Category Archives: TV

Midsomer Murders: Happy Families. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Rachel Stirling, Adrian Edmondson, Caroline Quentin, Stuart Milligan, Paul Bazely, Lee Byford, Vanessa Emme, Greg Lockett, Aki Omoshaybi, Georgina Rich, Ed White, Chris Wilson.

A country house murder, what could be more riveting for a party of guests to get their minds around when a storm plunges the home into darkness and the torrents of rain threaten to overwhelm the senses?

There is an element of the enigmatic, the ethereal and timeless when a writer places their observations into the world of the lonely house full of secrets in some neglected part of the country.

Midsomer Murders: Happy Families. Television Review. full post

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

Code 404 (Series Two). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Daniel Mays, Stephen Graham, Rosie Cavaliero, Amanda Payton, Anna Maxwell Martin, Michelle Greenidge, Richard Adeoye, Richard Gadd, Emily Lloyd-Saini, Steve Oram, Tracy Ann Oberman, Steve Meo, Beau Fowler, Clive Russell, Meera Syal, Precious Mustapha.

Code 404 (Series Two). Television Review. full post

(566 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

The Goes Wrong Show: Summer Once Again. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Charlie Russell, Greg Tannahill, Dave Hearn. Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Bryony Corrigan, Henry Lewis, Nancy Zamit.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then the company behind the uplifting farce that is provided in the comedy gold of The Goes Wrong Show are an inevitability of circumstance, time, and creation, an innovation that has no boundaries when it comes to placing trust in the conception of a well-timed slapstick moment and the televised charade of mock indignity. If necessity truly is the mother of invention, then the team are the 21st Century equivalent of every true original that ever-brought laughter to the audiences.

The Goes Wrong Show: Summer Once Again. Television Review. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Endeavour: Terminus. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Sean Rigby, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Caroline O’ Neill, Sara Vickers, Adam Ewan, William Sebag-Montefiore, Anna Burnett, Adam Mirsky, Ray Emmet Brown, Chirag Lobo, Martin Hutson, Marion Bailey, Matthew Marsh, Ben Bishop, Estelle Daniels, Jennifer Kirby, Abigail Thaw, Anthony Flanagan.

When one of the great detectives of British television pays homage to one of the finest, if not the best of murder mystery writers, the outcome, can either be one of forced recoil, almost a cringe of mixed volatility, or as in the case of the Endeavour episode Terminus, can leave the armchair detective almost hugging themselves with glee as the script unfolds, loving the delicate balance created between sheer admiration and genuine impressive insight.

Endeavour: Terminus. Television Review. full post

(496 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Vigil. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Shaun Evans, Paterson Joseph, Adam James, Connor Swindells, Gary Lewis, Lolita Chakrabarti, Anjli Mohindra, Lorne MacFadyen, Stephen Dillane, Lois Chimimba, Bobby Rainsbury, Cristian Ortega, Martin Compston, Daniel Portman, Tom Gill, Anita Vettesse, Orla Russell, Reuben Joseph, Cal MacAninch, Aisha Toussaint, Stephen McCole, Lauren Lyle, Theresa Bradley, Parth Thakerar, Oliver Lansley, Dan Li, Jim Sturgeon, Angelique Fernandez.

Vigil. Television Review. full post

(592 words, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

Annika. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Nicola Walker, Jamie Sives, Katie Leung, Ukwelu Roach, Silvie Furneaux, Paul McGann, Jade Chan, Kate Dickie, Hannah Donaldson, Saskia Ashdown, Andy Clark, Martin Bell.

A detective must have a quirk to make them more appealing to the television viewer, the moment when the serious equivalent of the comedic catchphrase is long awaited for by those investing their time in the drama, and when it appears gives them a sense of comfort, a reminder that every detective is as prone to the errors of every human, every person, but in which their foible and particular oddity helps them understand the condition of the murderer they have set out to catch.

Annika. Television Review. full post

(524 words, estimated 2:06 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)

Endeavour: Striker. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Sean Rigby, Julian Moore-Cook, Gabriel Tierney, Caroline O’Neil, Mia McCallum, Angus Yellowlees, Andrew Havill, Harriet Thorpe, James Bradshaw, Abigail Thaw, Anton Lesser, John Hollingworth, Joseph Millson, Eleanor Fanyinka, Elliot Levey, Sara Vickers, Roxanne Palmer, Lewis MacLeod, Ruth Bradley, Jacinta Mulcahy, Killian Coyle, Colum Convey, Evalina Järrebring, Tom Spink.

Endeavour: Striker. Television Review. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

War Of The Worlds (Series Two). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Léa Drucker, Gabriel Byrne, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Natasha Little, Bayo Gbadamosi, Ty Tennant, Stephen Campbell Moore, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Paul Gorostidi, Mathieu Torloting, Stéphane Caillard, Emilie de Preissac, Adel Bencherif, Aaron Heffernan, Ania Sowinski, Pearl Chande, Thom Ashley, Oliver Zetterström, Leo Bill, Féodor Atkine, Robert Emms, Elizabeth McGovern.

War Of The Worlds (Series Two). Television Review. full post

(555 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

Harley Quinn (Season Two). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk Ron Funches, Tony Hale, Matt Oberg, Jason Alexander, Diedrich Bader, Christopher Meloni, J.B. Smoove, Jim Rash, James Adomian, Vanessa Marshall, Phil LaMarr, Briana Cuoco, James Wolk, Tom Hollander, Sean Giambrone, Michael Ironside, Rory Scovel, Sanaa Lathan, Rachel Dratch.

Subversion is a game played geniuses. To subvert the norm is a political act of will carried out by those who wish to shift attitudes and destroy boundaries with all the artistic integrity they can muster, whilst at all times, conforming to the point of art; to alter a person’s view through beauty, through insight, and with passion.

Harley Quinn (Season Two). Television Review. full post

(455 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)