Review: Top Of The Lake: China Girl (S2 E5/6), Thursday 24th August, BBC Two

And so this head-scratching, sometimes infuriating, sometimes brilliant drama continued this week with another perplexing episode. There was so much good stuff in there, as usual, but there were more inconsistencies and scenes and character arcs where you just sat there and said to yourself, “Say what, now?”

NB: Spoilers ahoy!

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Review: Twin Peaks (S3 E15/18), Monday 21st August, Sky Atlantic

Yes, I’m a bit late with this review of part 15 of series three of Twin Peaks, but I couldn’t leave it be. I’m so engrossed in this new series – even though, on the surface of it, it doesn’t make much sense – that I really do think it’s having as much of an effect on me as the first two series did. Which is saying something.

ITV confirms Safe House transmission date

Safe House has had more ups and downs that you’d care to mention, and the rebooted series (the original starred Christopher Eccleston and Patterson Joseph, among others) will return to the original concept with new writers and a new cast (as well as a new setting). Now ITV has announced its transmission date.

Netflix announces transmission date for Western series, Godless

When is a crime drama not a crime drama? Does it have to have a police person in it to be a crime drama? No, I don’t think so. I’ve purposefully stayed clear of superhero series like Jessica Jones and Daredevil, even though, essentially, they’re crime dramas. I’ve also stayed clear of current Norwegian series, Valkyrien, on Channel 4/Walter Presents, because it’s not quite crimey enough for me (although I may revisit this one). Crime drama – like crime fiction – has enormous breadth to it, because as soon as you introduce a crime (whether it be a murder or a kidnapping or even a loss because of a crime) you give characters conflict. And conflict in drama or fiction is always a good thing. So what do we think of Westerns, then?

BBC orders trio of new crime dramas

And still the news from the Edinburgh TV Festival keeps on coming (and still my internet isn’t working, so I’ve had to come to a hotspot to catch up on stuff). This time it’s the BBC, who has commissioned three new crime dramas, ably demonstrating the breadth and diversity within the drama. One is a psychological drama, the other is a contemporary legal drama, and the other is based on a true story. Read on for more (before this WiFi runs out).