Articles by:

David Lewis

The signed-off three: A few things ‘Sherlock’ could do without

After a three-year wait, Sherlock returns to BBC One on New Year’s Day for a fourth run of three episodes. Pre-order Season 4 on DVD on Amazon. Pre-order Season 4 on Blu-ray on Amazon. A new season of Sherlock is something to be celebrated, of course – but there are a few things of which … >

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5 classics from the archives to seek out this Christmas

Although each Christmas invariably presents a fine array of quality new programming (and Mrs Brown’s Boys), there’s plenty of quality drama and comedy to be found by rummaging through the TV and radio archives. Here we look at five of our favourites…   Hancock’s Half Hour: ‘Bill and Father Christmas’ ‘And, when he complained it … >

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Rewind: Roobarb and Custard revisited

‘The world’s gone mad! I didn’t invite any of these gangsters to my garden party!’   What was it about? Roobarb and Custard are the principal characters in Roobarb, a series of short animations for children originally shown on BBC One in 1974. Roobarb was a dog based on creator George Calveley’s own pet pooch … >

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Rewind: ITV’s 1970s action thriller series ‘The Professionals’ revisited

‘CI5?’ ‘Yeah, it’s kind of like MI5.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘They invent the problems and we have to solve them.’   What was it about? Created by Brian Clemens, writer and script editor of The Avengers, The Professionals was an action thriller series chronicling the operatives of CI5: a unique crime-fighting government agency with the mandate and … >

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Rewind: ‘The Children of Green Knowe’ revisited

‘This house is full of eyes … all looking at me.’   What was it about? Adapted from the first of Lucy M. Boston’s series of novels, The Children of Green Knowe is a sedately-paced ghostly period drama which was originally shown on BBC One in December 1986. 1950s public schoolboy Tolly goes to spend … >

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Rewind: Cybermen creators’ ’70s sci-fi drama ‘Doomwatch’ revisited

‘What are you making down there – poison gas?’   What was it about? Gerry Davis and Dr Kit Pedler first worked together during the 1960s, when Doctor Who producer Innes Lloyd brought them into his production team as story editor and technical advisor respectively. Together, Pedler and Davis brought some contemporary scientific realism to … >

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The X Files

Is there still a place for ‘The X-Files’ in 2016?

Appropriately for a show that brought the existence of life on other planets to primetime television, The X-Files returns to a very different world to the one it departed. It’s Earth, Jim, but not as we knew it. Dana Scully – a qualified medical doctor and all-round rationalist despite her experiences in nine years working … >

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