• Squad
    2 Dec 2023, 8:29 a.m.

    I fell off watching them after they left for Amazon. I’m not sure why as I watched a couple and enjoyed them (see also Clarkson on the farm thingy).

    Might get some watched over Christmas.

  • 2 Dec 2023, 9:50 a.m.

    I find Paddy Mcguiness pretty unwatchable, so haven’t watched much of the latest incarnation of Top Gear. Liked it when it was Clarkson, May, Hammond but don’t have Amazon except on occasional free trials so have only watched a few Grand Tours.

  • 2 Dec 2023, 11:10 a.m.

    Watched Treason on Netflix. Started promisingly and then quickly got a bit silly. Reminded me a little of Bodyguard from a few years back - the final episode of that was laugh-out-loud bad.

  • 2 Dec 2023, 12:41 p.m.

    I've watched a few like that recently. See. The Recruit and Culprits

  • 25 Dec 2023, 4:57 p.m.

    Slow Horses has been excellent this season. I have the books but clearly haven't got around to reading them. Gary Oldman is sensational as Jackson Lamb as the lead charge of a bunch of MI5 fuck ups. Best performance of his career. The show is great too. Top Telly.

    In rather surprising news, Juno Temple can really act. She is fabulous in the new season of Fargo which John Hamm doing his best impression of a mad militia friendly religious libertarian nutjob. The last incarnation with Chris Rock was rubbish but this is back to it's daffy best with mad violence and goofy dialogue. NIce!

    A Bit late to the party but am loving Toyko Vice which is on Max (HBO max) whatever the fucker you call it nowadays. It's loosely based on a true story with an American Gaijin journalist investigating the Yakuza in Tokyo. It's really well done and was developed by Michael Mann who always tries some stylish takes on modern crime stories. It's dark, devilish and delves deep into Japanese culture. Having been to Japan a few times I think it does a really good job of looking at the underbelly of this odd and fascinating society. It could all fall apart by so far totally engrossing.

    Chicago: Dark Passenger.

  • 25 Dec 2023, 10:59 p.m.

    Agreed, Slow Horses is great and Oldman is brilliant in it.

  • 26 Dec 2023, 6:39 a.m.

    Ghosts finale could probably have done with another fifteen minutes as there wasn’t enough of the ghosts in it (although that may have been the point). And it doesn’t really work with the way they established the premise at the start. But clever of them to leave it reasonably open for future specials.

  • 30 Dec 2023, 11:49 a.m.

    Mortimer and Whitehouse was very good last night. Possibly biased as I am a fly fisherman as well as a man of a certain age.

  • 2 Jan 2024, 3:01 p.m.

    Season two of Reacher is great if you want action packed switch your mind off tv

  • 6 Jan 2024, 7:41 a.m.

    I like Slow Horses for the performances but, having raced through the second and third series, the plot in the second series makes no sense at all and the final episode of series three seems to come from an entirely different show as all the main characters suddenly become super heroes.

  • 13 Jan 2024, 6:36 a.m.

    Robert Iler (AJ Soprano) is now the same age as James Gandolfini was (38) when the Sopranos first aired.

  • 5 Feb 2024, 2:54 p.m.

    True Detective: Night Country is not bad, not up to the standard of S1 but far better than the next two. I'm really struggling with Christopher Eccleston's accent though.

  • 5 Feb 2024, 3:10 p.m.

    Renowned Manc John Thompson was in Silent Witness the other week, playing a Cock-er-nee copper. Just could not get used to that.

  • 10 Feb 2024, 11:55 a.m.

    Long Shot on Netflix. Interesting short-form documentary about an innocent man facing the death penalty for murder 20 years ago, who needed his attorney to pull several rabbits out of the hat to successfully prove he was at a baseball game at the time with his young daughter. Quite astonishing the chain of events that ultimately made that possible.

    The American justice system is terrifying at times. Bloke was staring at death row for no obvious other reason than the fact he looked 'generic Hispanic', and a couple of LA detectives though he was the ticket to a swift conviction.

  • 10 Feb 2024, 11:57 a.m.

    Agreed. Blitzed the Reacher series while off work sick just after Christmas.

  • 11 Feb 2024, 6 p.m.

    Season 2 of Reacher is completely mindless but not as good as the first iteration as this time he is literally the Terminator which basically makes any sense of drama moot.

    So ultimately vacuous bollocks. Shame, as the cast is good but it is starting to get predictable.

    Speaking of the American justice system earlier in this thread American Nightmare on Netflix is another inditement of the police who really are lazy cnuts and are generally not really about justice but wins. Very interesting documentary.

    One Day (which I am led to believe was a BBC show) on the other hand is fantastic. It has only just made it over here but so far it really is great. It reminds me of my awkward youth when it comes to girls and shagging and friendship. Very funny.

    Chicago: All over the place.