Tag Archives: British Television

The Gentlemen: Refined Aggression – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was a weird, odd, yet profoundly compelling opening to a series.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

Eddie Halstead meets Susie Glass.

The Gentlemen Review –

It wasn’t all that long ago that I sat down to watch a truly bonkers yet very rough film called The Gentlemen. I hadn’t thought in a while, but as I was watching, snippets came back to me, and I remembered how genuinely wild it was. The question then becomes, can you improve on the first by transforming/ spinning it off into a television series on Netflix? Well this is the question that I find myself asking today.   

So to set the scene, we find ourselves on the Türkiye/Syrian Border at a United Nations manned checkpoint. It is just an ordinary day until the Unit Leader Eddie (Theo James) discovers that his father is gravely ill and he is needed at home. A world of luxury awaits, a far distance from the rural Middle East. It should be a short trip because 600 hundred years of tradition means that the title and lands go to the first-born son, Freddy (Daniel Ings), which makes the will reading all that more perplexing. I sure hope no one has any significant debts that could complicate things. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road – TV Review

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TL;DR – It hit the energy that you wanted for the first time a Doctor and their Companion met – chaos, fun, with a hint of sadness.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post Credit Scene – Depending on which version you are watching, there is something before the credits proper start, but after the end of the episode.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

We have just barrelled through the 60th Anniversary specials with The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle; however, we are not done yet. There is a tradition that has been more or less followed throughout the years, and that is a special Christmas Episode. It has been a while since we had a Christmas special that was also our first proper introduction to a new Doctor, but let’s dive in to see if they can pull it off.

So to set the scene, one Christmas Eve, a stranger came to the old church on Ruby Road. A woman cloaked in black dropped her daughter off at the church at midnight and left. She was named Ruby after the street, but no one knew who her mother was or why a time-traveling Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) appeared. In 2023, Ruby (Millie Gibson) is just an average woman going through her life, well, almost normal. Because you see, there is a trail of bad luck that keeps following her around. The bad luck that spawns from tiny little hands pulling out electric plugs. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Doctor Who: The Giggle – TV Review

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TL;DR – A riot of dancing and murder as a villain from the deep past returns and carves up the screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – Many, many messed up dolls.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, it has been a ride, but today, we have come to the end of the three Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. We started with Donna (Catherine Tate) and The Doctor (David Tennant) getting back together in The Star Beast. Then we got weird with Wild Blue Yonder, which harkened back to a classic episode of the show. But all of these come to their fruition tonight when we get an old villain returning, some good friends, oh and probably a regeneration.

So to set the scene, in Soho in 1925, there was a toy maker who was unnerving in the extreme, with a German accent that seemed to slip. I mean, what could be the worst thing to be sent on the first TV signal but a burning doll head? Back in the Today, at the end of Wild Blue Yonder, The Doctor and Donna crash land back into the alley they left in The Star Beastto find Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) waiting for them. Because everyone else has gone into hiding as the world falls apart. Because everyone thinks they are right all the time, and they will not back down for anything. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder – TV Review

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TL;DR – it is all fine and dandy to declare that one should cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, but what it the universe was listening?

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

TARDIS in time and space.

Doctor Who Review –

One of the things that defines Doctor Who is how it uses all its sci-fi gadgetry to solve all the many, many odd situations they find themselves in. But what if you striped that all away? Could they survive? But more so, does the show work?

So to set the scene, we open in England in 1666, where Isaac Newton (Nathaniel Curtis) is about to go out and have an excellent idea under an apple tree. When the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) come crashing into the tree he is sitting under. For you see, at the end of The Star Beast, Donna “accidentally” spilled some coffee on the TARDIS console, and it is a little out of control. After a crash and some flames, the Doctor had to put the TARDIS in rebuild mode, so it was time to work out where they ended up. I mean it should be fine, they have air, light, mavaity, what could go wrong? Which is the point the TARDIS runs away. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Doctor Who: The Star Beast – TV Review

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TL;DR – We hit back to the joyful chaos of the past, and not even a couple of clunky moments hold it back from being a delight.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, there are many constants in the universe, and one of them is Doctor Who getting a new regeneration, or well, in this case, an old regeneration, to prepare for a new regeneration. Look, this is the first time this has happened, but also, this feels like something that could happen all the time. This is also the moment Doctor Who takes a real jump across the pond with the global backing of Disney+. It is both a brand-new era and the return of what has come before, a very Doctor Who situation.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Power of The Doctor, The Doctor regenerated, but something odd happened. Instead of a brand-new body, he knew those teeth, he knew that face, and he was still not a ginger. For The Doctor (David Tennant) had regenerated into the same body as the Tenth Doctor [who technically already got a regeneration, but we don’t count that]. Something is very wrong, or it could be that this version of The Doctor has some unfinished business that he needs to take care of. Which is right when he runs into Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her child Rose (Yasmin Finney) and then a spaceship crashes into the heart of London. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Silo: Outside & Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Kept me on the edge of my seat until the credits rolled

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

They see all.

Silo Review –

I was unsure what to expect when the first episode of Silo, Freedom Day, dropped. I had not read the original novels by Hugh Howey, so when we went down the rabbit hole that was the mystery of the Silo, I was captivated about which turns the show would make. Now that we have seen the first season, I am even more fascinated by where the show can go from here. In today’s review, we will first explore the season finale Outside, before looking at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, things are looking dicey for Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) as she fights to save her life as the judiciaries Robert Sims (Common) and secret lord of the Silo Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) chase her down, trying to contain the information she knows. It is a race against time, but Juliette does not know just how much the chips are stacked against her. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Silo: The Getaway – TV Review

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TL;DR – Much like the staircase that stretches from the top to almost the bottom, the situation in the Silo is starting to spiral out of control.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

Red Level Relic 18

Silo Review –

While Silo started to lose its way, a touch, in the middle, like many shows before and after it, last week’s Hanna felt like an immediate return to form as the show threw off its restraints and started running at 100km an hour. This week continues that same pattern as we barrel along to the season finale.  

So to set the scene, all seems lost as Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) reveals that as well as being the Head of IT, he is also in charge of the secret force that maintains order in the Silo. He and Holston Becker (Common) lie that Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) said she wanted to go outside, a death sentence. There was one hope, as Nichols was being marched up the central staircase, she realised that Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche) was having one of his tremors and used it to escape his grip, grab her bag with the hard drive and dived off the staircase. Thankfully landing on one of the cross-struts and not plummeting to her death 70-odd layers down. But now she is on the run, and almost everyone in the Silo is after her and the secrets she holds. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Silo: Hanna – TV Review

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TL;DR – After some meandering around, we start making a run to the end of the season.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

An underground corn field.

Silo Review –

When we last reviewed Silo with Truth, it was setting up this world of mystery and intrigue, and then it proceeded to meander around for the last couple of episodes, which was fine but didn’t quite capture me in the way those opening episodes did. Well, now we are at the pointy end of the season, and the plot has picked back up as we dive back under the surface to a world on the cusp of falling apart.

So to set the scene, in The Flamekeepers, Juliette Nichols discovers that a group of people have tried to keep information from before the rebellion. With a secret book that shows that the is/was a world outside of the Silo, and it was full of expansive beauty. Alas, Juliette did not notice that the flowers had been removed from her mirror, so now Robert Sims (Common) and the others also know that she knows. But as she tries to find out who is moving people from behind the scenes, Juliette discovers that Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie) might not be the villain she expected her to be. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Ted Lasso: So Long, Farewell and Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Builds upon everything that made the series great by focussing on the character development of every kind  

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Ted sits alone in the stands

Ted Lasso Review –

If there has been one consistent feature over the last few years of that evert the 2020s has been so far, it has been the joy that has come from Ted Lasso. I know this show is stylised, so it could almost be magical realism like The West Wing. But I don’t care. Every moment, every kick of a football, had me on the edge of my chair, and this final season of the show that maybe/probably/we’ll see was no exception. With today’s review, we will first look at the final episode aptly titled So Long, Farewell, and then we will look at the season as a whole.   

So to set the scene, at the end of Season 2, the Richmond Greyhounds fount back from relegation to make it back into the Premier League. This is a triumph for the coaching staff Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein). As well as team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham). As the season went on, there were struggles as “The Wonder Kid” Nathan “Nate” Shelley (Nick Mohammed) and his West Ham United team destroyed the team leading to a massive slump. However, as we come into this final episode, things are looking up, but in Mom City, Ted reveals to Rebecca that it is his time to drop a bombshell, and we open this final episode with Rebecca having breakfast in her house and Ted coming out to join her. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Ted Lasso: Mom City – TV Review

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TL;DR – A beautiful penultimate episode, full of touching moments and set up towards the end.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

The match ball.

Ted Lasso Review –

If there has been one show that has constantly broken my heart while being ultimately uplifting, it has been Ted Lasso. After a triumphant First and Second season, the Third and probably/possibly/maybe final season has still been hitting it out of the park. But as we draw to the penultimate episode, there is a fear not of what has come but of whether it could stick the landing after everything that has happened so far.   

So to set the scene, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and the team are on a 15-match winning streak, so his morning walk through the neighbourhood had a certain bounce in his step. That is until he comes to a bus stop and suddenly discovers his mum (Becky Ann Baker) sitting there. She comes with her stories which is a blast to everyone else, but also memories of the past for Ted. While the team gets ready for their big match against Manchester United, there is a feeling of excitement, but for Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), there is a collapse of confidence on the eve of his most significant match. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.         

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