Episode 3 revolves around the happy occasion of the wedding of Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson. Mrs. Patmore and Anna are horrified over Mrs. Hughes’ choice of her brown “day dress” as her wedding gown. We agree. Mrs. Patmore goes all modern and springs into action, ordering a dress from a catalogue. When it arrives … >
There is a rule stating all reviews of The Go-Between have to quote the opening line: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” BBC One’s recent adaptation of L.P. Hartley’s novel follows form and begins with Jim Broadbent sat on a train, reminiscing about the year 1900, when he was a … >
There’s a lot that’s familiar about ‘Under the Lake’. Apart from the transmission time of course. Remember when Doctor Who was on at teatime? But that’s a conversation for a time, when you (I) don’t have jim-jams on. And it’s nothing to do with this week’s writer, Toby Whithouse. In fact, the later start, with … >
After the bombshell ending to the second season of Orphan Black revealed the existence of a line of male clones, Season 3’s opener, ‘The Weight of This Combination’, doesn’t take long to start introducing us to them more formally. The Castor clones are, unfortunately, not as immediately distinctive or enjoyable to watch as the originals though, and … >
It’s the penultimate episode of Boy Meets Girl and Tony has the flu, or at least that’s what he’s protesting to the unsympathetic Pam. She goes off to work leaving him in the uncaring hands of James who seems more bothered about what Tony’s secretly searching for on the internet than actually caring for him. … >
After the seemingly climactic events last week in BBC One’s Doctor Foster, you’d be forgiven for thinking there was no more drama to be drawn from the Foster’s marital turmoil. How wrong you’d be. “So he still hasn’t admitted it?” inquires Gemma’s best friend Ros (Thusitha Jayasundera). “I doubt he ever will…we’re just moving on, … >
Rebooting a much-loved children’s classic is a risky business (just ask Russell T Davies), but thankfully the folks at CBBC have managed to make a rollicking 21st century Danger Mouse. Everything DM fans could hope for is all present and correct in this action-packed opener. The hissing Baron Greenback, the bluff Colonel K (now accompanied … >
How much you enjoy this weekend’s Doctor Who may depend on how prepared you are for old-school storytelling. It may also depend on how much you like very dim green lighting, because there’s a lot of it about. Say what you like about Steven Moffat’s hyperactive episodes, they are far from ordinary. Toby Whithouse’s ‘Under … >
Traditionally in This Is England, the latter half of the middle act is usually the most emotionally charged and the most challenging to watch. In ’83 it was the visit to the far right wing meeting when we realized young Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) was being force-fed a belligerent diatribe. It also showed us the unpredictability … >
You can always tell when someone has read Cider with Rosie. You mention it and they get that soft stare in their eyes and start talking in ways that mimic Laurie Lee’s lyrical style, as they recall summers as runny and green as elderflower cordial, and days spent young and easy under the apple boughs. … >