British TV chat, 2024

This looks interesting

NOT GUILTY

Alexis G almost made Keeley Hawes tolerable and sexy. He's a miracle worker!

Two of the best shows I've seen in years -- Broken and Time. Both star Sean Bean playing, in both, a dejected, middle-aged, slightly overweight sensitive soul, and he is terrific in both shows. Both are downers but beautifully written, directed, and acted.

is there anything else as funny as peep show?

I’ve been watching “Industry” which is filming a third season.

It seems a third investment bank office politics, a third promiscuous sex (all the young actors get nude) and a third drug taking and partying.

There is a gay guy, black guy who tops a white guy in a rather unsexy scene (the white guy is screaming something like fvck my white pvssy). The black guy is nerdy and his story doesn’t seem as compelling. I feel sorry for the actor because he doesn’t seem to be given much to work with.

Season 1 has the working class guy strip fully naked and do full frontal.

It seems the writers put most of their effort into the two women characters: a smart ambitious black woman (who they show too many times having sex) and a rich girl trying to fit in.

I don’t know about straight men sexually, but every straight man in this show gives oral to the women. It’s like it’s a law that that point has to be written into every straight sex scene.

Mr.Bates is very good, and you get a dose of the lovely Julie Hesmondhalgh out of the deal. Some excellent acting all around, and Will Mellor's easy in the eyes.

[quote]Will Mellor's easy in the eyes.

I have loved Will Mellor for years. He’s delicious.

Has anyone watched Hotel Portofino?

It's a few years old. But I've just learned about it and it has Mark Umbers in it so I may watch it.....

R9... it's not very good, but not awful. Recycles every plot and character from pretty much every period costume drama of the last ten or twenty years. Some straining colour blind casting. But it's watchable, for the scenery alone.

I concur with R10, R9, it’s not great but beautiful photography, and apart from Umbers, Judy Dench’s great nephew Oliver Dench has peachy skin, bright green eyes and a fantastic ass and thighs, which are invariably busting out of his thin, summer-weight pants.

Also, season 2 ended with a surprisingly tough few scenes, the emotional wreckage goes up exponentially. And they got themselves out of some dead ends (plot and character-wise) clearing the decks for what is to come. So I suspect the writers/show runners feel more confident about the series having a future, and I’m hoping it continues to get sharper and generally better next season. Plus there is Ollie’s ass and legs.

So, yeah, watch it.

Thanks r10 and r11.

I thought it was a bit like The Durrells - lightweight and pretty things to look at....so I'll give it a watch

The Durrells was better, IMO, because it identified and embraced a goofy, comedic approach that worked. Portofino fancies itself a drama.

Yeah, “The Durrells” was better written and better acted, but give “Hotel Portofino” a chance.

[quote] Has anyone watched Hotel Portofino?

It's best when you watch it with the sound off. Beautiful scenery, storylines are stupid.

[quote] is there anything else as funny as peep show?

R5, have you ever seen The Smoking Room? It’s very old now, but one of my favourites. It’s largely forgotten now, sadly.

R16 This is the first I've heard of it. It's very funny!

I miss Sean Lock!!!

The Tiger who Came for A Pint

I wish BritBox would unclench its grip on QI, a show I adore. But I'm not paying for another streaming service just to watch it. (Yes, some episodes show up on YouTube, but the quality is usually crap.) BritBox also has Twenty Twelve and W1A, sigh...

I was meh... about Funny Woman, recently on PBS, but, whew, Tom Bateman was good-looking in it.

That he is

I loved “The Smoking Room. On PBS in NYC it had the old “Monty Python” slot — Sunday nights at 10:30. But there was only one season, no?

And I had such a thing for Robert Webb starting on “Peep Show” through “Smoking Room.” Is he still working? How does he look?

R21 Two seasons of 'The Smoking Room'. Also a Christmas special. I read that they were going to make a third but by that time smoking rooms were unlawful in the UK so that was that.

Has anyone been watching FUNNY WOMAN on PBS Sunday nights? Not in love with it but admire its ambition in recreating the period of British tv in the early 60s. I feel like it tried to take on too much, too many issues, too many characters, but a lot of it was fun.

And I LOVE sexy Tom Bateman!

Was Gemma Arterton a star in the UK before this series?

All I know about Gemma is that she was one of a long line of names attached to the Dusty Springfield bio movie that will likely never get made.

Currently watching "Paranoid" and now I'm beginning to understand the Dino Fetscher love here. He truly is captivatingly gorgeous.

I love all you bitches, but for the love of cock, please share a photo when possible.

Dino

Robert Webb is full frontal nude in the movie Confetti. Unfortunately you also have to look at Olivia Colman’s sad tits as she plays his wife.

R22 is this your Robert Webb?

Also in Funny Woman is Matthew Beard, who plays the lead in the excellent series Vienna Blood.

Matthew Beard was also great in his 2 roles in MAGPIE MURDERS. He must be gay?

Rupert Everett is actually quite good in Funny Woman. He sheds his signature posh boy shtick.

Hard to tell with Rupert Everett how much of that look is him and how much is costuming/wigging/prosthetics, etc.

R 12: Yes, that is he. Hadn’t kept up with his work let alone his health problems. “Strictly Come Dancing” doesn’t sound like it was a great idea. He look okay withiut clothes, though.

hmm. I do like Call The Midwife....but not enough to give my PBS station extra money to see it early

I was watching the series Stath Lets Flat. I don't get why this ran for three seasons. It's one joke running over and over. Jamie Demetriou and his sister are the stupidest characters on tv.

Brit tv: do better.

I've been working my way through Ghosts (UK) S4 and watched the Christmas episode last night. Why am I crying?! Damn you, show! I know it ends with S5, which may cause another tear or two, but the show holds up to rewatching, so there's that.

R36: Agreed, Stath is pretty much a one-joke cringe show, but Nastasia Demetriou is hilarious on What We Do in the Shadows, a much more layered show.

[quote]I've been working my way through Ghosts (UK)

I was a bit disappointed in the way they ended the series. There is an episode about one or two before the actual finale that would have made a great ending to the show.

I’m now watching Becoming Elizabeth. They had dirty mouths back then. The number of times they use the F word is shocking.

However, it does show the drawback of believing that some people are better than others just because of birth.

Miss Scarlet to return without her Duke.

Would someone please post Breathtaking on Vimeo or Dailymotion? I'm afraid of Torrent.

Not Brit TV, But German...

Still, found this on PBS..."Sisi"

The Empress Elisabeth learns how to please Franz Josef from a prostitute.

Same prostitute becomes one of Sisi's ladies-in-waiting. She later goes down on the Empress.

Franz Josef is played by gay actor Jannik Schümann, who's very easy on the eyes.

And an alternative version on Netflix

R43, they're both good, but I was surprised that the one on PBS was steamier!

Is it the same show edited two different ways, or did PBS and Netflix do the same story? I couldn't quite tell.

Each did their own version.

"Vera" is back, with the world's oldest detective chief inspector. And her original sidekick (the extremely hot David Leon) has rejoined the series!

Matthew Beard was great in Avenue 5 (a small role) and also was one of the few good things about the horrific M. Spade -- but he always seems to play the same character, a very prissy young man. He's extremely thin and pale and feminine; he's probably a roaring hetero. Who can tell with the Brits?

10 Reasons Americans Love British TV

r46 thank you for the clarification!

I’m surprised Stuart Martin is leaving “Miss Scarlet and the Duke,” though his character emigrated to NY in the last ep, so I guess he told them he wasn’t coming back. But since the whole trajectory of the show was about their growing attraction it’s a pretty wrenching and contradictory turn of events, and I don’t imagine those remaining with the show can be happy about it.

Wonder why he left? Not making enough money? Hated being away from his family while shooting in Eastern Europe? Did he get an offer from a better series or for a movie?

R51 The comments I've seen on various TV sites all say "Why the fuck are they bothering with any more episodes if he's gone?"

The new "woke" Agatha Christie adaptation ("Murder Is Easy") is now on Britbox. Haven't watched it yet, but I loved the earlier Julia McKenzie "Marple" version with the inimitable Shirley Henderson as Honoria Waynflete (LOVE that name!) Oh -- and Benedict Cumberbatch was in it too.

Brits, what are the better TV productions that have debuted this year? I saw Bates vs the Post Office on Dailymotion, which was corny but interesting because I've never heard of the post offic ee scandal.

R53 here. Forgot to mention that Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley) and erstwhile "Shetlander"s Douglas Henshall and Mark Bonnar are also in it.

R54, have you heard of The Sixth Commandment? It’s based on a true story of a sadistic psycho who preyed on the elderly (mainly an older, closeted schoolmaster and his elderly spinster neighbour).

It’s horrifying but incredibly touching too. The writer and actors do a great job at restoring dignity to the victims, who the press had presented in a really salacious way

I suspect it may end up on Britbox, and I’m sure it will win awards.

[quote] Forgot to mention that Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley) and erstwhile "Shetlander"s Douglas Henshall and Mark Bonnar are also in it.

What is ole Penelope NOT in? The bitch is EVERYWHERE!

Any fans of "Nighty-Night? Deranged hair salon owner dumps her husband after he's diagnosed with terminal cancer, joins a dating agency, and starts obsessively stalking her married neighbo(u)r.

I rewatched S1 recently r58 - crying with laughter.

Julia Davis is the weirdest actress ever. Every character she plays is over the top quirky.

Sixth Amendment is on Britbox. Thanks. Just added it to the list.

It's not on MY BritBox. How'd you get it on yours?

I dunno but it's there. Copied and pasted:

The Sixth Commandment A meeting between a teacher and a student sets the stage for a complex criminal case.

Year: 2023 · Season 1

Thanks, R63. Something is different, or weird.

I'm in the USA. Are you here or there?

Other possible difference - I have BritBox thru Amazon Prime. Do you sign in directly to BritBox?

If I do an internet search on what you pasted above, it comes up as BritBox. If I search Prime or BritBox thru Prime - nada.

I'm thinking that getting BritBox thru Amazon has limitations, or fewer, or different choices.

Anybody else notice such differences?

R64 I see it at Prime with a Britbox link.

Not sure DL takes Amazon links.

Thanks, R65. If I click on your link, it comes up and I can watch.

Something is screwed up on my search. I swear I put it in correctly and got nothing. I checked and rechecked. It's not happened before that I know of.

So, thanks much for the link.

Oh, for god's sake. What an idiot. I've been searching for The Sixth Amendment. Over and over. Checking my spelling and rechecking. And I do get a Sixth Amendment, just not the picture and date I thought I'd get, just not the Sixth COMMANDMENT.

This age thing and losing one's mind is tough to take.

Thanks for all the help, and your patience.

[quote]This age thing and losing one's mind

You said you loved me!

[quote] Any fans of "Nighty-Night?

I watched that years ago, I believe it was on Oprah's Oxygen network then. Season two was a let down but season one was absolutely wicked. Her character was a hilarious sociopath.

Late last year I finally got to watch the UK original versions of Life on Mars with John Sims and its followup Ashes to Ashes. Through-out the series it puzzled me how a UK detective inspector was getting away with the Dirty Harry attitude and tactics. Wonderful twist ending I did not see coming.

Okay, I *cackled* at R68. WW for you, Mary.

Was Season 8 of Shetland with the new replacement any good?

Per BBC and ITV the modern UK police force is 80% black, gay, or female

Two Irish productions:

Kin about a family of venal drug dealers - gripping.

Blue Lights - rookie cops but done well.

[quote]Was Season 8 of Shetland with the new replacement any good?

It was OK, but Henshall was definitely missed. Ashley Jensen (Agatha Raisin, Ugly Betty) brings an entirely different vibe.

[quote]The new "woke" Agatha Christie adaptation ("Murder Is Easy") is now on Britbox. Haven't watched it yet, but I loved the earlier Julia McKenzie "Marple" version with the inimitable Shirley Henderson as Honoria Waynflete (LOVE that name!) Oh -- and Benedict Cumberbatch was in it too.

I just finished watching the new one and re-watching the old one. What a difference! Miss Marple is non-existent in the new version, and the story is 80% different from the first one. Many character names are retained, but that's about it.

I liked the old one better, but I read the book so long ago that I couldn't say which one was more faithful to Christie.

Oh -- forgot to mention that the old version also had Jemma Redgrave and DL fave Russell Tovey, as well as a very young, short-haired James Lance ("Trent Crimm-Independent" from Ted Lasso.)

Yes, the new re-jiggered “Shetland” is good, worth watching and the series is worth continuing.

Thought the new “ Murder Is Easy” was terrible. They couldn’t find the right tone for it, it was too broad and jokey, costume colors too bright and stylized. The exorbitant body count before the murderer was revealed makes the 3-5 murders an episode of “Midsomer Murders” look austere — it became ludicrous (was the novel like that?)

David Jonsson, the black actor in the lead, was very cute and charming, but the contortions required to explain how a Nigerian immigrant winds up in a sleepy English country town in 1954 took up too much running time and was never convincing. And as if that wasn’t enough, a gratuitous scene has his Nigerian friends accusing him of being an imperialist lackey, which he comes to believe himself by the end. But why? What does any of that have to do with the delicious escapism of a well-constructed Christie mystery? How does it make her more modern or relevant? Christie’s books are still in print and are read all over the world in many languages. Why worry about making her au courant?

Murder is Easy just might be the single worst tv show I've ever seen. Nothing makes sense. The plot is filled with holes and circuitous turns that lead nowhere. The acting is atrocious; the lead, David Jonsson, seems to have been told to smirk his way through the entire program. The others don't even bother. The direction feels as though some grade school kid is trying his best but doesn't understand what "direction" means. And the script is so poorly written it's as though someone translated it from the original sanskrit. Just an abomination from start to finish.

[quote] Christie’s books are still in print and are read all over the world in many languages.

Yes but they're being rewritten to become politically correct, so why not let a Mau Mau be a 50s rural British squire or whatnot

(also Poirot)

Just saw the first episode of Regime on Max, which is a mostly British production and directed by Stephen Frears. It's good.

No thread for "Regime" here yet, surprisingly.

Here is a starter from the New York Post.

The New York Post

THE NEW YORK POST

[quote]Blue Lights - rookie cops but done well.

Aargh, Blue Lights drove me crazy. The character of the older female rookie/ex-social worker was so obnoxious and overdone. She [italic]always[/italic] knew what was best and was [italic]always[/italic] breaking protocol and not following orders. The problem with the show was that it so obviously sided with her and there were never any consequences for her ill-advised actions.

I don't recall the specifics, but I remember once thinking that she could've gotten her senior partner killed by not following his orders during one of her "interventions". But because she didn't, he's perfectly fine with it all. Had I been him, I would've refused to work with her again.

I quite liked “Criminal Record” with Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi. It could have been two episodes shorter but that’s true of almost everything these days. But it was good, and I love her. It’s on Apple+ in the U.S.

Was there much talk about it in the UK? Does anyone know if it’s been renewed? Apple does a lot of good series that mostly seem to fly under the radar.

I enjoyed Criminal Record, too, R83, especially Peter Capaldi's icy-cold performance. Agreed, it could have been two episodes shorter. (Cush Jumbo's character didn't need to have a family, for instance, especially as they largely disappeared halfway through. Also, why hire Zoe Wanamaker and then give her virtually nothing to do?) If they do a second season, I'm guessing it will be largely the first season warmed over, unless they write it for two different lead actors/characters.) And I've read that AppleTV isn't hugely popular in the UK, so CRecord probably did go under the radar there.

Okay,, know it's Radio and not TV, but how do I listen to this in the USA?

Can you imagine listening to them? Together?

I'd pay big bucks...

Love them both, r85!

R85, Conversations from a Long Marriage is a joy. It’s on the BBC website here in the UK, but available for purchase on Audible too. Maybe it’s available on Audible in your country too?

As the youngins' would say, OMG!

I think I've got it. Just did a search on the internet and there it was! Haven't listened to an entire episode so I'm hoping it's not just a tease, or only parts of an episode.

Thanks, all!

R88, if you enjoy radio drama/comedy, do try North by Northamptonshire too, which has quite a stellar cast of UK luminaries.

The most sophisticated cooking show offered by the BBC

Posh Nosh.

R90, if you like Posh Nosh, you might also like this…

I’m listening to Conversations right now on the link at r88. (Full episodes) It’s great! Thanks for the tip.

Roger Allam was in a mystery series set in the south of France…it was pretty good but not as good as it should’ve been. Looked like they did the production on the cheap, a pity because the cast was very good and it had great potential.

I did see The Sixth Commandment several months back and thought it was excellent. Sorry I referred to it as The Sixth Amendment .

AHA! AHA!

You're the reason I thought I was nuts, because when searching for 'The Sixth Amendment' over and over, I got crazed and upset because I wasn't coming up with ' The Sixth Commandment.'

Of course, if I was paying attention to the words, I might have figured it out sooner.

Thanks for the laugh!

r92 That was "Murder in Provence" with Nancy Carroll (Lady Felicia from "Father Brown.") Has it been cancelled?

Yes that’s the show. Looks like it was only the one season in 2022.

Christ, I just finished Monsieur Spade. I was very lukewarm about it until the final episode where Alfre Woodard shows up and turns the show into an Agatha Christie whodunit. Poor Clive needs to find better producers and writers.

Yeah, sadly that was a dud. Should have been better.

For anyone with Acorn, the medical limited drama series "This Is Going to Hurt" with Ben Whishaw launches there Monday (3/18) after being behind a paywall on Prime for a long time. I've heard great -- albeit grim -- things about it.

I can't believe Nighty Night isn't a huge fave with DLers. It's endlessly quotable. Jill is an outrageous character.

I wish they had done a second season of “This is Going to Hurt.”

Call the Midwife finally starts its new season on PBS tonight.

[quote]Call the Midwife finally starts its new season on PBS tonight.

And it’s a crap season.

There is a season 13 thread where you can post your thoughts.

I haven't read it because I didn't want to be spoiled.

Disclaimer: No actual babies were harmed in the filming of Call the Midwife.

The Brits are so nice to give a phone number if you’ve been disturbed by anything portrayed in the show.

Unfortunately, they don’t give a number for overacting, boring plots or general miscasting.

It’s a few years old how, but have any of you seen The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries?

It’s about one of the most disgraceful episodes in British newspaper history (yes, I know there have been many) & is deeply upsetting to watch. Although has a highly satisfying ending.

Not sure where it’s streaming, but please track it down if you can.

I’ve never heard of it. I checked, it doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere.

The ONLY reasons I still watch Call The Midwife are for Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane and Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins. Those two actresses can spin Midwife's repetitive dross into gold. (And maybe someday Ollie Rix will take his shirt off.)

Just a taste...

[quote]Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins.

This season they gave Miss Higgins a good storyline but it was only one episode.

The Turner drama dragged on endlessly. If his wife wasn’t a producer, the Turners would be turfed out.

Still waiting for little Timmy Turner to be caught with his pants down in the Gents at Stepney Tube Station.

Then they'd have to rename the show Call the Magistrate, R111. (And I would watch that show.)

Nolly is swell.

Not thoroughly sold on Alice and Jack. I know the big spoilers so that may be why. Have just started "This is going to hurt,"

[quote]Not thoroughly sold on Alice and Jack.

I just watched the first episode of this. Does it get any better?

I asked this question on the Call the Midwife thread, but I think it got buried so I’ll ask it here.

On Call the Midwife, Season 13 takes place in 1969. The midwives and some of the residents are still having to run to the corner to make a phone call from the phone box. I was a kid in the US in 1969. Everyone we knew had a phone in their home (some had party lines to lower the cost, but everyone had a phone). Was there still that much economic disparity between the US and the UK as late as 1969?

I'm well into This Is Going To Hurt (streaming now) on Acorn, and if PBS had shown it instead of Call The Midwife all the US fraus would have fainted dead away. Never mind the casual swearing, so far I've seen two caesarians in which the woman's abdomen was brusquely peeled open like you'd rip the peel off a tangerine (the sounds are fairly similar, too). Fortunately, neither was shot in close-up, but, yeah, you really get the idea. *Excellent* show, though, and it's not a good look for the NHS. (There are gays for those that like to have them on TV. Also -- Harriet Walter!)

Sorry to derail your telephone question, R116.

[quote]I just watched the first episode of this. Does it get any better?

No, it's sheer misery. I am a fan of Domnhall Gleeson but his last three TV projects : Frank of Ireland, Run and now this are awful.

I binge watched Alice & Jack. What a slog! It’s one of those series that should have been done in four episodes but they stretch it out to six.

The main problem is the writing. These characters are boring. Andrea Risborough has a difficult job because there’s nothing likeable about her character.

If you were thinking of watching it, give it a miss.

I just binge watched The Diplomat. Not the recent Keri Russell one; the one set in Barcelona. Nobody famous but lots of nice scenery. It’s a solid B, one overarching plot and the case of the week for the British Consul to sort out with DBN = Distressed British Nationals.

I just went back and watched "I hate Suzie Too," which is stunning in its rawness and its character's dysfunction. Very painful to watch but I respect Piper and her collaborator, a writer for "Succession." I wish the two would do more. Billie Piper has Mich Jagger's face, so all that camera time was uncomfortable.

Just finished Nolly. What a delight!

And the ending was handled perfectly.

[quote] Billie Piper has Mich Jagger's face, so all that camera time was uncomfortable.

You’d look like that too if you were married to Laurence Fox.

New season of the "Death in Paradise" spinoff "Beyond Paradise" just started on Britbox.

I watched “Scoop” about the BBC interviewing Prince Andrew about Jeffrey Epstein. What a dreary show. Don’t bother.

R116 Yes. I went to England in 1966. I was 15. My mother took me because she was joining some rich friends in London to see Billy Graham. I was shocked at how drab, depressing, and poor England was. Everyone had bad teeth. The BBC had 3 channels showing nothing but tours of cheese factories. Our first hotel was so grim, my mother moved us to a high-rise modern Sheraton. Carnaby Street was cool. There was no air conditioning, no ice, and lots of body odor. Most of the time I felt like I was in a black and white movie.

1966 England was still during the era of the Trades Union Council's stranglehold on Britain. Equality by the sharing of poverty.

R127 is a Thatcherite cunt.

R127 also starts gloom and doom election threads, trolls Israel-Gaza threads, and has a generally shitty posting history. Block the fucker and take a look yourself.

R123

They are no longer married. She apparently figured out his mental status before he went public with the ugly insanity.

(He completely ruined the memories of one of my favorite shows, " Lewis." Don't think I could watch it again. And I'm certainly no longer in lust with him.)

Someone on here loves James Purfoy. I’m watching Injustice right now, it’s pretty good.

Just a month ago I finished re-watching Lewis. It holds up quite nicely. There should be a new Hathaway series.with the clear thinking Inspector fighting the utter perversion of Oxford's common sense and freedom of thought..

There should have definitely been a follow-on series "Hathaway." And Hathaway could have finally come out as gay. That would have been a great twist to follow the characters of both Morse and Lewis.

Even Fox referred to his character as "Halfagay."

Ok, I finished “Injustice “ and there were plot holes you could drive a truck through. Unrealistic court scenes and then gaps in evidence and a dropped clue. Shoddy writing from Anthony Horowitz. Purfoy was good though.

I don't know if Northern Ireland counts as "British" for purposes of this discussion, but the second half of the current season of "Hope Street" just showed up on Britbox.

Really. surprising to hear that about the writing of Anthony Horowitz. He's usually so good and writes such tight and complex plots.

Hope Street was very good in its first season. But it quickly fell into soap opera territory. If there’s a soap opera meme, it’s in this show. The show needs less lesbian drama, less sleeping around, less who’s my real mother and more focus on police work.

On Netflix: the miniseries Baby Reindeer based on series creator/lead Richard Gadd's one-man play which details the true story of his stalking by a crazy woman. Very powerful.

Worse than the plot lines of 'Hope Street' is the filler; every scene is closed with reaction shots. Maybe that's the essence of a soap opera - which 'Hope Street' is, and not a good one - but they should be able to write enough action or dialogue to fill the time, not have to see every actor in every scene register a look of surprise or dismay or anger or consternation or worry and on and on. Long, static shots of faces to fill the time.

Plus, it has one of the most disagreeable characters I've ever watched on a British TV show - Concepta O'Hare.

My biggest complaint about "Hope Street" is the fact that they absolutely, 100% of the time, MUST show a still of "Interview Room #2" before every single interrogation scene.

They do vary that shot, I believe, with two different angles of "Interview Room #2".

So there's that.

Criminal Record on Apple looked great - Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi - but it was dull and plodding and overstretched to 8 episodes.

As a whodunnit it wasn't exciting, as a bent copper drama it wasn't exciting, and a topical race drama it wasn't very well done.

It made me want to watch Prime Suspect again, which starred Zoe Wanamaker in S1 and Capaldi in S3.

If you want "a bent copper drama" Line of Duty is what you want.

Anthony Horowitz who wrote and produced FOYLE'S WAR, the best Brit mystery series ever, has become a terrible hack. He would do well to produce less and take more time tom work out his plots.

Will W1A ever come back with more episodes? Hilarious show with a brilliant cast.

W1A was brilliant but I can't see the modern woke BBC again mocking itself so incisively. There was however the prequel series Twenty Twelve where the Hugh Bonneville character prepares London for the Olympics.

I don't see them making another season of W1A either, as much as I would *love* them to. First of all, good luck getting all those actors available at the same time again, and two, see R146 (although those writers mocking the modern woke BBC would be hilarious). All that said, both Twenty Twelve and W1A are endlessly rewatchable and never not funny (and I wish they were available on DVD in the States, yeah, yeah, I know, multi-region DVD player). Even the very thought of Siobhan makes me want to strangle her, so well done, Jessica Hynes.

Anyone else in the US watching Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office on Masterpiece. It's very nice, and I'm pretty sure I know exactly how it will end.

Monica Dolan has never been funnier than she was in W1A. “I’m not trying to be funny here…” Unfortunately, now she’s taking all the “dim wife” roles. Get up, Mo, you can do better.

Dolan is in Mr Bates vs. the Post Office, playing a dim postmistress with no computer skills. She cries a lot (at least as of episode 1). Every time I see her in anything all I can hear is "I'm not trying to be funny here..." in a Welsh accent.

Call me a softie but I'm finding Mr. Bates too painful to watch. The whole situation is genuinely upsetting, especially knowing it all really happened.

They seem to have cleaned her up a bit for "Mr. Bates," but Julie Hesmondhalgh will always be "World's Ugliest Rape Victim" from the last season of "Broadchurch."

WHET Russell Tovey?

Is there a season five of "Shakespeare & Hathaway?"

[quote]WHET Russell Tovey?

He was just in Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: The Swans” about Truman Capote.

[quote]Is there a season five of "Shakespeare & Hathaway?"

I think they stopped after Season 4. I haven’t heard any plans to continue the show.

[quote]They seem to have cleaned her up a bit for "Mr. Bates," but Julie Hesmondhalgh will always be "World's Ugliest Rape Victim" from the last season of "Broadchurch."

I think she was miscast in Broadchurch. I’ve liked her in other shows.

I 'd rather see Russell Tovey in a second season of that mystery series he was in with Francesca Annis, Stephen Rea and Imelda Staunton. Spacing on the title but it was so good.

^ Flesh and Blood ^

But wasn't that a short, self-contained series R155? It's been a while since I watched it, but I don't remember there being a need to continue the story.

[quote]Monica Dolan has never been funnier than she was in W1A. “I’m not trying to be funny here…” Unfortunately, now she’s taking all the “dim wife” roles. Get up, Mo, you can do better.

The Welsh media tried to do an OUTRAGE story about her accent. It was perfectly acceptable.

[quote]Dolan is in Mr Bates vs. the Post Office, playing a dim postmistress with no computer skills. She cries a lot (at least as of episode 1). Every time I see her in anything all I can hear is "I'm not trying to be funny here..." in a Welsh accent.

Dolan won a BAFTA playing Rose West, one of the most iconic British women of the last 30 years.

[quote] Dolan is in Mr Bates vs. the Post Office, playing a dim postmistress with no computer skills.

R149, the lack of computer skills of the postmistress is not the issue though, is it? Fujitsu’s lack of computer skills, and the Post Office’s dishonesty and lack of leadership destroyed the poor woman. It there is any justice, lawsuits will force both of them to make her the richest postie in all of Hampshire!

The post office corporate leadership has pretty much evaded punishment. The woman executive left that job, Charles rescinded her CBE or OBE or whatever she’d been awarded, she worked high up at NIH, was let go from that fairly recently, has resigned from a bunch of things she was involved in—sorry to be so vague, it’s all in Wikipedia.

What I don’t understand is, she took that position towards the end of the issue. She’d been head of the tech department for a few years before that but sub post offices had been having problems well before she was hired AFAICT. Why aren’t the guys who were there before her being questioned? This went on for 15 years!

IIRC the finale of FLESH AND BLOOD ended with Stephen Rea blinking his eyes and seemingly coming out of his near death coma. Russell Tovey posted on Insta last year that they were hopefully all waiting for Imelda Staunton to finish filming on THE CROWN and become a available to shoot S2. But perhaps there hasn't been enough demand for it.

What is Tom Bateman up to??

My question is why doesn’t the UK government step in and put an end to the post office issue? Issue an apology, wipe out prison records and make financial restitution to those harmed.

[quote] It there is any justice, lawsuits will force both of them to make her the richest postie in all of Hampshire!

Legally I’m not sure that can happen. She signed her registry saying everything balanced. I think Toby Jones’ character was fired because he refused to sign when things didn’t balance. That’s the key here, these people were under pressure and signed off each day that their money balanced.

Re the British Post Office scandal. It’s still ONGOING re trials and payments awarded. It’s a huge mess. Ie, one early award of £57 million, the trial was funded by a “litigation fund” because the subpostmasters couldn’t afford to hire lawyers themselves and the fund took most of the award as compensation. The subs got around £20,000 each.

In everything I’ve skimmed on wiki, Fujitsu which created Horizon, doesn’t seem to have been affected at all. They wrote the software, I don’t get it.

[quote]In everything I’ve skimmed on wiki, Fujitsu which created Horizon, doesn’t seem to have been affected at all. They wrote the software, I don’t get it.

Yes, why is the British government not filing a lawsuit against Fujitsu? Are they still using their products and afraid the company will retaliate?

Am going to start watching the British Post Office show this week, just saw that it's now on PBS here in the states.

This is the latest. Bates wants to use the same private prosecution mechanism that they used to prosecute the sub-postmasters.

Linky stinky, R166.

[quote] Yes, why is the British government not filing a lawsuit against Fujitsu? Are they still using their products and afraid the company will retaliate?

For fear of UK libel laws, I am entirely unable to answer that question.

On an entirely unrelated note, Michael Keegan, the former head of Fujitsu UK, who is the husband if the current Education Secretary, is leaving his job in the Cabinet Office (the heart of the UK government).

Every time they use his full name, I can't help thinking about the actor.

Master Bates

R165 I missed the first episode but was still able to watch it on the PBS app. In my area, the 2nd episode aired last Sunday. Final ep on this coming Sunday.

And the following Sunday they're airing the documentary about it (the Post Office problem, not the series.)

This is a good explained on Fujitsu.

Ugh, not on Twitter so can only read the first post. The Times article is paywalled.

R161 Studying acting at the Manchester School of Theatre. Class of '26.

r171 No, there are TWO more episodes (it's a four-part series.) 4/21 and 4/28. And then after the 4/28 episode, they'll air the documentary (repeated on 5/5.)

Ok. I could’ve sworn when the preview showed for next Sunday, that it said it was the finale.

Has Mrs Patmore appeared yet with Alan Bates? They keep showing her in previews.

Started watching Netflix Brit 2021 thriller series Behind Her Eyes because I'm in lust with Tom Bateman.

Kind of schlocky stylish fun but icily paced. Why must everything be a series now (this would clearly be far more suspenseful as a 2 hour film)?

Vera has been cancelled by ITV after 14 seasons.

Now THAT'S bad news.

R178 She showed up last night.

Someone is masturbating at the Post Office! This is an OUTRAGE!

Team Nolly

ooooh, just saw the preview for the next season of Grantchester and the new vicar looks dishy.

But it's really pushing belief - in a series that is already on the edge of reality - that just coincidentally has a THIRD vicar preternaturally skilled at crime and murder solving, and becomes another in a series of best friends with Geordie.

How about a reboot where we don't care about the newest self-indulgent and immature vicar and the show revolves around Leonard Finch?

[quote]the show revolves around Leonard Finch?

I’ve said before that they should do a spinoff of Leonard. Since he’s been defrocked, he can move to London and fast forward the time to the 1960s.

Get rid of Geordie and the Vicar and build the show around the rest of the characters like Leonard, Daniel, Miss Scott, Larry Peters, the Chapmans, and a newly single Cathy Keating.

They are so much more interesting than the two navel gazers.

Maybe as a plus, Geordie and Will can run off together. Geordie's definitely game for that; he just doesn't know yet that's what he wants. Sidney was gay as a goose. Why do you think he drank as much as he did and was so morose with his jazz music? And then had to run away?

That bitch Katherine Kelly played in Mr. Bates vs the Post Office has been testifying yesterday and today. It's juicy. Live BBC commentary at link.

[quote]Sidney was gay as a goose. Why do you think he drank as much as he did and was so morose with his jazz music? And then had to run away?

Probably the stupidest exit from a show ever written. I wonder what everyone was smoking when they came up with that idea?

It’s insane that the Post Office/Horizon/Fujitsu crime has been going on for 24 years.

[quote]It’s insane that the Post Office/Horizon/Fujitsu crime has been going on for 24 years.

And that it took a tv show to turn up the heat for the government to take it more seriously.

re: Midsomer Murders - We seem to be stalled at season 24/episode 4 here in the States. Are there subsequent new episodes in the can?

A day without Midsomer is like a day without Datalounge.

[quote] will always be "World's Ugliest Rape Victim" from the last season of "Broadchurch."

FFS, what century are you typing from? As if rapists only attack models, instead of anyone from infancy to 90+ years old.

And her homeliness was acknowledged by the friend whose hot husband Trish had an affair with, if that makes you feel better.

[quote]We seem to be stalled at season 24/episode 4 here in the States. Are there subsequent new episodes in the can?

Season 24, ep 4 was the last one broadcast. It would be nice if they ended with Season 25. The show has gotten stale and the diversity casting is getting silly. The UK must lead the world in mixed marriages.

[quote] the diversity casting is getting silly. The UK must lead the world in mixed marriages.

Oh, Brian True-May, will you never get over it?

S24E4 of Midsomer just popped up this week on Acorn. There was a LONG gap between E3 and E4.

Holy shit, Hulu is going to show The Contestant, the British-made documentary about a 1998 Japanese reality show. I remember hearing about this show from some Japanese travelers when it aired. It sounded unbelievably cruel, a guy was locked in a small apartment, with absolutely nothing except magazines, no contact with the outside world, and he had to enter contests (mail-in not online!) and win what he needed to survive, including food and clothes. Reality shows were new back then and he had no idea what he was in for. IIRC, he knew he was being filmed but he didn’t know that his struggle was being aired for laughs on a weekly program while he was voluntarily confined…for over a year.

SPOILER: He didn’t commit suicide like I was told back then. So, thank god for that.

Who else is thrilled to bits with the announcement that Netflix will soon be shooting Richard Osman's THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley? Perfect casting and we can only anticipate the casting of Joyce to complete the quartet. I vote for Imelda Staunton!

I'm so happy this book is being done as a film and not a dragged out series though, of course, eventually the book's sequels will make a series of 4 films (or more as Osman keeps writing sequels).

Helen Mirren is so perfect for Elizabeth he must have had her in mind when he wrote the novels. Imelda Staunton is far too vulgar for Joyce.

Is Dame Judi too old to play Joyce?

Please, not dreary Penelope Wilton!

I'd be happy to settle for Imelda.

Tried to watch E1 of S3 GUILT tonight on PBS but it was utterly incomprehensible. Reminding me that S2 was also incomprehensible as well as the end of S1. But I do love me some Mark Bonnar.

Yeah the third series of Guilt was very confusing.

I watched Call The Midwife for the first time in a couple years. I’d heard they were writing out rich guy but no one has said why. They’re doing a terrible job of it though. I was distracted by Trixie’s eyebrows.

You know, Maggie Smith could be a wonderful Joyce.

Went to start Mr Bates but the PBS app already took away the first episodes. Alas.

I missed last night’s final episode, it better be up there.

Season 1 of GUILT was wonderful.

Season 2 was extremely bad.

Season 3 is unwatchable

Put down whatever you’re doing and see if you can find Apple TV’s “Still Up.” It’s about two insomniac friends. It’s good.

Denise Welch is still drinking.

R144, I have a cold and am rewatching Foyle’s War. I’d forgotten Rosamund Pike was in the first episode. Brilliant show and, as the dl dubbed him, the dishy Michael Kitchen.

Kitchen also played the King of England ( representing Charles ) in the UK House of Cards.

Another fan of 'Foyle's War'. Possibly the greatest TV series I've ever experienced.

It also had the dishy Anthony Howell as Paul Milner. I would pay big money...

I don't understand why Howell wasn't/isn't bigger. He does do a lot of voice work. Maybe he concentrated on theater.

And Honeysuckle Weeks and Julian Ovenden!! What a great series it was. I recently spent a winter watching all the seasons in order and it did not disappoint.

The second series of The Responder has dropped on iplayer today.

[quote]The second series of The Responder has dropped on iplayer today.

I didn’t like Season 1. Martin Freeman seems miscast. But I’ll probably start Season 2.

I love the “Thursday Murder Club” books and am delighted by the casting of Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley.

But Pierce Brosnan is all wrong as Ron, the muscle-y, loud-mouthed union agitator. Brosnan is too posh, too tall and not thick enough to be a good Ron. I get that he’s a name and the right age but they are completely changing the character to suit him.

Changing topics, I’m just catching up with season 2 of “Vigil,” which is terrific. I had loved season 1, which took place on a submarine and was full of well know actors, but had no idea there was a season 2. The leads are playing a gay female couple and there is a subplot about a closeted gay male couple (both very handsome). Hoping there’s a season 3, but it’s on Peacock so no one knows it exists.

r217, I agree about Pierce as Ron but that character has always been the least interesting of the quartet so I don't expect his (mis)casting will ruin the film for me. Kingsley and Mirren are just so perfect. I do wonder why the casting of Joyce is taking so long. Guessing they've offered to a dame or two who may have turned them down.

Please just not Penelope Wilton is so deadly dull. I'd love to see Anne Reid play her. Imagining the combo of Mirren and Reid, such different types, on those characters' outings is just too delicious.

I also can't wait for the news on the casting of Bogdan and the two cops - spacing on their names (the older white guy and the younger black woman).

Season finale of "Midwife" on PBS tonight.

Someone please put Midwife out of its misery.

R218 — Chris and Donna.

[quote]Everything We Know So Far About Call the Midwife Season 14

Another vote for Still Up. I found this months ago and haven't been able to find anyone to talk to about it. I just loved it, and although in general it sneaks up on you quietly, I found something to laugh out loud about in every episode. My only issue was that the season ends quite suddenly. I do hope they bring it back.

It was also a great relief to see a British comedy about young people who weren't spending their entire lives binge drinking and then destroying all their jobs and relationships.

[quote]Another vote for Still Up. I found this months ago and haven't been able to find anyone to talk to about it. I just loved it, and although in general it sneaks up on you quietly, I found something to laugh out loud about in every episode.

I love that first episode where she’s wandering around the drug store. It’s so funny.

I'll finish the current season of Call The Midwife, but I just can't with that show any longer. I would have given it up long ago, but I love Nurse Crane and Miss Higgins. Give them their own show, and I'll watch it. (Is Vanessa Redgrave still doing the opening/closing voiceovers? It doesn't quite sound like her now.)

r225 No spoilers, wait until you see what happens to Miss Higgins in the season finale!

Blue Lights Season 2 - they’ve hired some dishy actors. Yum!

[quote]Put down whatever you’re doing and see if you can find Apple TV’s “Still Up.” It’s about two insomniac friends. It’s good.

I loved it. It's a very breezy series. The actor with the eyes like a lemur who plays the male neighbor pops up in a few episodes of Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West's "Big Mood".

I just finished the two seasons of The Tower. It's the first one I've seen since Line of Duty that reminded me somewhat of it, but it's shorter. The same interest in the moral choices involved in being a cop. The lead character is profoundly humorless and is played that way, but apart from that, all thumbs up.

A slightly older British one (not on Britbox) that I thought was beautifully done is The Long Shadow. It says it's about the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, and it is, but it's not a procedural, it's a savage condemnation of "toxic male" policing, made more savage because it's true. If you liked Unbelievable (the US one with Toni Colette), this speaks to the same concerns.

"The Long Shadow" is available on Amazon Prime. You can buy it by episode or by season.

The Long Shadow was great. It reminded me of Five Daughters about the Ipswich killings in the 2006.

The final series of The Outlaws is now available. Parts of it dragged but Eleanor Tomlinson was a hoot as Lady Gabby and they gave Jessica Gunning a lot more to work with. I wouldn't be surprised to see her nominated twice at the BAFTAs next year with this and Baby Reindeer. Harry Trevaldwyn from 10% was a great addition.

Has anyone watched "Here We Go"? It's a sitcom somewhat reminiscent of "Modern Family," but the premise is that the son is videotaping all of the action. The only actors I'm familiar with are Alison Steadman (from lots of things), and the actresses who played Pauline from "Doc Martin" and one of the female cops from "London Kills."

The final episode of Inside No 9 aired last night and was typically fantastic and is a great stand alone episode which fans of British tv will enjoy.

The most recent series was hit and miss. The doorbell camera episode was quite something. Dorothy Atkinson on top form.

Thanks for the "Sixth Commandment" recommendations. I just finished the first two eps on Britbox ... outstanding so far. And as someone upthread predicted, it did win a couple of BAFTAs (Spall and the series itself.)

Season 2 of DI Ray sucks big time!

I just watched the first episode Sunday night and I can’t remember anything except as I recall, after doing so well on her case in the first season, she was more or less sent back to traffic cop at the end of the last episode. But now she’s back.

I watched the whole second season the other night and R235 is right. It doesn't get any better, and the theme that Ray always gets screwed by the powers-that-be seems contrived. Another theme is that hot guys are attracted to her, even though she's sort of sour, middle-aged and off putting. This has to be the final season.

I didn't see the first season of "DI Ray," but I watched the first ep of the new season because it was on after "Grantchester." (Grantchester and Professor T both started their new seasons on PBS last Sunday.) I don't think there's any way to watch S1 withouth PBS Passport. Maybe it'll show up on Prime someday.

[quote]It doesn't get any better, and the theme that Ray always gets screwed by the powers-that-be seems contrived.

The writing is so sloppy. On one hand, she complains that she doesn’t have enough staff. But then she busies herself with trying to get back at upper level managers. 🙄

I quit half-way through Season 1 of DI Ray. Bollocks.

Is there a reason why Christopher Walken is in The Outlaws? Did Stephen Merchant specifically want Walken?

Why would one not want Christopher Walken?

Anyway, saw the trailer. Looks really good, like Misfits without the super powers. They had trouble getting rid of bodies too.

Outlaws really is one of the best British shows over the last few years. I love that it's set and filmed in Bristol. There isn't a bad performance from any of the actors.

Without giving away any spoilers, Merchant has managed to make a "woke" show, one that ticks all the boxes with representation, yet it isn't forced and he still manages to find humour in race, sexuality and class without it being cruel. And the way it shows the impact of the drugs trade is more powerful than a lot of kitchen sink dramas.

I've started watching Inside No 9 from the beginning.

Series 1 episode 1: what a fucking cast. Pemberton and Shearsmith joined by Timothy West, Anne Reid, Katherine Parkinson, Luke Pasqualino, Tim Key, Ophelia Lovibond, Shirley Ghostman, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anna Chancellor and Ben Willbond from Ghosts.

The third season of The Outlaws is a bit of a letdown. The premise gets a bit tired and the addition of the ugly gay guy was unnecessary. Was his only purpose on the show to seduce the IT guy?

Jessica Gunning is excellent, but deserves award nomination for Baby Reindeer.

But the awards should not overlook Clare Perkins, who plays the activist, because she is hilarious in all three seasons and Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays the Instagram girl, because she has the most character development in the show.

Best Supporting Actress for tv awards is going to be a crowded field this year.

Finally finished watching The New Look. Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche as Dior and Chanel inhabited their roles.. It’s incredible to me that he is Australian in real life, I thought he was French. Binoche was born to play Chanel. They both deserve Emmys.

The story was too ambitious and Chanel’s half—the Nazi collaboration and her partner struggles—dominated. Dior’s was interior except for the big focus on his sister and it was only near the end we learn he had two brothers as well. We never learn why the New Look was so different, so shocking that people were outraged.

I wish the guy raped me.

So I'm on to the second series of Inside Number 9.

I'd forgotten how good the Sheridan Smith episode and who is that playing an anal sexual enthusiast in the Julie Hesmondhalgh episode? Why it's none other than Jessica Gunning!

I watched some of the first episode of The Outlaws but I couldn’t get into it. I’ll try again in a bit.

I'm almost finished with the first season of The Outlaws and want to thank whoever recommended it above. Best Show Ever? Nah, but it's fun (until it's not), and the cast is a good mix of unknown (to me) and known actors (I kept wondering who would play Lady Gabby's father and then laughed out loud when he showed up). A solid B+ show.

I saw this on British TV yesterday evening.

Douglas Is Cancelled started tonight. Written by Steven Moffat it had an appalling write up in The Guardian from the journalist who wrote an article about the best Christmas movies and put the film about trans sex workers of colour in at number 2.

Has anyone watched Grantchester on PBS? PBS has a habit of censoring or deleting certain things and if they're going to blur Geordie's ass or "whiteout" swear words, I'm not going to invest my time in it.

On "Call the Midwife," PBS deletes entire scenes -- nor for censorship, but so they have more time for their annoying ads or requests for money.

Mrs Brown’s Boys

Corny, but mindless fun entertainment

[quote]On "Call the Midwife," PBS deletes entire scenes -- nor for censorship, but so they have more time for their annoying ads or requests for money.

They had to admit it when they cut a chunk of Downton Abbey and left audience members extremely confused. They also admitted that they show Downton Abbey in January because nobody watches PBS in January, because that's when they do their pledge drives. It was annoying because the Brits saw DA in October and the media was discussing plot points that the US hadn't seen (because PBS held the show until January so they could run their pledge drives).

They also cut bits because they don't want to run overtime. Some British shows will run 65 or 70 minutes and PBS will just snip a few minutes so they don't have to fill 50 minutes of air time after the show.

I'm pretty sure Geordie's backside has never been shown (much less blurred) on Grantchester, R253, nor have there been any curse words to bleep. (There was a scene when James Norton was still the Sad Vicar in which he and Geordie went swimming in a river, but bathing costumes remained on, sadly). I canNOT believe I still watch Grantchester because it went straight down the loo after Norton left, but I'm almost looking forward to how many knots the show will tie itself up in to bring in the new South Asian vicar. How I would laugh if he was all, Why is this detective always barging in asking me to look at corpses? I have a sermon to write and some sick seniors to visit. I have to, you know, do my job.

I just saw a promo for the THIRD season of Hotel Portofino. How? Why? It's awful and hammily acted and badly plotted (but, yes, the scenery is gorgeous and so is Oliver Dench's bum). I can't believe it keeps getting renewed. I gladly gave it up after the first season (OK, I watched the first episode of season 2 just to be sure I was right).

[quote]I'm pretty sure Geordie's backside has never been shown (much less blurred) on Grantchester

In Season 1 or 2, Geordie had an affair with his then secretary. They showed him on top of her grinding away. I’m not sure if they actually showed his buttocks (I can pull the episode out and look) but they did show his lower back just before the buttocks and yes PBS did blur it.

At least the world had a chance to see Robson Green's ass many years ago in "Being Human".

I watched all four episodes of Steven Moffat's "Douglas is Cancelled" starring Hugh Bonneville, Karen Gillan, Alex Kingston and Ben Miles.

Bonneville is fantastic and while it's entertaining, the mini is as deep as a puddle with how it approaches cancel culture.

[quote]At least the world had a chance to see Robson Green's ass many years ago in "Being Human".

Robson has shown his ass several times. I’ve seen it in “Touching Evil” “Reckless” and his travel show when he strips nude on the beach and runs into the ocean.

[quote]I’ve seen it in “Touching Evil”

No, maybe it was Wire in the Blood.

First episode of new season of "Grace" on Britbox.

How’s the show, R262? I’m looking for a new show on BritBox, I just finished Blue Lights.

Just saw Jason Hughes (Midsomer Murders) in a 2024 episode of 'McDonald & Dodds.'

Jason is aging very nicely. In the episode he was a little scruffier than this photo, which only added to the appeal.

Jason Hughes always struck me as sexy. But then I have a peculiar fetish for men with green eyes.

Anthony Head is another who is aging nicely. Here he is when he was 66.

Please refer to Jason Hughes by his proper name, Warren from This Life.

And please refer to Mark Lewis Jones by his proper name, Warren from This Life's brother.

Not a new show, but how come nobody here told me about "The Thick of It", which was, apparently, the template for "Veep" (it's by Armando Iannucci.)? Peter Capaldi is hysterical as the government fixer who dispenses super cunty insults and character assassinations without stopping to draw breath..

It's so old nobody thought about it, R268, but it was very highly esteemed in its day and undoubtedly stands up well.

New episodes of "Silent Witness" (Season 27, Mariska!) are on Britbox.

The Thick of It will always be esteemed for this line of dialogue, “Fuckittety Bye”.

They expanded the show into a movie or maybe it was just a 2 hr episode, set in DC.

R268 here. Having read good things about "The Hour" in NYT a couple of weeks ago, I watched it on Acorn. Another older show, over 10 years old, and obviously a Brit attempt to do something like "Mad Men", with high production values and a pretty solid cast (Ben Whishaw, Dominic West, Romola Garai, Anna Chancellor, and Peter Capaldi in S2) It was not bad but kind of left me cold in the end. It has all these good things going for it but somehow felt underdone and made London of 1956-57 feel kind of claustrophobic.

Just curious to see if anyone else watched it and what they thought of it.

I watched the first episode. It had a great cast but I couldn’t get interested in the story. It reminded me of “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip”. Too self-important.

While we're on old ones, I'm watching for the first time Last Tango in Halifax. It is entirely written by the author of Happy Valley, Sally Wainwright. Sarah Lancaster, who starred in HV is one of the leads in this, sporting a posh accent. Nicola Walker is the other daughter and Derek Jacobi is her father. I've just started Season 2 and it is as well written as Happy Valley, but no murdering (a relief on Britbox). It is set in Halifax UK, not Canada.

[quote]Sarah Lancaster

Lancashire.

Didn’t realize it until just now but there’s a new season of Troppo up on FreeVee. Not British, Australian and stars Thomas Jane who looks much better this season. I think it’s set in Queensland, there’s certainly enough scary looking fauna. Beautiful scenery though.

Any news on when S5 of "The Bay" is coming?

The Great British Sewing Bee is a delight

I finished Series 4 of Inside Number 9.

There were two incredibly ambitious episode which didn't really work for me but I still appreciated the effort.

But there were two absolutely stand out episodes - "To Have and to Hold" with the omnipresent Nicola Walker was ridiculously good and "Once Removed" with Monica Dolan and Emilia Fox. Truly brilliant totally original 30 minute dramas.

Just binge-watched a show on Roku—Red Election (terrible name) A Nordic-British co-production has MI5 trying to figure out if/when/how a Russian terrorist action will happen. Lots of twists. Stephen Dillane stars. I never pay attention to how many episodes or how long they run, the next one just starts automatically, y’know? So after a while I thought, we’ll they’re going to wrap this up soon but no, it kept on going, more plot twists. Finally the big bad thing happened (after so many false endings) and okay, now they’ve got to wrap it up. It was episode 10 (I finally checked), nice even number. A lot to do but whatever. Nope. They ended it in the middle of a scene, nothing resolved. It was made in 2021. No second season.

[quote]They ended it in the middle of a scene, nothing resolved. It was made in 2021. No second season.

Brit tv can be like that. A really excellent show, like Home Fires, gets cancelled in mid story, and then some piece of crap goes on and on.

How much of British tv these days is being pitched to American tastes?

Midsomer Murder has been taken over by a streaming service with Americans seeing it before Brits.

Downton Abbey is pitched to American audiences, specifically those fraus who think they’re Jane Austen and like to pretend that afternoon tea is “high tea.”

And of course, PBS has become the Patricia Routledge and Judi Dench rerun channel.

One could do worse than a Patricia Routledge and Judi Dench rerun channel.

New episodes of "Silent Witness," "The Mallorca Files" and "Signora Volpe" are now available. And some new show "The Good Ship Murder," with a guy who apparently was a British reality talent show winner and went on to "Coronation Street." The storylines are kind of dumb, and it's very reminisecent of "Death in Paradise" and the aforementioned "Mallorca Files." But it's filmed on an actual cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Each episode features a different port of call (although I gather most of it gets filmed in Malta.) And due to the limited budge (presumably), they only feature a few crew members who all seem to multi-task in ways that would be unthinkable in real life.

[quote]I finished Series 4 of Inside Number 9. There were two incredibly ambitious episode which didn't really work for me but I still appreciated the effort.

Series 5 was really quite weak. Ambitious but not successful.

Saw the first episode of Inside #9 in which the humor is all bad slapstick and the biggest joke is killing a little dog and then stabbing it over and over to make sure it's dead.

Sometimes British comedy works, sometimes it really doesn't.

Sorry if this has been discussed earlier in the thread, but while watching someething on BritBox, when it ended, it started episode 1.1 of McDONALD & DODDS, A 90 minute-per-episode detective series set in picturesque Bath. About a mismatched pair of detectives, a young woman of color from London and her middle-aged, somewhere-on-the-spectrum sidekick who basically figures out all the cases.

It’s a bit like THE UNFORGOTTEN in that we meet a character or characters who are involved in a murder but we don’t learn how or why until the end. Episode 3 is like an ‘80s flashback with Patsy Kensit, Rupert Graves, Cathy Tyson and Martin Kemp speeding along a country road in a sports car.

It sounds very synthetic and manufactured and yet something about it clicks and it’s a fun show to watch. The plots are good too, lat least so far.

R272,I did, and I really liked it! I'm a fan of Ben W. and Dominic West.

Because of Peter Firth, whom I adore in his older chubby self, I am re-watching "MI-5"/"Spooks." I don't really care for Keely Hawes or Nicola Walker, though. Matthew MacFadyen has grown on me, though I never would have predicted the massively successful career he's had (he is perfect in "Quiz," the true story of the original "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" cheating scandal).

For the early and best of Tom Hardy, Shaun Evans, and Brian Cox, watch the TV limited series "The Take." Pay close attention to the very very last scene.

For some excellent Luke Evans (criminal) and Jim Broadbent (copper), watch the 2-part "The Great Train Robbery" (true story). Also for the former, "The Pembrokeshire Murders" (copper) (true story); and for the latter, "King of Thieves" (criminal), with Michael Caine (the Hatton Gardens jewelry robbery).

For the funniest and most creatively vulgar take on British politics and media, it's "The Thick of It," with Peter Capaldi, Roger Allam, Tom Hollander, and an absolutely brilliant rest of the cast. Shakespeare has nothing on the insults here!

Because I'm a huge fan: Tom Hollander is also superb as "Rev.," an irreverent look at the newly-assigned Minister, a funny and heartwarming mix of the sacred and the mundane.

Of course, required viewing are Helen Mirren in "Prime Suspect, " Brenda Blethen as "Vera," and Ben Miller as "Professor T." (with the stellar Frances de la Tour as his mother).

I'll take a break now! Maybe by watching "The Night Manager"!

Just finished up series/season 2 of "Granite Harbour," about a Jamaican cop who transfers to Aberdeen. Second season was better than the first.

BBC's The Jetty with Jenna Coleman had moments of brilliance but ultimately a let down with a dreadful conclusion.

I didn't realise that the scenes with the 2 schoolgirls were actually flashbacks to 17 years ago when the missing girl went missing.

It reminded me of Top Of The Lake but was nowhere near the quality as Top Of The Lake.

[quote] Because of Peter Firth, whom I adore in his older chubby self, I am re-watching "MI-5"/"Spooks."

Yes!!

About to finish "Red Eye" (watched 5 eps out of 6) and, as I mentioned on a different thread, it's obviously something that was done to capitalize on the popularity of "Hijack" with Idris Elba. Richard Armitage is the lead, it's rather preposterous but kind of entertaining. It's mostly set on a flight from London to Beijing, where four people die in the first 3-4 hours of the flight, all kinds of shit go down in the cargo area, vibrations rock the plane, the pilot constantly paces through the plane as well as a cop and a (fake) air marshall, a guy is in handcuffs yet later walks around the plane and people have their dinner, drinks, watch in-flight entertainment, without anyone seriously asking what the fuck is going on until well into Ep 5. I mean, it's a highly watchable shitshow.

R292 the writer of Red Eye previously wrote Plane Thriller Flightplan with Jodie Foster as the enigmatic plane designer Kyle Pratt and Matt Bomer as flight attendant Eric Shone, not to be confused with Plane Thriller Non Stop with Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Lady Mary and Lupita N'yongo.

[quote]One could do worse than a Patricia Routledge and Judi Dench rerun channel.

Dame Dench's Behaving Badly is on Channel 4OD. And Talking Heads are on iPlayer. A Lady Of Letters remains a masterpiece.

A new series of lesbian cop show The Tower starts tonight.

Trying to watch KAOS but it is, indeed, trying. Script is working far too hard to be 2024 relevant, too much Jeff Goldblum being cutesy and, well, not enough cute men.

The Tower is good, I'll be watching it along Slow Horses. BTW, when is S5 of The Bay coming to Britbox? Also, looking forward to watching Martin Freeman at his hunkiest in S2 of The Responder.

I didn't watch the last episode of The Tower and can't be bothered watching it.

Nightsleeper had appalling reviews and I can't be bothered and Ludwig is getting good reviews.

Joan starring Sophie Turner has finally aired on tv. Not sure if it was on ITVX previously. She's so distracting to watch, looking like Elizabeth Debicki playing a Redgrave.

r297 S5 of "The Bay" is on Britbox.

"The Bay" delivered, as usual. Has anyone watched S2 of "Suspect" on Britbox? The first season was kind of underwhelming. And is James Nesbitt still in it, or was he only in S1?

I just saw that S2 of "Suspect" was available, and it shows that I've already watched all of S1 but for the life of me I cannot remember a single thing about it!

As for "The Bay," Marsha Thomason's (the lead actress) speaking voice is absolutely wonderful. So soothing and warm. I could listen to her speak for hours. I wonder if she's done any audiobooks.

I cannot be the only one who thinks Moonflower Murders (on PBS) is a slog. (Nice production values, though.) Can't Anthony Horowitz do a prequel to his far superior Foyle's War?

With the same three main actors? They’re what made it so good. Maybe a sequel set in the late 50s and find a way to fit Sam in.

BTW, PBS Masterpiece, depending on where you live, is showing reruns of 'Foyle's War' from the beginning. I've got four recorded already.

I watched it twice on Prime and once on Britbox - it's gone from both now. Acorn has it - I don't know how many series - but I don't subscribe.

I think I'll just buy the boxed set. I think it is perhaps the best series I have ever seen.

Maybe we could do a thread some day.

I too would love to see another series written by Horowitz, with the same actors. (Though lately Horowitz has lost his shine.) Michael Kitchen and Paul Milner would be indispensable. (Hubba Hubba both of them though they are two different types.) Sam wouldn't matter as much, to me.

They could reboot Foyle's War by making it about Foyle as a young man (see also: Endeavour). But that would necessarily mean recasting Michael Kitchen (who I believe has retired from acting).

He has? Oh that is a shame. I always looked forward to watching whatever he was in.

S3E1 of "Whitstable Pearl" just showed up today on Acorn.

What do we know about Masterpiece Mystery's next offering, "Marlow Murder Club"?

It looks very cosy. Right now I’m liking the Sunday PBS lineup of Ridley-Moonflower Murders-Van der Valk. All better than average with good casting and writing.

I saw a trailer on Disney+ for a show called Say Nothing about 2 sisters who were IRA members. Directed by the man behind Derry Girls it has that style and a Peaky Blinders vibe about. I googled the two women and sadly they didn't die a painful death like their victims.

^^ It's a based on an acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe published in 2018 if you want to read up ahead of time.

r308 Moonflower ended last Sunday.

As did Van de Valk. The Marlow Murder Club replaces one of them but I think it’s only two episodes.

Marlow looks like a pretty little town. The lead character lives in an incredible rambling pile on the river that is just filled with Chinese porcelain and screens. I want to see more of that.

The dishy Desi vicar from Grantchester showed up in S1E2 of "The Marlow Murder Club," which I gather has yet to be broadcast in the UK for some reason.

Why does the UK still have a magazine called "Radio Times"?

[quote]Why does the UK still have a magazine called "Radio Times"?

The same reason NYC has a venue called Radio City Music Hall?

BBC have released an update on the next Strike adaptation on next month.

Marlow Murder Club. After recent events I was in the mood for something cozy. I loved the lead character’s house. Beautiful setting. The mystery was adequate. What I disliked was the ending was just a lot of exposition and contained information we, the viewers did not know. Christie, upon which this was patterned, always gave the reader enough clues to figure it out.

R309, Say Nothing has just come on in Australia and it got five stars from all the reviewers in the print media.

Caught this pic in a UK newspaper - some British presenter named Chris Hollins - nice ass on the couch!

The only thing I liked about Marlow Murder Club was the lead character's house. The show couldn't decide if it wanted to be funny/cozy or a police procedural, and the resolution was just Strangers On a Train warmed over. And why hire Hot Desi Vicar from Grantchester and only give him three lines?

Unfortunately, R319, Dishy Desi Vicar was probably only there to check off a BBC box.

Season 4 of 'Hope Street' is out on Prime. Anyone watched it yet?

I'm wondering if I do, will I want to kill myself. Again. There's a part of me that wants to see JUST HOW BAD it can possibly get.

Prime Masochism.

We are finally getting Big Boys in the US! December 3 on Hulu.

Just watched S4E1 of "Hope Street." They keep losing major characters. I guess the actors bail when they realize how bad it is.

I only know Tara Lynne O'Neill from "Derry Girls." Don't they have fitness requirements for police in Northern Ireland?

I didn't even realize that was her, R323. I was too busy trying to figure out what the fuck was going on plot wise, and why.

The most we can hope for this season is for PC McCarthy (Niall Wright) to finally realize that he is gay. Gay Gay Gay.

He's so gorgeous.

Just watched S4, ep. 5, -- everyone else is gay (Marlene, the new Inspector's son, the two "victims"), so why not Callum? Surely having sex with the awful Nicole would send anyone running to play for our team.

Same with his thing with DC Jo Lipton. A relationship that would only come out of a shitty writer's pen.

No. Never mind. Nicole's worse.

"Say Nothing" on Disney is terrific, but there's nothing cosy about it. An account of the Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1972 to approximately the present day, it has some brilliant things to say about what heroism really is and what it costs.

It's not visually bloodthirsty, but it's a hard ride emotionally.

First two episodes (one story spread over two 45-minute shows) of S3 of "Dalgliesh" now on Acorn.

First two seasons are on Hoopla if your library is enrolled

R304: Acorn is streaming eight seasons of "Foyle's War."

While there, I'll be rewatching "Inspector George Gently" this winter.

Ep. 1 of the new season of "Shetland" is on Britbox now. Ashley Jensen from "Ugly Betty" and "Agatha Raisin" returns.

Also the new Christmas and New Year's editions of Great British Baking Show/Bake-Off are on Netflix. (From last year in the UK, but making their US debut now.)

R330 I love "Inspector George Gently".