Sarah Williams’s Flesh and Blood brings star power to the story of a widow (Francesca Annis) who takes up with a retired surgeon (Stephen Rea)—to the chagrin of her grown-up children and neighbour (Imelda Staunton). Photo: PA
The Age of the Image, BBC Four, March
Art historian James Fox has made some fascinating documentaries over the years, such as his illuminating 2012 series A History of Art in Three Colours. Here he examines our relationship with the image, tracing how art and technology have combined to create an obsession that has impacted on every aspect of our lives, to the point where we now take more photographs every two minutes than were made in the entire 19th century.
The English Game, Netflix
The perhaps unlikely combination of football, Netflix and the creator of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, come together in this six-part drama about the origins of the beautiful game. Fellowes has written and produced the series, which traces the sport back not to the eighth century, when “mob football” was first played in England, but to the mid-19th century, when the rules were codified and adopted beyond the confines of public school playing fields, leading to the game establishing grassroots across the class divide.
After the disappointing, yet popular, Gold Digger last year, both BBC One and ITV offer more takes on the theme of later life love in 2020—a trend that perhaps reflects a climbing age demographic for terrestrial television.
Sally Wainwright’s Bafta-winning Last Tango in Halifax returns for a fourth series, while Sarah Williams’s Flesh and Blood brings star power to the story of a widow (Francesca Annis) who takes up with a retired surgeon (Stephen Rea)—to the chagrin of her grown-up children and neighbour (Imelda Staunton).
