THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I must've watched this three or four times. It's outstanding telly.

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For those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.

Crime by Irvine Welsh on ITVX.

Typical Irvine Welsh stuff. Only four episodes but worth a look

Succession (final episode)

Staying up to watch a 90 minute final episode at 2am proved completely worthwhile.

Stunning finale to one of the greatest tv shows of all time. One of those rare episodes where the writers hit almost every note and didn't leave viewers with more questions or wishing things had played out differently.

Seriously, if you've not given this show a go, do it. I'm jealous that you have 40 or so episodes of brilliant drama to binge.

10/10

Planning on watching it after my morning dog hobble. Walking not a strong point with me these days. Genuinely excited to see how it plans out. So hope Gregg wins

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Brilliant ending. Perfect, which is a very rare thing in longform telly. Every loose end tied up.

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For those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.

The Gallows Pole

Sadly not a dramatisation of one of Led Zep’s finest, rather the latest telly from Shane Meadows’, and unusually for him it’s a period drama.

Now I love Meadows. His 2013 movie documenting the Stone Roses reunion is a fine piece of work, albeit somewhat of a love letter to the Manc’ baggy gods, and obviously his This Is England triumvirate is perhaps one of the greatest telly ever made. So I assumed this was going to be right up my street.

His work isn’t exactly unscripted, the framework is written by Meadows, but as with all his previous work, the actors have full freedom to improvise. Sometimes this works to startling effect. The dinner table scene from This Is England ‘90 for example. Truly outstanding. There are other times, unfortunately, when it comes across as a bunch of half-arsed amateurs. I.E. this. Having said that, there’s one scene where Meadows’ regular Michael Socha and his on/off screen partner, played by Sophie McShera, are sat on some steps bantering back and forward, and it’s the outstanding scene in the whole piece. But sadly that’s it. And talking of Michael Socha, he’s fantastic in this. Every scene he’s in you can’t take your eyes off him. As already mentioned, he’s one of Meadows' regular cast (along with Thomas Turgoose, who’s also in this), and if he’s improvising then he should seriously consider starting his own theatre school along the lines of Strasberg, because he’s the outstanding actor in this.

The true story of a gang of 18th century ‘clippers’. Clipping was the act of clipping the edges of coins and using the clippings to forge new coins. Socha stars as ‘King’ David Hartley who upon returning from 7 years in Birmingham, where he learned the clipping trade, goes about reinstating his extremely illegal trade in his childhood village which is extremely down on it’s luck due to the industrial revolution mechanising the textile trade. He convinces the whole village to back him with the promise of untold riches to come, and goes about forging guineas. The real Hartley gang were so successful that the sheer amount of fake money they introduced into the system almost collapsed the Georgian economy.

It’s not great to be honest. It looks fantastic, and the music is pretty good as well. The sort of soundtrack that has you reaching for Shazam. But unfortunately it’s not his best work. All three episodes are currently available on the BBC iPlayer.

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MR. INBETWEEN Disney+

Fuck me.
What. A. Series.

Seriously, the best bit of telly I've seen all year, even above The Last of Us which is one of my favourite stories ever.

A hidden gem, filmed by an all Australian/Kiwi cast and crew for an Aussie audience. But fucking hell, what a treat. A hidden gem if ever there was one.

Ray Shoesmith, a divorced father of an 8 year old daughter, caretaker of a fatally ill brother, and doorman of a nightclub somehow manages to become a sympathetic and likeable serial murderer of a hitman. By no means is this guy a good guy, he's absolutely a criminal of the highest order but my word do you love watching him in action. Written and created by Scott Ryan, its a series with a lot of heart, and a lot of energy but manages to squeeze a lot of well paced drama, laughs and action into 27 minute episodes.

I've binge watched three seasons in 2 days. It is very very moreish. The Aussie humour and dialogue helps carry this superbly crafted gem of a series.
One for the likes of Runyak and Gers, methinks. I'd be surprised if anyone watched this and didn't love it.

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White House Plumbers

I’ve not done a lot of telly watching recently, but this really caught my eye. I was a bit disappointed, however, as it seemed to turn an actual historical event into a parody comedy.

Justin Theroux and Woody Harrelson played the parts they had to play brilliantly, but there was so much more they could offer had it been accurate to the real Watergate.

I don’t know what episode it’s up to at the moment on the old steam powered TV, but having forced myself to watching it all on demand I’d advise, if you can get past the comedic setting, to give it until episode three before giving it a swerve.

Hijack

New 7-part thriller on AppleTV+ starring Idris Elba. Takes a lot of interesting turns for this type of story. Only watched the first episode but hooked already. Also stars the brilliant and massively underrated Neil Maskell as the villain.

8/10


Silo

Another AppleTV+ show set in a dystopian future about people living in an underground silo for decades after being told the outside world is poisonous. Very well made and worth checking out. The whole first series (10 episodes) is on there now. Decent cast - Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins and others. They've already filmed the second series.

7.5/10

I gave Silo a go, but gave up on it. I'm about to be sat on my arse for a considerable amount of time, so I'll probably give it another shot, but to be honest it didn't grab me.

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