“Mulder, back in the day, I used to do stairs and in three-inch heels.” “‘Back in the day’. Scully, ‘back in the day’ is now.” Of the four episodes we’ve seen so far, as an actual X File, this one might be the best yet. While the central mystery is poorly explained and Mulder and … >
It was world-building time on this week’s The Walking Dead, as the show began the steady build-up towards a major confrontation in the season finale. ‘Knots Untie’ is a classic table-setting episode – light on action and resolution, but chock-full of new characters and locations. It’s all about setting up the chess pieces for the … >
It’s the second episode of BBC One’s new six-part espionage thriller starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie and I’ve already fallen in love with those opening titles. They’re simple, effective and the accompanying score begins each episode with a style that befits the tone of this drama. This week we head to Mallorca where a … >
In this episode, the arrival of the contraceptive pill splits opinions within Nonnatus House in a very neat divide between the older midwives and the younger ones. It would be easy to suggest that this argument is one of religious and moral principles being ignored by those that don’t worry quite as much about them, but with … >
With both young George Quaintain and Johnny Blackwood now freed from their conspiracy, this final episode seemed to dedicate itself quite blatantly to laying foundations in the hope of a second season. As romance blossomed in the open between Annie and Johnny, barmaid Alma prepared for her wedding to Davey Sharpe and Ralph Coates supposedly … >
I can understand that a man with a beautiful wife, especially in the more gender-defined society of the 1940s, would want to spoil her. A new dress here, some expensive jewellery there, that’s fine. But when she asks for a dawn visit to the local mortuary for a bit of body-snatching; and when her next … >
This week’s episode opened a fortnight on from the events of last week, with Catherine sat opposite a therapist being asked to recap what had led to her being in the session. We could happily watch an entire episode of just Sarah Lancashire’s character being dissected in an attempt to better understand her (what a … >
After the thrilling chaos of the mid-season premiere, The Walking Dead took a well-deserved breather for a measured episode that gently nudges the series in a new direction. ‘The Next World’ is an unusual episode of The Walking Dead in just about every sense. It has the lowest stakes and threat level of any episode … >
“We’ve been given another case, Mulder. It has a monster in it.” It’s an evocative title, telling you all you need to know and probably putting the viewer in a very specific mind-set before the episode has even started. So we know we’re getting a monster and given that this is a script from Darin … >
How fear results in important truths being concealed makes for the backbone of this heartbreaking episode of Call the Midwife, as the consequences of a series of violent attacks against women in Poplar are explored. It’s to the show’s credit that it doesn’t do what so many other shows would in actually showing the brutal assaults. Its interest … >