Reviews

I don't know what people expected. This was a great episode that really engages your brain and your heart. The sheer utter futility of war, the driving force of hatred. The reality of suffering and death. Can we ever achieve what is right by such destruction and violence. There are echoes, may be deliberate here, of the debate of whether dropping the atom bombs on Horoshima and Nagasaki were morally justified. This show isn't a soap opera. it isn't a knights in armour cavalcade or computer game. It has a deeper purpose than that. It opens us up to consider the stupid viciousness of people, the dangers of love and hate. The hard moral choices that have to be faced by individuals. I for one, love and respect this series and welcome how Season 8 panned out.

What do people expect? This is the ending that was ordained. The three main characters - John, Sansa and Arya have been changed forever. No longer who they were and now beginning an new phase in their lives. I cannot agree with the low scores people are giving. What do they want? What ending would they have written? And a bonus - a master class in acting by Peter Dinklage. Thank you GoT.

Wow. I loved this. Serious horror but with a tongue in cheek with lots of references to other film/TV. In the end, so sad and yet satisfying. This begins as a version of Stoker but ends as something else, a distillation of Dracula rather a straight reflection of Dracula. Very brave, very well written and beautifully acted. Do not come at this expecting Stoker's novel. Come at this with an open mind for the vampire myth and stylish writing.

This is not a bad film, and a very welcome look at the complexities of children and the relationships adults have with them. None of the character are simple, mny are complex and some of it is actually hard to watch. Don't judge this this my our own sugar-coated, health and safety obsessed view of children today. See it as a realistic portrayal of children and societal problems of the 1950s. Then think how we see children and their lives today - overly protected and overly idealised. There are also hints of the good actor Max Bygraves could have been had he not gone for a singing career.

This is an attempt to show how ordinary people were affected by the war and by Nazi power. There is some good acting and some complexity to some of the characters. But - other characters are so shallow or simplistic as to leave me groaning or shouting at the screen. Overly emotional people acting in ways that defy common sense. The plots are a little predictable in places. What I like - Helen Hunt's naive American, Sean Bean's damaged veteran, the posh lady who finds redemption in the little boy Jan, most of the Poles.

This week's episode left me puzzled. How the hell do two Polish soldiers escaping the Germans through forests end up running into and helping a British army unit, presumably in Belgium?!!!!!!!!! What the hell?

I feel this is a brave attempt at a good series but is let down by week plotting and characterisation. The first rule of narrative is that it should be believable, and the second that there should be characters you can empathise with. This really has neither.

This is well worth watching to see some very good actors playing against type and flexing acting muscles all too sadly wasted in many of their other films.

I enjoyed this film. It seems to me to show the seemier underbelly of Hollywood and the 60s. The glamour and counterculture emerge as fragile and coercive/opportunistic. The two parallel arcs of Dalton's career and Tate's are nicely contrasted. Di Caprio is the star of the show witha flawless acting performance. He is however almost upstaged by the young actress who plays the 8 year old Mirabelle! The star turns are also very good playing Sam Wannamker and Steve McQueen. My only problem with it is that I think it is way too long and needs tighter editing. Well worth seeing though.

This is the episode I've enojyed most so far. Perhaps it's no coincidence it wasn't written by Chris Chibnall who has been a sore disappointment. This had a story of relevance to one of the companions. It had interesting aliens. It also had good and affective acting, with a strong moral that didn't feel too forced. It showed the inhumanity of man and the humanity of aliens. This new version of the francise still has some way to go, and needs stronger stories - and stronger aliens. But I feel this episode is a step in the right direction.

What can I say? How do you review perfection? In some ways this is a tried and tested format, the group in a puzzle, being tested by a mad puppeteer. But this was so much deeper than anything in that genre. This was complex and dark, and took us to the soul of Holmes (both of them) and Watson. You can't look away from the screen for a second. You have to weigh every word. And in the end, what we have is a triumphant poem extolling the values of love and feeling over logic and reason. Gatiss and Moffat may well be the finest writing team in the history of the English language. They understand psychology and how to manipulate characters, while staying true to what makes each character tick. As a bonus we get a last appearance by Moriarty and by Mary. I thought the previous episode was good. This was even better. A good story is more than just a chain of causal events or puzzles to be solved. The best involve character and psychology. This isn't a "who did what" or a "how did he/she do that". This a "why did they do this". TV just does not get better than this.

I never tire of watching this film. It always makes me smile. The chemistry between all the characters is great. The comedy is well handled, and does not get in the way of the romance. Crowe shows just what a good actor he is, with nuance and subtlety. He is possibly a better light comedian that he is a dramatic actor.

The film has a moral - an attack on selfishness and greed. Even a bad man can seduced back to the good side.

Cotillard shows how a woman can overcome hurt and suspicion, and learn to relax. Sometimes being loved is harder than loving.

My only gripe - we need more Albert Finney! In many ways he is the heart of the film and only appears in flashback.

Another gripe! I don't really like wine.

That may well be one of the best Dr Who episodes I have ever seen. Just the Doctor trapped in one location, no other people, and taken to an extreme. We learn more about the Doctor. We learn about the lengths he will go to. The thinking behind this episode is breathtaking.Peter Capaldi dominates the screen. His intensity is frightening. I don't want to say more without giving the plot away. The design is also stunning. A medieval feel with endless corridors and floors on the tower that move. An impression of great height and also great claustrophobia. Not a lot happens and yet I could watch this episode again and again At last something written for Capaldi that gives him something to really sink his teeth into.

I as addicted to this series when it was first shown. Seeing it again in recent years confirmed to me just how good it was. Far better than most modern fare.

Callan was a reluctant killer who somehow always ended up doing what he knew was right but also what was morally grubby. The other characters were all superb and strongly drawn in their own right. Hunter, the leader of the section, Lonely the criminal low life friend, Toby the upper class psychotic who ends up his friend. The only drawback is the lack of strong women characters, apart from a few occasional guests.

This was a spy drama that made you think, that made you question your own side.

Modern writers could well learn from this series.

I saw this on TV in 1972, the only time it was broadcast. If this is indeed lost in the archives then the BBC should hang its head in shame. The story is told mostly without dialogue and is an intense visual and emotional journey. The man hunts the stallion, succeeds in taming it and riding it - and realises he has quenched a free spirit and lost his soul in the process. He lets the stallion go free. A simple story but beautifully shot and played by Peter Arne. The film mesmerised me at the time and I have seen very little to match it since. The use of Sibelius's 3rd symphony as the background music is ideal and makes the latter part of the film a great example of what the British film director Michael Powell called a 'composed film'. This truly is a haunting masterpiece that lingers long in the mind after it has finished. Come on BBC! Find it and let us see it again.