"The Wrong Mans" BBC2 TV Series 1 "Running Mans" final...Series 2

Looks like there is going to be a second series. Why else have the bomb strapped to the car? Hope not, though. The boys went out on a high, tying things up beautifully. Having the go-cart scene meant the series has come full circle. Loved the "pesky kids" Scooby Doo reference.
This has been a cleverly scripted and performed series with glossy, "filmic" production values.
"Boom".

Update:
Second series for 2014 UK Christmas period: more compact (2 hours, 4 eps), great locations (filmed in South Africa standing in for USA South West), impeccable cast (Rebecca Front and Dawn French are back) and convoluted, witty script.
More please.

"Peaky Blinders" BBC2 Episode 6 Series final... Series 2?

I hope a second series is not made. But it will be. Campbell (Sam Neill) probably topped himself rather than Grace. Tom may have some adventures in New York (steering clear of Nucky Thompson's territory, of course).
The search must be now on for a replacement arch-nemesis for Tom and the Shelbys. The character of Aunt Pol (Helen McCrory) is too good to waste. Wasn't she brilliant in Episode 6 - the pub scene with Grace? This stylish series will play well overseas. Its ratings in the UK weren't shabby either.
I just wish shows would stop when they're on a high. Remember "Dexter"?
On the other hand BBC cancelled the wonderful "The Hour" (also on a cliffhanger). The show could have have a third series - look at all the juicy 60's news they could have used (e.g. the Profumo affair). Just when retro shows are so popular ("Mad Men","Call the Midwife", "Masters of Sex", "Breathless"). Perhaps there's a glut of these late 50's/early 60's TV shows.

"Whitechapel" ITV, Series 4 - more like "Scooby Doo"? Episode 5, Episode 6 final

The police station is lit like some German Expressionist film. Plus we have constant dripping water and flashing light fittings (What, no rattling chains?). The vast art-deco building seems to be illuminated by half a dozen light bulbs. All the detectives seem to be on the verge of mental breakdowns (except the female pathologist).
The first minutes had the team running around in a zombie house of horror 'team building' exercise. Great fun. Then into the mix we get more gore, mutant pigs in the sewers, cryptozoology, lanced boils, more long shadows, another sewer abduction, an attempted suicide, a graveyard attack and the scent of cannibalism. Looks like we might have a bit of C.H.U.D. action.
It's naff, but never dull (plus it's stunningly lit and Phil Davis is always good value).
Episode 6 tried up lots of loose ends with some nifty plot twists regarding plumbing, cults, exclusive dinner parties, a surprise angel and a message from Chandler's dead father.
Hope there is a Series 5, featuring more exploits from that creepy old bird.

"Hannibal" NBC Episode 13 Series 1 final "Savoureux" review, spoilers

Don't expect fast moving action in this series final. This is a mood piece. The beautifully executed final scene between Will and Hannibal (with Mads Mikkelsen's glimmer of a smile). He knows that he knows. And he knows that he knows....
Dr Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) certainly knows heaps about Lecter's past.
No graphic violence, apart from a regurgitated ear in Will's kitchen sink. Toward the end, Will sees Hannibal as the darkly demonic deer creature he has been dreaming of throughout this series - the realisation of who and what Lecter is. Now you realise what Lecter was doing with Will's fishing lures in an early episode.
I suppose some viewers might be getting a bit toey (restless) - waiting for a confrontation. But I think the tension is delicious - as delicious as Hannibal's weekly gourmet treats.
Series 2 must feature the missing Abigail (Kacey Rohl).

"Da Vinci's Demons" Series 1 final, Episode 8 "The Lovers" review

A ripper cliffhanger!
Loads of tension builds up as the Medici family prepare for Holy Communion. Showdown in the cathedral, blood-daubed priests, poisonous wafers, the lovely Vanessa carries on the Giuliano's name, Lucrezia earns her stripes and Leo saves the day for Lorenzo and Florence.
Nice to see mascara-boy back - cool flashback reuniting the Sons of Mithras in Constantinople. Nice astrolabe, dude.
I was looking forward to seeing the three amigos (Leo, Zor and Nico) sail off on their New World adventures.  Singing, "We're off on the road to El Dorado"??? Perhaps Series 2.

This series has benefitted from some very complex characters - like Dragonetti and Lucrezia.
A shame Joel Grey/Roman Polanski lookalike Pazzi escaped at the end. Glad Riario (Fab shades, by the way) can be evil in the next season.

"Bates Motel" Series 1 final, Episode 10 "Midnight" review

Let me say from the start, Vera Farmiga is amazing as Norma Bates. She is such an accomplished actress. So good in Clooney's "Up in the Air" (2009).
In this final episode, one minute it's screwball comedy delivery, then she is telling Norman about sibling incest and a violent father. The Bates family Christmas dinner must have been a laff riot.
Lots of great bits this week:
The target practice scene with Dylan and Norma was endearing. Midnight at the docks.... don't piss off Sheriff Romano! At screwy Miss Watson's place ... Norman becomes 'teacher's pet' - the pivotal scene when Norman hears mom (in his head) tell him, "You know what you have to do....." The die is cast. No turning back now. The cliffchanger, does Norman top his teacher?
A great end to Series 1, paving the way for more Bates twistedness/White Pine Bay corruption in Series 2.

I'm in.

"The Following" Series 1 final Episode 15 "The Final Chapter" review, spoilers

I was expecting everything to be tied up in with a neat little bow in the series finale. Joe is obviously set to return in Season 2 - dental records must be easy to fake - he has so many followers, one must have contacts in the dental records business. A spunky, long haired Emma (Valorie Curry) appeared in a Mobile diner in one of the final scenes. This kid is a real asset. Ryan's ex-girl friend provided a nice little surprise ending. Once again, everything is up in the air. Claire and Ryan are bleeding but not out.
Poor Parker was the scared cow - at least she made peace with her weird sect parents in her last minutes.
I get the impression this show is always going to always leave the viewer up in the air, when we want closure.
Oh well,  I still enjoyed series one. Hope Joe's writing skills improve in Series 2 - as Ryan said, "you were a great professor but ..." a crap writer. I think he dissed Poe, too!
As an ex-teacher, I've always liked the saying, "Those who can, DO; those who can't, TEACH."

"Bluestone 42" review BBC3 Series 1 Episode 8 (final) TV series, Christmas episode

I gave this show another try. And I'm glad I did. I might watch the earlier episodes now. I can see why a second series has been commissioned. The humping goats intro scene was cute. The scene where multi-talented Millsy (Gary Carr) teaches  takes no-nonsense Bird (Katie Lyons) basic Pashto was Abbott & Costello-esque. Faruq is delightful. I like the tolerant Lieutenant-Colonel and the gormless Rocket. Nick (Oliver Chris) isn't the one-dimensional prick I thought he was in the first episode I watched. Will Padre Mary (Kelly Adams) get it on with Nick? The charred toucan says "Hoo" (Pashto).

The show is nicely photographed, the South African landscape looks great. I was surprised how taut the bomb disposal scene in the Mercedes was. I'm a sucker for the old snipping of the right wire cinema cliche.

Well written characters are always the key to a good sitcom. That's why this show is growing on me.
Update
Just watched Episode 1, very impressed. Why didn't I watch the earlier episodes?

Christmas episode 2013 was a delight. Discovering actors I now recognise from "The Paradise" and "Last Tango in Halifax". This show is a little gem.

"Call the Midwife" BBC TV series Series 2, Episode 8 final, review, no spoilers

Forget "Downton Abbey", this show is must-see TV.
Every character is beautifully developed. We know them all: the wise and nurturing head nun (Sister Julienne/Jenny Agutter), her no-nonsense off-sider (Sister Evangelina/Pam Ferris), the English Rose who is always one man behind (Jenny/Jessica Raine), the tortured, angelic Sister Bernadette (Laura Main), the good time girl with the heart of gold (Trixie/Helen George), the mouse that occasionally roars (Cynthia/Bryony Hannah), the part senile, part poetic philosopher (Sister Monica Joan/Judy Parfitt), the shy, gradually blooming Jane (Dorothy Atkinson). And of course Chummy/Camilla. It is not surprising that the author, Jennifer Worth, the real life Jenny, suggested Miranda Hart for the part. Ms Worth died in 2011.
The show effortlessly goes from harrowing to heartwarming to hilarious. I am not at all religious but this show does a lot for the cause (as did "The Vicar of Dibley").  It's the best TV series about nuns (Catholic or Anglican) since the Australian mini-series "Brides Of Christ" (1991).
I tear up on a regular basis during Vanessa Redgrave's (older Jenny) closing narration for each episode. And the last episode was no exception. What will happen to Nonnatus House? We shall have to wait until series 3. I'll like to see them move Sister Evangelina! Should be interesting.
Big thumbs up for series creator and writer of many episodes, Heidi Thomas. The production design/art direction capturing 1950's East London/docks is exceptional.
Big thumbs up for the postwar introduction of the N.H.S. in Britain!

"Plebs" TV series ITV2 Episode 6 (final) "Saturnalia" review

"The end is nigh!" shrieked the crone. Well, it is the end of the Series 1. ITV has commissioned another serve of the Latin Likely Lads in 2014.
I'll miss the Water Boy Man. Marcus's shrivelled penis line. Grumio knobbing sacrificial meat. Stylax's strawberries and cream "You can't swipe there.. in the cleft". The um, um, umming vicar-like high priest of the temple. I'll miss the ska beat in the Forum.
Hail Caesar!
Hail ITV2.