House of Cards

If you were involved in British politics in the late 80s and early 90s then you couldn’t fail to be hooked on the TV adaptation of the Michael Dobbs novel House of Cards. Every political party member and amateur debater who thought they were being clever answered any question asked of them with “You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment.”…

The Best Of Men

I can officially declare that my post-Olympics slump is over. No more mooching about looking for sporting events on the TV, no more crying because Team GB hasn’t won a gold medal in the past five minutes. The 2012 Paralympics start today. I haven’t been this excited since, well since the Queen dropped into the Olympic Stadium…

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Guy Fawkes

Every British schoolchild knows the lines “Remember, remember the fifth of November; gunpowder, treason and plot” and most probably have a vague knowledge of why we burn an effigy of Guy (or Guido) Fawkes and set off a lot of fireworks on 5th November, the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot…

Spooks

It’s been just over a week now since the last ever episode of Spooks aired and I’ve just about recovered enough to put down in words my thoughts on the finale and how Spooks became such a phenomenon over the 9 years since it first began. I normally do my utmost to avoid spoilers but it’s going to be impossible …

Downton Abbey: Series 1

If there’s anything that us Brits can do well it’s the costume drama. No matter what we try to say about being edgy and modern we love a bit of corset. Throw in a bit of upper class snobbery and lower class bitterness and we’re in heaven (ignore the middle classes though, they are no fun at all). Last year ITV1 struck period drama gold with Downton Abbey…

Dexter: Season 5

In the past few years the way that I watch television has changed. It’s no problem to come into an established title, because if it’s good then I’ll just buy the box-set of the previous series’