WAR, Break Clause, and Blue Lights. With guest Siân Brooke (and Ziggy)

Pilot TV

The hosts of Pilot TV discuss their recent television viewing habits, ranging from intense police dramas to comedic revivals. Featuring gues

Key takeaways

• Siân Brooke highlights the human-centric, community policing aspect of the series Blue Lights.
• The hosts critique a specific 'soap opera' style episode in Star Trek: Strange New Verts as being draining.

Main topics

• Blue Lights review
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds critique

Notable quotes

The sexy slide is a massive spoiler.

Conclusion

A diverse roundup of television highlights and lowlights for viewers l

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:07) On Pilot TV this week, we are back on the Belfast beat in series four of Blue Light on BBC One, exploring some awkward living arrangements in Break Laws on Channel 4 and finding out just how messy divorce can be in war, all caps, on Sky Atlantic. Plus, not only, not only is Blue Light star Sian Brooke here with us in the studio, I say in the studio, we're not currently in the studio, but you get what I'm saying, but she brought her little dog too. I'm James Dyer and welcome to Pilot TV, your essential guide to every show that matters. And joining me in this remote environment, as we are in our respective homes, streaming in on a Friday morning are my two very distant co-pilots, Boyd Hilton and Steph Seelan. How are you? How are your respective homes? Yeah, not too bad. Just Speaker 3 (0:49) got to get rid of some stuff, but it's fine. What do you mean you've got to get rid of some stuff? Good anecdote, Boyd. Tell another one. Speaker 1 (0:56) What have you got to get rid of? Because if it's getting rid of rats, then that's like a big deal. But if it's Speaker 3 (1:00) getting Speaker 1 (1:00) rid of stuff... Speaker 3 (1:01) furniture and stuff I've got too much stuff it's like you know have Speaker 4 (1:05) you Speaker 1 (1:05) yeah Speaker 4 (1:05) it's also to do with Boyd's kitchen cupboards that's what it's all about that's right yeah all right that Speaker 1 (1:10) man hasn't started playing his piano your neighbour no not yet he Speaker 4 (1:13) will do soon though it's pretty much every day there is a very real chance you will be treated to the sonorous tones of dueling chainsaws while we're doing this podcast because my next door neighbor is currently cutting down a hedge uh with a chainsaw or rather he's got people cutting down a hedge with multiple chainsaws so if you if you hear chainsaws at any point during this podcast nothing i can do about it that's Speaker 3 (1:34) very sitcom as well that you know you know and labor there's something very british british sitcom about it Also, why Speaker 1 (1:42) is he cutting down a hedge? I don't like it when people cut down hedges. We need hedgerows. We need hedges for the wildlife. Speaker 4 (1:47) Look, he's either cutting down a hedge or disposing of body parts. I didn't want to ask. It seemed rude to intrude. I'm just taking him at his word. Okay. I need a bit more investigation Speaker 1 (1:56) into that. Speaker 4 (1:57) But more importantly, we're not in the office this week. It's no one's fault, Steph. It's my fault. But crucially, you missed out because we were sent a bag of chocolate. From Paul the wine guy. Yeah, it's true. Oh, you're joking. Was sent to the office and I brought it dutifully with me to the studio and none of you were there. And so, you know, really. So you kept it and now it's in your... The only reasonable thing and I ate it all. You did not. No, I actually didn't. But I did eat the Toblerone. There's a ton, a ton. Bless you, Paul. Sent a load of chocolate. Look, and I ate the Toblerone. I felt like that was my due since neither of you bothered to turn up. But the rest of it is intact and I have left it there in the studio for when we return. I Speaker 1 (2:41) can't believe you ate the Toblerone. Actually, I can because you love Toblerone. I do Speaker 4 (2:44) love Toblerone, yes. Speaker 1 (2:44) Was it a milk Toblerone? Speaker 4 (2:46) It was a classic standard Toblerone, which is the best Toblerone. Speaker 1 (2:50) What size was it? Speaker 4 (2:51) Monster size. Speaker 1 (2:52) You ate the monster size? How did Speaker 4 (2:55) it take you? Speaker 1 (2:55) Monster size. Speaker 4 (2:56) Not as long as you'd think. Wow. I don't really like Toblerone. Speaker 3 (3:01) Okay, well, I do. I Speaker 1 (3:03) like Toblerone. I expect another Toblerone to be, you know, as if it were still from Paul the Wine Guy in that box when I get back. Speaker 4 (3:10) Yeah, it's not going to happen. But obviously we've heard about what I've been eating, but crucially, what have you guys been eating and or watching? Speaker 1 (3:18) Well, James, can I tell you, I have finished Stirling Point and there's a particular scene in Stirling Point that I've re-watched more times than I cared to admit. I'm Speaker 4 (3:30) trying to think. There isn't really a porny scene, so I'm not quite sure. Yeah, it's usually some Speaker 3 (3:35) guy's butt. It's normally some sort Speaker 4 (3:36) of bum scene and I can't think of one. Speaker 1 (3:38) It's one of the most romantic scenes ever. Oh, it's the slide, isn't it? It's the slide. Oh Speaker 4 (3:44) my Speaker 1 (3:44) God. It's the slide. Speaker 4 (3:45) It's the slide. I know exactly what you're referring to. Speaker 1 (3:48) Not only have I rewatched it, let's just say, for argument's sake, 37 times, but I also like been thinking about it like a ridiculous amount of time, imagining myself in that situation, wondering who I could be locked in a cupboard with. Oh my God. The sexy slide. Oh, it's so good. The sexy slide. Yeah. Sterling Point is at... absolutely up there. I loved every second of it. Oh, it's so, so good. If you haven't watched it and you loved Off Campus and you want a little bit of that magic, but, you know, just lower your expectations for the bottoms and boobs and stuff like that. But it's just a fantastic story and it's beautiful. And the slide, the slide is so worth it. Speaker 3 (4:33) What episode is the slide in? I, It's one of the latter ones. We can't give you a Speaker 4 (4:38) full context on the slide, but let's just say when you see the sexy slide, you'll know it. I haven't caught up with the slide. The Speaker 1 (4:45) sexy slide and then the grab of the T-shirt. Oh, my God. It's just so great. But, yeah, I think I want to say it's in Speaker 4 (4:53) five. Speaker 1 (4:53) There's a cupboard involved as well. Speaker 4 (4:54) There is. Yeah, they're in a cupboard. It's Speaker 3 (4:56) a Speaker 4 (4:56) sexy slide in a cupboard. And the Speaker 3 (4:58) slide. Speaker 4 (4:58) So it's not an actual, like, playground slide. There is a slide. across the floor is a sexy slide. Oh, I see. Right, right, right. Okay. Have you watched it? Have you not watched it all, Boyd? No, Speaker 3 (5:09) clearly. Speaker 4 (5:10) It's too Speaker 3 (5:10) sexy for Boyd. Too sexy. I'm going Speaker 1 (5:12) to send you the bit which has just got the sexy slide in and then you'll be like, oh, that's what everyone's talking about. Yeah, the Speaker 4 (5:18) sexy slide is a massive spoiler. So if you haven't watched the show, do not Google it. No, don't Google it. Not that it happens, but who's involved? I'll catch Speaker 3 (5:25) up. Speaker 4 (5:25) I'll catch up. And Speaker 1 (5:26) then the other thing that I watched, I was on the phone to Kay and I was like, look, Kay. Because I know she did the Q &A for the blame, right? So I was like, listen, mate. Q &K. Q &K. I've called Kay literally for a week, every day for a week. Oh my God, poor Kay. Exactly. And now it's got to the point that the last time I called her, which was yesterday, she was like. Right? That's good Speaker 3 (5:50) though because that makes up the fact that I haven't called her this week at all. Speaker 1 (5:54) Oh, okay. Have you not called her? No, I'll speak to her later. She needs like a two-week break from me now but I called her and I was like, right, you know you did the Q &A for the blame. I was like... have you watched all of them? Or like, have you got all of them? Or did you get sent them in a certain way? Because you know, I was like, I want to see all of them. And I was getting really stressed about it, the fact that I didn't know what happened. And then she went in a complete, in the chaos way possible, she went, they were all released as a box set, so you could have watched them all already. And I was Speaker 2 (6:22) like, what? Speaker 4 (6:24) She Speaker 1 (6:24) said, yep, they're a box set. They're on ITVX, Steph. They're on ITVX. I was like, oh, okay. And then I just left. and went to watch them. But yeah, I didn't even realize ITV did this because you know, when we did the last one, I was like, oh, now I'm going to have to watch, but maybe it's only three weekends. It'll be fine. They released them all of the box set. I didn't even know they did this model. Yeah, Speaker 3 (6:43) yeah, yeah. They do it pretty much all the time. Speaker 1 (6:45) They do it. Yeah. Okay. That's, you see that tone of voice? That's exactly what that, what's okay sounded like. Just, just, just like exasperation. Right. So then I watched all of the blame. Whoa. Right. You know, as I, as I said, this is a fucking triumph. and Speaker 2 (7:00) it Speaker 1 (7:00) continues yes it is it is yes it is it continues to be trying the whole thing is brilliant I know loads of people are watching it and loving it please get in touch if you also love it and think it is brilliant and I really really want to do a spoiler special but it'd just be me talking to myself the end I'm sure Boyd could Speaker 4 (7:17) be persuaded to do one I've got I've got Speaker 3 (7:19) one episode Speaker 4 (7:20) to go so Speaker 1 (7:20) I'm nearly Speaker 3 (7:21) there yeah do Speaker 1 (7:22) you want to do a spoiler special with me yeah sure yeah Speaker 4 (7:25) If you want to chat about it on the next Pilot Plus, then you go for it. But I think there's quite a few potential spoiler specials we need to do. Speaker 3 (7:31) We'll have Speaker 4 (7:31) to stack them Speaker 3 (7:32) up. Stack them up, yeah. There's another one we were going to do, right? What was the other one? You and I thought would be best. We don't need Speaker 1 (7:38) James Thorne. Oh, yeah. What were we talking about? DTF. Speaker 3 (7:45) Let's do DTF. Speaker 1 (7:45) We've definitely got to do DTF because it's so much to talk about. I do need to watch that. Yeah. James, you're really missing out not watching that. I know. It's Speaker 4 (7:53) on the list. It's on the list. And there's another one Speaker 1 (7:55) on Speaker 4 (7:55) my list which we'll get to in a minute. But carry on. Okay. Speaker 1 (7:57) So, yeah. So, that's why we've been watching. But, yeah. I've had a great week of watching TV. And also, someone messaged me to say they really wanted us to do a rewatch of Band of Brothers. But, James, you and I will talk about that later. We will. Whether we're all going to do that or Speaker 3 (8:11) not. Why are you ignoring me for Band of Brothers? Because I Speaker 1 (8:15) know you have a lot on and I just... You don't like rewatches, Boyd. You think they're wrong and evil. That is Speaker 3 (8:20) true. I'm just Speaker 1 (8:20) trying to be respectful of your time. You have a lot more going on. I Speaker 3 (8:25) love Speaker 1 (8:27) you the best. You're my favourite. Speaker 3 (8:28) Thanks. Talking of which, the show that I finally finished that we could do a special about is Furious. Finally finished it. I Speaker 1 (8:37) need to finish that. I've got two more. Oh, you haven't finished it yet? No, I have finished it. Oh Speaker 3 (8:41) my God. I actually can't believe that you watched The Blame instead of Furious. Well, Speaker 1 (8:48) what do you mean you can't believe? The Blame is amazing. Speaker 3 (8:50) Because Furious Speaker 1 (8:50) is Speaker 4 (8:50) vastly superior. Speaker 1 (8:52) Oh, so sorry, James. The show that you've only watched one of is vastly superior to Furious. No, Speaker 4 (8:58) no, the one that I've watched. all of is vastly superior to the blame. Speaker 1 (9:02) Yes, but you're saying it's vastly superior, but you've only watched one of the blames, so how can you possibly say that? Speaker 4 (9:07) Anyway, Speaker 1 (9:07) let's just not start fighting too early, okay? Save it for later in the Speaker 3 (9:13) podcast. Save it for later. So I've done pretty much the full reverse on this one. Do you remember I didn't like it to start with? And you actually, you Speaker 1 (9:22) watched two and you still were, and you were still saying you thought you were right on episode one, well, that we were right on episode one. Episode one Speaker 3 (9:28) isn't the best. No. Okay. It isn't, but it does end up being pretty great. Pretty great. I think it's flawed. There are certain things about it, especially in the end, like in the last few episodes when things get a little bit ridiculous. And let's just say like there's one bit, everyone shows up at one thing and they're all like, fighting each other. There's literally jurisdiction discussions. And the bloke says, I don't think you've got jurisdiction here. I Speaker 1 (9:54) love jurisdiction discussion. You know, we've discussed Speaker 3 (9:56) it. Yeah. They're actually quite cliched and, you know, silly, but there's Speaker 1 (10:01) a Speaker 3 (10:01) good one that breaks it. But that's just an example. But in general, it's brilliantly made. I mean, it's clearly like they've taken David Fincher's seven, in fact, all David Fincher films and turned it into a eight-part TV show, which just visually pays homage to him all the way through, I think. And the story kind of starts out as one thing and then actually becomes something different. I like that about it. It's not really, it's about a female serial killer. That's how it was kind of marketed, quite Speaker 4 (10:26) rightly. Speaker 3 (10:27) And I'm sure it's done really well for Disney+. But in the end, it's not really about that, is it? It's kind of about something completely different, which I won't say without spoiling it. And as such, it's a really disturbing but very pertinent story. And it's just, everyone in it is brilliant. So yeah, I've completely reversed on that one. Oh, I'm off for the Speaker 1 (10:47) rest of the day, so I'm going to watch that. I'm going to finish it today. Speaker 3 (10:49) I mean, yeah, you'll absolutely love it. It's really interesting. Speaker 1 (10:52) I do like Emmy Rossum and yeah, no, Speaker 3 (10:54) I'm going to do that. The woman that steals the show is her colleague Speaker 4 (11:00) who works in the basement. What's her name? Ironically, the one that none of us liked in the first episode, yes. Speaker 3 (11:05) Yeah, she is brilliant. Speaker 4 (11:07) She is very good. She's absolutely Speaker 3 (11:09) brilliant. Speaker 1 (11:10) Once again, be a lesson to us that at least one of us has to watch more than one of the episodes because we've had too many ferrets this year. We've been ferret infested. There Speaker 4 (11:19) have been a lot of ferrets. We've been like the government. Yeah. Speaker 1 (11:22) We've got really hard. A lot of one Speaker 4 (11:24) -aises. Speaker 3 (11:24) Yeah. So I'm talking about Nora, the character of Nora, who's the head of the FBI sex crimes unit. And she is played by Quincy Tyler Bernstein. And she is... Her performance is big. And I think it takes a while to get used to. It takes a while to get used to. And there's reasons for her, shall we say, erratic behaviour and her kind of outrageously off-kilter performance because of what the character's been through and everything and what she does for her job. But she is so charismatic and so funny. She brings a lot of funny stuff to the team. So, yeah, I loved her. She was fantastic. I finished Colin from Accounts. Absolutely great. No notes. That's Speaker 1 (12:08) all Speaker 3 (12:08) I'll say. Absolutely great. Can Speaker 1 (12:09) I just say one thing? I just want to pick up on one thing. Speaker 3 (12:11) Yep. Speaker 1 (12:12) So are you with me or are you with James in the fact that, remember I said that I didn't want that, like James was just like, the last episode is just like another episode of Colin from Counts. And I, to me, that was pitch perfect because I didn't want any big explosions. I didn't want anything. I wanted it to just be beautiful. An explosion would have Speaker 4 (12:31) been weird. I wasn't really looking for explosions. I've got to be honest with you. Speaker 1 (12:35) like metaphorical explosions yeah okay but I I think if you watch this and you weren't kind of completely like full to the brim of happiness with the end of calling from accounts I don't know what more you could have wanted yeah Speaker 2 (12:48) do you know what I mean yeah totally yeah Speaker 1 (12:49) okay good James, have you, with the passage of time, decided that it was an excellent finale? Speaker 4 (12:54) No, there was nothing wrong with the finale. It just wasn't like it wasn't any different to the others. And that's fine. I was maybe surprised because I thought it would maybe go in a slightly... It would have a different tone to it. Speaker 3 (13:05) I think it wraps it up in a very... in a kind of circular way i think there's definitely a wrapping up of it and a resolution it's not like it just Speaker 4 (13:12) ends like i don't mean that i don't mean there's another conclusion it has a conclusion i just wonder because oftentimes with especially with sitcoms they often feel that they need to go out with a metaphorical bang uh and uh not an actual explosion steph i cannot emphasize that enough um but this one you know but it is it is quite sweet i'm very glad they didn't go with the whole you know death slash great day and ending yeah i'm Speaker 1 (13:32) gonna i'm gonna make a point about that that i think that we exclusively revealed that alternate ending and we clipped it up and it's on socials and actually it's like a lot of people like oh because he explains that ending like the whole scene and I think it's you know just patting ourselves on the back for that Speaker 3 (13:48) one also just to say that the best one of the best episodes ever which is obviously the sex party sex drug sex party episode which lands roughly in the middle it's so good that You know, because I've said before that sometimes in the eight-part series that each season is of this show, sometimes there's a little bit of a dip in the middle, but that episode is so amazing. It's Speaker 4 (14:06) genius. Speaker 3 (14:06) Absolutely genius. So good. Yeah. So that's fantastic. I've got quite a few, so I'll try and breeze through. I have checked out, so you don't have to, Speaker 4 (14:14) Monster the Lizzie Borden story. Oh, Speaker 1 (14:17) everyone's talking about that. Everyone's talking about it. In Speaker 3 (14:20) a Speaker 1 (14:20) good or a bad way. Like, that it's shocking. Speaker 3 (14:23) It's shocking. It's outrageous. It's camp. It's key Ryan Murphy. It's peak Ryan Murphy. Of course, he's not actually involved creatively. He's just exec producer and his associates that have written and directed it and stuff. But it's so madly ridiculous. Of course, it starts with the murders, right? That's the first scene. Then it flashes back four months earlier, wherever it is. Speaker 3 (14:50) All I'll say is I actually enjoyed a lot of it in a twisted, demented way, mainly because of Rebecca Hall. So Rebecca Hall plays the matriarch who hates, she's the second wife of Charlie Hunnam's character, and it's his daughter who ends up being the monster, Lizzie Borden. And Rebecca Hall is so enjoying herself, and she's having such a wild time, that you kind of go along with her. So all the scenes with her in, and she dominates it pretty much to start with. Like there's these dinners they have. Oh, I saw a clip of a dinner. Yeah. Or the spring soup in the face of the maid. That's Speaker 1 (15:27) the Speaker 3 (15:27) clip I saw, which I thought, oh my God, she's loving this. And there's so much more that came from. The first episode has an insane obsession with menstruation. And it's like, it's so weird and bizarre things to seize upon. And they just go for it so relentlessly that you're kind of... rail-beaten by it and it's full of mad stuff like that. I've only watched three episodes but I don't feel a great urge to carry on. Of course, it's completely too long. It's insanely long and indulgent but there is fun to be had as well. And it's not as bad as the last one. Ed Gein. Ed Gein. Ed Gein is positively offensive whereas this is just because it's quite distant. It's so long ago. Oh, yeah, Speaker 1 (16:09) let's remember this did actually happen. So, you know, this is true crime. Speaker 3 (16:14) But many, you know, like centuries ago. But 1900s, yeah. 1900s, yeah. So that feels less offensive or less intrinsically exploitative because, you know, there aren't people still around, whereas there were in most of the other. Yeah, I Speaker 1 (16:25) mean, that's why we can all talk about Jack the Ripper in such a fun way. And people go on Jack the Ripper tours. Do you know what I mean? The fun of Jack the Ripper. But they do, don't they? And actually, when you see the crime photos, you're like, this is fucking terrible. But everyone's like, let's go on a Jack the Ripper tour and see exactly all these crime scenes, which is insane Speaker 2 (16:40) if you think about it. Speaker 1 (16:40) I've been on a Jack the Ripper tour. Well, there you go. It was on a date. Case in point. True story. Speaker 4 (16:45) And crucially, I did not plan it. It was not my idea. That was a red flag. Yeah. It should have been, yeah. Let's go and spawn Jack the Ripper. Speaker 3 (16:55) But there is that Speaker 1 (16:56) element, the passage of time does lessen the horror. Speaker 3 (16:58) It does. It absolutely does, yeah. So that was that. And then in kind of broader TV, I, of course, hosted the 70 Traces screening earlier in the week. Oh, did Speaker 1 (17:11) you? I didn't know you were doing that. Oh, my God, how did it go? It Speaker 3 (17:14) went very well, thank you. Did you wear a robe? I didn't wear a robe, no. But Claudia, I interviewed Claudia on stage and the producer and Ed Gamble, who hosts the Uncloaked show. And Claudia was in absolutely brilliant form. She was so funny. Speaker 1 (17:29) Well, she's going to be really happy now. One of my favourite quotes that I've ever heard from Claudia is... about how she hates summer because she hates summer clothes, right? So it's like her most hated thing. And I saw a picture of her the other day where she was in full autumnal dress. And I'm telling you, her spirits were high. In her face, I could see, I was like, this is her season. This is absolutely her season. Yeah, Speaker 3 (17:49) she's loving it. But I can't say anything about it because it's heavily embargoed. Okay. But it's on Thursday, October 1st, it's the first episode, extra long, 75 minutes because so much happens. And it is, all I would say is, if you think, how could they top series one? Oh my God. It just is extraordinary. It's so funny and mad and the cast is so incredible. James' soul looks like it's Speaker 1 (18:12) left his body. But I'm going to watch it this season so we can talk about it. We should force James to Speaker 3 (18:16) watch some of it. I don't know how. We've got lots of people in the cast who you'd probably like. That's another matter. It's fine. It's fine. Speaker 1 (18:22) Bella Ramsey. He loves Bella Ramsey. Speaker 3 (18:24) I'm mainly talking about Bella Ramsey who's adorable by the way. I hope that's not a spoiler. Oh no, Speaker 1 (18:29) she seems Speaker 3 (18:29) adorable. Yeah, she's fantastic. And... I have to mention Nigella on Bake Off. So Nigella Lawson, James, you may have heard of her. She almost won a BAFTA, the audience award for saying microave. Microave, yes. I remember because you Speaker 4 (18:45) voted for that as like Speaker 3 (18:46) moment of the year. Yeah, Speaker 4 (18:48) absolutely. Speaker 3 (18:50) They did a brilliant, to welcome her into the show, to welcome her to the show. Did you see it, Steph? Are you a Bake Off fan? No, I love Speaker 1 (18:56) Bake Off, but I just haven't had time to catch up with it. Yeah, Speaker 3 (18:58) you're Speaker 1 (18:59) a Speaker 3 (18:59) busy woman. They did a Doctor Who sketch, so they kind of regenerated Prude Leaf into her. What? And Speaker 1 (19:05) really Speaker 3 (19:05) game of Prude Leaf to take part because she's the exiting, you know, judge. Speaker 1 (19:10) Yeah, I love Prude Leaf. Speaker 3 (19:11) Yeah, so she went into the TARDIS and she came out as Nigella. It was really good. It was really funny. Oh, my God. Speaker 1 (19:17) Have you ever been to the Bake Off tent? Speaker 3 (19:18) I have, yeah, years ago. I've Speaker 1 (19:20) been to the Bake Off tent and it was one of the greatest days of my life. Speaker 3 (19:23) Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, I did a big feature years ago, right at this height, yeah. But she's totally, Nigella is so brilliant. She's completely revitalised it. She's fantastic. She's as good as we'd all expect her to be. She's so great. But one thing I want to say is the contestants are really interesting this year. And there's one guy called Mo. Watch out for Mo. You will love him. He's so funny. He's this like deadpan. kind of like, he's just kind of like mysteriously kind of like, he's Amazing Baker and he's such a mysterious figure. He's so funny. It's fantastic. So he is the star of the show. Okay, brilliant. Possibly even more than Nigella. But there you go. And finally, finally, I might have been said, have you been said, we haven't discussed this, I don't think, off air, but I think I may have access to The Diplomat. You think you may have access to The Diplomat? I Speaker 4 (20:11) think I might. Speaker 3 (20:11) You don't know? Speaker 1 (20:12) No, he has because he's watched it with his eyes. Depending Speaker 3 (20:14) on whether or not you two have as well. I haven't. Speaker 1 (20:17) But as your PA, as the PA for both of you, I don't get sent anything until I scream and shout. Speaker 3 (20:23) That's true. That is true. Have you got it? I've got some episodes, not the whole thing, but some episodes. Speaker 1 (20:28) James? Speaker 3 (20:28) Have you watched said episodes? I've watched the trailers, James, yeah. Speaker 4 (20:32) You've Speaker 3 (20:32) watched the trailers. Well, I Speaker 4 (20:34) can officially say I've watched all four of the episodes. Speaker 1 (20:37) Oh my God, you've got such a good Speaker 4 (20:38) poker Speaker 1 (20:40) face. I was like, oh, he seems cross, but I'm not sure. Oh, wow. In that case, yes, Speaker 4 (20:45) so have I. They only gave us half the season. I must admit, I was a little bit entitled and disappointed that they only got four of Speaker 3 (20:50) them. Speaker 4 (20:50) Of course. But yes, I mainlined them all. All Speaker 1 (20:53) right. I didn't get any, guys, so I'm just letting you know you should feel good about yourselves. I'm obsessed with Speaker 4 (20:58) that show. Utterly obsessed with it. It's incredible. Speaker 1 (21:02) Just when you think, how can they top? Speaker 3 (21:04) Oh, Speaker 4 (21:05) it's just... incredible yeah so Speaker 3 (21:08) that is what I've been watching wow Speaker 1 (21:09) you've had a great week of watching yeah Speaker 4 (21:11) it's been a good time you have when did you get your Diplomat episodes oh Speaker 1 (21:15) there we go still going on Speaker 3 (21:17) What's going on? Is this you making sure you got them before I did? Let's say I got them yesterday. Speaker 4 (21:27) Just want to be sure. Yeah, that's brilliant. That is brilliant. Jesus. Right. Okay. Speaker 1 (21:33) Once again, I haven't got them, guys. So, you know, I don't have them at all. No. No, that's true. Okay. But James, apart from the diplomat, which you got in advance, what have you been watching? Speaker 4 (21:44) What have I been watching? I have been reluctantly plodding along with Star Trek Strange New Worlds. I got to the end of the soap opera episode and it was a slog. Can I Speaker 1 (21:54) just say, James, you know my Trekkie friends, right? My Trekkie friends, two of them given up. They're not doing it. They said no way. Speaker 4 (22:02) On the Empire podcast, for those of you who subscribe to Empire Plus, there will be a ranking going up. We did this Star Trek ranking where we ranked all of the TV shows in order. So there were some fun discussions to be had there. I was asked to Speaker 3 (22:15) take part in that, but then I pointed out to Chris Hewitt that I Speaker 4 (22:17) hadn't actually seen any of the other Star Speaker 3 (22:19) Trek. It's shocking. I just watched the OG series. Yeah, Speaker 4 (22:21) actually shocking. So this soap opera episode, right? So first of all, it's got, is it Deirdre Hall in it? I think she's from Days of Our Lives. And it has this whole... whole days of our lives thing so it's very specifically keyed into days of our lives soap operas as a whole but really that one um and the idea of it is actually quite clever and when pike is on screen because he's a straight man who knows he's in a soap opera and he's just like oh my god like he's reacting to the soap opera acting and dialogue and the sort of like vaseline on the lens type stuff in a very kind of like dry what the fuck is going on kind of way that stuff is funny But when he's not on screen, you have just characters interacting in a soap opera style. And the problem with that is it's terrible. And of course it's terrible. It's deliberately terrible. It's like, oh, isn't this terrible? Yes, it is. But you're still making us watch it for the better part of 50 minutes. So it's just terrible. So whenever he's not on screen, it becomes quite... draining and I must admit I struggle with it and obviously Trelane is back Rhys Darby he's quite fun in that role as the we don't call him Q but he is a Q so yeah the only thing that salvaged that episode for me was A Pike and then B there is a really nice kind of emotional beat towards the end for Pike which I thought was actually quite nice but there are two episodes left for me one is a straight episode and the last one the finale is another fucking stupid gimmick one what is the gimmick that What kind of Speaker 3 (23:46) gimmick? Speaker 4 (23:46) Do you know? Remember the fantasy one where they're all dressed up in medieval clothes? It's another one of those. I will Speaker 1 (23:53) just say, and this is going to sound really strange. I haven't watched them, right? But your descriptions of them, even though you're a bit down on them, make me want to watch them even more. I'm a soap Speaker 3 (24:05) opera, yeah. Yeah, you're a Speaker 1 (24:06) soap opera. It sounds really good. And I haven't watched the Muppet one and I really want to watch that, but I've been watching other things. But yeah, I mean, you're really good at describing something. and making people want to watch it, even though you say it's terrible. Speaker 4 (24:18) Yeah. Your Speaker 1 (24:19) superpower. Speaker 4 (24:20) Maybe it is. But I mean, look, they're not in and of themselves terrible things. And if there were a couple per season, you'd... be like, okay, fine, you know, this Speaker 3 (24:27) is Speaker 4 (24:27) quite clever. But because it is constant, so every other episode is just a little bit wearing. Anyway, enough about Star Trek. The other things I've been watching is Ted Lasso, which I've now watched right up until the finale. I haven't watched the finale, but I've seen everything except the finale. And I think they've made some big errors with this. And the biggest error of them all is Tracy Ullman, who is so fucking irritating that I genuinely cannot cope whenever she's on screen. But... I'm starting to think that's deliberate. Speaker 1 (24:56) Yeah. I mean, we did talk about Tracey Ullman. We love Tracey Ullman as a human being. Less so now. But we did talk about the fact that this is, like, she is being uber, uber Ullman. She is. That is deliberate. I know. And it Speaker 4 (25:09) is a deliberate choice, but I'm really, really, like, it makes me, like, furious whenever she's on screen. So I'm struggling with that. What's weird Speaker 3 (25:17) is she had a guest role in Curb. across a lot of episodes and she was amazing. But he created this character pretty much, especially for her, who is really over the top. But