Hollington Drive, ITV
It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves several times: is my child a psychopath?
To be fair, generally I asked myself this after being forced to watch Thomas the Dull Engine or re-read The Scooby Doo Storybook for the eight billionth time (please don’t contact me about exaggeration or with TTTE love, it has been a hard week and my patience is at breaking point) whereas Theresa (played by Anna Maxwell Martin) asks it when her son and niece’s bully is murdered.
Maxwell Martin is brilliant – as always – as ‘woman on the edge of her sanity’ as she tries to hold down a hospitality empire, motherhood, step-motherhood, a partner (Fraser, played by Rhashan Stone) and a relationship with her sister Helen (Rachael Stirling) who is deeply irritating and the local headteacher.
Both sisters live in the same super posh drive from the series’ name and both HARBOUR SECRET SORROWS which if I shared them with you would ruin the whole show.
Suffice it to say, both sisters have their cross to bear, and in Theresa’s case one of those crosses is Helen – not for the first time am I grateful for being an only child.
When Theresa’s son Ben (Fraser Holmes, a shoe-in for a reshoot of The Omen) and Helen’s daughter Eva (Amelie Bea Smith, Flora from The Haunting of Bly Manor) disappear after a begged-for trip to the park, they’re found near woodland throwing something in the bin.
This takes on a whole new significance when their classmate Alex is reported missing and later found dead…and we find out how much Ben and Eva despised him.
Why is Theresa so frightened of her son? What aren’t the two cousins telling their parents? Just what kind of ‘parents’ evening’ is Helen so keen on playing such an active role in? Is Fraser’s daughter Georgina (Tia May Watts) the most reasonable teenager on the planet? Does Fraser’s brother (Eddie, played by Ken Nwosu) who is sofa-surfing for free really think it’s endearing to point out that Hollington Drive is “…the perfect place for paedophiles. Plenty of kids. Quiet. Insular”?
Available to binge-watch on ITV Hub. I know who dunnit. Watch it yourself so you will too.
Stacia Briggs
Impeachment: American Crime Story, BBC1 Tuesdays
I thought I vaguely knew the gist of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky story and definitely knew as many of the salacious, seedy, sad details as I wanted or needed.
How wrong I was, on both counts. My half-remembered impressions of a scandal a quarter of a century ago would barely fill a title sequence, let alone a major 10-part television series.
But the story of sexual and political intrigue, seasoned with jaw-dropping betrayals, is worth retelling because the human drama of power, lust, love, duplicity, exploitation and betrayal is as relevant today as it has ever been. It is where the tension between what is in the public interest and what is interesting to the public intersects, and so a real-life tragedy (for a least one of the players) becomes a subject for a gloriously entertaining television drama.
Impeachment: American Crime Story, is the third in the series which began with the brilliant (once I’d got over Ross from Friends being a Kardashian) and shocking The People v OJ Simpson. Next came The Assassination of Gianni Versace - an horrific true story, filmed as beautifully as a lavish location advertisement and utterly compulsive viewing.
The third series moves away from celebrities and death to the events leading up to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. It too has dramatic sweeping overhead shots in magnificent locations– and is also exceptionally good on the tiny details.
One of the (many) villains of the story, incensed at being manoeuvred out of her cushy White House job when the new regime swept in, rages at the irritations of sharing a work cubicle and sits alone at home with tv dinners.
The victim of the piece is intern Monica Lewinsky, although this is nuanced and Monica is played as naïve and trusting but not a complete innocent.
The BBC2 showing is just two episodes into the story so far, but there are already some fascinating side-stories and twists – not least the fabulously endearing Paula Jones (a real innocent) and her drawing of the president’s “um, business” which takes a dramatic turn. We don’t see the actual artwork but a quick google later and I discover that he really did have an, um, cock-eyed business.
Impeachment is a glimpse into the dark heart of US political power where corruption spreads and stains and the wrong people are shamed.
Rowan Mantell
The Movies That Made Us, all three seasons are available on Netflix
If you fancy yourself as a bit of a film buff, then this television show is the one for you.
The Movies That Made Us is a Netflix Original documentary series and features the cast and crew of some of the most iconic films ever made, taking us on a deep dive of what life was like behind-the-scenes, and how these films came into being.
There’s three seasons on Netflix, and each episode focuses on a cinematic masterpiece or cult classic such as Dirty Dancing, Home Alone, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park to name a few.
Films featured in the current third season - which landed on Netflix on October 12 - include Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Elf. All perfect choices considering Halloween is upon us, and Christmas is just around the corner.
Some of the most interesting tidbits we learn throughout the three seasons include how that iconic Michael Myers mask was chosen for Halloween, how Die Hard’s crew settled on what building to use as the setting for the famous Nakatomi Plaza, who the original Ghostbusters were supposed to be, and how much Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey clashed on the set of Dirty Dancing.
This fascinating series will certainly change how you see some of your favourite films - and give you plenty of random film trivia to share with your friends and family.
Danielle Lett
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