period drama
A historical abomination: Firebrand reviewed
Firebrand is a period drama about Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. It is sumptuously photographed – it’s…
Must-watch TV: Apple TV+’s Pachinko reviewed
Pachinko is like an extended version of the Monty Python ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch (‘I used to have to get out…
Old-school Sunday-night family viewing: ITV's Belgravia reviewed
The world may be going to hell in a handcart but some things remain reassuringly unchanged: Julian Fellowes period dramas…
Deeply romantic and wildly sexy: Portrait of a Lady on Fire reviewed
Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is set on a remote, windswept Brittany island in the late 18th…
Extremely predictable and extremely dull: Downton Abbey reviewed
The much-anticipated film version of Downton Abbey has arrived and I suppose you could describe it as the Avengers Assemble…
Good hats – shame about the film: Sunset reviewed
Sunset is French-Hungarian writer-director Laszlo Nemes’s follow-up to his astonishing Oscar-winning debut, Son of Saul. This time round the film…
A slog – and why does Elizabeth look like Ronald McDonald? Mary Queen of Scots reviewed
Mary Queen of Scots is a historical costume drama that, unlike The Favourite, does not breathe new life into the…
It’s like being trapped in an episode of Poldark: Peterloo reviewed
Mike Leigh’s Peterloo is one of those films where you keep waiting for it to get good, and waiting and…
Bad news for fans of good TV drama – there’s three more corkers to keep up with
This week was bad news for fans of good television drama series — mainly because there’s now three more of…
Babylon Berlin is so brilliant I’d advise you not to start watching it
Babylon Berlin (Sky Atlantic), the epic German-made Euro noir detective drama set during Weimar, is so addictively brilliant that I’d…
Sun readers will be disappointed – E.M. Phwoar-ster it is not: Howards End reviewed
Any readers of the Sun who excitedly tuned in to Howards End on Sunday night with their pause button at…
Ivory towers
Great novels rarely make great movies, but for half a century one director has been showing all the others how…
Why Deborah Ross wants to punch G.K. Chesterton in the head
Love & Friendship is based on the little-known Jane Austen epistolary novella, Lady Susan, which was not published until after…
A bit silly: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell reviewed
BBC One’s 2015 choice of Sunday-night drama series is beginning to resemble the career of the kind of Hollywood actor…
A Little Chaos review: Kate Winslet emotes her little socks off
A Little Chaos is a period drama directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet as a woman charged to…
