Just in

Television / Radio

The battle of the Vercors Plâteau

I have always had the greatest interest in the lesser known theatres of battle of World War Two but until I saw National Geographic’s excellent documentary on the Vercors Plâteau I had never heard of this engagement in July and August 1945. To the rallying call of Charles de Gaulle the FFI [...]

November 9, 2023 // 0 Comments

Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia (Channel 4)

I’m not a great one for a Channel 4/5 conspiracy documentary which tends to be more speculation to grab the headlines but not bolstered by hard evidence. However this one made a plausible case. This was that Jack Kennedy befriended Frank Sinatra, who arranged glamorous Hollywood film stars for [...]

November 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

Olive Kitteridge (HBO)

It’s always an interesting discussion as to whether the book – or the film of it – is better. I reviewed Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud on this website in May 2017. It’s a collection of short stories set in Maine which won the writer the Pulitzer Prize. The HBO film version [...]

November 3, 2023 // 0 Comments

Das Boot

The best testament I can give to Das Boot is that I was really tired last night but managed to watch both final episodes between 9-11 pm. The plot is multi-layered. Klaus Hoffmann (Rick Okon), war hero and U-boat commander from a distinguished naval family, is complicit in a plot to topple Hitler [...]

October 26, 2023 // 0 Comments

Bad week for the Beeb

It’s hardly been a great week for ‘Auntie’.    The Reckoning was produced by ITV studios but broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays on BBC 1. The final episode’s credits revealed that an investigation by Newsnight into Sir Jimmy Savile had been dropped. Next up was their coverage of the [...]

October 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

Yesterday on TV

Monday night is my quiz night on TV. Clive Myrie is now presenting Mastermind and Amol Rajan University Challenge. Both programmes tend to be associated with one presenter – Magnus Magnusson and Bamber Gascoigne respectively – but the two new boys have settled in well. On one episode of [...]

October 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

Sunday‘s quarter finals

Our readership has had plenty of opportunity to read of two more thrilling matches so I thought I would major on the coverage which, in my view, did not match the occasion. I was particularly irritated by David Flatman – the analyst for ITV’s coverage of France v South Africa. He [...]

October 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

Rugby World Cup: Quarter Final preview

WALES v ARGENTINA Wales are as overrated as much as Argentina are understated, but I still take the Principality to win narrowly. In Rees-Zammit they have one of the most lethal wings around but Beffelli of Argentina runs  him close. IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND The tie of the round, if not the [...]

October 14, 2023 // 0 Comments

Recent TV: The Reckoning & das Boot

The Reckoning is a hard watch but a necessary one. It shows how a TV personality Jimmy Savile was able to get away with virtually anything because of his contacts within the Police, the BBC and the charities he supported. Steve Coogan plays Jimmy Savile superbly, but authenticity is added by [...]

October 13, 2023 // 0 Comments

England 18 Samoa 17 (Rugby World Cup)

As befits my standing as a sports editor I am inherently interested in most games and sports and regard the “thrill” of watching them in their various elite forms as one of the greatest joys that human beings can experience, not least because of the special atmosphere that great stadia filled [...]

October 8, 2023 // 0 Comments

1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 72

Copyright © 2026 The National Rust | Design by Premonition