Is Rivals the most outrageous show on television?
From our US edition
Come for the outrageousness and scandal, stay for the surprisingly sweet heart at its center
Alexander Larman
Alexander Larman is an author and the US books editor of The Spectator.
Thursday
Friday
King Charles’s carefully worded reparations speech
For his first formal address as head of the Commonwealth, King Charles would probably have preferred to veer away from controversy. Unfortunately, delivering an anodyne and people pleasing speech was not on the agenda. Ever since it was announced that Samoa would be hosting a gathering of the 56 Commonwealth countries, it was inevitable that
Monday
Disclaimer is the best show on TV — and the most underrated
From our US edition
Sex, death and wealthy people being vile to one another — what’s not to like?
Keir Starmer’s concerning decision to ditch Shakespeare’s portrait
Politicians are said to campaign in poetry and govern in prose. In the case of Keir Starmer, he campaigned in the most uninspiring, plodding prose imaginable, and has now chosen to govern in what might politely be compared to a child’s first attempt at poetry. It is all word-vomit and incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo. The country needed
There’s more to Bordeaux than fine wine
From our US edition
The French city is rich in history, culture and class of all kinds
Tuesday
Are politician films really such a good idea, after all?
From our US edition
Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump drama The Apprentice has flopped
Thursday
Princess Kate has shown why she is so vital to the royal family
The news that the Princess of Wales has been able to return to public-facing duties is both hugely welcome and, after a lengthy period out of the limelight due to her cancer diagnosis, a reminder that she remains the most dutiful and committed of all the members of the royal family. Yet her first official
Monday
Are we seeing the death of auteur cinema?
From our US edition
Joker: Folie à Deux has flopped, and then some
Friday
RIP, Dame Maggie Smith
From our US edition
Her death represents the passing of a generation
Boris never had a chance of convincing Prince Harry to stay
Strange though it might seem now, at the beginning of 2020 Boris Johnson came close to achieving his childhood ambition of being ‘World King’. Johnson had led the Conservative party to its first decent majority since 1987 the previous month, was in the process of ‘getting Brexit done’ with an ‘oven-ready deal’ and was airily
Monday
The Penguin, Agatha All Along and the perils of spin-offs of spin-offs
From our US edition
There is a chronic lack of imagination
Saturday
Morrissey's martyrdom knows no bounds
Say what you like about Steven Patrick Morrissey – lead singer of The Smiths, the Mancunian miserabilist, ‘the Pope of Mope’ etc – but he has a knack, nearly four decades after his band dissolved acrimoniously, for coming out with attention- and headline-grabbing pronouncements. At first glance these declarations might seem like revelatory news stories,
Friday
A Very Royal Scandal — a very controversial series?
From our US edition
If you’ve seen Scoop , you may feel that this is inessential and unrevelatory
The wickedness of Mohamed Al Fayed
The allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed are dreadful: the former Harrods owner has been accused of raping five women and sexually abusing at least 15 others when they worked at his department store. A BBC investigation, which detailed the allegations, claimed that this abuse took place from the late 1980s to the 2000s. The name
Wednesday
Prince Andrew will struggle to recover from A Very Royal Scandal
Sensational dramas about the Duke of York are rather like London buses: you wait five years for one, and then two come along at once. Amazon Prime’s three-part series, A Very Royal Scandal, which focuses on the notorious Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, is released tomorrow. The show follows the perspective of both the journalist
Monday
Emmys 2024: Shōgun, shocks and surprises
From our US edition
The Japan-set drama won virtually everything this year
Saturday
There’s nothing cool about Starbucks
If you’ve ever visited Starbucks, you may enjoy the overpriced coffees or bewildering assortment of half-sweet, half-savoury drinks – espresso frappuccino, anyone? But you may also agree with a mystery shopper who said: ‘It can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic.’ Anyone with
Thursday
Caligula’s second wind
From our US edition
The notorious film may be the most expensive, most unpleasant adult movie ever made
Wednesday
Is this the worst tribute so far to Queen Elizabeth II?
An official tribute to the late, much-missed Queen Elizabeth II will, in years to come, be unveiled in London’s St James’s Park. But progress on the memorial is far from speedy. The design of the statue or sculpture will not be revealed by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee until 2026. Even then, there is every
Tuesday
Has King Charles finally run out of patience with Prince Andrew?
While the nation basks in the good news about the Princess of Wales in her battle with cancer, the Royals’ troubles are not entirely over. The not-so-grand Duke of York, Prince Andrew, remains a baleful, apparently ungovernable character. Andrew is no longer a working royal, and is rarely, if ever, seen in public (not even
