Originally published by L.S. Media. September 16th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Kevin Whatley, Diana Quick, Ralf Brown, Morgan Watkins, Katie Anderson, Nigel Lindsay, Simon Hubbard, Tom Hutch.
The final episode of the series of Inspector George Gently is perhaps one that will have the thoughts of the last week kept firmly in the mind of its viewers as it dealt with the insidious and detestable world of police corruption.
Liverpool Sound And Vision Rating *****
Cast: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Mike McShane, Rob David, Ozzie Yue, Bentley Kalu.
The hype surrounding the final episode of the mini-like series of the seventh new outing of Doctor Who has had the plethora of fan sites working themselves into frenzy since it was announced that one of the best companions, the red-haired and forthright Amy Pond, was going to leave at some point during the current season. The reason is simple, not every-one leaves the Tardis in good circumstances; sometimes they don’t come back at all.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Oliver Lansley, Katherine Kelly, Angela Lonsdale, Tony Pitts, James Wilby, Don Gallagher, Adam Garcia, Simon Callow, James McArdle, James Floyd, Jonathon Kerrigan, Perry Millward.
The lives of those that make us laugh are often beset by some inner lingering sadness or conflicting turmoil. So it seems is the absolute truth to the life of Kenny Everett, a man who had his fingers on the pulse of a nation before they realised he had whipped out his musical comedy stethoscope and asked them to giggle.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall, David Warner, Sarah Smart, Iain De Caestecker, Olivia Cooke, Maise Williams, Bill Milner, Kian Parsiani, Pixie Davies.
It seems odd that the premier 20th century British horror writer, James Herbert, has never had many adaptations of his copious amount and in most cases prestigious work. What has been filmed has been woeful at best and an affront to British Horror at its seedy worst. For the B.B.C. to pick up the option to one of the great writer’s latter works, the sadistic and suspenseful The Secret of Crickley Hall is a coup for both writer and television viewer.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall, David Warner, Sarah Smart, Iain DeCaestecker, Olivia Cooke, Maise Williams, Bill Milner, Kian Parsiani, Pixie Davies, Donald Sumpter.
The second part of Joe Ahearne’s adaptation of James Herbert’s The Secret of Crickley Hall sees the tension stoked up as the malevolent force of Douglas Henshall’s Augustus Cribben starts to take more of a hold on the lives of the young family that resides in the former orphanage.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall, David Warner, Sarah Smart, Iain DeCaestecker, Olivia Cooke, Maise Williams, Bill Milner, Kian Parsiani, Pixie Davies, Donald Sumpter.
The final part of James Herbert’s acclaimed supernatural thriller, The Secret Of Crickley Hall, contained one of the most shocking scenes in recent memory on television and even though the scene was short, the chilling sight of children on the floor would have struck a nerve with anyone who has read anything of the disposal of human bodies during World War Two. Unnerving and it stuck in the craw but it proved to be an incredible piece of story-telling adapted for television by Joe Ahearne and for that the B.B.C. and the cast of the three part series deserve high credit for their acting.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Mullan, Anastasia Hille, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls, Demosthenes Chrysan, Dragos Bucar, Shaban Arifi, Julia Ragnarsson, Danny Sapani, Nigel Lindsay, Osy Ikhile, Sidney Kean, Lisa McAllister, Catherine Winter, Amarildo Kola.
Gone it seems, are the days of Pinkie Brown and the black and white days of the south coast’s criminal underbelly in Brighton Rock. Now the terrifying prospect of Eastern European gang culture rears in head in the seedy dangerous world of The Fear and it’s a far more dangerous world than teen hoodlum Pinkie could have ever have imagined.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Mullan, Anastasia Hille, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls, Richard E. Grant, Demosthenes Chrysan, Dragos Bucar, Shaban Arifi, Julia Ragnarsson, Danny Sapani, Nigel Lindsay, Osy Ikhile, Sidney Kean, Lisa McAllister, Catherine Winter, Amarildo Kola.
Episode two of The Fear sees the further mental disintegration of crime lord Richie Beckett and the disturbing brutality that passes between the two warring families taken up to an even higher gear.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Mullan, Anastasia Hille, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls, Richard E. Grant, Demosthenes Chrysan, Dragos Bucar, Shaban Arifi, Julia Ragnarsson, Danny Sapani, Nigel Lindsay, Osy Ikhile, Sidney Kean, Lisa McAllister, Catherine Winter, Amarildo Kola.
The tension that had been building in the framework of The Fear reaches almost fever pitch proportions as the escalating war between the Kosovan’s and Richie’s family starts to mirror the war going on inside his head.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Peter Mullan, Anastasia Hille, Harry Lloyd, Paul Nicholls, Richard E. Grant, Demosthenes Chrysan, Dragos Bucar, Shaban Arifi, Julia Ragnarsson, Danny Sapani, Nigel Lindsay, Osy Ikhile, Sidney Kean, Lisa McAllister, Catherine Winter, Amarildo Kola.
Richard Cotton’s acclaimed television drama, The Fear, reached its final destructive conclusion whilst retaining the excellent writing from beginning to end and not entertaining the idea of slipping into the realms of outlandish fantasy. It is for this that the writer and cast must be applauded fully for giving a distinctive and sensitive portrayal of Alzheimer’s Disease and yet also giving a huge shot in the arm to a hopeful resurgence in the British Noir art form.