I'm hosting a new Twitter show called #What2Watch this week
Plus... "Chernobyl," "Love Island," "Black Mirror" and "Killing Eve” are things to look out for.
Hello,
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So before we crack on with the reviews, some news - I’m hosting a new show on Twitter with Dionne Grant this week called #What2Watch. Every Thursday at 8pm we’ll be reviewing the big releases of the week and looking to Twitter for reaction and recommendations. If you miss it, clips will be shared throughout the week on Twitter.
I see this whole show as a big experiment: TV listings magazines still have a place but it’s getting harder for them (and us all) to predict the next big global streaming hit, yet you could also miss a suggestion of a good show to watch on your social media feed. Is there a middle way? A show that mixes the old (traditional critic reviews!) alongside the new (Twitter curation! Bloody long threads!)? Let’s find out.
Oh and I’m still doing 5Live’s Must Watch every Monday. Subscribe to the podcast.
And it’s also a very busy week for television. Here’s what is on this week:
Chernobyl (final episode on Now TV, Sky Atlantic from tomorrow) - Now that I have watched the final episode in this five-part mini-series, I now believe this drama to be the best show of 2019 so far.
Chernobyl is a masterpiece.
The passion and energy that has gone into making a drama that captures the utter horrors following the 1986 nuclear accident bleeds through onto the screen. There are moments in this that I have thought about for days. And with so much emphasis on capturing what happened rather than relying on the context and adding a fictional drama on top, it’s making me wonder what other pieces of history we can do this for.
Black Mirror (Netflix, Wednesday) - I’m not allowed to give a review about this show because of an embargo, so all that I think I can say right now is that this is a new season of a show and that Andrew Scott has got a great agent.
Killing Eve (BBC One, Saturday 9.15pm and iPlayer) - It’s been shown all over the world before we could actually see it (annoying) but this Saturday we can finally watch all episodes of the second series. Is it worth the wait? I’ve watched five episodes and whilst it still has some stand out moments, it has dipped from the best thing on TV to just a good thing on TV. It appears to have a second season syndrome, a narrative that doesn’t exactly know where it is going. Still, very much worth a watch.
Hot Property (BBC Three) - I didn’t expect to love this show. It comes across at first as a copycat to Room Raiders, that MTV show where a person chooses who to date from just seeing their bedroom (with a horrible light that picked up duvet stains). Why I think you should watch is down to the host: Yung Filly. He is such a warm host and he brings out all of the participants out of their shell immediately. There’s also just something so great about snooping through other people’s stuff, to be honest.
And a reader suggestion from Chris Seal… “Quicksand on Netflix is definitely worth a watch. It’s about a girl involved in a school shooting and the build up to the trial. The thing is, you’re never sure how much she was involved in it. It’s in Swedish with English subtitles, but it’s worth the effort as it goes between flashbacks and the current day to explain what happened. Should keep you hooked until the end.”
And finally, a rant about Love Island (ITV2, 9pm forever) - Much has been written about this show, so I won’t repeat it. All I will say is that comments made the show’s creative director Richard Cowles last week really struck a nerve with me. When asked about the shows lack of body diversity, he responded: “Yes, we want to be as representative as possible but we also want them to be attracted to one another.”
It’s problematic for a number of reasons: it suggests that if you’re not a certain body type you are completely incompatible with someone who hits the gym. This point is then made far worse by the realisation that this show is aspirational as hell to a large number of younger viewers, and that this is the totally wrong image the show should be giving out right now about body positivity and self-esteem.
At a time when ITV has been receiving a lot of stick about how it treats its contestants on its shows, should it also think about how it treats its viewers?
Have a great week. And if there’s any TV you are loving at the moment, respond to this email with your suggestion.
Scotty x