstopper allows us to reflect on our own high school days while giving the floor to todays teens
“Do you ever feel like you’re only doing things because everyone else is, and you’re scared to change?” This kind of sentiment is something often reflected among teenagers and young adults as they try to find their way in the world and who they are. This feeling is...
The Sex Lives of The College Girls is brilliant if you can past the awkward title.
Before I can review this charming, unpredictable and warm-hearted new show from HBO Max, I have to address the title. The Sex Lives of College Girls is a terrible title for a show. It conjures up all sorts of things that, thankfully, the show doesn't go anywhere near....
Shining Girls is a rewarding watch designed to keep you guessing.
For a large chunk of its opening episode, you may not be quite sure of what is going on during Shining Girls. Beginning on a genuinely creepy note, the series draws you into its mystery and utilisation of particular genre tropes thanks to some superlative deployment...