The end! The finale! The last ever outing for the BBC’s Spooks, the spy show that dared to ask: Is there anything we can’t get away with, as long as we do it with conviction, shouting and a reasonable budget? For years, the sky was the limit for Spooks and their made-up intrigue, but now it’s … [Read more...]
Spooks – Series 10, Episode 5 – Dork Review
This is it: the penultimate Spooks review. Next week, ten years of spy melodrama comes to a (hopefully) explosive climax, and all they need do first is get us all excited in advance of the big bang. So do they manage it? Are we ready for the culmination of literally everything ever to happen in … [Read more...]
Spooks: Series 10, Episode 4 – Dork Review
Every so often, Spooks dives into the headlines and confronts religious extremism directly in the face. Unfortunately, this show is a simple beast, determined to keep us all happy with soap opera and explosions, so these are not always the complex issue explorations they want to be. Well, it’s … [Read more...]
Spooks: Series 10, Episode 3 – Dork Review
It’s tough being a B-level spy on long-running BBC MI5 drama Spooks. You cruise along for months with nothing to do except chase people and mutter about it, safe in the knowledge that one day you’ll be killed off to make a major storyline seem important. But once every year or so, you get a … [Read more...]
Spooks: Series 10, Episode 2 – Dork Review
The clock is ticking for both the final series of Spooks and the mighty Sir Harry Pearce – only four shows to go after this! But even in their last year, the guys still have time to tackle current affairs with their usual subtlety and lightness of touch. (Well, I imagine it was current when they … [Read more...]
Outcasts: Series 1, Episode 8 – Dork Review
After eight episodes and almost as many time slots, the BBC’s upper-end science-fiction melodrama Outcasts comes to a halt for now. With ratings on the low side, it’s hard to feel optimistic about the chances of it ever returning. So do we get a beautiful resolution with a bow on top? Is the … [Read more...]
Outcasts: Series 1, Episode 7 – Dork Review
As the series (and, let’s face it, probably the whole show) draws towards a climax next week, Outcasts finally has the characters show some interest in the mysteries that loom over the entire enterprise. Considering the writers have been waving them at us since episode 1, it’s about time. And … [Read more...]
Outcasts: Series 1, Episode 6 – Dork Review
In Outcasts this week, things continue to take a supernatural twist, or at least a sharp jump towards the unexplained, as our heroes are confronted with more hallucinatory phenomena out in the desert. But is this a beautifully executed mystery, or another risky step towards becoming Lost in … [Read more...]
Outcasts: Series 1, Episode 5 – Dork Review
I’m not arrogant enough to believe the programme-makers read these flights of internet fancy, and even if they did, a show like Outcasts must be filmed so far in advance that it wouldn’t make a blind jot of difference. However. In last week’s review, I hoped for a storyline that didn’t revolve … [Read more...]
Outcasts: Episodes 3 & 4 – Dork Review
Some curious scheduling this week, as BBC One showed another two episodes of Outcasts. Once felt like a launch event, twice feels like they want to get rid of it. This concern was exacerbated when news of a move out of Monday primetime started appearing. Unfortunately, it appears Outcasts may not … [Read more...]