Television
Barbara Windsor – a life lived with a giggle
Babs was a uniquely British actress and comedian whose true worth, thankfully, was realised comparatively early in her long career
The nation’s favourite: why Coronation Street matters
As Coronation Street celebrates its diamond jubilee, is it time to take it seriously as the chronicler of our times?
The BBC’s worst mistake
A separate channel dedicated to British sport could have saved the BBC
Learning to love Big Brother
A contemporary political drama uses the double whammy of Covid and Brexit to reanimate older, primeval forces
Getting a television changed my life
Living without a TV had several notable side-effects: we’d read more, and sometimes, even have conversations
The trial of the Mangrove Nine
Steve McQueen’s dramatisation of the 1970 trial of the Mangrove Nine is a triumph
Lost dream of coexistence
Adam LeBor delves into The Bureau, the utterly absorbing French spy thriller series
Latex memories
Spitting Image (BritBox)
What Spitting Image did to British politics
As Spitting Image returns to our screens, its original impact has not been forgotten
Why Sherlock Holmes remains the greatest detective
There is no need to make Sherlock Holmes more likeable, part of his brilliance is in his ambiguity
