TV Shows...What are you following?

[Stavros]

Chloe (Mam Tor Productions, 2022)

I watched all six episodes of this drama, currently showing on BBC-1, so I won't offer any spoilers. I thought during episode 1 that this was about a working class woman who resents the success and wealth of others, and plots to inveigle herself into their world either to take what she can for herself, or just be nasty. As is often the case now, she has a mother with early onset dementia, but as the series unfolds her relationship with a particular group of people is less random than appears at first. Indeed, in one episode a plot hole as wide as the Grand Canyon all but wrecks this show, which had some promise and a fine acting performance from Erin Doherty. Three major weaknessess cannot rescue this from the dustbin -all those people online and constantly on their phones can't do a simple search on a certain person? The dialogue at times -too many times- seems to consist of 'Are you ok?' 'Is everything ok?' or 'Sorry'in various forms, and it isn't satire. Lastly, the main male character is supposed to be a local councillor and aspiring MP who doesn't live a life taken up by meetings, phone calls, dealing with constituency/ward issues, and never has people round to his £Million pound house to talk policy and strategy, and is acted with all the zest of a squashed tomato.

It has some intriguing scenes, but does not deliver anything substantial at the end that justifies its original premise. The music is dire. Also known as The Smiths.

[Stavros]

Missions (Empreinte Digitale, 2019) Season 2

They went to Mars and lost their way....and it doesn't look like they will return for Season 3, even if the producers do find them....

I have it wrong, as usual. Season 3 begins on BBC Four this evening, 25th April 2022.

[MrFanti]

"See"....

[Stavros]

I have it wrong, as usual. Season 3 begins on BBC Four this evening, 25th April 2022.

I watched it to the end for the 'big reveal'...the things one does for art- to get nothing in return.

[Stavros]

The Undeclared War (Channel 4 [UK], Peter Kosminsky).

Cyber attacks and the Russians are to blame. It is 2024 and the Russians have hacked the CCTV inside GCHQ which enables them to literally spy on the spies. Yes, the spies spend most of the day parked in front of three computer screens, analysing data -boring. So throw in a 'spectacular event' and the ability of a workplace trainee discovering how the Russians shut down most of the Internet -and add in that she is an attractive Muslim, and add the CIA placement in GCHQ who is Black and Lesbian, and add in the rebellious Russian computer genius whose father is a fabulously wealthy Arms Dealer, but who wants to be an Artist and who works, temporarily it seems, for the Russian Bot Factory which he, Vadim, believes is fomenting a real, rather than a Cyber War.....and you have your drama.

There are scenes so daft you realise this is not serious drama. The music, especially those wailing women, is so bad I kept turning the sound off to spare my nerves.

It actually deals with some interesting issues, but falls victim to current stereotypes, of GCHQ employees, though most probably are as boring as the ones we see, of Russians, and of pretty Muslim girls who are not that religious and are liable to try some gay sex. As for the Muslim girl's boyfriend, the less said the better.

3/10 for effort.

[Stavros]

Locked down by Covid, from which I am now released, more cyber drama on the BBC in the form of The Capture, two seasons of hysterical drivel based on the concept of 'Correction'. In neither season did the Israelis make an appearance, even though they are pioneers in surveillance technology. The first season concerned a squaddie accused of murdering an injured Taliban in Afghanistan; the second season an MP -allegedly, as he never set foot in the House of Commons or have anything to do with his constituents. Ron Perlman as the world-weary CIA man wandered around with his hands in his pockets, mumbling, and being mostly irrelevant.

The BBC disgraced itself with Crossfire, a badly written, badly acted sequence of terror in Tenerife, probably the worst advert for this popular holiday destination for Brits.

Inside Man had Stanley Tucci as his usual laconic self, pontificating from death row while giving advice, Lecter style, to a naive reporter from the UK, where David Tennant, a 'fucking vicar' (minus the fucking, thank God), transformed a minor drama into an apocalypse with no Messiah on hand to redeem anyone in this preposterous rubbish.

At least in another BBC series we get to see Tucci travelling around Italy eating and drinking, though when I used to go there, I was also hunting the special ladies of the night who occupy notorious streets in Rome, Milan and Naples. Poor Stanley, stuck with so much Pasta and Provolone. He could have had so much fun, though I guess he is a boring married man who would never stray on the other side of the park.

Lastly, I put myself through six hours of Karen Pirie, a Scottish murder/detective drama. The book or books by Val Macdermid must be better than this 'shite', to go suddenly Scottish, with the by now tired resolution to the mystery being not so far from the office where two people review a cold case, because that's all it takes. Budget cuts in Scotland may explain why throughout the series, the detective only has two changes of clothes, and those are her chinos.

This hackneyed crap is a world away from the revival on BBC Four of The Sunset Song, the first part of A Scot's Quair, first shown in the 1970s with the radiant Vivien Heilbron. It was a beautifully done series, but no match for the trilogy by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, one of the finest works of literature in English ever written, a pompous remark much needed after the miserable, wretched failures above.

[diddyboponTOP]

I just finished the final Season of Animal Kingdom. Great show for those who like Action shows that haven't heard of it. Now I'm watching the last season of Power, Book 3 raising Kanen Two episodes to go, then I want to watch the Reboot season of Dexter, late I know
Also I want to get into both the Game of thrones Prequel and the Lord of the Rings show can anyone give me advice on what is better of the two? Also I only saw two seasons of my Cobra Kai I have to catch up there, what a great show. It was hard to watch at first making me remember my youth too much but I can handle it.

[Stavros]

I watched quite a few, but not all of the episodes in Married at First Sight UK. I wouldn't ban this offensive material from tv, but I do wonder why people apply to appear on these shows, if they are not determined, as some are, to not just 'be on TV' but be on tv forever, in any number of game shows, quiz shows and the like, with the ultimate aim of being on either I'm a Celebrity, or Strictly Come Dancing.

Ten couples are matched by three so-called 'experts' whose record by the end speaks for itself -one success, apparently, nine failures. This trio are some of the most offensive people on TV, consumed by their self-confidence, pretend psychologists, they don't just offer armchair comments on the behaviour and motivation of the couples, but offer them 'advice' in person in what to me is so patronising a tone that if it was me I would either get up and leave, give one of them a slap, or both. Their credibility as 'relationship consultants' is zero. Then the couples discuss their private lives in public and it is embarrassing and at times excruciating to watch.

I googled some of it but there is no evidence they are even paid to appear on this show, but I don't think even those desperate to be on TV would give up their jobs for a month or so without some financial compensation, and I don't know what happens to the children of the individuals who all say 'my children are the most important thing in my life' -ie, not the wife/husband they just 'married'! which isn't even a marriage just a tv stunt. To make matters worse, the people in this series are either vacuous or at times just plain 'orrible, with only one of the women apparently reluctant to expose most of her chest, perhaps because she is a butch lesbian. As reality tv shows go, this one needs to be binned, along with Love Island, as it does nothing for the human race except spell its doom.

[Stavros]

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (BBC, 2022).

American actor Stanley Tucci's family is Italian on both sides, from Calabria on his father's side, and in this series he travels around Italy, eating, talking, and eating. As with most tv shows about food, he rarely if ever eats anything that is not delicious, or 'that is so good!'. If you know or want to go to Italy, this is an infuriating programme because the food is indeed so good, as are the ingredients, and I really must go some time in the next year. Be warned, most of the places Tucci eats in are either high end, or out of the way, there is plenty of rubbish on sale in Rome, Milan and other cities on the tourist trail.

The 4th episode features London, a) because Tucci has lived there for about 10 years, and b) it has one of the largest Italian populations outside Italy -though smaller than Buenos Aires and I think, Sao Paulo, and by origin, there are up to half a million in Toronto. Whatever. Because he is friends with Gennaro Contaldo he attributes him to changing the Italian food scene in London, which is nonsense as even Contaldo if asked would claim Antonio Carluccio did this with the Neal St Restaurant in Coven Garden, and there were well-established Italian restaurants before this, but, as noted at the start, what has changed is the availability of Italian regional cuisine rather than a basic staple of Minestrone-Pasta-Profiterole dinners.

So an entertaining programme by an amiable American, with so many outstanding breads, hams, cheeses, meats and fish the allure of the real thing is all but irresistible.

[Stavros]

The Traitors, BBC 2023

The Traitors US, BBC 2023.

I watched both series, though I should point out all at once as I was away in Europe after the start of the UK version which was not available in Germany. Also, because I have no interest in the people concerned, I flipped through the discussions they had and the personal to camera moments and in the US case the Missions which were mostly the same as the UK ones.

The series encourages people to lie and scheme to win money, and is thus driven by selfishness and greed. Like most game shows, one watches to see who wins and loses, and the only real issue in both series, is the ease with which a mob mentality can shape the decisions people make and the reasons why. If it is this easy to fool people and get them to make the wrong decisions, we may understand how even intelligent people could vote for blatant frauds like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.

Scary, in its way, but smoothly done trash, with the only real star being Scotland, even when it looks wet and cold.

[Stavros]

Alfa, broadcast in the UK as Grow (Denmark, Milad Avaz, 2020).

Another dose of Scandi drivel, this time from Denmark. Two brothers born into the family of Denmark's weed king. One joins the cops and never talks to his mum, the other becomes a stockbroker but can't afford to buy an apartment in Copenhagen, like I feel your pain, dude. So when he discovers a stash of hashish in his dad's garage he morphs into a crime lord with all that implies with regard to the Tattaglia's of this world. The cop has sex, at least, whereas his brother manages to go for the whole series without it, about as believable as the story. If you have nothing better to do and it's 3am then go for it.

[MrFanti]

NETFLIX: Physical 100

[Stavros]

The Gold (BBC 1, Sunday evenings)

Currently broadcasting, but all episodes can be 'binged watched' -I started and got to the end of the second episode before deciding this drama, based on the real-life robbery at the Brinks-Mat 'Secure' Depot at Heathrow Airport, is not worth watching. The script is poor, the acting just as bad, and the people truly nasty. There was another drama last year -can't remember the channel- about a gang of men who go to steal some gear and end up with tons of gold, that was crap too.

[bruce_willy]

I've just finished watching "the most dangerous show on Netflix (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/23/ancient-apocalypse-is-the-most-dangerous-show-on-netflix)" and quite enjoyed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgvaXros3MY

Learning about the archaeological site Göbekli Tepe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe) lead me to the Turkish series Atiye (aka The Gift). It was OK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvCfE9i-nhg

[Stavros]

I first came across Graham Hancock when I read his book on the Arc of the Covenant, The Sign and the Seal (1992). The book mingles known facts with regard to the history of the Jews, with speculation that leads nowhere, or more precisely, to a chapel in Ethiopia which is where, it is claimed, the Arc of the Covenant is stored. The simple fact that nobody is allowed in to see it, and that there are no known photographs of the interior lead one to ask -why? Because it is fiction. Hancock has been pursuing these 'what if's' for decades and uses the unknown to assume a known without a shred of evidence.

Atlantis would be a good case of a place that either did not exist, or was an island that disappeared due to a tsunami as most archaeologists believe- the tsunami may also have dealt a fatal blow to the Minoan communities on Crete- though for what it's worth, my mother told me that having once been an inhabitant of Ancient Egypt, she was also at another time born in Atlantis, and who was I to spoil her narrative? She also believed Jesus was a time traveller who came from a galaxy far, far away -I kid you not (the German compose Stockhausen shared similar beliefs).

I see no need to give Hancock a moment more of my time, and I guess the documentary is entertaining, but let's not give the poor man any support for his unproven views.

The Dangers of Ancient Apocalypse’s Pseudoscience – SAPIENS (https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-apocalypse-pseudoscience/)

No, There Wasn't an Advanced Civilization 12,000 Years Ago - Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-there-wasnt-an-advanced-civilization-12-000-years-ago/)

[bruce_willy]

Well I'm on Graham Hancock's side. I think he'll be proven right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBJS7Td2Gdo

[Stavros]

Well I'm on Graham Hancock's side. I think he'll be proven right.


What does it mean to be 'proven right'? Hancock has been doing this stuff for more than 30 years and has never proven anything. .

[bruce_willy]

What does it mean to be 'proven right'? Hancock has been doing this stuff for more than 30 years and has never proven anything. .

Proven right as in:

1 - There was an advanced civilization
2 - Wherever they lived it was destroyed by a cataclysmic flood
3 - The flood was caused by a huge comet shower which rapidly melted the glaciers covering upper north America

[MrFanti]

-Batwoman S1
-Star Trek Picard S3
-The Last Of Us

[Stavros]

Proven right as in:

1 - There was an advanced civilization
2 - Wherever they lived it was destroyed by a cataclysmic flood
3 - The flood was caused by a huge comet shower which rapidly melted the glaciers covering upper north America

Three claims for which there is not a shred of evidence. I think you might be taking the Michael, as they say politely.

[bruce_willy]

Three claims for which there is not a shred of evidence.

The "shreds of evidence" are in his Netflix series.


I think you might be taking the Michael, as they say politely.

I'm not. What about the evidence for the great flood in the Sahara about 12,000 years ago?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnqAauP7C9c

What about the new lost civilization found in the Amazon last year?

https://www.livescience.com/lidar-reveals-pre-hispanic-amazon-settlements

[Stavros]

The "shreds of evidence" are in his Netflix series.
--No, only speculation void of facts.

I'm not. What about the evidence for the great flood in the Sahara about 12,000 years ago?

--What does the flood argument prove with regard to Hancock's claims of a civilization that existed more than 10,000 years ago? Archaeologists have argued there was a civilized presence in the Sahara, but not 10,000 years ago but cAD1-500 (Christian Era).
Lost Civilisation Discovered in Sahara | Archaeology | Sci-News.com (https://www.sci.news/archaeology/lost-civilisation-discovered-in-sahara.html)

What about the new lost civilization found in the Amazon last year?
--Again, not 10,000 years ago or more as Hancock claims, but as your own link reports: "The findings indicate the mysterious Casarabe people — who lived in the Llanos de Mojos region of the Amazon basin between A.D. 500 and 1400 ".

I don't see anything to support Hancock's claims, and after more than 30 years it would surely be better for him to either prove his arguments with verifiable facts, or just shut up. It is inevitable that we will find 'lost' communities here, there and everywhere, and their disappearance will usually be explained quite simply and due to the inability to sustain life, ie, because of drought, famine, and so on. Hancock wants an advanced civilization whose existence has been suppressed by academics to protect their funded projects, but this merely relegates his books and videos to a giant conspiracy theory which he cannot prove because there is no evidence. It is tiresome, but it attracts people who think most of what 'we' are told is not true, when most often the truth is not just right there, but rather boring and therefore not good TV.

[Stavros]

Better (Sister Films, broadcast on BBC 1, 2023)

A rising star in CID used an informant to make arrests and in return he has financed her husband's building firm. She has also helped eliminate his competition in Leeds so that when this series begins, he is a major drug dealer and the series charts the growing tensions she has with her former informant. I made it to the end of the second episode and I don't think I can take any more. Andrew Buchan dons a Northern Ireland accent to play Col McHugh, though he was born in England. The script is poor, and the acting so-so. One wonders given that Sergeant Cawood in Happy Valley is not in cahoots with local crime, how many more dramas about bent coppers we can take.

Not sure why it is called 'Better', and don't think people outside the UK can watch it.

[fred41]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16867040/
Cunk on Earth
I really liked this and wish it was longer. Admittedly, watched it mostly stoned…but saw the trailer sober and still thought it was funny enough to lure me in. Now on Netflix.

[Stavros]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16867040/
Cunk on Earth
I really liked this and wish it was longer. Admittedly, watched it mostly stoned…but saw the trailer sober and still thought it was funny enough to lure me in. Now on Netflix.

If you can find it in the US, Motherland is a light comedy with Diane Morgan and others that is constantly under-rated. It might be best you watch that stoned too!
Morgan is from Bolton (as is Ian McKellen) and the details are here
Diane Morgan - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Morgan)

[Stavros]

Unforgotten, Series 5 (broadcast on ITVx.com, 2023)

The new series maintains the established format: in episode one a dead body is found and as the team organizes the forensics to determine who, when and how, we are introduced to 4 apparently random people from different background, whose links to each other do not become clear until later episodes. In this series, at least one of the four could have been left out and it would not have made a difference, The politics is tired by now, but the handling of dysfunctional families, drugs, alcohol and violence is quite well done. Martina Laird as Bele is the stand out performance of a damaged woman seeking real change and redemption, not bad in a cast of chronic liars.
The replacement for team leader Cassie who died in the last series, is an actor of limited ability, indeed if this is the best they can come up, Forgotten might be a better title and the drama series permanently laid to rest. I binged watched all episodes over two days

A more general gripe is the personal stories of the two team leaders-James and Khan. I am really not interested in divorced father of two daughters and his new partner, or Jessie James's failing marriage. Rather than being an accompaniment to the other failed -if not lethally so- families on show, I would rather see Detectives dealing with sordid issues at work, return to a happy family, the contrast being with something that works with something that doesn't. We have got to used to the 57 Varieties of Tec, from cynical often alcoholic, messy home/spartan home; loves opera or loves Jazz, has girlfriends/no friends and so on, I wonder if the only Happy Tec on tv over the years has been Colombo, and we never did get to see his wife.

Unforgotten - Series 5 - Episode 1 - ITVX (https://www.itv.com/watch/unforgotten/2a3372/2a3372a0025)

[Stavros]

Little Dorrit (BBC, 2008 )

I don't recall seeing this at the time, and binged watched the whole thing in one day. It is a good rendition of one of Dickens most complex stories, though it suffers from the anti-politics that means people don't work their way out of poverty or that poverty is diminished by social and political change, but have benefactors, or sudden wealth equivalent to winning the lottery. It does also mean the concept of the Prison is found throughout the book, but it does have sharply etched characters that are a dream for actors, acting being Dickens first love before he began writing. Claire Foy is outstanding as Little Dorrit, though there are some dubious interpretations, eg Miss Wade. And while there is symbolic value in the collapse of the Clennam building, it is part of the Dickens melodrama. Worth watching though if you can see it in the UK, not sure if it is available elsewhere.

[KnightHawk 2.0]

NCIS Hawaii.

[Stavros]

Succession, Season 1 (Jesse Armstrong/Gary Sanchez Productions, etc, 2018 )

"Are we good?"
"Yes, we're good. How about you, you good?"
"I'm good. Are you good?".
"Yep, I'm good".

Unoriginal, much as JK Rowling poached her way through European literature to concoct Harry Potter, Jesse Armstrong has poached his way through numerous variations on the dysfunctional family theme, wrapped it in obscene wealth, and recruited at least two fine actors -Harriet Walter and Hiam Abbass. When people are this selfish, nasty and rude, it is hard, if not impossible to feel for them, so I bought this season on DVD and am in two minds about staying with it.

The music seems to be a mash-up of Schubert's song Ständchen (D899) and a below-par Keith Jarrett and sticks in the head for a long time, causing a nuisance. The only remedy is to go to the original, written shortly before Schubert died and which he never heard performed -sung here by the late Peter Schreier.

Schubert Ständchen (Serenade) Peter Schreier - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaq-6U7ZJt8)

[Stavros]

The White Lotus (Mike White, 2021)

I bought season 1 on DVD knowing nothing about it, and by the time I got to the end of episode 3 on disk 1 I had to ask myself, do I want to persevere with it? Well I bought it, so I did. I guess if you have seen Grand Hotel, The Love Boat, or Fantasy Island you will understand the concept. It is not done well. The script is as abysmal as the acting. It was filmed in a resort on the island of Maui, one to avoid at all costs.

[Del06]

I've been enamored with Astrid et Raphaelle, French TV series about an autistic woman (Astrid) and her relationship with a police commander (Raphaelle). Three seasons so far. If anyone has a link to season 4 please post it.

[holzz]

Star Trek Picard, which finished a couple of months ago. Was great to see the old TNG cast back together.
Jeri Ryan was still hot. hotter than in Voyager. a true milf.
https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/2020/02/jeri-ryan-seven-of-nine.jpg

[Del06]

One of my favorites as well.

[Stavros]

Wolf (Directed by Krystoffer Nyholm, 2023)

This garbage is currently airing on BBC 1, but can be watched in it's entirety on the BBC iPlayer. It is a fusion of the slasher film Halloween, and Michael Haneke's abysmal film Funny Games, so not funny, and not original either. The music is even worse, employing the by now tired motif of the extended, declining chord, which I think was first assigned to the trombone in Act 1 of Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, which elevates this Wolf nonsense to a level it doesn't merit.

[Stavros]

Shadow of Truth (2016-2023)
This Israeli documentary on the murder of a schoolgirl in a school toilet in Katzrin became notorious in Israel as a case of the police exacting a false confession from an immigrant from the Ukraine who is eventually released after 15 years in prison. The BBC version is in five episodes and has the most extraordinary documentary footage from the crime scene and the interrogations of the suspect as well as footage of attempts by a police informer sharing a cell to get the accused to confess. As to who did murder the girl, the later episodes concern allegations so bizarre you realize the fictional murder mysteries that pollute tv screens these days haven't a clue as to how weird reality can be, though the person accused refused to take part in the films. Compelling, recommended.

BBC iPlayer - Shadow of Truth - Series 1: 1. A Dark Overture (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0fwd8db/shadow-of-truth-series-1-1-a-dark-overture)

[Stavros]

The Devil's Confession: the Lost Eichmann Tapes (aired on the BBC in 2023, link below).

This remarkable two-part documentary brings into the public eye or ear, the tapes of Adolf Eichmann not confessing, but boasting of his role as the 'functionary' who organized the European holocaust. It alternates between the tapes and the trial in Israel that followed Eichmann's abduction from Argentina where he lived among other ex-Nazis after the War. The article in the New York Times, linked below and not hidden behind a paywall is worth reading as a summary, not least because it touches on the still controversial issue of the fate of the Hungarian Jews, most of whom were rounded up and slaughtered by Eichmann's 'machine -other than some of the richer and well-connected Jews who were saved by a man called Kastner in what remains a darker story for Israel given the role played by David Ben-Gurion in the matter, a man who had also ensured that the ex-Nazi who served in Konrad Adenauer's West German government was not brought into court as at the time Israel needed German money and expertise in the development of a nuclear weapon. Another link refers to an article which argues that Ben-Gurion used the Eichmann trial, the first nationwide confrontation of Israel with the reality of the Holocaust, to offer a 're-narration' in which in contemporary Israel, the threat posed by the Nazis is transferred to the Arabs.

It is an astonishing two-part documentary, but what struck me most, was that Eichmann told a pack of lies to the Court for a simple reason -not to save himself, as he knew his fate was execution- but because he regarded Jews and the Israeli Court with absolute contempt and thus unworthy of the candid truth he shared with his ex-Nazi chums.

BBC iPlayer - The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes - Series 1: 1. The Hunt (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0g8b0yt/the-devils-confession-the-lost-eichmann-tapes-series-1-1-the-hunt)

Nazi Tapes Provide a Chilling Sequel to the Eichmann Trial - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/04/world/middleeast/adolf-eichmann-documentary-israel.html)

Victimhood Nationalism in Israel: The Eichmann Trial’s Role in Israeli Foreign Policy Discourse | From the Ashes of History: Collective Trauma and the Making of International Politics | Oxford Academic (oup.com) (https://academic.oup.com/book/41477/chapter-abstract/352873076?redirectedFrom=fulltext)

[Imatwork]

I'm going to have a look at that Stavros it won't be a comfortable watch I'm sure.
When I can I'm going to re-watch The Wire.

[MrFanti]

Apple+ "Invasion"...

[Stavros]

After the Flood (ITV, 2024)

A body found in a lift after a flood in town was in fact a murder victim. Another dismal tv show that has some good acting, but is desperate to be clever and interesting. Are we not done with murder and corruption? Is there no other basis on which to make a compelling drama?

[HbgDon]

Reacher
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

[Stavros]

Vigil, Season 2 (BBC, January 2024)

The first series was based on a Royal Navy submarine, this one with the 'British' Air Force and their 'assistance' to a Middle Eastern regime (the filming took place in Morocco and the UK). The usual porridge of murder, corruption and lies, lots of money and evil people, and the lead detective who is in a relationship with another woman, about as interesting as, well, porridge on a banana leaf.

The mere fact Dougray Scott is one of the lead characters should set alarm bells ringing, he ruins everything he is in, for the simple reason he cannot act.

Let's hope there are no more vigils, not of this kind anyway.

[Stavros]

Payback (ITV, 2024)

Scotland wahae! Hitchcock often made films about ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations, usually involving crime. In this version, the nice if anxious mother discovers a dark secret about her husband and is swept up in a drama populated by Scotland's finest if relentlessly boring actors, though none as bad as Dougray Scott. It is actually quite watchable, though I had worked out some of the plot twists before they happened, as it is that kind of show. One also wonders if Scottish dramas would be better if they were based in Dundee, or Ayr?

[bryanferryfan2]

True Detective season 4 on HBO starring Jodie Foster.

[zaphod]

True Detective season 4 on HBO starring Jodie Foster.


Similar to Fargo?

[Stavros]

True Detective season 4 on HBO starring Jodie Foster.

Rave reviews in the UK, but complaints about the music.

[JDunn]

Slow Horses, a quality espionage show starring the excellent Gary Oldman

[Stavros]

Trigger Point (ITV, 2024)

The first series of this drama offered us a bomb disposal officer who is also a detective, a lover, a sister to a nutcase, and thus as remote from real life as can be made, just so we don't take it seriously.

The second season has enough bombs going off to maintain the interest, but I wonder how much they cost. It is currently airing weekly but I binged watched all six episodes. The main story in the end doesn't make much sense, whether you believe a billionaire is recruiting tech-savvy revolutionaries to make even more money than he has, or that a generation born after 2000 would take Paris 1968 as their model of behaviour, when, though less lethal, thank heavens, Extinction Rebellion have been more effective if just as daft as their Parisian avatars.

On one level this does spoil the drama, on the other hand I think these days we expect thrills and spills without any need to be truthful, and I guess it delivers for those who want to be entertained by political violence. How people now think of CCTV, which can be so easily hacked -?- or Drones, I don't know, or whether or not the power grid for a city can be shut down by terrorists. It ought to be the main political talking point, but it won't be given we have politicians so incapable that real issues are secondary to press releases and reputation management, or salvage.

[Stavros]

The Americans (Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, 2013-2018 )

This extraordinary drama series had a chequered history on UK tv -it was first shown on Saturday evenings on ITV until they changed the scheduling for the second series, and then dropped it. I had to watch it on the web using dubious sources, so I bought the complete DVD set to watch all six seasons with some interesting extras.

Although there were illegals in the US, they didn't do the very illegal things the Jennings couple do, and a lot of is on one level just tv drama not real life, but they followed the transition from Reagan to Gorbachev with the implications in Russia as well as the US and the Russian angle was one of the strongest with Russian actors rather than what the past would have given us, people with fake accents, though Matthew Rhys has quite a strong Welsh accent, and that made sense with him pretending to be American.

I think it is one of the best tv dramas ever, up there with The Wire, and the earlier series of Homeland, both of the latter two having outstanding credits, though others may disagree. Keri Russell was amazing throughout. I believe she is now married to Rhys but have not followed their acting careers.

[Stavros]

The Way (Michael Sheen/Red Seam (The Way) Ltd, 2024)

Ten years in the making, but the key three letter word is not Way, but Why? It isn't even worth a description, it is just so hopelessly poor on every level.

[Stavros]

Passenger (ITV, 2024)

The Gone (BBC, 2024)

I watched Passenger last week, but honestly cannot recall what it was about, only that it was dire, as is also true of an Irish-New Zealand drama, The Gone.

Nice young couple working their way through New Zealand -what could go wrong?, other than corruption, drugs, kidnapping, suicide, murder, and too much Maori singing. Kiri Te Kanawa it ain't. Even worse is the last scene, suggesting the man from Dublin won't be going home soon.

[Stavros]

Red Eye (ITVx 2024)
Red Eye - Series 1 - Episode 1 - ITVX (https://www.itv.com/watch/red-eye/10a4437/10a4437a0001)

So I got Red Eye binge watching every episode, and yet imagine the makers of this nonsense have red faces owing to the plot holes -not enough to fill the gaps in the Great Door of China, but still they mount up.

Drama overload has a plot and plots within plots featuring a Metropolitan police officer + MI5 + MI6 + CIA + Chinese Govt + Rogue actors + billion dollar nuclear power contract.

In episode 2 a main character is wearing glasses, which he loses, never needing glasses again.

He is a qualified doctor but drinks before he drives, hiring a car in Beijing which is uncharacteristically void of traffic when he is on the road.

Dead bodies left on a plane will, like all dead bodies, leak if the orifices are not plugged within a few hours of death, something airline companies might want to think about, not least because of the smell.

How easy it is for non-company staff to have access to every nook and cranny of an aeroplane I don't know.

I did not know that nobody is on 'British soil' until they have passed through immigration/passport control. So where are they?

How easy is it to get into the back garden of the Chinese Embassy in London? I suggest a wander around their building in Portland Place to find out -I used to work near there and it was not that accessible, mind you I never tried and I don't think the BBC would have protected me. Fun fact: I once saw legendary footballer Denis Law at a photo shoot on Portland Place, but was too timid to ask for a selfie.

In the end, the bad guys lose, and the good guys win. I hope I haven't spoiled it for anyone.

[Stavros]

The Responder, Series 1 (BBC, 2022)

The Real Cops of Liverpule...hard-boiled, foul-mouthed, on the front line of the 'war' on drugs. The main character in this first series is dealing with being demoted from Detective Inspector to the night patrol, he is mentally in anguish, and in therapy but can't express himself, and thinks his life and career is in ruins, insisting to a probationer cop whose boyfriend locks her in cupboards (but not for kinky reasons) that he was not demoted for corruption.

Major weakness: the solution is there from the start: resign, take the pension, and get a cushy job in 'security' -but then there wouldn't be this tedious rehash of all the usual tropes about the dirty end of the drugs business populated by off-their-rockers teens, scheming wives, mentally challenged hard men, and so on and so on. They even made a series 2, so tragically unoriginal is the state of tv these days.

[Stavros]

Inside No 9 (BBC 2)

A new series of the clever clogs duo who have an ability to take a genre or sub-genre and transform it, usually with good results, though I know some people don't like it. It is indeed clever to do what they do in just under half an hour, and they do get some of the best in acting to take part. I have always liked their approach. Probably too deep for Americans.

[MrFanti]

Mindhunter

[FionaFortune]

Mindhunter

Are they bringing this back for Season 3?

[Stavros]

Are they bringing this back for Season 3?

Two posts on something called 'Mindhunter' but no description of what it is, let alone an opinion.

[MrFanti]

Are they bringing this back for Season 3?

Unfortunately, probably not....

[BlüeKarma]

Deadboy Detectives
Outer Range
Dark Matter
Umbrella Academy
Doctor Who

[MrFanti]

Deadboy Detectives
Outer Range
Dark Matter
Umbrella Academy
Doctor Who

LOVED 'Umbrella Academy'!!! 8-)

[Stavros]

The Gathering (Channel 4, 2024).

If you have not tired of the Liverpool accent from The Responder, this new 6 part drama also set in Liverpool will offer a different, and more class-based view of the city and its environs, mostly in either Birkenhead or the Wirral. What starts out as an intriguing situation involving teens who compete in legitimate sports or not-so-rules based 'free running', sexting, flirting, getting drunk at raves, spirals out of control as the producers try to look at the background to a dramatic scene from the viewpoints of different characters, two of whom are in all honesty of little interest, and not acted very well, in contrast to the working class and middle class girls, two fine performances in a disappointing drama which in reality has little drama to get excited about.

Watch The Gathering | Stream free on Channel 4 (https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-gathering)

[FionaFortune]

Two posts on something called 'Mindhunter' but no description of what it is, let alone an opinion.


It's a Netflix series about FBI agents who start psychological profiles of real serial killers. The show is about the psychology of killers and how it effects the agent lives.

[Stavros]

It's a Netflix series about FBI agents who start psychological profiles of real serial killers. The show is about the psychology of killers and how it effects the agent lives.

Thanks for this. I don't subscribe to Netflix or any other platform. I guess Hannibal Lecter is making a comeback...in one way or another. Are the FBI on his tale?

[MrFanti]

It's a Netflix series about FBI agents who start psychological profiles of real serial killers. The show is about the psychology of killers and how it effects the agent lives.
What I like about the show is the use of some of the real life criminals and not some made-up characters....

[Stavros]

Away (Andrew Hinderaker, 2020)

Away with the fairies would probably be more exciting than this 'by the numbers' space tedium. Tick the boxes: earnest American, cynical Russian, humourless Chinese, nerdy Indian, Black-Jewish Englishman with an accent so polished it would rival the diamonds on the late Queen Elizabeth's crowns- plus the inevitable moment in the space walk when it all goes wrong, and the hammer floats off into eternity, never to be seen again. Where this series belongs.

[Stavros]

Nightsleeper (BBC, 2024)

If this is what the new generation of sleeper trains has to offer, it might be safer, and also more interesting to walk from Glasgow to London, or maybe hire a donkey.

This is a hostage drama in which the passengers and staff of a night sleeper train are held hostage by people who are never seen, and never negotiate terms (demands for Bitcoin are made as railway station announcements), for reasons that are not made clear until the last 20 minutes of the entire six episode series, though by then most people I think will be fast asleep. In the meantime, the hero is a nerdy looking lad who has the facial hair of a 14 year old, though he does look at least 16, with the acting 'skills' that make most amateurs look Olivier. On the side of national security is a lady from Wales who looks, and sounds like a supply teacher on her first day in a rowdy inner city school. If people like Hur (as the thick Welsh accent makes it sound) are in charge of our security, Putin will be in Buckingham Palace by Christmas.

Bad writing, bad acting, and that plot twist at the end? Let's just remind anyone who needs to know that you can find re-runs of the Teletubbies somewhere on the box, or online. And it would be a better watch.

[Stavros]

Trump's Heist: President Who Wouldn't Lose? - Series 1: Episode 1 | Channel 4 (https://www.channel4.com/programmes/trumps-heist-president-who-wouldnt-lose/on-demand/74701-001)

This two part series aired on Channel 4 focuses on Arizona (Part 1), and Georgia (Part 2) and how Republicans in those two states resisted the attempts by Donald Trump to fix the vote in 2020 so that he won and Biden lost. It is a deeply depressing pair of shows owing to the utter rubbish presented as facts by people like Giuliani and the very, very weird Sidney Powell. When Speaker of the Arizona House, Rusty Bowers asked Giuliani what facts he had, he was told they had the names of thousands of dead people who had voted, but never showed them when asked, presumably because they did not exist.

John Eastman continues to defend his exotic interpretation of the Constitution, shared it seems, by nobody other then himself and Donald Trump, assuming the latter has a clue what Eastman was talking about.

The puzzle remains, as Eastman was teaching at the Chapman School of Law, ranked 106 out of 196 best law schools in the US, yet is claimed to be an esteemed expert on Constitutional Law. One wonders how someone few people had ever heard of was in the Oval Office not long after election day in 2020, the same with Powell, and also Cleta Mitchell, another 'expert' (not in this film) who on that notorious phone call to Georgia showed she did not know Georgia's election law.

There is a link in Eastman's case, as he once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (sponsored by Harlan Crow). Even Liz Cheney balked at grilling either Clarence or his political activist wife for the House Committee hearings. We may never know, and nobody I think has ever asked Eastman how he went from a low ranking college to the White House.

And to think this naked abuse of power could get even worse this year. But please, don't go out and buy enough weapons to run an army, you have enough of them already in America.

[Cuchulain]

Mr. Mercedes
Just discovered this on Peacock and I'm loving it. Stars Brendon Gleason as a retired detective. He's happily drinking himself to death until the one mass murderer he wasn't able to catch starts contacting him with tormenting messages. Show is dark, weird and bloody. Gleason is in top form as an angry old bugger delivering biting remarks with his unique Irish wit.

[Yvonne183]

I'm watching the IT crowd.

[Stavros]

Another film on 2020, as per #316 above, not much new here other than some details no previously aired, but the main thrust remains: Trump could not, and does not accept that he lost, it is that devastating, for him and his bananas, and the American people.

Broadcast and available to stream today (23rd Oct 2024)
Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case - BBC iPlayer (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0024921/trump-the-criminal-conspiracy-case)

[Stavros]

Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia (David Harvey, 2023)

I saw this on Swedish tv when I was there recently. The documentary goes into the friendship between JFK and Sinatra, then veers into the theory that the Mafia had JFK bumped off because the Kennedy Administration were out to get organized crime- Sinatra was good for business, JFK was not.

There is little merit to the end game, after all, it wasn't JFK but his brother, Attorney General Robert who was the driving force to trash Cosa Nostra. Just as Lee Harvey Oswald has a walk-on part as if he really was the stool-pigeon, and there is no explanation as to why a known associate of the mob, Jack Ruby would then put the mob in the spotlight by killing Oswald -it suited the mob for Oswald to take the rap so all they needed to do was -nothing. So if the mob did it, why does nobody know who shot the President? It's not like these wise guys never boast about such high profile killings.

If you are that interested in a monotonous singer like Sinatra and his links to the mob, this might interest you. I guess a lot depends on how you wish to judge Sinatra -actor, singer etc, or not.

[Stavros]

True Detective. Season 4 (2024)

Much as I like Jodi Foster, even when she is better than the films she has been in, this 6 part nonsense from Alaska was a big disappointment. There are two reveals at the end, one of which is underwhelming after so much effort, while the other taps into one of the themes of the season which relates to the way Inupiaq perceive the world they live (which doesn't appear to be the same as the world the rest of the State's population live in) and how to behave. Cue lots of obscure whispering, ghosts, people who live forever, and on top of lots of dark skies, snow and ice, a relentless diet of the most miserable pop music ever recorded that might have you too screaming for mercy. What a waste of money and what a terrible advert for Alaska, generally regarded as one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but one where, as in a superior murder-mystery in the snow (Wind River, 2017) the lnupiaq or whoever the local are, don't have a sense of humour, and never laugh, just walk around with looks of resentment and much worse.

True Detective has been a flop as drama, so why they do keep making it?

[bryanferryfan2]

Only Murders in the Building

[Stavros]

Until I Kill You (Nick Stevens, 2024, broadcast on ITVx)

A true story, told without much finesse. It is well acted and the script is often good too, but its matter of fact style meant I was not really gripped by it. I couldn't understand why the man involved, when on the run, didn't shave off his scruffy beard. Though true it doesn't rise much above the average cop/murder show, but it's not a bad watch if you have nothing else to do.

Until I Kill You (TV Series 2024) - IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26738706/)

[BlüeKarma]

Passenger (UK)
Day of the Jackal (UK)
Sweatpea (UK)
The Penguin
Teacup
Hysteria

[Stavros]

BBC Four - Sirius: An Apocalyptic Order, Series 1, Massacre or Suicide (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xx53#credits) (2024)

‘Slapping therapy’ healer jailed for gross negligence manslaughter of woman | Crime | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/06/slapping-therapy-healer-hongchi-xiao-jailed-gross-negligence-manslaughter)

People who are dissatisfied with their lives, searching for some new experience, maybe even in pain, turn to a cult that offers them land and community where they can live as a happy family. They donate what they earn to two men who have convinced them that we are but temporary visitors to Earth, that when the time comes, we can 'transit' to a faraway planet called Sirius and live in eternal bliss. The two men don't work for a living, they take the money and spend it on luxury clothes, villas, foreign holidays in 5 star hotels. When the money ran out, they obliterated the several hundred followers they had, making their own 'transit' out of this life, to who knows what?

The tv series of 4 programmes looks at the events that took place in the 1990s and tries to understand what happened and why people commit themselves to a cult whose promises to most of us are absurd and scream 'Scam!' at every second.

The news report again asks who truly believes that slapping your body can cure illnesses? Not least when the man claiming it has no medical background, but a sufficient amount of charisma to fool people who don't believe in medical science, or worse, think it causes more harm than good. How many times must a slap the face of b before the word 'enough!' comes to mind?

Sad cases, but not uncommon. The tv series is worth watching.