Phil Harrison
Phil Harrison is a freelance culture journalist and critic whose core beat is television, with a regular focus on streaming, drama and documentary. He writes for the Guardian and other UK outlets, bringing an opinionated, analytic style that treats TV as a way to understand contemporary society. His work spans weekly streaming roundups, detailed reviews and longer reflections that tie series and films to politics, history and music.
Weekly streaming guides and curation
Harrison writes a recurring column for the Guardian selecting “the seven best shows to stream this week”, spotlighting new and ongoing series across major platforms. Recent instalments such as Spider-Noir to Star City, Kylie to The Boroughs and From Rivals to Good Omens show him moving easily between comic-book spin-offs, pop-led projects, fantasy and genre TV in a single guide. These pieces work as concise recommendation lists, with each edition pulling together different tones and formats so that a reader encounters glossy international dramas alongside more niche British shows.
The column gives him a regular vantage point on how streaming services evolve, and it anchors much of his current entertainment coverage.
TV reviews and darker drama
Alongside the guides, Harrison reviews individual series and specials, often gravitating towards complex or darker material.
In his Death Valley review he notes Timothy Spall “having a total blast”, underlining how he foregrounds performance and character work when judging whether a show rewards attention. Pieces such as Children of the Blitz review – wonderful, priceless television and his column on the 70s-set drama Quarry show a sustained interest in historical backdrops, brooding antiheroes and the way violence and memory are handled on screen. His credited reviews of series like Waiting for the Out and The Lowdown demonstrate that he covers both prominent and lesser-known dramas, treating them with the same structured, critical approach.
Television as social history and politics
Harrison’s work repeatedly frames television as a lens on politics, identity and social change. His book The Age of Static: How TV Explains Modern Britain uses themed chapters on identity, property and class, banter and political correctness, the role of the BBC and the impact of reality TV on politics to trace how Britain has grown more divided and fractious since 2000. Articles such as HyperNormalisation: Is Adam Curtis, Like Trump, Just A Master Manipulator? and Euro 96 20 Years On: Gazza, UKIP, Brexit – Where Are We Now? connect BBC documentaries and football nostalgia with contemporary populism and the rise of movements like Brexit and UKIP.
As a critic he also reviews political and activist documentaries including Navalny and Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson, weighing their storytelling power against the corruption and abuse they depict.
Documentaries, music and wider culture
Music and the performing arts form a recurring thread in Harrison’s coverage. He reviews programmes such as Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History and adaptations like The Crow Road, combining assessments of structure and pacing with attention to the cultural traditions they draw on. His professional profiles emphasise that, alongside television, he writes widely on music, books, film, sport, radio and politics and that he is an experienced interviewer, editor and commissioner.
He has held editing roles at outlets including Time Out and the Guardian’s TV guide, which inform his focus on curation and the mechanics of commissioning. Taken together, this breadth allows him to situate a series or documentary within longer histories in British pop, classical music and literary culture, rather than treating TV as an isolated entertainment product.
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Abbie Bray
Abbie Bray reports on how television affects the people on screen and the viewers at home. She is acting head of Screen Time, working across national and regional titles on dramas, soaps, factual entertainment and live broadcasts. Her focus includes Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise, Vera and Midsomer Murders, as well as Gardeners’ World, Our Yorkshire Farm, Countryfile, Garden Rescue and A Place in the Sun. She also covers presenters, long-running series, sports broadcasts, viewer complaints and Ofcom scrutiny. Before Screen Time, she was a TV reporter for Metro and the Daily Express, then held weekend TV editor, assistant TV editor and deputy showbiz editor roles. Her reporting links TV formats to grief, career changes, casting, audience reaction and the personal stakes behind live coverage.
Adam Bloodworth
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Adam England
Adam England stands out for linking celebrity news to wider trends in music, sport, health and everyday life. He is a writer-reporter on the news team at People, where he covers entertainment, culture and lifestyle through timely stories and evergreen explainers. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Independent, Vice, Dazed, Healthline and Verywell Mind. He writes about music, screen entertainment, celebrity careers, fan communities, sport, cultural history, mental health, travel, pets, relationships and social affairs. His explainers include the 2023 NFL Draft and Bruce Lee’s death. He also reports on sensitive celebrity health stories, such as Lionel Richie cutting a concert short after feeling dizzy. His reporting is clear, factual and service-driven. He strips back jargon and mythology, uses lived experience and expert input where relevant, and avoids sensationalism.
Adam White
Adam White is features editor across culture and lifestyle at The Independent. He writes and commissions long-form features, essays and interviews on film, television, music and entertainment. His work examines how fame, fandom and taste shape contemporary culture, from streaming thrillers and celebrity disclosure to festivals, live music and creative careers. His writing has appeared in Dazed, Huck, i-D, Playboy, The Telegraph, The i, Little White Lies, The Quietus and Nylon. He uses a strong, voice-led style that combines reporting, observation and personal immersion. His streaming coverage treats television as something experienced as much as watched. His celebrity essays connect star narratives to wider questions about privacy and public image. His festival writing focuses on audiences and live events as cultural rituals. His interviews with film-makers and authors rely on rapport, extended stories and reflection.