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Poor, poor Victoria.

What an almighty hassle it must be, being such a subject of public scrutiny every time you feel a little barfy in the middle of a music performance – and indeed, the sense of tension and unease is captured beautifully in this episode’s opening scene. Turns out Vic and Bert made babies!

Speaking of mums: we’re reminded again of just how insufferable so many of the old farts surrounding the poor queen are, including her mother. Way to remind your terrified kid that her cousin died in childbirth! Grade A parenting skills, right there. Such parental, very nurture, wow.

But it seems the queen mum isn’t the only person preoccupied with the (I suppose in these days very real) possibility that Victoria won’t survive the making of her very first prince or princess – some people are very unhappy with the prospect of Albert being named as regent to the little ‘un if Vicky kicks the bucket, but doesn’t it stand to reason that she’d pick the baby daddy? Come on, people.

There’s much to love about this episode: Staffordshire, puppies, Albert the expert marksman – heart, sigh – factories, and railways. It really goes to show just how much of a time of massive and turbulent technological change Victoria’s reign was.

It also goes to show just how much of a massive nerd Albert was. That little smile of his when Sir Robert Peel – whom I’m really starting to like, in no small part due to the warmth in Nigel Lindsay’s performance – takes him on his very first locomotive ride is absolutely precious.

Indeed, we feel a palpable tension here between Bert and Vicky, where of course he wants to be have some measure of influence and to be able to support ventures that …

Jenna Coleman has been lighting up our screens this autumn in Victoria, ITV’s gorgeous historical drama about the English queen’s early days on the throne, and it’d made for truly compelling viewing.

The good news for those who have yet to see it – or for those already keen to see it again – is that it’s released on DVD this week from ITV Studios Global Entertainment and is available now on digital download.

Following her breakout roles in Emmerdale and Waterloo Road, now seems like a good time to revisit some of our favourite things the delightful Ms. Coleman has been in…

Victoria wasn’t the first time Coleman starred in an historical costume thing by any stretch.

For instance, in BBC One’s 2013 adaptation of P.D. James’ murder mystery / fanfic of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice, she plays Lydia, sister to our hero Elizabeth (now Mrs. Darcy) and the wife of Mr. Wickham, who is rather a naughty man indeed. But was he so naughty he did a murder? That would be telling…

Me Before You

Illustrating that Jenna’s range extends well beyond bonnets and time-travelling, here she plays Katrina, sister to the Emilia Clarke out of Game of Thrones (also known as the illustrious Unburnt Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and of the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons).

Whether you found the film’s ending to be grim or heartwarming, Jenna is as always a ray of sunshine every time she graces the screen.

Titanic

From the creator of Downton Abbey, ITV’s four-part ambitious series from 2012 about the famous ship (spoiler alert: it hits an iceberg) features an impressively large cast of luminaries, including Ms. Coleman as the delightful …

Poldark is back!

Aidan Turner (The Hobbit) is back as Ross Poldark, alongside Eleanor Tomlinson as his wife Demelza, in ten new episodes of the Cornish period drama.

Buy Season 1 on DVD on Amazon here.

Buy Season 1 digitally on BBC Store here.

The second season is airing at 9pm on Sunday nights on BBC One and we’ve created a pair of bingo cards for you to play along with at home!

You can find honest and fair bingo sites here!

Buy Season 1 on DVD on Amazon here.

Watch the Season 2 trailer…

Are you looking forward to the return of Poldark? Let us know below……

Barbarians Rising tells the epic saga of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the barbarian leaders who brought it down; a high-impact, visceral journey into the heart of their rebellions against absolute power.

The Roman Empire called them “barbarians” – tribes beyond the fringe of civilization that live a primitive, savage existence. But they are also some of the fiercest warriors in history – men and women who rose up to resist so that they might live free, or die.

Airing at 10pm on Wednesday nights on History Channel, the eight-part docu-drama reveals the true story of the 700-year battle for supremacy, a fight for freedom that would shape the world to come.

Who would you have been if you’d lived in those dangerous times? Find out with History

Channel’s great new quiz…

Featuring fully dramatized portrayals of icons including Hannibal, Spartacus, Arminius, Boudica and Attila alongside an eclectic group of experts and contributors, Barbarians Rising reveals the true history behind the legends.…

Fabio Frizzi returns to Chills in the Chapel in London later this month.

Three years since his last sell out appearance at Union Chapel, Frizzi is back on Saturday 29 October with a show that will include new orchestrations of his scores for cult films by Lucio Fulci. For the first time he’ll also explore his work outside of his longstanding and hugely successful collaboration with the Italian director. Expect thrills, prog-rocking and funk vibes all set against a back drop of legendary film clips and shocking visuals!

Tickets for Chills in the Chapel with Fabio Frizzi: Saturday Night in the City of the Dead are available now here (£25 / £20 UC members / £40 VIP adv + booking fee) and money raised goes to the restoration and development of Union Chapel.

To coincide the legendary horror composer’s return, we revisit his vast and iconic synth scores with a look back at five of his most famous pieces…

Sette Note In Nero aka The Psychic (1977)

Amongst his earlier work, the film marked Frizzi’s third team-up with long term collaborator Lucio Fulci. Sette note in nero tells the story of a woman who experiences psychic visions, which leads her to discover a murder. After her husband is charged with the killing, a paranormal researcher joins her in an investigation to clear his name.

Frizzi’s soundtrack was praised for it’s simplicity and elegance, particularly in comparison to typical Italian thrillers. Segments of Frizzi’s score was used later in Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film Kill Bill: Volume 1.

Zombi 2 (1979)

Frizzi and Fulci teamed up again for their first collaboration on a horror movie. Regarded as a strong influence on 1980’s Italian horror, the film follows the search for a young woman’s missing father on a tropical island where the …

Cheer up, Doctor Who fans!

Just because the TARDIS won’t be materialising on our screens this autumn doesn’t mean that there isn’t any great telly to watch over the coming months.

Here are nine British dramas – some brand new, some coming back for second or third seasons – that Whovians should be watching…

Crazyhead

This new supernatural comedy-drama comes from the mind of Howard Overman (Merlin, Atlantis, Dirk Gently) and pokes fun at the usual tropes of the genre.

In Crazyhead, there is not a Chosen One destined to fight the forces of darkness but a Chosen Two – two very different young women (Cara Theobold and Susan Wokoma), who are the only ones who can see the horrible demons that walk the earth.

Starts at 9pm on Wednesday 19 October on E4.

Hooten and the Lady

If you like old-fashioned adventure shows and movies, you’ll love Sky1’s Hooten and the Lady, a treasure-hunting action/adventure series from Hustle creator Tony Jordan. Starring Ophelia Lovibond and Michael Landes, it sees British Museum employee Lady Alexandra scour the globe looking for long-lost artefacts with rogueish charmer Hooten.

Each episode travels to a new country – including Italy, Egypt and the Amazon. It’s not quite all of time and space, but it’s still pretty impressive!

Airing at 9pm on Friday nights on Sky1.

Tutankhamun

ITV’s new four-part historical mini-series is based on the discovery of – you guessed it – King Tut’s tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Max Irons is playing the lead while none other than Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill plays Lord Carnavon, a wealthy adrenaline junkie who funds Carter’s expeditions.

Doctor Who fans love a good trip back in time, so make sure to check this one out.

Starts at 9pm on Sunday 16 …

This news summary on the tenth 21st Century season of Doctor Who will be updated regularly as more details are revealed.

Buy the complete Season 9 box set on DVD on Amazon.

Buy the complete Season 9 box set on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Who is the showrunner?

Season 10 will be Steven Moffat’s final year as showrunner.

Steven Moffat: “I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for [new showrunner Chris Chibnall].”

Chris Chibnall: “…hearing [Steven Moffat’s] plans and stories for 2017, it’s clear he’ll be going out with a bang.”

Steven Moffat: “I’m just embarking on the new [season] and it’s terrifying. I have to make all that again.”

Will this be Peter Capaldi’s final season as the Doctor?

Peter Capaldi will continue playing the Twelfth Doctor until at least 2017’s Christmas special. He has apparently not yet decided if he’ll stay on for a fourth season when Chris Chibnall takes over as showrunner.

Steven Moffat: “I have no reason to suppose that I’m writing out a Doctor! Peter is loving the role, and long may he do so.”

Peter Capaldi: “This could be my final year.”

Steven Moffat: “Peter Capaldi is going nowhere.”

The Mirror: Peter Capaldi has agreed to stay on for “at least one more [season] … Peter is keen to complete three years playing the Doctor to round off his storylines.”

When does filming begin?

Filming begins on Monday 20 June 2016 and is expected to finish at the end of March 2017.

How many episodes will there be?

Season 10 will be 12 episodes, preceded by 2016’s Christmas special and followed by 2017’s Christmas special.

Steven Moffat: “Ahead of me this year I’ve got fourteen Doctor Who‘s…”

Steven Moffat: “I know that what I’ve …

‘To Be Continued…’

That’s the caption that the fourth season of Ripper Street leaves us with.

In a lesser show, such a brazen indicator that the story is still incomplete would feel frustrating, robbing the season of any satisfying finality.

Thankfully, this season finale does more than enough to justify that ending caption. In fact, that cliffhanger is part and parcel of what makes ‘Edmund Reid Does This’ such an exceptional finale, because it strikes that difficult balance of closing off the season while teeing up the show’s final chapter effortlessly.

At the core of this finale was the Whitechapel Golem, now revealed to be Nathaniel (Jonas Armstrong), Croker’s foster son and the brother of Assistant Commissioner Dove. The Golem seemed like an all-too outlandish and silly concept for the gritty Ripper Street to really explore initially, but ‘Edmund Reid Does This’ does an excellent job of drilling down beneath the folklore and finding the raw, vulnerable humanity beneath.

Nathaniel is a compelling presence because he just about defies categorisation – is he a villain, when his actions are so clearly shown to be the product of impulses created by a traumatic childhood? Is he redeemable, given that he is courteous and even servile towards the people he create an attachment to?

He’s a complex, tragic presence, and his rich characterisation here ensures that he’s a valuable and fleshed out character who is much more than just the mindless brute he could be.

But, of course, the headliner here is the fate of Bennett Drake, who has been a constant presence of this show since its origins. The parallel between Drake and Nathaniel is one that the episode slowly, meticulously teases out, bringing Drake towards Nathaniel’s constant impulsive brutality as his personal and professional lives are destroyed by his own …

The adventure comes not a moment too soon this week, with the call to action from Lady Alex (Ophelia Lovibond) helping Hooten (Michael Landes) extricate himself from a sticky situation with a gang of Bolivian mobsters.

Summoned to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan by Penny McQuinn (Joanna Scanlan), the pair are soon on the trail of an ancient scroll purportedly written by the Buddah himself. To ratchet up the tension they are against the clock, as thanks to a charming local custom, Hooten is poisoned as motivation to return with the prize.

Accompanied on their perilous trek thought the snow-capped mountains by a taciturn giant named Hildigao, ensuring that Hooten keeps to his word and returns to settle his debts, the wise-cracking adventurer’s worsening condition makes the journey even more dangerous.

As the poisoning slowly robs him of his faculties, it also becomes the prompt for some great gags, with double vision repeatedly threatening to send him off the cliff edge and making an already hazardous rope-bridge crossing a heart-in-your-mouth moment.

This week’s episode also offered us a further glimpse into Alex’s home life as we briefly met her seemingly long-suffering boyfriend Ed, played by Jonathan Bailey (Broadchurch, W1A), at the start and end of the tale. We are yet to find out anything substantive about him though, so fingers crossed he does not turn out to be a wrong’un.

For her part, Joanna Scanlan (The Thick of It, No Offence) is hilarious as Penny – the beautifully mannered and quite PC Brit abroad, who has gone semi-native living amongst the villagers in the “eighth happiest country in the world”, but still retains her sense of identity. She is another guest star we would love to see return at some point.

Thanks to the …

We’re now getting to the last course, the final furlong – indeed, it’s time for desserts, as we knock out one more baker, clearing another space on the gingham altar in time for the quarter finals.

The first task this week is to whip up a roulade in such a way, Mary suggests, that it should put one in mind of a Catherine Wheel. Before the sparks fly, however, Paul is concerned about size. ‘You’re not going to get it into your mouth,’ he promises, looking like the plumber in that DVD movie you’ve certainly never watched. He considers. ‘I might. Most people won’t.’

Selasi is the only baker using butter in his mix, while Tom is making a Millionaire’s Roulade. Benjamina is making a Pina Colada roulade. She assures Mary that it’ll have a good rum kick to it, which earns her an approving wink. There’s a short sequence of Tom repeatedly attempting to pick up an oven tray which he already knows is hot, which tells you pretty much all you need to know about how good he is at listening to the facts.

Jane and Selasi fundamentally disagree about the correct way to roll a roulade (Jane says that it should go long ways, so that you get more slices). Candice is prepping a ‘crowd pleaser’, which she is somewhat – but only slightly – nervous about: ‘Look at the smile on her face,’ Mary says with undisguised admiration. ‘She knows it’s good.’

Tom, in a reasonably rare show of humble pie, mutters to himself ‘This is Week Seven. Good enough is not good enough any more,’ Andrew and Candice – who might well be the ones to be last bakers standing – are both trying out a passionfruit curd. Andrew has faith in his dad’s curd, …