Television

Anita Dobson as Queen Elizabeth I in ‘Armada: 12 Days to Save England’

BBC2's Armada has something for everybody - including three yummy female historians

30 May 2015 9:00 am

It has been a while since the BBC really pushed the boat out on the epic history documentary front. Perhaps…

Anita Dobson as Queen Elizabeth I in ‘Armada: 12 Days to Save England’

Living history

28 May 2015 1:00 pm

It has been a while since the BBC really pushed the boat out on the epic history documentary front. Perhaps…

A bit silly: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell reviewed

23 May 2015 9:00 am

BBC One’s 2015 choice of Sunday-night drama series is beginning to resemble the career of the kind of Hollywood actor…

Strange ways

21 May 2015 1:00 pm

BBC One’s 2015 choice of Sunday-night drama series is beginning to resemble the career of the kind of Hollywood actor…

Spirited, indomitable and proud: matriarch Julie Young

Benefits Street reviewed: if anyone’s being exploited, it’s the taxpayers, says James Delingpole

16 May 2015 9:00 am

My favourite scene in the first episode of the new series of Benefits Street (Mondays, Channel 4) — now relocated…

Spirited, indomitable and proud: matriarch Julie Young

The lying game

14 May 2015 1:00 pm

My favourite scene in the first episode of the new series of Benefits Street (Mondays, Channel 4) — now relocated…

Channel 4’s No Offence reviewed: ‘hugely entertaining and wildly unconvincing’

9 May 2015 9:00 am

With Clocking Off, Shameless and State of Play among his credits, Paul Abbott is undoubtedly one of the most respected…

Not much cop

7 May 2015 1:00 pm

With Clocking Off, Shameless and State of Play among his credits, Paul Abbott is undoubtedly one of the most respected…

Keith Murdoch (Simon Harrison) appearing before the Dardanelles Commission (Photo: BBC)

Without Gallipoli, we’d have no Page 3

2 May 2015 9:00 am

Some years ago I paid a visit to the site of the Gallipoli landings because I was mildly obsessed with…

Keith Murdoch (Simon Harrison) appearing before the Dardanelles Commission (Photo: BBC)

Aussie rules

30 April 2015 1:00 pm

Some years ago I paid a visit to the site of the Gallipoli landings because I was mildly obsessed with…

W1A reviewed: so pitch-perfect as to be profoundly depressing

25 April 2015 9:00 am

Ever since the days of Tony Hancock, many of the best British sitcoms — from Dad’s Army to Fawlty Towers,…

I wish Daenerys Targaryen would free the nipple: Game of Thrones series five reviewed

18 April 2015 9:00 am

Blimey, there has been so much good stuff to watch on telly of late: the Grand National, the Boat Race…

A review of three reassuringly unoriginal new travel programmes fronted by comedians

11 April 2015 9:00 am

Who says British television lacks imagination? You might have thought, for example, that every possible combination of comedian and travel…

Why James Delingpole is addicted to Pointless

4 April 2015 8:00 am

Ever since Boy got back from school my work schedule has fallen to pieces. Every few minutes, just when I’ve…

Channel 4's The Coalition reviewed: heroically free of cynicism

28 March 2015 9:00 am

In a late schedule change, Channel 4’s Coalition was shifted from Thursday to Saturday to make room for Jeremy Paxman…

Raised by Wolves review: council-estate life but not as you know it

21 March 2015 9:00 am

Journalist, novelist, broadcaster and figurehead of British feminism Caitlin Moran, who writes most of the Times and even had her…

Should he stay or should he go: Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark

Poldark review: drama by committee

14 March 2015 9:00 am

By my calculations, the remake of Poldark (BBC1, Sunday) is the first time BBC drama has returned to Cornwall since…

The Great European Disaster on BBC4 reviewed: propaganda worthy of Leni Riefenstahl

7 March 2015 9:00 am

My favourite bit of The Great European Disaster (BBC4, Sunday) was the lingering shot that showed golden heads of corn…

Critical on Sky1 reviewed: a new medical drama where everyone radiates an unusual degree of competence and concern

28 February 2015 9:00 am

Sky1’s new hospital drama Critical (Tuesday) can’t be accused of making a timid start. Within seconds, an urgent request had…

UKIP: The First 100 Days, Channel 4, review: a sad, predictable, desperate hatchet job

21 February 2015 9:00 am

Just three months into Ukip’s shock victory as the party of government and already Nigel Farage’s mob are starting to…

Law in action: Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman

Better Call Saul review: the box set equivalent of a (very) well-made play

14 February 2015 9:00 am

I lost count long ago of the number of dinner parties and pub conversations where I’ve had to utter the…

Rambo wannabe, Matthew VanDyke: ‘Everybody wants cool stuff they can show their friends on Facebook’

Arabian Motorcycle Adventures review: enthralling and constantly surprising

7 February 2015 9:00 am

There were great numbers of young men who had never been in a war and were consequently far from unwilling…

Dark thoughts: Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell

Could it be that Wolf Hall is actually the teeniest bit dull?

31 January 2015 9:00 am

In January 1958, the British government began working on the significantly titled Operation Hope Not: its plans for what to…

Broadchurch, review: ‘unwatchable’

24 January 2015 9:00 am

Probably the two greatest advances in western culture in my lifetime have been the Sopranos-style epic serial drama and the…

Channel 4’s Cyberbully: an unashamedly old-fashioned drama in being both well made and moral

17 January 2015 9:00 am

Channel 4’s Cyberbully (Thursday), written by Ben Chanan and David Lobatto, turned out to be a brilliantly gripping drama, even…