Category Archives: TV

Endeavour: Arcadia. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, Jake Laskey, Chris Larkin, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Richard Dillane, Joanna Roth, Charles Babalola, Shvorne Marks, Tom York, Caroline O’ Neil, Sara Vickers, Jack Bannon, Gala Gordon, Dakota Blue Richards, Sean Rigby, James Bradshaw, Amelia Clarkson, Max Bennett, Amalia Vitale, Paige Carter, Angela Terrance, Abigail Thaw, Elizabeth Hopper, Helen Lyle.

The dreaming spires of Oxford are seen by many as the vision of the idyllic, the meeting of the pastoral and the edification of those that reside within its natural border, there is something to be said for this near vision of perfection, of the unceasingly bucolic and the trek through the minds of the people who make it their business to steal the vision and try and make it an overpowering Arcadia.

Endeavour: Arcadia. Television Review. full post

(418 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Habeas Corpus. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Fiona Dolman, Gwilym Lee, Helen Baxendale, Emma Cunniffe, Alastair Mackenzie, Navin Chowdhry, Ty Hurley, Ciarán McMenamin, Clive Merrison, Sarah Middleton, Joseph Mydell, Diane Quick, Elizabeth Rider, Manjinder Virk.

Midsomer may have had more than its fair share of murders over the years, a record that is unlikely to be surpassed at any time in the near future, but it has never suffered from the ghoulish act of body snatching in that time and yet right underneath the noses of Lancaster family, the patriarch of the family is removed from his death bed and the body of proof is cleansed.

Midsomer Murders: Habeas Corpus. Television Review. full post

(396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Endeavour: Ride. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Roger Allam, Shaun Evans, James Bradshaw, Jack Laskey, Anton Lesser, Sean Rigby, David Oakes, Lee Asquith-Coe, Jack Bannon, Samuel Barnett, Martin Bassindale, Margaret Clunie, Sam Coulson, Crystal Leaity, Ben Mansfield, Shvorne Marks, Louis Maskell, Martin Mayger, Robin McCallum, Hilton McRae, Caroline O’ Neil, Guy Potter, Dakota Blue Richards, Vincent Riotta, Lewis Rainer, Nick Sampson, Abigail Thaw, Joe Sims, Meghan Treadway, Dan Trotter, Jemima West.

Endeavour: Ride. Television Review. full post

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

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Amanda Abbington, Louise Brealey, Jonathan Aris, Tim McInnerny, Natasha O’Keeffe, Yasmine Akram, Taj Smith, Gerald Kyd, Daniel Fearn, Stephanie Hyam, Damian Samuels, Charles Furness, Adam Greaves- Neal, Jessie Hawkes, Dionne Vincent, Kishan Maru, Gavin Lee Lewis, Tim Barlow, David Nellist, Alex Austin.

“It is a war we must lose”, muses Mycroft as he sits with corpulent and greed running through his veins and it seems in every battle there must come a realisation that that the enemy we are fighting is the one that is naturally our ally.

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride. Television Review. full post

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

Big Driver, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Mario Bello, Ann Dowd, Will Harris, Joan Jett, Olympia Dukakis, Jennifer Kydd, Andre Myette, Juanita Peters, Mary-Colin Chisholm, Kim Parkhill, Deborah Allen, Tara Nicodermo, Roland Marko Simmonds, Mike Taylor, Lee J. Campbell, Trina Corkum, Patrick Robert Wong.

The world of suspense, of blood curdling terror and murderous emotion have always been a stocking filler of goodies in which Stephen King, arguably the finest and certainly the most prolific horror writer of the 20th Century has packed away inside the minds of all who have come across his writing yet somehow the man who brought The Stand, Misery and Rose Madder to the imaginations of millions of readers has not had the same good fortune when it comes to seeing his work presented on television; especially when he has been involved in the script of the presented piece.

Big Driver, Television Review. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Stephen Fry: A Life On Screen, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The trouble with television is that allows its viewers to believe that they know fully each person who ever appears on its screens, it is a trick of the box that it coaxes the watcher into the belief that they are an eyewitness into the minds, the thoughts and perhaps even the indiscretions of the subject at hand.

Stephen Fry: A Life On Screen, Television Review. full post

(415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

And Then There Were None, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Catherine Bailey, Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody, Burn Gorman, Christopher Hatherall, Anne Maxwell Martin, Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson, Toby Stephens, Noah Taylor, Ben Deery, Jim Main, Daisy Waterstone.

The British obsession with murder owes more to the conditioning belief of understanding that order will always be restored rather than wanting to see someone get away with the act. Not for nothing is the book charts on any local high street bookshop always seen to have the latest crime novel within tidy ranks but the authors of such are seen arguably to be in the eyes of many people amongst the most interesting to read. Nobody wants to see anyone get away with murder but there is always something slightly devilish about hoping to see it attempted and in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None murder is drawn to a perfect art.

And Then There Were None, Television Review. full post

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

Peter And Wendy, Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Stanley Tucci, Laura Fraser, Paloma Faith, Zak Sutcliffe, Hazel Doupe, Rasmus Hardiker, Maurice Cole, Asim Chaudhey, Bjarne Henriksen, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Natifa Mai,Patrick Williams, Stephen Agnew, Laura Elphinstone.

The Christmas schedule is such that it falls deeply into the realms of asking the viewer to remember others and the tireless work they do, it is a noble act but one in which many will find themselves just having on in the background in between munching on the last mince pie or playing a game with the children.

Peter And Wendy, Television Review. full post

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

Doctor Who, The Husbands Of River Song. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Peter Capaldi, Alex Kingston, Matt Lucas, Greg Davis, Philip Rhys, Rowan Polonski, Robert Curtis, Anthony Cozens, Chris Lew Kim Hoi, Nicolle Smarrt,

Christmas is a time for surprises, for meeting up with those dearest to you and for sharing a laugh or two, perhaps even share an escapade and a kiss with; thankfully The Doctor is attendance to make all these happen, after all he has a lot to lose as one of The Husbands of River Song.

Doctor Who, The Husbands Of River Song. Television Review. full post

(437 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

We’re Doomed! The Dad’s Army Story. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Paul Ritter, Richard Dormer, Stuart McQuarrie, Sarah Alexander, Sally Philips, Charlotte McDougall, Harry Peacock, Keith Allen, Amy Hughes, John Sessions, Amy O’ Dwyer, Ralph Riach, Michael Cochrane, Mark Heap, Julian Sands, Kevin Bishop, Kieran Hodgson, Shane Ritchie, Roy Hudd.

We’re Doomed! The Dad’s Army Story. Television Review. full post

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