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James Walton

James Walton

The Spectator

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Danny Dyer’s new C4 programme is deeply odd

Who do you think said the following on TV this week: ‘I love being around gay men – seeing a group of men expressing themselves the way they do is...

18.04.2024 7

The Spectator

James Walton

Dramatic, urgent and intriguing: BBC1’s This Town reviewed

After conquering the world with Peaky Blinders (and before that by co-creating Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?), Steven Knight was last seen on British...

04.04.2024 7

The Spectator

James Walton

Was Carrie Fisher really ‘a genius’?

‘People throw the word “genius” around a lot,’ said a talking head on BBC2 this week, ‘but she was a genius, truly.’ If it wasn’t for...

21.03.2024 9

The Spectator

James Walton

Workmanlike romp / Sky Atlantic’s Mary & George reviewed

If there’s such a thing as a workmanlike romp, then Mary & George might be one. This drama about political and sexual shenanigans during the reign...

11.03.2024 10

The Spectator

James Walton

A neat fantasy that asks why Britons don’t revolt: BBC1’s The Way reviewed 

‘The British don’t revolt, they grumble,’ said someone in the first episode of The Way. But what if we ever reversed this policy? That was the...

22.02.2024 10

The Spectator

James Walton

How does Larry David get away with it? Curb Your Enthusiasm reviewed

As Curb Your Enthusiasm begins its 12th and apparently final series, one key question remains: how does Larry David get away with it? While many...

08.02.2024 9

The Spectator

James Walton

Highly effective slice of old-school storytelling: ITV’s Born from the Same Stranger reviewed

With its tales of close relatives reuniting after years of separation, ITV’s Long Lost Family has been reliably jerking tears since 2011. Now, from...

25.01.2024 8

The Spectator

James Walton

Why has the BBC pulled its punches in this doc about the Indian super-rich?

The big finish to Streets of Gold: Mumbai, an excited look at the city’s ‘wealthiest one-percenters’, was an extravagant party hosted by ‘two...

11.01.2024 10

The Spectator

James Walton

The road to the final snow-gazing scene is tortuous / Sky Max’s The Heist Before Christmas reviewed

When it comes to one-off family dramas for Christmas, two things are pretty much guaranteed. They’ll begin with credits announcing a starry cast,...

21.12.2023 5

The Spectator

James Walton

Embarrassingly addictive / Channel 4’s The Couple Next Door reviewed

For years now, lots of TV thrillers have begun with a terrified woman running through some woods. But not The Couple Next Door. Instead, the first...

30.11.2023 4

The Spectator

James Walton

Whodunnit that disappears down a rabbit-hole / ITV1’s The Playboy Bunny Murder reviewed

Perhaps unfairly, Marcel Theroux does rather bring to mind Dannii Minogue. Not only does he look very similar to his more famous sibling, but when not...

18.11.2023 8

The Spectator

James Walton

Television / Riveting and heart-wrenching: BBC1’s Time reviewed

‘Only with women’ is a phrase used by more cynical TV types for a show that takes something that’s been done before with men, but by changing...

03.11.2023 3

The Spectator

James Walton

Only goodwill will get you through this reboot: Paramount+’s Frasier reviewed

Remember the groans of dismay, possibly including your own, which greeted John Cleese’s announcement in February that he was reviving Fawlty Towers?...

19.10.2023 10

The Spectator

James Walton

Shocking: Channel 4’s Partygate reviewed

If there were special awards for Most Subtlety in a Television Drama, Tuesday’s Partygate would be unlikely to win one. You could also argue that,...

05.10.2023 7

The Spectator

James Walton

A Picasso doc that – amazingly – focuses on how great he was

Earlier this year, the Guardian took a break from arguing that ‘cancel culture’ is a right-wing myth to ask the question, ‘Should we cancel...

21.09.2023 7

The Spectator

James Walton

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