Category Archives: TV

Whitechapel. Series Three, Episode Two. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 7th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, Steve Pemberton, Sam Stockman, Claire Rushbrook, Shaun Evans, Christina Chong, David Schneider, James Dreyfus.

Just who exactly is watching you? One side of the argument could be the state, the police, Neighbourhood Watch! The other is the person you let in to read the electricity meter, the furniture delivery man or the amiable builder who happened to make something of that spare space.

Whitechapel. Series Three, Episode Two. Television Review. full post

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

Whitechapel. Series 3, Episode 1. Series 3, Episode 1.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 31st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davies, Steve Pemberton, Claire Rushbrook.

If you are a fan of the whole historical story of Whitechapel, the abundance of dark characters that litter and parade through the East End of London’s dark and dismal past like a proverbial Mister Hyde to the City and the West End’s Dr. Jekyll, then the modern detective story of Whitechapel and its mismatched team of detectives is just the return you have waited for.

Whitechapel. Series 3, Episode 1. Series 3, Episode 1. full post

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

We’ll Take Manhattan. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 27th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Aneurin Barnard, Karen Gillan, Helen McCrory, Joseph May, Frances Barber, Robert Glenister.

It can only be described as astonishing to think that nobody has filmed the love affair between two of the most iconic British people from the 1960’s before now. Before the Beatles and the Liverpool invasion of Ed Sullivan’s show, which made a generation of American teenagers sit and take notice for the first time what was happening across the pond in dear, tired old Britain, there was a seismic cultural revolution that took hold with just one camera shot.

We’ll Take Manhattan. Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(606 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Birdsong. Part Two. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 31st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * *

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Matthew Goode, Clemence Poesy, Richard Madden, Thomas Turgoose, Joseph Mawle, George Mackay, Anthony Andrews, Rory Keenan, Laurent Lafitte.

The second part of Birdsong, written by Abi Morgan, which worked well in parts in the first installment, unfortunately descended into cliché ridden and almost predictable deaths for some of the major characters within the plot. Even for those who have read Sebastian Faulks’ excellent novel it seemed to go from convoluted to create a dull ending.

Birdsong. Part Two. Television Review. full post

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

Birdsong. Part One. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 23rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * *

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Matthew Goode, Clemence Poesy, Richard Madden, Thomas Turgoose, Joseph Mawle, George Mackay, Rory Keenan, Laurent Lafitte.

Birdsong is a late 20th Century classic and arguably, to some critics, Sebastian Faulks’ finest novel to date. To fans of the book though who have been desperate to see this First World War drama brought to a larger audience, they have waited, patiently or not, since 1993 and it has to be said it was almost worth the wait.

Birdsong. Part One. Television Review. full post

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

Sherlock, Reichenbach Fall. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 16th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Andrew Scott, Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Mark Gatiss, Jonathon Aris, Loo Brealey, Amber Elizabeth, Pano Masti, Katherine Parkinson, Vinette Robinson.

Save the best till last, always keep the audience wanting more and keep them guessing…even if it means the clamour and noise from the enormous fan base that’s been the envy of many other prime time television programmes gets louder and louder until the B.B.C. and the Moffat/Gatiss writing team confirm that there will be a, hopefully, third series.

Sherlock, Reichenbach Fall. Television Review. full post

(594 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 13th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Matthew Rhys, Alun Armstrong, Ron Cook, Julia Mckenzie, Janet Dale, Rory Kinnear, Freddie Fox, Tamzin Merchant, Sacha Dhawan.

How exactly do you finish of someone else’s work after they have died so that’s its deemed worthy enough for an audience’s appreciation? Beethoven, Schubert,  and Charles Dickens have one thing in common and that is they died before they could finish a major piece of work.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Television Review. full post

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

Sherlock: The Hounds Of Baskerville. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Amelia Bullmore, Clive Mantle, Rupert Graves, Gordon Kennedy, Mark Gatiss, Sasha Behar, Una Stubbs.

The second of three new stories for the world’s greatest consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, sees Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat bring the wonderful and tantalising story of The Hound of  the Baskervilles completely up to date and leave the Victorian era behind completely and utterly forever.

Sherlock: The Hounds Of Baskerville. Television Review. full post

(694 words, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

Great Expectations (2011). Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 5th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Gillian Anderson, David Suchet, Douglas Booth, Ray Winstone, Shaun Dooley, Claire Rushbrook, Mark Addy, Jack Roth, Vanessa Kirby, Harry Lloyd, Tom Burke, Oscar Kennedy. Izzy Meikle-Small.

One of the big shows for the B.B.C. this Christmas period has to have been the latest big budget version of Great Expectations. An all-star cast, one of the biggest for a television series for a while on the channel, was greatly added to by newcomers Oscar Kennedy as the young Pip, Izzy Meikle-Small as the young misguided and manipulated Estella and a towering performance by Douglas Booth as the elder Pip.

Great Expectations (2011). Television Review. full post

(545 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Sherlock. Television Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 5th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Lara Pulver.

It’s been a long wait but finally television audiences were able to greet Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ version of Sherlock Holmes with open arms and once more willing to see the great detective transplanted from the ideal of 1880’s London through to the present day.

Sherlock. Television Review. full post

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