It’s good timing that the weather is nice
There’s not much on this week, but there are some gems if you dig a little.
Hello!
Hope you’re good.
A shorter email this week as it’s my 30th birthday today and I’m trying to stay as much time off the laptop. I’ve written this BEFORE I’ve had the wine.
Here’s a few things (and a few reviews) for TV this week. There’s not much around tbh:
Apollo’s Moon Shot (Smithsonian Channel, Mondays at 8pm and on-demand) - This documentary series, telling you the story of the Apollo 11 missions from the *very beginning* is a very interesting watch for two reasons: a. You realise that the space race was a hell of a long one and
b. It consisted of a hell of a lot of failures before it all clicked into place.
There are also fantastic little stories thrown in.
Seemingly, NASA did not know whether humans would be able to survive in zero gravity so they filled a plane with cats. They took them on a flight to the edge of space.(They did not have a good time.)
Oh, and if you’re thinking, “Where the hell is the Smithsonian channel Scott, I’m not made of money?” I respond, “It’s a channel that you can watch on Freesat and Freeview!”
Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin - No, this is not a new show. It is (checks watch), thirty years old, but I loved watching this travel series when I was young, and I still love it now. This was Palin’s first big travel series, where he tried to replicate Phileas Fogg’s surface circumnavigation of the earth. The reason why I loved BBC Two’s racing competition series Race Across the World from earlier this year is the same reason I loved this so much… you feel the adrenalin come through from the crew filming it as much as the people in front of the camera, somehow pulling it all off. The whole series is available on YouTube.
Glastonbury (THE ENTIRE OF THE BBC)… Blahblahblah does anyone have a spare ticket? I’m not going to watch this it’ll only make me feel jealous. Thanks.
We are in the middle of a wave of great mini-series at the moment, but which one is the best one? As part of the Twitter show #What2Watch (which I host with Dionne every Thursday at 8pm). I introduced the ‘Should You Watch It Board?’ Each week I’ll be sticking on a show from hot to not so you know whether it is worth your time or not. You can see me quickly review the biggest shows of the year for you in a few seconds. The board cost me literally POUNDS to make.
By the way, the BBC broadcasted one the worst TV shows in years last night - Tonight with Vladimir Putin used CGI to imagine the Russian leader as a chatshow host, who then interviewed June Sarpong and Joe Swash for some reason. Don’t at all think that this is an indulgent ‘so bad it’s good’ watch. Far from it. It’s lazy, it’s arrogant. There’s a series of jokes about Meghan and her relationship with her father and her Kate that leaves the bitter taste. There’s even a cheap joke about Novichok, poor in judgement seeing that someone has died from it. The fact that these two pilots lasted just 12 minutes each, and were shown at 11pm on a Sunday, says a lot. I’d go further and say that this pilot didn’t deserve to be shown on television at all. I know, a bit dramatic, but it’s true. There are people who are more talented who deserve such airtime. I talk about this further on the latest episode of the BBC Must Watch podcast.
And a reader recommendation… Mum (on BBC iPlayer) from James Porter - “It's on its third season now. I have binged it all in about a week and a half, and I absolutely love the way it deals with losing a loved one and the hole it leaves.”
And that’s all for this week. As ever, I want this newsletter to be useful as it can be for you. Let me know if there are any shows you feel this newsletter should include. I love reading your suggestions. Have a great week.
Scotty x