Tag Archives: Television review

The Lady Vanishes, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Tuppence Middleton, Tom Hughes, Selina Cadell, Keeley Hawes, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Stephanie Cole, Gemma Jones, Alex Jennings, Sandy McDade, Pip Torrens, Benedickte Hansen, Jesper Christensen, Charles Aitken, Zsuzsu David.

In the best traditions of Agatha Christie do others dare attempt to follow and for the second time since the definitive version directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1938, The Lady Vanishes, originally written by Ethel Lina White, gets an all star treatment, a huge budget that would make some television and film directors wince at the thought at what they could achieve with a fraction and in the end whilst laudable unfortunately doesn’t stand up to any of the recent highs the B.B.C. has managed this year in its drama department.

The Lady Vanishes, Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(418 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Shetland, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Douglas Henshall, Gemma Chan, Steve Robinson, Alison O’ Donnell, Alexander Morton, Lewis Howden, Mark Bonnar, Martin Wenner, Claire Rafferty, Sophie Rundle, Geraldine Alexander, Finnden Hertog, Alison Peebles, Erin Armstrong, Jim Stugeon, Lindy Whiteford, James Greene.

Based upon the books by Ann Cleeves, the new drama vehicle for Douglas Henshall, Shetland, premiered over the last two nights and whilst it was up against I.T.V.’s superb Broadchurch, it had a lot going for it and provided another outlet for viewers starved in recent years with decent crime drama and who have been having to get their fix from either second rate thrillers from America that rely far too much on the application of science over genuine detective work, or intensely psychological brilliance from the Nordic Noir genre such as The Killing.

Shetland, Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Broadchurch, Episode Two, Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Tracy Childs, Will Mellor, Arthur Darvill, David Bradley, Jonathon Bailey, Vicky McClure, Charlotte Beaumont, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Pauline Quirke.

With the premise having been set in episode one, the attention of the police and in particular D.I. Hardy, start to focus their attentions on the people of Broadchurch, especially those it seems with secrets, many long held, secrets that may fragment the community they live in.

Broadchurch, Episode Two, Television Review. I.T.V. full post

(512 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Broadchurch, Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

I.T.V. may have lost D.I. Lewis but in the great tradition that the station has in unearthing the next generation of police who have the unenviable task of solving murders, all they have to do is move the drama to the next port of call and instantly those television that enjoy playing amateur detective get a brand new man or woman to cheer on and fall for. Following on from Morse, Frost and Lewis, viewers now have the recognisable face and familiar Scottish drawl of David Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy in the programme Broadchurch.

Broadchurch, Television Review. I.T.V. full post

(472 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Black Mirror, The Waldo Moment. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Daniel Rigby, Chloe Pirrie, Jason Flemyng, Christina Chong, Pip Torrens, David Ajala, Amber Anderson, Kenneth Collard, Ed Gaughan, Tobias Menzies, Abigail Thaw.

Be careful what you wish for, it’s been an underlying theme for Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror series. Whether it has been Hayley Atwell desiring to have one last moment with her husband who has been killed or the nightmarish and positively dystopian longing of perpetual retribution and televised public backlash for a heinous crime, the future has been a possibility; and decidedly and chillingly achievable.

Black Mirror, The Waldo Moment. Television Review. full post

(377 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Four. B.B.C. Television, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Janet Montgomery, Angel Coulby, Jacqueline Bisset, Joanna Vanderham, Anthony Head, Jenna-Louise Coleman, John Goodman, Mel Smith, Allan Corduner, Mike Brett, Oroh Angiama, Jane Asher, Jamie Crew, Trevor Edwards, Austin Hardiman, Tom Hughes, Cosimo Keita, Neville Malcolm, Wunmi Mosaku, Jay Phelps, Caroline Quentin, Miles Richardson, Chris Storr, Steve Williamson.

The penultimate episode of Dancing on the Edge, Stephen Poloakoff’s jazz masterpiece, was turned up another notch as the police started to close the wrongly cast net on Louis Lester and in an episode in which echoed the rise and fall of the Louis Lester band, the heat and the mood was increased and given just that little extra spice in jazz movements.

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Four. B.B.C. Television, Television Review. full post

(470 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Ripper Street, A Man Of My Company. Television Review, B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Burling, Luke Allen-Gale, Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Barnwell, Lucy Cohu, Oliver Cotton, David Dawson, Amanda Drew, Rebecca Grimes, Rod Hallett, Shauna MacDonald, Ian McElhinney, Charlene McKenna, Clive Russell, Gillian Saker, David Wilmot.

At long last the murky and disturbing past of Captain Homer Jackson and brothel madam Long Susan becomes exposed and it is one that Detective Reid might not be able to deal with as the thrilling Victorian crime drama Ripper Street reaches its penultimate episode in the story A Man Of My Company.

Ripper Street, A Man Of My Company. Television Review, B.B.C. Television. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Black Mirror, Be Right Back. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Hayley Atwell, Damhnall Gleeson, Claire Keelan, Sinead Matthews, Flora Nicholson, Glenn Hanning, Tim Delap, Indira Ingram.

When a person dies, it is understandable for those left behind to feel so much grief that the desire to hang on any part of them at all is so overwhelming. Their clothes, their favourite mug, a much loved picture of a wedding day are all there to cherish and hold onto for as long as it takes, but could you restore their voice, their physical mental being and download it into a synthetic machine that knows everything about the person they have supplanted but not how to act with instinctive. Such is the haunting premise of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror series and its opening episode of the new series Be Right Back.

Black Mirror, Be Right Back. Television Review. full post

(410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Three. Television Review. B.B.C. 2.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Just exactly what is Louis Lester on the run from? A tantalising question that the makers of Dancing on the Edge are drawing out in spectacular style and in which shows no sign of answer…just yet!

Dancing On The Edge, Episode Three. Television Review. B.B.C. 2. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Victoria’s Children, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Victorian age is something that gets a lot of attention when studying History as a subject. As a Monarch, Victoria ruled over a quarter of the globe at the beginning of the British Empire and commanded respect from Prime Ministers, the public and indeed her husband Prince Albert at all times.

However, there was a part of her life that didn’t seem to be in control, her relationship with her children, especially after the death of her Consort, which was fractious at best and as her children got older the more it seems they couldn’t wait to rebel against her and carve out lives for themselves. Such was the intriguing premise behind the B.B.C.’s three part series Victoria’s Children.

Victoria’s Children, Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)