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Barbara Ellen

Barbara Ellen is a columnist for the Observer. She has also written for NME, the Times, Mail on Sunday, Elle, Marie Claire, Grazia, Loaded, GQ and Mojo

February 2025

  • Steve Coogan as Brian Walden and Harriet Walter as Margaret Thatcher seated opposite each other in a TV studio, a map of the world as backdrop

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Brian and Maggie; Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis; Paradise; Mo – review

  • Bridget Jones, played by Renée Zellweger, rests her head on the shoulder of one of her new love interests, Roxster, Leo Woodall, in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

    Is it time to stop bashing Bridget Jones? Hapless everywoman has evolved – and so have we

January 2025

  • President Trump And VP JD Vance At Presidential Inauguration - USA, Washington, United States - 20 Jan 2025<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Pool/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock (15110225bx) US President Donald Trump delivers remarks after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in an inauguration ceremony in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. Trump's planned outdoor inauguration ceremonies and events are being held inside today due to a forecast of extreme cold temperatures. President Trump And VP JD Vance At Presidential Inauguration - USA, Washington, United States - 20 Jan 2025

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: President Trump’s Inauguration; Out There; What Happened at Auschwitz; Prime Target – review

    Second time around was definitely not funny as the Trump show rolled back into DC. Plus, Martin Clunes in overalls in a dark Welsh drama; a maths thriller that doesn’t quite add up; and a Holocaust documentary with quiet power
  • Black and white photo of David Lynch in a buttoned-up shirt smoking a cigarette and leaning against a wall

    Subversive, warm and wild at heart: David Lynch deserves all his tributes

    The late director sided with the outsider and saw things in America no one else could see. His startling oeuvre changed film and television for ever

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Severance; Marilyn Manson: Unmasked; Bump; Lucy Worsley Investigates… 1066 – review

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Patience; 7/7: The London Bombings; Playing Nice; American Primeval – review

    • The week in TV: Lockerbie: A Search for Truth; The Traitors; SAS Rogue Heroes; The Split: Barcelona – review

December 2024

  • Squid Game S2 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game S2 Cr. No Ju-han/Netflix © 2024

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Squid Game 2; Doctor Who: Joy to the World; Outnumbered; A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone – review

  • Claudia Winkleman standing in front of a castle, dressed in black velvet and a white frilly shirt

    We all love TV show The Traitors … what does that say about us?

  • Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in a scene from "Ripley."

    Observer critics' review of 2024
    TV: Barbara Ellen’s 10 best shows of 2024

  • Holliday Grainger and Tom Burke in Strike: The Ink Black Heart.

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Strike: The Ink Black Heart; Asia; One Hundred Years of Solitude; Dalgliesh – review

  • From Charli to Jilly to Moo Deng the hippo: the faces we won’t forget from 2024

  • Choose debt. Choose midday naps… How Trainspotting went from heroin to chai tea

    Barbara Ellen

  • Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: After the Party; Rage Against the Regime: Iran; The Great British Bake Off: The Final; Smoggie Queens – review

  • A new Christmas single – but do they know it’s Ed Davey?

November 2024

  • A black and white image of Sonny & Cher singing with a microphone stand in front of them

    The Memoir: Part One by Cher – a gutsy tale of showbiz survival

    The first chapter of the superstar performer’s recollections is full-blooded and hearty, but only hints at her real persona
  • Dwayne Johnson during filming for BBC’s Graham Norton Show in November 2024

    Wrestler, film star – and future president? Why we should all take Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson seriously

    The WWE icon, already one of Hollywood’s highest-paid film stars, has shown himself to be ‘focus group-proof’

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Dune: Prophecy; I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here; Say Nothing; The Listeners – review

    • Can Coleen Rooney cut it in the jungle – or is she being underestimated again?

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light; Bad Sisters; Immigration: How British Politics Failed; The Penguin – review

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