I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
“Doing this every two weeks seems to be working out for me right now. I think I can pull this off. Famous last words.”
Oops. That’s what I said last time and it pretty much killed April. Work! Gah! More work! Gah. Holiday. Not gah. Actually quite relaxing.
Oh well. Best stop procrastinating and put some TV thoughts down on paper or those really will be my last words…
I’ve watched a whole bunch of new shows, as well as the regulars, but doing proper reviews will take the rest of the day, I reckon, so I’m going to be disciplined and stick to one sentence rundowns. And here’s the clincher: if you want to know more about one of the shows, ask me! Then I’ll respond in the comments.
I reckon that’ll work. And how’s that for fun, too?
There’s been an awful lot of new shows since the last of these, but here are the ones that interested me enough to watch them: The Ipcress File (UK: ITV); Minx (US: HBO Max); Welcome to Flatch (US: Fox); The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray (AppleTV+); Halo (Paramount+); Outer Range (Amazon Prime); Moon Knight (Disney+); and Russian Doll (season two) (Netflix).
Meanwhile, we’ve got stuck on a few of the regular shows: Bel-Air (Peacock) is sitting there, waiting for us to watch the rest of it when we’ve got the time; but Superman & Lois (US: The CW; UK: BBC One) has been on holiday all of April. The Endgame (US: NBC) got a bit repetitious so I gave up on that. I’ve been continuing to watch Star Trek: Picard (US: Paramount+; UK: Amazon Prime) and Severance (AppleTV+), though. And MrInBetween (Australia: Showcase; UK: Disney+) has secretly been on Disney+ for months, I suspect, so I finally got to watch the third (final) season.
The BFI & RADIO TIMES TELEVISION FESTIVAL, the biggest, most exciting public television festival in the UK, featuring the very best TV shows and a star-studded line up, is returning to BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX from Friday 20 May to Sunday 22 May 2022.
Over the course of three jam-packed days, the BFI & RADIO TIMES TELEVISION FESTIVAL will preview some of the most hotly anticipated shows of the year, including the BBC’s new adaptation of Sally Rooney’s award-winning novel CONVERSATION WITH FRIENDS and the first chance for members of the public, worldwide, to see Sir David Attenborough’s groundbreaking series for AppleTV+ PREHISTORIC PLANET. Executive produced by actor and filmmaker Jon Favreau and legendary natural history producer Mike Gunton, PREHISTORIC PLANET uses cutting-edge science, world class natural history filming and the very latest CGI to transport audience back 66 million years to the last great dinosaur era.
The Festival will also reunite the cast and crew from some of the biggest dramas of the last year; including Russell T Davies’ masterly IT’S A SIN, which has just picked up an extraordinary 11 BAFTA nominations, Channel 5’s charming new take the classic on ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, the BBC’s epic adaptation of Philip Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS, starring Ruth Wilson, and thebeloved long-running BBC One drama series CALL THE MIDWIFE.
There will be sessions dedicated to some of the best comedy series of the past year, including Stephen Merchant introducing a preview screening from the second series of his BBC hit comedy thriller THE OUTLAWS, which is returning soon, Matt Berry and Arthur Mathews will discuss their hilarious comic creation Stephen Toast, who recently returned to screens in TOAST OF TINSELTOWN, and Rose Matafeo will appear to talk about her pitch-perfect millennial romcom STARSTRUCK, which just aired its second season.
Family favourite MALORY TOWERS, returning for a third season this year, will also be previewed, while the Festival’s much-loved sessions that draw on rarely-seen material from the BFI National Archive, this year celebrates a bona-fide musical superstar, with PRINCE: PURPLE PASSION AND POMP.
In addition to the stars appearing live on stage to talk about their hit shows, there will be directors, producers and writers giving audiences the inside track and an exclusive look behind the scenes of some of televisions biggest shows. Names to look out for include:
IT’S A SIN – writer and executive producer Russell T Davies, executive producer Nicola Shindler, actors Omari Douglas and Callum Scott Howells
CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS – actors Alison Oliver and Joe Alwyn, director Lenny Abrahamson, executive producer Emma Norton and series producer Catherine Magee
STARSTRUCK – creator and star Rose Matafeo, actor Emma Sidi and writer and actor Nic Sampson
CALL THE MIDWIFE – creator and writer Heidi Thomas, executive producer Pippa Harris and key cast members (TBC)
THE OUTLAWS – creator and star Stephen Merchant, co-stars Eleanor Tomlinson (TBC), Gamba Cole, Clare Perkins, Darren Boyd and Jessica Gunning
TOAST OF TINSELTOWN – writer and star Matt Berry, writer Arthur Mathews, director Michael Cumming, actors Doon Mackichan and Harry Peacock
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL – actors Nicholas Ralph, Callum Woodhouse, RachelShenton and Anna Madeley, executive producer Melissa Gallant
MALORY TOWERS – actors Ella Bright, Danya Griver, Sienna Arif-Knights and Beth Bradfield
More than 20 sessions will take place throughout the weekend, with around half of them being announced today, and the remaining events announced on 26 April. Co-programmed by the BFI and Radio Times, the festival draws on the expertise of both organisations, for a broad range of audiences from telly addicts and boxset-bingeing aficionados, to those who love to discover archive gems and people who love nothing more than coming together to watch the latest prime-time entertainment.
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
Doing this every two weeks seems to be working out for me right now. I think I can pull this off. Famous last words.
I’ve watched some new TV shows. One from pretty much every country of the world! Well, three of the four usual English-speaking ones. Most of them were rubbish, unfortunately. But at least one was fun. We can talk about those after the jump: Troppo (Australia: ABC), Our Flag Means Death (US: HBO Max), Children Ruin Everything (Canada: CTV) and The Endgame (US: NBC).
But first…
…four shows I didn’t manage to get around to watching
The Dropout (US: Hulu; UK: Disney+) is a switch of the usual ‘drama based on real-life’ offering that we’ve getting of late. It’s a mini-series that sees Amanda Seyfried playing Elizabeth Holmes, and Hulu/Disney+ summarise it thusly: “Elizabeth Holmes, an optimistic and determined young woman, drops out of Stanford to found a promising new blood testing startup.”
Yeah, I know all about Elizabeth Holmes. I know the twist and a whole lot more. Don’t really need to watch that, but I hear Seyfried is very good.
The Porter (Canada: CBC) is something a bit more of a period piece, but is still a real-life story. “The series will depict the history of Black Canadian and African-American men who worked as Pullman porters in the period following World War I, leading to the 1925 creation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as the first Black-led labour union.”
Again, I hear it’s really good and it even numbers Alfre Woodard. But… I don’t care. Sorry, the history of the Canadian trade union movement is niche even for me.
Shining Vale (US: Starz; UK: Starzplay) isn’t real at all. It also didn’t hold my attention more than a minute, since it’s a horror comedy-drama about depression/demonic possession.
“A dysfunctional family moves from the city to a small town after Patricia “Pat” Phelps, a former “wild child” who became famous through writing raunchy female empowerment novels, is caught cheating on her husband. The house the family had moved into is a place where in the past, terrible atrocities have taken place. Nobody seems to suspect anything odd except for Pat who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed. Pat has been sober for 16 years, but begins to feel very unfulfilled in life – she still hasn’t written her second novel, she can’t remember the last time she had sex with her husband, and her teenage kids have grown up to the point they don’t want their mother in their lives. But soon, the demons haunting the family’s new home begin to appear much more real.”
It may star Greg Kinnear and Courtney Cox but no.
Lastly, there’s The Ipcress File (UK: ITV), the first UK drama I’ve been tempted to watch in a long time. In this case, I simply haven’t got round to watching it. But you know what, I think I will, since I not only love the Michael Caine movie, I’ve even read the book, so I’m interested to see what ITV have done with it.
The regulars
Superman & Lois (US: The CW; UK: BBC One/iPlayer) was great fun as usual, and of course the chance to reunite Supes and his brother was irresistible, so I’m looking forward to that. It’s fascinating that a show that was based on how compelling a performance one actor gave in a completely different TV show now has an equally compelling performance overshadowing it. I do also much admire the fact the show is ‘depatriarchying’ the entire Superman story, too.
Severance (AppleTV+) has continued to be fascinating and JustStark’s suggestion that it’s reminiscent of a Philip K Dick story was something I hadn’t noticed but is spot on the money. But the show alternates as well between interpretations, with allusions to the priesthood in the latest episode and there are also musical references to The Conversation (1974) as well. But the core considerations of whether work might actually be psychologically important to us – so what happens if we can’t – are also interesting. Really, really enjoying.
Bel-Air continues to be equally impressive and powerful. The characters are now evolving in fascinating ways and it’s fascinating to see Will ‘gentrifying’. One of the disadvantages of not watching UK TV any more is that I didn’t notice that this show’s Geoffrey is played by Jimmy Akingbola (In the Long Run, Kate & Koji, Holby City, Rev et al). And this Geoffrey is hardcore. Definitely a must-watch.
And back for a second season is Star Trek: Picard (US: Paramount+; UK: Amazon). That appears to have dumped the entire narrative it was setting up at the end of the first season in favour of yet more Borg stories. But we got Whoopi Goldberg back as Guinan and John de Lancie back as Q – that’s not a spoiler, as it’s in the trailer – all of which suggests better things are to come.
I should also point out that Wu Assassins (Netflix) mysteriously has a sequel movie, Fistful of Vengeance, set in Thailand and featuring all the Asian cast but almost no one else and is largely unrelated to the surprisingly good original in almost any way. The fights are poorly shot, even if the cast are good at them, making them pretty lacklustre, too. I quite enjoyed newcomer Francesca Corney, who was at least funny, but that was about it.
Join me after the jump for a brief rundown of the new shows.
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
It’s been Half-Term here in the UK, which means I’ve been taking some time off. Which was nice. But never fear, not only did a load of TV shows have the same idea, I still managed to watch a couple of new shows, as well as finish off two of the regulars
But first…
…three shows I didn’t manage to get around to watching
From (US: Epix) only started last night, so I’ve not had time to watch it yet. It doesn’t sound (or even look) very good, though, so I might skip it.
“In a nightmarish town in middle America that traps everyone who enters, unwilling residents fight to stay alive and search for a way out. But they are plagued by the threats of the surrounding forest including terrifying nocturnal creatures.”
The Fear Index (UK: Sky Atlantic) is another one of those glossy transatlantic things with big(ish) US stars that Sky makes (cf Riviera). It’s based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name and “is set in a period of roughly 24 hours from the 6 May 2010 – the date of the British general election and the Flash Crash. It follows the interactions of a group of employees at Hoffmann Investment Technologies, a fictional hedge fund operating in Geneva.”
Couldn’t. Be. Bothered.
I mean, generic or what? Although the trailer did make me hope that The Champions would show up.
Inventing Anna (Netflix), on the other hand, is simply a show I didn’t get around to watching, but which I really do hope to watch when I have time, as it stars the rather awesome Julia Garner as the eponymous Anna (The Americans, Ozark). It’s also based on a true story. So fingers crossed for next week.
“A journalist investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary heiress who stole the hearts and money of New York elites.”
The regulars
Superman & Lois (US: The CW; UK: BBC One/iPlayer) were clearly taking a couple of weeks off together to have some quality time away from their annoying teenagers, so that just left The Peacemaker and The Book of Boba Fett for me to enjoy.
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+) managed to have a reasonably thrilling and at times touching finale, filled with fights and Boba Fett for once. Plenty of Mandalorian and tiny Yoda, though, which given the season has only been seven episodes and they’ve been the focus of three of them, hasn’t really given Boba much to do.
However, by the end of it, it was all feeling a bit… childish, you know? Sure, it’s Star Wars, but honestly, with the biker gangs, the tired western clichés, baby Yoda, the big beastie, etc, it just all felt like a kids show. I might not bother with season 2, but we’ll see.
The Peacemaker ended with a couple of not bad episodes. Some decently amusing dialogue, some really daft helmets (you’ll understand when you see it) and some decent plot twists, plus a really awesome cameo or two right at the end meant it was definitely worth the viewing time. But it felt like after a really excellent start, the show ran a little out of the bizarre steam that made the first couple of episodes so different and exciting. John Cena remained awesome throughout and Freddie Stroma’s switch from pretty boy (UnREAL, Time After Time) to idiotic psychopath was a real eye-opener. But I no longer feel totally comfortable recommended the whole season as a must-see. Maybe the first couple of episodes.
After the jump, though, let’s talk about the new shows I did watch: Severance (AppleTV+) and Bel Air (US/UK: Peacock). And I’m really glad I watched both, you’ll be glad to hear.
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
I think I might – might – be getting the hang of this ‘watching TV’ thing. I actually watched some new shows this week, including some that were on my list from last week and one complete season of a show, too. Is anyone impressed apart from me? Probably not. And I also hope not.
But first…
…a show I couldn’t bring myself to watch
Suspicion (AppleTV+) might at first glance look like something I’d have watched, given it was on AppleTV+ and stars Uma Thurman, Noah Emmerich and a whole bunch of actors from US TV shows you’ll probably recognise.
However, it fell foul of a very important new TMINE viewing rule: no more UK TV. I might break this at some point, probably when Rusty starts Doctor Who again or if that Life on Mars sequel ever sees the light of day. But honestly, life is otherwise too short to be wasting it on watching UK TV.
And Suspicion may be on an American streaming network and be based on the pretty good Israeli show כפולים (False Flag), but it is clearly British, since it’s set in London and even the guys you saw on those US TV shows have been secretly British this whole time. (And I’ve seen both seasons of the Israeli version anyway.)
For those of you with greater tolerance for the inexcusable, here’s the plot description and a trailer.
“Five people – three men and two women – have their lives turned upside down after being identified by London police as suspects in the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of American media mogul Katherine Newman’s son Leonardo.”
The regulars
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+) was yet again, another episode of The Mandalorian. My wife is getting very bored of this fact. I’m getting very worried about Temuera Morrison’s health – is he okay? This is like when they had to introduce Young Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys to cover up for the fact that Kevin Sorbo was injured – or when they bodyswapped Callisto and Xena on Xena: Warrior Princess when Lucy Lawless fell off her horse.
Anyway, the producers dialled up the awesome to compensate, bringing back not just jedi master Rosario Dawson, obvious Western reference Timothy Olyphant and the Mandalorian himself, but also a very, very spookily rejuvenated Mark Hamill to re-enact the best bits of Empire Strikes Back with tiny Yoda. It was a whole bunch of Squee for Star Wars fans and even I couldn’t help but go wow! But it is reliably reinforcing the fact that Boba Fett’s story isn’t either that interesting or getting a lot of service in his own show. Worrying.
The Peacemaker was less entertaining this week, unfortunately, perhaps because it was the most serious of all the episodes so far. But also perhaps because it was the most unremarkable in lots of ways. I mean “Eagly is hardcore, man!” will stay with me for a while and there were lots of lovely silly bits, but nothing that stood out in quite the way earlier episodes did.
Meanwhile, in Superman & Lois (US: The CW; UK: BBC One), it was more of the same as last week in what was basically a bridging episode to get us from point A to point C, by filling in the gaps that people who hadn’t realised it was (spoiler alert) Bizarro last week getting it spelled out for them this week. Good fights but everything to do with Lois Lane’s sister (Jenna Dewan – reprising her role from Supergirl, I understand. Where’s m*therf*ck*ng Supergirl, though? She’s not dead – I checked!) made me roll my eyes a lot. Seriously, what bizarrely insanely high standards of journalism are local papers expecting in the US? Weirdos.
After the jump, though, let’s talk about the new shows I’ve been watching and completing entire episodes and even seasons of: Reacher (Amazon Prime), Murderville (Netflix) and In From the Cold (Netflix).
