Rolling iPlayer and All 4 and iTVPlayer 2017-2018

i'm really sick of seeing this guy on TV. he's always EXACTLY the same while being cast in such disparate roles.

http://www.hertsad.co.uk/polopoly_fs/1.4930142.1489442992!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/image.jpg

the main guy in bodyguard is chronic

he was. i wanted to strangle him by about episode four. there were a lot of bad performances in this, actually. the woman who played the deputy sergeant was terrible. although nothing was as bad as the plotting in the last episode. jfc, what a stupid waste of time.

wake me up when they've been privatised, and their political staff have all been liquidated by aircraft machine guns. Because I'm sick of subsidising this fucking dross that I'm never going to watch!

but apparently interest in joining police counter-terrorism has gone up massively amongst people who clearly have a fucking clue

11 m viewers, this country deserves to die!

Bit and pieces of the series were ok but the finale was genuinely abysmal - from plotting to dialogue to performances. I love Line Of Duty but this ended up being completely inept.

Dire finale. I couldn't bear hearing another "make sure you keep applying pressure to the bomb thingy in your hand". Plot was a mess.

Nadia was revealed to be a bombmaking mastermind of huge value to the Jihad and we all know that the Jihad try to blow up their own bomb makers five episodes earlier. the best bit though was Dullard's escape after defusing the bomb omfg.

It was as good as it was laughable, with only a million cops and snipers and helicopters and police cars about. Well played.

This was hilarious, and I kind of admire the guts to go for a happy ending where everything turns out just so.

POLICE: Are you guilty?
SUSPECT: <gives full confession>

I love that slow motion grimace-to-smile transition that actors ALWAYS do in a ”surprise! villain gets unmasked” scene.

I actually enjoyed Jon Snow’s performance in this. Obviously the ending was very very stupid and enjoying the series as a whole depended on being complicit with, or temporarily repressing its rather vile racism. But I thought he was pretty compelling and strange.

He’d make a good Rogue Trooper.

Who will ever forget that classic scene:

Jon Snow: “Why did you kill the Home Secretary Julia Montague?”
Villain: “Eh, it was just business”
Jon Snow: “HHHHNNNnNNnnRRRrR”
Villain: “It was good for business”
Jon Snow: HHhHHHhnnnnnNnNnNNRrRrrrrRR!”

Line Of Duty was often ridiculous but excellent at letting the audience suspend disbelief, there was barely a line I. The last couple of episodes of this that didn’t make me think ‘why would you be saying that?’.

I am an engineer !

he wisnae jon snow, he was robb stark

i too thought he was really good in this tbh but jesus that final episode was dumb as a bag of hammers

my favourite part was when he disarmed the bomb vest, leapt over the wall and vanished into thin air, all while surrounded by tens if not hundreds of armed policemen

enjoying the series as a whole depended on being complicit with, or temporarily repressing its rather vile racism

yeah, the thing i liked most about the first couple of episodes was the suggestion that his experiences in afghanistan might have radicalised him and the will he/won't he on killing the home secretary himself - it was pretty disappointing when it became clear we were just gonna end up going in a much more tedious and conventional deep-state conspiracy story, and it all hinged on *shock horror* a woman being eeeevil

Bodyguard went completely under my radar. but apparently the numbers of people watching it 24 hours after broadcast were strangely huge.

Is anyone watching Press? Is it worth seeing that?

I watched the first episode of it but I completely forgot I'd even done that until you just mentioned it there. That's how compelling it was (and I stuck with Bodyguard all the way through, so it's not like I can't stomach implausible drama).

That doesn't sound too good. I saw, and was let down, by Bodyguard. I'm watching quite some Beeb stuff as of late. Killing Eve is enjoyable fodder. Wanderlust is, well, just fodder, yet I still watch it.

I've recorded all I've missed from Press so far. Your ringing endorsement has sealed the deal, I will watch it :)

anyone watching Black Earth Rising?

hugo blick is the UK damon lindelof

honourable woman was all-time tho

Came upon it by accident, ‘Reported Missing’ is uncomfortable but necessary viewing. Final episode on Monday was one of the rawest, most heartbreaking things I’ve seen on TV.

"They've Gotta Have Us" has been illuminating and enjoyable and well worth catching while it's still on iPlayer.

"there she goes" is pretty good, but quite stressful

there she goes is brilliant. the last scene in this week's episode was hilarious

Scream of Fear on talking pictures (freeview 81) tonight. Great little hammer film.

That's 20:00.

Haunting of Hill House on directly after too.

only just realised you only have to spend £4 on a basic aerial with usb booster to get freeview and it's a reliable signal, damn all those wasted years of paying for a basic virgin tv package at £20 a month. I hate myself.

at least the license fee buys you something :)

the 15 billion pound railway - this is my shit, put it directly into my veins

recommend the BBC2 documentary on qassem soleimani

BBC4 yorkshire ripper documentary series worth a watch

Been enjoying the uncomplicated fun of 'Gentleman Jack'. For two episodes I was sure the lead was played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag). Her resemblance to Suranne Jones is uncanny. So much so that I thought it rather vulgar that Jones, in her role as Anne Lister, also winks at and speaks to the camera ocassionally, breaking the 4th wall. Turns out it isn't Waller-Bridge at all.. Regardless, it's good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005mr0/episodes/player

"New Weird Britain
Music Journalist John Doran seeks out a new wave of radical music being made in the margins of Britain."

would've been nice on tv, i guess, but this was radio4. nothing new to listeners of Freak Zone or Late Junction but nice to see this stuff on radio 4 on a monday afternoon.

the one thing someone (Jennifer Walshe) said in episode 4 has stayed with me. "Online used to be an escape from the real world. But now the real world is the escape from online"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007737 (BBC2 21:00 27 July 2019)

"Hip hop legend and art lover Fab 5 Freddy saddles up to explore 15th-century Italian renaissance art in 15th-century style – on horseback."

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.Ysqw6ltYbd6FWLSXNOykcAHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1

The Fab 5 Freddy thing was both good fun and very interesting. More of this.

(he popped up on imagine (iirc*) as well, that same weekend) was an interesting, slightly different take at the art of the period.

(* there was something on about cindi sherman, might've been that. the other alternative was the thing about the new tate show by the Olafur Eliasson guy)

as mentioned elsewhere, the george clark thing on council houses was v watchable.

and the deller thing about rave culture / riots

There's a documentary about Bruce Chatwin made by Werner Herzog on iPlayer. Nomad, it's called.

yeah i was gonna watch this on broadcast last night but decided to go to sleep cos iplayer exists, looks good tho

howtf is 4od still not HD ? it's 2019

mate they're still using flash.

The original series of The Demon Headmaster is on iPlayer just now if you fancy a wander down memory lane before the reboot airs

anyone else watching giri/haji? really liked the 3 episodes so far though the ending of episode 3 strains credibility beyond breaking point. the lead actor/character is dull but the supporting ones are great. love the pre-episode recaps as well.

Giri/Haji should be total catnip to me - stylish Japanese/London police gangster drama with lots of dry humour. But yeah the lead guy is lacking spark or something.

Gold Digger is good for four episodes then another one of those annoying/frustrating wastes of time that move the goalposts off the playing field.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bh0n

Greg Davis looks back at Kes.

(also, wallander's in it, the one from early 2000s, not the one from later 2000s)

Anybody watched It's A Sin?

Everyone and his dog seems to be raving about it on social media but wondering if it's actually any good.

some talk on the doctor who thread (given that it's written by rtd)

Doctor Who: Classic or Dud?

I'm halfway through 'The Serpent' on iPlayer. It's kind of interesting but not sure it needs 8 episodes...

― kinder

Yeah it was an enticingly stylish and atmospheric series but overlong, repetitive and kind of shallow. If you read Charles Sobraj's wiki there's a ton of crazy stuff he did which they didn't even touch on, which feels like a squandered opportunity.

I've watched the first ep of It's A Sin. Nothing too surprising yet but it's made me chuckle.

Did any discussion of It’s A Sin make it out of the Who thread? Curious what people made of it. I thought it was a masterpiece up until the last episode, when an out-of-nowhere Keeley Hawes scene de acting boots it into embarrassing amdram

it's on the list

I mostly thought it was brilliant, apart from the BAFTA-bait scene referred to above, which seemed completely out of synch with the rest of it (and an unwelcome return to the RTD Point Hammering Home excesses so maligned over on the Who thread which were, for the most part, reined in throughout). The denouement of the Stephen Fry subplot was a bit shit in that respect as well.

some chat about it here: Queer as Folk US v Queer as Folk UK FITE

I'm watching the Man in Room 201 on iPlayer and it's terrible, don't do it

301!

i watched it.
biased cos i loved watching finland etc.
oh, and there is a LOT more swearing than the subs reveal.

couple of days late but just watched the final episode of the current run of Unforgotten and holy fuck they gonna end it like that!!!!!

Series recommended?

that's next on my list to watch from the start

xp
yeah i really liked it. but it is v much a police procedural in that every series is based around a body being discovered many years after it was hidden and the same team of officers trying to identify the victim and find out what happened. usually 4 or 5 suspects who we follow in the present day as they go about their lives. so the premise is nothing new but i love how understated it all is, how professional the police are in it (well it is fiction) and the performances of the whole squad.

thanks for the explainer, I kinda hate police procedurals but my partner loves them so maybe i can give it a go after me knock out giri/haji (another police procedural of sorts, lol)

each series is only 4-6 episodes long and about 45mins per episode so not too much of a commitment at least!

That helps! Okay, will try s1 with the missus.

watched The Investigation yesterday, all 4.5 hours of it. wasn't the plan but i got 4/6ths of the way through and wanted to know how it ended. they never show the killer or mention him by name.

(still surprised there's no dedicated scandi tv thread)

Man in Room 301 was ok. suffered from being Finnish but set mostly in Greece.

Also watched The Guilty which was a Danish film set entirely in a police call centre. like the world's biggest bottle episode. lots of reading for that one because it was dialogue heavy.

itv three-parter Too Close is phenomenal so far. The acting is amazing. I can't stop thinking about it.

The Investiation, the danish thing about the submarine killer, was good. lot of familiar faces as mentioned above (although i hadn't twigged at the time that one of them was swedish)

Investi*g*ation

Too Close is leaning very hard on 'middle class markers' and I'm finding it frustratingly formulaic (sorry) - story being told in little memory breadcrumbs, etc. I'll watch Emily Watson in anything, though!

I apologise, I should let someone actually enjoy something sometimes without butting in with my criticism :) I'm enjoying it enough to finish it!

I'll let you away with it this time.

Will try it based on these mixed recommendations (tho really because of Watson tbh)

Midway through the second ep and, yes, Too Close is a little too middle class tropey but the performances of the central two are really good and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

There was a 'Real Bent Coppers' documentary on BBC2 (first of 3 parts) which was quite interesting, a fair bit of actual recorded and archive footage from the late 60s.

Enjoying in a low-key sort of way French low-budget SF Missions: two billionaires race to Mars but something is there waiting for them...

(on iplayer)

Didn't know about that, thanks!

(the second series felt a bit wooly to me)

Uprising was a hard watch at times (3 x 1hr from steve mcqueen on bbc1 recently) but necessary watching, i think.

Under The Wire, on over the weekend, about reporters in Syria was similar. echoes with current afghanistan as well.

That was just recommended to me too. worth starting at the start?

(Missions, that is)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUEcS6B1OQ

That was just recommended to me too. worth starting at the start?

It wouldn't make any sense otherwise.

(the second series felt a bit wooly to me) (Missions, that is)

I'd have gone for 'bonkers' but yeah it's not hard sf. Given that the revelation in the first series was in blatant contradiction of everything we know about genetics and the fossil record, it was probably to be expected. Some cracking moments though, and some very silly ones. Especially why they didn't just shoot Alice again when she was tied up on the ground.

Just started it and was enjoying the Lost-ness of it (up to a point) and was joking about the lottery numbers just before they did! That one guy keeps reminding me of Will Self.

Is this thread the only mention of Unforgotten on this board? Hadn't heard much about it but I quite liked it for a police procedural. I wouldn't say there's a lot to distinguish it, but the pacing and execution was on-point

I watched all of them not that long ago. There's something quite soothing about the neatly parcelled-out clues coming to light and guessing who dun what. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
I'd say it's more character-driven than your average procedural.

Yeah, we hadn't watched it at the time, but rattled through them all on Netflix and ITV player a few weeks ago. Very likeable.

That's a good point, kinder, about it being more character-driven than similar shows. It's funny because in S1 the few moments where they focus on Cass's personal life felt distracting to the main story, but by S4, I was as invested in her personal life as I was the case!

I've watched 2 episodes of Hollington Drive and it's so awful, it's mildly reminiscent of The Room (the Tommy Wiseau one)

Showtrial is very well put together, particularly if you're into the process side of things. More straightforward but better written than Vigil.
After the execrable Hollington Drive and duuuullll as ditchwater The Long Call it was v welcome.
(I've been burnt twice by trying ITV drama - is the Tower any good, anyone?)

New thread for '22 here

iPlayer 2022 (and All4 etc etc)

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that all the shows that run on iTV in 2021 are nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:

ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!