Down Cemetery Road, I Love LA, and Robin Hood. With guest Ruth Wilson

18:42talking about boots and asking why we hadn't reviewed it and I said I had mentioned it James accused me of not putting it on the calendar whereas in fact I had put it on the calendar It turns out that was the case

18:52Kay Ribeiro:he had put it on the calendar I think it was a bit of a retcon he put it in after the fat panel I did not put it in. Did you, Blue? I didn't. No, no, no, it was there. No rat? I wouldn't do a retcon. What are you talking about? Can you tell? Can you tell when time and date when people have added something to the calendar? That's a good question. Not to the best of my knowledge. Boyd, ask, nervous. No, no, no. Maybe, boys. Maybe you can. I did put it on. Boyd, don't be that guy. I did mention it on this very podcast that I'd seen some of it and I recommended it. And it was heavily in Margot until the day it came out.

19:21Anyway, I finished it now and it is really, really good. As I've said before, It's based on a true memoir of a gay guy who joined the military when it was illegal in the early 90s in America to be a gay soldier slash marine, whatever the hell they are. And it's all about the incredibly gruelling, unbelievably intense training they have to go through. And I'll tell you who the star of the show is, by the way. It sounds too distressing for me. Or is it bearable? I think it's bearable. Well, give it a go. I mean, the first couple of episodes pretty much will show you the level of intensity that carries on throughout the whole thing.

19:56But the real star of the show is Max Parker, who used to be in... Which show, Kay? Oh, yes. Emmerdale, yeah. Yeah, it was a big Emmerdale star. He's story blonde, right? For a couple of years, yeah. And honestly, he does an incredible... I'm talking about accents. An incredible... He plays this harsh, challenging, kind of sergeant major type figure who drills... goes to all the drills with the sergeant. He is kind of borderline bullying. But he's an American accent. and his whole approach to the characters is astonishing. You'd never guess it. He was playing some dude in Elmerdale a couple of years ago.

20:27Which is no diss. No, no, no, of course not. I'm not judging. I'm saying, but it is brilliant to see that someone, and he was in Casualty before that, that someone who's grown up in those kind of shows, British shows. An excellent breeding ground for talent. Yeah, fantastic role in this big Netflix series. Yeah, it's very good. And this is, as I also mentioned in Plus, it's being judged by some of the right-wing American political types as a woke. It was disgusting. I think going as far as Donald Trump even comments on it which is the level of fame of the show. That's damning isn't it? Donald Trump not a fan.

20:58One might say it's damning yeah. Well you know let's not get into the politics of it because James will cut it out anyway. True story.

21:05Kay Ribeiro:What have you been watching James? Oh God I think I've lost a will to live I've got to be honest with you. What have I been watching? Well Gen V finished. That is now done well this series is done anyway. It sort of leads us into some quite big things where I assume we'll channel into the final season of The Boys. But I quite enjoyed Gen V. I don't, as I've said before, hold with this whole it's better than the boys thing now. No. But I think it's good. I quite enjoyed that. What I said, I have watched most of Nobody Wants This but haven't quite finished it. I think I've watched seven of the new series.

21:35Kay Ribeiro:I don't think it's a patch on the first series. I was going to say, a lot of the reviews have said that. I said that to you with my own lips and I said the main two, well, actually I'm going to save it because there's a listener question connected to it. I mean, everything you said was correct, especially that at this point I only care about Morgan and Mr. Doctor whatever his name is and Esther and... Sasha. Sasha. Sasha. Yeah, I'm all about them now. I've got a bit bored it has to be said of the main couple. Oh dear. But I still like the show. I'm really enjoying the show but it's definitely it's lost some of the first season magic so we'll have to see where it goes from there.

22:15Kay Ribeiro:Okay, so I watched an episode of Dead City the penultimate episode of the second season of Dead City, and I've got one episode left of that season to go. It is already, I think it's gone into production of its third season already. I had a bit of a moment where I'm like, I have one more episode of this to go, but at this point, it just feels a little bit like an endurance test. Like, what am I doing? I think it'd be weird to duck out on the penultimate episode. Well, this is kind of, but then at what point is it just like good money after bad? Like, why am I still doing this? stop but then I've watched two seasons do I watch the third no just at the end of the season you think just draw a line under it I think that would be really crazy and very against your character type to just bail but not watch the last episode that is like maybe I'll do the last one but I've got to put now where I'm just actively mega bored and I just even though I really like Negan as a character I can the main storylines are not great and I see kind of vaguely where it's going and that's kind of maybe a little bit interesting I don't know but I just I've maybe The Walking Dead sheen has come off for me a little bit so yeah that was a bit of an existential crisis maybe it's time to say goodbye maybe it is after the last episode maybe it is maybe try some episodes of the wheel instead absolutely not I have also watched seven hours of Pluribus the new Vince Gilligan show of course I have and it's embargoed so I can't talk about what I think about it but for those who don't know what does Pluribus mean does it mean anything it sounds like a disease it means many doesn't it because is it E Pluribus Unum yeah so from many from one which is the American because many states make one country.

23:48Kay Ribeiro:So Pluribus is about many. So the plot of this show, Ray Sehorne plays this romantic-y author who writes sort of smutty pirate fiction. And an incident, a global incident that happens that may or may not involve extraterrestrials. And let's just say things get interesting for our main character, Carol. And I've watched seven hours of that. And yeah, it has a lot of Gilligan in it. And yeah, I'm having a good time with it. I think they've given me everything except the finale, which is obviously maddening. But we'll be talking about that very soon. In fact, we may have some people from the show in this very studio very soon as well.

24:24Kay Ribeiro:Wow. Yeah, that's going to be huge. Yeah. Fun times. So yeah, Pluribus, that's mainly what I've been watching last week. Every episode they made available to me, I have watched. I still think it sounds like a disease. Ooh, he's got a bad case of Pluribus. Bad case of Pluribus, yeah. Well, I mean, it is kind of about, at least like there's a virus situation. Well, yeah, that's right. There's a treat on the poster. We can mention that. We can mention that, yeah. Yes, there is a kind of virus similar to a virus. Anyway, interesting show, lots to talk about, and we will do so at a later date. Okay, that's what we've been watching.

24:56Kay Ribeiro:And it's gone on for at least a month. But let's look at a listener question. What do we have, Kay? We have a message from Jenny who says, Dear Kay, James and Boyd, I've just finished series two of Nobody Wants This and had to write in support Kay's comment that the characters really are annoying this time around. With the exception of James, as you said, Sasha. I found the main character so irritating was really disappointed by the season as a whole which I think we both agree on yeah I get that although I was looking Variety says that actually the series 2 debuted with 8.6 million views in four days so not too shabby but then I suppose because the first one was such a sort of surprise smash hit wasn't it that it makes it makes sense and then Jenny continues I loved the first one but this time around the tension over Joanne's conversion seemed forced and I felt there was no real jeopardy to the future of her relationship with Noah I'll be filing this season in the Things I Pretend Don't Exist category along with series three of Ted Lasso and the fourth Indiana Jones film Have you ever been so disappointed And fifth Have you ever been so disappointed with a series or episode of a show that you've decided to deny all knowledge of it Thank you for the excellent pod I look forward to both episodes every week Best wishes, Jenny Jenny from the block This is a real like I've got an answer No, good, go on then well I was going to be uncharitable and say all of and just like that fair yeah that would be fair I will stick with you know season two I think particularly because that's when Carrie and Aiden got back together I mean there was good news in that Miranda ditched Che which you know long time coming but yeah I mean just basically the whole of and just like that as well as I feel similarly about obviously the Sex City second movie they should just always be you know yeah locked away somewhere Those are good answers, yeah.

26:45I'm trying to think of ones that aren't the usual shows that we always go on about. Yeah, that's it. You've got to think outside the box. Yeah, I know. It's so tempting just to say Frasier. Oh, God, yeah. You can't just put the whole Frasier reboot in there.

26:58Kay Ribeiro:Can we name and shame Nick Dissamian here once again for giving the reboot series four stars? We could always do that. Two stars, too many. Even I, I stand with Nick on a lot of stuff. That is just bananas. That was whack. I think he wanted it to be for a star show. We all did, you know, fans of the show. He's a big fan of the original show, like me, but I think, yeah, he lost his... Surely that's the reason to not get on board. He lost his judgmental marbles. Anyway. Can you think of another one, James? Can I think of... I mean, well, you know I have this long-standing feeling that when... Like, people always say, like, when you add to a mythology, like, you don't subtract from it.

27:34Kay Ribeiro:You're adding stuff to it, so it's not like a subtractive act. It doesn't reduce the quality of the stuff you've already seen. and I'm like, well, that's just not true. Because when you add to mythology, you are ultimately changing the nature of that whole universe. And if you make it worse, you have made everything in that universe worse. That's just a reality of it. Like, it is not possible now to watch the original Star Wars trilogy, for example, without thinking about the prequels and the sequels because they feed into the larger narrative. So it fundamentally has effect. It doesn't, not the quality of the films, but how you understand the overall storyline.

28:04Kay Ribeiro:So yeah, I mean, I'm in denial about The Rise of Skywalker, for example. Welcome to your TED Talk. Right, exactly. You know, I'm sure if there was a bad episode of The Wheel, it would poison the overall world building of The Wheel's cinematic universe. No. And then, you know, it wouldn't be the same. Although that's the good thing about The Wheel, they're standalone. Oh, exactly. Procedural, I wouldn't like it. They're single cogs. Well, we've given answers. I think we can draw a veil. Kay is bored of waiting for you, Boyd. I think that's what that is. No, but I'm sensing that your answer really is Frasier and we're not letting that happen.

28:37Kay Ribeiro:No, we're not allowing that. I mean, let me just say, I did not get much advance notice of this question, so I could have right to my brain, you know, I'm not blaming you, Kate. Sounds a lot like you are. I would ask you to reconsider. Okay. Yeah. Yes, that's it. Thank you, Jenny, for writing, and we appreciate your message. We'll have a think. Get back to you next time. But I find it more interesting when rather than like people saying, I just pretend that doesn't exist, which does happen, is when the people who make these shows also come to the same conclusion. again from a this is a film point of view but Highlander 2 in particular where they turn them all into aliens and then no one ever speaks of that film again and they pretend it didn't happen and they just pick up from where they left off I love that when people realise how badly they've made a mistake that they just erase it from existence Alien Earth talking of aliens Dallas for example did that didn't they Dallas yeah they were like what the hell are we doing why did we kill Bobby Ewing oh yeah so he was in the shower yeah yeah I really didn't like some of the latter episodes of Alien Earth.

29:39They slightly ruined the first half of that. Yes, I remember you being wrong about this. I admit it's a controversial view. No, but you know what? This is my belated answer to the question. It's when you start having the xenomorph alien running around in broad daylight in the middle of wherever the fuck it is, in Thailand or whatever, in Alien Earth, it kind of ruined it. Why? Did you see too much of it? Yeah, it's just... It shouldn't be in the... This is a little bit more my corridors, my famous corridors complaint. It's all sunny and bright, and it's like, no, no, no. Just to be absolutely...

30:12Famous vampire boy. To be clear, this is the opposite of your complaint. There weren't enough corridors. Exactly. Stick to the fucking dark corridors with the aliens in them are fine, but have it in broad daylight, you know. Very contrary. Yeah. Right, Mary.

30:25Kay Ribeiro:Not enough corridors in Alien Earth. Yeah, absolutely. To be fair, I had this conversation quite recently with my close personal friend, James Cameron, and he was talking about aliens in particular and we were talking about special effects I was saying you know one of the reasons why aliens hasn't really aged is because all the effects are practical whereas Alien 3 for example and Alien Resurrection have because they were kind of nascent CGI and it hasn't aged at all well and he was saying yeah it's interesting and the question he said to me is like the question is the question I ask myself is if I made aliens now I obviously would do it all in CGI because you would do because those are the tools that are available now he said but would I have the same restraint I had when I made Aliens where I am keeping, because he's the reason I kept the Alien Queen in the shadows because you put her in too bright, it's not going to look very good, right?

31:09Kay Ribeiro:It's like, it would look a bit shit. Indeed. Whereas, you know, now I could have the Queen walking through Times Square and she'd look fabulous. But he said, but would that be a good idea? He said, I would hope that I would still have the restraint to, even though that thing would look amazing, to keep it in the shadows, to keep it hidden. That's Alien, the original, I'm best. It's all... Okay, so I'm literally nodding off. The original films, we're talking about films it's tied to TV so it's fine the original best you hardly saw the yeah fucking it's in the darkness that's the genius of it yeah and it's like the shark in Jaws the less you see about it the better for similar reasons because it doesn't look very good but also I would say like Alien much like Jaws they're horror coded narratives Alien Earth kind of isn't so much like it's like it has moments it is it's best it is certain episodes are very horror coded yeah exactly they're my favourite episodes but not always and the bits you're talking about later on I would say the Alien sequences there maybe aren't indeed This is all coming out now, Kate, because I wasn't invited to the spoiler special.

32:06Thank you, Nath. So I make no apologies. You need an outlet. I get it.

32:09Kay Ribeiro:Yeah. There you go. Okay. I think we have an answer. Okay, good. Jenny, you did ask. You did ask. More for you. Right, if you'd like your question addressed on this podcast, please send it in. PilotTV at EmpireMagazine.com over the email. Super. Right, it's time for a guest. And it is the fabulous Ruth Wilson, who stars in this week's Down Cemetery Road as Sarah, and she's a woman who witnesses a bombing in Oxford and just cannot let it go, revealing a wider conspiracy. This is, of course, based on the book of the same name by Mick Slow Horse's Heron, as he is known, and Emma Thompson's in it as well as the irascible PI Zoe Bohm, who this particular series of books is based on.

32:50Kay Ribeiro:And Ruth chatting with Jordan, well, I think it was just yesterday, actually, and this is what happened. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome to the Pilot TV podcast today, the star of Apple TV's Down Cemetery Road, Ruth Wilson. How are you? I'm very good. How are you? I'm good. This is a really great thing to be talking about. And it's been a real pleasure watching Down Cemetery Road as well. I think it took me about seven minutes into the first episode before I knew I was hooked. There was a very explosive dinner party. And then before I knew it, I was seven episodes into it. But yeah, so I got hooked into it very, very quickly.

33:25how quickly did you realize that it was something that you thought this is going to be very good well when i first read the um episode i was sent the pilot episode um that's all i had at that time and um it was a page turner and i was you know one of those it's interesting to get scripts and you can you're just sort of led by the story and the characters and i thought like all mick heron's work when i did an amazing when a banks who adapted these scripts she did an amazing job of sort of grabbing hold of his wit and his sense of humour as long as making it into a really driving, exciting thriller, conspiracy thriller at the heart of it.

34:06So I knew that it had all those ingredients potentially to be a really great show alongside having Emma Thompson in it as well and the same team behind Slow Horses. So I kind of knew this had potential to be very exciting and potential to be a sort of binge watch show. yeah I mean it's never a bad thing if your starting point is based on a Mick Herron book and you're going to be starring opposite Emma Thompson I did want to ask about that obviously I imagine everyone's asking you about working with Emma Thompson because obviously it's Emma Thompson but I wondered whether for you there's anything that you couldn't have known about her before you worked with her in terms of whether there was something that surprised you about the way that she is as a performer or about how she is as a person on set like was there something that you've come away from doing season one and gone oh I'm really glad that I've gotten a chance to be close to her and find this out yeah I mean I think you know I think you probably get that from how she is generally in interviews and I'd come across her a few times personally and she's very warm she's very generous she's really up for it you know and I think you probably get that from having watched her or you know seen her interviews and she is exactly like that on set like she's um she's just really sort of gung-ho and very light with her work.

35:25She enjoys finding the humor in things. She doesn't take it too seriously. She was up for all the kind of elements. I mean, it gets quite physical, this show, and there's lots of running and jumping and being shot at and her being chased, and she does it all. So all those things I think was really exciting to be around. And we found a really, you know we we don't really come together as characters until episode six really we we sort of come across each other in the first two episodes but then don't see each other again until then so we had time to ground our characters before they came together and that was quite smart in a way because we both were sort of the duo the dynamic duo could really explode at that point we both knew who we were and who we were playing so I I loved working with her and I I thought as soon as we two did find those scenes in episode six, it was like, ah, this is the show.

36:20This is what we've been waiting for is these two coming together and how they work together. But no, I loved working with her. There was a real lightness of touch with Emma, which I think everyone can probably imagine. It wasn't necessarily surprising, but it was really lovely to be working opposite that. Yeah. And I mean, that must that must also be lovely. Just that somebody is, you know, when someone is what you see is what you get. it it removes any sort of artifice from everything before the performance but i do also think that i mean obviously like i say a lot of people ask about working with emma because it's emma thompson she's fantastic but you also do in the in the sort of before episode six a lot of your character sarah's time is actually spent with nathan stewart jarrett who is just he's such an incredible actor i first saw him in national theaters angels in america he's been in fem very recently but there's a really fascinating dynamic between Sarah and between Downey and I just wondered like what was it like for you to be a scene partner with him as well like how did you find working with Nathan?

37:20It's really interesting this show because Sarah is sort of the straight person in the whole show she's the one that has in a way least reason to be in this genre and I mean least reason to be in this show for so she doesn't really fit in you know she's a normal person like you or me so I found that every actor I came opposite, I sort of would bend to what they were doing. And tonally, it's quite an interesting show. You know, you have very funny scenes and very funny actors, and then you have very straight, serious moments. And Nathan came in with, you know, his character has got the most personal, I suppose, reason and most sort of heartbreaking reason in the show to be pursuing this girl and um his trauma is quite great actually so when he came on it was like okay this is a different mode uh this is where you sort of reveal sarah's uh trauma too and they have a really quite they build a bond and i mean you know you see first he kidnaps her so you're thinking is he the daddy and as it goes on you realize they kind of create this bond and they have a shared mission and she has to carry on the mission for him.

38:33So I think there is something, there's a real relationship that's formed over the course of the season and the series between the two of them. And he reveals her true trauma and as does she to him. So they're able to listen to each other. They become friends really. Although they wind each other up and Sarah certainly winds up down. I mean, she's just reckless. She shouldn't be there. She's sort of enjoying it somehow. She's enjoying this. This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to her in her life. And for him, it's very, very serious. And the stakes are very, very high. So conflict is quite interesting to play out.

39:10But Nathan was brilliant. Again, I felt like I had to be a sponge to all the different characters within the piece. As an actor, I had to sort of move to what they were giving me, because she was on the ride in a way she was riding something she's kind of in the driver's seat with her hands on the wheel so everything else she's kind of just riding a wave of everyone else it's a beautiful journey that sarah goes on there because i feel like you you've obviously got the the sort of recognizably mick heron sort of mixture of thriller and and there's comedy elements to it as well and you know it is very twisty and turny but then also i feel like over the course of the season you've got this really beautiful sort of arc of self not even self-discovery but like self-rediscovery for sarah where it feels like when you meet her she's this woman who has become perhaps encumbered by married life and by society's expectations it's almost like she was never meant for that role and so she's always been pushing out of those bounds and then suddenly she finds herself in this you know quite juicy thriller which obviously it's very dark but at the same time like she's getting to go on car chases she's riding a speedboat with Emma Thompson like you know she's living this extraordinarily sort of like high octane life all of a sudden and it feels like she was always meant for that and you've always struck me as an actor who's very daring and very sort of fearless in your work I mean I can't think of that many other actors that would do a 24 hour live theater performance off the top of my head but I just wondered like for you is is that something that you've had to learn to be fearless and learn to be daring or have you always had that sort of willing to jump into into the oblivion into the unknown no i think it's instinctive i think there's something um that that stuff strangely excites me you know i just if when the offer of the 24-hour play came in i was like i have to do this and it got cancelled or um because of 2020 so you know it's covid so we didn't do it and i was insistent that that was the one thing of all the things that got cancelled and stopped that was the one thing that i had to pursue to do So we made it happen sort of three years later.

41:20But yeah, that sort of excites me. Putting myself in as much jeopardy as a character is kind of interesting to me. And it's also just I'm interested in myself in those circumstances, what I do, how I cope with those, what happens to me, how I can perform in those environments. so I'm as much interested in character as I am in form or um kind of experience for me really so that's you know I look for work that can push me character wise but also is sort of making me go through something different personally I'm learning from it so that I think that's why I'm drawn to stuff like that yeah which makes it sort of interesting then as well that obviously like you've been in quite a few book adaptations so like your career sort started with jane eyre you've done his dark materials you've done true things like you're not a stranger to a sort of book to screen adaptation so is your process then because if you are looking sort of push borders and push boundaries with yourself as an actor but also with these characters do you tend to be quite sort of studious when it comes to reading all the material really sort of drilling into everything that you can find or do you tend to try and go in blind and then sort of explore things as you go?

42:40Or does it vary project to project? It varies, actually. I am quite a student. I love, I mean, I'm a history student, really. So I love doing the research. That's one of my favourite parts of any job. But some jobs don't require it. And actually, you know, that 24-hour play, I couldn't prepare at all. It was about turning up and just being. And actually, funnily enough, in this job on Slow Horses, the adaptation is quite different from the book. you know the book was written 25 years ago and Morwenna Banks and the team felt they wanted to modernize and update and give Sarah make her a bit more more of a modern woman so they gave her a job she didn't have a job in the original books the relationship with her husband is not so controlling in the books it's quite dark and controlling and she's been given pills by her a husband all the time.

43:30So it's definitely a different vibe. So I felt the books weren't as useful to me in this version. So I kind of had to remove myself from the books and find her as I went. And I did strangely discover Sarah as we went because it wasn't on the initial page. I found as the show went, like I was saying about those dynamics of different characters, I found, oh, wow, she sort of has real lack of confidence in her own abilities. So when she's with someone else, like when she's with Zoe Boehm, or she's with Nathan's character Downey, or she's even with a child, she lets them sort of lead because she prefers to be sort of in the shadows, even though she sort of elbows her way out a few times, she sort of puts herself in second position.

44:19But when she's on her own, she's pretty good. And she's actually quite effective. and smart. So I said, oh, she's like that. She sort of takes second role. She's at the beta or beta. She's happy for someone else to be alpha, but really she's pretty good on her own. And that comes from a lack of self-confidence. So as the show goes on, she becomes more confident on her own. And I thought, ah, I found that as the show went, that wasn't something I had decided upon early on. And so this was quite different, actually, in performance. So every role, sometimes Mrs. Coulter is so clear on the page. And we added scenes, so we definitely fleshed her out as the show went on.

45:05But Philip Pullman had made such an extraordinary villain, and created such an amazing character, that was next to me. That book was next to me as I was performing and the same with Jane Eyre you know it was my diary it was like I'd look into it all the time as I was performing Jane Eyre so it depends on the material it depends on the adaptation um yeah it's all very different processes each time yeah that's that's really fascinating and I mean you you touched on Mrs. Coulter there and I am talking to you just a few days after Philip Pullman's uh The Rosefield's just come out which I literally finished just yesterday a very emotional read have you had a chance to read it yourself yet?

45:46I haven't yet is it on the pile to be read? it's my pile that's here but yeah it's amazing he's such an extraordinary writer and he's given so you know I don't know it was such an amazing honour to be part of his dark materials and to be part of his world and he's given so much to so many people through that book. I reread them recently for an audio book. They did the rereadings and I did all three, I had to his type materials and the Amber Spyglass. And I have to say it was the most extraordinary thing going back to those books and rereading them in that detail and density, because obviously I was playing Mrs.

46:29Calder, so I'd be looking through, I'd read it, but I was like, right, focused on the scenes that she's in. Whereas this, I read the whole thing and I thought, God, he's an extraordinary writer. And the way he, they're so emotional, those books. They're so philosophical. They deal with all, they deal with being human is. I just think they're spectacular and every child and every person should read them, actually. Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. I'm going to have to let you go in just a moment. And it's been so lovely getting to talk with you. But obviously there are further books in the Down Cemetery Road series and the Zoe Bowen mysteries, as you will.

47:07I'm going to assume that it feels like the enthusiasm is there to do more of this if the opportunity comes. Would you like to carry on going on this journey with Sarah and with Zoe if you get the chance? Yeah, I think, like you said, we only had four episodes, Emma and I, really, so I think there's so much more to investigate with their relationship and dynamic and what that might be, and I'm intrigued. I mean, yes, if there's an appetite for it, if people watch the show and love it, then there will be another season. And I'm really excited about what Moina comes up with, because in the books, again, it will have to be slightly adapt from the books and move away from what the books are a little bit.

47:53But I'm really excited to see what that is. And I think there is a lot more juice to be found between Zoe and Sarah. so I think there's space for that and I'm forward to seeing what they come up with if you'll watch it Well I very much hope I very much hope that everybody does and I feel like it would be very much in the spirit of the books if there was an improvisational approach needed to be taken with future series. Thank you very much for your time and best of luck with the release. Lovely to speak to you.

48:21Kay Ribeiro:That was Ruth Wilson time now for this week's news there's only one place to start tell us the BBC has confirmed the future of Doctor Who oh yeah of course and there's going to be because we've been waiting for this basically since you know towards the end of this last season with Shuta Gatwa quitting as the Doctor or whatever and Billy Piper arriving almost as the is she the new Doctor what the fuck does it all mean ever since that happened we've been waiting to see whether they've recommissioned with Disney because obviously Disney plus money has been been a huge part of its revival of the last couple of seasons in the second Russell T.

49:03Davis era, they've confirmed that Disney Plus will no longer be involved as a production partner. But that doesn't mean it's over. And of course, the BBC is carrying on with Doctor Who itself and has confirmed that there'll be a Christmas special next year, 2026, written by Russell T. Davis. And it's very good news because people were worried that, you know, once you pump that amount of extra money into a show, you know, I think Russell is so clever at these things that he'll make it work with a lesser budget. No doubt. I'm sure it won't. They won't match the budget. It'd be almost impossible to do so.

49:35But you've got that, and you've got The War Between the Land and the Sea, which is the spin-off, the kind of prime time... Is that the Tovey one? The Tovey one, indeed. Russell Tovey, Friend of the Pod, and Goo Goo and Bath the Roar. Love. Indeed. Brilliant. And that is going to arrive earlier than thought. We thought it might be on at Christmas originally, then it was like going to be put back to next year and now it's going to be on early-ish December on the BBC One what birthday treat for you Boyder? it is literally I think going to go out I'm guessing I can't say for sure because that would be outrageous of me and probably illegal as far as the BBC is concerned but I think it's going to go out right near my birthday yeah which is listeners December 9th

50:14Kay Ribeiro:so you're inviting all listeners to your house to watch it if you want to send in a 800 screen yeah whatever gifts what do you give the man who's got everything I'm not saying by the way let me clarify I'm not saying it's going to start on my birthday it should definitely be around there but it's just a general present for you from Russell I think so I think we can see it that way can't we you deserve it so a year we have a year until mainline Doctor Who returns but do you know what I think fans Who fans are relieved because it could have been longer really could considering how long these things take to make etc it's fine well obviously it would have been if he was doing the next thing was a full season presumably but yeah it'd be interesting to see how noticeable the budget shift is.

50:57Kay Ribeiro:We will. Because, I mean, it must be difficult to go back. Like, once you've had a massive cash injection and you've got all these funds at your disposal, to then have to think, okay, how are we going to do this? Or, conversely, does it take the pressure off a little bit and does it give him the opportunity to be even more creative? Because, you know, that's maybe an exciting prospect. Yeah, very much so. Yeah, I mean, it's almost like a cliche to say it, but it's true that some of the greatest Doctor Who episodes since New Who, since it was revived, have been among the cheapest and least kind of high concept.

51:27Didn't involve spectacular sets and VFX, etc. They've been, you know, the more simple ones. New Who's. Yeah.

51:33Kay Ribeiro:New Who. New Who. Very good. Okay, well, that kind of is the big news from this week, isn't it? I think so. Some other things have happened, haven't they, Kay? Yes, a couple of things I wanted to mention, which is that Only Murders is coming to the UK. Yes, that is interesting. It's going on tour. No, no, it's going to be commissioned for the sixth season and now it's going to be set in the UK when season six comes back. Hang on, so not only is it not only murders in the building, it's not even only murders in the country at this point, is this what you're saying? Well, it'll be only murders in another building in London, presumably.

52:03Maybe it'll be this building. What's the set up? I don't know, no other details really have been revealed. I'm going to guess, my guess is, I read this story, I thought, oh, that's interesting, I bet they visit London, go on holiday to London for some reason or other, one of them's maybe got a job in London or something. In a hotel, it'll be a hotel, right? Exactly. I think it'll be set in a grand, you know, like the Ritz or whatever, or Claridge's or something like that. One of your locales. Yeah. Thank you. Yes. I'm there all the time, constantly living in the suite on top of Claridge's for£30 ,000 a night here.

52:33That's me. So I think my guess is that's how it'll be roughly, yeah. But I think it's a good move. Yeah, it freshens things up. We've forgotten about this season. It's just, you know, I haven't watched it. I've kind of stopped watching it. Not deliberately, just out of time constraints. but I really enjoyed the season more as far as I got to I got to about halfway through a bit of a return to form I thought yeah I think so yeah

52:54Kay Ribeiro:yeah I have I have I have absolutely nothing to add to that because I don't care no I know yeah I know okay sorry just to confirm something we do care about we all love Fawlty Towers and I just wanted to mention the fact that Prunella Scales sadly passed away at the age of 93 93 which is obviously devastating news and I was just reading about it this morning and the statement said from her son Samuel and Joseph that she died peacefully at her home in London. And apparently, they added that she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. What an incredible thing to know. Yeah, that's brilliant.

53:29That's amazing. She was so good.

53:32Kay Ribeiro:Sybil Fawlty, absolute legend. There is no Basil without Sybil. No. There's no show without Fawlty. Now, remember, she wasn't at... When we went to the opening night, when Bordy and I went on our mandate to the opening night of the Fawlty Towers play, she went and invited to UK. Obviously, John Cleese was there. But was anyone else there? I don't think Pranella Scales and Connie Booth were there, were they? I don't think so. I don't think so. We couldn't see, because he was up in the box. We could hear him, because he said a few words. We could hear him, but we couldn't see the box from where we were sitting.

53:58Kay Ribeiro:Because we were obviously sitting with Michael Palin and, you know. Yeah, Palin was there. That's right, and Terry Gilliam. I think she had been ill for quite a while, Pranella Scales. But what we saw in recent years, she did show documentary series about her, love, her and her husband, Timothy West's love of Canal, Journeys by Canal and they were some beautiful insights into their life together and she was kind of ill in some of those or at least didn't hide the fact that she wasn't perfectly well if you like, so I don't think she would have been at the It says that she was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013, so a long time The brilliant thing about the show, they carried on making the show, they didn't stop just because you're suffering from dementia.

54:44And it was absolutely a delight. Those series are a delight to watch. But 40 Tours, I mean, it's one of the greatest comedic characters in history.

54:51Kay Ribeiro:Yeah, without a doubt. Without a doubt. In other personality-related news, Taylor Sheridan has... Yes, this is interesting. Yeah. Paramount must be having some frantic meetings here. They've lost Taylor Sheridan to Universal. So he signed an overall deal with them. Obviously, Yellowstone is the biggest thing he's ever created, but he's had his finger in a lot of pies. it does sometimes feel a lot like Paramount Plus is the Taylor Sheridan Network. So this has got to be a bit of a blow for them. Yeah, and coincides with obviously the news that they've been making loads of layoffs as well. It's a bad week for Paramount.

55:24Yeah, not great. Not great at all. What's interesting, it fits into a whole, because Paramount is trying to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, aren't they, in America, which is this huge, controversial, and there's a kind of like a, I don't want to say in quotes, right-wing kind of bosses of that channel now they're trying to basically run half of America's TV and media with whole connections to Donald Trump. It's a huge big thing going on, basically, the possible takeover of this kind of iconic TV and film brand. And this happening in the middle of it all adds a whole frisson that they couldn't keep hold of, Paramount couldn't keep hold of.

56:04It's by far its most valuable creator. And there were stories in, I was reading in some of the Hollywood press, kind of alleging that, you know, he decided to leave them because they started sending him notes, you know, about stuff. And because certain... He seems to have got by quite well without them so far. He's done fine, isn't he? Yeah, he's created some of their, obviously, pretty much all their biggest hits. And he was saying the new regime came in and started questioning, like, I think they snubbed one of his ideas, show ideas, blah, blah, blah. Because pretty much every show he's ever done has been, has done brilliantly well in that paramount era.

56:39so I think the whole thing is fascinating yeah yeah I agree thank you good

56:45Kay Ribeiro:did you see the White Lotus news? yes oh yeah très bien yeah very exciting it's going to be based in Paris and the French Riviera yeah I'm excited about the Riviera yeah totally it's good it's good for me to know where I'm going to be going next for my next visit to a White Lotus oh gosh after my stay in the Thailand White Lotus yeah and I'd quite like a set visit as well we'd all like we could all fight They should just like throw the set visit into the middle of the, I don't know, the equivalent of... Or do we all go Boyd-O? Rather than dividing us, why don't we just all club together? Because the thing is, it's cheaper to go to France than it is getting us to go to any of the other locations.

57:21To be fair, James didn't actually visit the set of The White Lotus. He went on... No, that's what I was saying. I simply stayed at The White Lotus. He went on some ludicrous junket involving a Jurassic Park film. Yeah. To my knowledge. That is correct. Whereas Beth Webb, formerly of this very podcast, did visit the set... Yes. For season two. ...actual White Lotus. And that was the Italian one?

57:40Kay Ribeiro:Yeah. And she recorded an episode of this podcast from the White Lotus. Yeah, and she was kind of stranded there because wasn't there like a storm or something? Yeah, something like that. Wasn't there something COVID related as well going on there? Either way, I remember she was stuck at the White Lotus for a while. She was clearly very upset. So Beth's got the power, I'm saying. You know, I think we form a Nordly Q behind Beth. And then we'll see who's going. We could suggest doing a special podcast, you know, live from the French Riviera, but who knows whether we'll get it passed. I don't know.

58:12Okay, can someone greenlight there get in touch? You know the email address.

58:14Kay Ribeiro:Yeah. There's some Philip Barantini news. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's going to be doing a new show with Adam Driver, and this is Rabbit Rabbit, and it's a bit of a dog day afternoon type thing where... Dogs, rabbit, what? Not literal dogs. but it's it's essentially a heist that turns into a hostage situation a kind of siege situation will it be a one-er I don't know I interviewed him for this very podcast I've used the phrase this very podcast a lot today sorry but I did around the time of adolescence we did a special interview within a half hour interview and he did he was very aware of not wanting to be in quotes typecast as the director of just the master even though he is the master of the one take of the one shot thing but so I doubt very much you lose the impact yeah my guess is this won't be you know a one shot show but it's a great project and brilliant for him he's so hugely admired now he's also a really really great bloke as well which I think helps endorsed by Boyd endorsed by Boyd I mean what more could you really want hey we all live for it well presumably from your point of view to have him on the wheel is the wheel done as a one-er could it be I bet Stephen Graham would do the wheel oh yeah he would do it he's up for a laugh I think or Hannah Hannah would be great and his wife would be fantastic on it she'd be good on it as well correct yeah can I personally mention the fact that you know Ryan Murphy I am often critical of Ryan Murphy and most recently we reviewed Monster which he didn't actually have any creative no he had nothing to do with it he was busy doing all's well with Kim Kardashian etc which he did write direct and produce which I have seen the first episode but it's heavily embargoed to tomorrow the day after we come out annoyingly with this podcast but I'm sure we'll get around to reviewing it eventually.

1:00:03But Ryan Murphy is doing his next big project is his adaptation of The Shards, the Brett Eater-Lennett novel, one of my favourite novels of the last 10 years. It's an absolute work of genius that started out as Brett telling the story on his own podcast week by week and you didn't know whether it was... Oh, you've told us about this before. Yeah, it's an absolute genius. The whole thing was incredible because you didn't know the main character is called Brett and is based completely on his life. Would you recommend we read the book before we watch? Not necessarily, because no, but... I mean, it's no wheel of time, is it?

1:00:37What is? I mean, what is? But I think this is a really good match. Funny enough, Brayden, on his own podcast, has discussed it saying, you know, he's just going to let them do whatever they want to do. But I think Ryan Murphy's sensibility, over-the-top, you know, kind of slightly kitsch camp sensibility, matches what happens in the shards. So it's set in the 80s. It's all about like, is there or isn't there a serial killer amongst this crowd of teenagers, glamorous teenagers who are completely privileged? It's, yeah, drama, yeah. Kind of like drama slash thriller. There'll be a thriller element, yeah.

1:01:12There's a serial killer element to it. But it's not all about the serial killer. It's just kind of like a side issue. It's just a portrayal of young people. Serial killer side note. Exactly. It's a portrayal of young people growing up in the early 80s in California, and I loved it, and I can't wait to see this show. Anyway, the news was that Wes Bentley has been cast in it, and he will play the father of one of the main teenage girl characters. Good signing for you. Very good signing, because that character is key as well. The character he's playing is key in the novel. Anyway, I'm the only person who cares about the shots, so, you know.

1:01:45Oh, you've got me excited for it. I think someone mentioned it, actually, in one of our, one of an email. There was a listener who, or someone DM'd me or something about it, So yeah, that's partly why I mention it.

1:01:54Kay Ribeiro:Okay. Is that it for news? I think so. We're done. Let's move on to this week's reviews. Where should we begin? Let's begin with Down Cemetery Road, which we've already heard a fair bit about from Ruth Wilson herself. This is, of course, based on Mick Herron's Zoe Boehm novels and brought to the screen by Morwenna Banks. Now, there are a lot of questions people probably have about this one, but the most pressing one on all our minds is probably whether this can hold a candle to slow horses. Who wants to field that particular question? that's a big one go on Boydo okay I will Moena Banks indeed is the showrunner she worked on Slow Horses as well slash worked on Slow Horses but she took time out to do to be in charge of this particular show this adaptation as you say of the Mick Herron this was his first novel I think before he did Slow Horses he wrote this book and there are I think there are a few aren't there yeah and they became their own books a series of books featuring the character played by Emma Thompson private detective I think this is so I have to say I put my cards on the table.

1:02:54This is like, if you came up with a project and said, a dream project for you, can you, all the different elements of it, you've got Dame Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. Emma Thompson, absolute all-round legend. And I never forget to mention when we were discussing Emma Thompson that I did host a BAFTA Life in Pictures with Emma Thompson for 90 minutes on stage at BAFTA in front of hundreds of people. And it's almost like a weird dream that I can't believe actually happened. I think BAFTA must have made some kind of mistake that they got me to do it.

1:03:23Kay Ribeiro:Going through her whole career? Yeah, going through her whole career. 90 minutes. It should have been Jonathan Ross or Edith Bowman doing it. It was fucking me. As I recall, you and I did a film quiz once with Emma Thompson. Do you remember this? Yes, yes. Absolutely. Oscar Moore film quiz. Yeah. I believe her team beat ours, but let's not talk about that. I think you're all right, yeah. But she was, can you imagine? I mean, she's literally my all-time favorite actress. She's a fucking legend. And yeah, I did that with her. And she was brilliant. And she's absolutely fantastic in this show. You've got her, Ruth Wilson, who I love as well, as heard on the interview.

1:03:53The Mick Heron factor that's from Mick Heron books and he's obviously a genius because Slope Walsh is brilliant. Moenna Banks is fantastic. Talent as well. Legendary. And the cast, not only those two but Tom Riley who's really funny as Ruth Watson's character's prick of a husband. I use that word. A little big bellend energy. Total bellend. Adil Akhtar is in it in a hilarious role in which he kind of gets bullied around by his superior. He's sort of like an ineffectual intelligence agent exactly and the title sequence is absolutely beautiful it's got this animated kind of art because she's an art restorer that's her job Ruth Wilson's character

1:04:31Kay Ribeiro:and you'll know that because it's in the very first scene and they're never mentioned again at any point during the show 100 % she's busy with stuff that isn't her job she's got a handful anyway it's just got everything it's like this is the ultimate continent for me and I didn't feel let down I think it's I think it's not perfect. I think it's slightly slower than Slow Horses. Obviously, you're going to compare it to Slow Horses. Slower horses. Slower than Slow Horses. And it's eight parts rather than five or six that Slow Horses usually is. So it's a longer, and I think that's partly why it's slower.

1:05:07I think there is more than enough story, and the characters are so fascinating and brilliant to be with, particularly Emma Thompson's character, who's absolutely genius. but some might say you could say that you know it could get to certain points quicker than it does I would say but what I love about it is I've watched half of the series is I've got the whole thing and I'm holding myself back from finishing the whole thing is that each episode has loads of things going on and then they almost so far they reach a crescendo and there's a huge big twist at the end of most of the episodes there's always a cliffhanger and those cliffhangers are brilliant and it may be just me because I don't often see twists coming I didn't see hardly any of them coming so I completely How many have you watched, sorry?

1:05:49I've watched four out of the eight literally half of it What I would say is the thing that happens at the beginning of at the end of episode two and then the beginning of episode two episode two begins with a scene and I'll describe it as a confrontation between Emma Thompson's character and the police is one of my favourite scenes of the year I think it's so brilliantly done the writing Emma Thompson's at the peak of her powers and the police characters are hilarious slash totally authentic. The policewoman character in the scene, I think, is genius. And I don't know, I didn't note down the actress's name.

1:06:22I should have done. But she's so good. And it kind of reflects a little bit on kind of the British police being different too. You couldn't imagine an American police person or whatever being as she is. But I absolutely loved that sequence that opens episode two. And if you want to sum up what I think this is a pretty fantastic show that I absolutely love, that scene sums it up for me. It's just the writing, the direction, the acting, the characters. It's fantastic. It's an object lesson on how to do, for me, a kind of Rolls-Royce of a TV show that this podcast is all about, this kind of project.

1:06:57And it's like, Peak TV has given us this kind of thing and I love it and I'm really enjoying it. I think it's fantastic. Opinions may differ, apparently. Oh no, I agree.

1:07:07Kay Ribeiro:I disagree to an extent, but that's not to say I don't like this show. And just to kind of underscore that, I've watched, I think, five episodes of this. So if I didn't like it, I would not have sunk five hours into it. So just to be clear, I am enjoying this show. It is very Moorish. I will say one of the reasons I've watched five episodes is because the cliffhangers do keep you going. Yeah, exactly. I'm going to have to watch another one. Just when you think, yeah, you can come back. They draw you back in. Yeah. It's not as good as Slow Horses. We should just get that out there. There are a number of reasons for that, I think.

1:07:39Kay Ribeiro:I think part of it is that the show, while it's, interesting and it's very twisty-turny and some of the twists you will not see coming and some of them are just batshit. But for me, it's uneven. And the reason I say it's uneven is because so this is the first of the Zoe Boehm books but it's not a Zoe Boehm TV show. Emma Thompson, she's a co-lead but she's not the main lead. It's not about her, it's as much about Ruth Wilson's character. And those two characters spend most of this show separated. So they don't share a lot of screen time together. And so their stories kind of move at slightly different speeds and slightly different tones.

1:08:16Kay Ribeiro:And weirdly for this one, I think the tonality of this didn't work for me. I'm back on tones again. Why not? Okay, for two reasons. I think one, and on the one hand, Slow Horses is like this as well. Slow Horses is grounded in reality, but it is intrinsically comic all the way through. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it takes itself just seriously enough. I think the subject matter here is occasionally quite a bit darker than Slow Horse is, but the tone is very flippant and very light. And so I kind of struggle with that a little bit. They're similar though. There's a similarity, but it's not quite the same.

1:08:49Kay Ribeiro:But I think the problem that I have is Adil Aghtar's character is just in a different show to everyone else because his scenes are so 100 % played for comedy from top to bottom. They are just comedic. It's not comedic comedy drama, it's just comedy. So whenever you switch to him, it's like you flip the channel and we're in a sitcom. and that's not any shade at Adil Akhtar who is a fantastic actor and I have loads of time for him but it got to the point where I started to dislike all of his scenes and again not because they're bad because actually they're genuinely quite funny but it just didn't gel for me with the rest of the show so that's why I mean when I said it's uneven I felt it felt like there were different there were three different shows going on and two of the shows even though they felt slightly different I was really enjoying and that third show I kind of wasn't and so and like I say I've watched five hours of this.

1:09:39Kay Ribeiro:I'm going to watch the rest of it. I am enjoying it. It is a good show. But I think that's, for me, Slow Horses was always a very high bar to clear. But I was just like, I like this, but I don't like it as much as I want to like it. But as you said, like Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, both fantastic in this. And Emma Thompson's character is enormous fun. Like there's, I mean, it's, you know, if you were being reductive, you could say you can see the template for Slow Horses forming in this storyline where, you know, her character, like you can see it's not a million miles away. She has better hygiene than that.

1:10:09Kay Ribeiro:Yeah, she does have better hygiene, but there's a lot of nascent Jackson Lammy-ness about her at times. You can see where that character came from. And I guess in that way, you could say Ruth Wilson has a little bit of River Cartwright in her. So yeah, liked the show, but was a little disappointed that it didn't reach the kind of lofty heights that I was hoping it would. Sounds to me a problem with the tonal shifts. I mean, yeah, to a certain extent. There was a tonal shift issue for me. As we know. There was a tonal shift issue for me. It's kind of just an invalid criticism. the other day. That was my invalid opinion.

1:10:41Kay Ribeiro:I'm so sorry. What about you? I really enjoyed this and one of the main reasons that I really like seeing Emma Thompson in this acid tongue, you know, very brusque, abrasive role and I think she played that really well and she seemed to be having a lot of fun with it. I love Ruth Wilson. So, I mean, the cast is exceptional. We haven't even mentioned Darren Boyd, who's great as this sort of condescending civil servant who is in a lot of the scenes that James is referring to with Adil Akhtar. I do get what you mean about those being played for laughs, but I didn't have as much of an objection. I'm not a tonal tyrant.

1:11:12I was fine with that.

1:11:13Kay Ribeiro:And I think, you know, you could very, very easily make the point that the Claude Whelan sequences in the most recent two seasons of Slow Horses are also very comedically played. But I think because they're grounded by Chris and Scott Thomas, they never lapse completely into comedy. They always fall within the boundaries of this is just funny drama. And I think here, those particular scenes just took it a little too far into the comedy realm for me. and for me because the subject matter is actually quite serious in places it pulled me out the story I think it's such a fine line with you though isn't it yeah I'm a demanding master with these things but overall I just I really I enjoyed it for the emotional complexity of the two lead ladies you know there was so there's so much depth depth to them and they're so knotty and played played excellently by Ruth and Emma and I would say I think that you you mentioned how they don't have many scenes together which is true but what I think I totally support that because what that means is that when they do have a scene together it's absolutely fire it's it's it's that you look so i look forward so much to those moments there's one in towards the end of episode two we're on the roof together and it's just fantastic and so then and i think it's brilliant you don't want you don't want to give too much of that because you know i don't know it makes it feel much more special when they are together and they're bouncing off each other because that works so well so i completely am on board with that there's a brilliant um i know what you mean about a deal actor it is a comedic performance but in kind of in the way that some of the supporting cast in in so horses are comedic you know um but grounded like so roddy ho is a good example of the character he's quite extreme but he's totally we've all met bellends like that and even though he is a comedy character he is still entirely believable within the world of the show whereas a deal actor's character i don't think is i didn't have a problem with him at all and in fact he has some of the best lines he has a line he says at one point um yes he's a psychopath not in a good way.

1:13:04Which is always a great line. And he also bounces off the character played by Amos, who I won't say too much about because he's a twist within himself. It's played by Fahinti Balogun, who is brilliant. They have scenes together and they're not that comedic.

1:13:19Kay Ribeiro:Well, they're one-sided comedy. In that case, obviously, the Amos character is playing the straight guy. And the little act I was playing, clowning it a little bit. No, I don't think... But when he's playing across C, who's kind of his boss character, it's just comedy. they're both playing comedy again I think it's fine as we know I'm just not bothered about those you're a tonal maverick it incorporates different tones really well and then you know just stop worrying about it just enjoy it takes me out of it just you know kind of relax man relax dude yeah that's it listeners don't be put off by this please do watch it I must find my t-shirt before the next come tell us what you thought like write in because I genuinely want to see how people got on with this.

1:14:04Kay Ribeiro:Because, like I said, liked it, didn't love it. We'll watch the rest of it. I'll be curious what people think. Yeah. Down Cemetery Road, which I believe is already airing as we go out on Apple TV. Yes, correct. This is now streaming. Now streaming. Yeah. All right. Next up this week, we have I Love LA on Sky, on A Sky. I don't know which Sky. Sky Comedy. Yay! This is a show created by Rachel Sennett of Shiver Baby and Bottoms fame, and it stars Rachel Sennett of Shiver Baby and Bottoms fame and it features a group of friends reuniting and coming together to do things as a group. Which is ironic, really, given that only one of us was actually able to see this show because despite you, I should say, despite Boydie telling us, Kay, that he had requested screeners for us, he told, now we have no evidence to support this.

1:14:52Kay Ribeiro:You're lying. Boydie, I think it's a bit like the calendar update that you're supposed to do. No, no, no, no. Don't be like that. Did you wreck on it, Boydie? Did you ask after the fact? No, I'm not letting you get away with this grotesque slur. Did or did you not have emails yourselves? You did, though. Yes, thank you. I got no email. I got an email back and said I would receive them, and I did not. Oh, I didn't even get any email. But you also... That's because you're blacklisted. And I found you checking the wrong portal anyway. Admittedly, but I did finally check the right one. You can't blame Boyd over it.

1:15:21Exactly. You're being a moron. No, that's true.

1:15:22Kay Ribeiro:That is true. That is 100 % true. But I did check the right one in the end. Okay, fine. Well, long and short, Boyd's the only one who's watched it. I am the only one who's watched it. Do you know what? It's a real shame, seriously. Did you love LA, Boyd? I did love LA. And what's the real shame about you to have not seen this is because it's a really interesting talking point. This will spur. This is going to have lots of conversations going on. Why? Because it's a lot to deal with. It's like... Makes sense. Okay, so I... Because a set of bomb paper sounds quite fluffy, doesn't it? Oh, it's not fluffy.

1:15:52Okay. It's anything but fluffy. It's fluff-free. It's totally fluff-free. It's particularly going to challenge for you. Oh, great. Absolutely. 100%. It is, what I'm about to say, I'm slightly relaxed because I don't want to be accused of being sexist. Tonal shift? Not tonal shifts. It reminds, think of it as girls. Yes. But, absolutely, however long ago girls was, must be talking, what, like 10, 15 years ago? More than longer. Yeah. This is like, ratcheted up to the max, reflecting, I think, changes in society and in behaviour by younger people since Girls it would be like imagine Girls but now they are all now influencers or if they're not actual influencers then they're dealing with influencers on a daily basis I instantly want to watch this yeah and they're living their lives of unbelievable shallowness like if you think that Girls was partly Lena Dunham's comment on the shallowness and self-absorption of her generation then oh my god you haven't seen anything yet with this lot they are a bunch of fucking idiots a lot of the time, a lot of the time, but they're really, really funny.

1:17:01It's more out and out. You know how, again, I can keep telling you to girls, but I do think it's a lot of the DNA of girls in it because it is about a group of women, mostly, plus Jordan Fursterman's character. Jordan Fursterman, who plays a gay guy, their gay best friend, Charlie, is genius in it. He steals the show. I mean, he's incredible. He's a writer, producer, film director himself, and he's so funny. He plays a stylist to this pop star and having brushed myself sometimes. You know when you go, you, same with you, Kay, but we've all been, I've probably all been to it, to do interviews with celebrities or film stars or TV stars and there's always stylists there.

1:17:39Oh my God, yes. I've got one in mind. There you go, right? You know, often dealing with the stylists. Some of my best friends are stylists, by the way, so I'm not dissing them. Oh my God, what a line, Boyd. I can't believe he said that. But he's so, it's so brilliantly observed what happens between him, this stylist character, and his client, the pop star, in episode two. It's fucking brilliant. So it's full of... Does the stylist in this believe they are the talent as well? No, it's more that the client really treats him like absolute shit. Oh, okay, fine. That dynamic. Yeah, it's like a... He's not innocent at all himself.

1:18:14He's a complete twat as well. But it's like, everyone is. You're going to be... We're going to be discussing when both of you have finally watched this thing, and you have to watch it, is are any of the characters likeable? That old chestnut is going to come up because they are all unbelievably self-absorbed. It fails the bellend test. It totally fails the bellend test. These are unashamed, absolute 100 % bellends. But it's like the main character, Rachel Sennett's character, is a lot to deal with. Then you meet her best friend or her frenemy character who is played by Odessa, I believe you pronounce it as Ion, as Tallulah.

1:18:48You know who she is, Kate? I recognize her name, yeah, why? Pamela Adlon's daughter she's Pamela Adlon's daughter yeah of Better Things oh wow right and then the other character who is Alani is played by True Whittaker and do you know who she is she is Forest Whittaker's daughter wow so there's a whole Nepo baby and to be fair to them they've talked about it in interviews like they're literally populated by Nepo babies for all I know Jordan Firstman might have famous parents as well I don't know but it's all part of the whole LA vibe and it kind of works right and anyway Odessa's character to do that.

1:19:19She is unbearable. She's literally, she screams. It's one of those things, I've met, I've seen these people, you know, when I went to the premiere of the Kim Kardashian show, there were literally people screaming at each other on the red carpet, going, ah, that's how people, young people are, I don't want to say a complete old twat. But you know what I mean? I've noticed recently that people of a certain age, younger people than us, include all of us here, you know, people in their late teens, early twenties, mid-twenties, or whatever, they shout a lot. Just shouting at each other, you know, in the street or, you know.

1:19:53And it's just a higher volume than I think we are at our age. You've never sounded more middle-aged. I know, but this show reflects all of that. They're constantly shouting at each other, literally screaming. I cannot wait to see this. But it's hilarious. I thought it was so funny. It's definitely erring more on the side of out-and-out comedy than girls that I keep comparing it to. And it gets some brilliant laughs. And because of the over-the-topness of these characters, particularly the Odessa character, Tallulah, you will find her excruciating. I don't think you'd be able to watch her, James.

1:20:23It's my guess. And Josh Hutchison is genius casting as Rachel Sands' character's boyfriend, who is like this kind of like, lovely, sweet, harmless, but kind of nothing. Just like a dude who's like quite handsome, but not too handsome. Do you know what I mean? The whole thing rings totally true if you ever spend any time in LA. And it's partly about that. It's about, I think, really, and hence the title, you kind of love being there in a way because it's such an outrageous place to be in terms of the whole the whole place is in thrall to hollywood still now and to people who want to be famous and all of that and yet at the same time it's horrendous and disgusting and you feel dirty being there for too long at the same time and it's grappling with that i think this show and and even i could go bang on about it too much but it even it's named after the randy newman song i love you know that song it's a brit classic song and they and they're halfway through the first episode they just go for the play that song and have a montage about with ridiculous behaviour of people in LA and it's like oh they're completely you know it's completely on the button you know it's not exactly subtle what the show's doing it's paying its dues to this song that's totally in keeping with the subject matter exactly exactly I absolutely love it I think it's brilliant so Sky Comedy Sky Comedy and now I think I think you will like it Kay I think you'll appreciate the madness of it you will absolutely fucking hate it you won't be able to cope with it right that's my guess but it's a real shame that we didn't all see it, only I saw it, because it's a big thing.

1:21:48I think it would be quite a big deal.

1:21:50Kay Ribeiro:Okay. There you go. Boyd loves LA then, and when does that air? That airs, I think today, from today. Yes, indeed. On the Sky Comedy. On the Sky Comedy slash now. Okay. Yes. Finally this week, we have the latest take on the Robin Hood legend. This one has Jack Patton as Robin, or Rob, as he likes to be known here. Or Robert. Yeah, he is Robert. Yeah, that's right. Robert of Loxley. He goes by Rob. and Sean Bean is a sheriff of Nottingham. And there's archery, there's banditry, lots of hanging out in the forest, you know, the occasional ominous stone castle, basically everything you would imagine from your classic Robin Hood saga.

1:22:25Kay Ribeiro:The question is, of course, is this the definitive take on the Prince of Thieves? Kay, did you have a good time in the woods? Would you go down in the woods today to watch this? I saw what you did there and I certainly enjoyed it. Look, my take on this is it's all right. Okay, I think Sean Bean is good as the Sheriff of Nottingham. He's got, you know, that kind of like sinister edge and it covers the main characters. The first episode is all about, you know, setting up these characters, et cetera. Introduce us to Hugh of Loxley and his son, as you've referred to, and his wife, et cetera, and Maid Marian.

1:23:03I think she's good. I think Maid Marian. I've got to find the actor's name. Lauren McQueen. I found it to be slightly you know a little pedestrian um I felt like the um they you know they had a lot of lingering shots for example that I thought I could live without the extended hunting scene I just felt like it wasn't as tight as it could be and consequently um like it does the job right it sets the scene and we know where we are in English history and the main players but other than that, I wasn't like, right, I need to watch the next episode. I was like, okay, I've seen now the new version of Robin Hood, and that's it.

1:23:47Do you disagree? No, I think you've been kind. I thought this was borderline preposterous. And it was a bit like Robin Hood, Men in Tights, the Mel Brooks version of the inadvertently funny. I mean, It was more entertaining, perhaps, than I expected. I was slightly dreading. I was like, oh, God, you know. There have been so many, you know, it's not so many versions of Robin Hood. Even in recent years, there's the Taron Egerton film. There was the Ridley Scott's version. Yes, Russell Crowe. None of them very good, by the way. I think, you know, Robin Hood is one of Ridley Scott's least engaging films.

1:24:24I will always stand for the Costner Robin Hood. The Costner Robin Hood, I'll tell you 100%. Which is genius. Yeah.

1:24:30Kay Ribeiro:And also, I pity anyone trying to play the Sheriff of Nottingham after Alan Ritman did. and a ribbon. I mean, Sean Bean is pretty good in this. Yeah, also it's a slightly different way because he's not overtly, excessively villainous in this. Like, he's a slightly more nuanced take on that character. Yeah, because the real... Stephen Waddington, on the other hand, he plays like the Earl of Huntington. He's a twat. Yeah, he's horrendous. Yeah, he's absolutely awful. But what I thought... But it was just in the kind of... So it was more watchable and less of a trial than I expected. I probably expected it.

1:24:58I was like, oh, what can they do? But it's also, like, completely bizarre. In the first 10 seconds, there's boots. Oh, yes. There's a most brutal fight scenes and boobs. Just women with their breasts out for no good reason. And it's like, what are you doing? Yeah, it sets its stall out, doesn't it? It sets its stall out. There's a shagging scene, like, halfway through, with a character involving a character, completely unnecessary. But also, did you not find this? It was more like the lingering shots. That's what I'm talking about. And the close-ups. Yes. And I was like, do we need to go that close?

1:25:28That's the inadvertent comedy of it is. is that there's a love at first sight thing going on between Robert, Robbie, Rob. And meet you in the forest. The Rob stuff. And meet you in the forest. And they're like eyeing each other up. Honestly, it's like a fucking comedy. It's hilariously directed and performed. And it's like, I was actually halfway through, I was like, Mel Brooks could not, this is funnier than Mel Brooks' version, because Men in Touch is one of his least good films as well. But it's just ridiculous. And all the way through, there are these moments where suddenly a directorial decision is made that is just preposterous and massive close-ups.

1:26:03Yeah, the close-ups. Huge close-ups. But so close. So close. I was like, this is very 4K. It's entering bear territory. Who's the actress who plays Marion, you said? It's Lauren McQueen. If I was her agent, I'd be like, you cannot film this close up her nose. I'm sorry. It's not fair. It really isn't. And it's just mad. Honestly, I just found it. The decisions in this, creative decisions in the show are fucking bonkers. And so it could have been... My question is like, when I was watching it also, it was like, who's this aim for? Well, I know. MGM Plus... Where can you get that even? It's like an extra channel on Prime Video, I think.

1:26:40Oh, okay. Maybe, mainly. And you'll find it. I think you can get it on the Sky platform somewhere as well. Because recently they had Billy the Kid, was their kind of big show they had three series of, which is a similar kind of thing. You know, it's like a kind of outlaw figure from history, whose story has been told millions of times before. I don't know what MGM Plus has obsessed with these kind of characters. That was a decent show, to be fair. And I like Tom Blythe, I interviewed him for this podcast. He was a delight. But it is weird that they seem to be going to this type of show. Count of Monte Cristo is a little bit got that.

1:27:15No, void. Cease and desist. It's potentially another bit of a euro pudding. How dare you? But with weird ingredients going on. I just thought it was weird. Like, every time it threatened, every time you thought it was just going to settle down and be, in quotes, like, normally, normally photoshopped and acted, something weird and bonkers happens, which I guess makes it more interesting than it could have been, for sure. So, you know, it is an origin story of Robin Hood, and it is full of gratuitous things going on, but it could have been a lot worse, but equally is very inadvertently funny for me.

1:27:52How many did you watch?

1:27:53Kay Ribeiro:Only one. I could only do one. I watched two. Okay. Because I kind of thought, I felt, you get to the end of episode one and we are so far away from him actually becoming Robin Hood. He's literally just still Rob, my mate Rob. Yeah. Like, and you're like, okay, I've got to watch it. I need to, I've got to the end of episode two. You want to get to the moment where he goes, do you know what everyone, can you all call me Robin? Yeah. Rather than Rob or Robert. I think I'm just. And they go, what if your name's Robert, not Robin? The artist formerly known as Rob. The outlaw formerly known as Rob.

1:28:21Kay Ribeiro:I'm going to do that again, Darren. The outlaw formerly known as Rob. got to the end of the second episode, he's still not Robin Hood. At the end of the second episode. It does take its sweet time to get somewhere. I didn't hate it. I was quite entertained. I don't know if that's the compliment you think it is. No, but also the characters just make incredibly stupid and dare I say it, not very believably human decisions to drive the plot. And you're kind of like, I'm okay. I'm vaguely entertained by this. It's like, you know, I'm not super bored or anything. Please refer to our reference of the fight scenes and boobs in the first few minutes.

1:29:00Kay Ribeiro:Yeah, I mean, it was brought to us in, you know, 3D nipple vision. But, I mean, there's a whole bit with like sort of nymphs and dryads cavorting and it's just like, I don't really understand why this is happening, but sure. What about, there's a bit where the dad, the horrible dad, what's his name? Oh, don't. The other puns. Steve Watts is going to like whip his... Yeah. Literally whip her into shape. Yeah, I mean, he's two-dimensionally villainous. I quite like what Sean Bean did with the show of Nottingham. I think, yeah, a lasty Earl of Huntington did not have a lot to work with. Less said, soon as men did.

1:29:35Yeah, I just, you know what, every time I think, I've heard me flashbacks to moments in the show that really made me laugh. Do you remember this? The guy comes in, I don't know what the name of the character is, with the weirdest accent, like a cockney almost, going, Loxley, Loxley! He kind of attacks him. Do you remember that bit towards the end of the first episode? Yes, I must admit.

1:29:53Kay Ribeiro:Who's that guy? He's a poacher. I also had that question. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You're all right talking like that. What was your fake cockney? I had questions as to where he was supposed to come from. It's hilarious. I was like, what's happening here? Honestly, if you design this as a comedy, it couldn't be fun. Yeah. It's not great. It's not great. It has to be said. I feel bad, but it's true. What they're saying is true. Yeah. And I think, yeah. Like I said, I wasn't super bored. but I'm not going to be watching any more. Sorry. Same. To be fair, you did too. I did too. Yeah, I did double what you did.

1:30:27Kay Ribeiro:Yeah, I mean, that is impressive. Okay, Robin Hood then, which is on MGM+. That's also started. Also started yesterday, didn't it? Yes. You may work out there's a lot of highly embargoed shows we can't review this week. We should mention the reason why we are not covering a lot of shows that we would otherwise... Yes, there are embargoes a go-go. We've got to work out what we're going to do next week and what we're going to do on Plus because we've got the Ryan Murphy we've got Pluribus coming up as well there's a lot to talk about we might push some of that into next week's main show it depends what else is out so we won't do the admin here live on the show but we will figure it out so there'll be something in Pilot Plus and then there'll be more next week but we need to talk about what our pick of the week is DCR oh god yeah of course I mean it's not even any Down Cemetery Road I Love LA is really good oh yeah if I'd watch that you know that would be probably a contender for James it's Robin Hood it's really not Robin Hood okay fine brilliant well that is it we're done we haven't done what else is on oh we haven't that's right we've got that extra bit what else is on look like Martin McCutcheon this is Boyd's moment yeah sorry Boydy because I guess we'd kind of we briefly touched on it exactly go on tell us in detail all of the things that we should have covered but weren't able to this coming Sunday the 9th of November 2025 9 o 'clock Channel 4 has a new four part drama adapted by one of the writers of Bad Sisters it's called Trespasses It's saying The Troubles in 1975, and it's a love story between a Catholic teacher, played by Lola Pettigrew, and a Protestant lawyer, played by Tom Cullen, the excellent Tom Cullen.

1:31:59Yes, big fan of his. Who was recently in The Gold. It looks really good. And Gillian Anderson, I should say, is in it. She plays a mum. Bury the lead. Why don't you? I kind of bury the lead slightly, I admit that. All her thought starts on Friday, on Sky Atlantic, and now this is a huge big deal, because it's Sarah Snook's first big show since Succession. I'm looking forward to this. And this is all about her little kiddie boy son is doing his first play date with a mate from school and she goes to pick him up and the woman who's there in the house where the play date's supposed to be happening has no idea what she's talking about, has never heard of this kid.

1:32:32Basically every parent's nightmare. Well, this sounds a lot like that show that we did with Holiday Granger last year. It's extremely similar. It's very, very similar. In premise, in initial premise, thankfully it's very different after that. This is more about all of the neighbours and the school mums and everything judge her and they're all partly could all be responsible as well for what happens it's kind of like a why done it rather than who done it but it's oh yeah I'm not allowed to I've got to stop banging on about it now that's the premise that's the premise I mean it's a big deal so we should probably end up trying to review it that's on Friday all's fair the previously mentioned Ryan Murphy show about a bunch of female divorce lawyers with Kim Kardashian and Sarah Paulson and Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close okay I mean you know what a mix what a mix it really is a mix that is heavily embargoed that comes out on Tuesday tomorrow but the embargo is like 5am Tuesday morning I hate that word now I hear it so much I know I better than say it as well yeah of course it's like water torture but it's true Pluribus says James mentioned that starts on Friday on Apple TV Plus and is embargoed to that very day annoyingly as well there's Maxton Hall The World Between that's a German production but it's set in Oxford University of course that's on Prime Video Friday the 7th I love LA we did I love LA obviously I reviewed that great length sorry to be boring Shetland is back on Wednesday Kate's favourite BBC One Wednesday 9pm 2025 and that is about it thank you very much

1:34:07Kay Ribeiro:okay brilliant well we are in fact now done if you would like to leave us a rating please do so five stars please that'd be lovely and Kate if you want to send it it'd be nice too follow us on the socials mainly Instagram but whatever you like at James C. Dyer at Carrie Barrow at Boyd Hilton at Pilot TV Pod next week we will have Jack Whitehall on the show to talk about Malice which is his new show which debuts on Prime next week what else is next week the stuff that we talked about that was embargoed that we couldn't cover this week but there are other things out this week Wild Cherry Landman's back Summer Water The Beast in Me so yeah we'll have to pick through what we're going to cover so you'll just have to wait and see what happens okay right that is it fine we're done I'm going to now decide whether or not to continue Are you watching Robin Hood or to watch The Wheel?

1:34:48Kay Ribeiro:Robin Hood, The Wheel. Where to begin? I don't know which is funnier, to be fair. Pilot out.