Category Archives: TV

The Musketeers: A Marriage Of Inconvenience. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Alexandra Dowling, Ryan Gage, Maimie McCoy, Tamla Kari, Marc Warren, Hugo Speer, Perdita Weeks, Nicholas Blane, Laurence Kennedy, Charlotte Salt, Bo Poraj, Andrew Westfield, Ed Stoppard, James Joyce, Tony Guilfoyle.

It seems funny in some ways that there is so much made of the destabilising forces that seek to infiltrate the countries of the world and the modern techniques used in the world of espionage and spying, that people forget just how long spying has been used as a precursor to war, whether on a nation or on a person, spying is always the name of the game.

The Musketeers: A Marriage Of Inconvenience. Television Review. full post

(361 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Wolf Hall. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mark Rylance, Damien Lewis, Claire Foy, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Bernard Hill, Joss Porter, Hannah Steele, Jessica Raine, Edward Holcroft, Joel MacCormack, Tom Holland, David Robb, Kate Philips, Luke Roberts, Richard Dillane, Will Keane,
Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Alistair Mackenzie, Mark Gatiss, Anton Lesser, Saskia Reeves, Jonathan Pryce, Max Fowler, Joanne Whalley, Harry Lloyd, Charity Wakefield, Christopher Fairbank, Aimee Ffion-Edwards.

Wolf Hall. Television Review. full post

(530 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Eight.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Bailey, Tanya Franks, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Shaun Dooley, Eliza Bennett, Lucy Cohu, Simone McAullay, Joe Sims, Charlotte Beaumont, Adam Wilson, Tom Rosenthal, Hollie Burgess, Lucas Hare.

It should never have been in any doubt that there would be a third series of Broadchurch commissioned, such a programme cannot be dismissed so easily with just two series underneath its belt and yet as the Not Guilty verdict came tumbling off the tongue of the Chairperson, there must have been an inkling that the original case was far from over.

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Eight. full post

(564 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: A Vintage Murder. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Gwilym Lee, Fiona Dolman, Tamzin Malleson, Sabrina Bartlett, Max Bennett, Claire Bloom, Mark Bonnar, Rosie Cavaliero, Wayne Foskett, Ruth Gemmell, Selina Griffiths, Tom Rhys Harries, Jaye Jacobs, Naoki Mori, Lloyd Owen.

There seems to be a fascination with the art of British wine making and the artistry of sensational jealous murder, it’s almost as if wine brings out the worst in those with evil nefarious intent and there is a subtle unsaid notion that the more natural drinks of the islands just leave you worse for wear, that there is no jealousy over a 40 year old Balvenie Malt apart from who gets the last amber drop.

Midsomer Murders: A Vintage Murder. Television Review. full post

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

Broadchurch: Series Two, Episode Seven. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Franks, Tanya Bailey, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Lucy Cohu, Shaun Dooley, Adam Wilson, Simone McAullay, Joe Simms, Tom Rosenthal, Hollie Burgess, Lucas Hare.

The penultimate episode of a long running drama is just as important as the bitter conclusion. The viewer has had the set up in the initial opening episode and stayed the course, but if the penultimate instalment doesn’t leave the viewer hanging on the edge of the chair, shouting in frustration, even if they know that answers are never that easy, then all is lost and time and tide wash away the burgeoning expectation and the final reveal is taken away.

Broadchurch: Series Two, Episode Seven. Television Review. full post

(524 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

The Musketeers, The Return. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Hugo Speer, Maimie McCoy, Linzie Cocker, Steve Evets, Alan Rothwell, Barney White, Miles Anderson, Marianne Oldham.

As history has proved time and time again, when the Musketeers are in a fight, it is all for one and one for all. Thankfully in the modern retelling of the classic story and arguably the best in over a hundred and ten years of film and television portrayals, it’s not every episode that has the clichéd signal of derring-do attached to it, the near fatalistic but ultimately triumphant cheer of the Musketeer’s motto shouted across the television as if the viewer would ever forget.

The Musketeers, The Return. Television Review. full post

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

Midsomer Murders: The Ballad Of Midsomer County. Television Review.

MLivepool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Gwilym Lee, Fiona Dolman, Tamzin Malleson, Dean Andrews, Rakie Ayola, Lucie Jones, Claudie Blakley, Clarke Peters, Therese Bradley, Daniel Brocklebank, Chris Cartwright, Anthony Farrelly, Sean Gilder, Stephen Hagan, John W. G, Harley, Michael Haydon, , Richard Banks, Rosalind March, Stuart St. Paul, Ricky Raipal, Mick Slaney, Anick Wiget.

Death always needs a great theme tune. It is the signifier to a very good film or television detective series that an oncoming loss of life by nefarious means is accompanied by a memorable song or instrumental piece. If The Omen had a soundtrack, that say for example, was light and pithy would it have made young Damien seem more brutal or somehow as cuddly as a panda with an overbearing affection disorder?

Midsomer Murders: The Ballad Of Midsomer County. Television Review. full post

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

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, Charlotte Beaumont, Lucy Cohu, Joe Sims, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Bailey, Tanya Franks, Simone McAullay, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James D’Arcy, Charlotte Rampling, Meera Syal, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Adam Wilson, Shaun Dooley, Amanda Drew, Eliza Bennett, Hollie Burgess.

At some point the healing process has to begin, it must be seen to mend and restore; however before it does, like a scab that you cannot help but pick at, the blood-letting must continue and at times it may feel like the hurting will never stop.

Broadchurch, Television Review. Series Two, Episode Six. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Death By Magic. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Gwilym Lee, Fiona Dolman, Tamzin Malleson, Andrew Lee Potts, Jack Shepherd, Joe Absolom, Amanda Burton, Raj Awasti, Fraser Ayres, Pamela Betsy Cooper, Ashley Darwood, Noma Dumezweni, Anthony Farrelly, Deborah Findlay, Merelina Kendall, Stephanie Leonidas, Alan McKenna, John Neville, Justin Salinger.

The art of deception and the sleight of hand,  the act of illusion and slight bemusement needs both to succeed; and so too does a good old fashioned Detective/murder programme.

Midsomer Murders: Death By Magic. Television Review. full post

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

Broadchurch. Series Two, Episode Five. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Pauline Quirke, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Tanya Franks, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Shaun Dooley, Joe Sims, Adam Wilson, Simone McAullay.

 

As is often pointed out in the national press via informed publications that deals with criminal statistics, offences can often be linked together, the perpetrator of one such misdeed is often responsible for others. Why should the town of Broadchurch, tearing itself apart at the seams with claim and counterclaim, be any different?

Broadchurch. Series Two, Episode Five. Television Review. full post

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