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British TV chat, 2024

We haven't had a thread to talk broadly about British shows and/or the PBS or Britbox viewings of them in the US for a while.

Starting off with something that apparently happened a few months ago....the sexy guy that played Spiros on The Durrells has been ACCUSED! of sexual harassment/assault/rape. (He was serving as a rep in EU parliament.)

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by Anonymousreply 312October 31, 2024 4:53 AM

This looks interesting

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by Anonymousreply 1January 2, 2024 2:34 AM

NOT GUILTY

by Anonymousreply 2January 2, 2024 4:23 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 3January 2, 2024 4:30 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 4January 2, 2024 5:21 AM

is there anything else as funny as peep show?

by Anonymousreply 5January 2, 2024 5:23 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 6February 10, 2024 4:38 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 7February 10, 2024 4:41 PM

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

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

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by Anonymousreply 8February 10, 2024 4:53 PM

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.....

by Anonymousreply 9February 14, 2024 8:30 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 10February 14, 2024 8:32 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 11February 14, 2024 9:16 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 12February 14, 2024 9:21 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 13February 14, 2024 9:23 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 14February 14, 2024 9:40 PM

[quote] Has anyone watched Hotel Portofino?

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

by Anonymousreply 15February 14, 2024 9:43 PM

[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.

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by Anonymousreply 16February 14, 2024 9:54 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 17February 14, 2024 10:16 PM

I miss Sean Lock!!!

The Tiger who Came for A Pint

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by Anonymousreply 18February 14, 2024 11:11 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 19February 14, 2024 11:32 PM

That he is

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by Anonymousreply 20February 15, 2024 3:52 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 21February 15, 2024 3:59 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 22February 15, 2024 4:01 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 23February 15, 2024 2:19 PM

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?

by Anonymousreply 24February 15, 2024 2:25 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 25February 15, 2024 2:29 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 26February 15, 2024 2:39 PM

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

Dino

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by Anonymousreply 27February 15, 2024 2:42 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 28February 15, 2024 2:42 PM

R22 is this your Robert Webb?

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by Anonymousreply 29February 15, 2024 2:43 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 30February 15, 2024 2:45 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 31February 15, 2024 3:41 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 32February 16, 2024 1:44 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 33February 16, 2024 2:15 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 34February 16, 2024 4:32 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 35February 21, 2024 9:36 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 36February 21, 2024 9:41 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 37February 22, 2024 9:37 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 38February 22, 2024 9:42 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 39February 23, 2024 6:24 PM

Miss Scarlet to return without her Duke.

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by Anonymousreply 40February 29, 2024 4:19 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 41February 29, 2024 4:38 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 42February 29, 2024 5:32 PM

And an alternative version on Netflix

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by Anonymousreply 43February 29, 2024 5:40 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 44February 29, 2024 7:21 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 45February 29, 2024 7:48 PM

Each did their own version.

by Anonymousreply 46February 29, 2024 10:14 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 47March 1, 2024 12:10 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 48March 1, 2024 12:14 AM

10 Reasons Americans Love British TV

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by Anonymousreply 49March 3, 2024 12:54 AM

r46 thank you for the clarification!

by Anonymousreply 50March 3, 2024 1:01 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 51March 3, 2024 4:56 AM

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?"

by Anonymousreply 52March 3, 2024 2:29 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 53March 3, 2024 7:37 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 54March 3, 2024 10:29 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 55March 3, 2024 10:38 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 56March 3, 2024 11:03 PM

[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!

by Anonymousreply 57March 3, 2024 11:04 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 58March 3, 2024 11:44 PM

I rewatched S1 recently r58 - crying with laughter.

by Anonymousreply 59March 3, 2024 11:52 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 60March 4, 2024 12:12 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 61March 4, 2024 12:14 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 62March 4, 2024 12:25 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 63March 4, 2024 1:18 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 64March 4, 2024 2:02 AM

R64 I see it at Prime with a Britbox link.

Not sure DL takes Amazon links.

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by Anonymousreply 65March 4, 2024 2:40 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 66March 4, 2024 11:16 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 67March 4, 2024 11:23 AM

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

You said you loved me!

by Anonymousreply 68March 4, 2024 11:29 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 69March 4, 2024 11:54 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 70March 4, 2024 2:06 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 71March 5, 2024 2:35 AM

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

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by Anonymousreply 72March 5, 2024 3:01 AM

Two Irish productions:

Kin about a family of venal drug dealers - gripping.

Blue Lights - rookie cops but done well.

by Anonymousreply 73March 5, 2024 3:05 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 74March 5, 2024 3:07 AM

[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.)

by Anonymousreply 75March 5, 2024 3:10 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 76March 5, 2024 4:24 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 77March 5, 2024 5:04 AM

[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)

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by Anonymousreply 78March 5, 2024 5:11 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 79March 5, 2024 7:36 AM

No thread for "Regime" here yet, surprisingly.

by Anonymousreply 80March 5, 2024 9:15 AM

Here is a starter from the New York Post.

The New York Post

THE NEW YORK POST

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by Anonymousreply 81March 5, 2024 9:36 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 82March 5, 2024 9:31 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 83March 5, 2024 9:40 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 84March 5, 2024 10:58 PM

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...

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by Anonymousreply 85March 12, 2024 12:42 PM

Love them both, r85!

by Anonymousreply 86March 12, 2024 12:58 PM

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?

by Anonymousreply 87March 12, 2024 12:58 PM

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!

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by Anonymousreply 88March 12, 2024 1:18 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 89March 12, 2024 1:31 PM

The most sophisticated cooking show offered by the BBC

Posh Nosh.

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by Anonymousreply 90March 12, 2024 1:31 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 91March 12, 2024 1:36 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 92March 12, 2024 3:02 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 93March 12, 2024 3:52 PM

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!

by Anonymousreply 94March 12, 2024 4:03 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 95March 12, 2024 4:24 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 96March 12, 2024 6:23 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 97March 15, 2024 10:17 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 98March 16, 2024 2:00 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 99March 18, 2024 12:07 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 100March 18, 2024 12:15 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 101March 18, 2024 1:18 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 102March 18, 2024 4:07 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 103March 18, 2024 4:25 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 104March 18, 2024 4:29 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 105March 18, 2024 5:33 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 106March 18, 2024 5:36 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 107March 18, 2024 6:52 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 108March 18, 2024 12:17 PM

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.)

by Anonymousreply 109March 18, 2024 9:55 PM

Just a taste...

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by Anonymousreply 110March 18, 2024 10:22 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 111March 18, 2024 10:41 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 112March 18, 2024 10:53 PM

Nolly is swell.

by Anonymousreply 113March 19, 2024 12:17 AM

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,"

by Anonymousreply 114March 19, 2024 12:19 AM

[quote]Not thoroughly sold on Alice and Jack.

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

by Anonymousreply 115March 21, 2024 12:18 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 116March 21, 2024 12:25 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 117March 21, 2024 9:22 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 118March 21, 2024 9:30 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 119March 22, 2024 5:23 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 120March 28, 2024 5:21 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 121March 29, 2024 9:16 PM

Just finished Nolly. What a delight!

And the ending was handled perfectly.

by Anonymousreply 122April 5, 2024 9:52 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 123April 5, 2024 10:58 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 124April 6, 2024 2:47 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 125April 6, 2024 2:52 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 126April 6, 2024 3:04 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 127April 6, 2024 8:59 AM

R127 is a Thatcherite cunt.

by Anonymousreply 128April 6, 2024 9:05 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 129April 6, 2024 9:36 AM

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.)

by Anonymousreply 130April 6, 2024 1:30 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 131April 7, 2024 4:27 AM

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..

by Anonymousreply 132April 7, 2024 4:36 AM

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."

by Anonymousreply 133April 7, 2024 2:49 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 134April 11, 2024 2:03 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 135April 11, 2024 3:45 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 136April 11, 2024 4:38 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 137April 11, 2024 4:39 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 138April 13, 2024 5:45 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 139April 13, 2024 7:10 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 140April 13, 2024 4:30 PM

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

So there's that.

by Anonymousreply 141April 13, 2024 5:16 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 142April 15, 2024 2:03 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 143April 15, 2024 2:12 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 144April 15, 2024 2:38 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 145April 15, 2024 2:39 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 146April 15, 2024 3:00 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 147April 16, 2024 12:33 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 148April 16, 2024 12:50 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 149April 16, 2024 12:53 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 150April 16, 2024 1:15 AM

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."

by Anonymousreply 151April 16, 2024 2:20 AM

WHET Russell Tovey?

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

by Anonymousreply 152April 16, 2024 2:45 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 153April 16, 2024 3:36 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 154April 16, 2024 3:41 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 155April 16, 2024 4:32 AM

^ 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.

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by Anonymousreply 156April 16, 2024 6:35 AM

[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.

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by Anonymousreply 157April 16, 2024 8:47 AM

[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!

by Anonymousreply 158April 16, 2024 12:04 PM

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!

by Anonymousreply 159April 16, 2024 1:08 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 160April 16, 2024 1:17 PM

What is Tom Bateman up to??

by Anonymousreply 161April 16, 2024 1:17 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 162April 16, 2024 1:22 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 163April 16, 2024 2:02 PM

[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?

by Anonymousreply 164April 16, 2024 2:11 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 165April 16, 2024 2:12 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 166April 16, 2024 2:40 PM

Linky stinky, R166.

by Anonymousreply 167April 16, 2024 2:46 PM

[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).

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by Anonymousreply 168April 16, 2024 2:47 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 169April 16, 2024 4:55 PM

Master Bates

by Anonymousreply 170April 16, 2024 4:57 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 171April 16, 2024 5:12 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 172April 16, 2024 6:24 PM

This is a good explained on Fujitsu.

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by Anonymousreply 173April 16, 2024 6:58 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 174April 16, 2024 7:08 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 175April 16, 2024 8:47 PM

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.)

by Anonymousreply 176April 17, 2024 2:44 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 177April 17, 2024 12:28 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 178April 17, 2024 1:27 PM

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)?

by Anonymousreply 179April 21, 2024 3:27 AM

Vera has been cancelled by ITV after 14 seasons.

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by Anonymousreply 180April 22, 2024 5:38 PM

Now THAT'S bad news.

by Anonymousreply 181April 22, 2024 6:05 PM

R178 She showed up last night.

by Anonymousreply 182April 22, 2024 6:09 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 183April 22, 2024 8:25 PM

Team Nolly

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by Anonymousreply 184April 22, 2024 8:36 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 185April 26, 2024 3:59 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 186April 26, 2024 5:21 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 187April 26, 2024 2:04 PM

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?

by Anonymousreply 188April 26, 2024 2:32 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 189April 26, 2024 2:41 PM

[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?

by Anonymousreply 190April 26, 2024 2:43 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 191April 26, 2024 4:46 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 192April 26, 2024 4:56 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 193April 26, 2024 7:03 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 194April 26, 2024 7:38 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 195April 26, 2024 8:32 PM

[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?

by Anonymousreply 196April 26, 2024 9:40 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 197April 26, 2024 9:51 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 198April 26, 2024 10:16 PM

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).

by Anonymousreply 199April 27, 2024 2:00 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 200April 27, 2024 3:28 PM

Is Dame Judi too old to play Joyce?

Please, not dreary Penelope Wilton!

I'd be happy to settle for Imelda.

by Anonymousreply 201April 29, 2024 4:17 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 202April 29, 2024 4:19 AM

Yeah the third series of Guilt was very confusing.

by Anonymousreply 203April 29, 2024 8:33 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 204April 29, 2024 10:48 AM

You know, Maggie Smith could be a wonderful Joyce.

by Anonymousreply 205April 29, 2024 2:49 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 206April 29, 2024 2:54 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 207April 29, 2024 5:50 PM

Season 1 of GUILT was wonderful.

Season 2 was extremely bad.

Season 3 is unwatchable

by Anonymousreply 208April 29, 2024 6:01 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 209May 3, 2024 3:44 AM

Denise Welch is still drinking.

by Anonymousreply 210May 3, 2024 3:58 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 211May 5, 2024 5:02 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 212May 5, 2024 5:20 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 213May 5, 2024 7:37 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 214May 5, 2024 8:04 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 215May 5, 2024 9:26 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 216May 5, 2024 11:32 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 217May 6, 2024 3:34 AM

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).

by Anonymousreply 218May 6, 2024 4:08 AM

Season finale of "Midwife" on PBS tonight.

by Anonymousreply 219May 6, 2024 5:30 AM

Someone please put Midwife out of its misery.

by Anonymousreply 220May 6, 2024 9:21 AM

R218 — Chris and Donna.

by Anonymousreply 221May 6, 2024 2:24 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 222May 6, 2024 2:37 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 223May 6, 2024 3:02 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 224May 6, 2024 4:23 PM

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.)

by Anonymousreply 225May 6, 2024 8:32 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 226May 6, 2024 8:35 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 227May 8, 2024 3:51 AM

[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".

by Anonymousreply 228May 9, 2024 1:45 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 229June 3, 2024 4:01 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 230June 3, 2024 4:09 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 231June 3, 2024 6:21 PM

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."

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by Anonymousreply 232June 3, 2024 10:21 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 233June 13, 2024 10:57 PM

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.)

by Anonymousreply 234June 15, 2024 5:42 AM

Season 2 of DI Ray sucks big time!

by Anonymousreply 235June 20, 2024 4:13 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 236June 20, 2024 4:23 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 237June 20, 2024 4:26 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 238June 20, 2024 4:30 AM

[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. 🙄

by Anonymousreply 239June 20, 2024 4:42 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 240June 20, 2024 3:51 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 241June 21, 2024 5:18 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 242June 21, 2024 8:53 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 243June 21, 2024 9:26 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 244June 22, 2024 2:51 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 245June 24, 2024 5:58 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 246June 27, 2024 10:05 AM

I wish the guy raped me.

by Anonymousreply 247June 27, 2024 10:15 AM

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!

by Anonymousreply 248June 27, 2024 5:27 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 249June 27, 2024 6:05 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 250June 27, 2024 6:15 PM

I saw this on British TV yesterday evening.

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by Anonymousreply 251June 27, 2024 6:55 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 252June 27, 2024 9:29 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 253June 28, 2024 10:09 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 254June 28, 2024 10:11 PM

Mrs Brown’s Boys

Corny, but mindless fun entertainment

by Anonymousreply 255June 28, 2024 10:12 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 256June 28, 2024 10:19 PM

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).

by Anonymousreply 257June 28, 2024 11:52 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 258June 29, 2024 12:35 AM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 259June 29, 2024 1:29 AM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 260June 29, 2024 1:36 AM

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

No, maybe it was Wire in the Blood.

by Anonymousreply 261June 29, 2024 1:39 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 262July 4, 2024 5:51 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 263July 4, 2024 6:06 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 264July 5, 2024 9:25 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 265July 5, 2024 9:57 PM

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

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by Anonymousreply 266July 5, 2024 10:11 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 267July 7, 2024 6:33 PM

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..

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by Anonymousreply 268July 17, 2024 3:54 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 269July 17, 2024 3:10 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 270July 26, 2024 6:19 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 271July 28, 2024 3:57 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 272July 28, 2024 4:05 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 273July 28, 2024 2:20 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 274July 28, 2024 2:53 PM

[quote]Sarah Lancaster

Lancashire.

by Anonymousreply 275July 28, 2024 3:06 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 276July 28, 2024 4:42 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 277July 28, 2024 5:36 PM

The Great British Sewing Bee is a delight

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by Anonymousreply 278July 28, 2024 6:01 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 279July 29, 2024 1:41 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 280August 14, 2024 2:53 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 281August 14, 2024 2:59 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 282August 14, 2024 3:03 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 283August 14, 2024 4:39 PM

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.

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by Anonymousreply 284August 14, 2024 5:11 PM

[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.

by Anonymousreply 285August 14, 2024 6:56 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 286August 15, 2024 4:16 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 287August 19, 2024 4:09 AM

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"!

by Anonymousreply 288August 19, 2024 5:04 AM

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

by Anonymousreply 289August 19, 2024 5:41 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 290August 25, 2024 6:53 PM

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

Yes!!

by Anonymousreply 291August 25, 2024 6:58 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 292August 25, 2024 7:08 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 293August 25, 2024 8:28 PM

[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.

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by Anonymousreply 294August 25, 2024 8:37 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 295September 2, 2024 9:04 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 296September 4, 2024 5:32 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 297September 4, 2024 8:03 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 298October 4, 2024 8:51 PM

r297 S5 of "The Bay" is on Britbox.

by Anonymousreply 299October 4, 2024 9:02 PM

"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?

by Anonymousreply 300October 5, 2024 1:58 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 301October 5, 2024 4:45 AM

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?

by Anonymousreply 302October 14, 2024 7:25 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 303October 16, 2024 2:10 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 304October 16, 2024 2:50 PM

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).

by Anonymousreply 305October 16, 2024 5:17 PM

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

by Anonymousreply 306October 17, 2024 6:57 PM

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

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

by Anonymousreply 307October 22, 2024 3:00 AM

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.

by Anonymousreply 308October 22, 2024 1:19 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 309October 25, 2024 10:29 PM

^^ 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.

by Anonymousreply 310October 26, 2024 7:43 PM

r308 Moonflower ended last Sunday.

by Anonymousreply 311October 26, 2024 8:50 PM

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.

by Anonymousreply 312October 31, 2024 4:53 AM
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