The latest season of the beloved family drama continues the lofty level of writing, directing and acting admired in prior years.
Emily S. Mendel
An extremely entertaining Season 5 of “Downton Abbey” continues the spellbinding costume drama created and written by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes. This season’s focus is the modernity of the mid-1920s. It is a time of expanding opportunities for the Crawleys ...
Andrew Osborne
Has the recent TV renaissance peaked? Probably not, given some of 2014’s strong debuts and continuing favorites. And while the big screen actually impressed me a bit more than the small one this year, the general quality of the best ...
A combination of wrongheaded strategy and reluctance to confront a reconfigured enemy have led to a formidable new threat in the Mideast.
Sometimes a good documentary merely confirms what is generally feared to be true. But as any government official (or journalist) will acknowledge, confirmation is not an easy task. Layers of nuance and obfuscation have to be scrubbed away before the ...
This exciting, two-part production is a sparkling entertainment, regardless of how purists feel about its origins.
Emily S. Mendel
The Jane Austen spin-off industry has a strong contender in this opulent and engrossing adaption of “Death Comes to Pemberley,” based on the 2011 novel by P.D. James, the award-winning British mystery writer. The story imagines the lives of the ...
The latest from this documentary series trains its high-beam scrutiny on a health crisis that rivals the Ebola scare.
While America frets over a potential Ebola outbreak in Texas, another crisis already plagues the country's health-care system: bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics are cropping up in hospitals nationwide. These superbugs infect more than 2 million patients annually, ...
Three new episodes, starring Julia McKenzie in the title role, offer first-rate acting, high production values and fascinating scripts based on Agatha Christie whodunits.
Emily S. Mendel
Twinkly-eyed Julia McKenzie ("Cranford") is back as Miss Marple in three new productions of well-acted, tightly written, complex and mysterious cases — "A Caribbean Mystery" and "Greenshaw’s Folly" (Sept. 21 at 8 and 9:30 p.m. PT/ET respectively) and "Endless Night" ...
Philip Huang
Is the title ironic? Because many unhappy things happen in “Happy Valley.” And many unhappy people live in “Happy Valley.” Even the economy is depressed.
Keeping the peace is police sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), who lets pass few ...
A new documentary and book examine this photographer's expressive work and the life that inspired it.
Emily S. Mendel
Art, scholarship and family combine in two wonderful interlocking features about the renowned American documentary photographer, Dorothea Lange (1895-1965). Most famous for her heartrending portraits of Dust Bowl migrants, notably, the internationally famous “Migrant Mother,” Lange stands alone in the ...
Two new episodes featuring Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth rise to the series' excellent writing, acting and production values.
Emily S. MendelCA,
Two new exciting episodes featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, Dame Agatha Christie’s favorite Belgian sleuth, will be aired soon on PBS Masterpiece Mystery. Of the entire series of 70 mysteries, they are two of the five Poirot programs not ...
With its focus on developing the titular young policeman's edgy personality, season 2 is a welcome addition to this Brit whodunit.
Emily S. MendelCA,
A welcome new season of “Endeavour,” the prequel to the legendary “Inspector Morse” series, revisits young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse of the Oxford City Police CID as he hones his deductive powers in four complex new episodes set in the ...
