THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Enjoyed ‘Hatton Garden’ over the last four nights.

Well worth it for the line about the bins alone - ‘Friday, no, hang on, it was a Bank holiday’!

It's very good indeed.

Chernobyl

As mentioned above, and by God it's as good as they said.

The last episode was the best of the bunch. Basically a courtroom drama, with Jared, son of Richard, Harris never better. He was pretty spectacular in The Crown, but here he excelled as a man in turmoil having been basically played like a fiddle by the Soviet apparatchiks. And a special mention to the actor playing the head of The K.G.B. A truly menacing performance.

I was telling my lad that I'm well old enough to remember it, and standing in the doorway of Woolworth in Glasgow during heavy rain as we were told it would be acid rain from now on and we'd all get cancer.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Chernobyl is a brilliant mini series. I’ll confidently say you are stupid and and idiot if you choose not to watch it, it’s only 5 episodes and you’re missing great television.

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The most optimistic pessimistic person on this forum.

Apparently.

UTF

63 Up

I'm assuming that most folk are aware of the premise of this, but in case you're not.

Director Michael Apted started interviewing a socially diverse group of children at 7yrs old, and has gone back and interviewed them again every 7 years. They're now 63.

From a sociological perspective it's quite remarkable. Mainly due to the fact that when interviewed at 7, most have turned out exactly as their social class dictated they would.

The most heartwarming stories being those of the two kids brought up in a children's home, who have remained lifelong friends despite living on opposite sides of the globe. Now both happily married and grandfathers.

Obviously there has been tragedy. One sadly passed away in the intervening 7yrs since the last series. Another, a nuclear physicist, has advanced throat cancer. Which means that we most probably won't be seeing him on 70 Up. Another has had mental health issues his whole life. But even though, it's remarkable telly. Almost like welcoming a group of old friends back every 7 years.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

I recommend the Chernobyl podcast as well, top listening.

Killing Eve series 2. Great fun.

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I don't need your ill-informed, half-baked, idiotic opinions. I have plenty of those myself.

Watching even as I type.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Killing Eve. Series 2

Terrific fun, albeit with an edge as dark as a bar of plain chocolate.

It's a great insight into someone falling into psychological disarray, or so you think!

Villanelle continues to live in her 60's French movie fantasy world, occasionally surfacing to bump someone else off. It's a wonderful study into someone with no moral compass whatsoever. Just when you think she's showing compassion, she doesn't. Unless breaking a child's neck is sympathetic.

Unusually the male characters are mere sketches, which is no bad thing in the context of the three strong female leads. However, Eve's husband warrants a much fuller back story than merely being a husband.

But I'm nitpicking. It's brilliant, and I'd urge anyone to binge the whole thing.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Chimerica

A fictionalised telling of the Tiananmen Square 'tank man' set against the 2016 America election. Comparing the slow erosion of civil liberties under Trump and the Chinese State's treatment of their population.

Got off to a fairly slow start, but certainly picked up in the last episode, with not one, but two fantastic twists at the end.

Available now on All 4.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.