Jim Shelley (TV critic)

Jim Shelley is a British television and entertainment critic.

From 1993 to 2000, Shelley wrote as a freelance writer for The Guardian's supplemental section The Guide. His television criticism work initially appeared as a column under the alias of "Tapehead". These were considered surrealistic reviews of current television, similar to the work of Victor Lewis-Smith and Charlie Brooker.^[1][2] He later worked specifically on soap operas under "Soaphead". He also wrote for The Mail on Sunday's "Night on Day" section on soaps.^[3][4]

In 2001, with the departure of Charlie Catchpole from the Daily Mirror to the Daily Express, Shelley became the new television critic for the Mirror.^[4] He continued to write for the Mirror under its "Shelley Vision" column until 2011.^[5][6] In 2012, he was shortlisted for the critic of the year award at The Press Awards.^[7] Since 2013, he writes as a television review columnist for the Daily Mail.

In addition, Shelley has written for magazines such as Esquire magazine, Details and BLITZ and was featured in NME.^[6]

His collection of Tapehead columns was published as "Interference: Tapehead vs. Television" by Atlantic Books in 2001.