Category Archives: TV

Gotham: Series Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ben McKenzie, Robin Lord Taylor, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee, Camren Bicondova, B.D. Wong, Erin Richards, Cory Michael Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Morena Baccarin, James Frain, Jessica Lucas, Chris Chalk, Drew Powell, Michael Chicklis.

The city of Gotham, majestic, proud, historic and so it seems rotten to the very core of its existence with just a few people holding the barrier tight against all out disorder and mayhem – just the place for the man who is to become one of the city’s leading lights to hone his skills and get to grips with the darkness under his watch.

Gotham: Series Two. Television Review. full post

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

The Musketeers: The Hunger. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Ryan Gage, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling, Matthew McNulty, Hugo Speer, Rupert Everett, Dan Parr, Thalissa Tiexeira, Oliver Chris, Jan Spanbauer, Barry McCormick, Jodie Hay, Frances Magee, Janet Walker, Duran Fulton Brown, Matt Stokoe, Crispin Letts, Christopher Brand, Andy Linden, Ian Conningham.

The Musketeers: The Hunger. Television Review. full post

(471 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Wallander: The Troubled Man. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Terrance Hardiman, Christopher Fairbank, John Lightbody, Jeany Spark, Boel Larrsson, Ann Bell, Simon Chandler, Barnaby Kay, Richard McCabe, Joe Clafin, Harry Hadden-Paton, Garrick Hagon, Nimmy Marsh, Michael Byrne, Sandra Redlaff, Colette O’ Neill, Anton Saunders, David Warner.

You can always trust Kenneth Branagh to pull one special moment out of the bag in whatever venture he is doing, time and time again the actor just seemingly, like a highly rated magician, leaves the audience gasping at the truth he wears behind the character’s mask. From his work promoting Shakespeare, through to the brilliant Shackleton and to his latest venture Wallander, Kenneth Branagh has given everything for the stage and screen.

Wallander: The Troubled Man. Television Review. full post

(490 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Wallander, A Lesson In Love. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Jeany Spark, Clive Wood, Kitty Peterkin, Harry Hadden-Paton, Terrance Hardiman, Barnaby Kay, Karen Gledhill, Joe Claflin, Cecile Anckarsvard, Richard McCabe, Marie Critchley, Glenn Doherty, Hugh Mitchell, Thomas Coombes, Felicia Womack, Miranda Pleasence, John Lightbody, Boel Larsson, Ann Bell, Marlene Sidaway, Mia Goth, Robin Gott.

There is a demon that stalks all of us, it will eventually claim us all at one time or another and as it sits waiting patiently for us to succumb, the only question worth asking is what form will it take?

Wallander, A Lesson In Love. Television Review. full post

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

Ripper Street: Edmund Reid Did This. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jonas Armstrong, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Anna Burnett, Charlene McKenna, Lucy Cohu, Matthew Lewis, Anna Koval, Finnion Duff Lennon, Matthew Lewis, Brandon Maher, Kahl Murphy, Benjamin O’ Mahony, Lynn Rafferty, Annabell Rickerby, Killian Scott, David Threlfall, David Wilmot.

There are some killers that just defy explanation, no matter if it is in the blood of real life or the fear of literature and media intrusion, there are killers, murderers, people to whom such depths are crawled that the greatest anomaly, the strangest and unfathomable desire, just makes them such interesting case studies.

Ripper Street: Edmund Reid Did This. Television Review. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling, Rupert Everett, Ryan Gage, Hugo Speer, Michael Ballard, Terence Beesley, Danny Burns, Sam Clemmett, Chris Corrigan, Crispin Letts, Matthew McNulty, Dan Parr, Giselle Scantlebury, Matt Stokoe, John Woodvine.

War between the two great 17th Century European superpowers of France and Spain was never one that ended easily or with much gained upon either side; just lots of dead men, lots of potential wasted and heroes made, some of bronze, some of clay.

The Musketeers, The Spoils Of War. Television Review. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Wallander, White Lioness. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Kenneth Brannagh, Bonnie Henna, John Kani, Tumisho Masha, Alex Fearns, Deon Lotz, Tessa Jubber, Lemogang Tsipa, Jeany Spark.

Corruption reaches everywhere in the end, political jealousy just makes it a harder subject to palate and stomach; for greed on such a scale makes those who fought for freedom and an end to suffering seem even more dishonest than those whose behaviour from the start was only self interest seem like the actions of choir boys sneaking a cigarette behind the vestments during Hymn practice.

Wallander, White Lioness. Television Review. full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Ripper Street, No Wolves In Whitechapel. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Charlene McKenna, Jonas Armstrong, Anna Burnett, Lucy Cohu, Anna Koval, Matthew Lewis, Giacomo Mancini, Benjamin O’ Mahony, Killian Scott, David Threlfall, David Warner.

The streets of the East-End have known pain throughout their existence, the proximity to the docks, the burden of being so close to the capital of a country once steeped in historical value and now one of the mega cities, one that stretches beyond its natural borders and boundaries. At one time full of disease, rancour and malcontent, full of life and the firm grip of humanity sucking on its tender breast, a place of fascination and toil and yet at least for quite a few years, and despite the best attempts of many to introduce metaphorical ones, there are No Wolves in Whitechapel that require taming.

Ripper Street, No Wolves In Whitechapel. Television Review. full post

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

Ripper Street: Men Of Iron, Men Of Smoke. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Lucy Cohu, David Threlfall, David Warner, Rob Compton, Owen Teale, Anna Burnett, Jonas Armstrong, Jack McEvoy, Anna Koval, Matthew Lewis, Jake Mann, Charlene McKenna, Karl Murphy, Benjamin O’ Mahony.

Nothing much has changed in football, there has always been the odd case of corruption, of players being disloyal to the team, of bitter rivalries and even more bitter jealousies; murder though, that it quite new and usually appears in the form of a drug cartel’s anger over a particular player’s actions on the field of play.

Ripper Street: Men Of Iron, Men Of Smoke. Television Review. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Ripper Street: Some Conscious Lost. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, David Threlfall, Killian Scott, Matthew Lewis, Benjamin O’ Mahony, Anna Burnett, Anna Koval, Sonya Cassidy, Jamie Ballard, Charley Palmer Rothwell, Jon Øigarden, Daragh Kearney.

There was no greater sentence of dread to the poor of the East End of London, save transportation to the colonies, than to be told they were to be sent to the workhouse; that place where the even the lowest of hearts tried their level best to keep out of and to which the sometimes sadistic tendencies of those in charge was as criminal as any who might work the lunatic asylums of the day or even the evil at large that often preyed upon the weak and suffering.

Ripper Street: Some Conscious Lost. Television Review. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)