Fiction Fan

They may be great now but how did they get away with this?, 9 Aug 2013

Like most people I enjoy the work of most, if not all, of these individuals - or have done, but this is poor stuff from their early days (1983). Better to catch Hugh and Stephen in Jeeves and Wooster or Fry and Laurie, Robbie in Cracker or Siobhan in Bullman.

Brilliant comic detective series, 18 Nov 2012

One of the very best BBC productions of recent years. Ben Miller is excellent as the unpopular British detective who is transfered to the West Indies and who succeeds despite being a fish out of water and constantly bemoaning the drawbacks of paradise. The rest of the cast are also first rate - Sara Martins, Don Warrington, Danny John-Jules (well known to Red dwarf fans)and the others help to make this a memorable show. The writing is also great with a fine combination of slick whodunnit and tongue in cheek/character comedy. Ben Miller's best vehicle so far for me. Loved the show.

A plausible account of a brief and troubled reign, 23 Sep 2012

It has become fashionable to try to resurrect Richard III's reputation as a maligned but unfortunate monarch in a time of civil war. Seward refutes this by reference to the limited historical evidence of the time. As much as some people may want to blame Tudor propagandists for dragging Richard's reputation through the mud there is precious little contemporary support for him from his own lifetime. Richard was a ruthless character who had survived through the various "Wars of the Roses" as they were subsequently called and there can be little doubt he was complicit in the deaths of Henry VI and his nephews, whether directly responsible or not. At least he went down fighting at Bosworth… Read more