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11.15 The Novelisation Correlation Yes, the original concept of the show was built around that very fact and it’s convenient to have the four main players congregate in the university lunch hall every week, but on the other hand Leonard’s writing career (and Raj and the planetarium) is a hoot. What we saw here wasn’t particularly clever or original, but it was a merciful change of pace. Leonard, having set himself up with a mechanical keyboard that sounds like a typewriter and a symbolic glass of scotch, is finally making a start on his novel....

11.16 The Neonatal Nomenclature We all know that the storyline and Bernadette’s role in the season was dependent on Melissa Rauch’s real-life pregnancy, but wow, how it’s dragged. Having a central character on bed rest is never fun, and I do wonder whether the show might have been better off simply having Bernie go on a work trip or stay with her (eventually dying) father instead of writing the pregnancy into the season....

Directed, co-produced and co-written by Jaco Van Dormeal (Toto The Hero), The Brand New Testament unfolds with the imagination, iconoclastic humour and surrealism of Terry Gilliam, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Michel Gondry. Having escaped to Earth (via a washing machine, naturally), Ea then decides to write a new section of the Bible, and employs a dyslexic vagrant named Victor to help her set down the thoughts of six new, randomly-selected apostles – among them a would-be assassin, an unfulfilled wife of a wealthy businessman played by Catherine Deneueve, and a bespectacled, 40-something sex-addict....

Dice This episode was the first where the show’s own can-do spirit in the face of massive inadequacies stopped being amusing and started being irritating. It wasn’t ‘so bad it’s good’ territory, so much as ‘so bad I was hoping a wayward truck might burst through the wall so that I wouldn’t have to watch the end of the episode’ territory. This week, the villain was Tracey (aka Dice), a precognitive savant played by Mena Suvari....

Maybe it’s only fitting, for these strange times, that The Cloverfield Paradox itself sees reality thrown into chaos, like Futurama’s What If machine on jukebox mode. Directed by Julius Onah, this is the second spin-off from 2008’s Cloverfield, which was joined by Dan Trachtenberg’s unexpectedly taut 10 Cloverfield Lane. But where the latter movie, released in 2016, found plenty of mileage in a single, basement location – aided by great performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman – The Cloverfield Paradox shoots for something rather more wide-ranging and grandiose, and doesn’t quite hit its mark....

After a confusing and unnecessary prologue in the Amityville house, the action cuts to Enfield in 1977, where the inhabitants of a damp and dingy – yet abnormally spacious – council house are being troubled by a poltergeist whose aim is to “hear them scream”. Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor with a Dick Van Dyke accent) is a long-suffering single mum with four kids who’ve been recently abandoned by their deadbeat dad....

The Expanse Season 2 Episode 10 No one does subtlety like The Expanse. In an episode that deepens the show’s already rich world-building, the characters are really displaying their consistent but malleable personalities. Especially welcome was Bobbie’s development as a soldier caught in the middle of a political battle, but the extra touches for Amos and Avasarala as well as the slow decline of Holden’s moral resolve really added spice to an episode that otherwise delivered only the tiniest of juicy morsels in the ongoing mystery surrounding Ganymede....

The Flash Season 2 Episode 21 “The Runaway Dinosaur” might not be the stunning return to form for The Flash Season 2 that I was looking for, but it’s close enough to it. With the series sinking deeper and deeper into alternate universe cartoon cliches with assorted Earth 2 nonsense over the last batch of episodes, getting deep into the emotional core of these characters (and sidelining Earth 2) was the smartest possible maneuver....

The Flash Season 3 Episode 14 This is one of those weeks where delivering an objective review becomes something of a struggle. For one thing, I’ve had a couple of weeks off from reviewing The Flash, so it’s nice to come back with fresh eyes and typing fingers. Thanks to Jim Dandy for filling for me with “Attack on Gorilla City” last week. I have to say, I generally agree with his sentiments about that one....

Anyone familiar with the long running series will know that this is usually the sign that the present wielder of the Sonic Screwdriver is about to metamorphose into someone physically, sartorially and mentally different from the previous incumbent. The last week hasn’t been easy as we awaited the New Doctor. The idea did have some credence taking into account the post feminist yen to put women in suits. In my opinion that would have jettisoned the Doctor to a parallel Universe far, far beyond Gallifrey....

I speak with confidence and assured certainty, even though I haven’t consulted the bathing pre-cogs of Minority Report (you have to make an appointment), the scrolls of the sibyl (I can’t read ancient Greek) or the soothsayer who lives in the swamp (he’s away in Okinawa taking part in a karate tournament and avenging his master’s dead wife or something). My knowledge of the near future comes on the basis of a theory and, in the post-enlightenment world, theories based on scientific rationale, empirical testing and reasoned analysis are where the truth is found, not in the bottom of the soothsayer’s teacup or scrying crystal....

Before I could reply and express my disgust, we were assaulted by terrible sounds from above, the building shook and, incredibly enough, the ceiling proceeded to cave in. A large airship (zeppelin, blimp, balloon kind) shaped like Yoda’s head crashed through the roof and brought the entire hospital down around us. Assessing the scene of mass destruction surrounding me I started to laugh, first nervously (I was in shock) and then raucously, howling out to the heavens (from whence the fallen Yoda came) with great mirth and hysterical glee....

ITV crime drama has gone back to the seaside with The Level, a new six-part thriller set against the lurid hen dos and moody seascapes of Brighton. A murder investigation brings Nancy back to face demons old and new in her home town of Brighton. By the end of the first episode, we’re left with a whodunit anchored in an emotional story about friendship and tricky fathers. In Nancy, writers Gaby Chiappe and Alexander Perrin have created a character it’s easy to side with despite her abuse of power (and the fact she spends much of episode one visibly deteriorating due to the infected bullet wound she’s concealing)....

The Magicians Season 2 Episode 2 Sometimes the humor in The Magicians delights and at other times it annoys, and unfortunately the return to Earth for much of “Hotel Spa Potions” conjures up the weaker parts of season 1. Although the choppy narrative had sparks of interest here and there, the best parts got lost in all the skipping around. Hopes of a great season to come aren’t dashed, but hopefully more cohesive storytelling is right around the corner....

The Magicians Season 2 Episode 1 Was the recovery from the Beast’s deadly conquest in the season 1 finale a bit too easy? Perhaps, but Alice’s god mojo was an established boon that can’t be brushed aside, especially since she was unable to use it to wield the moonstone blade to defeat Martin. Plus, the lingering prospect of the group’s massacre allowed Quentin to introduce the apparently dangerous idea of asking help from Fillory natives, which not only cost him a vial of blood (and that’s undoubtedly coming back to haunt him) but may also end up determining the fate of Penny for the rest of the season....

The Macguffin’s a missing Nazi rocket scientist and a tape packed full of bomb-making information, with which a villainous organisation plans to build a nuclear warhead. With the assistance of East German car mechanic Gaby (Alicia Vikander), the scientist’s niece, Solo and Kuryakin head to Rome to track down the bad guys. They’re led by the icy Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Dibicki), who, by the by, looks quite a bit like noughties-era Madonna....

1.6 The Exiles Despite now being de-shackled from delving into the Musketeers’ past, the plot itself doesn’t break any new ground. The King’s mother, Marie de Medici, risks execution by returning to her son after apparent attempts on her life. Elsewhere, D’Artagnan and Aramis are charged with the safe escort of a mother, her son and a priest to the Cardinal for reasons unknown. Not too much times passes before both stories come together as Marie plots to overthrow Louis by revealing the son of his previously unknown deformed, but with a heart of gold, elder twin....

1.19 An Unblinking Death For a show that most of the time has too much going on, too many characters fighting for attention and too many ideas to properly explore in any depth, this week’s The Originals, An Unblinking Death, made for a nice change of pace. There was still a lot happening, of course, but by focusing on just two of the most pressing storylines – Father Kieran’s madness and the werewolf vs....

Thing was, Rob didn’t realise we were joking… 1 – What is the Christian names of the following characters – Mahoney, Jones, Hightower and Tackleberry? 2 – What musical instrument can Tackleberry play? 4 – Whose car does Mahoney and Hightower steal to practice their police driving exam? 5 – What type of shop does Mr Sweetchuck own? 6 – Who or what is Lou? 7 – What is the name of Eric Lassard’s brother?...

Hitmen. Mob bosses. Al Capone. Nazis. TV drama has humanised them all. Abi Morgan’s The Split though, has an even taller order: making us feel sorry for someone earning 100k and living in a detached London four-storey with off-road parking. While almost exclusively the remit of period drama here in the UK, the US is well-practiced at the ‘rich people have problems too’ TV genre. Networks over there are crammed with beautiful types whose lives play out against a backdrop of palatial villas and Tiffany-blue swimming pools....