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‘Can a magician kill a man by magic?’ The question was asked on Jonathan on The Peninsula, back in Episode 3. His reply, ‘A magician might. But a gentleman never could.’ So we assumed him a gentleman. But in the knock-your-socks-off impressive tumult of the Battle of Waterloo that opens Episode 5, we see that … >
When you lift your head from the screen for a moment and think about it, we have an odd relationship with our gadgets. We take a cold lump of circuits into our homes, bedrooms, pockets, and we train it into being our own, one swipe or tap of personal information at a time. Memories, selfies, … >
Given that Chapter 4 of BBC One’s fantasy period drama is titled ‘All the Mirrors of the World’, let’s take a moment to reflect on mirrors. That shiny plate on your bathroom wall has always been viewed as magical, either practically – it was mirrors that brought to life the famous 1862 illusion ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ … >
If there’s one thing the finale of BBC Two’s The Game makes abundantly clear, it’s that Toby Whithouse should really write a DCI Jim Fenchurch spin-off. One where, each week, Shaun Dooley gets to be angry at a criminal such as a KGB agent or someone who nicked the money from the Post Office till. … >
It’s another week of The Game, so it’s another round of Commie-catching cat and mouse. That is, it would be if the cat and his colleagues had to wear trench coats and keep a discreet distance as the mouse went about its secret mouse business of selling cheese secrets or blueprints of mouse-traps. Can Arkady, … >
Sometimes it’s easier to tag Doctor Who as science-fantasy rather than science-fiction. After all, there’s not a lot of lab-coat methodology you can apply to ‘remembering’ someone back into the universe, or using lightning to transmit your DNA into hybrid Dalek-People. And we won’t mention the words ‘moon’ and ‘egg’. But it’s a show that … >
When it comes to occupying our various entertainment rectangles, the BBC is practiced to the point of ease at two things: period dramas and adaptations of novels. Often both at once, as we’ve seen most recently with Wolf Hall and Poldark. But there’s being very good at something, and then there’s just showing off, because … >
From the Gothic clickety clockwork of Victorian London all the way to a John Carpenter-esque nightmarish Christmas, last year’s season of Doctor Who took us on a whirlwind journey with Murray Gold and The National Orchestra of Wales as our ever-reliable musical companions. The three-disc Season 8 soundtrack album is released on Monday 18 May … >
Watching The Game is like learning to appreciate good single malt. It’s a complex and carefully-crafted thing that you’d probably love to drink faster, but which you’re meant to just sip at, as the plot unfolds at its own pace. If you want a spy drama you can chug, The Game is not for you. … >
After an ambivalent opener, Episode 2 of The Game snaps into place straight away and holds its shape: that of a taut and character-driven piece of spy-work. It feels like the show that the trailer promised. ‘We endanger the few to protect the many,’ Daddy said last week, which unfortunately this week means letting women … >