In a new documentary, the defining funk artist’s ups and many downs are examined with a clear eye and a lack of sugar-coatingIn the jarring new music documentary, Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, we see a star torn in half. On the one hand, t…
Reservation Dogs: a groundbreaking, hilarious sitcom about Native American teens
The dark comedy from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi set in rural Oklahoma is a watershed for indigenous representationThe second episode of Reservation Dogs, FX’s mirthful dark comedy about a ragtag group of indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma, takes p…
The 18-month hangover: Hen Night’s disabled trailblazers on making TV history
Made on a shoestring, this short about a tough and successful disabled woman whose life is upturned by lockdown is a landmark moment in broadcasting. We talk to its makersJessica is tough and successful. She’s a young disabled woman who loves her work …
Vigil: Suranne Jones’s classy new drama is Sunday night TV at its best
This multilayered murder mystery set on a nuclear submarine takes the usual police procedural beats and gives them a new lease of lifeThere are three things we, as a nation, love and adore: bank holiday weekends, multilayered murder mysteries being sol…
Colin Farrell on making The North Water: ‘It’s a relief that no one died’
Farrell and Stephen Graham star in the gritty new thriller about an 1850s whaling ship. However, the drama wasn’t confined to the screen …Nothing shocked me about The North Water,” says Colin Farrell, stroking his straggly beard. “If I want to be shock…
Elizabeth Holmes stands trial – podcasts of the week
The acclaimed Dropout podcast returns to chronicle legal proceedings against the Theranos founder. Plus: good cops go bad in a new series with shades of The WireThe Dropout (available from 31 August)The polo neck wearing, deep voice-imitating, Stanford…
Sixteen: Class of 2021 review – what it’s really like to be a teen today
High marks for this emotionally pulverising documentary about a gang of teenagers starting their GCSEs mid-pandemicJust about any documentary set in a school, among the scramble of children bulging this way and that and the tensile network of teachers …
‘Netflix is a lifesaver!’ The over-65s embracing the streaming boom
Netflix has reported a surge in older viewers tuning in to its shows, from Grace and Frankie to Never Have I Ever. We meet the recent convertsI’m 66, live alone and have no children, and for many years I watched hardly any TV. Now I adore streaming. It…
What exactly do Ian Botham and John Cleese offer ‘global Britain’?
The ex-cricketer and lapsed comedian have found new work in politics and TV respectively, but they are trading off old successes and even older opinionsIt’s easy to find out when Ian Botham last played cricket, because there is Wisden, but it’s hard to…
McCartney 3, 2, 1 review – the Fab Four as you’ve never heard them before
This bounteous feast for Beatles fans sees Paul McCartney dive into the back catalogue with producer Rick Rubin – who then does something truly amazingLong before their mop-topped world domination, Paul McCartney and George Harrison went hitchhiking. P…