This week’s episode saw Banished finally hit its stride. For the first time really, the full episode was packed with dramatic tension and intrigue. There were still issues involving some poorly written dialogue and some questionable character choices – Catherine’s volte face where her feelings for Major Ross were concerned felt unconvincing. If admitting that … >

After a somewhat frustrating wait, this week’s episode finally delivered some of the drama and tension that previous instalments have only hinted at, and yet three dimensional characterisation and a sense of consequence were still vexingly absent. The episode opened with Freeman contemplating his new life in the pay of the Governor. His fellow convicts … >

The latest episode of Jimmy McGovern’s Banished once again raised some interesting issues, but again failed to capitalise on them by allowing any drama and tension mustered to dissipate almost immediately. Part of the problem is that, as Freeman discovered in this episode, the colony camp is a small canvas on which to paint. In … >

If you are to believe Jimmy McGovern’s version of the first British colony in Australia, it truly is a miracle that a modern civilisation emerged from these unpromising beginnings given the amount of time the commanding soldiers spent with nothing on their minds but where their next sexual encounter was going to come from. It’s … >

‘More than just a penal colony, what we have here ladies and gentleman is the birth of a nation.’ So says the idealistic yet unflappably pragmatic Governor Phillip in the second instalment of Jimmy McGovern’s new convict drama and yet moments before making this pronouncement Phillip is telling us that ‘England does not give a … >

The BBC have been on a good run recently when it comes to original historical drama, what with the excellent The Village and the equally good Peaky Blinders, not to mention the exquisite Wolf Hall. To continue the run they have enlisted the reliable talents of Jimmy McGovern, he of Cracker and The Lakes fame, … >