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Articles by Bernadette Angell

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About Bernadette Angell

After cutting her journalistic teeth in Boston USA, Bernadette met and married an Englishman, whom she followed back to London. Two decades and three children later, they divorced. She now occupies herself as a freelance writer (credits include television soaps and radio plays) and occasional amateur gardener. More Posts

Weekend TV and radio

This was very much a mixed bag. The best programme I heard was Private Passions.  This programme – on a midday on Radio 3 – is presented by Michael Berkeley and is a fusion of interview and music, much better than Desert Island Discs.   When I switched on 5 minutes after the [...]

October 11, 2021 // 0 Comments

White Lotus

White Lotus, a HBO production on Sky Atlantic, has been the success story of the summer and I can see why as it’s topical, well-observed and funny. The White Lotus is a high end hotel in Hawaii which attracts privileged, self -absorbed white American guests varying in their awfulness. The [...]

September 14, 2021 // 0 Comments

Cathy Come Home

As I have been comparing unfavourably contemporary TV drama to that of the past I thought I should revisit Cathy Come Home which I have now re-seen. It started life as a Wednesday Play produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, the writer was Jeremy Sandford, husband of novelist Nell [...]

September 7, 2021 // 0 Comments

Vigil/BBC One

The problem with contemporary BBC drama is that it is all too predictable. There is invariably a stressed-out but assertive woman detective, normally gay, who confronts successfully the male establishment. In this case the detective Amy (Suzanne Jones) is literally dropped into a nuclear submarine [...]

August 31, 2021 // 0 Comments

Hemingway & Ken Burns

A colleague of mine on the Rust sent me a revealing interview with Ken Burns on documentary making. See here – THE GUARDIAN He revealed that he can take 10 years to make a documentary and – though the funding is a problem as he operates in the public broadcasting sector – he would [...]

July 21, 2021 // 0 Comments

Hemingway/BBC 4

A new Ken Burns documentary is worth waiting for though not worth missing England v Germany as it clashed. You know that the production values will be high and he will lay out the facts in a non-judgemental way. By contrast the Channel 4 type of documentary, normally on the royals, will be more of [...]

July 1, 2021 // 0 Comments

Rumpole and the barrow boy

There are many reasons why I enjoy Rumpole (Talking Pictures channel, every Wednesday at 8.0pm). The programme is so well constructed with chambers life, the trial and the Rumpole marriage all possessing the same leitmotiv. In last week’s episode Rumpole and the Barrow Boy the common thread was [...]

June 19, 2021 // 0 Comments

Who Killed Lamb & Danger Man

Neil Rosen kindly lent me the DVD of Hell Drivers.  On the second DVD were featured two programmes that showcased the acting talents of its two leads – Stanley Baker and Patrick McGoohan. Who Killed Lamb? was a Yorkshire TV production play from back in the days when ITV produced some [...]

May 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

John Mortimer and Rumpole

 As the old Jewish joke goes if John Mortimer was alive today he would be turning in his grave. Why? Rumpole of the Bailey is repeated every Wednesday evening and carries a PC health warning before it is broadcast by Talking Pictures that it might offend some viewers but should be judged by its [...]

April 2, 2021 // 0 Comments

Line of Duty

We critics never admit it but when we go out on a line we check whether other reviewers have done the same. I criticised Grace last Sunday for its weak dialogue and acting .. .and so did other reviewers. I found the new series of Line of Duty formulaic and heavily accented to police procedure. It [...]

March 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

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