To many, now of a certain age, the Paul Daniels Magic Set was the Holy Grail of Christmas and birthday gifts. You opened that garish box and were confronted with a mass of magic plastic – wands, cups, cards, balls to be palmed and pocketed – and the knowledge that you had the power to … >
The second part of ITV’s Black Work picks up where we left off last week, with Jo Gillespie (Sheridan Smith) laying on the floor after being clobbered around the back of the head. Gillespie manages to pull herself up off the floor (physically, because mentally she’s still right down there) and chase after potential husband/cop … >
It’s hard to imagine in these modern times where a cartoon sponge can make the leap from television to film and be a box office success, that back in 1966, Thunderbirds, easily the best thing on television for children at the time, did the same thing and failed monstrously at the box office. Thunderbirds Are … >
Things really do begin to hot up in The Syndicate this week as secrets are revealed and battle lines begin to be drawn. And not just between the staff and the family of Hazelwood Manor, but between Lord and Lady Hazelwood themselves, who implode spectacularly as they ‘celebrate’ their 25th wedding anniversary. The tension between … >
That’s just fine, My Mad Fat Diary, just tear my heart straight out of my chest and stomp it into a fine purée. It’s all good. I swear, things were nowhere near this dramatic when I was accepted to university as they are for Rae (Sharon Rooney). On the one hand: hooray for Rae! All … >
Venice! Venizia! The city that has a terrible pizza named after it has seen a lot of crazy things in its history; from sexy alien fish vampires trying to flood the world, to an ageing British secret agent piloting a high-speed hover-gondola through its waterways and plazas, causing local wildlife to do double-takes. But its … >
Last week’s opening episode of Humans was watched by over 4 million viewers (all of them properly human, I’m sure), making it Channel 4’s highest-rated drama in over a decade. Couple that with Gemma Chan’s hint that there’s scope for a second season, and you may as well get used to Synths being around you … >
It’s mid-season finale time and Thunderbirds Are Go pulls out all the stops to deliver a solid, exhilarating and entertaining thrill ride to cap off the first half of the new season. Alan and Brains journey to the Supreme Hadron Collider, but soon find themselves caught in the eye of the storm when a gravity … >
This second part to the BBC’s Iain Banks adaptation has a lot to resolve, given all the plot elements set up in the first episode. With so much to tie up, it’s no wonder that this concluding episode of Stonemouth doesn’t quite deliver on a satisfying resolution. Director Charles Martin does an amazing job of … >
Sheridan Smith’s new three-part drama Black Work finally starts this Sunday after heavy trailing from ITV for what seems like an age. Smith plays the tough and feisty Jo Gillespie, a Leeds constable whose husband (also a police officer) is killed whilst he’s undercover. With information regarding the killing being thin on the ground, Jo … >