7 d. ago Small screen, big investment: TV episodes have become way too long

Episodes of The Bear, Stranger Things and Lena Dunham’s new show Too Much are stretching the limits of television and reducing our enjoyment in the processThe big debate over The Bear – apart from the one about whether it’s still any good or not, which is another matter entirely – regards its genre. Once the darling of the Emmys, The Bear initially called itself a comedy, despite not really having any jokes or levity or fun in it. And this was down to some bad maths about its duration. The Bear was a half-hour show, and sitcoms are half-hour shows, therefore The Bear must be a sitcom.However, in its fourth season, The Bear was no longer a half-hour show. Of its 10 new episodes, none are less than 30 minutes long. True, one is 31 minutes and three more scrape in under 35 minutes. But one is 38 minutes long, two more stretch on for 40 or more, and one somehow manages to be one hour and 11 minutes long. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Building the Band review – Liam Payne’s controversial final show is the kind of reality TV that made him

Is it ghoulish to posthumously release this singing contest featuring Payne as a judge? Or a moving tribute? Netflix’s mashup of Love is Blind, The Circle and The Voice certainly claims the latterNetflix’s new series is the latest in a long line of TV shows attempting to talent-spot the next big pop phenomenon. It feels as if the format has been dormant for a while, its role as A&R taken over by social media aeons ago. The glory days of American Idol and The X Factor have passed, and while The Voice trundles steadily on, it has been many years since those on-screen machines churned out the stars they were once capable of creating.Building the Band aims to modernise the format by bolting on parts of other reality TV shows. Its wannabe singers perform to other singers, sight-unseen, who then decide whether they’d like to be in a band with each other, by pressing a button, and collecting “likes”. It is Love Is Blind meets The Circle meets The Voice, though mostly, it is The Voice, ...

Culture

9 d. ago Foreign Office promise Dunn family publication of final review report

The Foreign Secretary officially launched the independent review on Monday.

Society

2 w. ago Dunn family raise concerns Foreign Office will try to ‘hide’ final review report

Harry’s mother Charlotte Charles, and other family members, are set to meet David Lammy on Wednesday afternoon.

Society

2 w. ago Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers review – finally, Netflix makes a great, serious documentary

Twenty years on, this heart-racing four-part series reconstructs the terror attacks and the vast investigation that followed, without losing sight of the survivors. The detail about the bathtub is astonishingNetflix is not always known for its restraint in the documentary genre, but with its outstanding recent film Grenfell: Uncovered, and now Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers, it appears to be finding a new maturity and seriousness in the field. There have been plenty of recent documentaries on the subject of the attacks and the sprawling investigation that followed – no surprise, given that it is the 20th anniversary this week – but there is still real depth to be found here.Over four parts, this thorough series unravels the initial attacks on the London transport system, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700, then follows that febrile month into the failed bombings of 21 July, and then the police shooting of the innocent Jean Charles de Menezes, a day later. Th...

Events

2 w. ago Disney Plus shows and new releases for summer from Ironheart to The Bear season 4

Disney Plus new shows and series have been revealed for summer 2025, including new Marvel series Ironheart, The Bear season 4, Washington Blackand Ocean with David Attenborough

Politics

2 w. ago Squid Game's final season hailed as 'harrowing and heartbreaking' by critics

The hit series quickly became a global phenomenon after the very first season premiered on Netflix back in 2021.

Sport

2 w. ago Squid Game final season review – an ending so WTF it entirely beggars belief

After a wild new player is forced to join the game without consent, the action gets even more operatic and bloodthirsty. But if you can get on board with the twists – and that’s a big if – you will not believe what happens in the last minute The two main talking points of the third and final season of Squid Game are both massive spoilers. This means that I won’t be able to mention the final minute of the whole thing, which contains a moment so WTF and genuinely surprising that I bet my editor a serious amount of money she wouldn’t be able to guess what happens. She couldn’t, thankfully, but such reckless gambling is the sort of behaviour that would land me in Squid Game in the first place, so it just shows that nobody here has learned any lessons from it whatsoever.Nor should I talk about another key development, though in this case, it becomes so central that it needs to be mentioned somehow. So, vaguely speaking, a new player is forced to enter the games, without being capable of ...

Sport

2 w. ago The Bear fans fume 'it's not going to happen' following season 4 romance twist

The Bear season four is now available to stream on Hulu, but fans have been left frustrated by a particular storyline

Politics

2 w. ago The Bear season four is delicious at points, but tries far too hard at others

Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are stand-outs in the new episodes, which see creator Christopher Storer try to steer the show back towards a balance of comedy and tragedy

Politics

2 w. ago The Bear is back for season 4 – with all 10 episodes dropping at once

Television’s most intense chef returns

Politics

2 w. ago The Bear season 4: 'excuse me, I ordered some fun? Not this...'

Season four of The Bear begins so morosely, it’s almost dares you to switch it off

Politics

2 w. ago The Bear season four review – finally becoming the show it was always destined to be

It’s outgrown the ‘Yes chef’ rages and screaming matches in the pantry and morphed into something more tender, beautiful – and endlessly moving. Let the happy tears flowRecalibrate your palate: The Bear is not the show it used to be. The relentless drama you were stunned by in season two – when you finished an episode and said it was the best show you had ever seen, then played the next one and said it again – is not coming back.Season four starts with Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), the family friend who has invested in the fledgling Chicago eaterie The Bear, installing a countdown clock that says the business has 1,440 hours to save itself. But much of the new run isn’t even about the restaurant. The show is outgrowing its premise, leaving behind “yes, chef!”, lingering closeups of seared beef and screaming matches in the pantry in favour of a different intensity, one that draws even more deeply on the characters and how they fit together. Indulge it – and you will have to indulge it,...

Politics

3 w. ago 'I tried Disney+ The Bear's viral dishes and had to see what all the fuss was about'

FX and Disney+'s The Bear is back for a fourth season and foodies will be treated to more delightful looking dishes as well as hard-hitting stories in the psychological comedy-drama

Politics

3 w. ago The Bear cast: who is in the cast of season 4 with Jeremy Allen White? Full list and biggest guest stars

The Bear has quite the star-studded cast - as well as plenty of big guest roles 🍽

Events

3 w. ago What time is The Bear season 4 out on Disney Plus and Hulu? Release time for UK and US viewers

Jeremy Allen White is back for another season of The Bear 👀

Politics

3 w. ago The Bear is returning this week – here’s what you need to know about season 4

Television’s most intense chef returns

Politics

3 w. ago Why is The Bear season 4 out later in the UK? Disney Plus release date difference explained

The Bear fans will have to wait a bit longer for season four in the UK 😲

Politics

3 w. ago 4.48 Psychosis review – bared anguish and delicate detail in Sarah Kane’s final play | Theatre

4.48 Psychosis review – bared anguish and delicate detail in Sarah Kane’s final play | Theatre  The Guardian

Politics

last month The Bear is returning this month – here’s what you need to know about season 4

Television’s most intense chef returns

Politics