Remember when watching the latest series of Doctor Who meant being parked in front of the television at a fixed time, remote in hand, hoping nobody knocked at the door during the cliffhanger? That ritual has all but vanished. The same pocket-sized device that fields calls and emails now carries entire libraries of British drama, … >

British television has always known how to leave an audience hanging. Think of the closing seconds of a Doctor Who episode, when the music swells, a familiar wheeze fills the air, and a face from the shadows turns slowly towards the camera. Or the way Slow Horses lets a quiet meeting curdle into dread before … >

There was a time when watching a beloved drama meant planting yourself in front of a single television set at a fixed hour, possibly with a video recorder primed and praying nobody knocked the cassette out mid-cliffhanger. The ritual was rigid. Miss the broadcast of a Doctor Who finale and you waited months, maybe years, … >

Picture a typical weeknight in Britain a decade or so ago. The telly came on at a fixed time, the family gathered around for whatever the schedulers had decided, and missing an episode meant waiting weeks for a repeat. Now? An evening might start with three episodes of Slow Horses, drift into a phone game … >