October Cultural Highlights. Including a five star book and TV programme

November 4, 2025

Here’s our culture round up for October, the highs and the lows.

Television

Blue Lights BBC1 & iPlayer

★★★★★

There can be a sense of trepidation when viewing the new series of a favourite show (Top 10 TV Programmes 2024) and so it was with the third series of Blue Lights, especially when reviews have not been as glowing as for previous series.

Scepticism remained during the 1^st episode as one reacquainted with returning characters, but that was banished as the series unfolded.

We remain convinced that Blue Lights is the best police drama on TV and a rival to the best USA shows. What makes Blue Lights exceptional is several factors. Central is the location – Belfast is the backdrop where such is the hatred of the peelers, you sense danger whenever they are on patrol.

There’s a central plot in this case drug running and exploitation of a minor, and then there are the colleagues most of whom are just two years into their recruitment and are affected by the environment they police.

In most police dramas, there’s a safety net around the central characters – you know they are going to be alright whatever the danger, Blue Lights removes that because it’s an ensemble of characters, all of whom carry a risk factor and would be missed.

House of Guiness Netflix

★★★

Dodgy Irish accents and liberties with historical facts are common criticisms this show has been plagued by.

As it states at the beginning this is a drama, not history recreated and if some of the characters are fictitious and the timeline distorted – do we really care? If it was purporting to be a documentary, then we would.

House of Guiness bears all the hallmarks of Stephen Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders. It suffers by comparison because Peaky Blinders was a filmic original. Its creation of the times they lived in – all gritty, dark and the polarisation of classes.

House of Guiness has much of that but the characters don’t attract our attention as they did in the Midlands epic. What is interesting is just how big a company Guiness was in the late 19^th century and how influential the family was locally and globally. You’ll have to take their word for that, after all it is a drama not a factual reconstruction.

The Essex Murders: Who Killed Goldfinger Sky Documentaries

★★★★

There have been a plethora of dramas and podcasts about John Palmer, the man who allegedly smelted the gold from Britian’s biggest ever heist – the Brinks Mat robbery – and thus commonly referred to as Goldfinger.

What distinguishes this three-part series isn’t the retelling of the robbery or Palmer’s fraudulent Timeshare schemes but the unravelling of who shot him which is still  an unsolved crime.

Former Metropolitan Police detective, David Kelvey, sets out to try and solve the crime and there’s a long list of potential suspects and a high body count, from Russia to Ireland. It’s a thorough investigation supported by interviews with those who knew Palmer over a long period of time and those responsible for his downfall.

There’s always a fascination involving criminals and lots of money and this series delivers with a very plausible solution to an unsolved crime.

Riot Women BBC iPlayer

★★★★

The latest from Sally Wainright’s pen and she also directs.

It’s about a quintet of menopausal women facing the question of when all this shite is going to stop and how they are going to manage until it does. The women are at a crossroads when Jess (Lorraine Ashbourne) asks them to form a rock band. Beth (Joanna Scanlan) is on the verge of hanging herself when she gets the call, Holly (Tamsin Greig) has just retired after 30 years in the police force and invites her joyless sister Yvonne (Amelia Bullmore) to join.

Star of the band and indeed the show is Kitty (Rosalie Craig) discovered by Beth doing angry karaoke. The reason for the band is the local school talent contest and there are guaranteed to be bumps along the way.

This is a drama about women and as you’d expect from Wainright is extremely well written. It may not have the force of Happy Valley, but it is still much better than most TV drama. If there is a  sequel then we must hope that we don’t have to wait the seven years we did for Happy Valley’s final series.

The Diplomat Netflix

★★★★

Alan Sorkin’s The West Wing (Ch4) was one the very best written series and the connection to The Diplomat goes further than Alison Janney and Bradley Whitford who starred in both.

The Diplomat is now in its third series starring Keri Russell as the US Ambassador to Britain with a rocky marriage to Hal (Rufus Sewell). It stars with the death of the US President and the accession of the Vice President (Janney). Getting the most out of this series, and it helps if you’ve watched the previous two, does require a suspension of belief, but it is extremely well written with enough plot twists to keep you engaged.

Film

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Ch4

★★★★

Nic Cage, an icon to many, plays Nic Cage. Okay it’s goofy as now reduced to B Movie roles, Cage seeks redemption and a pay cheque. It comes when he reluctantly accepts a gig at the birthday party of his biggest fan, billionaire Javi played by Pedro Pascal.

Its Cage hammed up and buffoonish to the nth degree but the jokes, some hit and some miss, come thick and fast  and the action rises as Cage is hired by the CIA to investigate Javi a suspected cartel leader and kidnapper of a teenage girl.

It won’t make your top 5 films list but it’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours, even more so if you have a sneaking regard for Mr Cage.

Podcast

Shadow World BBC Sounds

The People vs McDonalds

★★★★

In 1986, members of London Greenpeace, published a leaflet called ‘What’s wrong with McDonalds’. The list was long – exploiting workers, killing the rainforests, torturing animals and promoting food that was bad for you.

Resources were limited so distribution was scarce but still came to the attention of the world’s largest fast-food company. Others who had made claims about McDonalds, including Channel 4 had backed down and apologised. Two of the environmentalists behind the leaflet refused so McDonalds threw the weight of their legal team behind a libel claim.

 The result was the longest-running trial in English history and, as an aside, marked the debut of the current Prime Minister in a central role as their advisory solicitor.

Narrated by Mark Steel with contributions from some of those involved this is well worth a listen.

The History Podcast BBC Sounds

The House at No 48

★★★★★

Charlie Northcott presents The House at Number 48, in which Antony Easton investigates the mysterious life of his father, who moved the family 11 times during his childhood. His father denied that he had a hint of a foreign accent, travelled a lot for his job and kept under his bed a mysterious, large brown suitcase containing thousands of documents written in German.

Easton has spent the past decade researching his father’s secret life after finding evidence in that suitcase, and in this ten-part series visits Germany to find that his ancestors were hugely wealthy industrialists whose lives were turned upside down by the Nazis. It’s a fascinating story that unfolds over 8 episodes as Easton comes face to face with those who benefited from the family’s legacy.

Rio Ferdinand presents Various

★★★★

Strictly for those who like football but worth a recommendation because of how deep his conversations are with guests whom he played with or against.

It’s easy to assume that there is little to know about David Beckham but his views on and attitude to business is interesting. Similarly, Michael Owen is refreshingly open about his ability and how that declined from the age of 23. Steven Gerrard tells how egos sabotaged the “golden generation” of England footballers of which he was a part.

Like many sports documentaries that depend on revealing what is not commonly known so does this series, but you do need to be interested in the subject.

Book

The Long Firm Trilogy Jake Arnott

★★★★

This has been described as a classic trilogy – the first in the trilogy, The Long Firm, acquired cult status.

It’s three books about gangsters, politicians, bent coppers, actresses and gutter journalists from the Swing Sixties to the Naughty Nineties. It’s cool, stylish and venomous. There is structure and continuity across the trilogy but if you don’t want to commit to all three, start with The Long Firm.

Heart The Lover Lily King

★★★★★

This is a deeply moving story that celebrates love, friendship, and the transformative nature of forgiveness.

In the fall of her senior year of college, our narrator meets two star students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervour, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games.

She quickly discovers the pleasures of friendship, love and her own intellectual ambition. Youthful passion is unpredictable though, and she soon finds herself at the centre of a charged and intricate triangle.

Decades later, the past catches up with the present and she returns to a world she left behind and is forced to confront the decisions and deceptions of her younger self.

This is one of those books with relatable characters and situations that perfectly captures the emotions of youth and how those feelings are impossible to shed. Thoroughly recommended and of a length that can be consumed in one sitting.

In case you have missed it, find out what we enjoyed in September