Testosterone wafts off Peaky Blinders like moisture evaporating off a stallion’s flanks on a frosty November morning. And that’s about as poetic as you can be talking about this show, especially this week. The horse theme might gallop through the entire episode, but so too does an over-reliance on violence and profanity. None of it … >
For a while now, the writing’s been on the wall for The Doctor and Clara’s relationship, and this episode draws a very clear line in that story arc. Sometimes literally. We’re back to present day Earth, but due to a mix of a malfunctioning TARDIS and plot contrivance, several miles away from Danny, still at … >
ITV have always done well when it comes to original period drama, but there’s no denying that it’s a genre that the BBC tends to have more success with. It’s a fact that is all too obvious as ITV tackles a tale of London’s most historical fire in The Great Fire, but falls short on … >
It’s a great showing for Glue this week, thanks to a more prolonged than usual focus on two if its strongest characters, and the reveal of answers to some important questions. If you’ve stuck with the drugs & dobbins drama so far then Episode 5 is a bit of a reward for your patience. Believing … >
Brilliant music, fittingly grotesque characters and a twisted vein of pitch-black humour make Urinetown: The Musical a runaway success. The action takes place in a make believe America of the future where water is in extremely short supply. In response to the drought, the people in power (money-grabbing corporation Urine Good Company) have demanded that … >
Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan and Battlestar Gallactica’s Katee Sackhoff come together as mother and daughter in this horror movie from Absentia director Mike Flanagan. Oculus sees Kaylie Russell (Gillan) try to help herself and her brother Tim, played by Australian actor Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent), come to terms with their shared childhood trauma – where Tim … >
Relationships are strained and tension runs high at Downton as we reach the halfway point of the fifth season. The family continues to rub salt in poor Lady Edith’s wounds; that is until a touching scene with Lord Grantham. She’s had word from Michael Gregson’s office that the German thugs he was seen fighting with … >
In the wake of last week’s revelations that the Taliban, and more specifically Bashira’s father Basrai, had ordered an assassination attempt on her life, this week we see the drama ramped up on all levels for Molly (Lacey Turner). Straight into the action and with less of the lighthearted, blokey banter that has punctuated previous … >
Okay, hands up anyone who knew that this episode would crack an ‘Are you my Mummy?’ joke! Yep, that’ll be just about everyone then… With a title this brazen, we’d have been disappointed if ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ had eschewed predictability. The latest in a sub-genre of Doctor Who stories that have given us … >
Let’s talk about sound design. Hey where are you- no no, please stay, it’ll be interesting, I promise. We take good sound design for granted. TV practically expects us to: awards for it are always briskly packed away in the ‘Earlier in tonight’s show…’ montages at the BAFTAs and Academy Awards. People only notice it … >