Even after seeing the first instalment in Channel Four’s three-part series, Black Mirror, I wasn’t prepared for just how brilliant this second episode, Fifteen Million Merits, would prove to be. Episode one, The National Anthem, was spry and blackly comic, exploring writer Charlie Brooker’s pet themes of social malaise and media intrusion. Episode two covers not dissimilar issues, but places them in a dystopian sci-fi setting. It also happens to contain some of the finest production design, music and acting I’ve seen in a genre television show all year....

2.6 The Age Of Reason Boardwalk Empire is very much of that pedigree, with The Godfather, Goodfellas and The Sopranos alumni on board. In this episode, The Age of Reason, it is the institution of Confession that is examined, and it goes way beyond the needs of ceremony. There are a lot of troubled souls in Boardwalk, not least of all Nelson Van Alden. Although not a Catholic, he is certainly the most prone to religious mania, as the unfortunate Agent Sebso could testify....

It’s fair to say that Bojack Horseman was one of the more surprising hits among last year’s new programming. A dark animated comedy featuring Will Arnett as an out-of-work sitcom actor who also happens to be an anthropomorphised horse, the show launched on Netflix with relatively little fanfare. But as word of mouth spread, Bojack Horseman found an audience of loyal fans, spawning a Christmas special and now a second series....

4.1 Box Cutter The opening scene of the season 4 premiere will have seen the Breaking Bad acolytes all over the world breathe a huge sigh of relief. The excruciating 14 month wait is finally over, and the Current Greatest Programme Ever™ is back on the small screen to entertain and exhilarate us for another 13 weeks. Any exultant exhalations will have been short-lived, however, because it’s doesn’t take long for Box Cutter to grab your windpipe and remind you of something you may have forgotten over the long hiatus....

5.10 Buried Sometimes it’s hard to talk to your family. Particularly if it’s about something important. In an ideal world, the intimacy of a blood bond would win out over everything else, and your loved ones would be immediately receptive and welcoming to whatever you have to tell them, even it conflicts directly with everything that defines them as a person. But no, the intensity of being given bad news by a close relation makes a considered response all but unthinkable....

It also hints at another theme integral to Polly’s biography: that Bruce so rarely got the recognition he deserved. He achieved so much. He was the first Asian-American actor to have a lead role in a major western studio picture; he brought martial arts into the western mainstream and brought western fashion to the east; he broke down the barriers between eastern and western filmmakers; he arguably spearheaded the 1970s surge in Chinese nationalism that led to the socio-economic ascent of Hong Kong… plus he was just, like, the coolest guy ever, right?...

The story does a solid job of weaving a cogent narrative that brings the estranged Alexis and Rick back together. I was skeptical at first of having Alexis play Nancy Drew but Molly Quinn is such a strong actress that she really makes it work. Plus it was cool to see them outside of the city solving cases and taking down a big time case in a small town. Beckett is not completely absent from the show and gets just enough screen time without hurting the narrative....

The best lead the investigators have to follow is the last words uttered by the special ops soldier who abducted Castle at gunpoint in the first part. “Dreamworld … dreamworld.” On a tip from Esposito up in NYC, the team figures out that Dreamworld is, in fact, a ghost base somewhere overseas. However the secretive nature of the base never materializes beyond mythical status. I always love when Castle is on the clock because it lends a sense of urgency to the always fun drama....

The famous last line of AA Milne’s The House At Pooh Corner seems like an unusual jumping-off point for a Disney version of Winnie The Pooh, but nevertheless, that’s where the new live-action sequel Christopher Robin starts its story, which echoes both Steven Spielberg’s Hook and Disney’s own Mary Poppins. Staying behind in London, he’s astonished to run into Pooh (once again voiced by the magnificent Jim Cummings) outside his home....

Tom Hardy joins the cast this season. Can you tell us anything about working with him again [Murphy and Hardy have previously worked together on Christopher Nolan films Inception and The Dark Knight Rises]? Where are we with your character, going into series 2? I think the world has expanded and Tommy’s horizons have expanded further since the end of the last season. They’re going south where they encounter resistance to their expansion, and within the family there’s all sorts of shenanigans going on, and he’s always trying to keep a lid on all that stuff....

Colony Season 2 Episode 7 Resistance member Edison sums it up best when he looks at Bram and says “there will be consequences.” Take Will’s adventures transitioning into the new and more oppressive offices of Homeland Security for example. This storyline was the most problematic for me thus far since it followed the sloppy X-Files logic of “Special Agent Protagonist is such a pain in the a** (not to mention a liability) but we’ll keep him hired on anyway just for his looks....

“Everybody knows he was a wonderful man. And that’s all we can say about him,” Cadwallader told the Associated Press. “He’s going to be dearly missed.” James Thurston Nabors was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, in 1930. He started to entertain his friends when he was a kid because of bouts of asthma. Nabors graduated from the University of Alabama, and spent the early part of his show business career as an assistant film editor and singer in New York City, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and finally Hollywood....

For two months, Kushner sat in a hospital bed away from his son due to the effects of the chemotherapy. Mercifully, Kushner is home now, but the road ahead is still long. Helping him down that road and through his journey so far is a remarkable support system that includes his family, his friends, and a network of comic book professionals and fans that have lifted his spirits with their concern and their actions....

This review contains spoilers. No matter how crazy things get in this show, Darryl and White Josh will always be an oasis of sanity. They’ve proved to be the most mature and responsible characters in Rebecca’s orbit more than once, and so it was great to spend some time checking in with them to see how their relationship’s going. It turns out it’s not all adorable matching tuxedos and shared protein shakes, though....

Damnation Episode 9 Seth and Creeley were on the wrong side of the law in blind allegiance to their father and his pursuit of wealth and legacy. The Turner family’s notoriety never extended beyond being local thugs, and the father, a victim of patricide, didn’t live to see old age. The brothers weren’t shown a good example of familial love, which opened the door for blackmail, being framed for a massacre, and serving a life sentence in prison....

His most famous role as the dysfunctional Dr Tobias Funke in Arrested Development brought him more recognition in the UK along with his reputation on the live circuit, all of which led him being offered his own show by Channel 4 and now his first UK DVD release. First up, welcome to the UK! How you doing? Good, good! Y’know, getting ready to start shooting the TV show. Looking forward to that....

2.6 This Woman’s Work So many shows these days are predictable, possibly because the people writing them are broiled in the same history of TV drama, and any good idea is often worth a rehash. Yet that serves only to make a totally unexpected turn of events sweeter when they turn up. This episode of Defiance has one of those, so if you’ve not watched it I’d skip this review until you’ve experienced it....

3.11 Of A Demon In My View How you personally mesh that with what happens on the show I’d say is up to you, but I took it as meaning that Kindzi was a constant threat and in this story she takes full form as the true nemesis of this season. But before I get to her, I’d like to whine about how poor the opening sequence, in which Irisa was released from the overturned truck, was....

3.5 History Rhymes The centre-piece is the often turbulent relationship between Nolan and Irisa, and how they’re now bonded together to share a common memory collection. It might seem somewhat late in the process to give Nolan more backstory, but as this progressed, his failings and Irisa’s were better revealed. As it went on, I began to wonder if Irisa is actually more guilt-ridden than Nolan, but surely the point is that only these two characters can understand the pain of the other, even if they’re not exactly bonding right now....

Speaking of Doakes, I think he annoys me for the same reason that Deb does – both of them constantly run around telling everyone else how they should feel. Or, how they should show how they’re feeling, I guess. It’s stupid. Particularly Deb. You know, I think I’d quite like it if the Ice Truck Killer offed Deb. She’s asking for it. You know, most of the things that used to enrage me about this series are now sort of acceptable....