Newzoids / Thunderbirds Are Go, ITV

NEWZOIDS / THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO, ITV New puppet satire can barely drag itself to the finishing line

New puppet satire can barely drag itself to the finishing line

Who says satire is dead? After this, I would imagine just about everybody. According to Jon Culshaw, one of the prime movers in ITV's new puppet-CGI farrago Newzoids [*], this isn't just Spitting Image revisited because "the puppets have got more of a spikiness, more of an edgy exaggeration to them." You think? One other difference he forgot to mention was that Spitting Image was often really rather good.

Code of a Killer, ITV

CODE OF A KILLER, ITV The case in which DNA profiling was first used to catch a killer makes for gripping drama

The case in which DNA profiling was first used to catch a killer makes for gripping drama

DNA: there’s a lot of it about. Random Googling reveals that, just in the past few days, a new study claims arachnophobia may be programmed into our DNA, that the British share 30 percent of their DNA with the Germans, while in the USA they’re using DNA to track down dog owners who don’t scoop poop. This last may not be what Leicester University geneticist Professor Alec Jeffreys had a mind when he developed techniques in DNA fingerprinting.

Arthur and George, ITV

ARTHUR AND GEORGE, ITV Conan Doyle is a bluff, romantic Holmes in ITV's splendidly thrilling three-parter

Conan Doyle is a bluff, romantic Holmes in ITV's splendidly thrilling three-parter

“Something strident and stirring – play to us now, please!” demands Martin Clunes’ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the piano-playing vicar’s wife, on apprehending that their conversation is being eavesdropped on. Sherlock Holmes himself could hardly have responded more adeptly to frustrate the eavesdropper, and as Conan Doyle’s pursuit of the intruder leads him to a sinister, candle-lit shrine containing the vicar’s daughter’s long-lost favourite doll, it’s clear that ITV has a new thriller both strident and stirring on its hands.

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.

Downton Abbey: 2014 Christmas Special, ITV

DOWNTON ABBEY: 2014 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, ITV Bring on the foreign franchises? There could be life in the old jalopy yet

Bring on the foreign franchises? There could be life in the old jalopy yet

“But I do want to be stuck with you.” Five series and five Christmas specials down, Downton fans heard a line of dialogue they had no idea they’d been waiting for all this time. Never mind that the scenario was a straight lift from The Remains of the Day, in which the stuffy old butler proposes to the starchy old housekeeper. Stone the crows and knock us all down with a feather, Carson popped the question to Mrs Hughes. And what, of all the wonderfully blindsiding things, did she say in reply?

The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, ITV

THE LOST HONOUR OF CHRISTOPHER JEFFRIES, ITV Scandal of press bullying yields touching human drama

Scandal of press bullying yields touching human drama

Four years ago Christopher Jefferies was the victim of a concerted attack by the British press. His tenant Joanna Yeates had been murdered and, lacking any other leads, police arrested her landlord. While he was still being questioned, the newspapers sniffed around Jefferies’s patch of Bristol and, armed with a juicy quotation or two, chose collectively to forget all about the principle of innocent until proven otherwise. "Weird", "posh", "lewd", "creepy" were among the epithets in The Sun. He was branded a peeping Tom.

Downton Abbey, Series 5 Finale, ITV

DOWNTON ABBEY, SERIES 5 FINALE, ITV For all the holes in its hull, the Julian Fellowes juggernaut stays afloat

For all the holes in its hull, the Julian Fellowes juggernaut stays afloat

On and on the stately galleon sails. The fifth wodge of Downton Abbey has been light on utter knuckle-gnawing preposterousness. Plots conjured up at random from thin air have been in slightly shorter supply than usual. The very worst you can say of it is that Lord Fellowes is no Agatha Christie. The poor old blighted Bateses have now been subject to a matching pair of cack-handed murder mysteries. To get accidentally banged up once in a slow-moving crime plot may be counted a misfortune. Twice looks like cluelessness.

The Great Fire, ITV

ITV's historical drama is long on intrigue but short on action

It takes some brass neck to look at one of the most destructive events in London’s history, which destroyed a chunk of the poorest part of the city and left an estimated 70,000 people homeless, and think that it wasn’t dramatic enough. But that must have been what went through the head of Tom Bradby, the political editor of ITV News, when he was writing his four-part drama: we were deeply immersed in espionage, war, assassination plots, kidnap and a spendthrift, philandering king before as much as a single spark began to fly.

Blenheim Palace: Great War House, ITV

Lord Fellowes of Downton explores one of Britain's most historic stately homes

Julian Fellowes, now the Conservative peer Lord Fellowes, left behind the fictional world of Gosford Park and Downton Abbey to give us this sumptuous tour of Blenheim Palace. Nor were its surroundings neglected as vista after vista showed us Blenheim’s lavishly landscaped gardens, fountains and columned monument to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, victorious over Louis XIV. It was his military prowess that led to wealth and Blenheim itself, gifted by the grateful nation and thus an early example of government subsidy.