In 1997, writer Jimmy McGovern swapped the industrial metropolises of Merseyside and Manchester for the clean air of Cumbria in The Lakes, transferring the grit, humour and tragedy of his urban dramas to a rustic, deceptively tranquil setting. Almost two decades on, history is repeating itself. ITV’s new four-part thriller sees another Cracker stalwart move … >
Consider, if you will, the carnival of monsters that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have presented throughout their career. A cavalcade of grotesques with strange voices, horrible wigs, and a variety of prosthetics. All very impressive, to be sure, but what they don’t get enough credit for is the so-called ‘normal’ characters: a collection of … >
The final episode of Banished delivered an emotional punch as the show went out with a howling bang rather than a whimper. Honour and virtue were the watchwords as Mrs Johnson realised she had been duped, Tommy met his end, Captain Collins engaged in some soul searching and the authorities struggle to keep control of … >
Dim the gaslights, darling. It’s time to talk about seduction. These days ‘seduction’ is instantly associated with sex, and who can blame you, loyal Poldark viewer, for thinking about sex in a drama where even the simple act of scything is turned into something that looks like a cologne ad from GQ? But look further … >
The plot thickens in the second episode of Tatau, like a bowl of hallucinogenic porridge left to stand forgotten on the kitchen counter for a few hours. In this week’s instalment of BBC Three’s new drama, we discover further proof to cement that, while most characters would be entirely justified in believing that Kyle is … >
A new season of Game of Thrones is like welcoming back an old friend and the HBO drama’s fifth season begins with a sombre if unspectacular opener. Following the climactic events of Season 4’s finale, there is an air of change around Westeros as the Lannisters come to terms with Lord Tywin’s (Charles Dance) death … >
Mackenzie Crook’s ‘Pete’ has been spotted fleetingly in background scenes over the past four episodes of Ordinary Lies, but this week he’s centre stage. When two wide boys looking like club bouncers turn up at JS Motors to try out the cream of Mike’s fleet, anyone could see that they were up to no good. … >
Upping the ante this week, the Critical team’s patient is one of their own. The patient is burned so severely as to be unrecognisable, but even before Fiona has asked “Has anybody seen Lorraine today?” the audience is ahead of her. A member of staff, rescued from the female locker rooms – who else was … >
Last week’s opening episode of Code of a Killer got off to a bit of a shaky start, but the new ITV drama steps up to the challenge this week and provides an enjoyably sinister and absorbing finale. Whilst Part 1 suffered from awkward scripting, the dialogue is noticeably cleaner and much less clunky in … >
It’s a pity, really, that Germaine (Helen Monks) is home-schooled, because it means that she missed the science lesson about the centre of the universe. Clue: it isn’t, as she appears to think, her. So it’s with slightly too much glee that she bounds up the stairs to interrupt Grampy’s moment of solace with the … >