100 Years of the BBC: #30-21
30. Wolf Hall (2015) The BBC do period drama like nobody’s business. Wolf Hall, broadcast in 2015 and based on the novels of the late Hilary Mantel, is one of the very best. Both books and series focused on Thomas Cromwell, first … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #30-21
100 Years of the BBC: #40-31
40. All Creatures Great and Small (1978-1990) Veterinary surgeon Alf Wright, writing as James Herriot, had made a lucrative career out of a series of semi-fictionalised memoirs about caring for animals in the Yorkshire Dales. While his work had already … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #40-31
REVIEW: Apollo 11 (2019)
The 2017 discovery of previously unseen 70mm film footage of the 1969 Apollo 11 missions appears to have partly inspired this 50th anniversary documentary, released in 2019 and directed by Todd Douglas Miller. Miller’s film has a very precise creative … Continue reading REVIEW: Apollo 11 (2019)
100 Years of the BBC: #50-41
50. This Life (1996-2007)As the mid-1990s saw the United Kingdom succumb to the Britpop explosion, so television and film evolved to accommodate this new music-inspired craze for youth and drug culture. In 1996 audiences got Trainspotting in the movie theatres, … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #50-41
REVIEW: Rosaline (2022)
An uneven as it is amiable, new romantic comedy Rosaline tries to turn William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on its head with a story about Romeo Montague’s mentioned, but never seen, girlfriend immediately prior to the events of the play. Director … Continue reading REVIEW: Rosaline (2022)
REVIEW: The Black Phone (2021)
Scott Derrickson has, over a series of films, established a reputation not only as a strong director of horror cinema but a versatile one too. Whether working with stories of possession (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), demonic gore (Sinister), or … Continue reading REVIEW: The Black Phone (2021)
100 Years of the BBC: #60-51
60. Challenge Anneka (1989-1995) This entertainment program was devised specifically as a vehicle for Anneka Rice, who had become very popular in the UK off the back of the Channel 4 game show Treasure Hunt. The concept was trialled in 1987 as … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #60-51
REVIEW: The Voice of Sin (2020)
What would you do if, while sorting through your late father’s possessions in the family home, stumbled upon a decades-old tape recording of yourself – just a small child – that incriminated you in a major unsolved crime? What would … Continue reading REVIEW: The Voice of Sin (2020)
100 Years of the BBC: #70-61
70. Cracked Actor (1975) Tasked with covering David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs tour, director Alan Yentob (later controller of BBC1 and ultimately creative director of the whole BBC) was granted full backstage access. Combining behind the scenes observations, sit-down interviews, and excerpts from … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #70-61
TV REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi 1.05
“Part Five” Since Obi-Wan Kenobi started streaming on Disney+, it has been explained by Lucasfilm that the six-part serial is based on the same storyline intended some years ago for a feature film. The film never eventuated, of course, but … Continue reading TV REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi 1.05
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