Following the news that the licence fee will be frozen for two years, Robin Parker looks at where the BBC goes from here. It’s rapidly becoming less a tactic than a matter of policy: whenever they’re in for a kicking, this government initiates Operation Bash the Beeb....
We're finally here. What have we named the THE show of the Decade? In truth, any of these final five could be Number 1. This is personal to me. So here we go. If you've missed the countdown so far you can find out what made 50-20 here and numbers 20 -...
It's time for our Top 20 of the Decade. If you've missed the countdown so far you can find out what made 50-20 here Let's crack on. 20) Game of Thrones (2011, HBO) No television series defined the decade as much as HBO’s adaptation of George R R...
As we prepare to enter a new decade I wanted to compile a top 50 of the best of the last ten years. It's fair to say that this decade has seen television reign supreme with film taking a back seat. It's been a decade that has seen the rise of streaming giants like...
There She Goes again as series two makes the move to BBC Two The critically acclaimed comedy-drama will return as series two moves over to BBC Two. Based on the real-life experiences of writer Shaun Pye, whose daughter was born with an extremely rare and, to date,...
This series of Trapped has been more about fire than ice, but despite how it all began with Gisli's self-immolation in such a public space I was not prepared for the horrific car fire at the start of episode 9. I was in denial. There's no way hat Asgeir could be dead,...
Episode seven opens with the fairytale of Gutti the goat boy, his personal tragedy and how he gets trapped in a lost future. If it's meant to evoke any sympathy or understanding in steely Halla it falls flat. "Gutti was an idiot" she says. There are more myths and...
Welcome to a couple of subdued but pivotal episodes as we reach the halfway mark in Trapped, despite Andri admitting he's really back at square one in the investigation. Episode five in particular is quite slow and introspective as it centers around Gisli's funeral....
Welcome to this week's episodes of Trapped aka racist Lord of the Rings, well sort of. The Hammer of Thor group are in the ascendency, racing around in the north with various criminal enterprises, large and small. The director must have heard my complaints about...
TrappedSeries 1 was an extraordinary bit of television, the first ever Icelandic drama broadcast on British TV. The first series was the highest rated series ever on RUV,watched by 86% of TV households in Iceland. In the UK it passed 1.2 million viewers on BBC Four....
The BBC has unveiled an impressive raft of highlights that are set over the festive period. The ABC Murders This Christmas, the next instalment in the collection of Agatha Christie stories adapted for the BBC is The ABC Murders. Bafta-nominated writer Sarah Phelps...
Was BBC Four's new comedy There She Goes funny? No, not really. Was it an easy watch? No, not really. Did I enjoy it? I'm still not 100% sure if I'm honest. I already seem quite unqualified to be writing this review. There She Goes, which is airing on Tuesday nights...
Happily, we still have a Henrik this week. Our brave and stupid Dane gets off with a serious pain in the leg and a severe tongue lashing from boss Lillian about his ridiculous risk-taking. As predicted the GoPro killer (what is his/ her official nickname?) didn't want...
Today, the BBC's director of comedy commissioning Shane Allen, announced a raft of new shows across all four of the BBC's channels. The troupe behind Horrible Histories are coming to BBC One for the first time with Ghosts; which focuses on a group of ghouls who haunt...
In a recent episode of BBC Two's Mum a character tried to impress someone by telling them, "we only watch BBC Four, we love documentaries and anything subtitled." And whilst this was meant as a 'we're more cultured than you' remark it got me thinking about the impact...
So how was your Christmas? As ever mine was made up of over-indulging on Quality Street and watching the majority of what was on the box over the festive period. Whilst not a comprehensive guide of everything I watched the first Matt on the Box column in over a year...
This week, with the UK under deep snowdrifts we bid farewell to the always summery Detectorists. As the watchful magpie reminds us, our heroes should be looking up not down. Their metal detectors are pretty useless in this case, and it's in the branches of the lovely...
It's that time of year again when we look back on the best of the year so here's our chronological list of the best that 2017 had to offer. No Offence (January 2017, Channel 4) Ballsy, brazen and on the outer fringes of bonkers, we've championed Paul Abbott's offbeat...
The BBC have announced their festive lineup. The Christmas schedules include French & Saunders who celebrate 30 years together, The League of Gentlemen back in business and Mary Berry is joined by Mel and Sue for a Big Christmas Thank You. There’s animated...
It's only episode 2 of the current series of Detectorists and already we can see the wheels in motion that will bring this story to a climax. The farmer's fields that Andy (writer, director and star Mackenzie Crook) and Lance (the wonderfully versatile Toby Jones)...
Detectorists is an absolute televisual treasure. I’m delighted that Series 3 is here. For a while it seemed like it wasn’t actually going to happen, and certainly not this year. Both stars Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones are very busy on other more glamorous Hollywood...
There’s a new Swedish thriller in the all-important Saturday night BBC4 slot which launched our national obsession with all things dark and Scandi. The latest offering to occupy slot is Black Lake which was originally released as Svartsjön in Sweden and Denmark in...
On Day 2 of The Edinburgh TV Festival we heard from the controllers of both BBC Three and BBC Four as they spoke about the year just gone and what's to come on the two channels. BBC Four Previewed new slow TV show The Monastery which follow the life's of monks in...
The BBC have announced that and final series of charming comedy Detectorists will film this summer. Written, directed and starring Mackenzie Crook, The BBC Four series will see the return of Andy (Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones) as they arm themselves with their...