Tag Archives: British Television

Silo: Freedom Day – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a solid start to the intrigue that did the best job a first episode can do, making me want to see more.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Allison seeing something that they tried to keep hidden.

Silo Review –

I am always looking for a new genre show with an exciting spin on a setting. While the whole hiding away from the apocalypse in a bunker has been done before, probably most famously by Fallout. However, I am still drawn to this setting for the narrative potential you can find. Let’s bring on this new dystopian/post-apocalyptic/mystery and see what it can do.   

So to set the scene, they do not know why they are there, who built the Silo, why the world outside is a toxic mess, or if it will ever be safe to go back outside. It is on this day when Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo) goes up to his office, takes off his badge, locks himself in a jail cell, and utters the words that chill his Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) to the core “I want to go out”. The only words once spoken that can’t be taken back. Someone is waiting for him out there in the dust, Allison (Rashida Jones), whom we met over three years earlier. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.      

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The Diplomat: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a delightfully amusing show for one delving into such topical stories. Like if The West Wing met Utopia by way of The Crown.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

A British funeral

The Diplomat Review –

In a former life, I got very much down the rabbit hole of the world of international affairs. While that is now deep in the past, it is nice to dip your toes back into what could have been from time to time. I thought I would do this when I saw a new show about being the new Ambassador from the USA to the UK. I am not quite sure what I was expecting when I sat down to watch, but I am not sure that a show that is equal parts drama and farce was one of them.

So to set the scene, after years of being the deputy chief of Mission for her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is getting ready to step up and be the next Ambassador to Afghanistan. However, there was no ambassador in London, which was a problem when an external actor attacked the Aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. So without warning, Kate is dropped into the thick of it as most people see this as an Iranian attack to avenge the Americans for taking an oil tanker earlier in the month. However, while Kate is trying to find her feet, what she is not aware of, but what White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) has given Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandoh), Deputy Chief of Mission, has given the heads up about is that Kate is on a shortlist to replace the Vice President who is about to get turfed in a scandal. Kate would be good for the job if not for the fact that her marriage is about to implode. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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How Ted Lasso Perfected the Nothing/Everything Episode with Sunflowers – Article

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TL;DR – This article explores how a show can have an episode focused on nothing, yet still be everything.  

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

Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

How Ted Lasso Perfected the Nothing/Everything Episode with Sunflowers –

One of the significant shifts in the Television landscape was the move from more episodic episodes to more serialised outings. It started taking steam in the 1990s with shows like Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine. But this would explode in the streaming era, with nearly every show you watch having some serialised component. Whether the show works with the serialised content does not matter. With the insertion of boilerplate narrative arcs becoming more of the norm, looking at you Wednesday. In this world, can you have a stand-alone, nothing episode anymore?

There was a time when shows like Seinfeld built themselves around being the show about nothing, where there was no character growth. However, today if you have an episode, let alone a series, where nothing happens, you will get a chorus of comments claiming condensation over there being filler. I have seen a claim championed time after time, whether the show was filler. But can you still have an engaging episode of TV that does not move the plot along in the current landscape? Well, you must trust your audience to come along with you if you want to attempt something like this. Trust which is something that is earned, not given.

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Lockwood & Co. Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was a fascinating series with an exciting premise yet to show its full hand, but I want to see where it goes.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

A UV Protection light for night.

Lockwood & Co. Review –

There are some shows that you check out just because there is an idea that is so interesting that you need to check it out. What happens if ghosts are real and they just start attacking people? How would that change a modern society where death is all around? It is a question that I very much wanted to find out.

So to set the scene, it has been 50 years since the problem changed the world. One day people just started to drop dead in mysterious ways at night. Soon the world discovers that ghosts or visitors have come back, and if they touch you, well, you’re dead. It was a chaotic time as the world tried to find out how to fight back until they discovered the power of Iron, Salt, and Silver and that some children and teenagers could see the visitors fight them. In 2020, one of those teenagers is Lucy Carlyle (Ruby Stokes), but after being hung out to dry by her former boss, she makes the trip to London to join one of the giant ghost agencies. But without her parent’s permission, no one will take her, well that is until she stumbles into the office of Lockwood & Co., run by Anthony Lockwood (Cameron Chapman) and supported by George Karim (Ali Hadji-Heshmati). They are the only agency that is run by the teens who are doing the dying, so they know what the stakes are. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.   

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Doctor Who: The Power of The Doctor – TV Review

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TL;DR – While this episode looks back to the past, I feel it might have the ability to steer the show into the future while also getting to be a romp in its own right.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I watched this on ABC iView.

The TARDIS in Space.

Doctor Who Review –

When it comes to Doctor Who, well, it is a history of highs and lows. Some of those early memories of the show linger in my consciousness. One look at a gas mask and I get ripped back in time, you walk into an extensive library, and suddenly, there is a hint of concern. But no matter how much I tried, I fell off the recent series. Every time I jump back in, like with Revolution Of The Daleks, I bounce back off again. But with Jodie Whittaker’s time coming to an end, I thought I should give it one more time.   

So to set the scene, we open in as emergency transmission from the Torajii Transport Network blares out across all frequencies because they are about to be hijacked by Cybermen. The guards kill the Cybermen, but when things seem safe, the Cybermen start to regenerate. But the ship’s call for help does not go unanswered as The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill), and Dan (John Bishop) jump from the TARDIS to help. But things onboard go from bad to worse as the Cybermen are after ‘The Cargo’, and they are not Cybermen but Cybermasters. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Sandman: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a genuinely odd series bouncing from one story to the next with the power of a tsunami, yet somehow it all flows together into a grand gothic fairy-tale.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes of abuse and scenes that may cause distress.

The Sandman looks into a sunrise.

The Sandman Review –

In 2019, I wrote an article on how we entered a New Golden Age of Science Fiction on Television. However, in the last twelve months, we have gotten, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, Shadow and Bone, The Wheel of Time, The Witcher, and more. It is such an incredible rise that I think I need to update my article and explore the new Golden Age of Fantasy on TV, and the next entry into this world is the dark gothic fairy-tale set in the modern world.

So to set the scene, humans go about their day in the real world, but every night they dream, but for some reason, they feel that The Dreaming realm is somehow less natural just because it is filled with dreams and nightmares, and they wake up in the ‘real’ world every morning, well most of the time. The Lord of this Realm is Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), one of the seven Endless, powerful beings that shape all forms of reality. In 1916, when one of his nightmares, the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), goes rogue, Morpheus takes a rare trip to the ‘real’ world to take care of the matter personally. However, at that moment, an incompetent aristocratic occultist called Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) delves into spells he does not understand because he wants to capture Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) to bring back his beloved son, who was killed in Gallipoli. Still, he gets Morpheus and binds him under his mansion for 106 years. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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The Great: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – There is an absurd chaos on display from start to finish.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Great: Season 2. Image Credit: Stan.

The Great Review –

There is something so odd watching something proposing to be one thing but is another. There is a level of tonal dissonance that can take you out of the experience if there is not a deft hand on show. Today we look at a show that dances through history while ignoring actual events for a more engaging story.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, Catherine (Elle Fanning) finally made her move on Peter (Nicholas Hoult) with the help of her advisors Orlo (Sacha Dhawan) and Velementov (Douglas Hodge). Catherine had to sacrifice her lover to take the crown, but her love for Russia overtook her personal desires. However, Peter still has some support at court and weeks in. He still controls part of the Palace even though he is now surrounded. Time is short, and the one constant is everyone around Peter and Catherine has made it clear, they need to kill the other. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Ted Lasso: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Builds upon everything that made the first season 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 Lasso: Season 2. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Ted Lasso Review –

When I came into the first season of Ted Lasso, there was so much praise and hype around the show that there was no way it could ever live up to those expectations. But not only did the show live up to them, but it also exceeded them. However, surely now with its sophomore season, it can’t strike lightning twice? Well, can I just say, in the echoes of T2: Judgement Day or Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the second helping is even better than the first.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, things were not looking great for the English Premier League team, AFC Richmond. After a gruelling season under new coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), the team was moments away from saving themselves from relegation when a play from ex-teammate Jamie Tartt (Jeremy Swift) sealed their fate. Relegated, the team tries to fight back to the Premier League only to start their season with seven tied matches. But just when it looks like they will turn a corner, the win is stolen from them when the penalty Dani (Cristo Fernández) kicked accidentally kills the team mascot. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Ted Lasso: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Heart-warming and sincere without ever being saccharine.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

The Media Conference in Ted Lasso. Image Credit: Apple TV+.

Ted Lasso Review –

When I first got Apple TV+ for Foundation, I knew that I would probably take the chance to check out what else was there because nothing had called me before. Well, if I was going to start somewhere, I thought I might as well go with the series that just obliterated the Emmys. However, I went in with a thought that it could never live up to all the hype … I was wrong, it could, and it did.

So to set the scene, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is working as an NFL coach in America. He led the Wichita State Shockers to a Division II NCAA championship, an impressive feat. While that win put him on the radar of several NFL clubs in America, an offer right out of left field caught his attention. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) was the new owner of AFC Richmond, an English Premier League Football club, and she offered him the job of team manager. Ted jumps at the chance and brings along his coaching partner, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), all the way over to London only to get thrown in the deep end and demolished by the press like Trent Crimm for The Independent (James Lance). However, he soon finds his feet. Unfortunately for Ted, Rebecca got the team from her ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head) in the divorce, but she has no intention of letting it thrive. She wanted the one thing her husband truly cared about to go down in flames. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Sex Education: Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This show keeps going from strength to strength with more in-depth storytelling.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this show

Sex Education. Image Credit: Netflix.

Sex Education Review –

If there is one show that constantly surprises me at how honest and explorative they will be, it would be Sex Education. Every episode is designed to both shock the viewer but then also be filled with deeply heartfelt stories. The combination creates a show that should be jarring, but rather than that, it just works. As we dive into the third season, there was always a chance that the steam would run out, that the juxtaposition would falter. While it might do that one day, this season still holds the line.

So to set the scene, at the end of Season Two, there was a lot of drama that befell the small town of Moredale. Otis (Asa Butterfield) finally expressed his love for Maeve (Emma Mackey) through a voicemail message, which would have been amazing if Isaac (George Robinson) had not deleted it. Jean (Gillian Anderson) discovered that she is pregnant with her ex-partner Jakob’s (Mikael Persbrandt) baby, and the hierarchy of Moredale Secondary School came crashing down when Michael’s (Alistair Petrie) plan to discredit Jean blew up in his face. Well, over summer, everything shifted, with Otis dating Ruby (Mimi Keene) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) is starting a new relationship with Adam (Connor Swindells), But none of them are ready for the new headmistress Hope (Jemima Kirke), that is about to change all of their worlds. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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