Tag Archives: Ben Willbond

Ghosts. Series Five. Television Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast:  Lolly Adefope, Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Ben Willbond, Yani Xander, Nathan Bryon, Geoffrey McGivern, Emma Sidi, Richard Durden, Peter Sandys-Clarke, Rufus Wright, Anna Crilly.

Endings must always be acknowledged for the emotions they unearth from within your soul.

We can sit back and cradle our heads in our hands and lament a passing, or we can smile at the thought of having had the fortune to be included in the moment, to share the time with what proves to be an inspirational piece of art and be part of something that caught our attention enough to have us wallow in its performance.

Ghosts. Series Five. Television Series Review. full post

(406 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

We Are Not Alone. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Declan Baxter, Georgia May Foote, Vicki Pepperdine, Bruce Mackinnon, Amanda Abbington, Evelyn Monk, Laurance Rickard, Joe Thomas, Ben Willbond, Mike Wozniak, Rob Delaney, Miles Jupp, Lucien Laviscount, Ellie White, Roya Amini, Dane Baptiste, Christine Barton-Brown, Paul Coldrick, Glen Davies, Trev Fleming, Aoibhin Murphy, Ali Mylon, Daniel Ogbeide-John, Peter Slater, Rebecca Yeo.

We Are Not Alone. Television Review. full post

(459 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Ghosts: Series Four. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Lolly Adefope, Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix, Yani Xander, Nathan Bryon, Geoffrey McGivern, Bridget Christie, Michael Fenton Stevens, Nisha Aaliya, William Andrews, Gina Fillingham, Aaron Collict, Richard Glover, Declan Baxter, Atilla Ainci, Eleanor Holzer, Dan King, Alistair Green, Toby Longworth, Skye Leheup, Caroline Sheen, Andrew Spooner.

Ghosts: Series Four. Television Review. full post

(500 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Ghosts (Series Three). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lolly Adefope, Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurance Rickard, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix, Geoff McGivern, Jessica Knappett.

Uproariously silly, who knew that being a ghost could do so much for your sense of humour, who could have realised that being able to see the dead would give your spirits a rise. For three series in to become one of the great British comedies of the last decade, up there with the intricate mayhem provided by The Goes Wrong Show, Not Going Out and Vicious, Ghosts is the joy provided by a set of writers who understand that with a great gag must come pathos, that truth is born out of farce, and these sterling qualities have the obligation to be captured by actors to whom timing and sympathy to the character is an absolute commitment.

Ghosts (Series Three). Television Review. full post

(460 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Ghosts. 2020 Christmas Special. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lolly Adefope, Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix, Sutara Gayle, Leon Herbert, Samantha Pearl, Timmika Ramsey.

There is a train of thought that the Christmas special of any comedy is meant to be one that goes even further to provide the laughter that we need to put us in the festive mood; like a drug it is there to warp our perception of what the season is actually for, that to be jolly and full of happiness that it makes the year’s end a giddy affair, one of unashamed and continuous enjoyment, that makes the dark evenings one of absolute light.

Ghosts. 2020 Christmas Special. Television Review. full post

(557 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Ghosts. Television Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Martha Howe-Douglas, Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Lolly Adefope, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix, Yani Xander, Jim Howick, Richard Durden, Ed Kear, Ania Marson, Anya McKenna-Bruce, Steve Oram, Tom Mackley, Paul Cawley, Peter Coe, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Caroline Guthrie, Geoffrey McGivern, Tim Plester, Sophie Thompson, Richard Thomson, Angela Yeoh, Simon Bubb, Rosie Cavaliero, Florian Schwienbacher, Simon Stache.

Ghosts. Television Series Review. full post

(573 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Quacks. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Rory Kinnear, Lydia Leonard, Mathew Baynton, Tom Basdon, Rupert Everett, Marcia Warren, Lisa Jackson, Kayvan Novak, Georgie Glen, Milly Thomas, Andrew Scott, Miles Jupp, Fellena Woolgar, David Bamber, Ben Willbond, Geoff McGivern.

 

Every profession has the pop stars of their day, the showmen and women, the extroverts and the gregarious who live for the acclaim, the prestige and the privilege it brings. The artist, the poet, the actor, the musician and the surgeon, all have their theatres, all have one person who plays to the crowd and relishes the sense of power it brings.

Quacks. Television Review. full post

(545 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Inside No 9: Sardines. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Timothy West, Anne Reid, Ophelia Lovibond, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Katherine Parkinson, Tom Key, Luke Pasqualino, Anna Chancellor, Marc Wooton, Ben Willbond.

There is something quite wonderfully chilling in having Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton back on television together. Even without their League of Gentlemen co-star Mark Gatiss around, the chemistry, the pleasing abundance of visual darkness and comedy that filters through to make great and worthy programmes is enough to make you weep tears of joy as you become yet again embroiled into their latest world.

Inside No 9: Sardines. Television Review. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)