The Crown, Season 6, Netflix review - royal epic in a vain search for authenticity

★★★ THE CROWN, SEASON 6, NETFLIX Royal epic in a vain search for authenticity 

It looks like news photos coming to life, but the dialogue and concept still jar

A man is taking his little dog for a late-night walk. This being the opening scene of The Crown’s final season, when the illuminated Eiffel Tower looms up at the end of his street we know exactly where we are, and exactly what the date is. 

Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story, Disney+ review - classic underdog tale of the little team that could

Inside story of Jenson Button's amazing championship year

When they read the roll-call of British Formula One champions, the likes of Jackie Stewart, Graham and Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell tend to grab the spotlight, but Jenson Button’s dramatic and totally unexpected win in 2009 is every bit as worthy of celebration. It get its due here, in Disney’s hugely entertaining account of how Button, team boss Ross Brawn and his unfancied and underfunded squad defied the odds and provoked apoplexy among the F1 aristocracy.

Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius, BBC Two review - the Bard's soul bared in hybrid drama-documentary

 ★★★★ SHAKESPEARE: RISE OF A GENIUS, BBC TWO The Bard's soul bared in hybrid drama-documentary

Speculation and facts woven into a compelling portrait of a singular man

Four centuries on from the publication of the First Folio, is there anything new to be said about William Shakespeare?

Well, the fact that there is nothing old to be said about him (very little is known about the life of the glover’s son from Stratford) means that there’s always something new, as the evidence to gainsay any claim is minimal. Tedious conspiracy theories aside, it’s the kind of paradox the man himself might have appreciated.

Shetland, Series 8, BBC One review - same place but a different programme

DI Ruth Calder faces an uphill struggle to replace DI Jimmy Perez

The question they’re all asking is, can Shetland survive the loss of Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez? After all, it was Henshall’s shrewd and quietly anguished performance which gave the show much of its allure. And now there’s no Mark Bonnar either, who could always be relied on to add a soupçon of angst.

Robbie Williams, Netflix review - tormented superstar bares his soul

★★★★ ROBBIE WILLIAMS, NETFLIX Gruelling rockumentary explores the price of fame

Gruelling rockumentary explores the price of fame

If you thought being a pop star might be fun, this four-part voyage around the tortured soul of Robbie Williams may convince you otherwise. He has sold 75 million records and historic numbers of concert tickets, scored 13 Number One albums and seven Number One singles in the UK, and has a shed full of gongs including 18 Brit Awards. But even so, now three months short of his 50th birthday, he still seems to feel that it could suddenly all end tomorrow, or possibly even this afternoon.

Fellow Travellers, Paramount+ review - four-decade saga of power, politics and gay love

Plush TV treatment of Thomas Mallon's bestselling novel

Derived from the similarly-titled novel by Thomas Mallon and directed by Ron Nyswaner, Fellow Travellers tracks the course of its protagonists through several decades of 20th Century American history. It’s also an account of changing attitudes to homosexuality, and how gay culture emerged from the shadows and went mainstream.

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from the Life of John le Carré, Apple TV+ review - outstanding, intriguing portrait of David Cornwell

★★★★ THE PIGEON TUNNEL, APPLE TV+ Outstanding, intriguing portrait of David Cornwell

Errol Morris's film puts the author in a hall of mirrors where the truth is satisfyingly elusive

When the Oscar-winning documentary-maker Errol Morris sat David Cornwell down before his Interrotron camera in 2019, the first salvo of the chat came, not from the interviewer, but from his subject: “Who are you?” 

Frasier, Paramount+ review - he's back! But should he be?

★★★ FRASIER, PARAMOUNT+ Can Kelsey Grammer and a new cast make lightning strike again?

Can Kelsey Grammer and a new cast make lightning strike again?

F. Scott Fitzgerald said there were no second acts in American lives, but here’s Frasier Crane coming back for his third. Frasier first appeared on TV in the third series of Cheers in 1984. After Cheers bit the dust in 1993, Frasier was transported from Boston to Seattle and reborn in his own show, which ran until 2004 and stands as one of the most revered comedies in TV history (alongside, it must be said, Cheers).

Reckoning with the Jimmy Savile legacy - Steve Coogan stars in BBC One's four-part 'factual drama'

RECKONING WITH THE JIMMY SAVILE LEGACY Suitable for prime-time entertainment?

Is Savile's career of evil suitable for prime-time entertainment?

Dramatisations of real-life crime have become all the rage on TV, as screenwriter Neil McKay and producer Jeff Pope are well aware. Their history of morbid collaborations includes See No Evil: The Moors Murders, the saga of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult, and, in Four Lives, the story of serial killer Stephen Port.