We’re off to the Arctic circle this week with the return of Rose Leslie and Suranne Jones’ investigative thriller Vigil on BBC1 (40:00), putting the ‘boom’ back in ITV with the return of VIcky McClure’s Trigger Point (48:07), and getting our Grisham on in the arrival of The Rainmaker, also on ITV (56:38). Plus the team delve into the nepo baby phenomenon, Boyd prepares to head up to Edinburgh to hang out with the stars, and we do our level best to remain professional while beaming into the pod from the comfort of our various homes.

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+!

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We’re back into the multiverse on this week’s Pilot+ as we delve into the second season of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter on Apple TV+. And assuming that it is indeed the ‘real James, Boyd and Kay, the team also break open the postbag to tackle a series of compliments AND complaints — the postbag giveth, and the postbag taketh away.

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We have not one but two Green Lanterns on this week podcast as both Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler put up with James fanboying both over Lanterns on HBO Max and of course the fact that Chandler IS Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights (clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!) (39:38-1:00). Elsewhere we have a big old Lego chat, someone attempts a sweet-based assassination attempt and we tackles the new season of The Terror on Sky (1:18:10), Australian canine comedy Dog Park on U (1:29:35), and criminal boxing thriller Fightland on Sky Atlantic (1:43:49).

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 to a full house this week as James returns from his holidays, and an even fuller house than that, in fact, as we have a surprise ringer parachuted into this week’s line-up. In a bid to address to the team’s ongoing reluctance to become au fait with animation, we’ve invited animation filmmaker John McEwan-Whyte to join us on the show and provide a crash course in all things cell-shaded (31:08). Plus we catch up on the heroic amount of things that we’ve watched over the past few weeks (including at least one awkward mea culpa) and we jump into this week’s shows. To whit: DC superhero-powered crime thriller Lanterns on HBO Max (1:07:49), series 2 of cosy crime procedural Ludwig on BBC1 (1:14:51), and spray-tan crime caper Sunny Nights on ITV (1:19:44).

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+!

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House Of The Dragon reached its fiery (and swordy, and axey) climax this week with a LOT happening as we lay the board for the show’s final season. This season saw dragons in the sky, a new bum on the Iron Throne anshoved up another one. All of which are good reasons for the Pilot gang (well, James and Boyd since Steph is still a little behind) to undertake a full post mortem of everything that happened. Plus, co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal drops by for an extended, spoiler-filled interview spilling all the season’s secrets.

Apparently, it’s our 400th episode so to celebrate we invite special guest Darren, our esteemed editor, to join Kay, Steph and Boyd for the opening ‘What we’ve been watching’ segment, which is full of surprises. We also look back to the very first episode, before reviewing the Bret Easton Ellis/Ryan Murphy collab The Shards on Disney+, U&Dave’s first scripted original drama Hit Point, and adult animation Alley Cats from Ricky Gervais. Here’s to the next 400!

Ricky Gervais is our guest this week, talking all things Alley Cats, and yes, it’s an animated show, but a very very adult one. We’re also celebrating James’ absence with another two-hander between Boyd and Kay who together review Possession with Gugu Mbatha-Raw on Sky & NOW, Benidorm Is Murder with John Hannah on 5, not to be confused with A Touch Of Cloth, and the star-studded Lioness from the Taylor Sheridan stable. Boyd also counts down his top 10 favourite films, due to public demand. Kind of.

Furious is definitely the word for this week’s show. Not just because we’re reviewing the serial killer show of the same name on Disney+, but because that is a perfect summation of Steph’s mindset going in. As incandescent as we’ve ever seen her, Steph Hulked out over one of this week’s shows but refused to reveal which one, so you’ll have to wait for the reviews section to find out. Was it the aforementioned (and aptly titled) Disney show? Was it the return of Sam Reid in Interview With The Vampire evolution The Vampire Lestat on BBC2? Or was it apocalyptic thriller The Rapture on BBC1? Listen and find out (but maybe wear a helmet). Also on-brand for this oh-so-livid instalment is our listener question, which sees the team cast watersheds aside to identify the very best swears on telly.

Anya Taylor-Joy is our guest in the studio this week, talking both her new show Lucky on Apple TV and her (and Steph’s) love of dogs (32:50-50:51). But that’s not all, because the team also talk through the TV teachers they wish had filled them with knowledge during their formative years and reviewed three new shows besides. To wit: the return of twisted crime thriller The Crow Girl (1:10:07) on Paramount+, Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer’s buddy action comedy Ride Or Die on Prime Video (1:32:00), and Will Ferrell’s golfing comedy The Hawk on Netflix (1:43:58).

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 finally unveil (in typically shambolic fashion) our shows of the year (so far) list in this week’s episode as an arcane mathematical formula is applied to our individual favourites, distilling them into the definitive (probably) top 10 of everything out in 2026 to-date (17:33). Plus JK Simmons and Tom Brittney join us to chat MGM+’s new gangster show The Westies (37:18-50:58). We also watch Diane Morgan’s new comedy, Ann Droid, on BBC1 (1:42:17), and Jennifer Garner’s girls’ weekend drama The Five Star Weekend on Sky Atlantic (1:51:38). All that and se do a drop-in to discuss this year’s Emmy nominations (1:06:32) and James makes a landmark admission while discussing what we’ve all been watching.

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+!