Pluribus, All Her Fault, and Wild Cherry. With guest Jack Whitehall

32:03The agents, you normally have to drag them kicking and screaming to set to buy you lunch. But on this, they were all there. Agents that I didn't even know I had would suddenly rock up and they'd be there. Your secret entourage. Yeah, exactly. Did the parents come? Of course. Yeah. They actually came to that day in Watford. I warned them not to, but Michael really wanted this. He walked in and he's like, oh, it's nice to be back. I was like, what? No, they did not come to that date. But they did visit Sam and Roxy and Elsie came as well. But yeah, it was a great shoot. And the fellow cast were amazing.

32:41Carice and David was great and built a really natural kind of chemistry with him, which then we had to sort of strip away completely because we were playing adversaries. And he's a hard man to hate in real life. But I had to hold this rage for him in every scene that we had. and he's just effortlessly charming. So it was quite... I mean, he's one of my heroes because I used to love the Hex-Files. So I was very excited to see him opposite you. And the scenes between the two of you are really interesting because you're kind of like, there's like psychological warfare going on. And of course, he's also clearly game for life because in his first scene, he gets his bum out.

33:17Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly. Something for the mums. Buns for the mums. Dads as well, yeah. And the dads, yeah. I think my bit's for the dads. Oh, yeah, that's true. but yeah no he's great and really game and it was great seeing him you know do this and play this type of part and he's you know I think it's so much better for his presence in it because as well he has this like this natural undeniable you know charisma and charm and aura about him that really helps with making that Jamie character feel multi-dimensional and someone that you know can be a bit of bit boorish but is also you know really appealing as well so i think it helps with the this like like constant balancing act of whose side you're on is this does this represent i mean you're you're you're great in it by the way i thought you did such a good job in this in this character totally i totally went with it um is this the future is just would you like to do more kind of challenging acting roles or or are you going to carry on doing the stand-up?

34:25And you can't abandon your comedy career. No, no, I definitely won't abandon the comedy career. And, you know, I love doing comedy, and I love getting to do shows where I turn up to set and play and improvise and fool around, and they're great. But it's really nice to be able to do something like this and have these challenges and have these jobs where, you know, you turn up to set every day and you're kind of terrified in a good way because, you know, you're really pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and being challenged by the material. So hopefully there'll be more of this. I mean, you know, maybe I'll now just get typecast as psychopaths and, you know, long may it continue, but...

35:02Great future ahead. Yeah, exactly. We'll see how it goes down. I may be here in a couple of years' time promoting the reboot of Celebrity Juice and telling you it was all a disaster. That'll be fun as well. That'll be fun, yeah. Great to see you. Thanks, Jack. Thank you. That was Jack Whitehall. Time now for this week's news. Now, Boydie. Yes. I hear you may have some news for us. I think so, because, yeah, the Night Manager, they've revealed, as they call them, the first look images. And they've also revealed a lot about the story and the cast, which I think is new news. Remember, the original Night Manager was a massive phenomenon, a huge success, adapted from the John le Carre book.

35:41And it's going to be back with kind of using those characters that were in the first series. But obviously, John le Carre is now no longer with us and didn't write an actual sequel to the original book. So they've kind of created a new story featuring those characters. And the pictures look really interesting. There's one picture of Tom Hiddleston. Obviously, he's back in the role of British Intercherche's operative, Jonathan Pyne. And there's one shot of him canoodling with another couple in a kind of up-close-in-person dirty-dancing type situation. Wow. I'm like, oh, what's going on there, Mr.

36:17Hiddleston? You may ask. Olivia Colman is back. Do you remember Olivia Colman was in it? I think that's a pretty good coup. Since Colman can do anything these days, she's in a kind of supporting role in this series. It's good to see her back. And the storyline is, Jonathan Pine, Tom Hiddleston, thought he'd buried his past, now living as Alex Goodwin, a low-level MI6 officer, running a quiet surveillance unit in London. His life is comfortably uneventful. Then one night, a chance sighting of an old mercenary prompts a call to action and leads Pine to a violent encounter with a new player, Colombian businessman Teddy dos Santos played by Diego Calva.

36:54And, yeah. But it looks great from the pictures. They've done a good job because I am now fully excited about the whole thing. What they don't say is when it is arriving. No. I think it's not going to be until next year. It won't be until next year, yeah. I reckon Jan. Do you? Yeah. Have you got inside information? Absolutely not. I just plucked a month from the calendar. It feels like it's a Jan. It feels like, well it does feel like, I agree with you, it does feel January. If it actually feels like the big January the 1st. You know, they usually have a huge big, like, Happy Valley, the final series started on New Year's Day on BBC One.

37:25The second series of The Tourists, similarly. So they usually have a big drama offering on New Year's Day. I hope this will be that, but I'm not sure if it is. That hasn't been confirmed to me, certainly, or anyone I know. Well, you would be the person who would know, boys. You'd think, wouldn't you? Yeah. Soon you'll get a call, I'm sure. Yeah, but I hope it's then, but it might not be. Something I was excited about was a press release. I just got this morning, actually, and it was about the fact that ITV has commissioned The Party. Yes, I saw this. Which is going to star Luke Evans. It's written by Sarah Soleimani, and it's based on Elizabeth Day's book, her novel.

37:59It's going to be produced by World Productions, so it sounds really exciting. A lot of duty, fine. Yes, of course. Luke Evans will play Martin Gilmore, who's a journalist shaped by his lifelong friendship with the wealthy and charismatic politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen. Tom Cullen again. Yeah. Very popular. He's everywhere. Apparently he was raised alone by his working class mum, Sylvia, played by Joanna Scanlon. And he wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school where he first meets Ben. They forge an unbreakable bond as Ben and the Fitzmorrises give Martin the sense of belonging he has always craved.

38:36And in turn, Martin remains unflinchingly loyal to Ben through even the greatest crises. Have you read that book? No. Oh? I'm currently... Weirdly, look. how weird is this you let me down because I was expecting you would have done no but I'm reading I'm currently reading her first I think it's her first book here look How to Fail yes you are how weird is that that is quite weird that is weird but that's like a non-fiction self-help book isn't it no it's non-fiction non-fiction but yeah this is from a novel obviously of course yeah of course as stated yeah so I'm really I'm really excited about that yeah Sarah Soleimani is a legend and a friend of the podcast I'm saying close personal friend of boys they all are Kurt Sutter is not a close personal friend of mine but I do very much like his work and I was very excited to see the trailer for his new show dropped this week which is The Abandons on Netflix it's a western with Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey seems to be like a homesteader a sort of group of leads some sort of settlers and Gillian Anderson is like a I don't know like a wicked rancher who's trying to drive her off her land and take her land from her it's all very sinister but Kurt Sutter is a big one for ultra-violence and sadistic shit.

39:47He's the man behind. He worked on The Shield. He did Sons of Anarchy. He worked briefly on Mayans MC. But yes, he does have a lot of... How come you like him then? Do you know what? You hate that stuff. It's a good point. And I must admit, Sons of Anarchy, he used to start pretty much every season with an incredibly graphic and hugely upsetting bit of violence. And when I did my rewatch of Sons of Anarchy, I struggled with each and every one of those, which is kind of the beginning of each season. There was always a thing and it was always horrible. and I never liked that. I really liked the show, but I could have done without that.

40:20But yeah, he puts his characters through a lot. He plays, he's actually stars in The Shield as well as a serial killer. Is it an Albanian, not really a serial killer, he's an Albanian sort of like criminal who runs an organised crime organisation and he likes cutting off people's feet. Oh, that's not, it's not, all right, not as killer-y as, yeah. Oh, fun with that. Someone should have told him that, Let's just make it clear. It's fine. It's fine. it's not full on serial killing he just lops off bits I mean it's like taking Feet Finder really literally oh my god serial dismemberment is okay The Abandons then which lands on Netflix on the 4th of December so excited about that new cut started to show but that wasn't the only trailer that dropped this week we also had Chex Notes a trailer for Wonder Man which Kay you will have limited interest in but this is the new sort of MCU superhero TV show starring just powering down Yaya Abdul-Mateen II and it's quite meta.

41:14It's a superhero who wants to get a role playing a superhero in a TV show. But it's a TV show about a superhero who wants to play a superhero in a TV show. That sounds quite interesting. Yeah. And the fact that he is a superhero has powers I guess is like the big secret that he keeps from people. Yaya Abdul-Mateen was brilliant in Watchmen. Watchmen. Naked, wasn't he? He was very naked in Watchmen, yes. Blue and naked, yes. So I don't know what to make of Wonder Man. It looks interesting. I haven't really heard of this. No, it's not been particularly well publicised, but it's an interesting project.

41:46It's a Marvel show. It's an MCU show, yeah, on Disney+. Interesting. Yeah, Wonder Man drops on Disney +, on January the 27th. Oh, excellent. Did you see the glorious news, after all the acclaim, that we, particularly you two, have given not to Nobody Wants This Season 2, that Nobody Wants This has been renewed for Season 3? It has been renewed for third season. It's a no-brainer. it is but equally part of me is just like meh yeah I'm a bit I agree because it's funny I enjoyed the second season and I did watch it all and I was like yeah it's not as good as the first one but the more I've thought about it the less I've liked it and it's like I'm thinking back on it there was almost nothing memorable about it like it was perfectly pleasant watch but there was nothing that stuck in my mind see I would be tuning in to season three solely for Saoirse and the sister to see what's happening with their relationships yeah harsh Yeah, I know.

42:39But it's true. It is true. Like, they had the most interesting... I agree with you, but I still enjoyed it. Did you watch all of season two? No. Aha, j 'accuse! Mon petit frange! God. But I will. No, I want to carry on watching it. I do enjoy it, yeah. Okay, well, come back to us when you have. Don't enjoy it enough to finish watching it, though, do you? Well, you know... He's a busy man. He's a busy void. Fucking busy man, yeah. Look, obviously, it's going to be a tonal segue here, because, you know, hilarity. But I was genuinely upset to hear this week that Chekki Cario has died. Yes, that is absolutely...

43:14Which was really sad. Chekki Cario is 72. Yeah. I interviewed him just last year for Boat Story. Yeah, he was great. Yeah, I missed a couple of Q &As with him. Not this all about us, obviously. No, of course it's not. It is about Chekki Cario. He was absolutely brilliant. Baptiste. Yeah, Baptiste. He was so good, they made that spin-off. That's right. Baptiste. Yes, Baptiste. Yes. He was obviously... The character appeared in The Missing, didn't he? And then they spun off Baptiste. Yeah, he was fantastic. And he was a really, really good guy. Yeah, great French actor. Isn't the original Bad Boys?

43:43Wow. If you can believe that. That was a long time ago. But yeah, great. Great actor. Really lovely man as well. Really interesting interview. But yeah, died at the age of 72. Very sad. Very sad. Do you have any happier news? Okay, I've got some news to end on, which is that Paramount Plus has announced that they are going to be releasing The Revenge Club on the 12th of December. So this is a six-part series starring Martin Compton, Amy Fjorn Edwards and Mira Sayal. And the synopsis reads, it follows six lonely, hapless strangers brought together by a divorce support group, each reeling from betrayal and heartbreak.

44:19With little in common beyond their emotional baggage, they form an unlikely bond and come up with a wildly misguided idea to take revenge on the people who broke their hearts. Sounds fantastic. Look, James' interest is piqued. What starts as a cathartic outlet quickly spirals into something far more chaotic. as their retribution escalates from petty pranks, forged exam papers, tarot cons and rat invasions to deadly accidents. Dun, dun, dun. Sounds good. Well, it's good to have Martin Constance back. Listen, always. It is good to have Martin Constance back. And he's going to be back also in Red Eye, series two, by the way.

44:54Redder Eye. Or Red Eyes. Even more Red Eye. Which I think that is coming very soon, isn't it? That might be a New Year's treat as well from ITV. Perhaps. Maybe. Perhaps, indeed. I really like Reddit as we know I'm a big fan of aeroplane bases anything on a plane anything on a plane preferably upper class for Boyd Day yes draw a veil over that but yeah I'm very excited to see Compton back okay yeah can I give you my showbiz headline this is about film but it just amused me you know it's one of my you love a headline little franchise that I created that no one cares about apart from me Boyd Day's headline corner but my headline corner is this is from Variety Jennifer Lawrence did not use an intimacy coordinator with Robert Pattinson because, he's not pervy.

45:42Yeah, this went absolutely everywhere this particular story. The point was, in fact, what I thought was quite interesting was actually what they haven't quoted there because I guess it's not as headline worthy as she says something along the lines of she says, a lot of male actors you work with get offended when you don't want to fuck them and then the punishment begins. And I was like, But that's a very, you know, that's very Jennifer Lawrence. It's very obviously funny her saying it, but it is quite, I would say, revealing about the culture on sets of things, especially among, you know, how female actors are treated.

46:15Yeah, don't let the humour of that expression take away from the actual facts. There's a lot under the surface there to unpack. It's like, that's pretty sinister. Yeah, it's on the surface. It's there, it's what she's dealing with. Well, exactly. So I thought that was interesting. And the, sorry, the next bit of the, the forehead line is, she also refused to let Die My Love which is the film edit her cellulite in quotes no that's an ass there you go good one I genuinely love Jennifer Lawrence I think she's wonderful and she's been going she's been doing all the chat shows recently she was on Jimmy Fallon I think recently she was saying about how annoying she is and she's saying she knows she's annoying it's like you're not annoying you're just A very funny but also just very unfiltered and honest and it's just great I don't think she's annoying at all I saw her do a Q &A recently for this film and she was interviewed feud by someone.

47:01Edith Bowman, maybe? And she, her and the director, Lynne Ramsey, were there. And she, not in a diva way, in a funny way, they sat down, she was wearing this kind of dress, it was like a slit along the side, so kind of, you know, revealing quite a lot of her leg. And she sat down and she goes, no, no, no, no, I can't sit here because you can all see my slit and I've got to change places with it. She had to go up and change places with her because she was revealing too much. Yeah, she's brilliant. That's very funny. Well, yeah, so headline-wise, I was just, I must admit I found it a bit wearisome that that pretty much that exact headline was used by so many outlets like it was always just like okay but I get I understand why because the internet but it was just like I mean it's a brilliant headline it is it's not going to be buried anywhere is it yeah no exactly yeah time now for this week's reviews and we begin with All Her Faults which is on Sky Atlantic and this is Megan Gallagher's show based on the book of the same name by Andrea Mara and it stars Sarah Snook as a busy mother who encounters what can only be described as the playdate from hell because when she comes up to pick up her son he isn't where she thought he'd be.

48:01As mentioned last week, this is basically the exact same setup of the show Playdate, which was, I want to say, earlier this year, but time has no meaning to me, so it might be the year before. I think it was this year. And by the way, it wasn't actually called Playdate. Was it not called Playdate? No. I think it was. Oh, it was originally called Playdate, and then they changed the title to The Stolen Girl. Yes. The Stolen Girl. So it's actually, it's the same setup as The Stolen Girl, though I'm assuming slightly less batshit than that show ultimately turned out to be. Um. Maybe. How many episodes?

48:31Three, to be fair. Okay, fine. It is incredibly similar. So the initial premise that Sarah Snook's character has arranged a play date for her boy with another boy from the same school, and she arrives, as you... I'm just repeating what you said. So that element of it is almost exactly the same as the aforementioned show that you mentioned. But from then on, it is different. It is different because in that case, it was a complete mystery as to who had taken the kid and why. And they would edit in kind of elements of the side story to explain the background of exactly what happened, but they still kept it mysterious pretty much all the way through.

49:12Whereas in this, it is, as they say in the trade, as we say in the trade, it's more of a why done it than a who done it. Oh, God. So you know who has taken the kid and what's happened to the kid, essentially, very early on, I would say, kind of, you know, end of the first episode into the second episode. But you then meet all the mother's friends and relatives and her husband's family and kind of extended their friendship group. The other women particularly in the neighbourhood, it's set in a suburban area of Chicago, a kind of to-do, well-to-do area of lavish houses in that place. And so you amass a kind of gaggle of suspects who would have worked with the one we do know is involved somehow.

49:55So somehow there's a connection between the character we know is up to no good and all these other characters who've all got secrets and lies swirling round in a suburban melange of, you know, scandal, basically. Sarah Snook is absolutely brilliant, right? I mean, obviously she was phenomenal in Succession, and she's really good in this. She, again, is one of those roles which demands a lot of crime because, you know, she's in a state of distress. But the best thing about it, in a way, is, I mean, it's an intrinsically gripping storyline. It's a mystery, and it cleverly sets up all kinds of characters, and you do want to know how it all plays out.

50:37And I will absolutely finish it as soon as I get time. But almost the most interesting thing about it is they really go there with how would the media and the fellow community react to a mother who's a middle-class, middle-stashed, upper-class, privileged, woman has in quotes that's why it's called all her fault because everyone assumes it's her fault for not digging deeper into whoever was the nanny who was looking after her kid or the parents of the kids you're supposed to be having the boys having a play date with so there's a lot of blame going around. I think they do that really well. Yeah that's the most interesting element of it.

51:12There's a press conference scene. How many episodes have you seen? I've only watched one. There's a press conference scene in episode two where the police and the parents address the media and they're pleading for help and that goes spectacularly pear-shaped and it's almost like comical how terrible it goes within seconds of it beginning but it is it does comment on and there's a lot of stuff about you know people looking on it on instagram to see you know what what their social media profile is and people not people saying the whole thing could be a scam arranged via social media and so it is interesting there are i mean it does stretch credulity there's a there's a red Terry in episode two, there's like a little thing that happens where you know, oh, that's suspicious.

51:54And you think, oh, this is a big secret that is going to come tumbling out. And then they resolve that within about ten minutes, and it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous, the whole little thing that happens. And there's lots of moments that are preposterous. And, you know, it doesn't really, things that just don't make sense. They may make more sense when you watch the whole thing and they explain what the hell's going on. But I am enjoying it. It's got a really good cast. Jake Lacey from season one, I want to say, of the White Lotus? You know the White Lotus essentially had a series of privileged white guys, privileged buff white guys who are kind of borderline obnoxious.

52:28He was the first one in Series 1 of the White Lotus. He's now doing a very similar routine. He's just got that face. He's got that kind of like privileged, kind of like, yeah, like strapping. I know exactly what you mean. American football playing. Condescending. Jock. Definitely the jock at university. Now he's like, you know, running a huge business, making loads of money, investments of some kind. he's really good Michael Peña is good as the detective Dakota Fanning is great as the friend slash possible you know everyone involved is possible she's basically the mother who is supposedly the mother who's organised this play date that Sarah Snook believes has organised the play date exactly yes you have mentioned also the sister of Abby Abby Elliot from The Bear yeah she's great she's playing a really spoiled annoying brat in it and she's very good so it's not I would say I don't feel it's like, it's not in the upper echelons of peak TV.

53:22It's pretty compelling and I do want to know how it plays out. But it's not like, you know, it's not brilliant, I would say. It's fine. It has a couple of clumsy moments, I would say as well. There's one bit where a character kind of looks at the boy who's going to be kidnapped. It's like a flashback. It has an evil glare. There are ominous calls. Oh, yeah. Cores like playing on the soundtrack. And she says something like, he's perfect. and you're like oh my god this is embarrassing but that's the only bum note I would say from the episode that I saw I was like that was horribly cumbersome I think it does you know the lesson of get straight into it it does that brilliantly right instantly because it begins with the quote unquote pick up from the play date so you are right in it she rings the doorbell and this older woman says I don't know who you are who you're talking about and then from that moment onwards Sarah Snook is fantastic in this from that moment onwards the drama escalates at such a rapid rate because you're following her on this journey of realising that, oh my God, her kid's been taken, she doesn't know who the hell the woman was, everything has gone wrong in this scenario and she is going to get blamed.

54:30She blames herself a little bit, but more importantly, I think what's really interesting about this is the commentary on how, as Boyd said, how everyone in the community sees her, how her own husband, right, looks at her and it clearly eludes to the fact that, oh, you should have double-checked this. But I think what's really good is this whole exploration of the difference between the roles of the mothers and the fathers. And that is particularly apparent with the character of Jenny, played by Dakota Fanning, who is a mother in that little group and is on a business meeting in the evening. And she's constantly getting calls from the husband just asking, oh, you know, where's such and such water bottle?

55:05Where's this? And it's something that is obviously most mothers will probably relate to in some way of like, you know, the pressures that are put on them as opposed to the husbands who... and one little detail I really loved okay so she gets Shiv I'm calling her Sarah Snook Sarah Snook's character the whole thing is she's received this text from this Jenny character and she's believed it to be true etc and then it's pointed out to her oh there's a class list of phone numbers and did you tally it with the number that came through and she's like oh no I didn't I was so busy you know it's a kind of you can see how it would happen right and there's just this one line where she says because he said you know did you check and she goes no that list of numbers It's on my bedside table, my side.

55:47But I just didn't get around to it because of this. And it's such a good thing because it just outlines the fact that everything, everything is down to her to sort out. And I don't know. It is an interesting commentary on kind of like emotional labour and the kind of the pressures and the judgment put on working mothers and whatnot. But also like, sorry, one more thing. It's like with Jenny, she's got one kid and she's expected to help at the fundraiser because, oh, this is an expectation that if you've just got one kid, you should be you know just kind of helping out for those who have too and you're like what it's outrageous so yeah I thought it was really good and unlike you I don't know I feel like it's I really wanted to continue to see how it panned out and I thought it was well done I'm not saying it's like peak prestige TV of course but I think it's like it's mid table it's mid table but you know also there's quite a few moments that you talked about that that reaction shot and there are lots of little quite cheesy moments like that and particularly almost like the soundtrack doesn't help.

56:43It's almost like... Yeah, it's very heavy-handed. Yeah, it's quite heavy-handed. Like the bit I'm talking about, you sit with a mobile phone is what I'll say about this red herring moment. It's like... Oh, blah, blah, blah. That explains it. And then there's a scene, there's another scene in episode two where the character you're talking about, Dakota Fanning's character, Jenny, is kind of... She's at the school with these other mums and she tells them that she went to see Sarah Snook's character, Marissa, because everyone's blaming her as well, Dakota Fanning's character. And they literally launch this diatribe, three of them, at her, to her face.

57:15And I thought, that just wouldn't happen. to her feet, you don't go to someone and go... Have the dignity to do it behind her back. Well, right, absolutely. And I actually sat there thinking, if I'd have been a TV executive and was responsible, I would have put a note saying, surely they can talk about her behind her back like this, but they wouldn't. And it's needed, it's kind of a little bit of storytelling as well. But I just thought that was like... I think some people would. Like that one, the one that you're probably talking about, one of the three, is the one who said the thing about the fundraiser.

57:41And I think she's that kind of person who feels like she is... Yeah, but it's more that these three women all have something to say to her. In a row, it's like, oh, come on. There's always one who's braver and then the other two are just like... I thought that. There are just too many moments where it gets a bit ridiculous for it to be top-level A-grade... Gourmet. Gourmet burger. Yeah, I agree. However, it lands on Sky and Now, when, Boydie? I think it's Friday the 7th of November. So last Friday. No, last Friday. Sorry, it's on already. This was heavily... Going into time machines, guys. Yes.

58:14And it was all their fault. And steady. And it's all... I think the whole thing is available to stream now on Sky Atlantic. Oh, brilliant. Yeah. All her fault then. Okay, next up, we have Wild Cherry on BBC One. And this is a six-part series revolving around two mothers and their frankly dreadful teenage daughters who live in a very wealthy community, attend a very exclusive school. There are scandals. There is sexting, there's an illicit social media app, and there's also a call to the head teacher's office, which is nice. A lot's going on there. So, Kay, please tell us, of all the people in this show, why is Eve Best?

58:50Oh, God, terrible, terrible. Eve Best does play one of the mothers, Juliet. Yeah, listen, we're kind of like in the same arena as all her four, you know, these middle-class mothers, very privileged backgrounds, and these two women, they live very pampered lives. it's in a rich part of Surrey and there's a whole thing about the people who live on the island and people who are across the water and everything like this anyway these two mothers are very different so Eve Best's character Juliet she's an author she's a real feminist mother very defensive of her frankly uber bitch daughter Allegra she is hideous and is very dismissive of her mother who she perceives to be an alcoholic and yeah And it's a very dysfunctional family.

59:37The husband is sort of like here and there and everywhere and Eve Best is doing her best to try and lure him back. Eve Best is doing her best. God, awful. And yeah, Juliet is trying to rekindle the romance, but it's unlikely to happen. And his character is Rafe and he's played by James Murray. Other mother is Lorna. She's Carmen Ejogo and she's a businesswoman and she's less vocal than Juliet. and when the headteacher calls them in, whereas Juliet instantly is like, oh, you know, accusing this man of being a misogynist and like, you know, why are you saying they've made this video and it's not possibly true.

1:00:13If she says it's not true and you're kind of like... And we bought the science wing and... Yeah, I mean, that kind of vibe. Whereas Lorna is, you know, she's concerned. She's concerned that has this happened? Has her prefect daughter, Grace, like, gone down this road because she doesn't want that video to be online forever. So, I mean, it's saying, it's commentary about like... Kids, you know, this group of kids and their dynamic is quite interesting in terms of the peer pressure, the bullying that goes on. It reminded me a bit of Borders in that way and how the parents deal with it and the commentary on like online videos being made and whatever.

1:00:49Crucially, what I haven't said is it starts in a way is very, it feels very influenced by Big Little Lies in that we see these group of women, the two mothers, two daughters. I think they've got blood on their hands or they're disheveled something you can tell something big has happened. And so then it's obviously going to flash back and then we see all the you know what leads up to that event. It's got a narrator that I could have lived without frankly like this and I don't know how you felt about it. I felt like the narration wasn't necessary and kind of was a bit overblown made it more you know added a sense of drama that didn't need to be had if you like.

1:01:23Like it was just, yeah, I'd felt unnecessary. And overall, like what I thought it was interesting in terms of what it's saying about this culture that exists in these affluent boarding schools and the parents and stuff, I didn't emotionally connect to the characters per se. So even though I know there's this mystery at the centre of it, I don't know that I need to find out what happened. Yeah. It reminded me, yeah, it was Big Little Lies. It's also like that one with basically Nicole Kidman. Eve Best is doing the Nicole Kidman role in this. It feels like a British version of that kind of show, where, as you say, something has happened in this community.

1:02:05In fact, there's kind of more than one thing, because you have got the thing, as you say, the kind of thing that implies some kind of crime or whatever, at the beginning, which is left very vague, even through, I mean, I watched two, maybe even three episodes, and it's kind of still vague. And then you've got the accusation that there's a video going round, a naughty video and they deny that there is but the headmaster of the poncy posh public school says there is and so there's a whole kind of slight mystery about that and a catalogue catalogue there's mystery part of a mystery because there's this rapper character called Kay Riz who I have to say not Kay Ribs no Kay Riz who runs this kind of like mansion house thing for influencers some sort of sex party and yeah it's not as much of a sex party as you think it might be initially it was like oh what's happening but then it's just kind of them kind of in stripping to their bras and doing bad raps and then a whole thing kicks off which is mystifying indeed and then someone goes missing and there's another mystery well you think the person going missing is probably tied to the initial mystery anyway there's a lot going on but you mentioned the whole thing is created by Nicole Leckie who's in it as well Nicole Leckie who did Mood which was good original in 2022 and she's written that and she my favourite thing about this is her role so she plays this kind of American wellness influencer and writer in fact who is like a guru who's also like a shrink and so like one of the girls is seeing her for therapy if you like but she also has this grand opening in her massive house that she's got in fact is she the narrator then?

1:03:47yeah she's the narrator as well so that's why she's narrating yeah absolutely and that character I really like because as you know I do have issues with wellness gurus and she kind of like there's a kind of satirical element to that whole story and the wealth that they film it in you know I don't know where they found these places but the actual I think they did film them in actual huge big houses that you find in Surrey wherever it's it's a fictional bit of Surrey isn't it like a gated community kind of thing but the houses are spectacular you have to say and the one that Nicolette's character is in has this thing I think you've seen in episode two where she's suddenly standing there in her like front room and suddenly the floor sinks and it becomes a swimming pool no yes oh I'm going to have to watch episode two now which apparently is a real thing is a real thing that is in this house yeah I was really interviewed with her she was saying yeah it's incredible they found this house oh wow so they used it and they took to the sea where suddenly she's in the middle of a swimming pool in her front room basically so there's also kind of I enjoyed the whole kind of the grandeur yeah the grandeur of it and the fact that it is a British version of that kind of thing I think it's a little bit messy it's a little bit because there's so much going on it's almost like too much I wanted to know what is your central mystery here and in a way she's kind of saying everyone's got something to hide I mean a bit similar actually to All I've Thought it's another show about rich privileged people in which everyone's got things in their closet not just a glamorous glamorous clothes yeah exactly people are literally covering up and not talking about stuff dark stuff that's happened in their past which is a very common trope shall we say in this kind of show but I enjoy it I think it gets better as it goes along so I watched kind of up to episode 3 and the messiness kind of is ironed out more but I think it's a bit if I'd have been again I'm just imagining myself as a TV executive in this episode I would have been like can we just focus more on one thing in that first episode because it's a bit all over the place but I do think it's well worth watching I enjoyed it What about you James?

1:05:45Initially I thought oh this is English Gossip Girl like when it begins and they're talking about this app what's the app called this sort of app that they've got the catalogue the catalogue which seems to be they've somehow created it's like Facebook do you remember Facebook started it was judging who's good looking and not it's that it's that and if they've created that TV show Your Face or Mine yeah and that as well yeah absolutely it's in the social network if you watch the film on social network it's very similar yeah exactly that so that whole thing and as you write there I got to the end of the first episode and I was genuinely struggling to say what the show was about because there were so many different strands that seemed to go in completely separate directions.

1:06:26And I don't think that's necessarily the worst thing in the world in the first episode, if it's compelling. But I guess I wasn't really seized by any of them, partly because I didn't particularly gravitate towards any of the characters. The girls, especially Allegra, is so irritating. The teenage girls are a fucking nightmare. Well, they're deliberately awful. and there are levels of awfulness as you say one of them is much much worse than the others but yeah she's so awful it's quite painful I remember there was a bit there was a bit where a girl in a panda mask is like stripped to her bra and gyrating in front of her like a camera and I was and I literally said out loud what is going on what is happening like I don't know what is going on this is life these days James now you're a committed influencer as we know on TikTok.

1:07:15Well, clearly, yeah. Maybe there's some inspiration. My panda mask is at home, so I didn't bring it in with it. I don't want to know about that. But yeah, so I don't know, like it's not terrible. I don't really feel like I'm sufficiently invested to continue watching it. Yeah, I feel the same, which is, this is my kind of territory, but yeah. Yeah. Interestingly, it's got a really big like Saturday night BBC One slot, nine o 'clock, which is like a big prime time push for it. So it's quite a bold decision because the most previous thing was the nine bodies in the Mexican morgue, is that what it's called?

1:07:44Yeah, Mexican morgue, yeah. Which is like quite a big plane crash whodunit thing that did well, I think, recently. So it's, you know, it's a good slot. I hope it does well. Finally this week, we have Pluribus on Apple TV. And you know I miss the plus. Like every time I say Apple TV, I want to say the plus. It feels like you're, yeah, you forgot to say something. I'll tell you another thing about that is that they do, in press releases, they still use the plus sometimes. This is mystifying. Yeah, I don't know what's going on. They've got a new ident with all sorts of colours on it as well. Guys, you say this, but actually I forgot to say, we had a message in the post bag from someone who said, now recently I think I've heard James doing some adverts for Pilot.

1:08:21I was like, okay. And then he said, yes, and I thought he'd dropped TV. No, no, podcast from the title, but apparently you're saying on the adverts Pilot TV podcast after declaring you were dropping it. Oh, yeah, but I dropped, so the reason for that is, we've completely gone off track now, is because if I'm advertising something and it's on the radio, I probably need to say it's a podcast because no one's going to know what it is. But if you're literally listening to the podcast, you don't need me to tell you that it's a podcast. You know it's a podcast. You're listening to it. It's a podcast.

1:08:49But if I'm doing an advert, I feel the need to say, yes, it is a podcast. That is what I'm advertising. Fine, that's okay. I thought we were being inconsistent. No, no, no. Which is unlike us. It's tailored to the medium. Got it. Got it. On behalf of the listener, got it. Finally this week, we're going to talk about Bluribus, which is created by Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan and once again takes their showrunner back to Albuquerque in New Mexico, but not, not crucially, to chart the rise and fall of a meth lord, but rather, a romantic author called Carol Serka. And she's played by Ray Seathorn from Better Call Saul.

1:09:22And she, in this, is one of the only people immune to a virus that quite literally brings the rest of the world together in complete harmony. And as the tagline for this show goes, the most miserable person on earth must save the world from happiness. Which is a really kind of cool little, little, you know, logline. Yeah. Yeah. Boydie, this all sounds a little bit like the Borg from Star Trek, if I'm honest with you, but tell us, was Resistance futile? Yes. This is, at least initially, it's like Contact meets the leftovers meets Severance. It is, isn't it? It's got a brilliant, I think the premise is so clever, though, the high concept premise.

1:10:05Kind of Apple, initially they were trying to keep it a secret, weren't they? They were very vague about it, but now I think they've been very upfront about what it's about. So I think we can discuss the fact that the genius of it is that it kind of works as, even though you kind of don't really know, the contact bit is kind of explaining something's going on somewhere in the universe that means that humanity suddenly comes together via a virus as like one entity, right? Yeah, like a collective, like the Borg. Like the Borg, but that doesn't mean much to, It doesn't mean anything to Kay. It doesn't mean slightly more to me, but it's a Star Trek reference.

1:10:42I mean, who needs that? Got it. Right? So, yeah, so humanity kind of becomes this collective entity, except for 12 people in the world of 13. Initially, she uses 11. Initially, it's 12. Yeah, the number changes. Yeah, literally a handful of people, if you like, two handfuls of people around the world have not been, for some reason, embroiled in this new singular entity version of humanity where everyone on the planet can speak to everyone else and knows what everyone's doing all at the same time. It's... Everyone on the planet has a shared consciousness. Yeah. So it's like we are all one person.

1:11:15Can you imagine if we were all one person? Yeah. Good God, no. Now, would we... This is the big thing. It's like, would you rebel? If you thought that, you know... Because essentially, that consciousness is having a great time, mostly. Right? Genuinely very happy. Genuinely, like, no inhibitions. It's having a fun... You know, it's all... Carefree. Carefree. They're eating great food. Oh, yeah, I'm down for it. Yeah. Hook me up, inject me now. Everyone's working together to achieve common goals. Now, what's fascinating about this is, and I've used the Borg analogy, the Borg analogy in Star Trek were an alien race of kind of cybernetic organisms.

1:11:46The point was, they would assimilate life forms into their collective, and they were the same. They were a single hive mind. There was a queen later on, but that's a whole other thing. That was retconned. But it was basically an analogy for communism back in the time. It came out, it was in the 80s, it was the whole thing. It was all about, oh, look at this. This is what communism is. It's this hive mind, and we're all about our individuality. and I thought that was quite an interesting thing whereas this is a different spin on that well but what I was going to say was it still has it still works as an analogy and it still works as a metaphor for political issues it does because the whole question is would you as an individual just go for the quite happy life and be fine with that or would you rebel against it as Ray Sehorne's character does brilliantly and is essentially the whole point of the series she rebels kind of intrinsically it feels wrong to her to have her individuality and to have all of our individualities removed so that we can all be part of this mass Borg slash entity as I'm calling it and it's fascinating how it plays out because you know when she meets the other people in episode 2 for example I'm trying not to spoil anything I'm sure like the other is that a spoiler?

1:12:59well I will say if we were exposed to this virus, then you'd be spoiling the show for everyone instantly because we would all be privy to your thoughts. That's true. There's a scene in episode two where, you know, she's confronted with the fact that this is her thing. This is her reaction to it, visceral reaction to it, which is also influenced by something that happens very early on in episode one, by the way, which is a traumatic thing. And so she is in a state of mind, but it's not necessarily the state of mind of people in a similar situation to her. And that makes the whole thing so intriguing.

1:13:29and just the way it's done and the genius of Vince Gilligan for me and he did this throughout Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad he's made two of the greatest TV dramas ever made let's face it those two shows but at this hype both of those shows he shows you what's going on if you like from kind of from the very subjective perspective of a character particularly Ray Seaworn's character in this case and it's kind of like there's something incredibly clever and smart about just the way he places the camera sometimes. You know what I mean? And she's staring at something astonishing going on. Throughout, particularly the first episode, it was like a relentless, almost real-time experience of what would it be like for you if you were to experience this thing where suddenly everyone, first of all, everyone almost drops dead seemingly.

1:14:19They're not dead. Some of them are. And then they kind of wake up and they're part of this whole thing. And her almost first-hand subjective experience of that is filmed in such a clever way that it totally immerses you in what would happen if you were confronted by this insane development in the universe and for humanity. And it's just brilliantly, brilliantly done. On a filmmaking level, I think it feels like he's flexing his muscles and making something so cinematic and bold, to use the B word, and convincing, even though it's such a far-fetched, mad idea, but he makes it seem real because of the relentless brilliance of his filmmaking.

1:14:55He's very, very good. And it has that Breaking Bad pacing to it, where it's almost mindful. It has a weird, almost meditative feel. It just lets you marinate in this situation and just absorb it through osmosis. He'll show you something, and you don't really know what's going on, and he will show you extensively. But because of the editing and the thing that he is showing you, even though you don't know what the fuck is happening, and it's quite slowly burning in a way, but it's still incredibly compelling because you want to know what the fuck this thing is that you're watching. do you know what I mean yeah anyway it's one of the things it is not a plotty show I think that's fair to say like it is it's vibes a lot of this is like it's a mood piece but it's a really interesting character study and one thing we should say is Ray Sehorne is absolutely incredible in this because it is for all intents and purposes it's not entirely but it is largely a one-hander it is basically her a lot of the time on her own doing things there are literal episodes I've seen seven of the eight of course I have where she's it's just her just doing stuff silently a lot of the time and it's just it's it's it's so compelling and there are episodes of breaking bad like that which is very quiet and you're just watching things and it's like but it's so brilliantly put together and it explores themes like loneliness and individuality and togetherness and selfishness and selflessness and as you say there are kind of political undertones to it all and you know what socialism looked like when everyone is essentially the same person and and it's and there's also you know she's looking at like what is happiness?

1:16:25What is happiness for her versus what is happiness for them? And part of this that we kind of haven't really addressed is that the whole of the world is this sort of hive mind, but they're also really benevolent. Like, they want nothing but good things for her and will pretty much do anything she asks because they just want to make her happy. And that's such a wild setup. And she's so misanthropic. Right. But she's really grumpy and miserable and just, like, angry at the world anyway. And she finds them all Deeply irritating. But also that anger has huge ramifications. It does have huge ramifications.

1:16:58And also the cause of that anger comes from somewhere as well. I mean, to be fair, she is quite crabby, full stop. But she has good reason to be in a bad mood when the show kind of probably kicks off. But it's fascinating looking at her kind of wrestling with her own personality and her own psyche and what the future looks like for her. It's the weirdest kind of... I almost hesitate to call it post-apocalyptic, but it has elements of that to it. But it's a completely, it's a unique vision of the apocalypse. I've never seen anything quite like it. What I love about it, I mentioned the political thing, I was going to expand on that a little bit, because it's not, it doesn't, you don't know what its politics are, if you like.

1:17:36It could be, you could have a, this could be a political analogy for kinds of different politics. So, for example, I was reminded of, and this was, I'm sure, this was filmed ages ago, so it's not conscious at all, but there's a scene where everyone's sat around a table and they were debating something. And I was reminded of Donald Trump when he gathered all of these tech giants. He had the Apple boss. He had a thingy from Facebook. What's his name? And he had all of these tech geniuses and they're all in thrall. They've all decided, and in fact you could include Keir Starmer in this, they've all decided that the easiest thing to do is keep him happy.

1:18:14Keep Donald Trump happy. Keep complimenting him. keep boosting his ego then he'll be okay and it's like they become this like one entity where they're all enthralled to this one man this I mean I'm trying not to be too political this one you're not doing a great job but carry on this one let's face it let's face it crazy man but in in Pluribus I feel like she's in that she's watching all these people just deciding this for an easier life just go along with the whole thing and it's brilliantly provocative and intriguing to see her rebelling against it and what happens subsequently. And the decisions she has to face minute by minute, hour by hour a day.

1:18:54But there's literally a clock count down initially. And that's really interesting because I think it's just showing you that her life is just now a constant series of decisions, sometimes micro, sometimes macro, that are going to affect the world in an incredibly powerful way. You could bang on about this. And we will, of course, because on next week's show, we are, with any luck, going to have Vince Gilligan, Ray Seahorn, and Carolina Widerer in this studio to talk about the show. Incredible. Which is going to be very exciting. Very exciting. Yeah. Yeah. We will all be one hive mind together discussing the show.

1:19:25It's going to be very exciting. Yeah, this is really, really good. It is not Breaking Bad. It's a very different thing. I didn't get screeners in time, but I want to watch this. Yeah, it's wild. I've never seen anything like it. No, it is fascinating. It's a complete original. He worked on the X-Files. That was the thing he was most famous for back in there before Breaking Bad and the classical assault. So it has got that, you know. I feel like it's got a lot of that DNA in it. It's not, by the way, because you could, you know, it's science fiction in a way, fundamentally, but not in an annoying way.

1:19:53Yeah, so when I didn't get screeners, I wasn't sad about it. No, you weren't. Now that I've heard you talk about it, I'm like, okay, I need to see this. Yeah, it's really good. It is really good. Okay, when is that on, Boyd-y? I think it started, yeah, it started, didn't it, on Friday. Yes, on Apple TV, non-plus. Exactly. Pluribus non-plus. Pluribus non-plus. What else is out this week? Loads of stuff that we couldn't do because tons of stuff was embargoed this week. The aforementioned Malice with Jack Whitehall, that starts on Friday on Prime Video. Yeah, Death by Lightning, as we mentioned, was already on.

1:20:27That was on Netflix. That started on the 6th. Trespasses started on Sunday, just started. Oh, Gillian Anderson. Yeah, Gillian Anderson and Tom Cullen, your dude that you mentioned, of course. Maxton Hall started on Prime also last week. Yeah. Palm Royale season 2 on Apple TV Wednesday that arrived remember that Ricky Martin Kristen Wiig it's very star studded very star studded the play for today started on Channel 5 all hail Channel 5 for commissioning one off plays it's a revival revival of the BBC play for today and the first one goes out on Thursday at 9 o 'clock and it stars Anita Dobson thank you and Tracy Ann Oberman and others Nina Wadia and others.

1:21:11You've seen it, I think, haven't you? Yeah, Nigel Havers. There you go. Good. Yeah, enjoyable. Sweet. It's like, yeah. The Beast in Me, did you mention that just now? I didn't, but you mentioned it earlier on, yes. That's the Claire Danes thing. Matthew Rhys, I didn't mention, is in it, who's fantastic. Yeah, that's on Netflix and that starts on the 13th, which is Thursday. I can't say that it's fantastic because it's heavily embargoed. Do you know what? That's a full circle moment because you know the Richard Burton show I was talking about. Matthew Rhys actually reads out parts of Burton's diaries.

1:21:35There you go. A thing called Allegiance starts on Ewan Alibi on Thursday at 9 o 'clock. Call it a channel by its proper name, Boyd. Ewan Alibi? Yes. That is a police procedural so, I mean, we've already dismissed that. Yeah. Land Man returns for a second season on Paramount Plus. That's on Sunday. And also, Summer Water, starring Due Grey Scott, lands on Channel 4 also on Sunday. Correct. One of these things, or more, who knows, something we will tackle on Pilot Plus because there's a lot going on. There's a lot, yeah. But the crucial question, of course, is what is our pick of the week? Oh, Pluribus.

1:22:07Yes, it is Pluribus. I imagine it would have been for me if I'd watched it so I'm just going to say all her thought because that's what I've seen. Because that's what you've seen, yeah. But yeah, Pluribus is magnificent. Okay, fabulous. That is it for this week's show. Thank you very, very much for listening. Please do live us a five-star rating on every single platform known to humanity. So literally everything. I want you to go on a TripAdvisor and leave us a five-star rating. Anything you want. Or just think it in your mind because our hive mind will get it. Yeah, that's it. Just think five stars and it will happen.

1:22:34but actually make an effort and do it anyway. Please follow us on social media at PilotTVPod and if you so choose at Boyd Hilton at Carrie Barrett at James C. Dyer. We will be back in your ears as is our proclivity on Thursday on Thursday for Pilot Plus with one of these with one of these with one of these particular shows. But also next week what's happening next week? Well, we've already mentioned we've got some very special guests in the studio next week so that will be very exciting but we will probably do I don't know some water malice stuff possibly because you've seen it yeah and there's a bunch of other stuff coming out as well so that's comprehensive yeah Death of Bunny Monroe is next week Daddy Issues is next week Man on the Inside returns to Netflix next week Mighty Nein which is you won't want to watch that what is that?

1:23:24it's a critical role animation show I saw that and I thought I haven't heard of that there's a reason for that there is a reason for it yeah that's it but we'll do some of those so this is very exciting absolutely yeah resistance is futile you will all become one with the pod pilots out