Dopesick, Disney+ review - the harrowing inside story of America's OxyContin scandal

★★★★ DOPESICK, DISNEY+ How corporate greed rode roughshod over regulatory oversight

How corporate greed rode roughshod over regulatory oversight

“Drug companies are supposed to be honest,” says a lady from the Department of Justice, explaining why the US Food and Drug Administration had been treating the pharmaceutical industry with a light, indeed barely detectable, regulatory touch.

Showtrial, BBC One review - drama a cut above the rest

★★★★ SHOWTRIAL, BBC ONE Drama a cut above the rest - sharp script fuels twisty murder mystery

A sharp script fuels this twisty murder mystery

This latest offering from the ubiquitous World Productions (creators of Line of Duty, the farcical but strangely popular Vigil, Bodyguard etc etc) is a whodunnit, a howdunnit and a whydunnit, as it explores the mysterious disappearance and death of university student Hannah Ellis.

All Creatures Great and Small, Series 2, Channel 5 review - familiar formula continues to satisfy

★★★★ ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, SERIES 2, CHANNEL 5 More gentle dramas in the Dales as World War Two looms

More gentle dramas in the Dales as World War Two looms

Channel 5’ s decision to remake James Herriot’s much-loved Yorkshire vet stories was an inspired one, and this second series has effortlessly carried on the mood of gentle observation, nostalgia and slapstick comedy amid scintillating Yorkshire Dales scenery. A teeming cast of dogs, cats, horses, cows and chickens is permanently on call to provide fuel for the adventures of Herriot and the Farnon veterinary dynasty.

The North Water, BBC Two review - a terrible voyage into the great beyond

★★★★ THE NORTH WATER, BBC TWO A terrible voyage into the great beyond

Director Andrew Haigh brings cinematic heft to this bloody whaling odyssey

It’s perhaps unfortunate that The North Water arrives on BBC Two only a few months after The Terror, since it’s impossible to avoid the parallels between them. They’re set only a few years apart (1859 for The North Water, 1845 for The Terror), both involve doomed voyages into Arctic waters, and each of them gets darker and bloodier as it depicts man’s inhumanity to man (and not just man) and the encroaching horror of a heart of darkness.

Vigil, BBC One review - murder most watery

★★ VIGIL, BBC ONE What does the Navy have to hide at its Trident submarine base?

What does the Navy have to hide at its Trident submarine base?

Submarines have delivered some memorable on-screen performances, from Run Silent, Run Deep to The Hunt for Red October. On the other hand, we must not overlook the treasurably idiotic BBC series The Deep, which featured a submarine with a “moon pool” in it (this was a big vent permanently open to the ocean). Handy for reaching the sea-bed in a hurry perhaps, but not helpful for getting back up again.