Back to the wall
Despite the fact East Germany has disappeared, it continues to live on in this outstanding trilogy
Finn noir
A Bergmanesque miasma of gloom hangs over every episode in this new Scandinavian thriller
A treasure trove of memories
T.V. show, The Repair Shop, is just what we need in these dark and fractured times, says Adam LeBor
Remembering Khamis Abulafia: broadcaster, baker, peacemaker
As the remnants of Israel’s left implode and the hard-right strengthens further, Israel needs voices like Khamis’s more than ever
Memories of a massacre
Rinder’s documentary is the kind of television at which the BBC excels, says Adam Lebor
Learning to love Big Brother
A contemporary political drama uses the double whammy of Covid and Brexit to reanimate older, primeval forces
The Marxist cell in Number 10
Adam LeBor investigates the former communist cult that has found common cause with the prime minister and the Brexiteer Conservative right
Reviving the inner anarchist
A new series shows Britain sliding into authoritarianism. Sound familiar?
Lost dream of coexistence
Adam LeBor delves into The Bureau, the utterly absorbing French spy thriller series
The EU Godfather’s Wall Street roots
Adam LeBor traces the American influences behind Jean Monnet, the man who reshaped Europe
How exceptional is Britain’s monarchy?
Graham Stewart and Jeremy Black discuss British and European conceptions of monarchy throughout history
The pride of the Republic of Poland
The President of Poland celebrates 230 years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s Constitution of 3 May 1791
The generals’ war on the internet
Myanmar’s new draft cybersecurity law could have grave consequences for civil rights and freedom of expression
April 2021: Letters to the Editor
David Starkey missed the Welsh Government’s slave trade project which is littered with errors and relies heavily on Wikipedia
Arthur Bryant’s floating doters
W. Sydney Robinson, the historian’s latest biographer, discovered that his subject was without scruple in matters of the heart
Blueprints for laughter, life, love and belonging
Fiction works on the understanding that none of it really happened; we agree to believe it anyway, says John Self
Why does ITV insist that violence against women is normal?
Bruce Newsome says that an elite obsessed with social justice is failing at criminal justice
Will the UK ever use its leverage against the EU?
Brussels asks Britain for an extension whilst rigorously implementing the NI Protocol
No coffee, please, but Ethiopia can burn
Ethiopia, the home of coffee, falls apart under the world’s muddled gaze while Portugal implements arbitrary Covid-19 restrictions on caffeine consumption
Are overcomplicated back stories killing drama?
As Line of Duty now seems mired in the complexity of its own backstory, Alexander Larman asks if on-screen plots have become too complicated for us to enjoy