Hello readers,
With autumn coming in and the heatwaves dwindling, we tend to spend more time indoors away from the rain and the wind with the company of TV programmes. Traditional TV seems to be a thing of the past with the best content out there available on streaming services. Even the original channels BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have upgraded their free catch up services to mirror those we pay money to access. Films will sometimes barely get time to settle in at the cinema before they are whisked away to be viewed from the comfort of the sofa and some never make it at all.
Television, however has always been something to enjoy at home and I am going to recommend programmes from the streaming services that I frequent regularly.
The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies (2023) – BBC IPlayer
Alice is living her life in Oxford: she works for a demanding boss at a boutique fashion shop; has a loving partner and child and lives in a cute little bungalow. The ghost of her past comes back to haunt her when she finds out her missing, presumed dead husband is in fact alive and has rebranded himself as a climate scientist working with Oxford University.
Robert Chance meets best-selling author, Cheryl Harker at his climate presentation and begins to wine and dine her. She is a widow living alone in her dragon-themed mansion and is taken in by him. The relationship moves fast and before she knows it, he has moved in and is sitting in on her work meetings.
Alice cannot let go that her former husband is alive and well so follows him and finds well-meaning Cheryl as his latest victim. She knows that Rob will repeat history and run away with Cheryl’s wealth so vows to get him locked up. This turns out to be trickier than she thinks and enlists her father to help track down more of Rob’s victims.
There were many interesting twists to this show and while some reviewers have not understood its tone, I think it straddles the comedy/drama genre well with the light, playful humour cutting through the harsh truths of Robert’s schemes.
The scenery of Oxford adds an authenticity to the tale with the backdrop of the famous sandstone buildings and academic gatherings. I think that Alistair Petrie (Sex Education) played a wonderful role as Rob/Robert and had such a strong demanding presence that made him very hard to counteract. A complete change from Mr Groff as we see him in the latest series of Sex Education.
I enjoyed this show and I disagree with the negative reviews that I have read. This show was very gratifying for women who have every felt overpowered or gaslit by men and the reviews I read were written by male journalists who probably did not understand how it read to women.
I give it 4/5.
Harlan Coben’s Shelter (2023) – Amazon Prime
Previous television adaptions from the mind of Harlan Coben have never disappointed and that streak does not end with Shelter. A story full of twists and mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.
We find Mickey Bolitar back in the States after having lived abroad with his mother and father. In a tragic car accident, Mickey’s father, Brad passes away and his mother goes to a mental health facility to cope with her returned depression.
Shira, Brad’s sister takes Mickey to her childhood home while his mother recovers nearby. On his first day at Kasselton High, he meets Ashley, a fellow new student with a bubbly personality and aspirations for the cheer team. They agree to meet at the local diner after school for a date but then Ashley never shows.
This is not your normal teenage ghosting though as the next day, Ashley does not come to school and has withdrawn. Hearing the tales of the Bat Lady from Shira, Mickey goes to her for answers as she is rumoured to kidnap children. He learns about Dylan Shakes, his father’s best friend who went missing after a baseball game when they were 11.
At school, Mickey becomes friends with Arthur, who christens himself as Spoon and Ema, the school outcasts. The trio team up to track down Ashley and maybe solve the disappearance of Dylan, almost 30 years before. Spoon has access to a secret lair at school and a network of fellow janitorial offspring with Ema bringing resources that I won’t reveal.
Shira rekindles an old friendship with Hannah, also the mother of Mickey’s nemesis on the basketball court, Troy.
This show was a great mystery that kept me on my toes the whole time. I really love the dynamic between Spoon, Ema and Mickey and the supporting characters fit right in. The stereotypical ideas that you form about them: the jock; his cheerleader girlfriend; the scary neighbourhood foe; the cop’s wife and the make-up influencer all expand and unravel into much more complex human beings.
Most of the actors in this show are newcomers to the industry and they were all amazing in their roles with great comedic timing and even in darker moments, I was able to enjoy the nature of the show.
I give this show 5/5.
Only Murders in the Building – Series 3 (2023) – Disney Plus
For a show in its third series and featuring two old white straight male leads, this show has become one of the most loved on streaming. The dynamic between Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) is something that most writers spend years trying to manifest but these three have such a great chemistry together its as if Selena has been part of the Martin and Short duo the whole time.
The third season is mixing things up a bit with Oliver producing a play and the introduction of some famous faces. The cliffhanger of the last season showed Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy drop dead on opening night of Oliver’s new play, Death Rattle. We pick up at that moment in Series 3 and while Ben was not dead, he is very soon after crashing through the roof of the lift at the Arconia on top of Charles, Oliver and Mabel.
They immediately get their murder-solving hats on and start looking into potential suspects – the cast and crew of Death Rattle until a stalker is arrested by the police. The crime is seemingly solved but Mabel can’t let it go and starts some investigating of her own, this time without a podcast. Charles tries to focus on his budding relationship with Joy and Oliver reworks his play into a musical to draw attention away from Ben’s murder but the two cannot resist doing a little investigating of their own.
Meryl Streep plays Loretta, an ageing actress who despite being in New York City her whole adult life is finally getting her big break as the nanny in Death Rattle. Ashley Park plays Kimber, a potential suspect and fellow cast member of Ben’s who does a little beauty influencing on the side. Paul Rudd also appears in a number of flashbacks showing that Ben did not really get on with anyone in the show, making finding a suspect harder for Charles, Oliver and Mabel.
Mabel does start to get close to Tobert, a filmmaker that was hired to follow Ben around but has a suspiciously good knack for finding clues. Charles is with Joy and Oliver finds a connection with Loretta, it looks at first like their lives are becoming quieter. This series is filled with more twists than perhaps the first two combined and with the finale airing next week, it’s still all to play for with Who Killed Ben Glenroy?
I think this is a fun show and despite being about murder, it has a lightness to it that is shown by the hilarious and unfortunate scrapes that the trio manage to find themselves in. The Arconia is a beautiful old building and while much of the action is at the theatre this time, we still get to see some great NYC architecture.
Even though the series has not ended yet, I am going to give it 4.5/5.
Sex Education Series 4 (2023) – Netflix
This show has been helping teenagers and adults alike understanding more about sex and their bodies since its premiere in 2019. With two years since the last series, fans have been waiting for new content.
While the iconic Moordale school is now gone, our favourite characters are still muddling their way through sex and relationships. Otis and Maeve finally admitted their feelings but with Maeve off in America, learning how to write from Mr. Molloy (Dan Levy – Schitt’s Creek), herself and Otis have entered a long-distance situationship. Eric is moving on from Adam and quickly finds a new queer crew at new school, Cavendish College. We see two new trans characters, Roman and Abbi, dating and living together along with Aisha, a deaf girl.
Ruby has gone from top dog to underdog as without her posse, finds herself reconnecting with Otis and helping in his battle against O, another sex therapist on campus with maybe more knowledge than him.
Jackson and Viv are still good friends but with a new relationship for Viv and health scares and an identity crisis for Jackson, the two have a lot on their plates.
Aimee is on her healing journey and having switched to take art to help with her trauma, she finds a friend in fellow artist Isaac who finds himself in a war against the school with their poor accessibility infrastructure.
Cal has started taking testosterone and is experiencing the challenges that come with that while not feeling able to talk to their mum or new friend Aisha.
Adam has dropped out of college and starts working with horses at a farm with the patient stable hand, Jem. His relationship with his father is almost non-existent but Michael offers driving lessons to Adam and things begin to heal.
Without Jakob, Jean is struggling with new baby, Joy until her sister Joanna comes to stay although Joanna may be more of a hinderance than a help. Jean also starts a new radio show, run by Celia (Hannah Gadsby) helping the public with their sex and relationship queries.
Cavendish College has all the facilities one could dream of: a tablet for every student, a slide, fully stocked gym, an allotment and a free speech stage. The new age ideas make this final season really fun but with comments on society at large about the passive-aggressive nature that some people use to remind you to recycle or ride a bike instead of driving.
While this series still has its moments, I think the sex scenes are used for plot or humour rather than shock factor or gratuitousness as in previous series. The characters have all become really special fully realised people so we want more than anything to see things work out for them in their relationships. Even the new additions quickly fit into the existing cast.
Of course, not everything has changed: Otis is still being his awkward self and struggling to balance his time between his friends and Maeve; Aimee still has her interesting viewpoint of the world and Eric is still a beacon of glitter and positive energy.
This series deals with some really heavy themes such as depression; loneliness; suicide; rejection from your family/church; struggles with self-acceptance; death; drugs and assault but as these are spread throughout across so many characters, the darker stories feel like part of life rather than clouding the enjoyment of the series.
I am really glad that most of the main cast made it to Series 4 and that we got a good ending to the show. I will miss it and can’t wait to see the actors take off as some have already started to do.
I give this show 5/5.
The Morning Show – Series 3 (2023) – Apple TV+
The Morning Show has won many awards for a reason; it is a brilliant show. The new series is only a few episodes in but we have already had stellar performances from Jennifer Aniston and the other cast members.
The series picks up in 2022, two years after the last series ended. Covid is now a mostly distant memory and head of UBA, Cory is focusing on what he can do to improve the network, granted he gets permission from the board of course. Alex is still on the Morning Show with Yanko and new co-host Chris and Bradley has made a leap towards her own evening show. Her relationship with Laura ended in lockdown but she finally has an apartment in New York and is determined to broadcast meaningful stories.
Jon Hamm enters as billionaire Paul Marks, looking to strike a deal with Cory on the downlow all while promoting his new open to the public rocket ship. The drama does not stop as in just the first few episodes we have had hackers; internal conflict; racial bias; equity allegations and votes of no confidence.
Stella, Cybil and Cory try to keep things on track despite all of these with Stella needing to decide whether she is trying to fix the institution from the inside or if she is part of the institution.
With Mitch in the rear-view mirror, its interesting to see what scandals will bubble up at UBA and whether having women in positions of power both in front of the camera and behind it will be enough for the network to bury their history and forge a new more enlightened space.
If this series is going to be anything like the past two, I give it 5/5.
These are my highlights of what is streaming right now and look forward to seeing what the autumn schedule has to offer.
Happy Watching,
Robyn
