TV Times

The Serpent
9/10

In the mid-1970s Charles Shobhraj is a gem dealer in Bangkok. However with his girlfriend and another accomplice he is responsible for the murders of scores of tourists. His crimes go unnoticed until a Dutch diplomat starts investigating the disappearance of two Dutch tourists.

After watching this I wondered why it had taken me so long to come to it. I wasn't aware of the story which is truly shocking and it wasn’t what I was expecting.
The performance of Tahar Rahim was great which will be no surprise to those that have seen The Mauritanian. I was hooked after about 30mins and remained so until the end.
There were moments in it that made my skin crawl and made my hands sweat. Brilliant series!

Quoted from Sandford1981

The Serpent
9/10

In the mid-1970s Charles Shobhraj is a gem dealer in Bangkok. However with his girlfriend and another accomplice he is responsible for the murders of scores of tourists. His crimes go unnoticed until a Dutch diplomat starts investigating the disappearance of two Dutch tourists.

After watching this I wondered why it had taken me so long to come to it. I wasn't aware of the story which is truly shocking and it wasn’t what I was expecting.
The performance of Tahar Rahim was great which will be no surprise to those that have seen The Mauritanian. I was hooked after about 30mins and remained so until the end.
There were moments in it that made my skin crawl and made my hands sweat. Brilliant series!

Thanks for the review. Looked at this a few times but always passed on it for something else. Will give it a go now.


This is going to hurt. 9/10.

On BBC Iplayer starring Ben Wishaw as a gynae doctor in the NHS, based on the memoirs of an actual doctor.

It's in turns sad, shocking and full of humour, dark and otherwise. Full recommendation from me.

Quoted from ginnywings

Thanks for the review. Looked at this a few times but always passed on it for something else. Will give it a go now.


This is going to hurt. 9/10.

On BBC Iplayer starring Ben Wishaw as a gynae doctor in the NHS, based on the memoirs of an actual doctor.

It's in turns sad, shocking and full of humour, dark and otherwise. Full recommendation from me.

My better half loved the book and loved the series too. Ben Wishaw is a talent!

I’m still on with The Americans and I’m currently on season 4. It’s right up there with my absolute favourite TV series.

Glad you're still enjoying it. I will probably watch it all again in the dark winter nights.

Under the Banner of Heaven.

10/10 Outstanding.

The series is based on the book of the same name and concerns two time lines in 1880's and 1980's Utah and the Mormon faith, which is known as LDS in the series, or Latter Day Saints to be precise.

It concerns the events that led to the formation of the Mormon church and draws parallels with a group of modern day FLDS (fundamentalist) disciples that want to return to the old ways of absolute control over the marriage and to be able to practice polygamy and blood atonement for wrongdoing. It centres around the Lafferty family who are ruled with a rod of iron by their father and patriarch.

LDS followers believe they can hear the voice of God who they refer to as Heavenly Father and basically they can say and do anything they like and say it was willed by heaven, with the church elders only being concerned with sweeping the more pernicious practices under the carpet and saving face.

These beliefs lead to some gruesome practices which are investigated by a Mormon police detective and his partner who is a Paiute Indian, and an unholy Lamanite to the Mormons, with totally different belief structures. The Mormon detective is played superbly by Andrew Garfield, who starts to question his faith during the investigation.

It was in turns infuriating, shocking and sad to see the lengths people will go to in the name of religion and just furthered my view that organised and indoctrinated religion can be very dangerous when it's used to justify heinous acts.

The truly shocking bit is that it is based on real events.

Thoroughly recommended.

Suspect
4/10

Veteran detective Danny Frater is called to a hospital mortuary to identify a corpse only to find it is his estranged daughter. Traumatized by the news she took her own life, Frater sets out to discover the truth about her death.

I would have given up on this after about 40 minutes but Mrs Sandford persuaded me to persist. I did and I wish I hadn’t. Very disappointing to say the least despite a very good cast. Something felt very ‘off’ about it for me.

My advice is don’t bother!

Sherwood
9/10

Two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history.

A brilliant ensemble cast of British acting talent bring to life a great story. I think we have a tendency to ‘do down’ our own productions in favour of the glitz and glamour of TV from across the pond. There are numerous shows I love from the states but I think this stands up to any of them. I’m sure people will disagree with me but myself and Mrs Sandford were fully engrossed by it from start to finish.

Quoted from Sandford1981

Sherwood
9/10

Two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history.

A brilliant ensemble cast of British acting talent bring to life a great story. I think we have a tendency to ‘do down’ our own productions in favour of the glitz and glamour of TV from across the pond. There are numerous shows I love from the states but I think this stands up to any of them. I’m sure people will disagree with me but myself and Mrs Sandford were fully engrossed by it from start to finish.

It's strange. TV from across the pond used to be garbage until the likes of HBO came along and the best dramas were made in the UK.

We are still capable of making decent dramas here but most TV companies fill their schedules with inane pap, because it is cheap to make and brings in the income.

I'll give it a look.

Quoted from Sandford1981

Sherwood
9/10

Two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history.

A brilliant ensemble cast of British acting talent bring to life a great story. I think we have a tendency to ‘do down’ our own productions in favour of the glitz and glamour of TV from across the pond. There are numerous shows I love from the states but I think this stands up to any of them. I’m sure people will disagree with me but myself and Mrs Sandford were fully engrossed by it from start to finish.

Agree with this - 9/10 from Mrs & Mrs Knut.

Not completely sold by the ending and I can already picture the second series being as far fetched and strung out as a Fabregas transfer rumour.

Cast was brilliant.

Barry.
9/10

Just finished season 3 of this, which is billed as a half hour black comedy crime drama thriller, and it gets darker by the series.

It centres around Barry Berkman, former US Marine and now contract killer, who wants to give up killing people and become an actor, but keeps on getting dragged back in by his handler, who is desperate to keep him in the gun for hire business.

It stars Bill Hader, who also joint created the show and also has Henry Winkler as Gene, Barry's acting coach. Gene can't get a gig because he is a colossal pain in the ar$e and has upset everyone in Hollywood, as well as alienating his family.

It's funny and chaotic and I have loved every series.

Thoroughly recommended.