TV review: Atomic

Sky Showcase 9 pm Thursday Alfie Allan plays a drugs runner who gets caught up in a situation that is above his head. When traveling inthe North Africa desert Allan's character finds himself travelling with a supposedly reformer Islamic terrorist. Filled with outbursts of violence as you would expect coming from the same production company as Gangs of London.

TV review - Gangs of London series 3

 The brutal crime saga is back. Starting off with mother and son left to die in a blazing car wreck this show is not for the faint of heart.. With a plot abour contained drugs. The next few weeks will be one he'll of a ride.

Book review: Shadow Network by Tony Kent

 Tony Kent brings us Joe Dempsie, a former British special forces operator now member of a United Nations group investigating war crimes. When a mass shooting in The Gauge sees a witness for a trial  to the run Dempsie and his fellow agents are brought in to track him down with another agent on the trail of the wife of the witness. There are a great many action scenes such as a helicopter attack. Some reader's might take offence to the idea main villain The Monk having a hand in real life events. To sum it a most enjoyable read.

TV review - The Kemps : All Gold

 After bringing us the misfortunes of fictional Prog  Rock star Brian Pern, writer/director Rhys Thomas turns his attention to real life 1980's pop stars Gary and Martin Kemp. The show follows the misfortunes of the brothers as they prepare for an New Year's Eve concert in front of Big Ben. Such was stealing the mastertapes of their biggest bits and being arrested for dumping chemicals into rivers. A worthy addition to the Rhys  Thomas canon.

TV review - Crossfire

 9PM Tuesday BBC1

starring Keeley Hawes

Crossfire is a thriller about a terrorist attack on a Spanish hotel. It plays with the convention of the genre by having an number of flashbacks that full us on the characters personal backgrounds. That is not to say they are moments of tension. Hawes who through her years on Spooks (MI5) is a commanding presence. The final 2 episodes come tonight and tomorrow.

Book review - With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

 The third James Bond novel by Horowitz starts at the funeral of M. But this a deception. Anyone who knows me last Bond book Ian Fleming wrote, The Man With the Golden Gun at the start a brainwashed Bond is sent to kill his superior but the attempt fails. When information gets to the British Secret Service of a cabal of high ranking Soviet agents are planning a world shaking event an now deprogmed Bond is tasked with stopping it. With the exception of an action set piece on London's Tower Bridge this is a low key novel.The ending suggests an ending for the character though Horowitz in the afterword admits others taken the character further. All in all an interesting take on Bond

TV review - Toast of Tinseltown

 Starring Matt Berry

BBC2 10 P.M. Tuesday

Steven Toast is having anger control problems in the first episode of a new series that sees the character switch channels. But Matt Berry is funny as Toast. Highlights include Toast getting into argument with the author of a book he is doing an audio reading  for, attending anger management and having a fight with arch enemy Ray Purchase. A great set up for the rest of the series when Toast hits LA.

you can see the whole series on I-player

Mishap time

 A rare TV highlight this week was The Goes Wrong Show take on the Nativity. From the Angel Gabreil crashing to the stage, King Herod sat on a forever spinning throne and a larger than usual count of wise men, this was welcome respite from the gloom we have had to go through these times.

TV Review: Quia

9 PM, ITV

Starring Matthew MacFadyen, Sian Clifford ,Michael Sheen

Taking us back the time when Who Wants to Be a Millionare? was taking over the UK hearts and minds., Quiz tells the story of the infamous cheating Army Major Charles Ingram. Playing Ingram is Macfadyen who is bemused by how the show has taken over his family with his brother-in-law spending large sums just to get on the show. We also get background on how the show came to be and it's makers. Adding to the long line of famous men he has played is Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrent with the same easy going charm. Quiz is a watchable pitch black farce.

The final 2 parts are on tonight and tomorrow.

DVD commentary to listen to part 4

John Cleese's commentary on the Fawlty episode The Psychiatrist offers us some interesting facts and thoughts. Cleese had his friend Nicky Henson (whose death was announced this week) play the role of a Lothario who Basil id obnoxious to beuse he feared that some who did not know him would take offence. The scene where Sybil lists her mothers large number of phobias was inspired by Cleese's own mother. Cleese expresses his admiration for the actor playing the titular character as due to an injury he had suffered before the episode went into production had to work through great pain. Cleese also admits to taking a fancy to 3 female guest stars. Worth a listen to hear the thoughts of a comic genius.

Comics review - Lois Lane #1

Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Mike Perkins

Greg Rucka is a writer who is comfortable with writing what many would consider standard Superhero material such as a run on the now defunct Adventures of Superman in the mid 2000s to more down to earth material such as Stumptown which is soon to be a TV series. Another feature of Rucka's is his strong female characters in such titles as Wonder Woman, Elektra and (again) Stumptown. And now Rucka starts an new series starring Superman's other half. There many plot threads in this debut issue, Lois probes a Russian journalist death, Lois asking probing questions at a White House press briefing and her home life with Clark Kent. It is to Rucka's credit that he keeps these story lines clean and simple for the reader. And a shout out for artist Mike Perkins for his art work in particular an atmospheric sequence where Lois recruits the vigilante The Question in her Russia investigation. All in all an unique spin on a familiar character.

Book review - Joe Country by Mick Herron

What is advertised as a standard spy thriller is a sly satire on Brexit Britain. The latest novel to focus on a group of disgraced British spies called the Slow Horses who work under the command of Jackson Lamb a man who is not afraid to admit to having a flatulence problem. The thriller plot comes when a renegade agent who just so happens to the father of one of the Slow Horses. However this plays second fiddle to the power games played between the highest elements of British Intelligence. The scenes where Lamb has to deal with his much hated superior 'Lady Di' bristles with the characters mutual loathing. It is only towards the end that novel goes in full thriller mode however Herron does not do the obvious. We only get the aftermath of a deadly fight involving one of the slow horses. For those who want the usual thriller will be disappointed but those who want more will get an novel of razor sharp wit.

TV review - Year of the Rabbit

Starring Matt Berry, Freddie Fox and Alun Armstrong

10PM Channel 4 Monday

Matt Berry has his first starring role since his award winning turn in Toast of London in this spoof of Victorian Crime drama Ripper Street. Matt plays Rabbit a tough as nails (his dog chew off an eyebrow) cop bringing the law in his own way. From the start Year of the Rabbit gives you belly laughs as we see Rabbit demonstrate to School kid how to get confessions by beating up their teacher in front of them! Paul Kaye is a highlight as a rival of Rabbit while Armstrong as Rabbit's superior is a fine example of comic exasperation. The only weak point being the case of the week element of the show though we get a running plot of a conspiracy with a cameo appearance by Keeley Hawes whose husband Matthew MacFadyen was the star of Ripper Street. Year of the Rabbit with it's first episode has set a comic standard.

If feel inclined you can watch all episodes on All 4

TV Review - Killing Eve

Starring Jodie Cormer, Sandra Oh, Fiona Shaw

9:15 PM Saturday BBC1

Picking up seconds after the conclusion of the first series the opening episode saw both main characters Oh's Eve and Cormer's Villanelle at low points. Oh gives a masterclass in emotional confusion as she stumbles through Paris after stabbing Villanelle in the stomach. along the way there is a humorous encounter as Eve tries to get back to London. Meanwhile Villanelle stumbles around seeking treatment for her wound ending in a hospital wearing a boy's superhero pyjamas! This opening episode was more of a set up of what is to come though very much enlivened by some sparkling dialogue. The forthcoming episodes should be some of the most unique viewing experiences of recent years.

TV review - Ghosts

Starring Charlotte Ritchie, Simon Farnaby, Mathew Baynton

9:30PM Monday BBC1


Ghosts is the latest production from the team behind widely acclaimed kids show Horrible Histories. Ritchie plays a woman who on the death of distant relative inherits a manor house. She moves into it with her boyfriend and they then start to plan to turn it a hotel which does not go down well with the spirts (including 2 played by Farnayt and Baynton) already residing there. So as to be expected the ghosts embarked on a campaign to expel the newcomers. However it is the interaction the ghosts themselves that is the main selling  point here. On the death of the old woman one of them (an Army officer) laying claim to her only to have to deal with the wailing and falling out of the window!Sometimes the ghosts frighten themselves as when they lay their eyes on a plague stricken girl. Ghosts may not be earth changing but it gives you a good laugh. For some reason Ghosts has been given a rather late slot which gives the impression that it is a lot more aldut than it is.

TV review - Strike Back

Starring Warren Brown, Daniel McPherson and Alin Sumanwata

Sky 1 Thursday 9PM

Back for a seventh series under the subtitle Silent Warfare (though in the US it is Revolution) Strike Back the TV show that has action scenes that some Hollywood Action movies would kill for. British special ops group Section 20 find themselves in Kula Lumper after a British intelligence agent is murdered there. In this first episode alone we get many twists and turns as our heroes discover that the Russians have lost an nuclear bomb. The opening episode has not 1 but 2 gunfights as our heroes are confronted by Triad gangsters with the latter seeing them forced going to the roof of a skyscraper as their escape route is cut off  by the gangsters. With a rare straight role for Ade Edamson as a British diplomat Strike Back is a show that offers viewers edge of the seat thrills

TV Review - This Time with Alan Partidge

Starring Steve Coogan, Susannah Fielding

BBC1 9:30PM Monday

Staging the most remarkable comeback (both accidentally shooting dead a chat show guest and punching a BBC exec on live TV) Alan Partidge fills in for a sick host on an One Show copycat. As ever with Alan things do not go well, mispronouncing guests names, blundering through technical demonstrations and making legal action worthy statements. Steve Coogan as Alan is as always on the top of his game. One particular highlight (or low light depending on your point of view) is when Alan demonstrates how to wipe your bottom without using your hands. Alan is back and in that awful way we all love.

TV Review - Curfew

Sky 1 9PM Friday

Starring Sean Bean, Miranda Richardson and Billy Zane

Curfew is set in a future UK where a virus has devastated the country leaving victims as either ferile creatures or light fearing hence a curfew (and the title) during the night. The show wears it's many influences up front, the main one being I Am Legend. The first episode was more of a scene setter as we get know to some of the characters. Though there are some bouts of action in particular a well put together car chase. However what was supposed to be a jump scare is ruined by the fact that it was in the promo. Of the performers newcomer Phobe Fox impresses the most in the role of an ambulance driver with personal reasons to compete in the all night race. Sean Bean chews the scenery as a crime boss, Miranda Richardson has only one brief scene where she puts on her seat!. While Billy Zane does not appear in the first episode at all! The rest of Curfew's ensures a must watch with it's mix high speed thrills and chills.

TV review - The ABC Murders

Starring John Malkovich, Rupert Grint, Tara Fitzgerald

BBC1 21:00 Wednesday

Nearly 2 years ago I did a count down of the best episodes of David Suchet's tenure as Agretha Christies dapper Belgian dective Poirot. Coming out on top was The ABC Murders which in a bit of mischief was aired on ITV3 just before this new 3 parter started. This version finds Poirot alone in the world and having to make do with hosting murder theme parties. Just as the same Poirot starts receiving taunting letters from a taunting killer however when he goes to Scotland Yard in the hope of receiving help from his good friend Inspector (Kevin McNally) Japp he finds that he has retired and when he goes to visit him he dies from a heart attack. Poirot then finds himself dealing with a younger policeman (played by Grint) who has no respect for Poirot and even questions his background. This new continues the grim and gritty vein of recent Christie adatatopms by Sara Phelps, One victim is a very hateful character who flaunts her sexuality in an manner that when she turns up dead on a beach you glad she is dead. Another loathsome character is landlady played by Shirley Henderson who rents out her daughter for her tenants sexual needs, Not without it's problems such as Grint even with a moustache looking far too young to be a senior policeman, this version of The ABC Murders is not for every one

The ABC Murders continues tonight and concludes tomorrow.

TV review: Vic & Bob's Night Out

Starring Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer

10PM Wednesday night BBC4



Last night was the start of the duo's first show in a very long time. It is mainly made up of the 2 having surreal conversations, one of which descends into a bout of cartoon violence. An other is interrupted by 'Tom Cruise' just before he performs a stunt. There are spoof adverts from a Norfolk based which offers would be customer the choice of either mud or soil to throw. but the highlight is a talent show of which one contestant is able to yodel backward and still he doesn't win! The pair's brand of humour is not for everyone but for those who can take it is a great laugh.