TV REVIEW: Marcella – Season 3

At the end of the chaos of season two we left Marcella (Anna Friel) living under a bridge and presumed dead after having a complete mental breakdown. Season three sees her deep undercover having taken up Frank Young’s (Hugo Speer) offer of a new career. She’s worked her way into the sinister Northern Irish Maguire criminal family in the hopes of taking down their numerous operations. It won’t be easy though as Marcella’s mental state is extremely unstable, her former boss, Rav Sangha (Ray Panthaki) is investigating a linked crime and Frank’s reasons for investigating the Maguires aren’t completely professional.

TV REVIEW: The Umbrella Academy – Season 2

Following Five (Aidan Gallagher) and the other Hargreaves siblings failed attempt to stop the apocalypse at the hands of their sister, Vanya (Elliot Page) Five attempts to jump them back in time. Things don’t quite go according to plan and although all the siblings arrive in Dallas, Texas in the 1960’s they all arrive in different years. By the time Five surfaces they’ve all started new lives… and there is a new apocalypse coming.

TV REVIEW: Limited Series – Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

The Night Stalker otherwise known as Richard Ramirez is one of the notorious serial killers in American history. Ramirez terrorised the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay area from June 1984 until August 1985 committing approximately thirteen counts of murder, five attempted murders, eleven sexual assaults, and fourteen burglaries in that time. This documentary looks at both the criminal investigation attempting to identify and apprehend Ramirez and the impact on his victims and their families.

TV REVIEW: Bridgerton – Season 1

Set in Regency era London, Bridgerton follows the lives of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they navigate the challenges of upper class society in the Ton.

TV REVIEW: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – Part 4

Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) is back and this time she’s dealing with the fact that Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) has decided to release the Eldritch Terrors into the world. The Terrors are series of powerful forces, each worse than the next who want to do nothing but consume whatever they come across. If that wasn’t enough the fact that there are now two Sabrinas coexisting is throwing the realms out of whack and there’s a raft of standard teenage problems forever lurking in the background.

TV REVIEW: The Fall – Season 2

Season two of The Fall picks up so seamlessly from season one that in my binge-watch I didn’t immediately realise that I had moved onto a new season. While the first season was focused on the murders and Gibson (Gillian Anderson) discovering the connection between them, this season sees a game of cat and mouse develop between Gibson and Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan).

TV REVIEW: The Crown – Season 4

Season 4 of British Royal famly drama, The Crown, focuses largely on Prince Charles’ (Josh O’Connor) early marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales (Emma Corrin) and Margaret Thatcher’s (Gillian Anderson) time as Prime Minister.

TV REVIEW: The Queen’s Gambit – Limited Series

The Queen’s Gambit follows the trials and tribulations of Beth Harmon (Isla Johnston/Annabeth Kelly/Anya Taylor-Joy) as she makes a bid to become the greatest chess player in the world.

2020 review in pictures

It’s time for my slightly belated review of 2020 in pictures and also a few words.

TV REVIEW: The Fall – Season 1

After the daughter of a prominent Northern Irish developer is murdered, Senior Investigator, Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) is called in to do an enquiry into the case. It doesn’t take her long to connect the case to a series of killings of professional women in Belfast, all of whom look similar. Is there a serial killer on the loose.

MOVIE REVIEW: Last Christmas (2019)

After aspiring singer, Kate’s (Emilia Clarke) latest scrape gets her kicked out of her temporary accommodation she is forced to move back in with her parents (Emma Thompson and Boris Isakovic) just before Christmas. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s stuck working as a sales assistant in a Christmas shop in Covent Garden when she constantly clashes with the owner, “Santa” (Michelle Yeoh).

TV REVIEW: Criminal: UK (Season 2)

Last year Netflix treated us to Criminal a collection of three part mini-series that focused on crime suspects being interviewed in connection with a crime. The original version featured interviews taking place in the UK, France, Spain and Germany each with their own nuances and procedures. Earlier this year Criminal came back with a second edition of the UK version, this time featuring four interviews.

TV REVIEW: Dear White People – Volume 3

The third volume of Dear White People sees Sam (Logan Brown) returning to campus disillusioned after her meeting with Rikki Carter. And she’s not the only one. Lionel (DeRon Horton) is writing fiction under a pen name and exploring the LGBTQ scene on campus with D’Unte (Griffin Matthews), Troy (Brandon P. Bell) is immersed in Pastiche and Reggie (Marque Richardson) is reforming his life around his new mentor. As the group try to come to terms with their evolving identities and relationships with each other, things are as complex as ever.

TV REVIEW: Dead to Me – Season 2

Season two of Dead to Me kicks off with Jen (Christina Applegate) reeling after Steve’s demise and lying to Judy (Linda Cardellini) about the exact details of the incident.

TV REVIEW: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – Limited Series

Turning to scary stuff of the more real variety, today’s Halloween week review looks at I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, a recent miniseries from HBO (available on Sky/NowTV in the UK).

TV REVIEW: The Haunting of Bly Manor

It’s the spookiest time of the year so when I saw that The Haunting of Bly Manor had appeared on Netflix a couple of weeks ago it seemed like perfect timing.

TV REVIEW: How to Get Away With Murder – Season 1

Every year unconventional Criminal Law professor, Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) chooses five students to be her interns. In exchange for this opportunity they must work for free for her law firm alongside her two assistants, Frank (Charlie Weber) and Bonnie (Liza Weil), doing whatever it takes to win cases.

MOVIE REVIEW: Abominable (2019)

It’s rare for Little O to be up for watching a full film at home. He has a short attention span and home has many interesting toys to get distracted by. When we saw Abominable come up on our movie subscription package we decided to give it a go as a family and see if us all watching something together and really engaged would work.

TV REVIEW: Dear White People – Volume 2

Season 2 of Dear White People picks up after the dramatic conclusion of season one. Sam (Logan Browning) and Gabe (John Patrick Amedori) are apart and at war, Troy (Brandon P. Bell) has ruined the future political career his father dreamed of for him and Reggie (Marque Richardson) is struggling with the trauma of being held at gunpoint. Meanwhile Sam and Lionel (DeRon Horton) are chasing down a mysterious Secret Society while Sam is plagued by a Right Wing troll.

MOVIE REVIEW: Trolls World Tour (2020)

After six months away from the cinema, Little O and I decide to venture out when our local one reopened to watch the “new” Trolls film. Little O is a massive Trolls fan and even insisted on a Trolls birthday cake this year. We have had access to this film to watch at home but for me it was my full actual end to end viewing. As many of you will know, watching a film at home with a four year old is never a straightforward experience.