Tag Archives: Television review

Big Driver, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Mario Bello, Ann Dowd, Will Harris, Joan Jett, Olympia Dukakis, Jennifer Kydd, Andre Myette, Juanita Peters, Mary-Colin Chisholm, Kim Parkhill, Deborah Allen, Tara Nicodermo, Roland Marko Simmonds, Mike Taylor, Lee J. Campbell, Trina Corkum, Patrick Robert Wong.

The world of suspense, of blood curdling terror and murderous emotion have always been a stocking filler of goodies in which Stephen King, arguably the finest and certainly the most prolific horror writer of the 20th Century has packed away inside the minds of all who have come across his writing yet somehow the man who brought The Stand, Misery and Rose Madder to the imaginations of millions of readers has not had the same good fortune when it comes to seeing his work presented on television; especially when he has been involved in the script of the presented piece.

Big Driver, Television Review. full post

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

Stephen Fry: A Life On Screen, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The trouble with television is that allows its viewers to believe that they know fully each person who ever appears on its screens, it is a trick of the box that it coaxes the watcher into the belief that they are an eyewitness into the minds, the thoughts and perhaps even the indiscretions of the subject at hand.

Stephen Fry: A Life On Screen, Television Review. full post

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

And Then There Were None, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Catherine Bailey, Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody, Burn Gorman, Christopher Hatherall, Anne Maxwell Martin, Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson, Toby Stephens, Noah Taylor, Ben Deery, Jim Main, Daisy Waterstone.

The British obsession with murder owes more to the conditioning belief of understanding that order will always be restored rather than wanting to see someone get away with the act. Not for nothing is the book charts on any local high street bookshop always seen to have the latest crime novel within tidy ranks but the authors of such are seen arguably to be in the eyes of many people amongst the most interesting to read. Nobody wants to see anyone get away with murder but there is always something slightly devilish about hoping to see it attempted and in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None murder is drawn to a perfect art.

And Then There Were None, Television Review. full post

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

Peter And Wendy, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Stanley Tucci, Laura Fraser, Paloma Faith, Zak Sutcliffe, Hazel Doupe, Rasmus Hardiker, Maurice Cole, Asim Chaudhey, Bjarne Henriksen, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Natifa Mai,Patrick Williams, Stephen Agnew, Laura Elphinstone.

The Christmas schedule is such that it falls deeply into the realms of asking the viewer to remember others and the tireless work they do, it is a noble act but one in which many will find themselves just having on in the background in between munching on the last mince pie or playing a game with the children.

Peter And Wendy, Television Review. full post

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

Fargo, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Ted Danson, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Donovan, Rachel Keller, Nick Offerman, Bokeem Woodbine, Zahn McClarnon, Kieran Culkin, Brad Garrett, Angus Sampson, Kier O’ Donnell, Bruce Campbell, Michael Hogan, Adam Arkin, Elizabeth Marvel, Allan Dobrescu, Raven Stewart, Brad Mann, Todd Mann, Emily Haine, Dan Beirne, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Joey King, Colin Hanks, Keith Carradine.

Fargo, Television Review. full post

(487 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

The Last Kingdom, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Alexander Dreymon, Ian Hart, David Dawson, Adrian Bower, Brian Vernal, Eliza Butterworth, Emily Cox, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, Harry McEntire, Tobias Santlemann, Simon Kunz, Amy Wren, Matthew Macfadyen, Rune Temte, Henning Valin Jakobsen, Charlie Murphy, Sean Gilder, Lorcan Cranitch, Alec Newman.

To love history, to love the chronicles of English Literature that delve further back than even that of the great works of art beloved by Geoffrey Chaucer or the stunning Beowulf, one must then surely admire just how the kingdom of England was forged in the fire of heat and war, to the point where even a committed pacifist could take up a sword to defend a hillside or see the Somerset Levels not as a housing estate but as a naturally occurring set of defences.

The Last Kingdom, Television Review. full post

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

River, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan, Adeel Akhtar, Owen Teale, Georgina Rich, Michael Maloney, Turlough Convery, Sorcha Cusack, Jim Norton, Steve Nicolson, Josef Altin, Peter Bankole, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Lydia Leonard, Franz Drameh, Shannon Tarbet, Steve Edwin, Souleiman Bock, Andrew Byron, Andrew Byron, Ali Craig.

The fine line between genius and insanity is never truly explored on television unless it is in the form of a great detective and for those there are too few to whom the reason for their own peculiarities are ever given credence or perhaps respect.

River, Television Review. full post

(521 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

The Dresser, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire, Edward Fox, Vanessa Kirby, Tom Brooke, Matthew Cottle, Ian Conningham, Helen Bradbury, Isabelle Estelle Corbusier, John Ashton, Annalisa Rossi.

The Fool and his King are soon parted and the Fool will always regret being so in thrall of a man who despises him. The fine robes of stately oratory soon shed, the Fool sees his master as nothing but rags and as man whose life is but a mask.

The Dresser, Television Review. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Midwinter Of The Spirit, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, David Threlfall, Sally Messham, Leila Mimmack, Will Attenborough, Doc Brown, Katie Dickie, Oengus MacNamara, Ania Marson, Nicholas Pinnock, Simon Trinder, Rachel Atkins, Paul Bentall, Siobhan Finneran, Eileen Nicholas, Vivienne Soan, David Sterne, Josie Walker, Stephen Walsh, Scott Wright, Kai Alexander, Neil Ashton, Scott Cutmore, Holly Kavanagh, Geoffrey McGivern, Stephen McKenna, Nisha Nayar, Martin Walsh, Deon Williams, Alexis Platt, Adrian Dobson.

Midwinter Of The Spirit, Television Review. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

An Inspector Calls, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Thewlis, Miranda Richardson, Ken Stott, Sophie Rundle, Kyle Sollar, Finn Cole, Chloe Pirrie, Lucy Chappell, Wanda Opalinska, Flora Nicholson, Charlotte Butler, Gary Davis.

When a writer of absolute conviction is adapted for television by one who shares the same passion, the same feel for the dramatic, it can only bring out the very best in television, so much so that it becomes one of the greats of the year.

An Inspector Calls, Television Review. full post

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