TV
Call the Midwife: 2014 Christmas Special, BBC OneThursday, 25 December 2014
The Christmas scoop was the first appearance of the authorial voice, Vanessa Redgrave, playing Jennifer Worth, writing Christmas cards, looking at the photographs of herself with her two midwife friends and plunging us into memory from 2005 to 1959... Read more... |
The Wrong Mans, BBC2Monday, 22 December 2014
The recent comedy awards on Channel 4 threw up little in the way of surprises – or, indeed, laughter for that matter. It was, however, notable for the first real-time, on-screen mugging at an awards bash, as Harry Enfield strolled off with the... Read more... |
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live, BBC OneSaturday, 20 December 2014
It’s never a good start when the performers have more to gain than the audience. The album Cheek to Cheek, of which this was a televised performance, came out in September to a respectfully reserved reception in UK, while American critics, seemingly... Read more... |
Serial Finale: Cul-de-Sacs and CurveballsFriday, 19 December 2014
The concluding episode came, and in a confusion of dates I missed it. If you’ve been following the weekly podcast Serial, you, like me and millions of avid listeners, would have been counting the days. I caught up only once I’d read the spoilers,... Read more... |
The Fall, Series 2 Finale, BBC TwoFriday, 19 December 2014
Before the second series of The Fall began, I was watching Gillian Anderson being interviewed on This Morning. While the subject matter of the drama - a tense game of cat and mouse between Anderson’s DSI Stella Gibson and Jamie Dornan’s perverted... Read more... |
The Missing, Series Finale, BBC OneWednesday, 17 December 2014
So now we know. Sort of. The missing clue was tweezered into view in time for the final episode of The Missing and the fate of little Olly Hughes has been revealed. Up to a point. To those reading this without having seen the dénouement, it gives... Read more... |
The Choir: New Military Wives, BBC TwoWednesday, 17 December 2014
This feelgood programme hit all the buttons with almost unerring precision, as we followed Gareth Malone's project to prepare a military wives choir for a special prom, commemorating the World War One centenary on 3 August 2014. On the way we... Read more... |
Steph and Dom Meet... Nigel Farage, Channel 4 / Bullseyes and Beer - When Darts Hit Britain, BBC FourTuesday, 16 December 2014
The idea of having a politician crossing the threshold of one's own home is enough to send most citizens diving for the Prozac (or the taser), and Nigel Farage provokes responses at the extreme end of the spectrum. Then again, Farage may have... Read more... |
Olive Kitteridge, Sky AtlanticMonday, 15 December 2014
Some of the best films this year have been the longest. The one most likely to be remembered is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, at a modest enough 165 minutes, followed soon after by Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Turkish masterpiece Winter Sleep, at a weightier... Read more... |
Canterbury Cathedral, BBC TwoSaturday, 13 December 2014
Attracting over one million visitors each year, Canterbury Cathedral is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. With its picturesque location and very nice, very white staff, the cathedral offers an easy metaphor for the version... Read more... |
Wolf Hall comes to BBC TwoFriday, 12 December 2014
You read the book, you saw the play, and in January you can see the BBC's new six-part dramatisation of Wolf Hall. Cunningly adapted by screenwriter Peter Straughan and directed by Peter Kosminsky, the series promises to be both a faithful... Read more... |
The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, ITVThursday, 11 December 2014
Four years ago Christopher Jefferies was the victim of a concerted attack by the British press. His tenant Joanna Yeates had been murdered and, lacking any other leads, police arrested her landlord. While he was still being questioned, the... Read more... |
