‘Milan’ says the opening caption. Are we about to take a trip beyond the cold, cumulus-grey town, and onto the warm sidewalks of Lombardy’s most famous city, the fashion-capital of Italy? No chance. Milan is the name of a mysterious young chap who, 35 years ago helped Pierre break into Victor’s house and kill him, … >
Following Torchwood’s revival on audio for September’s ‘The Conspiracy’, starring John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness, the second release centres on the fan favourite character of Ianto Jones. Set before his shocking death in 2009’s harrowing Children of Earth, this story finds everyone’s favourite coffee boy turned agent on a rich businessman’s craft for its first … >
There’s a moment about halfway through the first part of ‘Magnum Opus’, just before the second ad break in fact, where academic Wouter Eisler (played by Stephen Boxer with an extraordinary German accent) confirms that the picture found with the murder victim is an alchemical image. It represents, he explains, “Nigredo… the Blackening… the first … >
As we reach the halfway point of ITV’s Unforgotten we know that all our characters have links to poor dead Jimmy Sullivan, but there is still a lot to learn. The four characters we are following (the priest, the entrepreneur, the husband with a secret and the community charity worker) all see their lives start to … >
The opening to Spectre is the sort of sequence that James Bond films are made for. It’s a dazzling distillation of everything that the franchise should be – visually striking, funny, sexy, explosive and exciting. And if the rest of the film can’t quite match up to that impressive opening, Spectre still makes for a … >
The second episode of BBC One’s River, having established the main plots in last week’s debut, focuses this week on redemption and relationships, as we see John River (Stellan Skarsgard) say sorry, say goodbye and speak some necessary truths. Thor star Skarsgard continues to be brilliant as the emotionally fragile policeman, haunted by ghosts and … >
One of Orphan Black’s favourite twists to pull off is the reveal that there’s yet another layer to what it has been telling us is the complete picture. It’s done this a couple of times over, which makes it all the more impressive that it continues to work so damn effectively. Admittedly, here it’s peeling back a layer … >
Photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker takes us through five John Carpenter films that she was the stills photographer on: Halloween, Escape from New York, The Fog, Halloween 2 and Christine. She gives some amusing commentary on a number of the photos, and the images themselves speak volumes. They really capture the spirit of the low budget everyone-mucking-in … >
‘The Woman Who Lived’ is an unlikely episode of Doctor Who for at least three reasons. Firstly, it is written by a woman – something which shouldn’t be an oddity, but sadly is. Secondly, in taking us to Stuart England, in 1651, it explores unusual historical territory for a series which is typically content to … >
After the dramatic events at the Castor compound in the sixth episode, the seventh feels like it was definitely designed as a breather. It’s a pacy episode with a lot of racing around and a lot of focus on Alison’s storyline, but it never intends to get you to be too worried that anything big is going … >