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Must Watch reviews: Colin from Accounts

2024-09-05T06:38:10+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review Australian comedy ‘Colin from Accounts’.

The much-loved comedy is back for a second season after the �� acquired rights to the show earlier this year.

Created, written by and starring Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, the eight-part series centres on their characters, Ashley and Gordon, two single(ish), complex humans who are brought together by a car accident and an injured dog.

Credit: ��/CBS Studios/Paramount+

‘There is no joke that’s too gross for them’

Naga: “I've heard so much about Colin from Accounts, and I think I'd seen before now about three or four minutes of it and I never really got it. I was talking to one of my friends, she just went, ‘I really like it because it's just like hanging out with friends’. Now I get it. I do get it.

“So, Hayley, is it a Must Watch?”.

Hayley: “Absolutely. It was in the first season and it is now. I love the fact that the two leads and the creators of the show are actually married in real life. It's Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall. I think the fact that they're married leads to this obviously very easy, believable chemistry.

“But also there is no joke that's too gross for them because they live together. There's a lot of toilet humour in this, which is my favourite. I also love how Australian it is. It's incredibly ‘sweary’, but in that Aussie way where it's more like punctuation than anything actually offensive.

“This new season has all sorts of new problems and twists. It's going in an unexpected direction but I think if you like shows like Catastrophe or Starstruck, you will love this. Like you were saying, it's one of those shows that you hear people talking about all the time, and I think you just fall in love with it very easily.

“[Looks at Scott…] Are you going to tell me I'm crazy now?”.

��/CBS Studios/Paramount+

‘It’s a rebellion against a conventional rom-com’

Scott: “No! I would also say this is a Must Watch. They’re married in real life. It makes the show feel completely realistic.

“Colin From Accounts is also a bit of a rebellion against a traditional rom-com while still being very much a rom-com. And I think the other reason why it works, is just the fact that it is a continuation of something that has been happening on TV quite recently, which is a show in which the people who are starring in it also write it.

“‘Baby Reindeer’ stars and is written by Richard Gadd. Michaela Coel writes and stars in ‘I May Destroy You’ and Patrick and Harriet write and star in Colin From Accounts. It gives these shows an edge because it feels intrinsically personal.”

��/CBS Studios/Paramount+

All episodes of ‘Colin from Accounts’ are now available to watch on �� iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Kaos’ and ‘The Zelensky Story’, click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch reviews ‘Sherwood’

2024-08-29T10:16:26+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Holly Hamilton to review ‘Sherwood’.

The �� One drama, written and created by James Graham, looks at families in a Nottinghamshire mining village.

The first series explored the ongoing rifts between those who picketed and those who decided to go back to work during the 1984-5 miners’ strike, through the lens of two fictional murders in the area.

The second series, which continues to star David Morrissey and Lesley Manville, looks at the area through a different lens, looking at how the closure of the mines resulted in a rise in criminal and gang related activity and reopened wounds the area was trying to heal.

Holly: “I have to say I did really enjoy season one. So how will series two fair?”

Scott: “You’re exactly right with the cast. It was like they went with season one and they thought who the other greatest actors in the country are - David Harewood, Monica Dolan and Robert Lindsay, okay sure, let’s bring them in.

“I think particularly anything with Monica Dolan in, she was absolutely amazing and phenomenal in Mr Bates vs the Post Office at the start of the year.

“Whenever I see her name, she is one of those people who when I see her in a cast list, I am immediately excited.”

Scott: “I really like Sherwood season one because I felt it explored issues in a state-of-the-nation way.

“James Graham, behind Quiz and the football play Dear England (which is also getting turned into a TV show, is great at making stories and exploring what an event says about us as a nation.

"You see a range of different perspectives explored on particular issues, but he always remembers to ensure that the plot and the stories and the characters come first.

“I think that is why Sherwood worked and the first series did incredibly well. It had over 6 million views, but at the end of season one, all of the loose ends were pretty much tied up.”

Scott: “When I heard about season two, there was a bit of trepidation.

“Whilst series one looked at the divisions between those who picketed and those who did not during the miner’s strike, series two looks at the rise of crime and criminal activity following their closure.

"It has real tension that builds up a notch, especially with episode two if you found the first one a little slow.

"There are excellent performances, realistic dialogue and you have no idea where it is really going. The acting is great, stick with it.

“It is certainly a Must Watch.”

Holly: “For me Hayley, the end of the first series wrapped it up all in a neat little bow."

Hayley: “I’m the same, I thought it was a one-and-done sort of thing. So I was surprised when they said they would do a second series.

“I loved last season. It was the kind of show that made me fall in love with bleak British TV in the 90’s; stuff like Cracker and The Lakes. This has that Jimmy McGovern feel.”

Hayley: “When Sherwood came out, I remember speaking to someone who was complaining that there was no good TV anymore.

“I got stuck beside them at a dinner party.

“He said he had been watching The Sopranos from the start again because there was nothing new and good, and I argued with him, and listed some great TV shows.

"The only one he said was an exception was Sherwood.

“This season, I agree with everything Scott said.

“The opening credit sequence is about the knock-on effect from the miners and the gulf between the rich and the poor growing wider.”

Holly: “For those who don’t know, it is all based on true events.”

Hayley: “It feels like they’re trying to do something very ambitious in that it’s the same thing but a new focus. Like The Wire did, but in the East Midlands.

“I think we will have to see how that unfolds, to see how successfully it is done.”

Hayley: “I think if they can pull that off, this will be excellent.

“I believe they can, because I trust James Graham, who is the writer and director of the show.

“And it is also directed by Clio Barnard, who is very good at ‘it’s grim up north’ stuff – she wrote and directed the film called The Selfish Giant which was compared to Ken Loach movies.”

You can catch up on the first two episodes of the new series of Sherwood on �� iPlayer, along with the first series.

Episodes air every Sunday evening on �� One.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Dating Naked UK and ‘Klitschko: More Than a Fight’.

Must Watch reviews ‘Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling story’

2024-08-21T12:09:16+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Steffan Powell to review ‘Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling story’.

It tells the true crime story of Ayling’s abduction in Italy in 2017, having travelled there for a photoshoot.

It’s based on detailed research, extensive interviews, documented legal proceedings and Chloe’s own book. It follows the kidnap itself, her escape, and the court case that put her captors in jail.

It also covers the media storm in the UK, in which Ayling was accused of faking her own kidnapping for publicity.

Steffan: “Hayley, is it a Must Watch?"

Hayley: “I really wanted to like this, but I found it too slow. I wish it had spent less time on the actual crime and more time on the media aftermath which, is the thing I think really sets this crime apart from other ones, and is the reason it would get a series like this.

“Obviously, the crime stuff is horrible and we need to know about this for the other side to make sense.

"But I always gauge a true crime watch by how desperately I want to pick up my phone and google what happens, instead of watching the thing – and with this it was mid-way through the second episode.”

Hayley: “To me, this is a story about what the media can get wrong in a huge way and the impact it can have on a life. I would have appreciated more of that being put up front.

“Time needs to be devoted to explaining how she got free, which was essentially trying to win her captor round and convince him she was in love with him.

"I’ve noticed in a couple of reviews of this show, men especially, find it hard to get their head around the psychological messiness of that.

“But it was clear to me immediately what she was trying to do and evidently the extra time the show has spent on that didn’t make it clear to them, so for me it’s as if it's fallen in the middle where maybe it’s useful to no one – and now and the thing that sets this story apart is further away than I wanted it to be.”

Steffan: “I remember that being a bit of a problem at the time, so it’s interesting it is mirroring the reporting of the time even all these years later.”

Hayley: “Exactly. She famously had an interview with Piers Morgan who accused her of being a liar.

"But that psychological messiness is something that every woman has been through, where you’re trying to keep somebody calm so that situation doesn’t escalate.

“It’s a fascinating story. I just thought it was a little slow for me.”

Steffan: “Was it slow for you, Scott?”

Scott: “No, I mean I have a more positive review than Hayley. I wouldn’t say it is a Must Watch again but I’m more positive.

“I do agree. Essentially the fact that she was put on trial twice, the first was the criminal trial, the second was the media trial, it does get to that part a little later than I would have wanted but I still felt the performances and level of detail in the first half of the series was needed.”

Scott: “I think this shows another side to the story a lot of people were following at the time.

“I think having it as a dramatisation was a good idea.

“It's well-acted and put together and what stands out is that. I think in an interview I saw the other day, she said: “Dealing with the media has left a longer negative term impact on her mental health than actually the kidnapping.””

Scott: “It highlights how when the media has an agenda which isn't favourable to you, even though you were trying to get your story across, then there isn’t much you can do, no matter how much PR tries to help and how much social media does.

“And the impact that can have on your personal life can be highly damaging. But I agree with Hayley that it is a bit uneven for me, this is why it’s not a Must Watch.”

All six episodes of 'Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story' are available to watch on �� iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Merseyside Detectives’ and ‘Made in Korea’.

Must Watch reviews: Daddy Issues

2024-08-15T07:00:41+00:00

When hedonistic 24 year old Gemma discovers she’s pregnant after a random hook-up, she has no choice but to turn to her hapless father, Malcolm, for support.

Malcolm is unable to load a washing machine, boil an egg or microwave rice without it exploding. Up until now, he’s been living in squalor with a fellow divorcee until Gemma asks him to move in with her.

Daddy Issues is a big hearted story about a father and daughter, and the reality of facing up to parenthood - at any stage of life, but is it a Must Watch?

‘This is a very promising debut’

Scott: “It is [a Must Watch] for me. The sitcom is pretty formulaic in its setup. A father and daughter who end up living together in adulthood. They don’t get on at first, but you see them rekindle their relationship.

“There are two things that make it special. Firstly, the acting. David Morrissey is great, and plays the hopeless divorced dad very well. Aimee Lou Wood is also superb. There’s also Sharon Rooney from My Mad Fat Diary.

“And it also works because of the writing. It contains so much wit. Every line feels fresh, relatable and gives it a real distinctive style.”

‘The real success of it, is the writing’

“It's written by Danielle Ward, who's written for Brassic. She got on a scheme that the �� does called �� Writers Room, which gives opportunities for new and up and coming writers.

“Then this is a result of one of those schemes. It's great. One thing we were making a point on Must Watch a few weeks ago is that comedy as a genre is struggling. Sitcoms as a genre are struggling just because fewer shows are made.

“They're not by default, particularly profitable. You have had big successes, huge shows, of course, but they can take years before they really find an audience or become mainstream hits. This is a very promising debut, and I really hope it will run well.

“We used to have a better set up, I think, in terms of supporting people when they were coming into the industry, in terms of allowing them, particularly in writing, to get the experience and work out their distinctive voices. So many of our greatest writers in this country, in TV and in film, have come through soaps and have come through smaller channels.

“I think what's been a concern is that not only smaller channels like �� Four, who used to do comedy, don’t make as many new shows. Daytime soaps like Doctors are ending, so there are fewer opportunities. If you manage to give someone the experience to try things out then in two, three, four decades time, they're writing shows like Happy Valley, which end up having 10 million viewers, become the bigger sensation and get lots of awards".

‘It had a lot of truth and heart in it’

Hayley: “I agree with everything Scott said. I thought this was funny, and it had a lot of truth and heart in it too. I mean, anyone who's had to deal with their own recently divorced middle-aged dad will find this a little too relatable, probably.

“It's exaggerated here, but this is clearly observed by someone who knows how quickly divorced dads fall apart and how much you have to control their lives. It also has that thing of seeing your parents as humans who don't know what they're doing either, rather than how you saw them as a kid, which I think is quite a shock to everybody when you have that moment.

“It's also fun seeing David Morrissey in a comedic role. The last two things we've seen him in, he was playing very serious detective roles. There was Sherwood, and then there was The Long Shadow, which was the Peter Sutcliffe murders. In this one, he's a man who doesn't know how to empty a bin properly. And he can do comedy, but he then brings the dramatic abilities to the scenes that are also heavy. So I thought both of them were great in this.

“I think we're so used to seeing him as this drama guy that he must get to a point and go, I just want to do something silly. That's probably why he did this. He was probably when, I just want to do something silly, I don't want to be a detective again”.

Daddy Issues will premiere on �� Three on 15 August at 9pm.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed Love is Blind UK and The Body Next Door.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch reviews ‘The Turkish Detective’

2024-07-25T09:04:51+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Gethin Jones to review ‘The Turkish Detective’.

It’s based on a long-running series of books by the English crime writer Barbara Nadel.

In the series, a Turkish born, British raised police officer transfers from London to Istanbul where he solves crimes with his eccentric boss.

Gethin: “Is it a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It’s the best thing we’re reviewing this week. It has many good qualities.”

“It’s about a detective who’s born in Turkey, raised in England but it never really felt like home, and he’s now returned back to Turkey.

“He was in the Metropolitan Police in the homicide department. He said that the work culture, he never really felt accepted so he’s now working for homicide in Istanbul.”

Scott: “He is very used to detective work being incredibly cold and calculating and not really caring for the victims family that much because you’ve just got to get on with your job.

“And now he’s being thrust into a homicide team with people who actually do care a little bit more and have a different way of doing things.

“Maybe they would have unconventional methods such as interviewing people in their cars or not necessarily in the police station in the normal taped interview, they would find their own ways to catch the perpetrator.”

Scott: “Now, the series is quite formulaic. There’s people saying “trust no one”, there’s doomed love interests and the usual detective show style of interviewing one suspect, then another, then another.

“The series is not game changing, it’s very much I think a polished and surprisingly quite comforting detective watch and I think it ticks all of the conventions of all of the types of detective shows that you’ve seen many times but it does it well so it’s not going to rock the boat or change the game, is it good for now? Yeah.”

Hayley: “This is the best thing on our show this week. It feels a little ‘Istanbul written by a tourist’ and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in a silly detective show, but I think if you’re expecting something more authentic, you might find it a bit annoying.

“The show was written by Ben Schiffer who worked on Skins and the writer of the novels grew up in the East End of London but now lives in Essex so the Istanbul we see is a kind of stylised ideal and it doesn’t really use the setting to tell the different kind of story.”

Hayley: “The first crime is another dead girl like in every other show but it’s a great excuse to have cats roaming around the police station and I will never complain about having loads of cats in a TV show.

“The main detective is eccentric enough that I found him very watchable, he carries the thing. He’s surrounded by characters who are either a bit bland or cliché but he’s always there.

“The writing is a bit obvious. Despite the fact that it looks grittier, it's actually kind of twee, it’s very much a cosy English crime series but just with a different setting. It’s like a murder happened in the village again but the village is Istanbul.”

Hayley: “And I agree with Scott, it’s actually quite soothing in how much it feels like it’s something you’ve seen before. He even says ‘just one more thing’, like it’s Columbo. I know this isn’t the kind of review that will ever get my quote on a poster but it does feel like the kind of show that you should put on when you know you’ve got about 7 minutes before you fall asleep in front of the TV. It is quite nice, even though it is about murders.”

All episodes of The Turkish Detective are available to watch on �� iPlayer now.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Those About to Die’ and ‘Piglets’.

Must Watch reviews ‘The Jetty’

2024-07-17T08:38:48+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Gethin Jones to review ‘The Jetty’.

The Jetty is a four-part crime drama starring Jenna Coleman.

Detective Manning (played by Coleman) investigates a fire in a holiday home in a Lancashire lakeside town and whether or not it connects to an old missing person case, which potentially involves a man in his 20s who had relationships with underage girls.

Her discoveries lead to her questioning her own past, and the gap between her late husband when they first met.

Gethin: “Hayley, is it a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “Well, I want to say: sort of. It’s a bit lightweight and jokey to start of with and it’s full of cliches and the kind of police work – I sound very judgemental now – but it’s full of the kind of police work that you get from watching police shows, rather than doing any further research into what detectives do other than walking around in big coats.

“It feels a bit more ITV than �� sometimes and it’s slow to get to the point and there’s a true crime podcast character that is quite cringey.

“But it eventually becomes a bigger story about consent and the blurry lines between consent and abuse when there’s a big age gap.

"I thought it was interesting that it ends up being a detective interrogating her own life and what she believed was true at the same time as investigating someone else’s possible abuse of young girls.”

Hayley: “I’m sitting on the fence because it’s not amazing. I think they’re trying to do a post MeToo reframing of sexual politics by having that whole reckoning happen in one person, who has to mentally reconfigure her entire life.

“But it doesn’t wholly work because the cliches kind of detract from anything deeper they are trying to achieve. But if you fancy watching a silly thriller with the psychic in it then I’ve got one for you, it’s called The Jetty.

"Don’t expect it to be deeper than that, but they are trying quite desperately to make it deeper than that.”

Scott: “I don’t think this is a Must Watch either, however, I do think there are many good points in it. I am more positive than Hayley.

“I think Jenna Coleman is fantastic, I think she has got real depth of character, you’re trying to figure her out, you’re seeing her trying to figure herself out during the course of this overall series.

“I think also it’s the themes that it manages to look into, surrounding misogyny, peer pressure, coercion … is great too. It feels considered and well handled.

“The performances are great, the look of it is great, the cinematography, but where it falls down, I agree with Hayley it’s the cliches.“

Scott: “I find it miraculous that this week we are reviewing two shows that have a lot of establishing shots of woods with a kind of spooky intro theme, it’s the same case with this and ‘The Good Girl's Guide to Murder’.

“I also think that it feels a bit like a box ticking exercise for some of the conventions that come through that you see many times before in �� and ITV thrillers and the twists and the turns.

“But I do like the interplay between the podcast hosts and Jenna’s character.”

All four episodes of the Jetty are available to watch on �� iPlayer now.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Supacell’ and ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’.

Must Watch reviews: Douglas is Cancelled

2024-06-28T08:15:03+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Douglas is Cancelled.

Douglas Is Cancelled is a four-part comedy drama about cancel culture, set in the world of television news, starring Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan, directed by BAFTA winning screenwriter Steven Moffat.

National treasure and news presenter Douglas Bellowes tells a sexist joke at a wedding - will his career survive? And is anyone, at home or at the office, really on his side?

Credit: ITVX

“It seems to be a Stephen Moffat rant at the youth”

Nihal: “Hayley, is this a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “Not really, but it does end well. I've seen all four parts. I think the issue with this whole show is it seems to be a Stephen Moffat rant at the youth. There are zoomers and millennials who say things like, "don't shout at me, I already have anxiety today" and they overuse the word "micro-aggression". And they say things like, "Ok boomer" and "thanks for mansplaining that, Dad". And it's as if Moffat is rolling his eyes at the youth for hours in a way that isn't very funny because it's so obvious.

"And it also has that Moffat thing of everyone is angry and shouting even when there's not much to be shouty at. You end up getting a bit wound up watching the thing and just wishing everyone would calm down.

“That said, it does get so much better at the end, and it actually makes a good and solid point rather than a forced joke. I think Karen Gillan is brilliant at a role that has loads of different layers to it, and it's far more layered than you think it's going to be in the first episode. You just have to wade through a load of annoying stuff to get there”.

Nihal: “Ok, so it's a Must Watch if you're patient, essentially?”.

Credit: ITVX

“It gets so much better at the end”

Nihal: “Scott, Douglas is Cancelled. Is it a Must Watch?".

Scott: “It's not a Must Watch for me either. However, there are some good points in it. I agree with Hayley, I think it is a bit flawed.

“I see this show as a mixture between W1A and The Morning Show. The press team at ITV were very keen that anyone reviewing it watches all four parts. You think with the first two episodes it will go in a certain direction, and then in the third, and especially the fourth episode, it gets turned completely on its head. The last two episodes are certainly the most compelling.

“Steven Moffat originally intended this to be a play, and I think that is why it's flawed as a TV show. When you see a play, you’re usually there for the whole thing. In the first half of this TV series, not really that much happens. Essentially, there is a tweet, we don't know what the tweet is about. Karen Gillan's character retweets the accusation with a quote tweet, amplifying the accusation along with a statement that then can be read in different ways.

“You're trying to work out "Ok, what is Karen's true intention, here”. Then when we got to episode 3 and episode 4, it then became much more compelling. But I'm worried that people might not really make it that far if they are not convinced by the first two episodes."

Credit: ITVX

“Karen Gillan is compelling”

Scott: “Steven Moffat at a press screening last week was talking about how, with cancel culture, it's much more complex than the binary issue it is often presented as, but people are very quick to judge on Twitter [X]. That's an obvious point to make, but that is very much reflected in this drama. But then there are other points, like Hayley said, where it does feel that young people who, of course, I think are very aware about the issues that are facing the world and think differently than the generation before them, they are seen to be a bit of the punchline.

“There are two people, I think, under the age of 30 here, and they're just seen to be reacting overly to everything. I don't know whether that was intentional or unintentional, but I just find that quite grating because I think young people need to be given more credit.

“I think Karen Gillan is compelling in this. She's wanted to do this Steven Moffat drama for years. She is, along with Alex Kingston, the heart of this programme. She gives a fantastic performance, particularly in the third and the fourth episode.

“I think it's just a little bit uneven. It feels like there are quite a lot of ideas. Some work, some don't really work. It's bold for ITV to be doing this. I don't regret watching it. It just doesn't meet that threshold as being a Must Watch for me”.

Douglas is Cancelled will start on ITV1 on 27 June at 9.00pm. The next three episodes will air weekly, at the same time, on ITV1.

All four episodes will be available to stream after the premiere broadcast.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed I Am: Celine Dion and Outrageous ��s.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch Reviews: Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials

2024-06-19T09:24:54+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials.

It is a documentary hosted by BAFTA-winning actress, Suranne Jones as she delves into the history of witches across the world.

Suranne travels from Lancashire to Massachusetts exploring why women were the main targets of witch trials, how they were persecuted and the lasting effect this had on history.

Nihal: “Hayley, what is it going to be?”

Hayley: “It’s a two part series on channel 4 hosted by Suranne Jones and it’s about the history of those who were accused of witchcraft, the political and societal context of witch hunts and also the impact the trials had on communities.

“She talks to academics and experts and it all starts out near to where she was born, in Lancashire, in the village of Pendle, which was the site of one of the most famous witch trials in English history.”

'I learnt so much here which I found to be fascinating'

Nihal: “Is that a Must Watch, Scott?”

Scott: "It is for me. It started with her going, ‘I’m going on a journey’, which is the cliche of every TV documentary you’ve ever seen done by a celebrity, which initially made my heart sink a little bit because they can always end up being a bit formulaic and you don’t learn anything new.

“But I learnt so much here which I found to be fascinating, it’s really well put together.

“I think there have been 100,000 trials throughout history. 75% were always women and half of those people who were accused ended up being executed. And it was mostly the women who were silenced and oppressed. They also go into how witchcraft came about and the reasons behind it.

"And if you look at, for example, wizardry, which is more associated with men, has always been seen to be a good thing. Whereas witches, which are more associated with women but deals with lots of the same stuff, have always been more closely associated with evil.

“I think I like this documentary because it took you in a different direction to what you first expected. I thought it was going to be something which was dealing with witchcraft in the more modern way it gets portrayed in Hollywood films or TV shows such as Sabrina.

“But it actually looks at the role of women in society and the way they were treated by men. So, for me, I learnt a lot and it was not what I had been expecting, it is a Must Watch for me.”

'The oldest thing in the world is to be suspicious of women'

Nihal: “Hayley, is it a Must Watch for you?”

Hayley: “It is and my review is pretty much the same as Scott’s. I think we all know that ‘actor investigates something’ is not the best genre of TV show, they’re usually pretty poor. So I went into this with low hopes.

"But actually, this is a pretty great primer on what happened. It doesn’t have reenactments with lots of people with mud on their face and black teeth, which is the kind of thing I was expecting. It’s Suranne Jones talking to academics from all over the place. They’re in the UK, they’re in Europe and in the second episode, she’s in America. And they talk about exactly what happened and why. Even though, what we do know, is kind-of third hand and all written by men.

“It goes into why the invention of the printing press was a huge factor in how these ideas about magical, evil women spread across the world. It was a bit like something going viral on the internet. Even though this book, which was written by a crackpot, outlined who witches were and what they did, it never specified a gender. It was society who mostly ended up blaming women.

“It’s a really interesting story about the persecution of women through history and how we still feel the same effects now, the same ideas are still floating around. The oldest thing in the world is to be suspicious of women. This is old testament stuff but we see it in incels now who believe women are tricksters.

"Yeah, this is a must watch.”

The first episode of Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials launches on Sunday 23 June on Channel 4.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

Click here to listen to more Must Watch podcasts where the team review the best in TV.

Must Watch reviews: On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace

2024-06-11T08:45:41+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace.

In 2013, Russia was about to extract the world’s first offshore Arctic oil. A Greenpeace ship set sail for the oil rig, hoping to film a protest and discourage an international Arctic oil rush.

Russian security services had been monitoring activities of the ship and word came from the very top: the protestors would be made an example of. The ship was captured and its protestors imprisoned.

‘They just didn't know that the guns would be pulled on them’

Nihal: “Hayley, is this a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “Yes. It does a great job of explaining both the cause and also the absolutely enormous danger that they were in. But I think what I liked about it the most is, it really shows you how different all the protesters are. Some of them seem like career activists, some are eccentric madmen, and one is just this polite plumber who usually fixes toilets. And they all banded together for this cause.

“It humanises the protesters, not that they need humanising as such, but it bands them together as just a bunch of humans doing this insanely dangerous thing for something they believe in. I think you forget that when the media gives them the fancy shorthand name like the Arctic 30.

“As well as that, the footage is incredible because obviously they had to film it to show the world what they were doing - that's what Greenpeace does. They just didn't know that the guns would be pulled on them. So that footage is terrifying. And for the parts they didn't have cameras on, there are reconstructions. I thought this was really well done”.

‘I found it compelling’

Nihal: “Scott, is it a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It is for me as well, yes.

“I found it compelling. The footage that you see, which Hayley was talking about, is incredibly compelling. I think it's a really good documentary in the fact that it sets up what happened really well.

“You learn about the context, why Greenpeace did these stunts, where they intervened [and] Russia's position in terms of the Arctic and how they now have access, because of the melting ice caps, to so much oil and why they want to drill because it's so pivotal to their economy.

“It also looks at the growing consolidation of Putin's power and influence and control in Russia.

“Then there were surprising moments in this documentary, surreal moments, such as when the ship that they are on gets taken back, they pass the time by playing card games just because they didn't know what's going to happen.

“Also how Paul McCartney was pivotal in regards to their release, because they realised that Paul McCartney, who is very well known in Russia, of course around the world, too but especially in Russia”.

Nihal: “He wrote a song about it”.

Scott: “He wrote an open letter to Putin that then got circulated a lot saying, 'Can the Arctic 30, who are in Russian jail under terms of piracy charges, can these charges get dropped?'

“They were soon replaced with different charges around hooliganism and then were later released”.

Nihal: “Did Sir Paul McCartney's letter have any influence, do we know?”.

Scott: “From my understanding, yes”.

Nihal: “Wow”.

Scott: “It manages to weave in many different subjects and themes. My only slight frustration, same case with the Channel 4 sitcom Queenie from last week, [it's] 30 minutes [long episodes] when episodes really should be an hour. It could be because they've got a deal with other countries to show it in 30 minute instalments. But sometimes it's a bit frustrating that when it is getting into the story, it then immediately comes to an end and you want it just to be a bit more free-flowing”.

'Artic Sunrise', the ship Greenpeace protestors sailed on

All episodes of On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace are available to watch on �� iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed Becoming Karl Lagerfeld and Skydive: The Murder Plot.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch reviews ‘Lost Boys and Fairies’

2024-06-05T07:47:48+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘Lost Boys and Fairies’.

It is a three-part series on �� One written by Daf James.

It's about two guys in a long-term relationship who decide to adopt a child.

The drama follows all the hoops that they have to jump through for that to happen.

Nihal: “Is it, Hayley, a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “Well, despite that trailer which makes it sound really twee, yes, it is a Must Watch. A story about people trying to adopt a child is not an original one, but I don’t think I have ever watched one that goes so deep into the complicated emotions within each person involved and I don’t just mean the potential parents, but also in the kid.

“It’s a story about when people collide with each other and try to build a family out of all of their various parts, everyone is bringing some other baggage in.

“And in this case one of the husbands had a very religious and abusive childhood and was raised at the time of section 28 and the famous ads during the AIDS crisis.”

Hayley: “Throughout the adoption process with the social worker interviewing them about their lives, these characters are basically being disemboweled in front of us.

"It's incredibly complicated and it’s deeply sad, but it's also very funny which means when it gets very, very dark, you are never that far away from a laugh, even if the joke is also very dark.

“I’ve only seen one episode so far, there are three of them, but I thought this was extraordinary and I can’t wait to finish it.”

Nihal: “Scott, is Lost Boys and Fairies a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It is for me. I think the premise is very interesting, if you are being interviewed for potential adoption, your health gets scrutinised, your finances gets scrutinised, but also your history gets scrutinised and here are two individuals, who have to, a bit like therapy, go back and look after and talk about all of the difficult parts of their entire life, about their family, about their upbringing.

“They are having to essentially talk a lot about their own past and that makes an interesting premise.”

Scott: “It taps into gay shame, it taps into trauma, it taps into parents who might not accept your sexuality, it talks about survival from abuse and from drugs and also having to reset and restart your life without the shadows sort of creeping in too much.

“I think it also taps into just the complexity of adoption. I thought it was interesting to have the social worker interviewing the couple planning to adopt not as a one dimensional character, but actually someone who is there to support them.”

Scott: “It doesn’t scrutinise the adoption process, it basically just brings you through it, makes you acknowledge and understand about the role that everyone plays within it, and it gives me a bit of an insight for a system that I don’t really have that much knowledge about.

“So I found that to be really interesting and the way that Daf was saying in the interview, talking about the complex will of emotions, if you are an individual who is starting to think about adopting somebody else and all of the changes in your life that you have to go through before you even have a kid walking through your front door for the first time.”

Scott: “In terms of flaws, there are some moments I do think are a bit twee. I also wonder with the two leads how much are they individuals and how much are they there to reflect the entire LGBTQ+ experience.

“I think for what this is trying to do and for bringing you into a process that you may know very little about, you may know a lot about, I thought it to be really interesting and that’s why it’s a Must Watch for me.”

‘Lost Boys and Fairies’ is now available on �� iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Eric’ and ‘Queenie’.

Must Watch reviews Buying London

2024-05-31T08:57:51+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘Buying London’.

‘Buying London’ is essentially a British version of the Netflix reality show ‘Selling Sunset’.

The show received a zero star review from the Guardian!

Netflix

Nihal: “Is ‘Buying London’ a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It isn’t a Must Watch. There are guilty pleasure TV shows out there, such as ‘Selling Sunset’.

“And now they’ve made a British version where you see an elite, luxury property agency dealing with the rich and famous.

"It mostly consists of people undermining each other, sitting in front of computers that don’t ever go past Google, followed by tours of houses that are very expensive, but also rather bland and ugly."

Netflix

Scott: “It’s just copied and pasted the formula. But, there are some things in this show which rub up people the wrong way, including me.

“From the off, they make it appear all that London is just Mayfair, Kensington, Chelsea and Belgravia. The ‘Made in Chelsea’ universe.

“A lot of the show consists of houses going on the market, posh people wearing sunglasses arguing about who is going to be selling the property, and houses that don’t really look like they’ve ever been lived in.”

Netflix

Scott: “The reason why it frustrates me is how it reinforces and celebrates ostentatious wealth and property ownership at a time when the cost of rentals for millions has increased.

“I get that TV is escapism but there is literally a moment in this first episode where we see a fifteen bedroom house in Mayfair that is suspected to be worth more than £300 million, there’s gold leaf practically everywhere, it's got London’s biggest biggest ballroom, its 45,000 square feet and then you hear a conversation between two people and they say, “it’s so big this house, God help you with your gas bill”.

Netflix

Scott: “I get that this type of TV is there to cause a little bit of frustration, if anything that’s part of the appeal.

“But there was something that just made me feel so uncomfortable with just the way that it celebrates this life of elite property ownership whilst being so far removed from the realities of where many people live.

“The other rant I have about this is just how lazy this show is. ‘Selling Sunset’ is very good at what it does, it’s cast brilliantly. It is an art form, American reality. But I think they've just gone “we can do it with a British equivalent” without having an interesting mix of people involved.”

Netflix

Nihal: “Just to give you the headline from The Guardian – in their ‘Buying London’ review - they call it ‘Probably the Most Hateable TV Show Ever Made’. Now if you put a headline like that, people are going to watch it.”

Hayley: “No, it is not a Must Watch. I looked at my notes this morning and all I had written was ‘dreadful people, uninteresting jobs, horrible houses’.

“I wish we got the kind of London landlord that tries to rent out the absolute monstrosities - more in line with what most of us have to deal with when we go looking for somewhere to rent. Like a real-life ‘Stath Lets Flats’. I would watch that. That would be funny and depressing.”

Hayley: “I remember viewing one flat where the real estate agent pulled a chef's knife off the top of the electricity box and said “don’t worry, you’ll get used to jimmying the door open with this”.

“That stuff could be interesting! This is just boring. It’s not even the kind of thing you can watch as a hate-watch because it’s so boring.

“And it proves to me that the very rich, or at least the ones in this show, have no taste. So you don’t even get to lust after nice houses that you can’t afford, you just have to look at how other people spend money.

“Like Scott said, this show is just a knackered old cliche. Also, even though it’s set in England, I don’t feel like it is made for us. It feels like a London explainer for Americans.”

All seven episodes of ‘Buying London’ are available on Netflix now.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘Bay of Fires’ and ‘Into the Amazon with Robson Green’.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch reviews: Rebus

2024-05-23T11:24:05+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell joins 5 Live presenter Felicity Hannah to review the TV adaptation of the best-selling Rebus crime novels.

Rebus reimagines the iconic character John Rebus, played by Richard Rankin, as a younger Detective Sergeant, drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal.

Shaken after a violent encounter with gangster Ger Cafferty, Edinburgh detective John Rebus finds himself at a psychological crossroads. At odds with a job increasingly driven by corporate technocrats, involved in a toxic affair he knows he needs to end, and all but supplanted in his daughter’s life by his ex-wife’s wealthy new husband, Rebus begins to wonder if he still has a role to play – both as a family man and a police officer.

‘It's a character study of a very complicated detective’

Felicity: "Is it a Must Watch?"

Hayley: "It is for me. The first episode opens with him doing something very unethical and that sets the tone for the whole thing. And I've seen people saying that they've turned off because it's violent and unrelentingly bleak. But anyone who listens to Must Watch will know, that that's the kind of show I love. It's bleak, it's Scottish, it's morally all over the place, it's full of people you'll hate. So if that sounds horrible to you, you probably won't be into it, but I am.

"In this version, he's a bit of a younger Rebus than we're used to. He's an unreliable dad. He's struggling with a drinking problem. He's having an affair. He's fighting with the more corporate side of his work. And none of that is revolutionary or different in the world of detective shows. They all do that."

Felicity: "They've all got to have a troubled past!"

‘It's bleak, it's Scottish, it's morally all over the place’

Hayley: "They've all got to be a bit shabby or horrible in some way. I don't think this show will change anyone's life, or their opinion on cop shows in general, like Happy Valley did. I think Happy Valley crossed a line into people who were like, 'I'm not really into detective shows, but Happy Valley is different'. This isn't that, but it is solid. I think it's been ages since we've had a good detective show. This is one of those."

Felicity: "I wish listeners could see your face as you're saying things like "it's bleak, it's awful, it's terrible". You've got this slight glow about you, slight smile. I love it. Yeah, I can tell you really do. Who should watch this? Do you have to be into detective shows?"

Hayley: "No, I think this is a pretty straightforward, gritty detective show. It's not a straightforward procedural one. It's not one of those where the crime happens and then is solved in the next 24 minutes. It's a character study of a very complicated detective. If that is your deal, then this is for you."

Felicity: “It has seen one of the reviewers describe Richard Rankin as the most irresistible incarnation yet. What does that mean? Do we love to hate him in this?"

Hayley: “No, I think someone is developing a little crush there on the TV."

Felicity: “That's fair enough. How much does Edinburgh feature in this? Because I'm not hugely into detective shows, but I do really miss Edinburgh, is that a big part of it?"

Hayley: “Every pavement you see is slightly wet, that's my whole experience of Edinburgh. Edinburgh has a huge part to play because Rebus is from there and they talk about it. They talk about whether or not Rebus would have voted yes in the Scottish Independence vote. That was something that was part of the discussion when all of that was happening, back when Twitter was Twitter."

Rebus launched on Friday 17 May with all episodes now available to watch on demand on �� iPlayer.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

Click here to listen to more Must Watch podcasts where the team review the best in TV.

Must Watch reviews 'Dark Matter'

2024-05-14T12:00:42+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘Dark Matter’.

It's an Apple TV+ science fiction series created by Blake Crouch, who also wrote the book.

It follows a scientist, who is kidnapped, injected with a weird serum and then wakes up in an alternative universe.

His wife isn’t his wife, his mate isn’t his mate and he’s in a different job.

Apple TV+

Scott: “Hayley, is ‘Dark Matter’ a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “This is a tricky one. I think it's an okay watch.”

Scott: “So, it's not a Must Watch?”

Hayley: “No, it's not a Must Watch. I would, again, give it three out of five if I'm allowed to use a metric that isn't binary, but I know that's illegal on this podcast.”

Hayley: "I really like the idea of this. I like how it mixes high-level sci-fi about multiple universes with a very basic human idea of how different your life might be if you just said yes to something or if you just said no, if you'd taken another path.”

Apple TV+

‘I just didn't get into it as much as I wanted to’

Hayley: “Basically, it's about a physics genius, who travels to another universe to take over the life of his less successful but happier self, who said yes to something that he said no to in his own universe.

“And now the less successful but happier guy is kidnapped and stuck in the other guy's universe - where he's this incredibly famous, highly lauded, miserable man. He just wants to get back to his domestic life, but he has to fight himself to do it.

“So basically, there is evil Joel Edgerton and good Joel Edgerton. And I really wanted to like it because I like Joel Edgerton, whether he's being evil or good. And I also like Jennifer Connolly.

“I just didn't get into it as much as I wanted to. I don't know if the issue might be that it's too long. Whenever I say that, I mean it's diluted rather than I can't be bothered to watch this many hours of something because I will watch a million hours of something that is good.”

Apple TV+

Hayley: “I don't think audiences will have trouble wrapping their heads around multiverses. Maybe 30 years ago. But we've been living alongside the Marvel movies for so long that I think even my mum could explain the multiverse to me.

“The episodes end up covering less ground than they could do in that time if there were fewer episodes. That might be the issue because all of the ingredients add up to something I should love.

“And if you contrast it with Shining Girls, which was another Apple TV+ show, which was about alternative shifting realities, this new one doesn't come off as well, I don't think.

“And I loved Shining Girls. There were eight episodes of that one, and there are nine episodes of Dark Matter. And I think Shining Girls was a far more complicated thing to try and get your head around. So that's my theory. What did you think?”

Apple TV+

Scott: “It isn't a Must Watch for me either. I think, though, the elements of it I find interesting. I mean, the fact that you're essentially seeing people being different in each world and one person accused of losing their mind because their reality no longer matches up with what was their reality directly before.

“And it's got a good mystery. Why has this guy ended up waking up in this alternative place? Why does the other person know exactly what's going on? Would he be able to get back to where he was before?”

Apple TV+

‘This should have been a film’

Scott: “I think I agree with you, Hayley, this could have been a film. This should have been a film. Apple TV makes films. They do some really good films. This could have been one of those.

“It should have been that because I just don't think this mystery is complex enough, surprisingly, to keep you hooked for long.

“It also does this, 'because we're a science show, we're now going to talk about science to you for five minutes', which they do with Schrödinger's cat which I understand because it's maybe a metaphor for the plot.”

Apple TV+

‘It looks so polished’

Scott: “The flaw with this show is that it looks so polished.

“Because it's Apple, and they spent a lot of money on it, they use a special filter on every single shot and everything looks a little bit perfect and as a result, a bit bland.

“I don't understand why sometimes science shows go, okay, it has to look and feel in this particular way, because it can end up looking quite grey.

“And it's not necessarily, I think, the most captivating way to get you into a programme. I like the premise, the premise stands up by itself and I think it will be popular. Although Apple TV+ does not reveal the viewing habits for their shows.

“But it is in their own internal chart, that you can see on their own website, the most watched programme at the moment on there.”

Apple TV+

Scott: “I just don't think it has enough for me to go 'oh, yeah, I'm going to come back to this every single Friday', because that's a unique challenge I think Apple TV+ has - because they do boxsets that they drop one episode at a time.

“So, it's one episode a week and then on there forever. And I sometimes think to myself 'has this show really got enough for me to go the following Friday? Yeah, I'll remember, and I'll come back to this'. Unfortunately, I don't think this is one of those shows.”

‘Dark Matter’ is available to watch on Apple TV+ now, with a new episode available every Wednesday.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on �� Sounds and all other podcast providers.

This week the team also reviewed ‘The Gathering’ and The Fortune Hotel’.

Must Watch reviews: Doctor Who

2024-05-09T07:11:12+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Doctor Who.

The much-loved sci-fi series is back, starring newcomers Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. The first double-bill of the new era of the Doctor is here with episodes ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Cord’ from the creative mind of writer Russell T Davies.

‘The chemistry between Ncuti and Millie Gibson is just fantastic’

Nihal: “Scott, is it a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It is a Must Watch. The chemistry between Ncuti and Millie Gibson, who plays Ruby Sunday, is just fantastic. Their chemistry is completely believable and has been that way ever since we first saw them together in that Christmas Special. I think without saying really anything - the episodes ‘Space Babies’ and ‘Devil's Cord’ - they're quite different.”

Nihal: “Is it called ‘Space Babies?’"

Scott: “‘Space Babies' is the episode. I think ‘The Devil's Chord’ is the stronger episode, it feels more confident as an episode.

“With ‘Space Babies’ … the interesting thing is that this series is the new collaboration with Disney in the US - it now potentially can have a higher global audience. There was, of course, the 60th anniversary special too. There was also the Christmas Special that aired last year. But this is, I think, the proper formal reintroduction.

“You're trying to introduce millions of people, potentially, who haven't seen Doctor Who before, whilst also still having to have everything for existing fans, of course, who have been watching the show for decades. It feels like you're spinning two plates at the same time or multiple plates at the same time.

“There's a lot of reintroductions to everything in that first episode, which can feel a little bit jarring and a little bit frustrating, but I get it because, of course, this is Disney having it too. I feel like the first episode is a bit like… it's got parallels to Russell T Davies' first episode when he took over in 2005 with Billie Piper, just in terms of it being an introduction to Doctor Who.

“So I feel like with the second episode, it takes it up a notch now that the introductory part is out of the way".

‘[Jinkx Monsoon is] absolutely compelling’

Scott continues: “I have to give a shout out to Jinkx Monsoon. I can't really say anything about who she is in this episode, but I feel that she is just in an absolute class of her own. Absolutely compelling, brilliant in terms of the acting range, the ability, terrifying and entertaining in equal measure.

“Also you can see the amount of money that has been spent on this show. I think the production has gone up again. Even though it was already quite an expensive show to begin with, the increase in budget has not been at the expense of the story. I think it'll be interesting to see how it pans out for the rest of the series.

“I think Russell T. Davies was saying in an event quite recently about the plans that he's got in place for later episodes, particularly in the last few, have been plans that he's had in his head for years. So it feels like we are working towards something?"

Nihal: “And even if you did, you wouldn't be able to tell us.”

Scott: “I wouldn't be able to tell you. Let me just say I'm happy I got through that with you in one piece without slipping in any details I shouldn’t."

‘Russell T Davies is doing a great job of subliminal, progressive messaging’

Hayley: “I'm so sweaty.”

Nihal: “Yeah, this is stressful, so is it a Must Watch Hayley?”

Hayley: “It's not a Must Watch, but that's not because there's anything wrong with it. I just think Doctor Who is none of my business.

“But that said, Ncuti Gatwa is excellent. He's a great Doctor. I really wish we could talk about these episodes specifically because I really think Russell T Davies is doing a great job of subliminal, progressive messaging in a way that I think kids should definitely be spoken to. He takes a few huge political ideas and shrinks them down into small, simple things that kids can understand, all in a way that it doesn't clang or stick out as 'messagey'.

“Like Scott, I did feel that the second episode was much more powerful. Jinkx Monsoon is excellent. I have a description here that I think is correct, and I'm sure people on Twitter will come out with this after I've said it, and… I can't say it... should I... no, I'm not going to, I'm not going to.”

Scott: “[This is] the most unhinged review we've ever done.”

The first two episodes of the new Doctor Who will be available to watch from midnight Saturday 11th May 2024 on �� iPlayer before a back-to-back TV airing later that day.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed Hollywood Con Queen and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.

Must Watch reviews Miriam: Death of a Reality Star

2024-05-02T06:47:23+00:00

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Siobhan Synnot and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Miriam: Death of a Reality Star.

The Channel 4 three-part documentary series follows the story of Miriam Rivera, a transgender woman who was the centre of controversial reality series There’s Something About Miriam.

Miriam as seen on the 2005 programme 'There's something about Miriam' (Credit: Channel 4)

‘More extraordinary as you go on’

Siobhan: “I think it is a Must Watch. I was really gripped by it. There are few pieces of entertainment history that have aged quite so badly as There's Something About Miriam. It was described by its presenter Tim Vincent as a show featuring “a J-Lo lookalike who's got it all”.

"What the audience knew, and what the male contestants did not know, was that Miriam Rivera was a trans woman - and the ‘got it all’ was a bit of a snarky innuendo.”

“It's intriguing, the naivety of the production team, the huge effort they went to keep Miriam's secret. The producer made a point of never using pronouns. They called Miriam “The Model”, a “beautiful person”. They made sure the participants weren't allowed to spend much time with her - one contestant who began to suspect was swiftly eliminated.”

“Everybody in front of the camera seems to have been hurt by a production team who did not seem to have thought about what they were doing - to the point that after Miriam revealed her secret, the production team thought that everyone involved would recover after a quick ten-minute chat with a shrink, followed by a party with champagne and snacks. It gets more extraordinary as you go on.”

Channel 4

‘It was just about mocking and insulting and shocking people.’

Nihal: “Scott, is Miriam, Death of a Reality Star, a Must Watch?”

Scott: “It is. It harks back to a rather uncomfortable period in reality TV, in which shock was the main purpose of the entertainment programme, rather than it being in any way educational.”

“It was laughing at contributors, rather than having any informative takeaway from it, because this series was not to teach anybody about trans issues, trans women, trans men - it was just about mocking and insulting and shocking people. The premise in the pitch was, “Six guys date the woman of their dreams and discover she is a man”, and that being the overall twist.””

Channel 4

‘You learn a lot’

“Now, Sky have said that this series has been removed from all Sky platforms many years ago and is not reflective of their attitudes towards gender identity and inclusivity."

"As the series goes on, there is some reflection about how much we have changed as a society - arguably, we still haven't in terms of understanding trans people's lives.”

“This brings together why on earth the people behind the programme decided to go and make it in the first place, why it was put on air, what it was like to be one of the men on this programme."

"You have people who knew Miriam highlighting what her life was like before and after this TV experience and the utter exposure she had. The tabloid press went to town with her, rather than the TV company that put this premise together. You learn a lot.”

“I would also point out that there was a great podcast a couple of years ago called Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera. This is just a TV version of that. It shows how much we have changed as a society."

"We look back at the noughties and think things are the same, but actually it's very, very different in many aspects.”

Channel 4

‘It was a Wild West for reality shows.’

Siobhan: “Something really interesting happened that same year on Big Brother, with Nadia Almada, their first transgender contestant. On that show, Nadia became a fan favourite. Nadia won that Big Brother."

"I would have liked to seen Death of a Reality Star give some consideration as to why that show succeeded in being so positive – and why Miriam's show overestimated public prurience about trans people. Even Miriam ‘s contestants were quite chilled."

"The winner’s initial reaction was, “Yeah, I'll go on the holiday with Miriam”. It was only after some reflection, he said, “I don't want to go on holiday with somebody who deceived me”."

“So, it was a Wild West for reality shows. But I think the public were showing signs back then of being rather more enlightened than the media.”

Scott: “One of the good things about Big Brother - there’s no hiding from the fact that Big Brother was exploitative in its own way – it put together people from different walks of life into a house, giving onus to the viewer to learn more about them."

"People warmed to Nadia - her personality started to come through. Something About Miriam was never able to move away from the cruelty of the format and the producers manipulating it for shock value."

Miriam: Death of a Reality Star is available to watch on Channel 4.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from �� Sounds and all other podcasts providers.

This week the team also reviewed Shardlake and Dead Boy Detectives.

Click here to listen to the latest episode.