[spidermonkey09]

Luther is so good. Utterly ridiculous plots but it gets away with it because the characters are so good. You can play a good (drinking) game of bingo with it as follows:

- Luther swaggers down street with massive donkey jacket on.
- Luther says 'its not right is it'
- Luther solves mystery with absolutely no clues but action moves on so quickly you forget almost instantly.

Others could definitely be added! 4 great series to watch.

[Durbs]

Currently half way through series 3 of Luther.

It is good, and getting progressively darker, but it is mildly irritating (and/or just odd) that it's never a "who dunnit" or "how we dunnit" or even "will they get away with it" - Luther just figures it out with some kind of superhuman knowledge, so it's always just a case of "will he figure it out in time based on nothing but his gut".

I mean, it's still compelling viewing, but a very different style of cop drama where the crimes are mostly just there to add tension and filler to each series "sub" plot (Alice, the daughter, the investigation...)

[SA Chris]

Agree, it's beginning to wear thin. Enjoyed the recent series the least out of all of them.

[tommytwotone]

It's been doing the rounds a lot, but finally got round to watching the Fyre festival documentary on Netflix. Very interesting, even if I watched bits of it though my fingers.

The recent Storyville double-bill about David Koresh / Waco disaster was a riveting watch as well, coming from someone who was aware of it at the time, but a bit young to understand what was going on.

[iain]

Just watching “a slow odyssey: the Great Wall” on bbc4.... in its own words slow tv style flight along 2500km of the Great Wall... no music - captions annotating the highlights.

Amazing!

Finished watching this last night, really enjoyed it. Thanks for the heads up

[tomtom]

👍👍

[nai]

Just finished Luther S3, what an absolute pile of shite.

[rich d]

i've binged my way through Luther after never watching it, if you think series 3 is going downhill I wouldn't bother making it to series 5

[user deactivated]

Russian Doll on Netflix was entertaining. Probs not for everyone tho

[Falling Down]

This three part Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0002jn8 has been excellent - extensive interviews with all the key players.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/11/inside-europe-superb-tv-that-shows-how-to-solve-the-european-crisis-eu-brexit

Well worth watching

[tommytwotone]

This three part Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0002jn8 has been excellent - extensive interviews with all the key players.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/11/inside-europe-superb-tv-that-shows-how-to-solve-the-european-crisis-eu-brexit

Well worth watching

Indeed - I've been really enjoying it.

My (French teacher) partner noted that Sarko speaks the clearest French she's ever heard as well!

[cheque]

If you have access to Netflix I seriously recommend Sunderland ‘til I Die. It’s about a football club but I don’t think you need to be a football fan to enjoy it any more than you need to be a Bros fan to enjoy the recent Bros documentary. If you can make it past the unbelievably mawkish title music then you’ll be fine.

It covers last season at a club which had just been relegated from the top division after years of “circling the drain” due to unbelievable financial mismanagement and PR disasters. The new club CEO commissioned the documentary obviously believing that it would be a redemptive feel-good story of a “great club” (get ready to hear this description hundreds of times) gloriously fighting its way back at the first attempt to the delight of its massive, loyal but emotionally unstable support. Without wanting to spoil the show, it did not pan out that way. 

[Mike Tyson]

As a Sunderland fan, I have avoided watching this so far. Lots of people recommending it admittedly, but I’m not sure I can stomach it. It was hard enough enduring it at the time, let alone seeing it polished up and nicely edited into a tv series!

[nai]

i've binged my way through Luther after never watching it, if you think series 3 is going downhill I wouldn't bother making it to series 5

Mrs was keen after her colleagues had been bigging it up. Still reckon S3 was the lowpoint but it's not great is it.

Did enjoy Sunderland til I Die though. You want to watch and mock but you know it could so easily be your own club it's happening to.

[SA Chris]

Oh I think the directors knew exactly what they were doing. It's funnier than Spinal Tap, not only are they more ridiculous they're not acting.

Quite compelling, but at the same time quite tragic. That they've believed in their own hype for so long.

[Teaboy]

Not out yet but a new series of Alan Partridge starts tonight, can't wait.

If that sort of thing is your bag (why wouldn't it be?!) This Country is still on iPlayer

[TobyD]

Not out yet but a new series of Alan Partridge starts tonight, can't wait.

If that sort of thing is your bag (why wouldn't it be?!) This Country is still on iPlayer

Just spotted that the trip is on Netflix.

[tomtom]

Soft Cell. Say hello wave good bye. Documentary about them - in BBC4 - really good. Fascinating about how the songs came to be and their influences...

[moose]

I suspect you all know this but Free Solo is on the National Geographic channel (on basic Sky and Virgin, not sure about Freeview) at 8pm on Sunday 3rd March.

[tommytwotone]

I've been watching Sunderland Till I Die on Netflix and it's really quite good.

Goes without saying the Fyre Festival documentary is brilliant (in a watch through your fingers kind of way) too.

[cheque]

Goes without saying the Fyre Festival documentary is brilliant (in a watch through your fingers kind of way) too.

Turns out Ja Rule is a real life version of Tracey Jordan from 30 Rock.  The main guy is a true psychopath though- amazing how late in the story he realises that he won’t just be able to get away with it!

[TobyD]

A BBC sounds must listen .... ' thought cages' brilliant stuff, really interesting.

[tommytwotone]

Been getting a lot of airtime recently but Sunderland Till I Die (currently on Netflix) is excellent.


Aside from the narrative, they've got some spectacular drone / scenery shots...to the point where my Mackem colleague said to me "it doesn't look like any Sunderland I've ever been to"!


We're also watching Shetland, which is good medium-brow stuff. Interesting to see how they're really embracing more and more of the Scandi Noir genre with each series.

[galpinos]

Fleabag series 2 has started. Series 1 was so good I wasn't sure whether the best bet was to just stop there and Episode 1 got a little bit slapstick towards the end but it looks promising.

[slab_happy]

Dunno if it's been mentioned before, but Letters from Baghdad is back on iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b095vnm7/letters-from-baghdad

Fascinating stuff, fascinating insights into how the modern Middle East ended up the way it is. And Gertrude Bell did have a brief but significant career as a mountaineer!