A strange month. I had Covid, which left me with a lot of viewing time at one point, and then I went to a Retreat which gave me two films to review. Add the fact that there was a great deal of political upheaval and remember I watch politics avidly but don’t review it. (I should perhaps say I have a preference for Channel 4 News and just hope the coming sell-off doesn’t wreck it.) There was also, of course, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. I didn’t see any of the coverage as I was driving to the Lake District. The drive was accompanied by very sombre radio music with no ads.

In non-political viewing:

Shetland**** I enjoyed Douglas Henshall’s last season as Jimmy Perez and found the ending satisfying but can’t imagine where the directors intend to go next. As is increasingly usual in cop shows, there was a little too much of officers investigating without backup – ‘sighs’ –  but other than that the story was nicely complex and interesting.

Gosford Park*** This was a rewatch chosen at the writers’ retreat I attended. It was slightly better on the big screen at our rental cottage than it was on my laptop where I first saw it. But it was never going to be a favourite for me, though it’s well scripted and acted.

Ridley ep 2  I haven’t given this any stars. We didn’t exactly abandon it but were interrupted by itv’s poor streaming, and by the time we got the programme back we couldn’t remember what it was about…

Better Call Saul. No stars for this, either. Husband was binge watching so I caught most of it and was not thoroughly interested.

Couples’ Retreat. Abandoned. This was another writers’ retreat choice. It’s an American romcom and those are never something I enjoy so I went to bed early.