Presumed Innocent, Apple TV+ review - you read the book and saw the movie...

★★★★ PRESUMED INNOCENT, APPLE TV+ You read the book and saw the movie...

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in absorbing TV adaptation of Scott Turow's legal thriller

Scott Turow published his cunningly-wrought legal thriller in 1987, and Alan J Pakula’s powerful movie version, starring Harrison Ford, appeared in 1990. Enough time has elapsed, perhaps, for Apple TV’s revised version of Presumed Innocent for the streaming age.

The Moor review - Yorkshire chiller is ambitious but muddled

★★ THE MOOR Yorkshire chiller is ambitious but muddled

Despite buzz from the festival circuit, this folk horror film lacks a coherent vision

A number of films in recent years have added a distinctly local flavour to the folk-horror genre. Mark Jenkin was inspired by Cornish superstitions in the ghostly Enys Men and Kate Dolan’s underrated You Are Not My Mother was ripe with Irish pagan practices and folk tales. 

Tokyo Vice, Series 2, BBC iPlayer review - an exciting ride that stretches credibility

★★★★ TOKYO VICE, SERIES 2, BBC IPLAYER An exciting ride that stretches credibility

The return of Jake Adelstein, ace reporter

It’s entirely fitting that Jake Adelstein should have a poster for All the President’s Men on the wall of his Tokyo apartment, since it was the filmic apogee of the notion of journalist as superstar.

Rebus, BBC One review - revival of Ian Rankin's Scottish 'tec hits the jackpot

★★★★ REBUS, BBC ONE Revival of Ian Rankin's Scottish 'tec hits the jackpot

Richard Rankin makes a compelling debut as the unorthodox Edinburgh cop

The previous incarnation of Ian Rankin’s Scottish detective on ITV starred, in their contrasting styles, John Hannah and Ken Stott. For this Rebus redux, arriving nearly 25 years after the original first series began, screenwriter Gregory Burke has reworked the character as a younger Detective Sergeant, drawing on the spirit of Rankin’s original novels but with the author’s blessing to take the character somewhere new.

Prisoner, BBC Four review - jailhouse rocked by drugs, violence and racism

★★★★ PRISONER, BBC FOUR Jailhouse rocked by drugs, violence and racism

Sofie Gråbøl joins a powerful cast in bruising Danish drama

The notion of prison as a pressure cooker of human behaviour and emotions is hardly a new one, but it can provide formidable fuel for drama. It does so here in this ferociously gripping Danish series, which hails from the same production company as The Killing and The Bridge. It also boasts a forceful roster of acting talent, not least Sofie Gråbøl (aka Sarah Lund from The Killing) and David Dencik (from Chernobyl and McMafia, among other things).

The Traitors, Series 2, BBC One review - back to the mind-labyrinth

★★★★★ THE TRAITORS, SERIES 2, BBC ONE Back to the mind-labyrinth

Spoiler-free paean to keeping the murder mystery game fresh

Asking whether there could be an end to melody given only 12 notes to work with, Sergey Prokofiev compared the possibilities to a chess game: “for the fourth move of the White there will be about 60 million variants.”

So it is with the basic formula of The Traitors, subject to the infinite variety of human foibles, ambiguities and treachery, plus superficial twists introduced by the master planners, with the wry and stylishly, sometimes outrageously, clad Claudia Winkleman as their conduit.

The Good John Proctor, Jermyn Street Theatre review - Salem-set drama loses some of its power in London

★★ THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Witch Hunt play fails to fly

An overdue response to 'The Crucible', but very much rooted in its place, if not its time

It is no surprise that the phrase “Witch Hunt” is Donald Trump’s favoured term to describe his legal travails. Leaving aside its connotations of a malevolent state going after an innocent victim whilst in the throes of a self-serving moral panic, it plays into a founding psychodrama of the USA - the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

The Tourist, Series 2, BBC One review - an amnesiac Jamie Dornan explores his Irish roots

★★★★ THE TOURIST, SERIES 2, BBC ONE An amnesiac Jamie Dornan explores his Irish roots

The Williams brothers' twisty thriller brings it all back home

It was barely a month ago that screenwriters Jack and Harry Williams astounded viewers with Boat Story. Now they’re back with a sequel (or maybe just a continuation) of The Tourist, which debuted a year ago with its mind-bending story of the amnesiac Elliot Stanley (Jamie Dornan), who found himself all at sea in the Australian outback.

Murder Is Easy, BBC One review - was this journey really necessary?

★★ MURDER IS EASY, BBC ONE Dame Agatha's tidy thriller gets ideas above its station

Dame Agatha's tidy thriller gets ideas above its station

Well at least they haven’t changed the identity of the killer this time around, but the BBC’s new version of Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel has been modified in other ways. Screenwriter Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and director Meenu Gaur have opted to move the story into the mid-1950s, introducing themes of racism, class prejudice and capitalist exploitation. And you thought it was just a tidy little whodunnit.

Blood Coast, Netflix review - mayhem in Marseille

Captain Benamar and his team battle ultra-violent drug cartels

The original title of this French crime drama was Pax Massilia, a reference to the classical roots of its setting in what is now known as Marseille. Dating back to the 6th Century BC, it’s supposedly the oldest city in France. An atmospheric mix of architectural styles, dramatic views, a Mediterranean climate and multiple ethnicities, it makes the perfect stage for this fast-paced and sometimes horrifically violent thriller.