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Columnist
Barbara Ellen is a TV critic and columnist for The Observer.
Barbara Ellen
For all the death, there’s something soapy and silly about this Netflix western
Sat, 6 Dec 2025
The Observer’s TV critic Barbara Ellen on the best new shows airing and streaming
Wed, 3 Dec 2025
Memo to Scarlett Johansson: please don’t let Linda Blair have hovered above that bed for nothing
Sun, 30 Nov 2025
The BBC show takes viewers on the British charity worker’s harrowing journey
Fri, 28 Nov 2025
The Observer’s TV critic Barbara Ellen on the best new shows currently airing and streaming
Thu, 27 Nov 2025
The Danish docuseries – which provoked a crisis of national identity – is one of the most unsettling programmes I’ve seen
Sat, 22 Nov 2025
The Observer’s TV critic Barbara Ellen on the best shows
Thu, 20 Nov 2025
Nothing makes sparks fly quite like a shared slice of Stilton
Sun, 16 Nov 2025
Violence and fear seep into every nook and cranny of daily life in this adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s Troubles-era novel
Sat, 15 Nov 2025
After years off screen, the Duchess of Sussex is to make an acting comeback with Lily Allen and Brie Larson
Sun, 9 Nov 2025
Aside from too much celebrity mwah mwah-ing, the series delivered a carnival of larks and skullduggery – and a much-needed good time on a national scale
Fri, 7 Nov 2025
Plus: Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair gives camp a bad name, while Game of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter is simple, silly and lovely
The ultimate watercooler series is a theatrical, tongue-in-cheek experiment in group-think, treachery – and celebrities behaving madly
Mon, 3 Nov 2025
Picking less attractive partners doesn’t guarantee devotion – and isn’t it all a bit lookist and rude?
Sun, 2 Nov 2025
Emma Thompson’s foul-mouthed private eye follows hot on the trail of the Apple TV hit in a bold, funny series. Plus, the engrossing tales of Once Upon a Time in Space
Thu, 30 Oct 2025
The shock news raises questions about the future of all Saturday night family formats
Sat, 25 Oct 2025
Plus: AI enters the workplace, and the pressure mounts in the Traitors castle
Fri, 24 Oct 2025
The star’s channelling of the tragic heroine has sent Swifties flocking to see Friedrich Heyser’s original
Sun, 19 Oct 2025
Menopause and horrible men abound in Sally Wainwright’s witty series about a middle-aged punk-rock band. Plus, a Tim Robinson comedy and Martin Scorsese documentary
Sat, 18 Oct 2025
The latest celebrity death hoax concerns our living antidote to the Trump era
Sun, 12 Oct 2025