Pilot TV

We have a BUMPER year-end special for you this week. We're joined not only by The Doctor herself, Jodie Whitaker, and her companion Mandip Gill, but — in a very special Christmas gift to James — we are also joined by the entire core cast of The Expanse! Aside from ushering in the new year with these titans of modern sci-fi, we take a look back at the year that was, run down our list of the top TV shows of 2021 and generally take a look at the highs and lows of the past 12 months over a glorious two-and-a-half hours. Happy New Year!

Sarah Phelps joins us on this week's show (39:14-1:01:37) to discuss her new BBC miniseries, A Very British Scandal, which pits Claire Foy against Paul Bettany in a break-up for the ages as the Duchess and Duke of Argyle. Plus we take a trip with David Tenant in Around The World In 80 Days, and find out what Agent Starling got up to after Buffalo Bill (and before eating Ray Liota's brains) in Clarice on Alibi. Plus, James, Beth and Boyd go through some of the shows they're most looking forward to in 2022 and you'll discover why Succession makes Phelpsie want to have a wee.

Henry Cavill, Geralt of Rivia himself, joins us on this week's show, to talk a little bit about the The Witcher's second season and a lot more about fantasy books, Warhammer 40k and general geekery (24:34-46:54). In addition to Netflix's returning fantasy, we take a look at Gugu Mbatha-Raw's living situation as she moves in to David Oyelowo's rather terrifying apartment in The Girl Before on BBC1, and we find out what Carrie Bradshaw's been up to since Sex And The City in follow-up show And Just Like That on Sky Comedy (first episode spoilers exist between 1:21:21 and 1:35:58). PLUS we record a special drop-in to talk about the Succession finale (1:09:20-1:20:16), mull over the best will-they/won't-they relationships, and James manages to trample all over Beth's Ex Machina analogy and she refuses to let him cut it out.

National treasures Olivia Colman and David Thewlis take time out of their busy schedules to drop by the podcast this week (31:27-52:09), telling us all about quirky black comedy Landscapers on Sky. Plus we take a look at Ragdoll on Alibi, and the team debate the reasons why directors in TV don't get the same credit as their big screen counterparts, while the reverse is true of writers. But all that pales into insignificance compared to the main event this week, as we dive headfirst into deep space for the televisual event of the year — nay, the decade! — when The Expanse returns for its sixth and *final* (for now) season on Prime Video. BELTALOWDA!

More Star Trek shenanigans abound this week as the team try to work out what in the name of the Prime Directive Pluto TV is. Elsewhere, we finally get to talk about Disney's Hawkeye series, take a trip to the wilderness with a girls' soccer team in Yellowjackets on Sky Atlantic, catch up with killer Charles Lee Ray in Child's Play spin-off series Chucky, on Sky Max, and get a little courtroom monologuing from Samuel Adewunmi in You Don't Know Me on BBC1. Plus, in perhaps the greatest upset in Pilot TV history, James voluntarily watches an animated series — listen now to find out what he thought of it.

I spy Aes Sedai on this week's show as we're finally able to talk about Amazon's The Wheel Of Time. Plus we explore the decaying carcass of small town Pennsylvania in American Rust on Sky, and see if we've discovered the new Squid Game in the form of South Korean supernatural thriller Hellbound on Netflix. All that and we vent our righteous fury over the sudden departure of Star Trek Discovery for Paramount+, plus take a trip down memory lanes to discuss some of the best (and worst) pilot episodes we've seen.

To herald the arrival on Disney+ of Dopesick, Danny Strong’s drama chronicling the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on America, the Empire Podcast and Pilot TV Podcast crews have, once again, set aside their differences and come together to have a good old natter. In this very special crossover episode, in association with Disney+, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, and Beth Webb do a deep dive into Dopesick, which tackles the opioid crisis from the points of view of characters connected to the crisis in various ways. They talk about the crisis itself, about the show’s all-star cast (including Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson, Peter Sarsgaard, Kaitlyn Dever, and Will Poulter), and much, much more. And if that weren’t enough, Beth also sits down with Danny Strong, Kaitlyn Dever and Will Poulter for an in-depth chat about the show. So sit back, relax, and enjoy Dopesick, an Empire + Pilot TV podcast special with Disney+.

Dougray Scott and Irvine Welsh drop by the show this week to talk about their new thriller, Crime, on Britbox (37:51-54:31), plus we get our Dan Brown on with The Lost Symbol on Sky and put our anime knowledge to the test (ably assisted by Anime-doctorate-holder Beth K Webb) with Netflix's live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop. Plus we look at which cancelled shows we still recommend people watch, the prevalence of Brit crime thrillers, the veracity (or not) of Squid Game's return, and how James managed to navigate 24 hours in the North of England (spoiler: not that well).

If you're wondering why this week's runtime is so long, it's because we have a big old Q&A with Gemma Whelan, Jim Loach, Tahirah Sharif, Jimmy Akingbola, and Patrick Harbinson, all to talk about ITV's rather excellent new drama The Tower, which runs at the very end of this week's show (for reasons you'll soon discover). Elsewhere, we're getting reacquainted with our Dark Passengers for Dexter: New Blood on Sky Atlantic, seeking some rather problematic therapy from Paul Rudd in Apple's The Shrink Next Door, and exploring the opioid crisis in America with Michael Keaton in Dopesick on Star. Plus you'll get to find out which place in the galaxy Beth describes as "scallywag central", what everyone (James) thought of the new Witcher trailer, and what shows we all should have kept up with but, well, haven't.

We're immersing ourselves in slick Sunday night drama this week with BBC1’s Showtrial, solving a PD James murder mystery with Bertie Carvel in Channel 5’s Dalgliesh, and taking a peek inside the mind of BJ Novak in topical anthology series The Premise on Star. But that’s not all because there’s an absolute landslide of new shows hitting the airwaves this week from What We Do In The Shadows to Narcos: Mexico, the final season of Dickinson and more! Plus james finally finishes Squid Game and would like to inform everyone that its actually rather good, the team bump up against gimmicky VR in the new Wheel of Time trailer and, thanks to a listener question, are everyone is forced to talk about their dreams. Of course, it’s a miracle they get through any of it given that Boyd watched approximately 800 shows this week and elects to tell us all about them.

This week's show sees us disappear down the rabbit hole of the BBC’s recently published list of the 100 greatest TV shows of the 21st century, poring over both their rundown (which all three of us contributed to) and each of our individual lists, which the Beeb was good enough to publicly name and shame us with. Not only that, though, but we’re banging on about Squid Game *yet again*, in this instance taking the show’s English dub to task and asking some key questions about its rather baffling age rating. All of that is just the amuse bouche for the main course, however, which sees us experience Apple TV+’s Invasion, ITV’s Devon-set murder mystery The Long Call, and Stephen Merchant’s new comedy The Outlaws on BBC1.

After a two-year break, Succession is finally back on our screens this week and what better way to mark the occasion than with a dedicated Pilot TV Succession special? James, Boyd, Beth and Nick sit down to chew over the phenomenon that is Jesse Armstrong’s backstabbing masterpiece, discussing everything from the secrets of the show’s success, to the writing, the best episodes for newcomers and, naturally, which Roys each of them identify with the most. But that’s not all, because we are joined on the show by no less than five members of the cast — Brian Cox, Matthew Macfadyen, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck, and J. Smith-Cameron — each of whom give their takes on the show and give us a little insight as to what we might expect from them in the future. *Contains discussion of some plot points from Seasons 1 and 2 but no spoilers for Season 3.*

Ben Aldridge, joins us on the show this week (41:52-1:00:00) to talk about having one of the most excellent IMDb credits as Fleabag's 'Arsehole Guy', as well as his new ITV series, The Long Call. We then struggle through the rest of the podcast recording with James in a rather fragile state, as we get down with the Roys in season 3 of Succession on Sky, re-litigate Bill Clinton's extra-marital rumblings along with Ryan Murphy in Impeachment: American Crime Story on BBC2, and try to work out what the hell is going on in the second series of Locke & Key on Netflix. Plus you get to find out what 'Pika-Blinders' is (sort of), hear our pitches for TV show spin-offs, get a blow-by-blow account of the random, Ryan Murphy-inspired hotel James was forced to crash in last night, and learn all about Beth's interpretative Succession dance (TikTok to follow, we very much hope).

There was no getting around it, we needed to talk about Ted this week, prompting a 15 minute discussion of the recent Ted Lasso finale and whether the Season 2 as a whole was full of buttery goodness or just a salty bitch (if you've not yet seen it, avoid 3:45-19:19). Elsewhere, we seek some marital advice from Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac in Scenes From A Marriage on Sky Atlantic, do the absolute opposite with Penn Badgley in Netflix's You, and follow Robert Carlisle as he tries to steer the UK away from disaster in Sky Max's Cobra: Cyberwar. Plus James attempts to lecture Beth on House Of The Dragon (she has none of it), we muse over the prospect of dish-free Sky, and Beth recounts her experience of Squid Game.

It's an ITV double bill this week as we bask in the golden glow of Sunday evening feels with The Larkins, before shifting tonal gears entirely for Joanne Froggatt's domestic abuse thriller, Angela Black. Then we head up into the big black for Disney's astronaut documentary, Among The Stars, and James gets saddled with some extra homework as Boyd and Beth decide he needs to watch something out of his comfort zone as retribution for #StarTrekForBeth. Plus we talk about the wisdom of Steve Coogan playing Jimmy Savile, Larry David's bald head, and the prospect of Babylon 5 getting rebooted.

On this week's show we have a story that slowly unfolds over a thousand years... we also talk about Foundation. While the runtime for this week's episode is undeniably immense (sorry!), we did have good reason because the delightful Sophie Petzal joins us a guest co-host, ostensibly to talk about her new show Hollington Drive but more accurately to debate the merits of Star Trek: Voyager, call out our anti-animation bias, shed light on the secrets of great screenwriting, and speculate about sex with fairies. PLUS, we have Empire himself, Mr Lee Pace, on the show to talk about Apple's new sweeping sci-fi series Foundation and we take a look at sixties fascism in Ridley Road on BBC1. All that and we even recorded an emergency drop-in section so we could dissect all things 'Tadum' and talk about Netflix's big announcements, plus Boyd had FEELINGS about Russell T Davies returning to Doctor Who. It may take you half a day to get through this episode but trust us when we tell you that it's worth listening to every minute.

Y: The Last Man showrunner Eliza Clark and star Ashley Romans join us on this week's show as we enter a world without men in that apocalyptic drama on Star. Plus we get the bejesus scared out of us by horror maestro Mike Flanagan as he returns with Midnight Mass, and finally get to talk about the second season of The Morning Show. Elsewhere in the show, we talk (and occasionally scream and shout) about the winners and losers at last night's Emmys, and reel off our lists of shame by confessing to the various shows we've been meaning to watch since time immemorial but just haven't got around to yet. All that and you also get to find out which Star Treks we plan to inflict upon Beth in #StarTrekForBeth.

The wonderful Julianna Margulies joins the cast of The Morning Show for season 2, and Pilot TV for episode 159, dropping by this week's show to chat all things TMS and how it feels to be reunited with Jennifer Aniston, with whom she exploded onto network television at exactly the same time and on the very same lot. Plus James, Beth and Boyd take to task people who still think films are better than television, try to navigate streaming subscription priorities, and still find the time to review Netflix's Sex Education, Channel 4's Help and Sky's Young Rock. All that and Beth foolishly opens the door to a galaxy of possibilities by teeing herself up for an inaugural Star Trek experience, which YOU can help organise #startrekforbeth.

The entirely fabulous Amanda Abbington joins the team for this week's show as a special guest host, discussing everything from Sherlock and her new show Wolfe to parenting tarantulas and the horrors of forgetting lines on stage. Plus we run through the annals of great televisual wordsmiths to assemble our picks for the greatest living screenwriters, pull on the latex for Ryan Murphy's American Horror Stories, and go whaling with Stephen Graham in The North Water on BBC2.

After 151 episodes, it was the end of an era for the Pilot TV podcast this week, as the third leg in our triumvirate of bellends, the legend that is Terri White, bid the show a fond farewell and signed off for the very last time. To mark the occasion we did make the somewhat dubious decision to stream the episode live online (you can find it on the Empire Magazine YouTube channel) and, miraculously, nothing went wrong! In addition to giving Terri the send off she so richly deserved, we let you, the listeners, bombard her with questions, a few of Boyd's celebrity friends sent in their own parting thoughts, and James gave her one final serenade on the guitar. All that and we still found time to review Stephen on ITV, Series 2 of Back To Life on the BBC and Only Murders In The Building On Star.

As a wise doctor once said, "we're in the endgame now." Particularly when it comes to The Walking Dead. The eleventh and final season of the iconic, groundbreaking show is set to premiere from Monday 23rd August as a STAR exclusive on Disney+, and that is an occasion so momentous that, once again, the Pilot TV and Empire Podcast teams have joined forces with STAR on Disney+ to talk about it. So, in this very special crossover episode, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, and Beth Webb pop into the virtual podbooth for an in-depth discussion about their hopes, fears, and dreams for the final season. Who will survive, and what will be left of them? And what about the characters on the show? But that's not all. In an exclusive interview, James sits down across Zoom with Angela Kang, the show's producer and co-writer of Acheron Part I and Acheron Part II, the first two episodes of this 24-episode run, and they have a conversation about sticking the landing. So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

It's not only our one hundred and fiftieth episode this week but it's also Terri's *penultimate* show. Fitting, then, that she chose to mark the occasion by being more 'Terri' than ever before, laying into James' penchant for "fantasy shite", due to being forced to watch season 2 of the magnificent See with absolutely no context. As well as the return of of Steven Knight's post-apocalyptic magnum opus, we find out what Line Of Duty on a submarine would look like in Vigil on BBC1, explore the darker side of sitcoms in Kevin Can F*** Himself, and listen to a Jamesplanation of the final season of The Walking Dead. All that and a Terri makes a concerted effort to not offend animation lovers... and fails spectacularly.

It's quite the week for getaways as The White Lotus opens its opulent Hawaiian resort on Sky Atlantic and Nicole Kidman's wellness retreat receives visitors in Nine Perfect Strangers on Amazon. Of course, Nicola Walker pulling bodies out of a river in Annika doesn't *quite* fit the theme, but her boss has an office that puts most five star hotels to shame so we'll let it slide.

We're all about the hypotheticals this week as we explore alternate superhero realities in Disney's What If?. Plus, we enter the squared circle with StarzPlay's drama about the ups and downs of small town wrestling in Heels, and go undercover to try and catch a killer in Channel 4's Deceit. All that and Terri takes a deep dive into the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale (19:47-26:43 if you want to avoid spoilers) and we find out why she and Pacey Witter would never have lasted.

It's a cruel (it's a cruel) Cruel Summer this week, leaving us here on our own. But don't worry if those Bananarama lyrics meant nothing to you - that just means you're young. Cruel Summer is not, however, a show about the 80s popsters, but rather a teen psychological thriller on Amazon that we get into this week, along with Joseph Gordon Levitt's Mr Corman on Apple, and the second series of Dominic Savage's I Am on Channel 4. Plus Terri and Boyd roundly ignore the ​listener question and instead bang on about who should be the new Doctor.

Terri's over the moon on this week's show, which can mean only one thing: a new Law & Order. Taking her love of Benson and Stabler to all new heights, Terri leads the charge on Law & Order: Organized Crime, hanging in there for series 2 of Jerk on BBC3, and the return of King Gary on BBC1. Plus we talk through some of the TV actors who should be far bigger stars than they are, and laughably attempt to report the TV news despite having recorded the episode last Thursday.

Assemble the Diamond Dogs because Ted Lasso is back on our screens this week, which gives James and Boyd a second chance to try and make Terri succumb to the moustachioed one’s folksy charms. Plus, we hang out on Uzo Aduba's couch for the new revival of In Treatment on Sky, and take a look at Steve McQueen's new documentary, Uprising, on BBC1. All that and the team get to thrash out the hits and misses of the recent Emmy nominations and ruminate on what manner of egregious TV tastes it would take to constitute a first date dealbreaker.

Aisling Bea joins us on this week's episode as a very special fourth host as we talk about the second series of her Channel 4 show, This Way Up, and chat everything from eating crisps on the couch to how it's possible to be simultaneously obsessed with both Line Of Duty and The Real Housewives Of New York. We also run through the shows we're most looking forward to during the second half of 2021 and even manage to review some shows, including Schmigadoon! On Apple TV+, and season 2 of War Of The Worlds on Disney+.

With the eleventh and final season of The Walking Dead just around the corner, we’re getting all kinds of excited to see how the groundbreaking, landmark AMC show brings the whole bloody affair to a close. But first, we figured it would be time to look back at the previous ten seasons, which are now available to stream on STAR on Disney+. And so the Empire Podcast and Pilot TV Podcast teams have decided to join forces with STAR on Disney+ to bring you this very special episode in which Chris Hewitt, James Dyer and Beth Webb go through the show season-by-season, talking about their favourite characters, moments and, yes, deaths. Lots of deaths. So many deaths. Well, it is The Walking Dead, after all. So, whether you’re a Rick Grimes megafan, or you’re heavily invested in Carol’s progression from meek survivor to Queen Of The Zombie Apocalypse; whether you think Negan deserves a second chance, or you can’t get enough of Michonne; and whether or not you’ll riot if Daryl dies, this is the podcast for you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy The Walking Dead, an Empire + Pilot TV podcast special with STAR on Disney+.

Due to the convergence of both football and tennis, new shows are a little thin on the ground this week but that can't stop us from bringing you another glorious instalment of the podcast. Indeed, this week's is an episode in which Boyd and Terri try to explain the concept of sport to James and then audition a series of (fictional) TV characters to fill Terri's soon to be vacant seat. On the telly front, it's an animation double bill as we look at the Resident Evil anime show on Netflix, and rejoin Mike and Sully for Pixar series Monsters At Work, plus we somehow end up watching a show about the Peru Two in High: Confessions Of An Ibiza Drug Mule on BBC3. Needless to say, James was delighted.

True crime, fake crime and organised crime are the themes this week as we take a look at Netflix documentary Sophie: A Murder In West Cork; Alibi's Facebook acquisition, Limetown; the latest Season of Sons Of Anarchy spin-off Mayans M.C.; and ill-conceived Terry Pratchett adaptation, The Watch. Plus, to celebrate the fact that we've reached the year's midpoint, the team wrangle over their personal lists for the best shows of 2021 so far.

We're all about the Bosch this week as Amazon's Michael Connelly adaptation arrives with its seventh (and final!) season and James gets a little... well, James about it. We also review the modern (if ill-fated) remake of Party Of Five and celebrate Pride Month with LGBT history documentary, Pride. Plus, the team takes a nostalgic trip back to TV shows past, digging through their memories for some of the childhood show that shaped them into the loveable bellends they are today.

We take an adventure with Marvel's god of mischief on this week's show, finally passing the embargo for Loki on Disney+. Then we find out whether Rose Byrne can find salvation through aerobics in Apple's Physical and how James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan survived lockdown in Together — a one-off-feature-length-not-a-film written by Dennis Kelly. Plus James, Terri, and Boyd look at some of the most memorable TV character departures, pick through the carcass of last week's TV Baftas, and get *incredibly* excited (well, mainly James) at the real-time arrival of the See Season 2 trailer.

James is away but somehow still manages to dominate the conversation before Terri, Boyd and guest co-host Beth Webb turn their attention to the Mare Of Easttown finale (spoilers – skip between 6:31 and 12:00 if you still haven’t caught up with one of the shows of the year). Then it’s back to James-spiration for a discussion of the biggest bell-ends in TV history, and what exactly makes a bell-end, before we review The Schwim in Sky One’s Intelligence season 2, Blindspotting on Starzplay and crime drama The Gloaming on Disney+.

Charlotte Ritchie and Mae Martin join us on this week's show to talk about the second (and final) series of Feel Good on Netflix. Plus the Pilot team dissect last week's Friends Reunion special, before embarking on a bumper reviews segment covering Stephen King adaptation Lisey's Story on Apple, Jimmy McGovern's Time on BBC1, Channel 5's adaptation of the last weeks of Anne Boleyn, and Feel Good itself.

James’ re-watch of Game Of Thrones comes to a triumphant conclusion this week, so brace yourselves for an extended monologue/re-evaluation of that show as he drives Terri to the brink of catatonia with fresh takes on all things Season 8 (it ends at 18:43 if you feel your life ebbing away and/or want to avoid any GoT spoilers). And speaking of re-evaluations, we discuss how we view other classic shows differently over time as our perspectives on life change. Plus we finally get to see Amazon’s Solos, see if Star’s Rebel is worth a watch, and hit the beat with Lesley Sharp in Channel 4’s Before We Die — which is also a phrase uttered frequently during James’ aforementioned Thronesplanation.

Katherine Kelly is our guest on the podcast this week, telling us all about her role in series 2 of ITV's Innocent. Plus The Nevers finally arrives on Sky — bringing with it a welcome dose of Victorian superpowers — and Channel 4 unveils its all-new comedy centring around an all-girl, Muslim punk band with We Are Lady Parts. All that and Terri finally gets around to watching Succession, plus we reveal the secrets of how we balance our gargantuan watch lists with having personal lives (we don't).

Rafe Spall and Esther Smith drop by the show this week to talk to us about the second series of Trying. Plus we head back to imperial Rome for Domina on Sky Atlantic, explore an alternate history of the American South in Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of The Underground Railroad on Amazon, and finally reveal what we thought of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix. Plus we catch up with the latest seasons of Motherland and Inside Number Nine on the Beeb, and thrash out our picks of the most rewatchable series ever.

Josh Duhamel joins us on the show this week to talk about Netflix’s new superhero series, Jupiter’s Legacy. Plus we head back to the 1940s with Emily Mortimer in the BBC’s The Pursuit Of Love, clap for a pair of hapless carers in Sky’s Bloods, and force Terri to watch the second season of Mythic Quest on Apple TV+. We also get into the Bafta TV nominations and explore which departing cast members most hurt the ratings of long-running TV shows.

*Note: This episode's interview with Noel Clarke has been removed in light of the recent accusations of sexual misconduct.* On this week's show we get into Netflix's YA fantasy Shadow And Bone, Apple's adaptation of The Mosquito Coast, and the long-awaited second series of This Time With Alan Partridge, which may or may not provide Terri with an excuse to dust off her Martin Brennan impression. You have been warned.

Battlestar Galactica creator Ron D. Moore joins us on the show this week to talk For All Mankind. Plus we celebrate Kate Winslet’s triumphant return to the small screen in Mare Of Easttown on Sky, Rose Matafeo’s comedy genius in Starstruck on the BBC, and Fox UK’s ongoing commitment to resurrecting long-cancelled shows with Rush. Plus we talk about some of the best shows to cross international boundaries and get very excited about Line Of Duty (without dropping any spoilers).

This week's show sees us joining Aidan Turner in Milan for Da Vinci drama Leonardo on Amazon, watching Emily Watson and Denise Gough go head-to-head in ITV's Too Close, and witnessing the Gleeson brothers raise merry hell in Dublin thanks to Channel 4's Frank Of Ireland. Plus we talk through the upcoming seasons of TV we're most excited about and Boyd explains why Line Of Duty is shaping up to be the Avengers Endgame of TV crime drama.

Assuming you're able to rouse yourself from a chocolate-induced coma this Easter Monday, we have a similarly sugar-fuelled episode of the podcast for you as we brace ourselves for supernatural horror/social realism thriller Them on Amazon, What We Do In The Shadows spinoff Wellington Paranormal on Sky, and burglary-gone-wrong thriller Intruder on Channel 5. There's also some serious discussion about *that* Unforgotten finale and while spoilers for the show are again quite clearly signposted, you can avoid the entire discussion by skipping everything between 11:56 and 19:38. Terri, James and Boyd's screaming row about appropriate spoiler etiquette on twitter, however, must be listened to in full.

On this week's show we take a trip back to Victorian London for Netflix's YA-themed Sherlock show The Irregulars, plus a jaunt to Wales for the final series of the BBC's Keeping Faith. And then, for reasons, we also review the *fourth* series of Lottery-winner drama The Syndicate, in which a group of dog groomers strike it rich. Plus we get very excited about the penultimate episode of Unforgotten (spoilers are clearly signposted but occur between 5:20 and 11:21), and explore some of the great shows that began their lives on the big screen.

If your week could be measurably improved by the sound of Terri quacking uncontrollably then you’re in luck, because there’s an abundance of duck sound effects to accompany this week’s reviews section as we tackle The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+. When not replicating a mallard’s mating calls, we also share our reactions to nihilistic German horror series Hausen on Sky, and immerse ourselves in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Meanwhile, we take a look at instances where great shows go bad and the news section is hijacked by a lively debate about Jed Mercurio’s use of the C-bomb (actual C-bombs abound - you have been warned) and the depiction of violence on telly.

AC-12 is back in the house this week as we catch up with all the latest Ted Hastings developments in Line Of Duty series 6 on BBC1 (NOTE: contains no spoilers or plot discussion for this or previous seasons), plus we pick up the phone for Apple’s batty audio-only drama Calls, and finally get to go on a holiday (albeit a vicarious one) as we join Kaley Cuoco for jet-setting murder mystery The Flight Attendant on Sky. All that and Terri disappears down an Unforgotten rabbit hole and we take a trip down memory lane to the shows we loved back when we were knee-high to a grasshopper.

James and Terri made a Faustian pact in advance of this week’s show, which leads to a rather unexpected instalment of What We’ve Been Watching. Then we then try to work out what on Earth is going on with BBC Three, how the Golden Globes ceremony was one of the best things on telly last week, and which teen shows float each member of the team’s respective boats. Plus we find ourselves looking for love in lockdown via Star’s Love In The Time Of Corona, on the trail of a rogue AI in Star’s curiously capitalised neXt, and on the trail of a missing person in ITV’s surname-based cop thriller, Grace.

On this week's show we find ourselves in the familiar scenario of watching a law abiding Bryan Cranston abandon his regular life for one of crime in Sky’s Your Honor. Plus James makes a valiant stand against Terri and Boyd when the team review Star's new comedy, Dollface, and Terri is forced to watch the new bonus episodes of The Walking Dead, despite only ever having seen one episode in her life. Not only that but the team also reveal their favourite telly picks from the dark days before the current era of Peak TV, and James insists on inflicting his latest rewatch obsession on everyone, whether they want him to or not.

Star launches on Disney+ this week and we sift through the launch releases on that service, which involves finding out what Lagertha the shieldmaiden is up to post-Vikings in Big Sky, and discovering if Love Simon’s big screen magic can survive the transition to the small screen in Love Victor. Plus, we dig up another cold case with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar in series 4 of ITV’s Unforgotten, get into a big old discussion about which books need adapting for TV ASAP, and Terri simply cannot resist talking about *that* ending in Behind Her Eyes — but don't worry, the spoilers are clearly signposted and you can skip the whole discussion by avoiding everything between 09:13 and 16:56.

Finger-wagging abounds on this week's show as we manage to fall into an argument/therapy-session over why each of us are the way we are with regard to telly viewing habits, and why James has never watched a documentary series all the way through. We also find the time to watch the new Jed Mercurio-produced James Nesbitt thriller, Bloodlands, immerse ourselves in the batshit world of Netflix's Behind Her Eyes, and finally give For All Mankind a proper chance when we get mooned by that show's second season.