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Rate the last series you completed out of 5 - No spoilers!

Rayn

By Rayn
in Film, TV & Radio

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Timmo

Timmo

Posted
Posted

Breaking Bad 4.5/5

 

Third time watching this and still just as thrilling. Sags at times in the first three seasons. One thing I wasn't expecting was how annoying I'd find Mike this time around; he's a lot, lot better drawn in Better Call Saul.

 

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Benny

Benny

Posted
Posted

Farscape

 

5/5

 

Might be a bold rating, but having recently worked through the entire series and the miniseries, it was a brilliant, madcap ride. I had never actually seen any of it past about Season 2 or 3 and certainly not every episode before that, so seeing where it all went after all these years was a real treat. It's frequently unevenly plotted - sometimes actually incoherent - but the set design, creatures, crazy ideas and actors really going for it with the generous helpings of extreme ham make nearly every other sci fi show now, let alone when it was originally on TV, look boring and "safe".

4
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Boothjan

Boothjan

Posted
Posted

Sex Education S3

 

Incredibly entertaining, diverse but never in a way that hinders the plot, some brilliant characters topped off with some very impressive performances.  Possibly my favourite season of this so far.

 

4/5

 

Currently watching:

 

Vigil (BBC)

Squid Games (Netflix)

Ted Lasso (Apple TV +)

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted

I'm up to series 7 of Vera, no I'm not taking the piss. Everything you could call a criticism of it I rather like: the fact she has virtually no back-story, family, ex-partners, in fact it's refreshing that al all 24 episodes there hasn't been one where someone from her past has come back to haunt her, she hasn't got involved with an old flame, hasn't had to investigate the murder of a relative. Don't get me wrong, when done well all that is great, I love Cracker for Fitz' troubles, for instance, but sometimes you just want a no-nonsense mystery with no baggage, and Vera delivers. 

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ScouserInExile

ScouserInExile

Posted
Posted

Billions (Series 5)

 

Damien Lewis is a dodgy billionaire hedge fund manager, hungry for money and power. Paul Giamatti is the US Attorney, with a penchant for bdsm, determined to bring him down at all costs, which is complicated by his wife working for said hedge fund manager as the company's psychiatrist / performance coach. 

 

Fantastic and fantastically complicated series, full of twists and turns and plots within plots. A brilliant main cast and excellent characters throughout. Gripping and entertaining. Well worth watching. 

 

But, I will say there's been a whiff of jumping the shark about season 5. While there have been a couple of "as themselves" cameos in the first four series (including a decidedly wtf appearance by Metallica in the first series), there was literally one in every episode this time - from a sub plot involving some celebrity pizza chef to a WWE wrestler showing up to solve a problem. There was also a "there's no way out of it this time" plot thread that was resolved by

Spoiler

landing a helicopter on the roof of a building in the middle of New York without anyone, including the cops guarding the building, noticing 

Which left a slightly sour taste in the mouth. 

 

5/5 for the first four series, 4/5 for the latest one. 

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Silent Runner

Silent Runner

Posted
Posted

Starstruck - BBC comedy about a young woman who pulls a guy on New Years Ever, turns out he's a famous actor which complicates their situationship. Written by and starring New Zealand actress Rose Matafeo who was in the decent rom-com Baby Done a couple of years back. I thought this was really sweet. It has that dreamy London vibe to it which I'm sure is a million miles from reality - she works in a cinema but lives in this amazing flat etc. It played out exactly as you think it's going to but it's funny and quite a gentle way to pass blocks of 30 minutes. 4/5

 

Secret Circle - The Vampire Diaries for witches essentially. Young girl moves in with her grandmother after her mother dies, turns out she's a witch and she's now part of a circles of witches who are being hunted by yadda, yadda, yadda...

 

This was hugely entertaining trash. The cast are all in their mid-20s but are playing 16 and 17 years olds. Every emotion is turned up to 11 and every episode there's a party or a ball or an awards night or a school fund-raiser that means the whole town gathers in the same building so something bad can go down. 3/5, deserved a second season but didn't get one. 

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted

Maid

 

Really excellent drama. Star turn from Margaret Qually making good on the promise shown in Once Upon A Time In America. Depressing and frustrating but compelling. Really well written and structured.

 

Ocassionally, amid all the dross, Netflix get something like this made for actual adults.

 

5/5

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted

Edge Of Darkness (1985)

"Winner of six BAFTAs" isn't normally a recommendation I listen to, but watching this I can see why it got high praise. Complex nuclear-based drama where a police inspector's daughter is shot, he begins to investigate and gets mixed up in a bigger conspiracy surrounding a nuclear waste reprorcessing company. It gets very twisty, but thankfully it's well directed by Martin Campbell who would go on to direct a couple of Bond films amongst other things. Things come at you from an angle, it's never direct and obvious, and that's what makes this great. Blue-Ray looks fantastic too.

 

4.5/5

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englishbob

englishbob

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, Vimster said:

Edge Of Darkness (1985)

"Winner of six BAFTAs" isn't normally a recommendation I listen to, but watching this I can see why it got high praise. Complex nuclear-based drama where a police inspector's daughter is shot, he begins to investigate and gets mixed up in a bigger conspiracy surrounding a nuclear waste reprorcessing company. It gets very twisty, but thankfully it's well directed by Martin Campbell who would go on to direct a couple of Bond films amongst other things. Things come at you from an angle, it's never direct and obvious, and that's what makes this great. Blue-Ray looks fantastic too.

 

4.5/5

 

I'd love to see this again, it was great when it was on initially. Is this the Blu-Ray you have? Cheers 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edge-of-Darkness-BBC-Blu-ray/dp/B07Y5VBHR3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1IRS56YUSZMOG&dchild=1&keywords=edge+of+darkness&qid=1635696466&qsid=259-4952458-1287821&sprefix=Edge+Of+Darkness%2Caps%2C57&sr=8-5&sres=B08QJNGLXJ%2CB00UI29MMW%2CB00H368SP8%2CB07Y5VBHR3%2CB06W9NTCGN%2CB00I9LQAJW%2CB00005O42O%2CB084LQVYVF%2CB08NSJS5CD%2CB089B8FWF5%2CB082SCX8B6%2CB07N4WDMBY%2CB00004L8J9%2C6313589718%2CB09K1WW6RH%2CB00OUSKG1G&srpt=DOWNLOADABLE_MOVIE

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, englishbob said:

 

I'd love to see this again, it was great when it was on initially. Is this the Blu-Ray you have? Cheers 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edge-of-Darkness-BBC-Blu-ray/dp/B07Y5VBHR3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1IRS56YUSZMOG&dchild=1&keywords=edge+of+darkness&qid=1635696466&qsid=259-4952458-1287821&sprefix=Edge+Of+Darkness%2Caps%2C57&sr=8-5&sres=B08QJNGLXJ%2CB00UI29MMW%2CB00H368SP8%2CB07Y5VBHR3%2CB06W9NTCGN%2CB00I9LQAJW%2CB00005O42O%2CB084LQVYVF%2CB08NSJS5CD%2CB089B8FWF5%2CB082SCX8B6%2CB07N4WDMBY%2CB00004L8J9%2C6313589718%2CB09K1WW6RH%2CB00OUSKG1G&srpt=DOWNLOADABLE_MOVIE

Yes that's the one.

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englishbob

englishbob

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Vimster said:

Yes that's the one.

 

Thanks - On my Xmas list now. 

 

If nuclear "horror" is your thing, check out "Threads" - dated yes, but the most horrific thing I think I've sat through in my life. It needs a remake, but should take nothing away from Barry Hines' explicit detailing of everything

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Threads-Blu-ray-BBC-Mick-Jackson/dp/B07JZVP6KX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XH75OI391L92&dchild=1&keywords=threads+blu-ray&qid=1635697175&qsid=259-4952458-1287821&sprefix=threads+blu-ray%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-1&sres=B07JZVP6KX%2CB0798HL6PR%2CB071G99QFL%2CB01LAYEHYY%2CB083VN2ZH1%2CB003D83DPA%2CB08KJJTH6Z%2CB0771P7DS2%2CB08XNX2B8X%2CB07R7RDJQY%2CB07FT6DRKR%2CB08L4BBBTV%2CB07BF2PR3D%2CB082WSNDYJ%2CB081WQS779%2CB08MHRRKW7

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ImmaculateClump

ImmaculateClump

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Timmo said:

I'm guessing you watched this after Bob's autobiography! Where did you find it?

 

Hiya, TImmo. I found it on torrentquest. It was just over a GB for the whole thing but it was good enough.

 

1 hour ago, englishbob said:

check out "Threads"

 

Ooh, yeah, threads is fantastic!

 

Stath Lets Flats (series 3) - **½

A little better than series 2, but still not hitting the peaks that series 1 did. Still lovely spending time with the characters again!

 

A Killing In Tiger Bay - ***

 

VtmEiAo.jpg

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted

Cracker series 3 (1995)

Do I really need to say this is top-notch crime drama, or just plain drama? It manages to blend the protagonist's private life with the murders like nothing before or since, and in a way that's never melodramatic for the sake of it, it all fits, as it were. First story by Jimmy McGovern continues on from the end of series 2, with the other two stories written by Paul Abbott. Second story with a young John Simm is probably the weakest but still worth a watch. Going to watch the two specials now.

 

5/5

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hmm

hmm

Posted
Posted

It holds up then? I was thinking about it just the other day for some reason and remembering how good it was, but of course I haven't seen it since I was an idiotic teenager and TV drama has evolved quite a bit since.

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, hmm said:

It holds up then? I was thinking about it just the other day for some reason and remembering how good it was, but of course I haven't seen it since I was an idiotic teenager and TV drama has evolved quite a bit since.

I think Fitz' relationships and personal life do eclipse the actual crimes somewhat, it's that that probably makes this stand the test of time.

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Nick R

Nick R

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Vimster said:

Cracker series 3 (1995)

Do I really need to say this is top-notch crime drama, or just plain drama? It manages to blend the protagonist's private life with the murders like nothing before or since, and in a way that's never melodramatic for the sake of it, it all fits, as it were. First story by Jimmy McGovern continues on from the end of series 2, with the other two stories written by Paul Abbott. Second story with a young John Simm is probably the weakest but still worth a watch. Going to watch the two specials now.

 

5/5

 

Mark Cunliffe on Letterboxd wrote some good reviews of all the Cracker episodes (though Letterboxd/The Movie Database have since removed some of them, because of their inconsistent criteria about what qualifies as a film). You might be interested in reading them:

https://boxd.it/15ymU

 

Direct links to his third series reviews - he's a bit more critical of the third series than you are:

 

Brotherly Love: https://boxd.it/htZFF

Best Boys: https://boxd.it/hvgsZ

True Romance: https://boxd.it/hyoDx

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