DVD: French Dressing

DVD: FRENCH DRESSING Ken Russell's cinema debut is a misfiring, fascinating seaside sex comedy

Ken Russell's cinema debut is a misfiring, fascinating seaside sex comedy

Ken Russell remained British cinema’s enfant terrible till his death in 2011, aged 84. Rather than fade into respectability, he retreated to amateur provocations filmed in his back garden, and returned to the dramatised documentaries on classical musicians which made his name for the BBC in the Sixties. His notoriety peaked with Women In Love’s nude male wrestling in 1969, the nude nuns and corrupt bigotry of 1971’s The Devils and his chat show assault on its critic Alexander Walker, and The Who’s Tommy (1975).

Ravilious, Dulwich Picture Gallery

RAVILIOUS, DULWICH PICTUE GALLERY The ravishing and gently surreal works of one of Britain's greatest watercolourists

The ravishing and gently surreal works of one of Britain's greatest watercolourists

Look at me, and think of England. This marvellous array of quirky, idiosyncratic watercolours by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) from the 1930s until his premature death during wartime when his plane, on an air sea rescue mission for which he had volunteered, crashed in Iceland. It is full of memorable and haunting pictures.

Sex, Lies and Love Bites: The Agony Aunt Story, BBC Four

SEX, LIES AND LOVE BITES: THE AGONY AUNT STORY, BBC FOUR From lace gloves and corsets to sex, drugs and abortion

From lace gloves and corsets to sex, drugs and abortion

Philippa Perry, 20 years a psychotherapist, was the dashing narrator of this history of 300 years of agony aunts (or uncles). Wearing a bright orange coat, she cycled between libraries, universities, newspaper and magazine offices, looking at centuries-old publications and interviewing contemporary writers. It was a fact-studded visual essay, but in spite of the raciness of its subject, oddly bland.

10 Questions for Composer Dobrinka Tabakova

10 QUESTIONS FOR COMPOSER DOBRINKA TABAKOVA The Grammy-nominated Bulgarian-British composer talks about her music

The Grammy-nominated Bulgarian-British composer talks about her music

There is everything of the quiet achiever about Dobrinka Tabakova. The softly-spoken Bulgarian-British composer was born in 1980 into a music-loving family of doctors, scientists and academics in the town of Plovdiv in Bulgaria and moved to England in 1991. She has garnered composition prizes from Amsterdam, London, New York, Neuchâtel, Vienna and Warsaw.

Three Men in a Boat, The Original Theatre Company, Touring

THREE MEN IN A BOAT, THE ORIGINAL THEATRE COMPANY, TOURING Jolly boating music-hall as Jerome K Jerome's silly asses barge down the Thames

Jolly boating music-hall as Jerome K Jerome's silly asses barge down the Thames

It’s a hostage to fortune really to create a play on one of the funniest books ever written, and a Victorian one at that. Still, Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat is regularly mined for stage and small screen entertainment, and this version by Craig Gilbert turns out to be a diverting and enjoyable touring show for Britain’s small town theatres, for which hurray, and particularly so for towns on the Thames, where the boat hired by J, George and Harris is being ever so uncertainly steered.

The Casual Vacancy, BBC One

THE CASUAL VACANCY, BBC ONE JK Rowling's adult fiction debut becomes a Sunday-night treat with a social conscience

JK Rowling's adult fiction debut becomes a Sunday-night treat with a social conscience

The broomsticks are back in the cupboard, wands are no longer at the ready, and no one is casting spells in cod Latin. JK Rowling’s first novel for adults has made its inevitable journey from page to screen. The first view of a picturesque Cotswolds village – a mannikin in erotic underwear provocatively on all fours in a shop window – says it succinctly: we’re not in Hogwarts any more.

10 Questions for Rumer 2015

10 QUESTIONS FOR RUMER 2015 The singer-songwriter opens up about her new album and her punk rock side

The singer-songwriter opens up about her new album and her punk rock side

Last autumn Rumer reappeared with her third album, Into Colour, surprising everyone with a lead single that was disco-flavoured. The rest of the album was closer in scope to the opulent LA easy listening and classic West Coast singer-songwriter fare that the singer has made her own since her first major label single, “Slow”, blew up in 2010.

Mr Selfridge, Series 3, ITV

MR SELFRIDGE, SERIES 3, ITV Despite the ravages of the Great War, the retailing saga bounces back looking fighting fit

Despite the ravages of the Great War, the retailing saga bounces back looking fighting fit

Mercifully not preceded by a Broadchurch-style hype-tsunami, the new series of Mr Selfridge has slipped neatly back into the Sunday 9pm slot as if it's the rightful owner just back from a year of travelling round the world. It's not revolutionary, ground-breaking or "subversive", but equipped with some new characters and promising plotlines, this opening episode ushered us into the post-World War One era with a spring in its step and the wind in its hair.

Broadchurch, Series 2, ITV

BROADCHURCH, SERIES 2, ITV Second coming of the seaside murder saga takes a legalistic turn

Second coming of the seaside murder saga takes a legalistic turn

You can see why writers and TV companies like the idea of creating sequels to successful series, but trying to make lightning strike twice has obvious drawbacks. In the case of the original Broadchurch, the runaway ratings blockbuster which ended in April 2013, the story felt so complete and self-contained that the notion of a sequel seemed redundant, or gratuitous.