What TV programmes have you been watching lately?

[Mark James]

Cheers Mark.

Sorry, Didn't mean to hijack the TV thread. To get back on track, I haven't really been watching anything new these days. My friend highly recommends Yellowstone if that's any use to anyone.

[Marc Meakin]

Cheers Mark.

Sorry, Didn't mean to hijack the TV thread. To get back on track, I haven't really been watching anything new these days. My friend highly recommends Yellowstone if that's any use to anyone.

Its on my list of Paramount plus shows that's in my ever increasing queue which isn't helped by the fact I've got Apple TV app and Slow Horses and Black Bird are piquing my interest atm.
Apple is quality over quantity also no app on android which is a bummer

[Marc Meakin]

Just rewatched The Shadow Line on UK TV Play.
It came out in 2011 and its still the best Crime drama mini series I've seen this century (I'm not including serial dramas like Luther)
Not for the faint hearted but absolutely brilliant

[Paul Worsley]

"The Last Of Us" on Sky Atlantic has been good so far. I didn't have high expectations, especially when I heard it was based on a video game, but I'm enjoying it.

[Marc Meakin]

Season 8 of Inside no 9.
Episode 2 (episode 1 was the Christmas special)
A rather gruesome episode but fun and the cameos were good and I liked the ambiguous ending

[Mark James]

I don't watch Coronation Street or I'm a Celebrity but since I'm big perv I was googling Helen Flanagan and was looking at her Wikipedia page and I felt bad for her because she was only nominated for, but didn't win the Best Bitch award. I don't think they should announce the nominees for that award, they should just give it to the winner.

[Marc Meakin]

Inside no 9 3x3 episode.
Very good quiz with Lee Mack.
Loved the Scanners ending

[Gavin Chipper]

Inside no 9 3x3 episode.
Very good quiz with Lee Mack.
Loved the Scanners ending

I thought it was good. The ending was a little silly for me though. Sometimes less is more.

[Marc Meakin]

Inside no 9 3x3 episode.
Very good quiz with Lee Mack.
Loved the Scanners ending

I thought it was good. The ending was a little silly for me though. Sometimes less is more.

I guess because the show is a horror comedy or comedy horror it had to have a dark ending.

[Marc Meakin]

Binging the rather brilliant Poker Face on Sky Max.
Its Columbo (ask your dad) for the 21st century.
It starts with a murder and you see whodunit in the first act and then the next act goes back a touch to introduce Charlie Cale, a woman with a gift for spotting infallably when someone lies.
Written by Rian Johnson, and its fun like knives out and Glass Onion.
Lots of good cameos and some great writing to paper over the cracks of a murder in a different town every week.
10 episodes

[Mark James]

Yep, enjoying Poker Face.

[Marc Meakin]

Yep, enjoying Poker Face.

When you've seen them all we can discuss favourite episodes.
9 is a real doozy
Though the Rest in Metal one is a stand out too as is the one in the retirement home

[Mark James]

Cool. I'm trying not to binge it. First two episodes were on sky last night. Not sure what the regular schedule is but I have it set to record in case I'm not around but I'm hoping not to watch more than two a week.

[Marc Meakin]

Cool. I'm trying not to binge it. First two episodes were on sky last night. Not sure what the regular schedule is but I have it set to record in case I'm not around but I'm hoping not to watch more than two a week.

Its, in box sets though I don't know if you have to pay a premium for that.
I would have preferred to watch 2 a week but my missus was hooked so to avoid FOMO I binged with her

[Mark James]

Watched first two episodes of the new series of Black Mirror. It's pretty good so far.

[Ian Volante]

Watched 'What Remains' over the weekend. It was quite surprising given the set-up, and turned out to be reasonably entertaining.

[Gavin Chipper]

Right my favourite tv shows
Fargo Season 2...even better than season 1.
The man in the high castle.....brilliant Philip K dick adaptation
Inside no. 9 ...dark comedy with one episode The Twelve days of Christine, Jaw droppingly good.
I would go as far to say if youy watch this and are not moved to tears you are one hard bastard !!!

Yes, Inside no 9 is very good . The Christmas special was good though my favourite episode ever was the 12 Days of Christine with Sheridan Smith

Anyone else watching Inside No 9.
It just gets better and better

Yes, but I'd disagree that it just gets better and better.

Well to qualify my statement, I think Season 4 is getting better and better.
I know the 12 days of Christine from Season 2 is the best ever episode.

Shit, I missed it.
My favourite British made anthology series, too (Black Mirror is less British nowadays ).
My favourite Inside No 9 has always been 12 Days of Christine.
I will watch it later today and will answer your question

Inside No. 9 really is tremendous, isn't it? Really glad there's going to be another series. I've enjoyed every episode in one way or another but as Marc has said, "The Twelve Days Of Christine" is the real standout, probably the best half hour of television I've ever seen (and I've been watching TV a long time). I don't think any television programme has ever had such a profound effect on me, I was in absolute bits by the end, crying my eyes out, a bit pathetic really (I'm glad I was on my own when I watched it the first time). I watched it a second time to try to spot all the clues that were in there and I think that was a mistake, because I was even worse when I knew how stuff would tie into the ending. I don't think I could bear to watch it again but I would strongly recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out.

Let's hope your endorsement carries more sway .
It is the best half hour of TV this century for sure.
It's the only thing I've ever bought on Google play.
I've always thought it would make a brilliant play or feature film.
Anyone able to contact Reece or Steve

I did enjoy the episode quite a lot.
I wouldn't put it up there with the best 30 minutes of TV this century that is The 12 Days of Christine.
( Would love them to do a play or a film version of it btw )
But I would say that I loved the advent calendar vignettes but I think maybe the no 9 should have been an expansion of the car crash rather than the father and son fight but never the less the best show on the BBC

Has anyone else here been watching Dispatches From Elsewhere?

I guess that's a no then.

Now it's finished I'm not much wiser as to what it was all about, but it was imaginative, thought-provoking and I enjoyed the ride. Also, the soundtrack featured some great original music, of which this is a standout example.

Meanwhile, having started two weeks ago, I'm three seasons in to Schitt's Creek and absolutely loving it. Somebody called it "Breaking Good" which sums it up pretty neatly. The last episode of season 2 (the one with the anniversary dinner) has joined the finale of Blackadder Goes Forth and Inside No. 9's The Twelve Days of Christine on my list of the finest TV episodes of all time.

Because we have never been so spoilt for choice and time to watch TV and box sets I have been giving shows a 4 episodes trial .
I tend to judge if it's worth sticking with or not by then.
I think the biggest test of that system recently was Dark (Netflix) . The subtitles kept making me tired but when I switched to dubs and the dubbing actors were reasonable did I start to properly get into it.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the best Netflix show ever.
But it needs some concentration.
You certainly can't play with your phone whilst watching it. But I got round that by watching it on my phone

First episode was very clever especially if you are familiar comedia Italia and Reservoir dogs.
Also enjoyed the Meta moments

Yeah, I mean I got that it was referencing stuff even if there were probably several that went over my head, but I think there have been better episodes.

Oh yes, my favourite being the 12 days of Christine.
I bought the book of the scripts of the first 3 seasons but there is a printing error and the pages have been put in reverse order
Unless i am missing a joke here, and scripts are printed that way

I've now watched seven episodes of inside number nine thanks to a friend putting them on whenever I was around. Thought based on the title that it would be a political thing like the crown, I guess I assumed 9 downing street was a relevant building. Anyway some were better than others as is always the case with this kind of show

Best episode was The 12 days of Christine season 2 episode 4 I think

I was round a friend's last night and he's working his way through Inside No 9 for the first time, and we happened to watch The 12 Days of Christine. I think it's only the second time I've seen it. I thought it was good, but I still don't see it as this stand-out all-time great piece of television. I'm not sure I have a favourite episode of Inside No 9 either.

[Marc Meakin]

I think it was just the best use of 30 minutes I have seen on TV it has humour, drama, it's heartbreaking and clever in equal measures.
It takes a lot to move me and this does every time and it gets better with every viewing.
I would be interested, what your best 30 minutes of tv is outside of a Richard Whitely Countdown episode

[Callum Todd]

The crossword one is good

[Gavin Chipper]

I think it was just the best use of 30 minutes I have seen on TV it has humour, drama, it's heartbreaking and clever in equal measures.
It takes a lot to move me and this does every time and it gets better with every viewing.
I would be interested, what your best 30 minutes of tv is outside of a Richard Whitely Countdown episode

I don't really have an answer to that. I'll have to think.

[Marc Meakin]

The crossword one is good

I liked the silent one they did, though season one of Only Murders in the Building nicked it

[Marc Meakin]

Hapless.
Both seasons are on Amazon Prime though season 1 is on Netflix.
Basically a British Curb and an education on being a Jew all rolled into one.
Was a little perplexed that the sister and the father are both played by different actors, the writing is the star here.
Its known as the Jewish Enquirer in America for some reason.
Very funny and cringey and was made during and post covid and it is a reflexion of the absurdities of lockdown, vaccinations etc

[Marc Meakin]

If like me you thought Oppenheimer wasn't long enough as a film to tell his story and the science behind this there is a fantastic series on BBC I player to watch a 7 hour series made in 1980.

[Tom S]

Watched the latest series of scandi-noir detective series Beck on IPlayer, and can highly recommend.

[Marc Meakin]

The Following Events are Based on A Pack of Lies.
5 episodes binged on the Player
Very well made dark comedy about a serial fraudster and the attempt to bring him to justice

[Gavin Chipper]

I think it was just the best use of 30 minutes I have seen on TV it has humour, drama, it's heartbreaking and clever in equal measures.
It takes a lot to move me and this does every time and it gets better with every viewing.
I would be interested, what your best 30 minutes of tv is outside of a Richard Whitely Countdown episode

I don't really have an answer to that. I'll have to think.

Back on the Inside No 9 thing, I've been working my way through all the episodes again with a friend, and by the end I hope to have an answer to which is my favourite episode (though not my best 30 minutes of any TV programme). I've brought this up again now because we watched the live episode "Dead Line" last night. We discussed this at the time, but I still can't draw any conclusion other than that it was awful.

People have made the point about people switching off when they went back to the old episode, and you could say it's clever that they did that, but that was about a third of the way through. The rest was a confused, incoherent mess, and it wasn't clear what it was trying to achieve.

By the way, here is the IMDb list. They agree with you about The 12 Days of Christine being the best. I would say there are some "interesting" choices in their top 10. For example, we also watched "Tempting Fate" last night, which is number 10 on the list. I thought it was a pretty throwaway episode.

[Marc Meakin]

I was fond of the clever ones like Riddle of The Sphinx and Zanzibar.
Also the ones that subvert the genre like Mr King

[Marc Meakin]

Watched the last Series of the Crown, season 6.
Was a bit dubious about watching it as with other shows they have resorted to killing off a lot of main characters.
Hoping for a spinoff series

[Marc Meakin]

The current and probably last Series of Curb.
Still one of the only shows on TV to make me actually belly laugh.... well until the next Tory Party political broadcast at least.

I love all the peripheral characters more than Larry, especially Suzie and Leon and now Tracy Ullman getting the best lines too

[Gavin Chipper]

Looking forward to watching that.

[Marc Meakin]

One Day on Netflix.
Not the sort of show I would usually watch it's basically 15 episodes of a relationship between 2 friends and sometimes lovers
Based on the book by David Nicholas.
The writing is top notch and the 2 leads are excellent.
Its so easy to binge, given that each episode is around 30 minutes

[Marc Meakin]

Last Tango In Halifax.
Late to the party but it's well written and acted.
We have made a decision to stop watching depressing soaps and watch quality serial dramas instead

[Paul Worsley]

True Detective. Night Country.

A bit confusing at times, but it all made sense in the end. Jodie Foster was very good, as was her co-star, Kali Reis.

[Marc Meakin]

True Detective. Night Country.

A bit confusing at times, but it all made sense in the end. Jodie Foster was very good, as was her co-star, Kali Reis.

Spoiler Alert



I enjoyed it too though all the supernatural stuff turned to be a bit of a red herring in the end.
It didn't have all the true detective tropes,.
2 less episodes and no extended interview scenes considering what the 2 protagonists managed to cover up

[Mark James]

I have been watching the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Brilliant as usual although not as good as previous seasons.

Also watched Season 1 of Barry with Bill Hader which is excellent. Can't wait to watch the rest.

[Gavin Chipper]

I've been working my way through Yes Minister / Prime Minister on the iPlayer. They've been repeating them on Tuesday evenings and leaving them on the iPlayer for a month (rather than indefinitely as they do with some programmes). But the last couple of Tuesdays it hasn't been on for some reason. Also one episode was omitted because it mentioned Israel/Palestine but I found it on Dailymotion.

Anyway it's pretty good, although a lot of the episodes are of the same basic formula.

[Marc Meakin]

I've been working my way through Yes Minister / Prime Minister on the iPlayer. They've been repeating them on Tuesday evenings and leaving them on the iPlayer for a month (rather than indefinitely as they do with some programmes). But the last couple of Tuesdays it hasn't been on for some reason. Also one episode was omitted because it mentioned Israel/Palestine but I found it on Dailymotion.

Anyway it's pretty good, although a lot of the episodes are of the same basic formula.

Silly I know but never watched this, since I found out it was Maggie Thatchers favourite TV show.

Do like The Thick of It though and Veep

[Tal Lessner]

I really love both Yes (Prime) Minister and the Iannucci political series/films.
The fact that a despicable woman liked something I like isn't a good enough reason to stop liking it.

[Tal Lessner]

I have been watching the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Brilliant as usual although not as good as previous seasons.

Also watched Season 1 of Barry with Bill Hader which is excellent. Can't wait to watch the rest.

I think the current final series of Curb is as brilliant as its predecessors. He had a couple of seasons that were slightly weaker than his usual (Series 8 & 9, the ones before and after the show's hiatus), but Larry David at his weakest is still better and funnier than anybody else.

[Marc Meakin]

Yeah Curb is still going strong, I do hope Larry David changes his mind and makes another series

[Gavin Chipper]

Not that he's in it all the time, but the death of Richard Lewis probably makes it less likely if anything.

[Marc Meakin]

Not that he's in it all the time, but the death of Richard Lewis probably makes it less likely if anything.

Bob Einstein died, (Marty Funkhouser) and he was in it more regularly than Richard Lewis.
I think unless David gets killed off in the end then even if he ends up in jail, as is likely he could do another series.
I think J B Smoove who plays Leon Black is my favourie

[Tal Lessner]

Not that he's in it all the time, but the death of Richard Lewis probably makes it less likely if anything.

Bob Einstein died, (Marty Funkhouser) and he was in it more regularly than Richard
I think unless David gets killed off in the end then even if he ends up in jail, as is likely he could do another series.
I think J B Smoove who plays Leon Black is my favourie

I have a feeling he'll end up in jail since the beginning of the season, homage to the Seinfeld finale. Only unlike the Seinfeld one, regardless of jail or not, this finale will probably be really good.

[Marc Meakin]

Not that he's in it all the time, but the death of Richard Lewis probably makes it less likely if anything.

Bob Einstein died, (Marty Funkhouser) and he was in it more regularly than Richard
I think unless David gets killed off in the end then even if he ends up in jail, as is likely he could do another series.
I think J B Smoove who plays Leon Black is my favourie

I have a feeling he'll end up in jail since the beginning of the season, homage to the Seinfeld finale. Only unlike the Seinfeld one, regardless of jail or not, this finale will probably be really good.

Probably have the Seinfeld cast in the last episode

[Ian Volante]

Larry David at his weakest is still better and funnier than anybody else.

Wow, there's no accounting for taste! I've felt like the small bits of this and Seinfeld I've seen were arse-clenchingly boring to watch.

[Gavin Chipper]

I think Seinfeld is more hit and miss than Curb. I still like it but it's not among my very favourites.

[Marc Meakin]

I think Seinfeld is more hit and miss than Curb. I still like it but it's not among my very favourites.

Seinfeld was better when David was at the helm apart from the finale which was a fuck you to everyone.
Curb is mostly great, sometimes brilliant and occasionally meh.
Still the best, mostly unscripted show ever

[Tal Lessner]

Watching them today, Curb is probably funnier than Seinfeld.
But that's mostly affected by time. Seinfeld (the show) is 35 years old, at its time it was more groundbreaking and funnier than its contemporaries. Also today I find it funny as hell, especially considering it was on public tv (no swearing, laugh track etc).
Anyway, I consider both of these as the best comedies of their time, and by a landslide.

Marc, I wouldn't call Curb "mostly unscripted" there are some improvised dialogues, but the plotlines are scripted, the situations are scripted, and the ability of Larry David to take separate plotlines and bring them together in the most hilarious fashion is very carefully scripted.
This ability, to connect several plotlines to one big final joke at the end of an episode is something he has mastered already in Seinfeld, not just Curb.

[Marc Meakin]

Mandy Season 3 on the Iplayer.
Its probably not for everyone but I find it hilarious though episode 5 is fucking scary.
Only 20 minutes an episode.
Diane Morgan is very good and how she contorts her face and walks is an art in itself.

[Gavin Chipper]

Mandy Season 3 on the Iplayer.
Its probably not for everyone but I find it hilarious though episode 5 is fucking scary.
Only 20 minutes an episode.
Diane Morgan is very good and how she contorts her face and walks is an art in itself.

I think this is an under-the-radar classic programme. It's more like 15 minutes per episode by the way, so always short stories and to the point. Also I don't know if you've seen it but the pilot is on the iPlayer. I hadn't noticed it before but if you search "Comedy shorts" it comes up. It's about Mandy wanting to buy a sofa.

[Marc Meakin]

Mandy Season 3 on the Iplayer.
Its probably not for everyone but I find it hilarious though episode 5 is fucking scary.
Only 20 minutes an episode.
Diane Morgan is very good and how she contorts her face and walks is an art in itself.

I think this is an under-the-radar classic programme. It's more like 15 minutes per episode by the way, so always short stories and to the point. Also I don't know if you've seen it but the pilot is on the iPlayer. I hadn't noticed it before but if you search "Comedy shorts" it comes up. It's about Mandy wanting to buy a sofa.

Yeah I've seen that, it's a different Lola and Mandy has her hair different.
You are right it is 15 minutes and yes it's a hidden gem but episode 5 on season 3 is very scary but still funny

[Marc Meakin]

I liked the final episode of Curb.
Especially poignant with Richard Lewis having a prominent role and the call backs to Seinfeld.
Truly the best Comedy of the 21st Century.

Only a month until the last Series of Inside No 9.

This year will truly be the end of an era.

Also watching the grossly under-rated Fat Friends.
Tried watching on Netflix but no subs so watching it on ITVX..
Ruth Jones was brilliant in this

[Tal Lessner]

https://youtu.be/6guv0bzrIyk?si=kkmkweB8UfThw5IA

Loved the finale. A brilliant take on the Seinfeld one.

[Marc Meakin]

Baby Reindeer on Netflix.
An autobiographical account of a comedians experience with his deranged stalker.
Based on his one man play of the same name this story is brutal at times episode 4 of 7 is particularly dark and quite disturbing.
Kudos to Gadd who plays himself in this, warts and all and there are a lot of warts, he isn't always the most sympathetic of characters which makes the whole saga so compelling.
Highly recommended.
If you do watch it, I'm interested to know who Darian is based on