Shades of Tony Soprano: BBC1's The Responder reviewed
Older readers may remember a time when people signalled their cultural superiority with the weird boast that they didn’t watch…
A cut above TV's usual #MeToo fare: BBC1's Rules of the Game reviewed
As you may have noticed, it’s something of a golden age for TV shows about how invisible middle-aged women are…
Tells us more about today than the early 1960s: BBC1's A Very British Scandal reviewed
For people who like a good upper-class scandal (or ‘people’, as they’re also known), 1963 was definitely a vintage year.…
Some jolly TV artifice and a rare moment of authenticity: C4’s Miriam and Alan – Lost in Scotland reviewed
Thanks to Covid, the days are gone — or at least suspended — when a TV travel programme meant a…
Satire misfires: Our Country Friends, by Gary Shteyngart, reviewed
It is, as you’ve possibly noticed, a tricky time for old-school American liberals, now caught between increasingly extreme versions of…
A blisteringly bonkers first episode: Doctor Who – Flux reviewed
BBC1 continuity excitedly introduced the first in the new series of Doctor Who as ‘bigger and better than ever’ —…
A highly polished exercise in treading water: Season 3 of Succession reviewed
At one point in an early Simpsons, Homer comes across an old issue of TV Guide, and finds the listing…
Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution should be called ‘The Tragedy of Gordon Brown'
Murder Island features eight real-life ‘ordinary people’ seeking to solve a fictional killing on a fictional Scottish island. What follows…
A compelling mess: No Time to Die reviewed
These days, James Bond can no longer just be the main character in the Bond films. He’s also had to…
No Time to Die is a compelling mess
Times being what they are, James Bond can no longer just be the main character in the Bond films. He’s…
Somewhere between eye-opening and jaw-dropping: Sky's Hawking – Can You Hear Me? reviewed
It is, of course, not unknown for a man to become famous with the support of his family — and,…
Bleak, unashamedly macho and grown-up: BBC2's The North Water reviewed
‘The world is hell, and men are both the tormented souls and the devils within it.’ This was the cheery…
A total mess: BBC2's The Watch reviewed
Last Sunday on Channel 4, a man called Eric Nicoli proudly remembered ‘the bravest thing I’ve ever done’. In November…
When did Sunday night TV become so grim? Baptiste reviewed
There was, you may remember, a time when Sunday night television was rather a jolly affair: gently plotted and full…
Looks lovely if nothing else: Craig and Bruno's Great British Road Trips reviewed
To its huge credit, ITV has managed to find perhaps the last two television celebrities who’ve never before been filmed…
Thoughtful and impeccable: Ken Burns's Hemingway reviewed
Ken Burns made his name in 1990 with The Civil War, the justly celebrated 11-and-a-half-hour documentary series that gave America’s…
Return to LA Confidential: Widespread Panic, by James Ellroy, reviewed
Even by James Ellroy’s standards, the narrator of his latest novel is not a man much given to the quiet…
One of the best Covid dramas so far: BBC2's Together reviewed
Let me start with a spot of admin: if you’re wondering what The Speccie makes of GB News, it’ll be…
Camp am-dram, plus stuff about the patriarchy: Channel 5's Anne Boleyn reviewed
Fifty-one years ago, in the BBC’s much-acclaimed The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was portrayed as a brave…
Quietly radiates a wholly justified confidence: BBC 1’s The Pact reviewed
There was certainly no lack of variety among new TV dramas this week, with a standard British thriller up against…
Haunted by the past: Last Days in Cleaver Square, by Patrick McGrath, reviewed
At the risk of encroaching on Spectator Competition territory, what is the least surprising thing for any given narrator in…
A TV doc that is truly brave: BBC1's Ian Wright – Home Truths reviewed
Ian Wright: Home Truths began with the ex-footballer saying that the home he grew up in was ‘not a happy…
A very watchable doc cashing in on Line of Duty: BBC2's Bent Coppers reviewed
If you’re after an exciting, twisty programme about police corruption that doesn’t also feel a bit like sitting an exam…
It's impossible not to feel snooty watching ITV's Agatha and Poirot
Agatha and Poirot was one of those programmes that had the annoying effect of making you feel distinctly snooty. ITV’s…
Is Jed Mercurio bored with Line of Duty?
When a drama begins with news of a ‘Chis handler’ receiving ‘intel graded A1 on the matrix’ that causes a…
