It struck me, entering Hour Seven of Dickensian, and staring down the double-barrel of another of Mrs Bumble’s excruciating entendres (her Figgy Dowdy is ‘Extra moist’ this week), that this is a series which is a full four hours longer than BBC One’s War and Peace, and yet feels like it has half as much … >
They’re really putting the dick in Dickensian this week. In news that will surely redefine forever the way you read Oliver Twist, or watch Sir Harry Secombe belting out ‘Boy for sale!’ in Lionel Bart’s eponymous musical, we discover that corpulent literary fixture, Mr Bumble, has a nickname for his penis. It seems to be … >
Ever heard of Parkinson’s Law? No, no, it’s not the law of celebrity chat shows. It goes like this: ‘work expands to fill the time it takes to complete it’. You know, like when you have a week to write a review of Dickensian and somehow manage to take all week to write it, when … >
Dickensian is a nice enough drama for a half an hour at a time, but here’s where it’s gone wrong – it’s not a show about solving a dog murder. Because I don’t know about you, but right now I’m more interested in seeing Compeyson being brought to justice over the murder of Jip the … >
Crime drama Endeavour is back for a third season. Evans (The Last Weekend) returns as the young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse in four new 120-minute films, but which familiar faces are set to return after the shocking and tragic events at the end of Season 2? > Buy the complete Season 1-2 box set on … >
After suffering some unsteady Christmas scheduling, Dickensian is settling down for a regular Wednesday/Thursday night slot. God bless us, everyone! Because even at a time when an audience can record, download, binge, and then awkwardly chill while the dog’s not watching, there’s no better way to kill a show – especially one that acts like … >
Happy New Year, Dickensian fans. Tip of the topper and a toast raised to you. Dickens wrote about new year, y’know, in a short story called ‘The Chimes’. ‘A new heart, for a new year, always!’ is the only quote anyone remembers from it, and that’s only because it sounds like a good idea that’ll … >
Always nice to splurge a bit at Christmas isn’t it? Clearly the BBC, with its unashamed pro-sprout agenda, agrees. No need to ask ‘Please sir, may have I some more?’ as we’re treated to another two helpings of Dickensian. Given its serial nature, I’m going to lump both eps together in this review but it’s … >
Episode 2 of Dickensian is also the second Boxing Day instalment of EastEnders writer Tony Jordan’s new 20-part period drama. But while you’re probably polishing off the first of many, many meals involving increasingly obscure scraps of turkey meat, the good people inside your TV are celebrating Christmas Day. ‘God bless us, every one’ is … >
Marley was dead, to begin with. Oh wait, no he’s not. What the Dickens?! He’s standing right there, on the steps of his and Ebenezer Scrooge’s money-lending business. Contrary to what you may have read in A Christmas Carol, Jacob Marley is very much alive here, and being played by Peter Firth (Spooks) wearing a … >