The other side
A weekly column that watches a TV programme and then talks about it, sometimes disapprovingly
Britannia: will Jez Butterworth’s epic new show plug the gap left by Game of Thrones?
What it lacks in sibling sex and skeleton armies Britannia makes up for in plain weirdness with savagery, superstition and strange visions abound
Hard Sun: a case of overcaffeinated, blood-soaked nonsense
Like a police drama written with Cop Shows for Dummies, the BBC show isn’t entirely bad – it just isn’t very good
Judi Dench: My Passion for Trees – exposing the dame's private shrubbery
What might have been an unpromising prospect is brought to life by the actor basking in the mystery and majesty of her precious wood
Detectorists: a rich portrait of unremarkable lives gone slightly awry
Testament to the mood-altering powers of television, Mackenzie Crook’s Bafta-winning comedy-drama allows us to tune out our grimly fractious world
Retiring, but not exactly shy – The Real Marigold on Tour returns
Ostensibly an investigation into how pensioners live in other countries, a more accurate precis would be ‘old people baffled by foreigners being foreign’
The Sex Robots Are Coming: seedy, sordid – but mainly just sad
The sex-doll industry is going from strength to strength in the drive to make the figures more lifelike, but where will it end?
Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast: a baffling mix of Top Gear and Countryfile
Not a cookery show in the regular sense, the culinary world’s longest-running bromance returns with new recipes, foodie hi-jinks and a spot of DIY
British Workers Wanted: reality bites in Brexit Britain
After voting leave, the owners of a recruitment agency in Bognor are struggling to replace their eastern European workers. Will the locals step up?
Motherland: a vision of child rearing that is panic-inducingly scary
There’s something exhilarating about how Sharon Horgan, Graham Linehan and co don’t even try to make these people likable
Snatch: a cock-er-nee gangster tale that’s a right load of old pony
Guy Ritchie’s tale of bare-knuckle boxing, diamonds and geezers is transplanted to the small screen. They really shouldn’t have gone to the Barney Rubble
What Would Diplo Do? A mockumentary for the EDM generation
Starring Dawson’s Creek’s James Van Der Beek as the superstar DJ, Viceland’s first scripted comedy is so meta it hurts
‘Carbs, fags and wine’: Roisin Conaty’s GameFace, a tragicomic portrait of a life unravelled
The English standup has created a big-hearted comedy that manages to make depression and loneliness funny
Dynasty: a camp classic rebooted for the 21st century
Rejoice, all ye lovers of bitch-slaps and all-day evening wear – the Carringtons are back and better than ever
Sing: Ultimate A Cappella – no, really, another singing show
While Sky1’s new singing show is pure of heart and humane of spirit, it’s also boring as hell
Celebs Go Dating: has reality TV finally hit rock bottom?
It’s hard to tell the ‘celebrities’ from the ‘civilians’ in E4’s toe-curling dating show
Good Morning Britain, we need to talk about Piers Morgan
ITV’s breakfast show is less likely to send you off to work with a smile on your face than kick you out of the door after giving you a black eye
Rellik: yet another gritty crime drama, only back to front
Using every cliche in the serial-killer manual, the new BBC show fancies itself as the next Scandi murder-mystery
Why did you come back, Cold Feet?
Returning for a seventh series, the show has sacrificed nuance and realism in favour of caricature and soap-opera silliness
The Great British Bake Off: could do with a bit more time in the oven
The recipe for the show has barely changed following the move to Channel 4, yet it is missing the sprinkle of chemistry that made it such a hit on the Beeb
The State: a meticulous, human examination of radicalisation
Channel 4’s new drama avoids the cliches associated with joining Isis, although it falls short of explaining the mentality behind doing so
About 195 results for The other side 
