Tim Stanley, Author at Catholic Herald

Tim Stanley

Television: Victoria’s reign as a light-hearted romp

September 29, 2016

Victoria (Sundays, ITV, 9pm) has a problem. It’s scheduled in competition with Poldark on BBC One, which is popular with the ladies because its star Aidan Turner takes his top off a lot. Victoria’s trouble is that it’s a) about a girl and b) she only gets married in episode five – so there’s very

Television: Why I’m not in a stew over the Bake Off sale

September 22, 2016

Before I get into this week’s review, we have to talk about The Great British Bake Off. You’re doubtless aware that the BBC has been outbid for it by Channel 4. The BBC’s Six O’Clock News gave it deadly serious headline status, ranking it just behind the parliamentary boundary review and several items ahead of

Television: It’s manipulative, corny and trite – but I love it

September 15, 2016

Keep failing your driving test? Try The X Factor contestant method. Show up to the test with your entire family, all of whom are crying. Inform the examiner that your nan died recently and that you’re dedicating this 45-minute drive to her. Should you drive into a parked car at any point during the test,

Television: Bake Off needs more red wine and swearing

September 08, 2016

The Great British Bake Off (BBC One, 8pm, Wednesday) puts me in mind of The Prisoner, that 1960s telefantasy about a spy who wakes up to find himself in an English village that is too perfect to be real. Rolling hills. A marquee. Bunting. And 11 English people so English that they just have to

Television: Spot the 1980s movie – in eight episodes

September 01, 2016

Spoiler alert: Stranger Things (Netflix) is one big spoiler. From beginning to end. Within a few minutes you’ll be thinking, “Do I recognise that?” And once you figure out that you’re watching a patchwork of scenes and soundtracks from Eighties movies, you’ll know the plot before it’s even been recycled. The scares are fun, the

Television: The perfect show for our shameless culture

August 25, 2016

Cilla Black used to have a show called Blind Date, where a contestant picked a partner from three people hidden behind a wall. Their guide was the voice. Charm. Humour. It’s what we call romance. In Naked Attraction (Channel 4, Mondays, 10.30pm), a contestant is introduced to six naked bodies and has to pick a

Tim Stanley: Liberalism’s last request

August 18, 2016

Theological liberalism is on its deathbed. It refuses to go quietly. One of its many last requests is that the Catholic Church consider women deacons. A commission has been set up to explore the possibilities. I can predict the outcome. There will be no deaconesses because there can be no deaconesses because it is not

Television: Dragons’ Den lost its fire long ago

August 18, 2016

What do I hate most about Dragons’ Den (BBC Two, Sundays, 9pm)? That presenter Evan Davis constantly describes what just happened. An inventor pitches an idea and Deborah Meaden says: “I hate it.” Davies then says: “Deborah Meaden says she hates it.” We know this already. The voiceover is irritating but if you repeat literally

Television: The biggest celebrities you’ve never heard of

August 11, 2016

The term 'celebrity' might be used loosely in the latest series of Big Brother and its spin-off show

Television: The biggest celebrities you’ve never heard of

August 11, 2016

Conversations with my mother about celebrities are like a game of Guess Who? She’ll say: “Who’s that man I’m thinking of? He’s married to that woman.” I’ll reply: “What woman?” “The one with the hair.” “Who?” “Oh, you know.” I never know. And nine times out of 10, that man wasn’t even married to that

Television: Half-man, half-horse and the black dog

August 04, 2016

BoJack Horseman (Netflix) is such an unusual show that it’s hard to know how to recommend it without sounding as if I’ve taken leave of my senses. It’s an animated comedy about a half-man, half-horse who played the lead in a terrible sitcom called Horsin’ Around. He’s got a drink problem and isn’t very nice.

Television: Addictive prison drama that offers no escape

July 21, 2016

I’ve always imagined I’d flourish in prison. Think Noël Coward in The Italian Job: a natural leader. I’d soon find myself planning bank robberies from the inside, and plastering my cell with pictures of the Queen. But after watching a few episodes of Wentworth (Channel 5, Mondays, 10pm), I’m having second thoughts. Not just about

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