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Post by alece10 on Dec 30, 2022 18:26:09 GMT
My highlight of Festive TV has been SMILEY on Netflix. It's a charming and witty series set in Barcelona following the ups and downs of two gay men thrown together by a wrong number. 8 episodes of about 40 minutes each, set over the Christmas period so definitely counts as Festive Telly. The two lead characters are appealing and complex, and there's a hefty mix of supporting characters trying to sort out their own lives, like the lesbian couple trying to deal with changes in their relationship, and the middle-aged couple trying to reconstruct their pre-kids relationship. But it's all great fun and utterly charming, and moves at a speedy pace. I've watched very little terrestrial TV, apart from the Christmas University Challenges (where institutions appear to be wising up and putting in academic graduates rather than celebrity graduates). Saving Mayflies for when I feel a bit stronger. I watched Smiley a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I wasn't aware that you could watch it in Spanish rather than the default dubbed version in English, so now I know, I will rewatch it again as there was some dodgy translation and will be nice to hear the actors actual voices. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 30, 2022 18:45:51 GMT
University Challenge tonight had James Graham as part of the team from Hull. They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. One of the questions in the semi final is “what theatre is Kwame Kwei-Armah artistic director of!” |
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Post by Jon on Dec 30, 2022 18:53:15 GMT
University Challenge tonight had James Graham as part of the team from Hull. They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. One of the questions in the semi final is “what theatre is Kwame Kwei-Armah artistic director of!” Slight spoiler for tonight but James Graham is not in the final as it clashed with when Tammy Faye at the Almeida. |
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Post by jek on Dec 30, 2022 19:14:20 GMT
I second fossil's endorsement of The Canterville Ghost as an easy festive watch. Added bonus of Hadyn Gwynne having a very good time. I also enjoyed A Storm For Christmas, the Norwegian drama about people stuck in Oslo airport over the Christmas period. |
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Post by n1david on Dec 30, 2022 19:50:09 GMT
They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. Please don't spoil it for those of us who are a few episodes behind! |
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Post by n1david on Dec 30, 2022 19:54:39 GMT
I watched Smiley a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I wasn't aware that you could watch it in Spanish rather than the default dubbed version in English, so now I know, I will rewatch it again as there was some dodgy translation and will be nice to hear the actors actual voices. Interestingly, most of the characters speak in Spanish, but the straight couple speak in Catalan in private but Spanish in professional situations. Given that it's set in Barcelona, I'd have expected all the characters to speak Catalan as a first language, but given that Netflix funded the series, I'm sure they had an eye to the large Spanish-speaking population of the world... (Sorry, just realised that fact only counts as "interesting" if you're a language nerd like me) |
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Post by lynette on Dec 30, 2022 22:43:25 GMT
Slow Horses ( on Apple TV) has been glorious over the last few weeks, finishing today. You can’t binge it cos they drop an episode a week so back to old fashioned tv watching. They trailed a third series so all good. I really recommend. On ITVX A Spy Among Friends def one of the best of the year, acting amazing and again nicely timed differently so you can binge it over the holiday.
and The Detectorists - a very clever piece of writing referencing the Xmas season, so well acted.
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Post by Latecomer on Dec 31, 2022 0:33:48 GMT
Slow Horses ( on Apple TV) has been glorious over the last few weeks, finishing today. You can’t binge it cos they drop an episode a week so back to old fashioned tv watching. They trailed a third series so all good. I really recommend. On ITVX A Spy Among Friends def one of the best of the year, acting amazing and again nicely timed differently so you can binge it over the holiday. and The Detectorists - a very clever piece of writing referencing the Xmas season, so well acted. Really enjoying Slow Horses Series 1! |
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 31, 2022 8:27:18 GMT
They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. Please don't spoil it for those of us who are a few episodes behind! Got me thinking this post. This is a thread where the board is discussing Christmas telly. The odd spoiler is bound to come out. Should the onus be on you to avoid the thread if you have some episodes to catch up? Can you let everyone know when you have caught up and the episode can be discussed? 🤔😉 |
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Post by n1david on Dec 31, 2022 9:17:49 GMT
In these days of catch-up and streaming I thought it was generally accepted that not everyone watches everything at exactly the same time, and so allowing a period for people to catch up seems reasonable to me. After all, it's why we have Spoiler tags on the board, so that people who have seen a TV show/film/play/musical can discuss plot points without ruining it for someone who has yet to see it. So please go ahead and discuss, but I'd ask you to use spoiler tags, in the same way I would if I was discussing the denouement of Glass Onion. I wrote about Mayflies above because I'd read the book. I didn't reveal the ending of that, even though I could have said "the book's been out for ages, anyone who wanted to should have read it by now."
If you're unable or unwilling to use Spoiler tags when asked, well there's really nothing I can do to stop you.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 31, 2022 11:23:31 GMT
It honestly just never occurred to me that game shows might be considered “spoilers” the way a movie would be. I mean, high profile game show finals are promoted on TV and online, it doesn’t feel realistic to say “no one mention who’s in the final because that’s a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen the early heats”.
Asking people not to say “can’t believe so and so is the killer in Glass Onion” is very different from asking people not to say “fyi for fans, so and so is on TV tomorrow.”
However I will be more aware of spoilers in future - normally I do spoiler tag everything, so I apologise - it genuinely didn’t occur to me that saying they’re in the final would be a spoiler.
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Post by crabtree on Dec 31, 2022 11:41:33 GMT
Ghosts in my humble opinion is a truly beautiful and wonderfully plotted series, with warm, detailed characters, and wonderfully observed. They are all great company. Yep, it works for me - I still miss Mary though, and her exit was shocking and brave.
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Post by Jon on Dec 31, 2022 11:59:06 GMT
Watched Jason Manford's Recent Nostalgia and it was a good laugh especially the final bit at the end.
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Post by lou105 on Dec 31, 2022 13:08:52 GMT
Side note but there's a new musical based on Mayflies being premiered in York in April/May. Written by Gus Gowland, who also wrote Pieces of String which was streamed in lockdown. That's interesting. Music plays a big part in the book, I wonder if they will try to use some of the original tracks in addition to new material. The book draws on memories related to those tracks, which the reader is likely to be able to put in social context, which might be difficult to convey with new material. Then again, I think it's coincidentally the same title as the material seems rather different! |
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Post by intoanewlife on Dec 31, 2022 20:13:55 GMT
My highlight of Festive TV has been SMILEY on Netflix. It's a charming and witty series set in Barcelona following the ups and downs of two gay men thrown together by a wrong number. 8 episodes of about 40 minutes each, set over the Christmas period so definitely counts as Festive Telly. The two lead characters are appealing and complex, and there's a hefty mix of supporting characters trying to sort out their own lives, like the lesbian couple trying to deal with changes in their relationship, and the middle-aged couple trying to reconstruct their pre-kids relationship. But it's all great fun and utterly charming, and moves at a speedy pace. I've watched very little terrestrial TV, apart from the Christmas University Challenges (where institutions appear to be wising up and putting in academic graduates rather than celebrity graduates). Saving Mayflies for when I feel a bit stronger. Absolutely agree re SMILEY, what an absolute delight it was! It was everything the dour, poorly acted and written Bros wished it could be. Believable, likable characters and not a single hint of virtue signaling or ridiculous politics in sight. The leads were also quite delicious of course in very different ways! Based on my love of SMILEY I also finally weakened and illegally downloaded (why the hell has this STILL not been shown here!!!) the phenomenal Veneno which I watched twice in 2 days. One of, if not THE best piece of gay tv/film I have ever seen. Brilliantly original, fantastic acting and writing and imaginative direction. I cannot remember the last time I have openly wept at something just because it was SOOOO good! I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who hasn't seen it! I also dropped in on the latest series of American Horror Story, which has been utterly unwatchable for the the last 5 seasons. However with Ryan Murphy off making some of the most terrible content ever produced for Netflix, the new team of queer writers and directors (and even David Lynch's daughter) bring AHS NYC back to the greatness of its earlier seasons. Set during the the start of the AIDS crisis in NYC, it features a tonne of 80's nostalgia with most of the gay legends, artists and art of the time being represented in some form another. It could literally be a sequel to William Friedkin's Cruising, with Russell Tovey taking on the role of Al Pacino's self loathing gay cop, Patti Lupone as the Bette Midler style bathhouse owner/performer and Sarah Bernhardt as, well Sarah Bernhardt, as they try to track down a serial killer (or 2...?) who is taking out gay men in the city. While it lags a little in the middle, the final 2 eps (one A Christmas Carol homage and the other a memorial to those we lost during that terrible time) are both extremely well done and very moving. Of course the violence and sex scenes may turn you off, but I thought it was actually a very good series, especially when compared to the muck Murphy has been churning out the last few years. Lastly, I finally caught up on I Hate Susie (and Too)...what an absolute riot and the best piece of British tele since I May Destroy You! |
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Post by foxa on Dec 31, 2022 21:02:30 GMT
Just came on to say how much I loved Sondheim's Old Friends (now on the BBC iplayer.O
Gosh and seeing Petula Clark at 90, Sian Phillips and Julia McKenzie performing at 80 something was inspiring. Stand outs for me were Maria Friedman's Mrs Lovett, Gotta Get a Gimmick with Bernandette, Casey and Longford and an unexpected Broadway Baby.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 31, 2022 21:41:47 GMT
I really liked the AHS that was set in an 80s summer camp (at least the episodes that were set in the camp; the episodes set after the time jump were awful), and the vampire writers in Provincetown started decently. The New Mexico aliens half season was woeful. Glad to hear NYC is a return to form.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Dec 31, 2022 21:43:22 GMT
My old school (iplayer) was extraordinary. Really worth a watch. If you don't know the plot don't read about it first as it's full of surprises
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Post by alece10 on Dec 31, 2022 22:19:35 GMT
Just came on to say how much I loved Sondheim's Old Friends (now on the BBC iplayer.O Gosh and seeing Petula Clark at 90, Sian Phillips and Julia McKenzie performing at 80 something was inspiring. Stand outs for me were Maria Friedman's Mrs Lovett, Gotta Get a Gimmick with Bernandette, Casey and Longford and an unexpected Broadway Baby. And Bernadette is 74! Looks amazing for her age |
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Post by intoanewlife on Dec 31, 2022 23:33:37 GMT
I really liked the AHS that was set in an 80s summer camp (at least the episodes that were set in the camp; the episodes set after the time jump were awful), and the vampire writers in Provincetown started decently. The New Mexico aliens half season was woeful. Glad to hear NYC is a return to form. I quite liked Cult, but Roanoke and Apocalypse were atrocious. The vampire one was ok, I didn't bother with the alien one. My friend started out raving about Summer Camp but said it turned to sh*t so I never bothered. NYC is great just for the people spotting (Maplethorpe, Nomi, Kramer) and 80's gay references to films and the era. The HIV 'conspiracy theory' storyline is quite relevant as well after what we have just been through with Covid. I thought Tovey was very good and the casting is great considering his comments about his Father a few years back. Quinto is also perfectly cast as a vile, sadistic, art dealer. |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 2, 2023 14:46:01 GMT
Really lacklustre schedules again today, not even film-wise (I'm full of cold and want something good!), and nothing particularly exciting in the trailers for upcoming series either. If terrestrial telly wants to compete with the streamers, they need to pull their finger out.
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Post by alece10 on Jan 2, 2023 16:02:21 GMT
Happy Valley last night.
Sarah Lancashire was brilliant as always.
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Post by londonpostie on Jan 2, 2023 17:12:22 GMT
Heads up for a classic! The proper 7 episodes, 6-hour BBC version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guinness starring. The pace is just a delight, the acting and direction marvellous. Wonderful stuff!
2 episodes tonight from 10.10 on BBC4.
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Post by Latecomer on Jan 2, 2023 17:32:40 GMT
Just watched Detectorists. Perfect for that slightly glum “back to work” vide that the New Year’s holiday so often exudes. Have taken down Xmas decorations and front room looks a bit bare, eaten all the nice chocolate etc but still craving 4 extra snacks a day…..
Back to Library books tomorrow, so that will be nice!
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Post by mkb on Jan 4, 2023 17:57:21 GMT
The only two things I really want to see are Mayflies and Happy Valley. I've just caught up with the two-part drama Mayflies. It's well worth a watch as there's some terrific acting involved. It's not doing anything particularly ground-breaking, but the journey is heart-breakingly emotional and life-reaffirming. |
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