Bookish goes Poddish this week as Mark Gatiss joins us on the show to talk about post-war crime solving on U&Alibi (30:01-51:57). Plus we review a trio of time-hopping dramas this week from Aussie/Northern ‘80s drama Mix Tape on BBC2 (1:11:16), epic WWII literary adaptation The Narrow Road To The Deep North on BBC1 (1:26:44), and emancipation and invention adventure Washington Black on Disney+ (1:37:44). And, courtesy of a listener, we delve into the different types of streaming drops from weekly drip-feeds to all-you-can-eat binges.

(Episode 346)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Too Much is very much the phrase of the week on this episode as not only do we have four guests — specifically Karen Pirie’s Lauren Lyle and Emer Kenny (50:50-1:04:40) and The Walking Dead: Dead City’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Scott Gimple (22:53-32:36)— but we also review four shows — specifically Too Much on Netflix (1:04:40), The Institute on MGM+ (1:30:28), Bookish on U&Alibi (1:22:06) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+ (1:40:35). So if you had plans today, you might want to reschedule. Oh and we (somehow) find the time for a trip down memory lane discussing iconic TV ads as well. Strap in!

(Episode 345)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

It’s the episode you’ve all been waiting for… James talking about Foundation for a truly heroic amount of time as not only does the team review (1:00:25) the show’s third season (for which James provides Kay with a ‘helpful’ primer on the series) but he also gets to sit down with Jared Harris and chat psychohistory and four-dimensional objects to his heart’s content (31:46-46:22). Elsewhere, we get back into the Boschiverse with Ballard on Prime (1:19:16), and see if throwback ‘90s sitcoms still hold up with Shifting Gears on Disney+ (1:28:22).

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Kay is still on her terribly important work assignment to Rimini this week, so beams into the studio on the airwaves as she, James and Boyd discuss everything from Boyd’s new foray into the world of video influencers to Kay’s poolside celebrity encounters. We’re also joined on the show by Such Brave Girls creator/star Kat Sadler (31:25-50:35), as we tackle that show’s second season (1:20:18), plus in a bumper review episode, we dive back into Squid Game on Netflix (1:14:26), The Bear on Disney+ (1:00:44) and Aussie crime thriller Scrublands on BBC2 (1:28:56).

(Episode 343)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Christina Hendricks couldn’t stay away and is back on the podcast this week, talking this time about the return of The Buccaneers to Apple TV+ (28:59-50:14). And speaking of Apple, the new show from Dennis Lehane, Smoke, goes under the Pilot TV microscope this week as we follow Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett in tracking down a serial arsonist (1:19:07). Plus we join Jordan Gray and Nick Frost in ITV’s supermarket comedy Transaction (59:54), and go undercover with Jensen Ackles in Countdown on Prime (1:11:03).

(Episode 342)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

We bounce from balls to benefits this week as we hang out with a lot of very rich people in YA adaptation We Were Liars on Prime (1:00:45), and Mitford sisters miniseries Outrageous on U&Drama (48:19), then explore the life of a woman taking a creative approach to government welfare cutbacks in Rosie Jones’ comedy Pushers on Channel 4 (38:41). Plus Kay makes her triumphant return and uses the opportunity to quiz us on our (TV-themed) summer holiday plans. All that and James manages to coin an upsetting new phrase for overtly YA TV dramas.

(Episode 341)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Kay is still on holiday this week, but that’s okay because standing in for her is true crime maven Steph Seelan, plus Cynthia Nixon — although she’s less a Kay stand-in and more a guest, here to talk about the new season of And Just Like That (1:02:13-1:16:13). On this week’s show we have a trio of half hour wonders, specifically Channel 4’s Beth (1:33:57), ITV’s The Consultant (1:25:25), and BBC1’s St Denis Medical (1:42:43). What’s more, we take the opportunity not only to get the latest true crime recommendations from Steph, but to grill her on the genre’s appeal as a whole and try to discover why James wasn’t invited to her wedding.

(Episode 340)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Matthew Goode is on this week, chatting all things Dept Q on Netflix (41:02-57:30). Plus, we take up our 9 irons for a spot of golf with Owen Wilson in Stick on Apple TV+ (1:09:52), explore the boundaries of sibling rivalry with Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks in The Better Sister on Prime (1:01:15), and hut for missing bullion with Hugh Bonneville in series 2 of The Gold on BBC1 (1:17:43). All that, and for the maths geeks among you, a special treat as James breaks down the finances of epic fantasy series in a painful attempt to explain why The Wheel Of Time didn’t deserve to be cancelled.

(Episode 339)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

We’re all off to Scribbly Gum Island this week for BBC1’s adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s The Last Anniversary (58:20), solving crimes with Timothy Spall in Death Valley, also on the Beeb (1:07:31), and pushing the boundaries of sisterly love alongside Meghann Fahy and Millie Alcock in Sirens on Netflix (1:00:04).

(Episode 338)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

We’re back on the wellness beat with Nicole Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 on Prime (1:16:15), Facing off against a machine with chess wizard Gary Kasparov in Rematch on Disney+ (1:26:03), and re-examining the Lockerbie disaster with The Bombing Of Pan Am 103 on BBC1 (1:06:32). Plus Rian Johnson drops by to discuss Poker Face (36:44-53:00) and we even manage to slip some Star Wars questions in there as well.

(Episode 337)

Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!