Author Archives: Lucinda Smyth
The return of Alan Partridge and Big Little Lies—the best new television
Plus Dirty John on Netflix
The best television in January 2019
Plus Andrea Levy's The Long Song on screen
Prospect recommends: The best TV to watch in December
Plus Fanang: Dead Man Running
Louis Theroux and the mystery of Orson Welles—the best TV in November 2018
Plus Julia Roberts in Amazon Prime Video Series Homecoming
The Romanoffs and Monkman and Seagull—the best television in October 2018
Plus: House of Cards' creator Beau Willimon's The First
From stem to Sterne: how a Yorkshire parson reinvented the novel
250 years since Laurence Sterne's death, Tristam Shandy is as puzzling and entertaining as ever—and not only for its rude jokes
A camp take on Vanity Fair and Angela Carter’s strange brilliance—television highlights of September 2018
Plus Maniac the new Neflix series with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill
Jeanne Calment: the supercentenarian who met Van Gogh and lived to see Tony Blair elected PM
Calment’s extraordinary longevity proves the trick to long life is a relaxed attitude towards the rules
In Patrick Melrose, we finally have a nuanced portrait of addiction
The new Benedict Cumberbatch drama directly confronts the problem without glamorising it. This is sadly all too rare
How modern television is changing its viewers—for the better
The recent rise of foreign language dramas proves that it is now a medium for concentration rather than distraction
Is Larry David still funny?
The comedy writer hasn’t changed—but the world around him has. Does the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm come off?
Netflix’s Alias Grace makes voyeurs of us all
The six-part series is set in the 19th century—but speaks to the role of women in society today