Skip to main contentSkip to navigation
Print subscriptions
Sign in
Search jobs
Search
The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

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

August 2024

  • Simone Biles; Tom Daley and Noah Williams; Alex Yee; Adam Peaty

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Paris Olympics 2024; Atomic People; Saucy! Secrets of the British Sex Comedy; House of the Dragon – review

    After opening ceremony japes, Olympic competitors go higher, stronger, faster. Elsewhere, Japan’s atomic bomb survivors look back, and British comedy
    at its lewdest

July 2024

  • Melvyn Bragg sitting at a table opposite Tracey Emin in her studio with her paintings in the background.

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Art Matters; Surviving the Post Office; The Decameron; Time Bandits – review

    Melvyn Bragg makes an impassioned plea to save the arts in Britain; wronged subpostmasters tell their story; a medieval romp channels Covid and The White Lotus. Plus, a time-travelling Lisa Kudrow
  • The BBC Olympics presenters Fred Sirieix, Isa Guha, Hazel Irvine, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, Jeanette Kwakye, JJ Chalmers and Laura Kenny.

    Observer TV reviews
    Paris Games TV coverage review – just navigating the channels feels like an Olympic sport

    Amid rain and soggy shots of the Eiffel Tower, I swiftly became over-invested in the women’s 3-metre synchronised diving … and, hey, bring on the breakdancing

    • I Was There by Alan Edwards review – the rock gods’ right-hand man

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Supacell; Skint: The Truth About Britain’s Economy; A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder; The Man With 1,000 Kids – review

    • If sportswomen were paid more, they might not feel obliged to get their kit off

      Barbara Ellen

June 2024

  • Hartswood Films for ITV AND ITVX DOUGLAS IS CANCELLED Episode 1 Pictured:NICK MOHAMMED as Morgan,BEN MILES as Toby,SIMON RUSSELL BEALE as Bently Cassok,HUGH BONNEVILLE as Douglas,KAREN GILLAN as Madeline and ALEX KINGSTON as Sheila. This image is under copyright and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes in your print or online publication. This image cannot be syndicated to any other third party. Copyright ITV For further information please contact: Patrick.smith@itv.com 07909906963

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Douglas Is Cancelled; The Bear; Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials; BBC Prime Ministerial Debate – review

  • A closeup of Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy with their heads side by close

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: House of the Dragon; Euro 2024; The Stormtrooper Scandal; Under the Bridge – review

  • Gucci - Men's Spring Summer 2025 Fashion Show - Arrivals - Milan Fashion Week - Menswear Spring/Summer 2025<br>MILAN, ITALY - JUNE 17: Paul Mescal attends the Gucci Men's Spring Summer 2025 Fashion Show during the Milan Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2025 at Triennale di Milano on June 17, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci)

    Paul Mescal can pull off short-shorts, but can ordinary men?

    Barbara Ellen
  • Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace; Presumed Innocent; The Rest Is Politics; Inside No 9 – review

  • Frothy, fun and hard to resist: is Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso the song of the summer?

  • Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Becoming Karl Lagerfeld; Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate; D-Day: The Unheard Tapes; Queenie – review

  • Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: The Sympathizer; My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom; Eric; Camden – review

  • Love him or loathe him, James Corden is back in the UK. So will the sniping now stop?

May 2024

  • Vicky McClure in pyjamas looking tired in Insomnia.

    Observer TV reviews
    The week in TV: Insomnia; Cold Case Investigators: Solving Britain’s Sex Crimes; Rebus; Trying; The Nevermets – review

    Vicky McClure’s sleepless nights are only the half of it in a convoluted psychological thriller; new forensics and dogged detectives solve decades-old cases in a gripping documentary; and Rebus is reimagined with grit and wit
  • Sienna Miller M&amp;S Marks and Spencer autumn campaign

    ‘Bum-boosting pants’ aside, I’m emotionally invested in M&S’s fortunes, but can’t think why

    Barbara Ellen
    Why do we treat it like a national treasure when it’s just another multinational business that wants our cash?

    • Demanding a haircut without talking is just rude – how important do you think you are?

      Barbara Ellen

    • Observer TV reviews
      The week in TV: Better Off Dead?; Bridgerton; The Gathering; The Big Cigar – review

    • The week in TV: The Responder; Spacey Unmasked; Doctor Who; Salman Rushdie: Through a Glass Darkly – review

April 2024

  • Tom Hollander as Truman Capote, seated beside an open fire

    The week in TV: Feud: Truman Capote vs the Swans; Danny Dyer: How to Be a Man; Blue Lights; Dinosaur – review

    Tom Hollander heads a deliciously starry but drawn-out drama about Capote and his gal pals; Danny Dyer talks to geezers; the Belfast cop series is back with a bang; and neurodiverse Nina is a sparky sitcom gem
About 1,635 results for Barbara Ellen
1234...
Explore more on these topics