The Execution of Gary Glitter, Monday 9pm, Channel 4

Posted by Tom Murphy

Paedophilia and the death sentence are two subjects that people generally have pretty strong views about. So how did this oddly conceived dramatised imagining of the fictional execution of Paul Francis Gadd (aka Gary Glitter) turn out so utterly unengaging?

For a start, the format of the programme was a bit of a mish-mash. Emphatic title cards told us that “THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION” and “WE ARE IN AN IMAGINARY BRITAIN” where the death penalty was re-introduced after the Soham murders of 2003. However, it then became a mix of conventional drama and documentary-style interviews with the characters involved in the case.

It got even weirder when politician Ann Widdecombe, journalist Miranda Sawyer and media rent-a-gob Garry Bushell turned up to add their tuppenceworth. It only became clear later that they were playing fictional versions of themselves, commenting on the action depicted in the drama.

Coming up in 2010: V

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Have you not had enough big budget, big concept, post-Lost telly fun yet? Well, don’t worry, because 2010 is bringing with it intriguing new US import V. Well, we say new – older readers might remember the original '80s miniseries this is based on. If you do, shhh – no spoilers.

The first episode of the remake aired in the US earlier in the week and is set to come to British TV early next year, courtesy of the Sci Fi channel. Like Five’s current big budget import FlashForward, it’s nabbed itself a blonde Lost supporting actress with a unusually shaped but nevertheless memorable face – fans of the time-bending island drama will have probably seen the picture of actress Elizabeth Mitchell above and squealed, “Juliet!”

Meanwhile, geeks will also be pleased to see the opening episode of V features Firefly favourites Alan Tudyk (looks like a fun ginger version of Michael Douglas, has amusing surname) and Morena Baccarin (Latin lovely whose name's eighth Google auto-complete suggestion is "Morena Baccarin feet").

Anyway, the plot. One morning in New York, the earth starts shaking, planes start falling out of the sky and there are lots of massive explosions. But this isn’t just a run-of-the-mill terrorist attack, as you can see below.



Yep, it’s those blasted aliens again! Non-Americans need not fret – spaceships are also shown hovering above Big Ben, the Pyramids, Red Square and the Eiffel Tower. Weirdly, the Visitors (hence, V), led by the spookily perfect Anna (Baccarin), are not only charming and peace-loving, but they’re universally HOT, meaning the humans – including FBI agent Erica Evans (Mitchell), her horrifyingly good-looking son Tyler (Logan Huffman) and various other characters – rather take to them.

Here’s where it gets a bit True Blood, with the humans separating into pro- and anti- camps over the new arrivals. Are the members of this species really as chummy as they seem – or do they have some kind of dastardly plan?

We’ll have to sit tight for a few months, but with the promising opener packing in a few good twists, a jaw-dropping plane'n'car crash, and a (probably unintentionally) hilarious moment in which the V shockingly suggest introducing universal health care to the US – the horror! – we reckon we'll be tuning in next year to find out.

Lie To Me, Thursday 10pm, Sky One

Posted by Liberty Jones

We weren’t awfully impressed when Lie To Me premiered in the UK earlier this year – but, we’re pleased to report, season two is an infinitely superior beast. With The Shield’s genius creator Shawn Ryan on board as executive producer, there’s a new emphasis on character, as well as tighter, brighter scripting.

Based on the work of real-life body language expert Dr. Paul Ekman, Lie To Me centres on grouchy human lie detector Dr Cal Lightman – played by the always watchable Tim Roth – who assists government agencies and law enforcement officers in their fight against crime. In season one, Cal seemed little more than a low-rent version of Hugh Laurie’s irascible Dr House, but this time round the character has a lot more depth.

The good doctor had plenty on his plate in last night’s opening episode. His firm was vetting a Supreme Court nominee (or, as he told the startled legal eagle, “we’re going to determine whether or not you’re a lying son of a bitch”), and a girl with multiple personalities – law student Tricia, played by Traffic star Erika Christensen – was claiming to have seen a vision of a murder.

Meanwhile, Cal was feeling the credit crunch. ”Looking for company?” the owner of a seedy motel asked as the doctor checked in, hunting for proof that Tricia (or Jessie or Sophie or RJ, depending on her mood) was telling the truth. ”Not in this economy,” Cal replied. “I’ll settle for the porn package.”

The denouement wasn’t the most shocking thing we’ve ever seen in a small-screen police procedural, but there was a lot more grit to the gloss, and the script was mercifully free of the clunky explication that characterised season one.

We’ll leave the final word to Shawn Ryan. “Some shows find their feet right away,” he said in the press release that accompanied the season two premiere. “Others grow into their skin.”

Picture: Sky One 

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Criminal Justice, Monday 9pm, BBC One

Posted by Tom Murphy

The success of the first series of Criminal Justice, written by former barrister Peter Moffat, means that the second five-parter, showing each night this week, is a highly anticipated TV event. Thankfully, this haunting first episode was no disappointment.

Maxine Peake stars as Juliet Miller, the wife of successful barrister Joe Miller (Matthew MacFayden). But behind the affluent facade, she's clearly a woman with secrets and problems; she's not taking her anti-depressants, and she seems to be having an affair with the father of one of her daughter's friends. Twitchy, frantic and distracted, Peake gives a performance that manages to be compelling and difficult to watch at the same time.

Meanwhile, husband Joe seems to be a committed and conscientious barrister and a good father and husband. However, his suspicious mind and obsessive nature, combined with the attention to detail that makes him a formidable force in court, reveal Juliet's apparent duplicity. As the episode progresses, we find out he's got secrets of his own and he's not a very nice man after all.

Benidorm, Friday 9pm, ITV1

Posted by Tom Murphy

After the high drama and helicopter rescue of the summer special – and the small matter of winning Best Comedy at the National TV Awards – the sitcom Benidorm is back for a third series. And not only that: despite its well-publicised financial problems, ITV has such faith in the expat chucklefest that it has bumped it up to hour-long episodes.

Following their hostage ordeal, the regulars at the Solana Resort have turned up to take advantage of the free holiday being offered as compensation by the management. So, we bump again into the argumentative Garvey family, middle-aged swingers Donald and Jacqueline, awkward southerner Martin and his new Scouse girlfriend Brandy (Nicholas Burns and Sheridan Smith, pictured above), and sniffy gay couple Gavin and Troy.

FlashForward, Monday 9pm, Five

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Even though Five was perhaps over-egging the TV pudding a bit by billing FlashForward as "the shiniest, most glamorous and downright phenomenal thing to come out of America since Obama”, there was a bit of a buzz surrounding the show some are also calling “the new Lost”.

And that wasn’t just because FlashForward’s female lead was played by Sonya Walger, aka Lost’s Penny Widmore, or that another of the show’s stars, Dominic Monaghan (whose character Charlie is still missed), is set to make an appearance. No, it’s all about that mysterious disaster-filled opening premise: for two minutes and 17 seconds everyone in the whole world passes out, experiencing a flashforward (ah-ha!) and seeing exactly where they are and what they’ll be doing in six months’ time (shades of the first season of Heroes there, too).

Trinity, Sunday 10pm, ITV2

Posted by Tom Murphy

Oh dear - this one was a bit of a mess. ITV2 clearly have high hopes for Trinity to be the channel's next Secret Diary of a Call Girl, but the new show makes Billie Piper's series look like The Sopranos. Characters without two facets to rub together, an inexplicable mixture of storylines and the most laughable sex scenes since Showgirls – this one's got the lot.

The action centres around the old-school wood-panelled setting of Bridgeford University's Trinity College. Trinity has been a poshos' playground for centuries, but the winds of change are threatening to blow through the institution, led by modernising new warden Angela Doone (Claire Skinner). The college is now even opening its doors to overachieving plebs like Theo McKenzie (Reggie Yates) – a streetwise kid from Lewisham.

The people behind Trinity obviously came up with a wish list of stuff they'd like to stick into what executive producer Ash Atalla called their "high-octane, ball-breaking drama". So, we have sizzling teen sex and drug-taking (Skins), exclusive social cliques tormenting their victims (Gossip Girl), a dark scientific conspiracy lurking behind the institution's facade (X Files) and two loveable stoners desperate to lose their virginity (just about every teen comedy ever).

Blue Murder, Monday 9pm, ITV1

Posted by Tom Murphy

Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as empathetic Mancunian murder cop DCI Janine Lewis, is now back for its fifth series. I'd never watched it before, but it's obviously doing something right.

The first episode exploded onto the screen from the cut-throat world of competitive cheerleading. When team coach Helen Gaskell (Carolyn Backhouse) got her head clubbed in with a clawhammer the morning after her team failed to qualify for the national championships, suspicion immediately fell on her niece Jess (Holliday Grainger), who had been dropped from the team in favour of Helen's daughter Melanie.

However, it didn't take long for Alan, Helen's husband, to become the prime suspect. In fact, our suspicions were raised the minute we see he was being played by notorious Weatherfield wrong 'un Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne). Things went from bad to worse for Alan when the detectives found some of his blood-smeared clothing on a nearby building site - and discovered that he knew his wife was having an affair.

But there's more to Blue Murder than blood-spattered garage floors and suburban infidelity. DCI Lewis is, of course, a Working-Mother-Who-Has-to-Juggle-it-All – especially since her ex-hubby jumped on an EasyJet to Spain at the end of the previous series. So, we have a tacked-on subplot involving planning a birthday party for her son, who has fallen out with his best mate at school and benefits from a man-to-man chat with Janine's trusty deputy DI Richard Mayne (Ian Kelsey, pictured above).

Some Tory fella the other week got some attention by saying bits of the UK were like The Wire, comparing Manchester to Baltimore. Blue Murder doesn't quite live up to that billing. It doesn't try to be as grim, gritty or edgy, but it maintains a serious atmosphere, anchored by the presence of Quentin and tempered by the trademark cheeky banter of the rest of her team.

It's a well-plotted and convincing murder mystery that provides enough false trails and possible suspects to keep the audience guessing, but then pulls a last-minute swerve (rather than a twist) to deliver an emotionally satisfying ending. Despite the unnecessary diversions into Janine's domestic situation, Blue Murder is solid TV cop fare; it's easy to see why it's got to a fifth series.

Picture: ITV

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Wuthering Heights, Sunday 9pm, ITV1

Posted by Jane Murphy 

One hour into last night’s opening episode of Wuthering Heights - and there’d still been no lesbian clinches or unnecessary flashes of flesh. Surely some mistake! Largely thanks to the sterling work of screenwriter Andrew Davies, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing classic novels “sexed up” for the small screen over recent years. However, the job of adapting Emily Brontë’s celebrated work fell instead to Peter ‘Desperate Romantics’ Bowker.

Of course, Wuthering Heights didn’t really need sexing up: it’s all about pent-up emotion, tortured souls, passion and revenge. So rather than go down the “t*ts out for the masses” route, Bowker has chosen to stay faithful to the mood of the novel, with an understated, fuss-free screenplay, peppered with spine-tingling gothic elements.

Tom Hardy makes an excellent Heathcliff - mean, moody and ever-so-slightly terrifying. Charlotte Riley is slightly less captivating as Cathy - but then, I think that’s probably how Ms Brontë intended it. And once I’d grown accustomed to seeing Andrew ‘Egg from This Life’ Lincoln playing a middle-aged Victorian man with bushy sideburns, I realised he was perfectly cast as Cathy‘s husband, Edgar Linton.

“Edgar doesn’t utter curses then fall into a brooding silence,” Cathy observed, when explaining why she’d chosen Mr Linton over Heathcliff. Still, we all know Cathy made the wrong choice - and, let’s face it, the whole thing’s going to end in tears.

This is an intelligently written, beautifully shot and utterly gripping adaptation that makes a very welcome addition to ITV’s Bank Holiday schedules (yep, it’s not all about The X Factor, you know). Don’t miss tonight’s concluding episode at 9pm.

What did you think of Wuthering Heights? Tell us here.

Picture: ITV

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Gunrush, Sunday 9pm, ITV1

Posted by Tom Murphy

ITV's Sunday night dramas have been consistently inconsistent over the past few months, but while Gunrush didn't plumb the depths of Whatever It Takes, it was no Unforgiven either.

As the title suggests, the "ripped from the headlines" drama tackled the subject of inner-city gun crime. Timothy Spall gave a typically compelling performance as Doug Beckett, a mild-mannered driving instructor whose life is torn apart when his daughter Emma (Ruby Thomas) is shot dead by a hoodie ne'er-do-well.

However, this was very much a Middle-Class Nightmare treatment of the subject. Rather than looking at the sources of the problem (the murderer seems to come from a loving home with supportive and concerned parents), it focused on what happens when the nasty shadow of council estate crime falls on to "nice, normal" people.

Indeed, even the incident that sparks the story didn't quite ring true. It seemed that Leo (Jacob Anderson) and his buddy Wesley (Aml Ameen) were the type of gun-toting gangstas who'd happily pay for their purchases in a supermarket, but would turn round and pump bullets into anyone who complains about them pushing into the queue.

The murder drives a wedge between Doug and his wife Jill (Deborah Findlay), and devastates his other daughter to the extent that she can't face to play the cello any more. Deciding he can conduct a better investigation than the police, Doug steals the bullet that killed his daughter and sets about tracing the gun that fired it. He descends into the underworld of the local estate under the guidance of Mr Black-Man-Who-Turned-His-Back-on-Crime (David Harewood) and Mr Shivery-Smackhead (a phoned-in cameo from Paul Kaye).

After a convoluted Wire-lite subplot involving the estate's drug dealers, Doug gets his hands on the gun and feels the same surge of power that drives the estate's criminals to carry weapons – the "gunrush" of the title. However, he can't bring himself to exact the ultimate revenge on his daughter's killer and his accomplice – although the local Mr Big's enforcer has been following them, and kills them instead with an astounding bit of sharpshooting.

With Doug and his wife achieving a sense of closure and reconciliation, the cello-playing status quo is restored on the day of his daughter's funeral. However, we didn't see much of the aftermath of Leo and Wesley's deaths, highlighting where this drama fell short. If TV drama's going to take on big social issues, it needs to commit fully to a thorough examination of the questions raised – particularly as young men like Leo and Wesley remain the most likely victims of gun crime.

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