Watching The Game is like learning to appreciate good single malt. It’s a complex and carefully-crafted thing that you’d probably love to drink faster, but which you’re meant to just sip at, as the plot unfolds at its own pace. If you want a spy drama you can chug, The Game is not for you. … >
If we were talking about an episode of Casualty then a lot of screen time (and budget) would have gone in showing us the major accident which has caused so many injuries. That kind of big-screen action isn’t Critical’s bag – instead it happens ‘off-stage’ and our focus is on the pressure it puts on … >
Never mind gorgeously bleak cinematography, a heavy air of suspense and some of Britain’s best acting talent filling out the cast; TV thrillers live and die on their stories – in particular, the ending. Without a plausible explanation for the mysteries built up in preceding weeks and a satisfying emotional finale, viewers are entitled to … >
Granted, in spite of my misgivings, at six episodes in, I admittedly do want to find out exactly what all the weirdness in Tatau has been leading to. I know I’ve said it before, but there’s something that just has the wrong ring about it with a story about a white English fellow who apparently … >
As BBC Three’s Tatau descends further and further into visions and spirits and very unpleasant people, I find myself admittedly curious as to what the actual heck is going on. Okay, so maybe Lara’s one of the few reasonably sane people in the show, at least inasmuch as she’s secretly working for the authorities while … >
England has entered the war against Germany and the bucolic beauty of Great Paxford in the late summer sunshine is marred by troupes training in the streets. Our heartstrings are pulled taut in the opening scene when Miriam Brindsley glances out the butcher shop window at a group of young solders running in formation. She … >
‘Kin’ begins with our gang still on the run and separated from Jason. Instead, they have his father Aeson, who hopes to get close enough to his son to persuade him from his path of darkness – triggered by the revelation that Pasiphae is his mother. Jason remains on the run too, as his saviour … >
There’s a real concern that the writers of Thunderbirds Are Go are lacking in imagination when it comes to thinking up rescue situations. Whereas episodes like ‘Space Race’ thought up bold and exciting new ideas for the Tracy family to tackle, ‘Runaway’ goes with that tired old cliché of a runaway train. We kind of … >
After an ambivalent opener, Episode 2 of The Game snaps into place straight away and holds its shape: that of a taut and character-driven piece of spy-work. It feels like the show that the trailer promised. ‘We endanger the few to protect the many,’ Daddy said last week, which unfortunately this week means letting women … >
Two old friends are back in this week’s Critical, dropping straight into the drama without ceremony. The first is Sister Campbell, last seen being escorted off the premises a couple of weeks ago. Nothing is mentioned but we have to assume that in the wake of Clive’s dismissal, her removal has been overturned. The other … >