UK TV

StarzPlay streaming special-offer

So StarzPlay is quietly shaping up to have some of the best imported content in the UK. There’s Counterpart, Pennyworth, Doom Patrol, Castle Rock, Mr Mercedes, The Rook, Perpetual Grace LTD, and Four Weddings and a Funeral from the US, while from Europe, there’s the likes of Instinto, Sanctuary, Rig 45 and Monster.

And that’s just for starters – why only this very day, it became the UK home of Power and its spin-offs.

It used to have a drawback, though. Until recently, you had to have a subscription to Amazon Prime first, after which you had to take out a second subscription to StarzPlay itself, in order to watch it. That was a slight faff and not cheap, if you weren’t already an Amazon Prime member.

However, it’s now available on Apple TV(+), Android and iOS via its own app, as well as regular web browsers, so you can use any of those apps. Unfortunately, if you want to use your Roku, you’ll need to use the Amazon route in the UK, since although there’s a US Roku channel, there isn’t a UK equivalent.

Another reason to go the Amazon route, though: you can now sign up for a three-month trial at Amazon for 99p/month. Three quid for all for three months is pretty reasonable, I’d have said, wouldn’t you? And you can’t do that through any of the other usual sign-up means.

Anyway, you’ve got until March 31st to sign up for the trial, after which it’ll be back to £4.99/month as usual. What have you got to lose? Apart from £2.97.

The Year of the Sex Olympics

Meanwhile, TMINE god Nigel Kneale‘s ground-breaking play The Year of the Sex Olympics is being reissued by the BFI, a mere 16 years after its previous release. That’s a snip at £14.99 but it won’t be available until April 20.

An anticipator of the reality TV of our own day and age, it sees Leonard Rossiter trying to find something even more interesting than the constant diet of porn with which the masses are currently being placated – and he hits upon real-life as the option. Unfortunately, real-life is actually a bit dull, so then he thinks adding a murderer to the mix might boost the ratings.

If you’re cunning, you’ll spot the esteemed Brian Cox. No not that one, the other one.