TV: Safe Review (or “A Netflix Show That Doesn’t Get Boring After A Few Episodes. OMG”)

The sheer volume of Netflix’s output means that it’s inevitable that some of it won’t be particularly good.

I’ve found that a number of their shows recently have been so uninspiring that I’ve given up on them in pretty short order.

Bloodline? Three episodes was enough for me to be bored into submission.

Santa Clara Diet? I watched one episode and found it wasn’t my type of humour at all.

Jessica Jones? I fell asleep every time I watched an episode of the second season and had even forgotten that I had stopped watching it before I started this article.

Designated Survivor? Knowing that it’s been cancelled, I don’t really find myself inspired to watch more than I have (which was up to the second episode of season 2 by the way).

So although Netflix has so much content, it’s fair to say that not all of it is must-see.

Of course, I could argue that it’s because of the amount of content available that I haven’t been bothered to finish watching these shows, and that Netflix’s greatest strength is the problem, but if I recall correctly, I already did a few years back (and you can read about that here)

But I bring this all up because for the first time in a while, I have managed to stumble across a new show on Netflix that immediately grabbed me, and resulted in me binge watching all eight episodes over the course of a few days.

Safe – starring Michael C. Hall as a father whose daughter has gone missing while her boyfriend has been found murdered – is actually really good and well worth a watch.

Although his English accent is immediately dodgy, you soon get used to it and that apart, it’s a well written and executed drama that manages to stay the course and – unlike so many Netflix shows – remain interesting throughout all eight episodes.

Also unlike so many other shows – Netflix or otherwise – it isn’t written with a second season in mind. It presents a mystery, it hooks the viewers in and it then answers every question by the end of the final episode.

And that’s how a show should be.

So if you’re sitting at home, twiddling your thumbs and wondering what to watch, Safe is a safe bet.

And yes, I had to make that pun.

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TV Review: Colditz (1972-1974)

Over by the self-service checkout area at Sainsburys last Christmas was a selection of classic TV boxed sets, including the likes of The Saint, Danger Man and Survivors. I suggested for a Christmas present from my parents that they just choose one at random that I hadn’t seen, and hoped for the best that I’d enjoy it.

They got me the 1972-1974 British drama, Colditz.

And I loved it.

It was obviously a show I had heard of, but my knowledge of the plot only extended as far as it being about British POWs held in an ‘escape-proof’ castle.

But there’s a lot more to it than that.

Yes, there are lots of escape attempts, but it’s mainly about the relationships between the prisoners and also between the prisoners and their German captors. And it’s the latter relationship that I found the most engrossing.

I think it’s fair to say that by and large, the Germans in WW2 dramas and movies are presented as the evil enemy, and yet in Colditz – based as it is on the experiences of those who were in the POW camp at the time – this isn’t the case. Coming under the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht rather than the SS or Gestapo, it’s run by mostly honourable people – Germans of the Old School – who are at pains to ensure that their prisoners are treated fairly and within the terms of the Geneva Convention. Yes, in the second season the writers include the entirely fictional boo-hiss villain, Major Mohn for the purposes of added drama, but it’s the likes of the Kommandant (played by the king of 1970s BBC drama, Bernard Hepton) and his chief of security, Ullman (Hans Meyer) who are the ones that reflect the type of German who ran the camp. In fact, I found myself rooting for them thanks to their restraint in the face of being constantly tested by British officers often acting like children.

With solid acting all the way through, and a cast – both regular and guest – of fine actors that you’ll probably recognise, Colditz is the sort of drama that you just don’t seem to get anymore. It’s slow building, it has episodes based around one-off guest characters (and the finest example of that is the jaw-droppingly good Tweedledum, about an officer who pretends to everyone around him that he has gone mad in a bid to be sent back to England on compassionate grounds), and the entire quality of the show rests on the strength of the acting and writing.

It certainly made me invest in it emotionally and come away from the final episode wanting to learn more about the realities of the way the camp was run.

I would offer Colditz my highest recommendation. In an era of throwaway NetFlix shows that are often pretty dull, this is one of the finest dramas I’ve watched in a long, long time.

TV: Save Me Review

*Note: Because of the nature of this review, there are spoilers concerning the conclusion of the final episode. If you want a very brief non-spoiler point of view, I’ll say it’s worth watching but sags a little in the middle.

So anyway…

In a recent interview, Save Me writer and lead star Lennie James admitted that it was always the intention for the new Sky Atlantic show to have a second season; it was commissioned on that brief.

Alas that’s the way TV networks operate nowadays and the results are mixed. A show like Line of Duty can support a story told over multiple seasons because there’s a background plot that runs throughout, but each season focuses on a specific storyline or character. Meanwhile there are so many other examples – and Under the Dome is the one that immediately springs to mind – where you can just see that the story doesn’t have enough about it to justify another run, and yet it gets one because it makes financial sense for the network. It’s a case of financial reward over creative satisfaction.

Having polished off Save Me last night, I fear it falls in the second category.

This is a show about Nelly, a guy whose 13-year-old daughter – who he hasn’t seen for years – is kidnapped. Initially he’s suspected of being responsible, but it turns out pretty quickly that someone who was pretending to be him contacted her on the internet and lured her into a trap. Because of the very specific information about Nelly’s life used to by the kidnapper to attract her, Nelly realises that it must be someone he knows from his local pub who must be responsible, and takes on the burden of solving the crime.

Now if I was going to write that for maximum creative effect, it would be told from beginning to end in one go. Nelly would find the person responsible and then from there find Jody (the daughter) either alive or dead.

As it turns out, Nelly does work out the culprit and even gets as far as finding out where Jody’s being held captive by a local paedophile ring, but in the end he finds another girl instead.

It just seemed like such a flat ending.

Over the course of the six episodes, Save Me was mostly about Lenny and his relationships with characters around him, and it did a very good job of giving those characters a back-story and a potential motive for wanting to kidnap Jody. And though some of the characters were a bit odd – Jody’s mother played by Suranne Jones isn’t written as being particularly bothered about her kidnapping and is more interested in getting pissed and having sex with Lenny behind her partner’s back – they all get put under the microscope.

Now that we know who kidnapped her – even though the reveal came thanks the disappointing Terry Nation style trope of “Hold on a minute; the only way you’d know that piece of information is if you are the kidnapper” – and more to the point now that we know who didn’t kidnap her, those characters seem largely redundant going forward.

And there’s the problem. Save Me ends on a note of the viewer feeling short-changed by the ending, and concerned that to have the story resolved one way or the other, they’ll have to endure a second season that doesn’t appear to have the legs to make it worth watching.

That being said, if you want to live for the moment and enjoy it for what it is now, the first season is mostly an entertaining watch up until the ending, although it does slow down to a crawl in episode three.

Stuart’s Entertainment Review (The Detectorists, Peaky Blinders, Manhunt Unabomber etc)

A roundup of some of the shows I’ve been watching lately…

The Detectorists

Because this is considered a ‘gentle’ comedy, I made the mistake of thinking that it was something akin to Last of the Summer Wine. In actual fact, this show is probably the best BBC sitcom in a long, long time. It’s not what I would consider hilarious, but it has its moments. The main thing though is that the characters are likeable and relatable and the story across all three seasons is one you can invest in.

It’s feel good and charmingly British.

Peaky Blinders

Perhaps less charmingly British, but British nevertheless is Peaky Blinders.

Packed with big name actors and some absolutely brilliant performances, it’s entertaining and gritty throughout.

It’s not exactly the most original of plotlines – a family rise to prominence in a historical setting – but that setting is a good one, and the story does progress as the show goes on.

I also liked how it used modern music instead of stuff that perhaps might have seemed more fitting to the era.

Manhunt: Unabomber

What I like about this show is that it’s an apparently mostly accurate retelling of a genuine FBI case, so while it’s not the most exciting show you’ll ever see, it is at least informative and interesting.

Running for only 8 episodes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, but if I had any criticism, it would be that the time hopping, non-linear nature of it seemed unnecessary.

The Good Place

I thought I’d written a review of The Good Place after I watched season 1 on NetFlix last year, but apparently not. And I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have said I thought it was a bit light and no more than average. I kept watching though and just finished off the second season this evening, and I’ve got to seriously recommend it.

It’s not a laugh out loud comedy – indeed I don’t really remember ever doing that while watching it – but what it is is clever. It makes you think while still being fun.

And unlike so many other shows there’s genuine development, not only of characters, but of plot; the show is now in a completely different place (no pun intended) than it was at the start.

Like I say, I’d recommend it highly. It’s well worth your time.

Lovesick

Previously known as Scrotal Recall on Channel 4, this show was bought by Netflix and renamed as something that perhaps has more marketability.

I’d never seen it before Saturday, but I’m hooked now and have binge watched it over the last couple of days.

It’s a bit derivative of How I Met Your Mother (the leads may as well be called Ted and Barney) but it has that more adult, British twist to it in terms of the language and the style of humour.

More than the other two comedies in this list it’ll make you chuckle, but it also has a story that’s decent enough to sustain it.

Riverdale

Watched the first episode but it didn’t grab me. I think Pretty Little Liars has filled my ‘Teen Drama for BFFs’ quota for the next wee while.

Danger Man

A much older show, but I’ve recently started watching the 1960s Patrick McGoohan ITC show.

For when it was made it does seem high budget, and though the episodes tend to resolve far quicker than they should, it’s a decent watch.

Of course, knowing me as you do, dear readers, part of the fun is identifying the actors who have appeared in Doctor Who at one point or another.

Let’s just say when Patrick Troughton showed up with his Salamander voice on, I was pretty thrilled.

Doctor Who – Twice Upon A Time Review (“I Shall Miss Him; Yes I Shall Miss Him”)

There’s been a little tradition on the Stuart Reviews Stuff blog since 2013, and it’s that I never write a Doctor Who Christmas Special review on Christmas Day.

And maybe it’s that I’ve wanted time to digest it or maybe it’s because it’s Christmas Day and I just haven’t been bothered, but I feel that it’s time to change that.

Because this Christmas Special is that little bit more special. It’s an episode that I have been waiting on with both a sense of feverish anticipation and a large dollop of dread.

Anticipation not only because it is a regeneration episode, but also it’s one that follows on from the great cliffhanger from The Doctor Falls and has the First Doctor in it.

Dread because it’s the end of the Peter Capaldi era. And no, it’s not “Oh no, the Doctor is going to turn into a woman” dread, because I find that sort of mindset to be troubling, if not utterly pathetic; instead, it’s

I wanted to be part of that group hug

dread because it is the end of the Peter Capaldi era. I’m not suggesting for a moment his episodes have been the better than any other Doctor, and the updated episode rankings for the upcoming print versions of Stuart Reviews Doctor Who will reflect that,  but I will 100% nail my colours to the mast and say that he is my favourite and the absolute best actor to play the Doctor. He’s been superb and I will miss his Doctor greatly.

I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of it like this before, but while Doctor Who is one long and continuous series that has run since 1963, the style and tone that each actor brings means that to an extent, whenever they depart, it feels like it’s the end of the show as it is, rather than it simply being a case of a new person taking the role and keeping the plates spinning.

 

And that’s generally ok, because for as long as I’ve been watching, whenever an actor has left the part I’ve felt it was time for a change and have looked forward to it. But not this time. I really didn’t want the Capaldi era to end because of his quality, and so now that it is over, I feel quite sad.

But you’re reading this to find out my thoughts on his last episode – Twice Upon A Time – and as such, I’ll get to it.

Doctor Who – Twice Upon A Time Review: What’s This One About?

The Doctor(s) come to terms with regenerating.

Thoughts – First, The Story

In the run up to this episode, I’d read that because it was to be broadcast on Christmas Day, Steven Moffat wanted to keep it quite light and uplifting.

In fairness, he achieved that, but in all honesty up until the last 15 minutes it was so light that it was a bit of a nothing episode.

It seemed a little bit like Moffat felt having the First Doctor there was enough to carry things along, but if you were to take every other element of the episode to that point except for the First Doctor and all the little

Three cheers for sexism!!

nods to fans of the show who were familiar with him, then you’d be left with something that failed to deliver.

Put simply, the story was that glass people found a problem with time based around a WW1 soldier who should have died but didn’t, the Doctor goes to speak to a Dalek to find out what was going on and then when he realised it wasn’t a diabolical scheme, he went and sorted it so that the soldier didn’t die.

I mean…it’s not exactly The Girl in the Fireplace or Blink levels of sophistication is it?

There were lots of funny lines of dialogue which amused me, but as a story, it really wasn’t up to much.

The acting, however, was.

Of the four main actors, everyone – including the deserved Stuart Reviews Stuff whipping boy Mark Gatiss – was excellent. No, despite what Steven Moffat has said, David Bradley does not play the character of the First Doctor exactly as William Hartnell did, but he tried his best. If anything, the problem with him was that he was written as an old relic from a bygone age, and as a result of that, he couldn’t have played the part the same, but he was still very good. And Pearl Mackie too played the part to her high standard.

As for Capaldi, well I dare say every review I’ve written while he’s been in the part has been a love letter to his talents, and it won’t surprise you that I thought that again.

And that leads us to…

The Regeneration

So while the first 45 minute were pretty light, the last 15 minutes delivered in spades.

When it came to it, I think everyone knew that Peter Capaldi would deliver a strong farewell monologue and that it would supported by the sort of powerful incidental music to bring out the emotion of the occasion.

The Captain was revealed to be The Brigadier’s dad, and throughout the world you could hear the sound of not a single person being surprised

That’s exactly what happened.

Outside the ship (yes, I did love the reference to how the First Doctor called it a ship), there was the sadness of his final conversations with Clara, Bill and Nardole heightened by the music from the death scene of The Doctor Falls and then inside when he decided he would regenerate, it was a more stirring music.

And you know what? It didn’t actually matter what he said – because I’ve watched that bit twice now and the words themselves didn’t have that much to them – but it’s how he said it. It was sad and yet uplifting.

Then once the regeneration actually happened, we were – much like with the last two changes of lead – left with a new Doctor in a chaotic and dangerous ‘To Be Continued’ situation.

And though I’m sad that it won’t be Peter Capaldi in the role when the story does continue, it’s still a story I can’t wait to see.

The Ends of Other Eras

This episode of course didn’t just close the book on Peter Capaldi’s time with Doctor Who; it’s also the end for Murray Gold and Steven Moffat.

I’m sad to see Gold go, even though it probably is time to give someone else a shot. What’s noticeable about Twice Upon A Time is how much music is reused.

I could be wrong, but I’m sure I’d heard every bit of it before, but when you consider that the aforementioned track from The Doctor Falls was new only six months ago and is absolutely one of the top three pieces of incidental music in Doctor Who history, he obviously has a lot left in the tank.

Moffat though I am glad to see gone.

Yes, he occasionally can still write well, and this year brought us one of the better companions in Bill Potts, but I totally get why so many people are sick of him. The show needs a freshness in terms of how it’s

Meanwhile, this is the exact moment that lots of angry repressed middle aged men kicked their TVs in and stormed off, threatening never to watch the show again.

written; a new perspective and bit of rejuvenation.

There is – as much as it appeals to me – too much time given to referencing past stories and events.

The show essentially needs the sort of shake up that it was given in Series 7 back in 1970 if it wants to stay relevant and popular in the eyes of the general public rather than just Doctor Who fans, and I hope Chris Chibnall can provide that.

So thanks for a lot of good times Steven Moffat, but as the old saying goes, off you pop.

Random Observations

• Endemic of the sort of problem I have with Moffat’s writing is the character of The Captain. The moment I saw that first trailer, I – and I’m sure most of you – said “I bet he’ll turn out to be Lethbridge Stewart’s dad”. Gosh, I was shocked to find out that’s exactly who he was.
• The running joke about the brandy provided plenty of laughs.
• As did the sexist lines by the First Doctor about how women should be cleaning and how he’d give Bill a jolly good smacked bottom.
• The Doctor really must have scarpered away from Ben and Polly pretty bloody fast, eh?
• Maybe that should be a random observation in my Tenth Planet review?
• I personally would have liked The First Doctor to be portrayed slightly more heroically than he was.
• And as you might have guessed, I let out a sigh of despair when I realised that the Daleks – or a Dalek – were in it. Let’s hope they get left behind for the next few seasons at least.
• Had this been just another Christmas story, the bit about the 1914 truce would have been fitting. As it was, it felt like the potential emotional impact was smothered by the regeneration.
• My family and girlfriend all took the piss out of me before it started, saying I’d probably cry. In fact, after our Christmas dinner and before she left the room to go watch a different TV show elsewhere (the philistine), my mum rather cuttingly said “Don’t cry too much now”. Well sod the lot of them, I’m happy to admit I shed a tear or two in the last few minutes, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a testament to the quality of the presentation.

Doctor Who – Twice Upon A Time Review: Final Thoughts

Well, there it is, the end of the Peter Capaldi era.

I think I’ve made it clear already, but I’ll say it again…

He might not have always had the best material to work with, but he always made the best of the material he had to work with, and that is why he is so good.

And it’s why – to be like Steven Moffat and provide a reference that only the Doctor Who superfans among you will get – I shall miss him. Yes, I shall miss him.

But I won’t miss Moffat.

 

TV – The Crown Season 2 Review

When it comes to watching Netflix Original series, my most regular complaint is that the shows start well but tail off badly. Whether it’s drama shows like Luke Cage or Ozark, or true crime shows like Making of a Murderer, I’ll get bored and barely muster up the will to finish them.

I think part of the reason for that is that there’s not enough story to last the course, so everything slows down to a crawl and they inevitably rely on time-wasting tropes such as the flashback episode that nobody wanted to see in the first place.

But The Crown is a bit different; well…maybe except for the flashback episode, because in the new season there was one that went back to Prince Philip’s childhood, and it was by far and away the weakest of the entire run.

Apart from that though, The Crowd is a consistently entertaining show that manages to stay fresh and interesting throughout. I think the reason for that is that it tackles a variety of major issues that happened in the UK and abroad late 1950s/early 1960s rather than just sticking with the same thing, like so many other NetFlix shows do. So while the first three episodes are about the fallout from the Suez Crisis and Prince Philip’s trip around the world on the Royal Yacht Britannia, it then moves on to other topics like Princess Margaret’s relationship with the future Lord Snowdon, the view of the monarchy being out of touch following a disastrous speech by the Queen at a factory, the Ghanian Crisis, JFK, the Profumo Affair and the revalations about the former King and his relationship with the Nazis (and by the way, what an absolute bastard he was, eh?).

That kept me engrossed and educated, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And it’s well enough acted too, with Claire Foy being particularly good as the Queen and deserving of all the credit she gets. I’m not sure if Matt Smith is that good or if I just see him as Matt Smith and therefore can’t separate him from his performance as the Doctor.

If I was to have any complaint – as churlish as it is – is that the actors playing the parts are perhaps a little too good-looking for the characters they play, but hey ho.

Anyway, this is definitely a show you should watch. I’m yet to come across anyone who has anything but praise for it.

If you’ve not seen it, that’s your next couple of weeks sorted.

TV: The Fall Review

Sometimes you’ll watch a show and persevere with it either out of loyalty or reputation.

Other times you think “That’s enough” and just stop.

And that’s what happened with me and The Fall.

Put simply, after an initially decent first season, things began to slow down so much in the second that whole hour-long episodes would go by without anything happening. After one episode of the third and final season, the entirety of which was spent with people hanging around the A&E department of the local hospital, I could face no more. Yes, there were only five instalments left, but that would be five hours I could be spending doing something else.

So I just read what happened in the last episode – my fears vindicated by reviews suggesting the final season as a whole was one gigantic waste of time – and moved on.

Maybe I’m spoiled by having already seen the superior-in-every-conceivable-way Line of Duty, meaning that the pace and acting would never stand up? After all, in place of the mighty Ted Hastings, we had that guy with the beard who looked like he was going to burst into tears every time he was on screen. Or it could be that I was put off by sub-plots that went nowhere and paper thin characters who would routinely acted in an unbelievable manner?

Whatever it was, I couldn’t face any more of it and I would implore you not to bother with it.

In a world with so much content available to the viewing public, this just isn’t worth your time.