New telly shows thread

[merman]

Been enjoying The Secret Genius of Modern Life (BBC Two/iPlayer), with Hannah Fry. Each week she looks at a piece of modern tech (credit card, electric car, trainers and so on) and reveals the key ideas that help it to work. There’s a lot of historical context, from how the Theremin helped us create contactless payments, to the first pair of Nike Air and the woman who created pizza delivery bags. She also enjoys taking things to pieces rather a lot.

[Rhythm]

Yeah, I didn't get on with Mythic Quest (which felt like a re-hash of Silicon Valley) at all, but couldn't stop laughing at Dead Pixels. The latter is very British humour...

Dead Pixels is good too :-)

MQ has had some brilliant breakout/flashback episodes. One was a two-parter exploring the sci-fi writer's past (and present) - some incredible performances and writing in there.

[VNVObit]

First up “The Recruit” - shortish season about a new CIA lawyer on Netflix. Really enjoyed the story over the first season and the interaction of the characters. Did binge the final 4 episodes in one evening. Not something that will tax your brain but enjoyable with some good performances.

The Witcher: Blood Origin - only 4 episodes and did feel a bit stretched at that on the positive side Minnie Driver (though not for long), Lenny Henry, Michelle Yeoh - all actors I have enjoyed watching. Fairly run of the mill fantasy movie with group of misfit warriors. Bit of a wasted opportunity really.

Three Pines - good Canadian detective series spread over 8 episodes with 2 episodes a case (so no rapid solve in 50 minutes) with a case in the background throughout the series. Watched this with my wife (she has no love for fantasy or American TV in general) and found it pretty good.

[merman]

Detectorists Christmas special was brilliant.

[Foozwah]

Detectorists Christmas special was brilliant.

Am hanging to see this as it's been my favourite series for the last few years. Originally screened on ABC here, but no sign of the Xmas special on ABC iView now, or indeed on BritBox, where the three series still reside... despite there being no end of other Xmas specials. Sigh.

[Rhythm]

Kaleidoscope - new 8 part heist thing on Netflix with no specific viewing order. Genuinely flipping good. Not sure the episode order affects things quite as much as the creators hoped, but it makes for good TV regardless

[Ollie]

Kaleidoscope - new 8 part heist thing on Netflix with no specific viewing order. Genuinely flipping good. Not sure the episode order affects things quite as much as the creators hoped, but it makes for good TV regardless

Not as innovative as they reckon either, wasn't this already done years ago with Arrested Development?

[Rhythm]

Not as innovative as they reckon either, wasn't this already done years ago with Arrested Development?

Maybe, doesn't ring a bell (and I have watched all of AD).

They pitched this as a bit more like Bandersnatch but in reality it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. People's motives through the series all remain largely fixed from what I could make out. That said, barring one episode we managed to accidentally stumble on what appeared to be the "true" chronological order.

Still good fun though. Almost 9 hours of good heisty entertainment with some decent performances throughout

[Ollie]

Not as innovative as they reckon either, wasn't this already done years ago with Arrested Development?

Maybe, doesn't ring a bell (and I have watched all of AD).

Season 4, I think (the first Netflix-produced one) was designed to be watched in any order.

[Rhythm]

Season 4, I think (the first Netflix-produced one) was designed to be watched in any order.

Genuinely didn't now they'd done that. It's a nice idea, especially given the format for modern TV tends to be "thing happened, here's 5 minutes of the thing then 40 minutes of flashback". Streaming should absolutely open up more paths like this.

I just found out Soderbergh did a similar thing with a show called Mosaic about 5 years ago.

[Deckard]

Never played the game but seeing the stellar reviews for The Last of Us I am currently d/l ep one in HDR.

Will watch tonight.

[Jonesey]

It's pretty much spot on tbh!

[Rhythm]

Looking forward to The Last of Us. I found the game almost unplayably bad because of the way Druckman (and Naughty Dog in general) tries to blend story and game. Remove the game, though, and I'm in

[VNVObit]

Looking forward to The Last of Us. I found the game almost unplayably bad because of the way Druckman (and Naughty Dog in general) tries to blend story and game. Remove the game, though, and I'm in

First episode is a good scene setter - essentially prologue and first section of the game.
I really enjoyed the game (albeit at second time of playing as wasn't patient enough the first time)
ign have done some comparative videos and some scenes are almost direct copies of the game

[Rhythm]

Nabbed a NowTV pass to watch Last of Us but it’s over 90 minutes for episode 1?! Eff that noise