stevev-34095's Reviews

The Gathering (2024– )

8/10

Horrible people treating other horrible people horriibly

18 May 2024

None of us know what we will do in a situation until that situation arises, this drama tells us that we will probably behave very badly. One character in this drama could be described as a 'high functioning sociopath' all the rest seem like ordinary people who find themselves behaving very badly to each other.

I've seen the first 2 episodes and will definitely be watching the rest.

Good acting, strong and original plot and interesting sub-plots make this one worth watching. Be warned that the language is bad and the 'sex acts' quite realistic (traditional sex seems to have gone out of fashion).

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The Cuckoo (2024)

6/10

Great cast but...

10 April 2024

Claire Goose, Lee Ingleby and Jill Halfpenny are all well known and respected actors who I assume can pick and choose their parts so I am worried that they all decided this was the best work available. I'm not saying Cuckoo is rubbish, so far it's actually better than most crime/suspense dramas but it isn't going to become a classic that people talk about for years either.

As usual with Ch5 dramas the budget is tight and it shows, Half way through the 2nd episode I realised it was supposed to be set in the Lake District but it was obviously filmed elsewhere for tax reasons. Overall the plot is less predictable than some dramas and it passes the time pleasantly enough.

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Passenger (2024– )

7/10

What is it? Where is it? When is it?

25 March 2024

If Sally Wainright (Happy Valley) and M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) got drunk while watching an episode of The League of Gentlemen they would end up writing something like this.

After watching the first episode I am confused and intrigued. People drive around in 25 year old cars but have smart phones. Someone plays a computer game from the 80s but they are an anti-fracking protester. Is this place even 'real'? I'm thinking 'Lost', 'Life on Mars' even 'The Truman Show'.

The first episode was quite disjointed and demanded patience from it's audience, that's a big ask these days. They did enough to get me watching episode 2 but only just.

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Too Good to Be True (2024)

5/10

Predictably predictable

24 February 2024

My first thought about this was 'Surely they haven't given away the plot in the title?'. After about 30 minutes I realised the answer was 'Yes, they have'.

At this point I decided to turn my brain off to prevent any possible damage but continued watching. Actually, if you watch it in brain off mode it's not that bad, there was even a twist at the very end that I didn't see coming, the sort where you ask yourself afterwards: 'Why didn't I see that coming?'.

Channel 5 give us new dramas on a very small budget which is great but sometimes the quality suffers. It's unambitious, undemanding viewing, you will see worse shows this year, which is a depressing thought.

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The Way (II) (2024)

7/10

My head hurts but in a good way!

20 February 2024

I've only seen the 1st episode and honestly don't know if I liked it or not. The only thing I'm sure of is that any Welsh actor who didn't get a role in this should fire their agent!

It would be easy to dismiss this as a Michael Sheen vanity project and 'jobs for the boyos' (and girlos) but it's much more than that. In a world where our evenings are usually filled with crime dramas written by people who think having a female lead is 'edgy' and 'innovative' (where have they been the the last 10 years?) this is a welcome change.

So will I watch the remaining episodes? I'm not sure, I suspect all the surprise, magic and innovation was in episode 1. But if you are looking for something different: This is it!

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Trigger Point (2022– )

5/10

Spoiler alert: Bang!, cliché, Bang!, ridiculous 'shock'

11 February 2024

If this was a Monty Python sketch the end of season 2, episode 2 would be the point when someone would run onto the set and say 'Stop that, it's silly!'.

If I were an 11 year old schoolboy I would enjoy this, unfortunately I haven't been an 11 year old for many years. If you like explosions this is the show for you, if you are looking for anything interesting between the explosions avoid. The actors give strange performances, perhaps they know what they are saying is rubbish. None of the weaknesses of season one have been fixed.

It's sad and worrying that ITV thinks this one of their flagship shows. We have been through a golden age for TV but for free to air viewers this show is proof that it's over.

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Invitation to a Murder (2023)

3/10

Agatha Christie meets Frankenstein's monster

2 January 2024

If all the paragraphs that were cut from the final draft of Agatha Christie's stories were sewn together you would end up with something like this. If I was being kind I would call it a homage, if I was being truthful I would call it a rip-off. I admire the ambition of Ch5 to broadcast new(ish) drama to a UK audience on a limited budget but by broadcasting this at Christmas they were trying to fool us into thinking this was a genuine Christie story while we were all too drunk to notice. None of the characters were convincing, some of them barely existed at all. The story came to a sudden and unsatisfying end, I assume they ran out of plot and/or money.

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Doctor Who: Unleashed: The Church on Ruby Road (2023)

Season 1, Episode 4

6/10

'The Giggle' should have been the Christmas episode

26 December 2023

Two episodes in a row with a musical scene? Mistake. The new Doctor spinning around in a club showing a group of young people what's under his kilt? Mistake (and done by Homer Simpson years ago). Comical Goblins being the new Doctors first enemy? Mistake. The Giggle should have been the Christmas episode, this one wasn't strong enough to be the Christmas episode and not strong enough to be the new Doctors first episode. On the plus side the Doctor-Companion combination looks promising and the intriguing 'mavity' storyline is still there in the background. Enough to keep me watching? Yes, but only just.

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Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023)

Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

9/10

Imaginative, a masterly deception (perhaps) and a Flash Gordon reference!

10 December 2023

Warning: Spoilers

RTD cleverly played on our fears about what the Disney money would mean for the show, in Star Beast he created a creature that seemed to be destined for the Disney store (and still could be if it had a good/evil switch like in a Simpsons Halloween episode). The news that an American actor would play the Toymaker in 'The Giggle' was worrying but Neil Patrick Harris was excellent, the role could have been written for him and maybe it was.

The episode was a great spectacle and full of things to think about, for example, the Toymaker claimed to have defeated the Master but did he? The chaos on Earth seemed more like the Master's work than the Toymaker.

There was a nice touch at the end when an unknown hand picked up the tooth with the Master (allegedly) inside, this references the end of the movie 'Flash Gordon' when someone picks up Emperor Ming's ring. The original Toymaker and Emperor Ming were both Asiatic style characters controversially played by white actors (Michael Gough and Max Von Sydow). Who picked it up? Has someone close to the Doctor turned evil?

Disappointing that the 'mavity' plot was ignored, maybe that's for later. Very unlike the Doctor to interfere in that way. Not interested in why the new Doctor has no trousers!

Overall very clever and entertaining, looking forward to seeing more of the new Doctor.

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Payback (I) (2023)

5/10

One woman's struggle against poor customer service in the banking industry!

8 November 2023

Warning: Spoilers

I will watch the final episode but only because I've watched the previous ones. After a few hours the endless chain of bank accounts that might contain the missing money but actually don't gets boring. Actually that's not true, it was boring from the start! The only interesting part of the plot is guessing who the accomplices are and who the criminal's source inside the police is.

I'm afraid this is yet another of the endless stream of instantly forgettable crime dramas that fill the schedules these days. We need TV that is willing to take risks and be different from all the rest but don't hold your breath.

I've now watched the final episode (LOTS OF SPOILERS, not a disaster but could have been better. The suspiciously loyal au pair was a red herring. The corrupt police office was a junior nobody, which is probably the way it is in reality. The apparent 'hero' of the drama technically planned a murder by delaying the arrival of the police at the docks. I'm not sure that I think of that!

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Wolf (2023)

8/10

And now for something completely different!

11 August 2023

Tired of watching the never ending stream of mediocre crime dramas? Yearning for something unlike anything you've ever seen before? Well you are in luck because Wolf is different in so many ways, some of them good, some of them not so good. Stick with it because some of the things that don't seem to work at the start aren't what they seem. In particular the two supposedly intelligent, sadistic psychopaths behaving like they are a comedy double act at Butlins. Is it realistic? No, of course not! None of them are, I watched Endeavour, which is a well liked series, one week the solution was carnival twins the next week it was a tiger! Wolf is no more or less believable than that. I've seen the first four episodes and will definitely be watching the other two.

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The Canterville Ghost (2021)

6/10

A low budget production with too many corners cut

30 December 2022

Right from the start you know they didn't have much money to spend on this production.

There is a 'horse riding' scene that looks like something from a 1930s comedy.

The father is wearing a wig straight out of the dressing up box, yet the show won an Emmy for outstanding makeup and hairstyling!

The mother has an 'American' accent that changes often, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. I expect more from Caroline Katz even if the budget didn't include money for a voice coach. We will never be able to mock Dick van Dyke's 'cockney' accent again!

BYUtv part funded this so it will have been shown in America, I assume it was re-dubbed.

On the plus side Lizzy Connelly has fun playing 'Moppy' Stilton, her description of her 'charity' work in Africa is hilarious and maybe rather too close to the truth.

Overall it passed the time and the whole family can watch it but it should have been much better.

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Karen Pirie (2022– )

8/10

A good start, better than the other recent crime dramas

26 September 2022

The stream of crime dramas is never ending but this one stands out. If you only watch one this is it.

Of course we have seen it all before but a good script and good acting convinces us that we haven't.

The only disappointment in the first episode was that there was a second killing (this isn't a spoiler for reasons I give in the following sentences). Writers assume that to keep the viewer interested there have to be constant follow-on killings, however this isn't new even 'Morse' fell into this trap. Why can't crime dramas start with the police investigating a murder and end with them getting the perpetrator without a bloodbath in between?

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Ridley (2022– )

4/10

Adrian Dunbar's Pension Fund!

19 September 2022

Even before the success of Line Of Duty there were too many crime dramas on TV and as quantity goes up, quality goes down. Adrian Dunbar is the latest LOD cast member to appear in another series and the results have been mixed. This is better than Trigger Point (most things are) but not as good as Vigil (which is no more than average).

Reality is never a strong point of this kind of show, in episode 4 Ridley, supposedly a consultant, was at the crime scene before the senior investigating officer! And what would Ted Hastings say about a retired detective who lived in a large lakeside house and owned half a jazz club?

But it would be wrong to single out this show in that regard, if 'Shetland' were an accurate portrayal of life there it has the worst murder rate in the world!

Ridley passes a couple of hours if you are able to forget every other crime drama you've ever seen, if not you've already seen it several times already.

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The Control Room (2022)

4/10

Unintentionally Funny

21 July 2022

The plot is a dark comedy with most of the jokes removed but I did laugh out loud twice during episode 2. Almost every character is stupid and/or dishonest and/or mad. The plot is ridiculous from the first minute of the first episode and goes down hill from there.

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Sherwood (II) (2022– )

8/10

More than just another crime drama

3 July 2022

In shows like this success or failure is all about the final episode, either everything comes together or everything falls apart. Here most of the sub-plots are neatly resolved, even ones I'd hardly noticed like the 'burnt man'. My only criticism is the special guest star appearance by Lyndsay Duncan giving a party political broadcast for the 'Left Wing Luvvie Party' that didn't add anything to the plot. I also worry that season 2 will disappoint.

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Holding (I) (2022)

7/10

Worth watching for Brenda Fricker

3 April 2022

I'm only up to episode 3 and it's dangerous to review modern thrillers before the final episode because they usually fall apart. One thing that stands out in Holding is that the actors are given the opportunity to act. Episode 3 is worth watching just for the scene where Brenda Fricker's character talks about her past. Better than average (so far).

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Our House (2022)

7/10

Better than average thriller

10 March 2022

The conveyer belt of thrillers is never ending, as one ends another one begins.

This one is better than average but that's not saying much, todays average thriller wouldn't have made it to the screen 20 years ago. As usual it's best not to think too much about the plot.

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Killing Eve (2018–2022)

6/10

All style and no substance

6 March 2022

Killing Eve is a show that peaked in its first season before most of us knew it existed.

Even at its best it was 90% style and 10% substance, now it's all style and that style is from 2018.

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Toast of Tinseltown (2022– )

8/10

A slow start but worth watching

5 March 2022

A slow start is a big flaw in a 6 episode comedy series so it loses 2 stars but it builds up nicely to a powerful finale. The humour is surreal and eccentric rather than laugh out loud so not for everyone.

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