Kitchen Sink Realism or Why British TV is So Damned Depressing
Published March 15, 2018

Kitchen Sink Realism or Why British TV is So Damned Depressing

The world of American TV and film is very different to its British counterpart. Popular American soaps revolve around the glamour of the rich and powerful. Even dramas geared for the teen and pre-teen crowd are awash in affluent kids with deep pockets…and seemingly deeper wardrobes. Based on the never ending parade of expensive outfits dressing stunningly gorgeous girls, these wardrobes must surely have, a Narnia-style hidden door in the back that leads into a department store. If, on the other hand, you’ve spent any time with British TV you will be familiar with the fact that it can be…

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Brenda Blethyn drama humor humour Jean-Marian Baptiste Jim Broadbent Ken Loach Mike Leigh Timothy Spall

Three Gritty British TV Shows
Published January 9, 2018

Three Gritty British TV Shows

~Happy Valley If it’s grit you’re after, it’s grit you’ll get with this show. This series plumbs the depths of human nature with its heartbreak, despair and just sheer stupidity. More than that, it takes a look at the many times a few words or an action can set people off in directions they really had no intention of going. The ripple effects from these decisions leave you squirming in your seat, because…well…you can just see the disaster that’s looming on the horizon. Catherine, played by the incredible Sarah Lancashire, is a cut-through-the-bullshit, hard-as-nails cop. Her teenage daughter committed suicide after…

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Brenda Blethyn crime drama Idris Elba Sarah Lancashire

Three British Historical TV Dramedies
Published September 5, 2017

Three British Historical TV Dramedies

~Lark Rise To Candleford Think of this show as the BBC version of Little House On the Prairie. It’s all warm and fuzzy and positively bursting at the seams with moral goodness. And I mean that in the nicest possible way because I love both shows. Lark Rise is a hamlet of poorer townsfolk while the market town of Candleford is its wealthier neighbor. Sixteen year old Laura Timmons (Laura Ingalls) is the bridge between the two, her adult voice narrating the stories. She leaves her family in Lark Rise to start a job at the post office with her mother’s…

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Ayesha Dharker BBC drama Little House on The Prarie Sanjeev Bhaskar Wales

TV Mysteries: When the Women are in Charge
Published July 11, 2017

TV Mysteries: When the Women are in Charge

~Blue Murder In the opening episode pregnant Janine Lewis becomes a newly minted DCI and so takes home a bottle of champagne to celebrate with her husband — whom she discovers in bed with another woman. Ouch. But Janine doesn’t have time to cry over spilled milk —or champagne, which she immediately pours down the sink — and so the next scene shows her taking care of morning madness while getting kids out the door and herself to work. And that is, really, what sets this show apart from others of its ilk. Janine’s home life is messily entangled with her professional…

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Acorn Britbox crime drama female lead Hulu mysteries TV