TELEVISION: Civil War 360 (2013)

American miniseries Civil War 360 is a three-part documentary on the American Civil War by the Smithsonian Channel. The series provides a wider overview of the conflict, with episode 1 (hosted by Ashley Judd) exploring the Union, episode 2 (hosted by Trace Adkins) exploring the Confederacy, and episode 3 (hosted by Dennis Haysbert) considering what the conflict meant for African-Americans (slaves and free-folk alike).

PROS

• As well as providing an overview of their specific subject-matters’ experiences during the Civil War itself, each episode also provides a historical context of what led to them being where they were when the war commenced, and a brief epilogue that explored the post-war repercussions for them, which were in some cases complicated by President Lincoln’s assassination – a well-rounded approach indeed.
• A striking amount of nuance that does not treat the subject-matters as black-and-white, which is especially notable in the Confederacy episode, which explores how many (including Robert E. Lee) fought on that side primarily out of a sense of loyalty to their home States, and how their sense of duty became increasingly begrudging as the war progressed. Both the Confederacy and Union episodes also explore the civilian suffering in those respective States, bringing a greater sense of the poignancy and humanity of it all.
• A variety of historians bring very interesting expertise to the series and explain their insights in an accessible manner, whilst a plethora of fascinating historical artefacts are shown which bring real nuance and humanity to one of history’s most significant conflicts.
• Three excellent and engaging hosts, each of whom have a connection to the niche focus of their episode via their ancestry, and all of whom are clearly fascinated by the Civil War’s history and therefore interact very well with the experts whom they discuss things with and the artefacts that they examine.

CONS

• The episodes are occasionally disjointed, particularly when transitioning from the host addressing the camera or experts explaining something to the re-enactments of historical moments (which inevitably feature bad acting).
• Given how much is explored/covered in each episode, the episodes do feel constrained (and at times rushed) by an hour’s runtime each.

VERDICT: 8/10

TELEVISION: Toy Story of Terror! (2013)

Welcome to this, the fourteenth instalment in The First Annual October Scare Fest!

American animated television special Toy Story of Terror! is a spin-off to the iconic Disney/Pixar franchise. A flat tyre whilst travelling cross-country means that Bonnie (Emily Hahn) and her mother (Lori Alan) must book into a motel for an overnight stay. During the night, the toys leave Bonnie’s backpack to go exploring. One-by-one, however, they mysteriously go missing, and eventually it is up to Jessie (Joan Cusack) to save all of her friends.

PROS

• As expected from a television special made by Pixar, the animation is truly stunning, thanks to a rich colour palette, lots of texture and attention-to-detail, and clever use of low lighting to create the visual quality of a spooky tale.
• A well-paced and consistently engaging 20 minute narrative which features quirky use of its characters and a captivating sense of mystery, while we become emotionally invested in Jessie’s efforts to overcome her fears.
• Pixar cleverly incorporate the horror genre with some neat references to films such as Psycho, Night of the Living Dead and The Shining, while Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton) is cleverly used to deconstruct horror formulas and tropes.
• A unanimously strong voice cast, with the stand-outs from the returning cast being Joan Cusack and Timothy Dalton, while Carl Weathers is the stand-out new addition as Combat Carl, who is used to reference Weathers’s Predator role.

CONS

• The narrative could benefit from being a bit longer, to give more returning characters the chance to shine and be memorable, which would appease the Toy Story fans who make the biggest percentage of the target audience.

VERDICT: 9/10

TELEVISION: The IT Crowd (2006-2013)

British sitcom The IT Crowd was broadcast on Channel 4 for 25 episodes. Set in Reynholm Industries, the series focuses on the IT Department in the basement office – coding genius Moss (Richard Ayoade), work-shy Roy (Chris O’Dowd) and head of department/relationship manager Jen (Katherine Parkinson), the latter of whom knows nothing about computers. The trio get up to all sorts of shenanigans, many of which involve their man-child boss Douglas (Matt Berry).

PROS

• Quite quirky humour which has led to the series gaining a cult status, as it celebrates nerd culture and its gags centre on the chalk-and-cheese relationship between quite amusing oddballs and a world which does not quite get them, but ultimately cannot manage without them.
• The heart of the series is in the dynamic between the central trio, which is tremendously well-realised by the three leads. Richard Ayoade captures the socially awkward geek type wonderfully, while Chris O’Dowd does dry humour very well. Katherine Parkinson rounds the trio out very well in a chalk-and-cheese type way, her ability to be blunt contrasting very well with her co-stars.
• Some great supporting players over the course of the series, but none more so than Matt Berry as Douglas, who conveys the sense of a man-child wonderfully and makes even some of Douglas’s most ridiculous moments hilarious to watch, thanks to his raw energy and excellent comic delivery.

CONS

• The programme got off to a noticeably patchy start with the first six episodes, partly because it was still finding its voice, but mainly because Denholm (Chris Morris) – the boss in those early episodes – was never a well-realised character, the screenwriters coming across as uncertain in what to do with the character.
• The last few episodes are easily the weakest, as the humour gets more and more ludicrous to the point of making the viewer roll their eyes, while the finale has far too many silly ideas crammed into a single episode, and does not give the series a fitting payoff.

VERDICT: 6/10

TELEVISION: Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

American crime-drama Breaking Bad originally aired on AMC for 62 episodes. Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a mild-mannered 50-year-old Chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Desperate to ensure that his family are financially taken care off after his inevitable death, he teams up with former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in cooking crystal meth. The pair become rich beyond their wildest dreams after Walt creates a product of 99% purity, but as they do so they descend ever deeper into the underground world of organised crime, in which Walt becomes known as ‘Heisenberg’. To make matters even more complicated, Walt’s brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris) is the DEA Agent leading the investigation into Heisenberg.

PROS

• Some of the finest screenwriting in television history, which holds a generally coherent standard from start to finish, presenting slow-burn, character-driven drama which is truly intense and highly engaging to watch. Aside from the obvious themes of morality, addiction and cancer, the screenwriters approach a number of tough topics over the course of the series, including grief, depression, PTSD, the class divide, disability, abuse of power, corruption and racism.
• Excellent use of either flashbacks or flash-forwards in the opening minutes of multiple episodes, which immediately gets the viewer invested and intrigued, and kicks off a puzzle which the viewer pieces together over the course of an episode, or even an entire Season (I am looking at you, Pink Teddy Bear in Season 2).
• An outstanding ensemble of characters, who are very well realised, receive excellent character development and detailed backstories, and each bring something different to the table, making for easily some of the most engaging character-driven television of all time, and some of the most iconic television characters of the 21st Century.
• An outstanding ensemble cast, with multiple memorable performances, including those of Dean Norris, RJ Mitte, Anna Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito. The real stars, however, are Bryan Cranston, who gives a truly gripping leading turn that is rich in raw emotion and gritty energy as Walt, and Aaron Paul in his breakthrough performance as Jesse, which is passionate yet nuanced. There is good reason why they both won multiple Emmys for their roles.
• On a technical level, this series is impossible to fault (bar the very, very minor continuity errors which happen in literally every film and television series). The cinematography, the editing, the sound mixing and editing, the production design and lighting, the make-up and injury detail…need I say more?

NITPICKS

• While Tuco’s (Raymond Cruz) death in Season 2 does serve as a catalyst for the events in several future episodes, he was a great antagonist who had great potential to have been in the series for longer.
• The Season 3 episode Fly comes closer than any other episode to being filler.

VERDICT: 10/10

TELEVISION: Pokémon the Series: Black & White (2010-2013)

Pokémon the Series: Black & White is an anime series, the sequel series to Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and originally aired on TV Tokyo in Japan with 142 episodes, before being dubbed into English. Following his journey in Sinnoh, Ash (Sarah Natochenny) heads to the Unova region. There he is joined on his journey by aspiring Dragon Master Iris (Eileen Stevens) and Pokémon Connoisseur Cilan (Jason Griffith). Together they travel round the region, catching new Pokémon, entering tournaments, battling rivals, while Ash battles Gyms with the aim of winning the Unova League. Things are further complicated as they face threats from the Team Rocket trio (who have once again followed Ash), as well as Team Plasma.

PROS

• Several good new characters are introduced, such as Iris’s Axew (Kayzie Rogers), Ash’s Oshawott (Lisa Ortiz), Scraggy (Jason Griffith), Pignite and Krookodile (both Marc Thompson) and Cilan’s Pansage (Eli James). Meanwhile, Dawn (Emily Jenness) and Ash’s Charizard (Shin’ichirō Miki) both have good returns.
• Crisp and colourful animation that has a real vibrancy to it, particularly in the battles, while there is far more background detail than previous seasons, most notably in stadium crowds.

CONS

• The narrative is very, very rushed with far too many ideas packed into too few episodes. This is most obvious in the middle 55 episodes, which include three ongoing Team Rocket plots, two ongoing tournaments, multiple rival stories and five Gym battles.
• Many new characters are introduced (including nine new Pokémon for Ash), the majority of whom are very poorly realised. Iris and Cilan are two weak protagonists, the former being highly irritating, the latter ultimately serving little purpose to the narrative. Many of Ash’s new Pokémon are highly underused, while Ash is dumbed down A LOT and is frankly a joke of a protagonist compared to previous sagas of the anime.
• Many of the worst Gym battles throughout the anime’s run happened in this saga, as does the worst regional League of the lot. Furthermore, the rushed nature of the series becomes most apparent when we are given the frankly awful and pointless Decolore Islands filler arc.

VERDICT: 3/10

TELEVISION: Luther (2010-2013, 2015-2019)

British crime drama Luther originally aired on BBC One for 14 episodes, before having a 6 episode revival. DCI John Luther (Idris Elba) works for the Serious Crime Unit, a job which sees him investigating the most horrific crimes in London. A dedicated officer with an occasionally violent temper and some unorthodox methods, he ultimately finds himself consumed by the darkness of the crimes that he investigates, while matters are further complicated for him by his unique relationship with the psychopathic Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson).

PROS

• Each series focuses on one case and, in doing so, crafts a very dark puzzle that the viewer pieces together with Luther, while also building suspense extraordinarily well as we are left wondering how long the perpetrator will avoid arrest for.
• A dark, gritty visual style with even the daytime exterior scenes being overcast, emphasising just how dark and bleak Luther’s entire world has ultimately become, while the cinematography department make outstanding use of shadows in interior scenes.
• Idris Elba is an outstanding lead, giving a truly intense performance as the troubled DCI that is rich in raw emotion and makes Luther a captivating character to watch. He is backed by a terrific supporting cast, the true star of which is Ruth Wilson’s fascinatingly unhinged turn as Alice, with Wilson having a wonderfully unique chemistry with Elba.
• Outstanding work by the make-up department, who use fake blood with vivid effect to create the injury detail, gore and horrifically maimed dead bodies that inevitably comes up during cases.

CONS

• The fact that the series received a perfect ending in 2013 only to be revived unnecessarily two years later implies that creator and screenwriter Neil Cross was not wholly confident or satisfied in what he had created.
• While the revived run had some great moments, it nevertheless is weaker than the original run thanks to a very convenient, rushed kick-off, some retcons and twists that would be right at home in a soap opera and an absence of some of the strongest supporting characters.

VERDICT: 8/10