Gray makes his triumphant return to Geektown Radio for Episode 502, joining Dave to chat about ‘Slow Horses’, ‘Reacher’, ‘Neagley’, Apple TV comedy ‘Brothers’, ‘Star Wars: Zero Company’, the future of ‘Doctor Who’, and another packed week of renewals, cancellations and new commissions.
It has been around six months since Gray last appeared on a regular episode, although he did pop up briefly for our Episode 500 celebrations. He has been rather busy in the meantime, getting married, heading off on honeymoon, marking exams and becoming worryingly obsessed with padel. Apparently, this is his personality now.
He has also somehow completed more than 80 television shows during the break. We do not attempt to cover all of them, largely because everyone has places to be, but Gray gives us his thoughts on ‘Ludwig’, ‘Bookish’, ‘Vigil’ and ‘Lanterns’, along with his recent entertainment viewing.
That includes ‘Taskmaster’, ‘Mock the Week’, ‘Saturday Night Live UK’ and ‘Live from the Lycett Arms’. Unfortunately, the latter has not quite managed to recapture the magic of Joe Lycett’s previous live series, although both Gray and his husband have continued watching it anyway. At this point, it may qualify as a hostage situation.
Dave has been keeping up with ‘Slow Horses’ Season 6, which begins with someone targeting former members of Slough House. Even after six seasons, the brilliantly grumpy Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), remains one of the best characters on television.
There is also discussion of the latest season of ‘Reacher’ and its new spin-off, ‘Neagley’. The latter follows private investigator Frances Neagley after the suspicious death of someone from her past sends her down a dangerous path. Dave makes the potentially controversial argument that the spin-off may actually have delivered the stronger season.
He has also seen the opening episodes of ‘Brothers’, the new Apple TV comedy starring Matthew McConaughey (True Detective, Dallas Buyers Club) and Woody Harrelson (Cheers, True Detective) as fictionalised versions of themselves.
Their lifelong friendship is thrown into turmoil when Matthew’s mother, played by Holland Taylor (The Morning Show, Two and a Half Men), lets slip that she “knew” Woody’s father before he was born. Naturally, Woody becomes convinced the pair may actually be brothers. We cannot give you a full review just yet, but Dave has seen the opening episodes and thinks it is well worth watching.
Elsewhere, Dave has finished ‘Trigger Point’ Season 4 and wonders whether the explosive ITV drama has another season left in it, particularly with Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, This Is England) returning to AC-12 next year.
On the gaming side, Dave has now completed ‘Star Wars: Zero Company’ after spending 58 hours with the tactical strategy game. It is essentially XCOM set during the fall of the Republic, following a ragtag team of mercenaries drawn into a secret Republic operation.
The story and dialogue are strong, but the game can feel overly linear, its missions become repetitive, and some of the upgrade systems are rather uninspired. Dave still had a lot of fun with it, although waiting for a sale might be the sensible option.
Then we move on to the week’s television news, beginning with a slightly baffling cancellation.
Prime Video has axed ‘Ride or Die’, the buddy spy comedy starring Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso, Game of Thrones) and Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told, Hidden Figures), despite the series reportedly performing well and coming in under budget.
Industry analysis suggests it may have fallen victim to the current wave of so-called “white wine thrillers”, action and thriller series aimed primarily at middle-aged women. The argument appears to be that much of the target audience already has Prime for shopping, so the show was unlikely to attract enough new subscribers. Gray, who actually watched and enjoyed the series, has some thoughts about that particular line of reasoning.
Prime Video is also ending ‘House of David’ with its third season and has cancelled Romesh Ranganathan’s reality competition ‘Would You Rather? Decide to Survive’ after one outing. Gray did watch that one too, although “hate-watched” might be the more accurate description.
Netflix has cancelled ‘Sweet Magnolias’ after five seasons, but has handed its creative team a new family drama called ‘Ladies of the House’. ITV has also decided there will be no more ‘Nobody’s Fool’, the reality quiz hosted by Danny Dyer and Emily Atack.
There is much better news for ‘Slow Horses’, which has already been renewed for Season 8. The problem is that Apple’s remarkably efficient production machine is rapidly catching up with Mick Herron’s books.
Season 8 will adapt Clown Town, currently the most recent full-length Slough House novel. Unless Herron can get the tenth book written rather quickly, even Jackson Lamb may finally be forced to take a short break.
The BBC has renewed ‘The Walsh Sisters’ for a second series, while the US version of ‘The Traitors’ has landed another three-season renewal, taking it all the way through to Season 8. It seems Alan Cumming (The Good Wife, Schmigadoon!) has secured employment at a Scottish castle for the foreseeable future.
We also discuss the return of ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’, albeit in book form. Original creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have written Many Happy Returns, a new novel continuing Gary Sparrow’s story from the sitcom’s 2016 special.
The story finds Gary facing the arrival of The Beatles, which presents a slight problem after spending years passing off their songs as his own. He also manages to attract the suspicion of Ian Fleming before unexpectedly returning to 2016 and discovering he has a teenage daughter.
You can pick up your copy of the novel at idiotboxbooks.com/shop/
There are updates from HBO covering ‘The Last of Us’, ‘The White Lotus’, ‘Heated Rivalry’, ‘The Rehearsal’, ‘Big Little Lies’, ‘The Gilded Age’ and ‘Harry Potter’. We also size up the rather impressive line-up entering the castle for the second series of ‘The Celebrity Traitors’.
The biggest story of the week concerns the future of ‘Doctor Who’. The BBC has officially opened the tender process for a production company to oversee what it describes as a “new flagship series”, planned for broadcast in 2028 or 2029.
The broadcaster wants a fresh perspective while retaining the humour, spectacle, emotional storytelling and family-friendly scares traditionally associated with the series. It is open to both serialised storytelling and standalone adventures, and says it is not necessarily looking to continue with the strict showrunner structure used during the modern era.
Production will remain outside London, with the BBC expressing a clear preference for keeping the series in Wales. Established villains can return, but producers are being warned not to rely too heavily on the programme’s mythology. In other words, yes, you can raid the toy box, but you may need to explain what you have pulled out of it.
Lastly, we preview two newly announced dramas.
HBO Max has ordered 15 episodes of ‘How to Survive Without Me’, a family drama starring Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, The Flight Attendant), Joshua Jackson (Fringe, Doctor Odyssey) and Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle).
ITV has also commissioned ‘In Contempt’, a timely legal drama starring Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) as a barrister who specialises in protecting the reputations of wealthy clients. However, after making a serious professional misjudgement, she suddenly finds her own reputation under threat.
Finally, we run through the television highlights arriving over the coming week, including ‘Brothers’, ‘Not Going Out’ Season 15, ‘Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators’ Season 6, ‘A Different World’, ‘Boston Blue’, ‘American Horror Story’ Season 13, ‘Marble Hall Murders’ and ‘Blue Lights’ Season 4.
You can listen to Geektown Radio Episode 502 below, or wherever you normally get your podcasts.
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