Category Archives: TV

Doctor Who, The Crimson Horror. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Dame Diana Rigg, Rachael Stirling, Neve McIntosh, Cartrin Stewart, Dan Starkey, Eve de Leon Allen, Kassius Carey Johnson, Brendan Patricks, Graham Turner, Olivia Vinall, Michelle Tate, Scott Stevenson, Jack Oliver Hudson.

The Crimson Horror, the type of tale that would make readers of Victorian melodrama and penny dreadful salivates with the expectation of a reader enjoying Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the first time, transpose this expectation to the type of Doctor Who-lite story, add a splash of immense acting royalty from Dame Diana Rigg and her superb daughter, the incredible Rachael Stirling and it becomes not just Doctor-lite but extra-lite, no additives, no fat, just a wonderful story that was edging on the macabre  that writer Mark Gatiss obviously enjoys.

Doctor Who, The Crimson Horror. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(549 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Vicious, Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Iwan Rheon, Marcia Warren, Philip Voss.

The new I.T.V. comedy Vicious has two very big surprises attached to it. The first is that it must have been a hell of meeting when they announced that two of the biggest names of British theatre were to be cast in the lead roles and secondly that it was actually enjoyable. I.T.V. may be on top when it comes to excellent drama, the channel really having pulled out all the stops in its determination to be considered to be the natural home of the thriller and dramatic story line but its comedy has not been that well received.

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

(381 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Endeavour, Rocket. Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Martin Jarvis, Jenny Seagrove, Jack Roth, Craig Parkinson, Ellie Beaven, William Brand, Joanna Cassidy, Craig Els, Rosalind Halstead, William Houston, Jack Laskey, Maimie McCoy, James Merry, James Northcote, Darwin Shaw, Tim Stern, Abigail Thaw.

Endeavour, Rocket. Television Review. I.T.V. full post

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

Doctor Who, Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis. Television Review. B.B.C.1.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Jahvel Hall, Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver, Sarah Louise, Madison, Ruari Mears, Paul Kasey.

To follow up one of the classic stories of Doctor Who with something even better could never really happen but to come close, to get within a Tardis’ heartbeat of achieving that is still pretty special. Stephen Thompson made Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis have one big impression, one vital piece of the puzzle that had been hiding in plain sight come alive by doing something that no other writer had dared to do and that was to make the Doctor’s home the absolute star of the show.

Doctor Who, Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis. Television Review. B.B.C.1. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill, Tracey Childs, Matthew Gravelle, Peter De Jersey, Will Mellor, Jonathon Bailey, Charlotte Beaumont, Adam Wilson, Oskar McNamara, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Joe Sims, Jacob Anderson. Tanya Franks.

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

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

Endeavour, Fugue. Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Sean Rigby, Geoffery Streatfield,  Jack Bannon, Lavina Bertram, Robert Blythe, Paul Bullion, Sarah Crowden, Will Featherstone, Joanna Horton, Jack Laskey, Iain McKee, Michelle Morris, Caroline O’Neil, Kelly Price, Laura Rees, Lex Shrapnel, Robin Soans, Abigail Thaw, Sarah Vickers, Claire Vousden.

Endeavour, Fugue. Television Review. I.T.V. full post

(398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Hide. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Jessica Raines, Dougray Scott, Kemi-Bo Jacobs, Aiden Cook.

An old haunted house, an empathic psychic, an old war hero dealing with his own distracting memories and a girl whose life remains a mystery…has Stephen Moffat been peeking at the Doctor Who fan’s Christmas list?

Doctor Who, Hide. Television Review. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill, Tracey Childs, Matthew Gravelle, Peter De Jersey, Will Mellor, Jonathon Bailey, Charlotte Beaumont, Joe Simms, Carolyn Pickles, Pauline Quirke, Joe Sims, Jacob Anderson.

It is no wonder that David Tennant’s character, D.I. Alec Hardy, has been showing all the signs of a man crumbling under the pressure when the viewer considers all of what has been happening in the town of Broadchurch. It runs much deeper than that though; this is a man who has been carrying the mistakes of others, including so it appears, his ex-wife’s, a long protracted investigation whilst still trying to deal with a family who he let down before and now the sound of a ticking clock, both in health terms and in his career.

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

(368 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Endeavour, Television Review. I.T.V.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Roger Allam, Shaun Evans, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Jack Laskey, Sean Rigby, Jonathan Hyde, Mark Bazeley, Luke Allen-Gale, Sarah Crowder, John Flanagan, Billy Geraghty, Olivia Grant, Jonathan Guy Lewis, Alan Morrissey, Will Richards, Fiona Ryan, Sophie Stuckey.

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

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

Doctor Who, Cold War. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Liam Cunningham, David Warner, Tobias Menzies, Josh O’Connor James Norton, Charlie Anson, Spencer Wilding, Nicholas Briggs.

 

Mark Gatiss must adore being part of the Doctor Who team. His occasional forays into the writing world of Britain’s longest running science fiction programme employs some of the best characters, some of the highest tension and most of all the dipping of his toe into his beloved horror genre, even if it pays homage with some of the best lines available.

Doctor Who, Cold War. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)