Those of you who have visited the site recently will know I've not been updating it. Yes, TV's been a little on the light side thanks to the football and Olympic coverage, but also I've been feeling slightly disillusioned with what the terrestrial broadcasters...
There are few writers out there whose name is as synonymous with quality television as Jimmy McGovern. Cracker might remain his crowning achievement, but even his smaller-scale projects, (like Accused or The Street) are compelling and often incredibly moving. Time is...
Although Simon Says, by the time it aired, had an accidental link to Line Duty, this week’s instalment of Inside No. 9 has an intentional one, in the form of guest star Adrian Dunbar playing a version of himself. The setup...
The following piece contains spoilers of Mare of Easttown including all six episodes that have aired to date.Mare of Easttown is a compelling, heart-rending mini-series that everyone is talking about. The story follows Mare: our no-nonsense, no makeup, exhausted and...
Reviewing Friends: The Reunion is tricky. It's difficult to judge whether the nearly two-hour reunion show gives fans what they want. At the very beginning, the Ben Winston directed special tells us that the six friends have only been in a room together once in the...
The latest episode of Inside No. 9 is a story of surveillance and secrecy. A rather drab man has booked himself into an even drabber hotel room so that he can spy on a woman across the road, worried that she’s seeing another man. But is he the only one who’s...
I, of course, was one of those people who turned his nose up at the idea of a US network re-working The Office for an American audience. The show felt so British that any attempt to transfer for an American audience would unquestionably lose what made the...
When you’re a fan of a long-running TV show, you’ll no doubt have expectations for its final episode. And if these expectations aren’t met, it’s only natural that you might be left feeling disappointed, underwhelmed, or even angry. But whereas in the past you would...
It’s a bold move for an anthology show to kick off a new series with possibly its most bonkers entry yet. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have talked about how (aside from budgetary constraints) they essentially have free rein to do what they...
In my review of Line of Duty's series six opener, I spoke about the burden of expectation that the episode had given that it would naturally be compared to its predecessors. Over the course of this series, we've seen online expectation grow every episode to the point...
Those who have been following my weekly Line of Duty reviews know that I've found this series to be a rollercoaster and not always in a positive. However, like everybody else, I am still intrigued to see how this series ends and what shocks Jed Mercurio has in store...
Those of you who have been reading my reviews thus far know that I have struggled with some aspects of this series of Line of Duty. Although I've enjoyed some of the character arcs and several of the set pieces, the pace of the episodes has been slightly off since the...
More so than its predecessors, this series of Line of Duty seems wrapped up in its past and trusting that its audience is familiar with even the minor characters from the past series. In my review of the first episode, I praised creator Jed Mercurio for...
I feel that I've been fair when it comes to my judgement on this series of Line of Duty so far. I've given Jed Mercurio and company time to let the drama play out. However, as we're more than halfway through the series, one element I'm still really...
'Mother of God!' Such is the exclamation made by many a Line of Duty fan when they realise that they will have to wait an entire week to see how the latest cliffhanger is resolved. What kind of medieval torture is it to make the audience wait when streaming...
In the words of Ted Hastings, 'now we're sucking diesel.' After an underwhelming start to series six, tonight's second episode was more engaging and was much better paced. It also felt like a classic episode of Line of Duty with a clear focus now being established as...
Whether fair or not, long-running TV shows often have the burden of expectation attached to them ahead of a new series. This is certainly true with Line of Duty, which returned to BBC One tonight, as it's a series which is known for its explosive openers. Over...
There are a lot of problems facing traditional broadcaster. The first is the continual rise of streaming giants. Although, if I'm honest I'm talking solely about Netflix, as Apple TV+, Amazon and BritBox have yet to really pose any threat to the original behemoth....
It’s a very welcome return to ITV for Chris Lang’s Unforgotten, easily one of the best ever ITV dramas. A new series not disrupted by the pandemic is a rare treat in 2021. Even better is that it remains so good; clever, thoughtful, well-written and with a...
*This review is an in-depth look at the series and contains spoilers for the entire series which available on All4 now.* It’s A Sin is a Russell T Davies masterpiece like you’ve never seen before and is already of one of the best shows of the year. A historical...
It’s a Sin is genuinely powerful and unflinching; a drama in the true sense of the word, with that delicious sweetness and vulnerability at its heart that’s a Russell T Davies hallmark. There’s glittering ambition, buzzy energy, naive innocence, and fates...
It may be a side effect of Lockdown 3.0, but I've struggled to lose myself in the normal dark and bleak drama that I've always enjoyed. I've seen folks on my Twitter timeline raving about the brilliance of The Serpent, but I struggled to get through the first...
It's fair to say that 2020 didn't turn out the way anybody had hoped. I don't think I've ever come been in a time where literally everyone everywhere was affected by one issue. In all honesty, I don't think the true full-scale nature of the pandemic hit me properly...
The BBC seems a little confused at the moment. There's a consensus that no one is watching TV when it's on, which is an argument you hear constantly. It's also an argument that is immediately trounced all over when shows like Strictly Come Dancing or ITV's Des...