PLUS Mr. Bigstuff, and This Life

18:28Kay:I mean, I'm not sure the pit is a sufficient substitute for all of Apple TV +, but okay. I don't think it's co-financed by Sky. I can't find any evidence to suggest that it is. To the best of my knowledge, it is an HBO Max production. I don't know why it said that. Actually, the party I'm going to tonight is Sky, so I could ask them then. Yes, you should. Find out. I don't think it is, though. I've literally asked Sky about the pit previously, about why they don't have it. And they wanted to say, oh, yeah, we actually made it. I think that would have come up. Oh, you'd definitely boast about that, wouldn't you?

18:59Sky does have international versions of itself. If you like that, Sky Italy has its own Sky. I think there are interconnected different skies in Europe and they have different deals with different companies. So it's feasible, it's possible that maybe it's co-distributed by Sky Iceland in Iceland. Something like that, yeah. I know they do have separate deals. I'm hoping we'll get this. Can you make it your main priority to find out? Well, you're the one going to see all these Sky buzzes tonight. I'm dealing with Danny. I'm dealing with Danny tonight, yeah. Get Danny to find out. That is my main priority.

19:30He won't give a shit about it. See if Danny Dial could be back up on our podcast.

19:35Kay:One of our listeners, and you may have seen this message, had mentioned to me that while we can't see it in the UK, it is available on Virgin Atlantic flights. And they said they watched the entire series on their way to Florida. And where am I going next month? So I can watch The Pit on the way to Florida. Very exciting. When are you going to Florida? Do we know this? Yes, I'm going to Florida in August. The Halloween thing. You know the Halloween thing. Oh, his usual. Your life is one endless jolly to foreign parts and taking part in stupid rides. Oh, well, life. They are not stupid. but they are excellent.

20:08What day is that when you go to Edinburgh? It doesn't matter. This is an awful chat. I'm going to Edinburgh, by the way, on a Wednesday and Thursday. Okay. Look, I'm really happy for you. I'm currently grounded because of, you know, all the unexpected building fees I've had to pay in my flat. Let's not even get into that. Yeah, let's go into Kay's building work.

20:26Kay:That's quite a saga. No, please, it's really sad. In fact, I mean, I'm going to take an interlude just to say, I'm going to mention the fact that last Pilot Plus we recorded, I said I was going to go and watch a certain film oh yeah yeah yeah the saga yeah the saga of the ballad of tell us Kay how did it go how was the ballad of Wallace Island I'm bringing it up because I had a lot of messages recently particularly because people had just listened to that episode and were like half the people were going oh my god I feel really bad for you and a lot of people were saying it's so funny because you're so excited to see it and I have to just say it was stupid and awful because I was so excited to see it.

21:09And the reason why I bring up the builder thing is because I'm on a really, like the belt isn't just tightened, it's cinched within like there's no breathing room. But I made this exception because I was like, oh my God, it works out. It's not that expensive. It's like 20 pounds to go and do this. I'm going to do it as a treat. And I was so gassed to go and do it, as I said to you, ran off. And then honestly, getting off that train in Basingstoke when I was going to be in Guildford.

21:30Kay:So just for people who don't know what happened. Sure. You were going to see it in Guildford because that's the only place you knew that were showing it? The Ballad of Wallis, in Surrey, yeah, near me. I found a screening of it. I found it, it was in Guildford. Yes. The ticket of the cinema plus the train was£21. I was like, this is a dream. This is a dream. I'm going to ask the boys if I end a little bit early. I'm going to catch that train. So excited because I've wanted to see it. I love Tom Basden's writing. Let's go. Get on the train, just in such a good mood. I can't tell you how good mood I was.

22:01And then get off, get off the train, walk out. and it literally says, welcome to Basingstoke. And the colour drains from my face and I'm like, I go up to, immediately run up to the train man and go, hi, how far is it from Guildford? Thinking, the film starts in two minutes. In my brain, I'm thinking, is it two minutes away? He goes, it's 40 minutes. And I was so gutted. But my first thought was, oh God, I'm going to have to tell them. I'm going to have to tell them. You turned into like a, almost like a, like a celebration. You did go straight onto the WhatsApp group. Do you know what? Because I thought, I've got to pull the plaster off.

22:38At first, I thought, is there any way of me getting away with this without Boyd and James finding out? And I thought, no, because they're going to ask me what I thought of it. As it turns out, you don't give a shit you didn't ask me just now. And so I thought, I'm just going to tell them. And I have to say, listeners, in this instance, they were completely lovely. Boyd instantly found me a screening that was happening in London and told me where I could go and see it. And James, for his part, forwarded me an invite to Tom Basden was performing one of the songs he'd sung in the film and said, I know it's not the film, but if you want to see this.

23:07I was very touched. But yeah, the added element was then I got on a train back home. Well, I thought I was going home, but actually no, I'd erroneously got on a fast train to Waterloo and went past my stop at 70 miles per hour. And I was like, by this stage, then I was hysterical. It's just comedy at that point, isn't it? I was laughing so hard. If this had been me, I looked crazy. It would have been further proof of my dementia. But, you know, somehow you get away with it. but I often say I think your mind is much more like a sieve than mine so you know I know it's unbelievable can you imagine returning after three hours having not seen or done anything just literally as I said ping pong between London and Surrey like different parts of Surrey but never quite getting to where I was going to go I mean anyway it's a Kafkaesque it's a Kafkaesque yeah it was it was something anyway adventure so that was yeah that was the message and you're right someone did message in about Virgin Atlantic unfortunately you squeak you cut off their name so I can't give them a shout out I'm sorry.

24:01Thank you for getting in touch. They said specifically, let Boyd know. Yeah. It's showing Virgin Lantern. It happens quite a lot that really good, particularly I think with HBO and HBO Max shows end up on Virgin flights and you can, there's that whole Steven Soderbergh series which I watched from beginning to end. I think it was seven out, seven episodes. I watched that on Flight Back. It's a well done. Is that the full circle one? Yeah. The one that still has not aired here. Yeah. So it is extraordinary how long these things take in some cases. And that was excellent. That was really, really good, that show.

24:31So, yeah. Maybe I should book a flight to New York just so I can watch the pics. He is that bougie. I mean, it's tempting. Okay, Richard has got in touch to talk about spoilers. He says, just following up on things you've had spoiled, I'm still sulking over season two finale of The Mandalorian. I can't really explain it now without spoiling it, but it's probably been long enough. So this is not a dig at us, by the way. The annoying release schedule where it would come out in the morning UK time meant clickbait websites would routinely spoil shows.

24:59Kay:True. like this as quickly as they could. So I stayed off Reddit. I stayed away from my feeds, but I had to open Twitter for work. And on the right-hand side where it showed the trending topics, it said, now can I say it? Sure. The Mandalorian trending was Luke Skywalker, right? And so he said, I had to sit there later that night watching my wife's jaw drop as the spoiler unfolded, featuring my favorite character making a surprise return, a surprise appearance in my favorite franchise. I was furious. Yeah. It is maddening. Absolutely maddening. But this is the world we live in, unfortunately, because everything moves so quickly and everyone puts everything on social media.

25:37Kay:We need to slow down, guys. We need to bring it all down a notch. Aren't you in charge of social media? What, for the world? Do you know what? I should be. They should make me look like God-emperor of all social media. I was thinking for Empire Magazine, but yeah, sure. I mean, we just need him to be that for pilot because we've had this listener, Daphne, get in touch and say, first of all, I'm really annoyed at James refusing to at least put the Pilot TV email in an Instagram bio because just to send this email, I've had to pull up a recent episode, search for whatever timestamp he says the email address is at.

26:08It's very inconvenient, but lucrative for you guys, I guess, getting those listing numbers up.

26:12Kay:Thank you very much for that. I will say that I have, on Kay's insistence, emailed our social media editor, Harry, and asked him to do it while we've been doing this podcast. And he has come back and said, yes, he will do it. So it will be done. Instagram bio we'll have our mailbag guys if anyone wants to just you know email in send a bit of credit for James sending that email there you go he'll be very happy Harry's exact response no danger we'll sort now and get that post out ASAP smiley face I should have gone to Haz straight away you should cut out the middle man talk to the organ grinder K not the monkey yeah exactly I mean life motto and then she carries on Daphne says James being so frustrating however great It does tie in nicely with what I want to email you guys about.

26:58Wooden Overcoats. It is a fictional podcast that I used to be so obsessed with years ago. I've recently rediscovered it and I'm falling in love with it all over again. It's a comedy about a brother and sister duo who run a funeral service business and are at constant competition with a newer funeral business opposite their own. I don't want to say any more because I'd like you guys to discover the joy of the show. But now that I've re-listened to it, the main character, Rudyard Fun, is it? Rudyard? Rudyard? Rudyard Fun started to feel very familiar to me. And it wasn't until I was listening to the recent Pilot TV Plus episode when I finally pieced it together.

27:34It's James.

27:36Kay:What? What?

27:40He is Rudyard and Rudyard is him. I really hope he doesn't take too much offense to this comparison, lol. But every time I now listen to it and the ways that Rudyard does things, I really urge you guys to listen to at least the Pilot episode of the show and give your thoughts. It can be found on Spotify and the humour really reminds me of the pilot TV dynamic. What's it called? It is called... Wooden Overcoats. Wooden Overcoats.

28:02Kay:I definitely can't listen to it now. No, she says, Kay, you sort of remind me of Georgie, another character on the show and a much cooler character than Rudyard. Okay, so I'm happy about that. I'm sure. There are a few characters that could be amalgamated into Boyd, but I don't want to say in case it upsets him. Oh, hang on. So why are we only worried about upsetting Boyd? I'd also like your opinions on fictional podcasts, aka audio dramas. I've listened to some amazing ones over the years and they are a great way to escape while doing menial tasks like gardening or washing up I don't know why more people don't listen to them do you guys believe there is a world where they become as commercially viable as TV shows some big names such as Rami Malek and Demi Moore have voiced characters on fictional podcasts in the past and with the podcast space taking off look at how many millions they've thrown at Joe Rogan for example do you see a world where they attract a similar amount of audiences and investment also please give me your hopefully positive opinions on wooden overcoats.

28:57Kay:I don't know that they'll... It occupies a different format. There's a reason why radio, despite being a very, very old and in many ways outdated technologically medium, is still strong, but for the simple reason that you can do it or absorb it while doing other things, right? But so can TV now. Whether you're driving... Well, you shouldn't. Yes, but... You fundamentally shouldn't. But creators of TV are being instructed, I think. Oh, God, make that stuff. Yeah, to make stuff that... So when people are dual-screening... Who got that from the Wolf and Out podcast? It might have been a fact that I've gleaned.

29:26They really shouldn't be doing that. That's just upsetting. No, they shouldn't, but it's the reality of it. I mean, listen, you're painting the ceiling and cutting pruning bushes.

29:35Kay:Admittedly, that is true. But what I'm saying is, generally, you can't drive while watching a TV show, although you could, though I suspect it would involve nine points on your license and then instant ban. But you definitely don't want to be doing that, whereas radio and podcasts enable you to, whether you're running, walking, driving, painting the ceiling, pruning trees, whatever you like, It is a safe media to consume. So I think it's useful there. But it's not commercialised in the same way as obviously TV is. So I don't think it's going to be, you know, it's not going to rival TV as a format.

30:02If any of our listeners have any good recommendations for any radio dramas, I'm into it. So, yeah, send them in, please.

30:08Kay:Yeah, I don't listen to any dramatic podcasts. I did go through a period of listening to those D &D podcasts, which I was listening to Hell and High Rollers, which was genius, and I very much enjoyed that. For me, the difference between podcasts like this one and really successful ones, like Joe Rogan's one, which literally has hundreds of millions of listeners or whatever, is one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Depressing. Yeah, although, anyway, we haven't got time to discuss that. No, we don't. Jimmy Carr was on the recently. It was fascinating. Jimmy Carr? Jimmy Carr, yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

30:48Kay:Yeah, it's really interesting. Anyway, my point is that for me, the joy of this kind of program is the freewheeling, in theory, kind of. I mean, we can go on as long as we want. We can't stay because you've got to go and have a meeting in 10 minutes. But whereas dramas and scripted shows, that traditionally Radio 4 in the UK has aired dramas and comedies. That's in its DNA for decades and decades. And I can give you loads of examples of classic shows, scripted shows on Radio 4. comedies and drums I'll give you a list yeah sure Hitchcock's Guide to the Galaxy one of the greatest things of all time it starts out as a radio I will need it submitted as a written list so wouldn't overcoat so I'm sure it's great and everything but for me that's not the magic of podcasts because you could get that on Radio 4 on a Friday at 6.30 or whatever whereas the magic of podcasts is the freewheeling in theory unending and quite in a way the whole unscripted element of them actually is what makes them such a phenomenon and I think the biggest ones will all be of that kind rather than a scripted one like I'm sure the wonderful wooden overcoat.

31:50Like, when you listen to podcasts,

31:53Kay:what's your primary reason for it? I like, I think... Well, with yours, it's to fall asleep. As we know, Empire. Yeah, that's true. Well, it is, the hangout element of it is key, I think. I think this is, you know, yeah. I mean, I listened to the Empire podcast before I really even knew, or actually, that's not true. I knew... That's so sweet. Boy, I've known you for 25 years. I know, I know, I know. The podcast has only been going since 2012. All right, all right. Caught out? But also, if they're about subjects that I like, I mean, I'm into films anyway, so I listen to probably three or four different film-based podcasts, you know, and TV ones as well I listen to, if they weren't close rivals, one of which I used to do anyway, before I was usurped.

32:35So, you know, yeah, if subject matter I'm interested in is the key, and people I enjoy listening to talking about that subject matter, it's as kind of simple as that, really. Joe Rogan I do listen to quite often. Do you? There's something quite seductive, and I don't mean literally by Joe Rogan, about a three-hour discussion. A discussion so open-ended that it can go on for three, three and a half hours, and often frequently does. In fact, now you must feel, if you're a fan of his stuff, and I think he's a deeply flawed character, often talks absolute nonsense, but at the same time, he can be very smart and clever and talk about, you know, be a valid voice, if you like.

33:16So there's something very enjoyable about that. Yeah, you're immersed in a three-hour conversation with someone about all kinds of things. I really enjoy that, yeah. So I think that people, you know, remember when I first started doing my Oster podcast, I was constantly told by the powers that it should be 35 minutes because people stopped listening after 25 minutes. But the biggest podcasts in the world are actually really long. We have had that same criticism and I have used that exact same argument. I mean, it's undeniable. You can't deny it. What's the argument? What was the criticism that we go on too long?

33:49That was from me. I say that. This is interminable. Nearly 20 years ago, when we do, I believe the podcast has been going for that long. Yeah, the common theory was that don't go on too long because it'll turn people off. They'll stop listening. But it doesn't affect things. If you stop listening, you stop listening. At what point do people drop off listening to us? The first 20 minutes?

34:08Kay:Three, four minutes. Yeah. Generally after I finish the introduction. I'd be interested to know. Do we have metrics on that? Possibly. I'll dig into it he doesn't want to dig into it because he doesn't want to end it early he's happy for like a one two hour marathon session yeah we should just record all the time just never leave the studio oh my god can you imagine living in a commune together right I know we're running out of time so we've got a lot of good emails so we'll go through more next week but I'm going to end it with this one just because it's a compliment to me and hello and why not it's from Colin he says not a question but a comment and a request to these Scottish ears I thought Kay's recent Liverpool accent sounded excellent I mean I do query if you had actually wax in your ears Colin because I don't think it was that good but he said very much like Jodie Comer it definitely wasn't but thank you but it was a bit rich that James sneered at it particularly as every time he attempts a regional accent it's essentially a hate crime I mean that's true yeah that's a good point anyway he says some time ago there was a survey to listeners about the pod and I don't think we've ever heard any more about it question mark he said I made a suggestion request which I'd like to repeat James has said several times that viewers don't subscribe to all the streamers and limit themselves to one or two at a time then switching he's correct and that's what I do I'd like to listen to the weekly spoiler specials at the end of Plus but a lot of the time I'm not in sync for example while you were doing The Last of Us season 2 I was subscribed to one of the other streamers I'll eventually catch up with that series but when I do I'll have to wade through several past episodes of Plus and hunt to find the start point when a run of spoiler specials for a series finishes could they be edited together to make one long special special episode available for slow coaches oh my god I love the term slow coaches yes Colin bringing slow coaches back sorry Darren this would mean more work for you anyway thank you for the weekly banter and bickering best wishes Colin there would definitely be more work for James I don't think we'll end up re-editing those but that said lots of discussions on format about the spoiler specials did come out of the questionnaire, which I'm absolutely on top of and I'm in no way still collating.

36:18Kay:But yes, one of the things I was thinking of is like whether we stick to, you know, season long ones or whether we just break the spoiler special out. A lot of people have asked for that before to have it as a separate, you know, podcast as it were. As in so like you would end this after the post bag and then if we were doing a spoiler thing, it would be a separate entity. Do you know what I mean? So you have a little break and then you would go straight. so instead of being part of the same file so then you just wouldn't listen to that if you hadn't seen it so that was a suggestion does it mean being in here longer with you guys?

36:47if it doesn't then I'm down for it if it's just an editing thing by all means go for it

36:53Kay:I mean it would functionally not affect you there would just be a little bit of brief preamble when we ended one and started the other just guess my vote but Empire does that doesn't it you do like a spoiler special post-release extra podcast about well Chris is a lore unto himself yeah he does it all the time Yeah, and he'll have you on giving your views about what's Superman and you'll be obviously wrong on it. Yeah, that happens quite a lot. We could do that. We could do that. Oh, well, do you know what? While we're getting some feedback and, you know, possibly this person has filled in the survey that she'll never see the light of day.

37:24This is from Angela. And she says, hi, pilots. Before I complain, let me first say how much I enjoyed listening to the Andor's spoiler specials. Each pod was informative. interesting and highly engrossing. That's because I wasn't involved. Did you do those, Boyd? No. Okay. Wasn't invited. Okay. Now we're getting to the root of these compliments. The promise to finish with a deep dive spoiler special on Rogue One and how Andor impacted on it was gratefully received. I watched Rogue One and then eagerly awaited the promised podcast drop. Imagine my deep disappointment when it was not shared on the Pilot TV podcast.

38:07Come on, guys. I know it's an Empire podcast, but so were three Andor podcasts. And if the point of Rogue One podcast is to discuss how the stories of Andor impact and change your perception of scenes and characters in the film, arguably, it's still a podcast about a TV show. So please, please, please, can we get this podcast on the Pilot Plus feed too? P.S., continue to love the pod. P.P.S., I agree with Boyd. Luca is one of the best supporting characters in any TV show. She's talking about the bear. Yes. He elevated every scene he was in.

38:38Kay:Yes. James, over to you. I mean, look, the Andor thing was, obviously they were Empire spoiler specials. Now, I did share them on the pilot feed because people really, really wanted them. And because it's TV, and I managed to convince Chris to let me do it, also because I was hosting them and editing them. I can kind of do what I want with them. So I was like, yeah. You went rogue. I went rogue a little bit. You went rogue one. Yeah, I went rogue one, and I put them on the pilot feed. Now, the rogue one spoiler special, which we did do, though, it took a few weeks for us to get to it. A, I didn't edit it or host it.

39:05Kay:Chris did. and B, it is a film as well and I kind of felt at that point I'm not sure I can really just take a film spoiler special and just whack that on the pilot feed as well even though for completist's sake I get that it would make sense but yeah unfortunately it is it's only on the Empire Spoiler Special feed I think Chris will let me have that one Okay and then do you know what I know I said like this was the last one about three messages ago but while we're It's like the end of Return of the King One of the greatest films of all time, Boyd-y While we're covering off suggestions that you're going to ignore this is from Justin who says long time listener and subscriber first time emailer welcome Justin I love listening to your recent suggestions of the best needle drops which I feverishly searched out on Spotify to give them a listen as they were mentioned how about a pilot TV needle drop curated Spotify list where you add all of your greatest choices for listeners to enjoy keep up the good work love listening to you all on Monday and Thursday and you are the highlight to my listening week oh thanks very much that's an excellent idea and Kay will be getting on that this week.

40:07Kay:Oh, James! You know me and technology. It's not a good mix. I can barely... I'm just... I'm in charge of this inbox, yeah? Look, technology, trains, all of these things. I know. I'm skilled at very little, actually, at this stage. My LinkedIn is just very blank. So, yeah. So, is that something that you, someone... We don't have a Spotify account. I don't even think I have a Spotify account, I'm sorry to say. Oh, retro. Yeah. Yeah, I don't really do Spotify. No. It's weird, isn't it? Yeah, I do Apple. Everything's Apple. Okay. So, yeah, Justin, we're just going to file that in the kind of dossier of things that we will consider and undoubtedly you'll email in six months' time going, what happened to that?

40:51Kay:It might happen. Okay. Well, the link in bio finally happened. Yeah, well, hopefully. It might be live now. At this very second, I'm not going to check, just in case it isn't, but it might be. So I'm going to say, if you want to send in your suggestion for the post, back, then just go to Pilot TV Instagram and the email address will miraculously be there in the bio and it is pilottv at mrmagazine.com. And are you doing a long running jump to eventually put that on Blue Sky and Twitter? I mean, I don't know that anyone's on there anyway, so... Okay, fine. Listen, guys, I've tried to fight this as much as I can and I've now lost the will.

41:25It's on Instagram.

41:25Kay:You can find it there. You don't even need to subscribe to get onto Instagram. Use the phone there. Have a look. Right, okay. It's time now for this week's, I guess it's kind of a spoiler section. It's not really a spoiler specialist. From the Vault. It's a From the Vault, isn't it? From the Vault. So we're going to do From the Vault now, and it's this life, because we talked about it the other week, didn't we? This is the show which debuted in, I want to say, 1996. This is Amy Jenkins' series about a group of sort of 20-something trainee barristers, and crucially for a legal drama, and I realised this this week, there's no courtroom action in this at all.

42:05Kay:Like they literally do not enter a court at any point. You see them outside the courtroom, you see them in chambers, you see them at home, you see them in the pub. You never see them in court. No. And it's great because I just care about their lives. I want to know. It's called this life, not this court. Yeah, exactly. That was the whole concept of it. I remember Amy Jenkins talking about the creator and writer of it. She didn't want it to be, see it's not a legal drama, it's a drama about the characters, about the young people and the fact that they're all together sharing this flat because they kind of work in the same area, most of them work in literally the same place, the same legal practice.

42:39That was just the device to bring these disparate characters together. In fact, in the first episode, there's probably more legal chat and detail than there is in any other episode for the rest of the two seasons that it lasted for because it was setting the scene and it was establishing what they do professionally, etc. But yeah, no, it was absolutely not about the legal machinations at all. It was about them. And it was also very... I remember vividly being told by the BBC that this is their big new attempt to get young people to watch TV and that it was going to be no holds barred, sex, drugs, rock and roll, swearing, and sure enough, in the very first episode, all of that is there.

43:23And filmed in a kind of documentary verite style, if I can use that word, and I already have, to make it feel more realistic and authentic than traditional TV dramas. They went out there to kind of go, we really need something to bring the youth, the young people, to watch TV. And now everyone's fretting over the same thing even more because obviously the kids are watching YouTube and fucking TikTok. Well, they didn't have that back then, but what they did have is a concern that only old people were watching TV even then. And did it work, Boyd? Was this a massive hit? It was a slow burn. Yeah, because it wasn't hit in the first series until it re-ran.

44:01Right. It was on quite late night on BBC Two, so it wasn't given a prime time nine o 'clock slot anyway to begin with. So it was quite a kind of niche prospect anyway. I think that's probably partly because the BBC was worried about being criticised for having New Jersey sex and drugs without pompous judgement of the characters that are doing those things. So no, it was a proper word of mouth here. It was, as you say, yeah, I think they repeated it earlier on in the schedule before the second series came out. And then by the time the second series came out, it had become a pop culture phenomenon, definitely.

44:35And by the time it kind of finished in the late 90s, which is even before Heat magazine was invented or, you know, it was kind of like right in the middle of what was going on culture at that time. By then it became a proper massive thing. And you would, I would, you know, I think I was asked about it in my interview for Heat, actually. Really? what kind of thing do you like this life got you your job I think it helped this life and the royal family I think were the two things I'm pretty sure I mentioned and this life was a defining and still is for me I think the reason why I thought it was a brilliant idea to do it was because Andrew Lincoln is in this show coming up on IT which I keep on seeing ads for yeah they're advertising a lot they're going big it's a big deal because it's his first British TV show for 15 years since he was doing The Walking Dead etc but it's really interesting to see which cast members had a long career afterwards and which didn't.

45:27Was this his first role? Like as a first big... Pretty much, I think, yeah. Yeah, and then he wanted to be in Teachers as well. And the other thing to say about it is it was produced by Jane Fallon, Ricky Gervais' partner. Yes. And she then went on to produce Teachers as well. And he is credited as... Yes, as. As, go on.

45:42Kay:Music Advisor. Music Advisor, that's right. Which is wild. Yeah, yeah. Because didn't he commission the theme tune for this, I think? I believe so, yeah. But they only have in the... There's no soundtrack music. All the music featured in the show is our actual records, if you like, that people are listening to in the show. Diegetic music. That's the word. I always forget that word, diegetic music. Thank you. Also made by World Productions. Made by World Productions, hugely acclaimed kind of proper production company that was known for making kind of authentic, often like working class. I mean, the cows are in this kind of pretty middle class, I would say.

46:19but yeah it became a complete phenomenon I would say so I'm fascinated to know what you both made of Have you watched it before Kay? Yes but occasional episodes I didn't watch it in its entirety Okay I fucking love it Yeah because I remember the characters I remember them anyway like their names and whatever but I forgot you know their personalities and like their dynamics and it's just so easy to get into and feel like you're one of the gang and as you say it's sort of like just completely goes all out there in terms of the sex and the relationship you know the stuff they say to each other it just feels really real and authentic and I find a lot of them like I really love the character of Miles who reminds me of one of a mutual friend which I'll discuss after the pod but the dynamic with Anna and you know obviously Egg and Millie I haven't I forgot about Ferdy who's yet to come into it who I think was partner with who did he was he Warren's partner?

47:20No I think they had a dalliance but he had another he had a thing with another the Scottish guy oh okay I think they must have had a dalliance wasn't they yeah but it just feels so nostalgic and like it's such a brilliant snapshot of that time right even in terms of like Egg with his Oasis post on the wall and his like his love of football and yeah I don't know it felt so made me feel really happy you know like it's yeah

47:44Kay:but that's I think it was wasn't it supposed to have captured that sort of very 90s youth culture. When I say youth, I mean, they're not teenagers, but it does feel very, very authentic. In the first episode she got there, his Oasis poster. Egg's got an Oasis poster on his wall. And the price for not listening to Clay this week. I mean, every week. Do you know what I'm actually going to do? I'm going to fashion a little trophy and give it... It'll just go back and forth. I think I'll win it most. I mean, that will be a tattoo. We'll do it at a live event. I was checking some facts on the internet.

48:16I was, I absolutely was. As previously stated by Kay, there's the Oasis poster on the wall. But also, the way the egg in particular, and the Andrew Lincoln character, carries himself, and he's very like eager beaver, happy-go-lucky, you know, obsessed with football, obsessed with Man United. Yeah, he's really attentive to Millie, right? Making her breakfast in bed. Yeah, completely, yeah. He's kind of like a dream boyfriend in a way, isn't he? And by the way, also gets his knob

48:45Kay:and bum out in the very first episode as well. He really does. There was unexpected full frontal nudity for both of them in that scene. But I think that was a statement. That was, you know, that didn't have, that is gratuitous on one level, isn't it? Yeah. Especially, you see a... Also, which couples are showering together? It's so odd. Really? Yeah. Oh, wow. I mean, like... Have you never showered with someone, Kay? No, like, I mean, like, bath, but not shower. See, I know exactly what you're saying there, but I think showering together in a shower cubicle is fine. Showering together in a bath shower is just fucking weird because that was a bath shower, right?

49:15Kay:Where they're both standing in the tub but using the shower. Do you know what? I think I'm taking it in a very functional because I'm like, they were going to work so it's like very quick, right? I see something like that as a more, you know, leisurely effect, a bath, right? I have to say, I wasn't expecting the sharing of the shower to be the thing that was upended your... No, no, I just think, listen, listeners, get in touch, right? Let me know. We can do a poll. Yeah, yeah. By email, just send an email if you think that is... If you think it's okay to shower with someone in a bath shower. This is a big light conversation.

49:45Yeah, in a bath with shower attachment.

49:47Kay:You know, as someone who has, frankly, slipped in a bath shower and nearly killed myself once, I think it's fraught. Oh my God, James. Were you with another... I was in there alone. I should point that out. I was in there alone. I can't be dealing with the idea of James in the shower. James, do you know what you need to get? You know, they have them in the ads in the back of magazines. You need to get one of those grifty mats. Yes. Bath mats. Yeah, because I'm just getting a bit old and doddery. We'll get you a handrail as well. By the way, I think sharing a show is less, is more hygienic than sharing a bath.

50:17Yeah, I agree. Yeah, so I mean, let's get back to it. Yeah, obviously, it's like a hygiene thing. My point is, my point is, the shot of Egg and Millie coming out of the shower, both naked, both full frontal, is a statement. It's not, you know, it's an absolute statement of the intention of this show is going to show you people literally full frontally in terms of their personality, what they do, what they spend their drug-taking time doing. And, of course, the queen of all of that was Anna, played by Daniela Nardini. And that character, the character of Anna, chain-smoking, you know, taking no shit from Miles that they had had a fling before they had a one-night stand earlier.

50:56She was the most kind of revolutionary character, I think. She reminds me of Paul and the Yates, you know, that kind of like unapologetically just do what you want. Absolute phenomenon. And you have to say Daniela Nardini, And she had bits and pieces of certain shows that she got. But her career hasn't, unlike, say, Jack Davenport's or Andrew Lincoln's, it hasn't been a huge phenomenon, outrageously and annoyingly. And I think partly because I'm sure the character was so strong and powerful and well-written and well-acted that it almost made her, given similar typecasts, similar roles to that.

51:32Ooh, sorry. Just live and directing some Googling. That's what I was doing when I forgot that you didn't eat some of the oasis. Let's go with that. Yeah, you're still getting the trophy. Apparently, she's a qualified and practicing psychotherapist now.

51:47Kay:There you go. Yeah, Nardini. That's brilliant, yeah. Well, that's fantastic. Do you know, I've watched the pilot for this show three times now. What, today? No, no. I don't need that much work for this podcast. No, I had seen the pilot once within the last 10 years and never gone on with it. And then I was like, no, I'm much worse than this. But I've got to start again. So I watched the pilot again and then managed to not go on with it. I think both times on plane journeys as well. And then this time, I watched the pilot for a third time and this time carried on watching. And it's the first time I've carried on watching.

52:15Kay:And actually, it gets so much better after the first episode because it is cumbersome when you're trying to set up a concept. But actually, when you get into the politics of the house and Warren moving in and, you know, Miles is getting a blowjob in the toilet from one of his clients. Like, it's wild. And I think initially when I first watched it, because I was coming to it after the fact, I maybe wasn't quite sure what it was because it's not a legal drama, but it's also not a comedy. And I was like, what is this? And as you get into it, you're like, oh, this is just about 20-somethings lives in the 90s, which obviously was the 90s at the time, so it's not a period drama.

52:49Friends got cooler. Well, Coupling was that, wasn't it?

52:53Kay:Coupling was the British Friends, which at Davenport. But yeah, it's fascinating. Fascinating because these characters feel real and just generally good company to be around. But also it feels like a little snapshot of a period in time that I remember very well. So I like that. But this famously did have This Life Plus 10, didn't it? It had two series and then it had that, which was like in the noughties, wasn't it? So it was kind of like an epilogue that came a lot after. Now, that had a mixed reception, didn't it, Boy? Yeah. I didn't mind it. I think I can sense why it was a bold and daring thing to do, perhaps misguided thing to do.

53:26But it becomes such an indelible show and particularly summing up Niter's culture that it made sense to go but I remember it being very excited about it it was a hard thing to pull off I enjoyed it you know I didn't think but it did get quite a lot of criticism it was definitely had a mixed reception but you know I'd watch them again if they did this life plus 20 or wherever we are well the same thing happened

53:48Kay:with Gilmore Girls didn't it I think when you revisit something that you know is like a perfect capsule and then the wheels come off a little bit slightly but then Gavin and Stacey managed it so well yeah Gavin and Stacey is slightly different I think Gavin and Spacey, now that would be a very different show. Okay, executive producer, obviously. It's so annoying. Gavin and Stacey was different, yeah. I mean, both in format, it's a sitcom. You know, This Life is not a sitcom. And just in the way that the planning of that show worked. But anyway, I'm tempted. I haven't watched the Plus 10 reunion one since it was on.

54:29and I really I kind of part of me thinks I would have to go back and check it I've got the whole thing on DVD so I could find out but yeah it was a massive phenomenon I feel like this should be on BBC iPlayer well it was for a long time I was annoyed I went to watch it this morning I couldn't find it and then bought it on Amazon Prime it definitely was on iPlayer for a while I don't know why it's not now it's all to do with like well this is the streaming age isn't it things come

54:52Kay:things go it's quite frustrating yeah exactly do you know do you know how many episodes there were by the way in the second series this is incredible 21 really 21 that's monster effort it's incredible oh my god it's absolutely extraordinary yeah so it went because the BBC knew it had a cultural phenomenon in its hands at that point and they're like oh okay we need loads more of this and they're like better part of an hour right aren't they I think more 45 minutes to be fair but still you know that's an incredible great cast though yeah Louisa Bradshaw White Steve Johnson Shepard Ramon Tikram Steve John Shepard yeah what'd I say Steve Johnson Shepard oh sorry I was actually yeah I mean it's his brother yeah Steve John Shepard who's in right now on TV what is he in everyone he is in Karen Pirie yes he's Karen Pirie's boss yes and he was he is brilliant in this life I think as I mentioned that's another reason why we decided to do it because he's everyone's like in love with him because he's a handsome young guy and they're all lusting off him get in line he's a geezer he's likeable he's lovable yeah he was a brilliant creation fun fact Steve John Shepard and Louisa Bradshaw White both went on to star in EastEnders.

56:01Yeah, of course.

56:03Kay:Okie dokie. Well, I think we are done with this live. I'm actually going to try and press on with this because I really like it. I'd quite like to watch the rest of the show. You can find this, unfortunately, you can find this at Boyd's house. He has a box set. He'll lend it to you. Go around to Boyd's and he'll lend you his DVDs. Otherwise, you have to buy it on Amazon. Okay, fine. We will be back in your ears on Monday when we will be covering The Count of Monte Cristo. We will also be covering The Assassin which is embargo so we can cover it this week and then the third show is The Gone kind of which is coming out for its second season basically there's a glut of returning shows next week so these guys are going to watch The Gone I'm going to watch Mayfair Witches and we're going to see how it all ends Sigh Exactly that We will see you on the Monday Pilot out