From the Editors

With the World Cup in full swing and doing its utmost to rearrange the schedules, you might be tempted to wonder if television has forgotten its commitment to drama this winter.

But in this issue we look forward to see what lies in store in the dark months ahead. And the good news is that very soon you won’t be wanting for top-class drama starring some of British acting’s biggest names. Indeed, after the meagre rations on offer during the World Cup, these are prime cuts that will provide a rich and varied menu for you to feast on before, during and after Christmas.

You can take your pick from Damian Lewis’s star turn in A Spy among Friends, Helena Bonham Carter becoming Crossroads’ matriarch Noele Gordon, David Tennant playing Alexander Litvinenko, or Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes retelling the story of John Stonehouse, the 1970s Labour minister who seemingly staged his own death.

Those are just four of the dramas we have selected as the most engrossing stories waiting to be told. Turn to page 14 to read more.

One man who has survived football’s takeover of the airwaves is Simon Schama, whose new series starts on BBC2 on Sunday. Our writer Michael Hodges found our greatest living TV historian in reflective mood as he pondered the end of an epoch. Turn to page 24 and you can read the interview in which Schama talks at length about the death of the liberal postwar consensus, anti-Semitism, being British and his fierce commitment to the BBC.

Elsewhere we chat to comedian-turned-musical composer Tim Minchin, track Ralf Little down to his Caribbean hideaway and speak to arch satirist Armando Iannucci. And of course we guide you through the maze of changes to the normal transmission times of some of your favourite programmes. Our daily TV listings begin on page 46.