The 5 Live Must Watch blog
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Must Watch reviews ‘Blue Lights’
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘Blue Lights’.
The series, set in Belfast, follows police officers learning on the job working alongside more serious officers who have seen it all before.
BBC
‘It was so different from so many cop shows’
Nihal: “Hayley, is ‘Blue Lights’ a Must Watch?”
Hayley: “Yes, it is a Must Watch. I reckon me and Scott will agree on this one. What I liked about the first series of this was that it was just so different from so many cop shows that we see and you know that I watch them all. This one is set in Belfast and the job is an entirely different job to being a cop in another city.
“I just love how the place and the actual history was part of the plot and they weren’t just using it as a background. I also loved the fact that it was about rookie cops. The old cliché movie thing is that we see so many where we’ve…
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Must Watch reviews ‘Scoop’
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘Scoop’.
‘Scoop’ looks at the lead up and the fallout of the Emily Maitlis/Prince Andrew Newsnight interview, through the perspective of TV producer Sam McAlister (played by Billie Piper).
Netflix
‘There really isn’t a point to it existing, it is just a bit too soon’
Nihal: “Is it a Must Watch, Hayley?”
Hayley: “Not for me. It was a totally enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half, but there are a few reasons it’s not a Must Watch for me. The first is that there are some clunky lines and towards the end it becomes a kind of strange advert for Newsnight.
"That was all a bit cringey for me, but the biggest issue I had was, there really isn’t a point to it existing. I think it maybe suffers from the same problem that some of the COVID dramas did, in that it is just a bit too soon.”
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Must Watch reviews ‘This Town’
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘This Town’.
‘This Town’ is written and created by Steven Knight.
It follows the formation of an 80s new wave band through a backdrop of violence and upheaval in Britain. Knight has described this series as being “a love letter” to Birmingham, the place where he grew up.
BBC
Nihal: “Hayley, is ‘This Town’ a Must Watch?”
Hayley: “Not for me, I didn’t love this one. I’m sure it settles a bit as it goes on, but it felt a bit forced and earnest in a way that grated with me. Like there are a lot of instances of trying to show how someone has the heart of a poet while they are being forced to do something else, either by the army or by an overbearing father.”
BBC
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Must Watch reviews The Underdog: Josh Must Win
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review E4 show The Underdog: Josh Must Win.
Can Nick Grimshaw, Vicky Pattison, Amber Gill and Pete Wicks secretly rig a reality show to make an ‘average guy’ Josh, the winner among a polished cast of contestants?
They will do everything they can to influence the game – by setting tasks, introducing format twists, mastering the art of manipulation and using all they’ve learnt about reality shows and popularity to ensure Josh…
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Must Watch reviews Kin
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review the new season of Kin.
The Irish crime drama is back for another season that continues the story of the Kinsella family. They now find themselves at the top of the crime game in Dublin, but their triumph has incurred the wrath of an enemy even more dangerous than Eamon Cunningham, and where once there were unbreakable bonds of blood and family, there is now only suspicion, distrust, and resentment.
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Must Watch reviews Mary and George
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Mary and George.
The Sky Atlantic period drama follows the story of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham - the advisor and possible lover of James I. His rise to fame is orchestrated by his mother Mary, who plots for her son to seduce the king, in order to climb the social hierarchy at court.
Picture courtesy of Sky Atlantic.
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Must Watch reviews The Jury: Murder Trial
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review The Jury: Murder Trial.
The Channel 4 week-long series follows the restaging of a real-life murder trial in front of two juries made up of ordinary people, who then come to their own decision on the case.
Picture courtesy of Channel 4.
'You’re just thrown…
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Must Watch reviews: The Way
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review The Way.
The three-part BBC drama tells the story of an ordinary family caught up in an extraordinary chain of events that ripple out from their hometown of Port Talbot, where the steelworks dominate the landscape and the lives of the people there.
Directed by Welsh actor Michael Sheen and co-created by Adam Curtis, the political documentary-filmmaker, The Way taps into the social and political chaos of today’s world by…
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Must Watch reviews One Day
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review ‘One Day’.
‘One Day’ is adapted from the book by David Nichols. This 14-part series tells the story of Dexter (played by Leo Woodall from The White Lotus) and Emma (Ambika Mod from This Is Going To Hurt).
Dex and Emma meet at the end of their studies at university, and each episode looks at their friendship (with feelings) on the same day in each subsequent year.
Photo credit: Netflix
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Must Watch reviews: Mr and Mrs Smith
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Sioban Synnot join 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to review Mr and Mrs Smith.
The eight-part Amazon series follows John and Jane Smith, a couple who are secretly highly-skilled assassins, with their work testing both them and their relationship.
Co-created by American creative Donald Glover, who wrote and starred in BBC2’s Atlanta, and produces music under the name ‘Childish Gambino’, the 2024 series is a complex expansion of the 2005 film of the same name that starred Brad Pitt…