Radio Times Festival dispatches: Sherlock

You need reminding sometimes that Sherlock is a truly global phenomenon. We’ve seen the adulation the show and its cast and showrunners receive at things like the San Diego Comic-Con, but to see it first hand is quite something. The final panel session at the excellent first Radio Time Festival saw three member of the cast (Una Stubbs, Amanda Abbington and Louise Brealey), writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue gather to talk about the women of Sherlock, an interesting and new approach to the Sherlock runaway train. Along with the panel was a sold-out auditorium – and every joke and comment from the panel were met alternately with excited laughter and cheers. 

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Radio Times Festival Dispatches: Mark Billingham

As any discerning crime fiction fan will know, the author Mark Billingham is a constant and excellent presence on the festival circuit. His background in stand-up has served him well – he’s a great compère and interviewer – but this time he was the interviewee.

Radio Times Festival Dispatches: Grantchester

Today was the second day (well, technically the third, but the second that we’ve attended) and aside from sitting in on two sessions featuring the excellent Peter Bowker (for the upcoming BBC three-parter, Capital (based on John Lanchester novel) and the marvellous, ahem, Marvellous) and watching a highlights film made up from snippets of footage from ITV programmes in 1964, we took in a session featuring one of the hits of last year, Grantchester.

Radio Times Festival Dispatches: Peaky Blinders

We haven’t done that much on Peaky Blinders – that fire and brimstone depiction of Birmingham gang life in the 1920s – because I can never be sure that the show is crime enough or not. Yes, it stars Cillian Murphy as the gang leader Tommy Shelby trying to bloodily fight his way out of the furnace of illegal activity and bloody street war, but I’ve never been sure. However, if you read our piece last Christmas – where we asked leading crime authors what their favourite crime dramas of the year were (have a read here) – Peaky Blinders was a very popular choice. So what do I know? Anyway, the last panel session of the day at the Radio Times Festival was all to do with this cult hit and it was a packed auditorium.

Review: Beck (E3/5), Saturday 26th September, BBC4

So far in this first (to UK viewers) series of Beck has been like Hamlet without the prince – titular figure Martin (Peter Haber) has seemed semi-detached from the drama. He has basically formed the hub around whom the action swirls. That trend persisted this week. But as our lonely hero is diverted by his family’s troubles, the far more dynamic personality of Gunvald Larsson (Mikael Persbrandt) took centre stage.