So .. What Do You Watch On TV?

[Toast 16,131]

On 22/04/2022 at 22:35, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Enjoying 'Slow Horses'. Gary Oldman is excellent and TLK fans will recognize Young Odda as a baddie wanting to cut a pakistani-born student's head off.

 

Young Odda is a monk in Shardlake which has just arrived on Disney+, just a few days after the death of CJ Sansom, the author of the Shardlake books.

[time 8,595]

Looking at Young Odda's credits (he's Brian Vernal btw), I realise now I recognised him from Gangs of London; such is the contrast in the parts of Odda & Billy Wallace (his Gangs of London character) I didn't recognise him in GoL from TLK.

[DCI Frank Burnside 3,887]

 

[Paul Bearer 6,101]

Currently watching The Tattooist of Auschwitz.  Meh! 

[Toast 16,131]

Final series of Inside No. 9 starts tonight.

It's series 9, of course.

[Sod's Law 445]

13 hours ago, Toast said:

Final series of Inside No. 9 starts tonight.

It's series 9, of course.

Now THAT I didn't see coming... 

[time 8,595]

16 hours ago, Toast said:

Final series of Inside No. 9 starts tonight.

It's series 9, of course.

This reminds me, I haven't finished series 8 yet!

[time 8,595]

I finished Slow Horses (S1),  yes, it did pick up from episode 3, as someone pointed out but I wasn't over-enamoured with the final episode. Still, I'll probably get around to S2 before my free trial runs out (possibly even S3 just to get my money's worth)!

 

I've also been watching Justified (on Disney+) which is pretty enjoyable so far. It's like a Redneck soap opera/police procedural (it's set in rural Kentucky). I'm approaching the end of S2 (of 6) so lets see if it can maintain that standard throughout. A sequel set in Detroit was released last year and is also available so that's on the list.

 

Another US programme I tried and got fed-up of is Burn Notice. It starts off OK (and has Sharon Gless in it) but before long the lead character (as well as the preposterous premise) starts to grate.

 

I also tried Alias but didn't get on with this (strangely, as its created by JJ Abrams whose work I've previously enjoyed).

[Toast 16,131]

2 hours ago, time said:

I finished Slow Horses (S1),  yes, it did pick up from episode 3, as someone pointed out but I wasn't over-enamoured with the final episode. Still, I'll probably get around to S2 before my free trial runs out (possibly even S3 just to get my money's worth.

 

I need to give this another go, as I've read all the books now and they're a very good read. Some nice atmospheric descriptive passages, but otherwise easy narratives with plenty of humour.

I've had a 3 month Apple free trial, but looks like I can get another via Vodafone, but it will only be 2 months.

 

I've started watching Shardlake on Disney (only 4 episodes) but it hasn't really pulled me in.  Partly because the title character is nothing like my mental image from the books, he looks too young.  I know Shardlake is only meant to be in his 30s at the start of the books, but people aged earlier in Tudor times. 

 

The other thing that riled me is a bit of woke casting. The Abbot is black.  Come on!  While there might well have been some black Africans around in 1537, they wouldn't have been in such exalted positions.  This is particularly irksome because one of the other characters, who recurs through the series, is a Spanish Moor turned Christian monk and apothecary.  He meets quite a bit of racial prejudice. The inappropriate casting of the Abbot undermines this.

[En Passant 3,741]

2 hours ago, Toast said:

narratives with plenty of humour.

 

This is what sells me these days and Slow Horses is just the ticket. I'm old, and the trope about there 'only being about 6 stories in total, everything new is just a variation' hits home too often with most things.

Convoluted plot twists, end of episode cliff-hangers and the like just turn me off really, I find myself dis-assembling the style and the daft plots too much to really enjoy them at that level.

[Toast 16,131]

I tried one of Mick Herron's Oxford series but gave up about a third of the way in. It was a very different style, way too slow and I didn't like the main character.  To be fair, it was his first novel so the others might be better, but it was nothing like the Slough House ones.  I've got a collection of his short stories from the library so will try those next.

[time 8,595]

Finished Slow Horses S2, and enjoyed it much more than S1. I don't know why, maybe familiarity with the characters or maybe its a better/better told story than S1.

 

 

[Paul Bearer 6,101]

Just finished binge watching "Boys from the blackstuff"  

 

A lot darker than I remember watching it way back in the 80's.  Still a brilliant series 

[Handrejka 1,903]

Any thoughts on the final episode of Inside No 9? 

 

 

[time 8,595]

1 hour ago, Handrejka said:

Any thoughts on the final episode of Inside No 9? 

 

 

Don't forget the "spoiler" tags if you do! TYVM

[harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy 1,688]

9 hours ago, Handrejka said:

Any thoughts on the final episode of Inside No 9? 

 

 

Apart from seeing Askwith’s arse, it was a fine send off. I’ll miss it.

[Toast 16,131]

16 hours ago, Handrejka said:

Any thoughts on the final episode of Inside No 9?

 

Spoiler

 

It was a brilliant send-off.

Such a clever idea to set it in its own wrap party, and marvellous to include so many of the guest actors. 

The call-back to the first episode, Sardines, and the tantalised bus episode made great bookends.

 

 

[Handrejka 1,903]

7 hours ago, Toast said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

It was a brilliant send-off.

Such a clever idea to set it in its own wrap party, and marvellous to include so many of the guest actors. 

The call-back to the first episode, Sardines, and the tantalised bus episode made great bookends.

 

 

 

I agree wholeheartedly. I wanted to watch it again straight away.

[En Passant 3,741]

The Truth Vs Alex Jones.

 

Boy that's a hard watch.

Any US domiciled contributors here have an opinion?

I almost can't believe what I just saw, except somehow I can.

[time 8,595]

I haven't watched this, but surely this type of pearl-clutching reaction is exactly what the creators were hoping for in order to generate traffic.

 

Spoiler

https://metro.co.uk/2024/07/14/people-horrified-sausage-sex-human-amazon-series-21223848/?ico=trending-post-strip_item_3

 

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

OK which one of you is part of the commissioning team at Channel 4. 

 

The latest offering (streaming from Thursday) is Celebrity Send Off in which a one Celebrity plans a funeral for another. 

 

As an example in the first episode Bez plans a funeral for his friend and Bandmate Shaun Ryder

[Grim Up North 3,725]

Watching Atomic People on BBC2 at moment.

 

It’s old Japanese people who were young Japanese people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs were dropped recounting their stories and includes historic film and horrific photos.

 

It’s a story I’ve always known but never seen such a graphic retelling of the facts.

 

I would recommend it but it’s not an easy watch.

[Spade_Cooley 9,515]

Long thought lost, the notoriously shit late 90s TV show h&p@bbc., which single-handedly killed off the careers of Hale and Pace, has been uploaded to YouTube. All the videos are private, so I'm only linking the first one as I don't hate any of you enough to subject you to the whole series. It is stunningly, stunningly terrible. To quote UKGameshows:

 

Quote

Considering the series was supposed to be a family-orientated affair, when it began in April 1999 it was transmitted at 9.30pm, which seemed a bit odd. In addition, it was a weird forty minute duration unlike any other show on the channel, and not only had it been made months before and left on the shelf, but it also began buried on Wednesdays, BBC One's worst night. By week three, the show had already slipped back in the schedules to 10pm, while in week four an unscheduled episode of Match of the Day saw it shoved back still further to 11pm. Show five was at 11.30pm on a Friday night and the sixth and final episode was shoved out at midnight on a Tuesday. We're sure even the most enthusiastic BBC One continuity announcer would have had trouble trying to make the weekly announcement of the rescheduling sound like a good thing. Needless to say, no second series was forthcoming, and that was the last we saw of Hale and Pace on the BBC.

 

[gcreptile 10,966]

Watching Graham Hancock's ancient civilization humbug on Netflix (2nd season). I do have to say though, he makes Erich von Däniken's ancient aliens theory seem much more likely in comparison.

 

Edit: Oh, so Hancock's son Sean works for Netflix. That's why it's there.

https://x.com/SeanHancock7

 

[msc 18,438]

Been catching up on the latest series of Colin from Accounts and in episode 7 there is a line which instantly made me think of our @Toast.

 

I'll spoiler tag it in case people are going to watch the show.

 

Spoiler

"PS, my dad didn't pass. He died. That's just what happens."