Pilot TV

Award-winning TV producer and until recently Chair of BAFTA, Krish Majumdar joins us to look back on his eventful reign at the British Academy, and working with the likes of Kate Winslet and Elliot Page. It’s also our last pod before the live 250th episode and James is off, apparently sunning himself at his Tuscan retreat, so Basic Bingers legend and editor of Crime Monthly magazine, Steph Seelan is back, joining Boyd and Kay to discuss dystopian comedy Henpocalypse, the return of ITV’s Jane Austen-ish period drama Sanditon, and, in a bold departure from the stuff we usually review, Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge on National Geographic, which does at least feature Benedict Cumberbatch being very brave.

We're celebrating the after-Afterparty this week as Tiffany Haddish joins us (in a pre-strike interview) to chat all things murder as we reach the tail end of Season 2 (don't watch it until you've seen this week's episode, if not, you can skip past it at 52:43). Plus we rejoin Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short in the latest pod-sleuthing series of Only Murders in The Building, Nicola Walker is back to addressing us all directly in Annika Series 2, and Cruel Summer returns with an entirely new time-hopping mystery. Also, the team reveal the will-they/won't-theys that definitely should have kept it in their pants.

The great Michael Sheen joins us on this week's show (recorded prior to the actors’ strike) to discuss Jon Hamm’s bum, forming a double act with David Tennant and the new season of epic fantasy Good Omens. The other big news of the week is that James is off so no extended stories about buying tickets for Tay-Swif, sorry, and instead Boyd is in charge and wittering on about Dating Naked Germany. The third mic is given to onetime Basic Bingers legend and editor of Crime Monthly magazine, Steph Seelan. Alongside Kay, they review the new series of Netflix phenom Heartstopper, BBC1’s twisted thriller Wolf, and an unusual true-crime series from Australia called Vanishing Act.

Zoe Saldaña joins us on this week's show (fear not, the interview was recorded prior to the strike) to discuss Taylor Sheridan, assigning animals to all her characters, and Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+. Meanwhile, you all have to sit through an extended dramatisation of James' Odyssey to secure Taylor Swift tickets (we're so sorry, please don't unsubscribe - if it all gets too much you can skip the whole of this shaggy dog story by jumping to 14:14), as well as a potted history of door sound effects in cinema (again, we can only apologise). Elsewhere, we watch Dreaming Whilst Black on BBC1, Ghosts Of Beirut on Paramount+ and The Power Of Parker, also on the Beeb.

HANDS! CORNER! BEHIND! Those three words can mean only one thing: one of our favourite shows, FX's The Bear, is back for its second season, and that's an occasion so momentous that the Empire Podcast and Pilot TV Podcast teams have once again joined forces to wax lyrical about it (in association with Disney+). Join Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, and Kay 'The Bear' Ribeiro as they talk about what they loved about the first season of Christopher Storer's Emmy-nominated comedy-drama, look ahead to season 2 (all episodes are now streaming on Disney+, fact fans), and talk about food, music, and Taylor Swift tickets. Enjoy!

On this week's show we not only see the whole of Hollywood shut down for the SAG strike but also sift through the detritus of this week's Emmy nominations and get into a fight over what constitutes a comedy. And speaking of things that are dramas and not comedies... we head back to Chicago for the return of The Bear on Disney+, investigate a little true crime with Sarah Phelps in The Sixth Commandment on BBC1 and hit centre court with Aidan Turner for tennis drama Fifteen-Love.

Kay gets a much needed Witcher hit this week as we’re joined by stars Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra (although it was quite touch and go for a while), plus we head over to Apple for the after-after party of The Afterparty season 2 (which you must watch form the very beginning, NO EXCUSES), hit the outback with Danny Dyer in Channel 5’s Heat, and head back to set right that one went wrong in the reboot of Quantum Leap on Paramount+.

We're in the company of The Bunk this week as Wendell Pierce aka Jack Ryan's James Greer, joins us on the podcast to talk that show's final season. Plus, we go on the run in Rotterdam with Then You Run on Sky, hang out with eco hacktivists in A Thin Line on Paramount+ and hit the beat with Ross Kemp in Blindspot on Channel 5. All that and the team puts to the test how well they truly know each other when forced to programme each other's desert island box sets.

On this week's show, Captain Christopher Pike himself, Anson Mount, joins us to chat all things Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, plus Candice Carey-Williams drops by to talk about her London-based rap drama, Champion, which we also review. Meanwhile, we head up to cruising altitude with Idris Elba for Hijack on Apple TV+, and end up watching Cannes Confidential on Acorn, because both The Witcher and Jack Ryan were embargoed. Elsewhere, we up the stakes for the live show bake-off, and shocking revelations emerge about the mooted Pilot TV ITVX drama.

Annie Murphy joins us on this week's show to talk all about the first episode of the new Black Mirror, 'Joan Is Awful'. Plus Patrick Gibson gets cornered by Boydy and grilled over what would have happened in Season 3 of The OA (and manages to talk about his show Before We Die as well). Elsewhere, we get our Skrull on for Secret Invasion on Disney+, face midlife with a smile in Channel 4's The Change, and try to become one with the unique mind of Boots Riley in I'm A Virgo on Prime. Plus the team break down exactly what they'd watch if they each had 19 hours to spare.

25 years after it became (for quite a spell) the biggest film of all time at the UK box office, The Full Monty is back with an eight-part limited series, streaming now on Disney+. Writer Simon Beaufoy has reassembled the original cast for a show that goes The Full Monty on the current state of the nation, with Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and chums navigating their way through a series of misadventures that shine a spotlight on everything from the education system to the NHS. In this, the latest collaboration between the Empire Film Podcast and the Pilot TV Podcast, Chris Hewitt sits down with Robert Carlyle and fellow cast members Mark Addy (Dave), Lesley Sharp (Jean), and Steve Huison (Lomper) for candid chats about their return to Sheffield, the show's return, and their relief at being able to keep their clothes on this time. Then, in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Kay Ribeiro and James Dyer to talk about their memories of the original film, the phenomenon it became, and their thoughts about the new series. Oh, and Chris has a meltdown about the existence, or lack thereof, of a certain television commercial... Enjoy.

On this week's show we force Kay to sit down in front of Sky Sci-Fi and make her watch The Ark, despite her protestations. Plus we take a look at Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen drama Best Interests on the Beeb, and return to Sheffield to catch up with Robert Carlyle and the gang for The Full Monty, which picks up 25 years after the classic nineties movie. Plus we bust a few questions out of the Pilot postbag (the triage system has gone berserk), we announce the next Pilot LIVE show and James explains how he made a new friend.

On this week's show we’re pumping iron with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Netflix’s biographical documentary Arnold, Filling in hospital forms with Youssef Kerkour and Katherine Parkinson in Significant Other on ITVX, and determining whether Tom Holland is a serial killer along with Amanda Seyfried in The Crowded Room on Apple TV+. Plus Kay hasn't been allowed to watch the show about the well-endowed porn star but that's okay because the team share their (oft inadvertent) strip club stories to make her feel better. The moral of this podcast? If someone offers you mac and cheese, you take it.

On this week's show we’re fixing leaks in the Nixon administration with Justin Theroux and Woody Harrelson in White House Plumbers on Sky, investigating a naked corpse and an aggressive sea mammal in Australian comedy Deadloch on Prime video, and heading back to 18th Century Yorkshire with Shane Meadows for The Gallows Pole on BBC2. Plus the team discuss the (possibly inappropriate) shows they watched as children and James goes full maverick, taking the opportunity to spring all manner of surprises upon a bemused Boyd and Kay.

Kay's dream comes true this week when she gets Colin From Accounts star/creators Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall in a room (sadly, Colin couldn't make it). Plus we take a look at Apple's Seth Rogen/Rose Byrne relationship comedy Platonic, ITV's Suranne Jones/Eve Best sibling drama Maryland, and Sky's Natasha Lyonne/Assorted Criminals procedural Poker Face, which FINALLY makes its way here to the UK. All that and James confesses to having watched an episode of Naked Attraction, much to Kay's disgust.

We have poetry on this week's show (yes, really), plus Kay explains (if explanation were needed) why James is a moron and the team ponder the most memorable TV needle drops in recent years. Elsewhere we get our grim on in true crime drama Steeltown Murders on BBC1, have an eye for Patricia Arquette PI in High Desert on Apple, and see if No Escape floats our boat on Paramount+.

Rebecca Ferguson joins us this week to discuss sci-fi, AI and Apple's big-budget adaptation of Hugh Howey's book series, Silo. Plus we experience unfettered carnage with Dr Teeth And The Electric Mayhem in Muppets Mayhem on Disney+, return to Oz in Ten Pound Poms on BBC1, and dip our collective toes into another of Apple's lavish literary adaptations with City On Fire. Plus, James surprises everyone by having watched Colin From Accounts, we find out why Kay's animal form is that of an angry ferret, and in a surprise return of the Massive Privilege Section, the team discuss whether you can really appreciate an unfinished version of a show (which descends into much entitled watermark whingeing, for which all we can do at this point is apologise).

We chat Fatal Attraction with Lizzy Caplan this week, as she jumps into the Glenn Close role for the Paramount+ adaptation of the classic '80s thriller. Plus Joe Russo stops by to talk all things Citadel. Meanwhile, the BBC busts out some comedy coppers in the excellent Black Ops, and Bridgerton's monarch gets a spinoff in Queen Charlotte on Netflix. Plus one of our listeners delivers wine to the office and James reveals the true extent of his sociopathic telly-watching routine.

It's another very hot episode this week: not because of excessive sexy chat but rather because the AC in the studio is broken again. So please put any delirium or rambling (over and above the usual amount) down to that. Other than a large quantity of sweat, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton join us to talk about the new eighth series of Inside No.9 (Inside No. 8?) and Big Tom Davis hangs out with Boyd to chat the new series of The Curse. Plus, we get ChatGPT to review the podcast and try very hard not to melt.

Not only do we have Rachel Weisz and Alice Birch on this week's show to talk all about Prime Video's resurrection of '80s Cronenberg thriller Dead Ringers, but Melanie Lynskey joins us for an update on how Yellowjackets Season 2 is going. Plus the team head off to A&E with Niamh Algar in Malpractice on ITV, and try a little oenology with Apple's manga adaptation Drops Of God. All of which leads to a slightly anarchic discussion of super-tasters, Boyd's tea-making technique, and the time Kay knocked herself out with Sambuca shots.

Jennifer Garner joins us on this week's show to talk about Apple's new mystery thriller, The Last Thing He Told Me, plus Charlie Murphy drops by to fill us in on Netflix's new BDSM-happy erotic thriller, Obsession. Elsewhere, we join The Hunt For Raoul Moat on ITV, get some surprising statistics about podcast listeners in Fiji, and James comes to a final decision on the issue of the cake.

Daisy May Cooper and Jack Farthing return to our screens this week with Rain Dogs, a BBC series that has been described as The Last Of Us, except with poverty instead of mushroom zombies. Jack himself drops by the show to tell us if that is indeed the case, and we also find out if Grease is still the word in Paramount's Rise Of The Pink Ladies and tune in to a grudge match for the ages in Netflix's Beef. Kay is on holiday this week so Beth Webb rejoins us (for her sins) and there may (or may not) be cake...

Like Snap! Toni Colette and John Leguizamo have got the power and they're both in the house this week talking all about Prime Video's adaptation of the Naomi Alderman book with James. Meanwhile, Kay and Boyd break out their Team Slime Puppy T-Shirts as Succession makes its return to our screens. We're also exploring our inner potential along with Chris O'Dowd in The Big Door Prize on Apple and running around New York with Kiefer Sutherland in Rabbit Hole on Paramount+. All this, and somehow time is found to speculate about who we'd like to see take a mini-break at The White Lotus (aside from us - obviously).

Daveed Diggs — Jefferson himself! — joins us on this week's show. Plus the whole team is practically giddy (too much sugar, most likely) as we get back to the wilderness for Yellowjackets, sample Ireland's answer to Fleabag (apparently) with ITV's The Dry, and see what Steven Knight does with Dickens in BBC1's Great Expectations. Plus there's a whole to-do about cake and Kay comes perilously close to murdering James on air (fair).

We have a veritable hootenanny of guests on this week's show with both Brett Goldstein and Nick Mohammed on to talk Ted Lasso Season 3, and Martha Plimpton joining us to chat Bermondsey gangsters in A Town Called Malice on Sky. But that's not all, because we also take a look at the near future with star-studded environmental drama Extrapolations on Apple, and head over to Dublin for ITV crime drama Redemption. Plus James apologises for Kay's egregious failure to spot the Robert Kirkman/Brian K Vaughn mix up on last week's show. For shame, Kay.

Luther is back this week (albeit in film form) and series creator Neil Cross drops by the show to talk all about the big man in the coat. Plus, in an unusually feisty instalment of the pod, we evaluate the return of The Mandalorian, explore the phenomenon that is Abbott Elementary and have a huge, three-way blow up about ITV's The Bay, which involves so many shifting alliances and sudden turns it'll give you whiplash. We also (somehow) find the time to discuss some of the properties we're nervous to see coming to the screen.

Unforgotten is back! That's reason enough for celebration but even more so is the fact that DI Sunny Khan himself — aka Sanjeev Bhaskar — is on the show to talk all about it. And that's not all as Sam Claflin and Camilla Morrone also drop in to chat Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six. Elsewhere, the team feast their eyes upon Catalonian murder mystery The Diplomat over on Alibi and nouveau Western Django on Sky Atlantic, plus mull over all the various TV tropes that give them the 'icks'.

Both Billy Crudup and Vincent Cassel join us on this week's show, the former to talk about Apple's retro future series Hello Tomorrow, and the latter about international espionage thriller Liaison, also on Apple TV+. But that's not all, because we also hit the dating apps with Jesse Eisenberg in Disney+'s Fleishman Is In Trouble and take on the criminal underworld with Amanda Abbington in Desperate Measures on Channel 5.

We "Make it so" one last time this week with the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, which Trek newbie Kay takes to like a Ferenghi to money laundering. Plus we dabble in a little jury duty with The Twelve on ITVX and some policing with villaining on the side in Better on BBC1. All that and we not only find time to sort out the seating arrangements at one of our listeners' weddings but manage to sift through the Trillions of spinoffs (see what we did there) announced this week as well.

Sarah Michelle Gellar joins us on the show this week to chat Wolf Pack and, of course, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. And speaking of Buffy, the team tackles a question (prompted by episode 3 of The Last Of Us) on the greatest single episodes of TV. Plus, we talk about the issue of rape culture in schools via Channel 4's hard-hitting one-off drama, Consent, head back to 80s London for BBC's The Gold, and visit 60s Blackpool with Gemma Arterton for Sky's Nick Hornby adaptation, Funny Woman.

TV legend Russell T. Davies joins us on the show this week to talk Nolly, his new three-part drama, which stars Helena Bonham Carter as Crossroads star Noelle Gordon (and there may be a few Doctor Who nuggets in that conversation as well). Plus Joe Cornish is here to chat all things Lockwood & Co, his new supernatural series on Netflix (which we reviewed on Pilot+ last week). All that and we look at Apple's interconnected drama Dear Edward, watch the second series of Paramount's Your Honor, and Empire's Chris Hewitt crashes the studio and manages to derail the first 20 minutes of the show. Sorry.

Welcome, folks, to a most extraordinary podcast (in association with Disney+). A podcast in which Team Empire and Team Pilot TV get together to discuss the extraordinary Extraordinary, the brand-new sitcom that is now streaming on Disney+. Created and written by Emma Moran, Extraordinary is set in a world where everyone develops a superpower after they turn 18. Everyone, that is, except for Jen (Mairead Tyers), who is approaching 25 and is still fumbling for direction and meaning and purpose. Beautifully observed and very, very funny, it's already been renewed for a second season, and in this very special crossover event, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer and Kay Ribeiro (pronounced Ru-bear-oh) get together to wax lyrical about the show, discuss which superpowers they'd like to have, and much more. But that's not all! (Told you this was an extraordinary podcast...) There are also two interviews with the show's star players -- first, an uproarious, hilarious and frankly chaotic interview in which Chris sits down with the show's stars, Mairead Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, and Luke Rollason; and then a more considered chat with Emma Moran. Do please extra-enjoy.

This week Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence deliver the anti-Ted Lasso in Apple's Shrinking (which stars actual Harrison Ford), plus we find ourselves pleasantly surprised by new Disney+ original series Extraordinary, and swap Lupin for lupine in Paramount+ supernatural series Wolf Pack. Plus the team tackle questions around the tragic demise of physical media and there's a surprising amount of chat about '90s Europopsters Snap

Kumail Nanjiani joins us on this week's show to explain the nature of comedy to James, plus Parminder Nagra stops by to discuss ITV's now back-to-work series, Maternity with Kay. Elsewhere, we go traipsing through the woods with Harry Treadaway in Chemistry Of Death, and are FINALLY able to talk about The Last Of Us, which James has already declared to be the show of 2023. There's also some Golden Globes chat, some musings on shows we'd like to have our memories erased to re-watch and much excitement that it all appears to be kicking off in Carnival Row season 2.

It may be January but we're stripping off alongside Kumail Nanjiani this week in Welcome To Chippendales on Disney+, watching an early contender for most utterly batshit show of the year with The Reunion on ITVX, and finding the lighter side of undeath with Reginald The Vampire on Sky Sci-Fi. Plus, we talk about some of TV's best character actors, bemoan Netflix's axe-swinging killing spree, and announce the launch of our all-new, very exciting SECOND podcast: the imaginatively named, Pilot TV+.

2022 is DONE! Well, nearly. And, in place of our regular show this week we bring you our official postmortem of the year that was, packed with our personal picks, our favourite episodes, a look at what we're excited about in 2023 and a bunch of year-related questions from you, our long-suffering listeners. But that's not all, because we also run though our final, canonical, completely unanimous and in no way divisive list of Pilot TV's best shows of 2022, and welcome a pair of very special guests from two of those shows, specifically The White Lotus' Will Sharpe and Andor's Denise Gough. Happy New Year one and all! See you in 2023.

Merry Christmas one and all! It's our last (regular) show of 2022 and, to celebrate, we have our very own Christmas elf on the show — specifically Fjall from The Witcher: Blood Origin aka Laurence O'Fuarain. And not only do we find said Witcher spinoff in our Christmas stockings this year, but we're also going full Wagatha Christie with Channel 4's Hardy v Rooney, and getting the greatest gift of all: the return of Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley, which comes back after a SEVEN year absence. But it's not all celebration on this week's show, for we are compelled to bid a fond farewell to one of our own as one member of the team heads off to pastures new (with arms full of presents, naturally).

It's been two years since His Dark Materials last graced our screens but the Philip Pullman adaptation returns this week with the third and final instalment, and we have star Amir Wilson on the show to talk Daemons, dimension-hopping and waging war on heaven. Plus, we see if National Treasure: Edge of History can live up to the movies’ legacy, and watch David Tenant re-enact a political assassination in Litvinenko on ITVX. Oh and it’s Boyd’s birthday as well. All together now: “For he’s a jolly good fellow…”

Strike is Back! Which is excellent news, but more excellent by far is that both Strike and Robin (street names Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger) are on the show this week to talk about it. Plus Guy Pearce is also around to chat A Spy Among Friends, which marks the launch of ITVX, a streaming service that also brings us Tell Me Everything, enabling us to get in touch with our inner Gen Z. Plus we delight in (or endure) a little country music (depending on taste) in George & Tammy on Paramount+, and we get back in touch with our European brethren as the Dutch take our pronunciation to task, and the Spanish take issue with us perpetuating falsehoods about their accent. It's been quite a week!

You've got to give Apple's Slow Horses one thing, it's anything but slow. The brilliant espionage drama returns for its second season in one year this week and we have stars Gary Oldman and Saskia Reeves on hand to talk all about it. Elsewhere, we're undertaking some unconventional therapy with Steve Carrel in The Patient, experiencing some even more unconventional living arrangements with Jessica Brown Findlay in The Flatshare, and solving snowy crimes in Canada with Alfred Molina in Three Pines. All that and Beth's toothbrush issue is vindicated, we take a detour on accents and there's even more Andor appreciation (sorry).

Luke Evans is with us on the show this week, talking Echo 3, Apple's new geo-political thriller set in the jungles of Colombia (there may be a little Strictly chat surreptitiously slipped in there by Kay as well). Elsewhere, we're heading back to school with the best member of the Addams Family in Netflix's Wednesday, and taking a look at what our cousins across the pond have done to beloved sitcom Ghosts. Plus, in a ludicrously extended postbag sequence, James stages a spirited defence of TV bellends and we find out all about Beth's weird vicarious toothbrushing phobia.

Who do we have on this week's show? It's only Sylvester Stallone, who finally, after all these years, makes his scripted TV debut with Tulsa King on Paramount+. But that's not all because we also take a trip on Netflix's spooky ghost ship in polyglot creep show 1899 on Netflix, and discover that the only thing more horrifying than ghouls and ghosts is college-age men in Tell Me Lies on Disney+. All that and yet more cancellations of shows (some with fairies) as the streamers start swinging the axe with wild abandon.

Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and The English creator Hugo Blick join us on this week's show to talk about their rip-roaring rampage of revenge through the Old West. Plus we unpick some marital strife with James Corden in Mammals on Prime and head off to Balmoral for the long-awaited (and Judi Dench-baiting) fifth season of The Crown on Netflix. Plus, James tries to come to terms with a week which not only saw drama come to his beloved Witcher, but also the demise of Fate: The Winx Saga. It's been a lot!

We're back on holiday at The White Lotus for season 2 of the Mike White's excellent comedy-drama. Plus we're revisiting a bit of saucy 19th century literature in Dangerous Liaisons on Lionsgate+, and getting meta about reboots with, well, Reboot on Disney+. Plus, no halloween episode would be complete without a little haunted house chat (aka what James did on his recent holiday — not to a White Lotus), plus there are some scintillating updates about Beth's recent eye test and the state of Boyd's boiler. Never let it be said that we don't bring you the most *essential* content.

The excellently titled witch drama The Bastard Son And The Devil Himself is on our watch list this week and star Nadia Parkes joins us to talk all things witchy, as well as turning rats into soup (sort of). Plus we catch up with See creator Steven Knight's latest show, SAS: Rogue Heroes, and discover that what goes bump in the night is actually Peter Capaldi in The Devil's Hour. All that and the usual generous helping of TV ramblings as we catch up with all the latest episodes.

Wedding Season is the new thrill-packed, mystery-stuffed rom-com that is now streaming on Disney+. The first-ever UK Original Series on Disney+, it follows the adventures of Stefan (Gavin Drea) and Kate (Rosa Salazar), a couple on the run after Katie's entire wedding party, including her husband, are killed, leaving Katie as the prime suspect, and the cops (and other interested parties) hot on their heels. And in this special crossover episode, brought to you in association with Disney+, the Empire Film Podcast and Pilot TV Podcast teams — Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, and Kay Ribeiro — come together to have a big old natter about the show, about the disastrous weddings they've attended, the nature of love, and the dangers of cake. But that's not all — there are exclusive, and enormously fun, interviews, in which Chris talks to cast members Jamie Michie, George Webster, Bhav Joshi, Omar Baroud and Callie Cooke, plus star Gavin Drea and the show's creator, Oliver Lyttelton. We now pronounce you pod and listener. Enjoy!

Gangs Of London star Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù joins us on this week's show, chatting murderisation (and, unexpectedly, Arsenal) with Boyd, plus we look at Gangs' second season and Kay is forced to put her low gore tolerance to the test. Then we head off to a virtual future with Chloe Grace Moretz in Prime Video's The Peripheral, and wonder what it would have been like to miss all of the past 15-odd years in Somewhere Boy on Channel 4. All that, plus a load of listener questions and a riveting account of the shows James has *not*, in fact, been watching.

It's the final episode of Apple's excellent Bad Sisters this week and co-creator/star Sharon Horgan stopped by the podcast to talk all about it with Boyd. Plus Celine Buckens, star of last year's Showtrial and this week's The Ex-Wife on Paramount+ also joins us for a lengthy natter. All that and we head to India with Charlie Hunnam for Apple's adaptation of Shantaram, and tell some scary stories with Mike Flanagan in Netflix's The Midnight Club. Plus we get stuck into the pros and cons of true crime stories, and the correct etiquette for leaving podcast reviews (ideally accompanied by flowers and chocolate).

Hands! Corner! Behind! No, we're not trying to activate The Winter Soldier — these phrases will make sense to you once you've watched the excellent new comedy-drama, FX's The Bear, the first season of which is now streaming on Disney+. It follows Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a highly-rated and extraordinarily-talented chef who swaps being a rising star on the New York fine dining scene for the relentless grind of running a sandwich shop in Chicago, bequeathed to him after the death of his older brother. And in this latest crossover episode of the Empire Film Podcast and the Pilot TV Podcast, in association with Disney+, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, and Beth Webb get their teeth into The Bear, talking about its intensity, its humour, their own relationships with food and fine dining, and much, much more. It's a pod so good we give it three Michelin stars. And that, friends, is definitely a recommendation. Enjoy!

The Bear there was. The Bear, The Bear. All black and brown and covered in hair. Well, not quite but The Bear is here in the UK at last nonetheless, landing this week on Disney+, and it was definitely worth the wait. We also head out on a murderous cruise (with murderous ducks) in BBC3's Wreck, and go on the hunt for Neo Nazis with Stephen Graham in ITV's The Walk-In. All this and more dreadfully entitled ramblings as Boyd and James bicker about the mechanics of advance screener codenames. They're both dreadful.