The opening episode of the third season of Inside No. 9 is a Christmas-themed nightmare, dealing with the old legend of Krampus. It also, to some extent, deals with the legend of the BBC multi-camera studio bound dramas of the seventies and eighties, employing both old-fashioned cameras and indeed retired camera operators. All of which … >
ITV’s Marcella is a new original, multi-stranded crime drama from the creator of The Bridge. Written by Swedish novelist Hans Rosenfeldt, the eight-part series is described as “noir thriller told with Rosenfeldt’s unflinchingly multi layered Nordic style.” Anna Friel leads the cast, alongside Downton Abbey star Laura Carmichael, Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude), Ian Puleston-Davies (Being Human), … >
ITV’s new family drama The Durrells is based upon Gerald Durrell’s classic trilogy of Corfu memoirs. Set in 1935, the six-part series is written by Simon Nye. The story focuses upon Louisa Durrell (Keeley Hawes) whose life is in meltdown. Her husband died years ago and his money has all but run out. Her four … >
After a whole half-season of building up to the walker invasion of Alexandria, The Walking Dead finished 2015 on a flat note with a disappointingly uneventful mid-season finale. ‘Start to Finish’ introduced some intriguing ideas about a potential rebirth of Alexandria and appeared to pick up the pace at the end, but it didn’t leave … >
Although this fourth run of Luther is criminally short, no one could accuse writer Neil Cross of stinting on content. Last week’s first episode was a mind-boggling rush of introductions, deaths, departures and returns that saw DCI John Luther’s perennial love interest Alice Morgan murdered off-screen, new arrival Theo Bloom blown up on-screen and the … >
Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar star as detectives investigating a ‘cold’ murder case of 39 years ago in Unforgotten. The cast of ITV’s new six-part crime drama also includes Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead), Bernard Hill (Wolf Hall), Ruth Sheen (Our Girl), Tom Courtenay (Little Dorrit), Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary), Brian Bovell (Death in … >
With Unforgotten, ITV aims to fill a Broadchurch sized slot in its autumn schedule. A six-part detective drama, the story starts with DI Cassie Hunt (Nicola Walker – Spooks, Last Tango in Halaifax) and DS Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar – The Kumars) investigating a set of bones found beneath a cellar. As they try … >
If there’s one thing the finale of BBC Two’s The Game makes abundantly clear, it’s that Toby Whithouse should really write a DCI Jim Fenchurch spin-off. One where, each week, Shaun Dooley gets to be angry at a criminal such as a KGB agent or someone who nicked the money from the Post Office till. … >
When it comes to occupying our various entertainment rectangles, the BBC is practiced to the point of ease at two things: period dramas and adaptations of novels. Often both at once, as we’ve seen most recently with Wolf Hall and Poldark. But there’s being very good at something, and then there’s just showing off, because … >
Damian Lewis stars as Henry VIII alongside Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn in BBC Two’s epic new drama series Wolf Hall. > Order Wolf Hall on DVD on Amazon. England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If Henry VIII dies without a male heir, the country could … >