Television
The unseen Victoria Wood
For a few years now I have been living with Victoria Wood. That sounds all wrong, obviously, and yet no…
Sky Sports is ruining my football season
When I promised my 13-year-old son, Charlie, that we would go to as many QPR games as possible in 2021-22…
In blockbuster Britain, the BBC is being left behind
There’s a great revival under way in the British TV and film industry, but it’s not the BBC that’s behind…
The BBC is being left behind in blockbuster Britain
There’s a great revival under way inthe British TV and film industry,but it’s not the BBC that’s behind it.Netflix is…
My literary heroes have led me astray
Gstaad Good manners aside, what I miss nowadays is a new, intelligent, finely acted movie. Never have I seen…
HBO’s The Prince should leave George alone
Last year Netflix refusedto add a disclaimer to the beginning of every episode of The Crown, warning viewers that it…
Modern soap operas have lost the plot
Modern soap operas have lost the plot
British broadcast news has gone badly wrong
I’ve worked for some media thoroughbreds — including the Financial Times, ITN and CNN — so I know the sense…
Why I don’t regret leaving the BBC
I have just had my second jab and it poses a dilemma. As an assiduous Covid rule-taker, I have been…
The islanders who met their god – Prince Philip
Some time around 2006 my then flatmate, a filmmaker, had a good idea: why not make a programme of reverse…
My painstaking preparations for Prince Philip’s funeral
The files arrived marked ‘STRICT EMBARGO’ and ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ and ‘FORTH BRIDGE REVISED’ and stamped with various crests and insignia. My…
The deafening rise of ‘background’ music
The unstoppable rise of ‘background’ music
Why I’m glad to see the back of Call My Agent!
For the past few weeks I have been binge-watching the Netflix series Call My Agent! (or Dix pour cent, as…
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…
Why I won’t be replacing Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan may have been the UK equivalent of a TV shock-jock, but there’s another side to him. I’ve known…
Joan Collins: The politics of Christmas trees
To say that the past nine months have been tough is like saying a hurricane felt like a spring shower.…
The Co-op Bank isn't worthy of its name
We’ve heard a lot this week about infrastructure spending, and how much more will be needed if the UK is…
Sets appeal: the distracting beauty of TV backdrops
The distracting beauty of TV backdrops
In defence of Emily in Paris
A frothy new drama called Emily in Paris arrived on Netflix last month. Starring Lily Collins — daughter of Phil…
Spare us David Hare
Having not watched television for nine months and already growing bored of the 1,000-piece jigsaw of General Alfredo Stroessner (part…
The end of the line for the rail franchise fiasco
Good riddance to the passenger rail franchise system which has finally been killed off by Covid, though a majority of…
The bluff and bluster of Boris’s bland boy Brexiteers
From the balcony where I take my daily exercise there is a view of the commercial centre of London that…
Movie-makers should look to the Athenians before cashing in on this crisis
Covid-19 has not yet reached its peak but already the moguls of the small screen are plotting how to monetise,…
How I fell out of love with the BBC
One of the many technological things I don’t understand is, how come I’m paying to watch television? I know why…
Why the BBC licence fee makes sense
A consensus seems to be forming that the BBC licence fee is for the chop. In a digital age, the…
