TV Times

Quoted from Sandford1981

Gangs of London
6.5/10

I feel like I’ve been watching a different series to everyone else as it I don’t see what the fuss is about.
There has obviously been money spent on it, the cast is good and it looks well. However, I can’t help but think a lot of it is violence for violence sake. The story lines are scarcely believable and are not strong enough to hold it all up.
I haven’t been to London in a while but how does anyone do their shopping? It seems you can’t drive a car without having an accident, the streets are awash with bad illegitimates with fully automatic weaponry and there’s no supermarkets because they’re all heavily guarded James Bond bad guy style lairs!
I found the country house and then the helicopter scenes laughable although they were executed well and looked good technically, they just didn’t fit and belong in a Hollywood action flick which is understandable given the show’s creator.
The tone and pace of it is all over the shop too and at times I think it’s a really elaborate urine take.
The most astonishing thing for me is despite all the above I haven’t stopped watching. Perhaps it’s coz I’m laid up on strong painkillers…I don’t know.

I'm going to disagree with you here - it was never going to be the Soprano's, it's an action flick broken into 10 parts but tbf I don't think that's communicated very well by most critics.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first series but won't be bothering with the second as I felt pretty much everything was wrapped up in series 1.

Meet the Khan's: Big in Bolton. BBC I player.

Currently into the second episode and really enjoying it . I've genuinely always liked Amir Khan. Achieved a lot in boxing and has given back hence in the series what's shown is he  opened his own gym in Bolton helping get children of the streets and  potential mischief into boxing which helps provide discipline and engages energy in a positive manner.  

So far his wife  Faryal Makhdoom has spoken  about marriage problems and how his relationship is stronger than ever now though which is encouraging to see . Nice she states how her husband  always has time for fans even on her birthday when they were out in Dubai in a restaurant. She also mentions media intrusion which twist and distort reality just for financial gain which has been hard on her family which is sad to see  .Likewise Amir took time out to meet a child in hospital who has suffered from cancer and made him happy by offering  advice from his time in boxing but apply's  to life eg keep fighting if you get knocked  down .

Has done really well out of boxing through hard work and sacrifice and I admire him for that. But as he says in the show it hasn't come easy and he never really had a normal youth eg training a lot and not going nightclubbing like his friends use to do.

Quoted from OddShapedBalls

I'm going to disagree with you here - it was never going to be the Soprano's, it's an action flick broken into 10 parts but tbf I don't think that's communicated very well by most critics.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first series but won't be bothering with the second as I felt pretty much everything was wrapped up in series 1.

My expectations were high for it initially (not sopranos high but that’s a ridiculously high bar anyway) and even when the first series lowered them significantly, I still found it all rather implausible and lacklustre barring the odd bits here and there.
I take the point about it being action especially given the team around it but,  the stylised violence and choreography has been done to death now and I’m not sure fits the context of the show.
Obviously it’s each to their own, I know plenty of people rave about it and critically  it’s done well but, it’s style over substance and just wasn’t for me at all.

Hunters 2
6.5/10

In 1977 New York City, a troubled young Jewish man bent on revenge is taken in by a secret group of Nazi hunters fighting a clandestine war against the cabal of high-ranking Nazi officials in hiding who work to create the Fourth Reich.

I enjoyed the first season very much despite it tailing off towards the end. But it redeemed itself in the final act or did enough to grab me again. So I was looking forward to the new series.
Overall it was disappointing and at times bordered on laughable. It’s a good cast and looks well but not enough to ignore the earth size plot holes or missed opportunities. There is definitely a good series in the material but unfortunately this wasn't it. What a shame!

Slow Horses 2
8.5/10

Follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve as a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes.

Everything I enjoyed about the first series is present in the second and I thought it was excellent. I absolutely love Gary Oldman’s character and there is some great humour in it too. It’s a strange old mix but for me it undoubtedly works. I am looking forward to the next series already.

FIFA Uncovered
8/10

From power struggles to global politics, an exploration of FIFA reveals the organization's checkered history and what it takes to host a World Cup.

I went into this 4 part documentary expecting not to be shocked or surprised . I wasn’t under the illusion FIFA was any different to most other governing bodies, institutions or actual governments. However, I was shocked and surprised many times over. Not only at the acts themselves but the lack of any real effort to disguise their misdeeds and wrongdoing.
These shysters could easily be tory MPs such is their disdain for the people they serve and it could quite easily be The Sopranos or Game of Thrones.
It’s a well done mini series with interviews with some of the main crooks themselves and centres around the FBI’s investigation. It was infuriating and made my urine boil but also interesting and revelatory. It’s definitely worth a watch.

Keep them coming Sandford, you have provided a few gems which I have thoroughly enjoyed!

The Battle of Chernobyl
7.5/10

On April 26, 1986, a 1,000 feet high flame rises into the sky of the Ukraine. The fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant just exploded. A battle begins in which 500,000 men are engaged throughout the Soviet Union to "liquidate" the radioactivity, build the "sarcophagus" of the damaged reactor and save the world from a second explosion that would have destroyed half of Europe. Become a reference film, this documentary combines testimonials and unseen footage, tells for the first time the Battle of Chernobyl.

I was flicking through Netflix and decided to have a look at this. I think we all know the story by now, especially as we’ve watched the absolutely outstanding ‘Chernobyl’ series in the not so distant past. This is from 2006 and like the series it is equally as heavy, depressing and hellishly scary. It really is the stuff of nightmares.

The Punisher
7.5/10

After exacting revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife and children, Frank Castle uncovers a conspiracy that runs far deeper than New York's criminal underworld. Now known throughout the city as The Punisher, he must discover the truth about injustices that affect more than his family alone.

I enjoyed this and motored through the first season which at 13 episodes is on the unnecessarily long side. I immediately got through the first 3 of the second and found that it’s very repetitive. Perhaps I’ll come back to it at a later point but maybe not. It’s very easy watching and entertaining enough for sure with that weird mix of cartoonish like characters but with gratuitous violence. A bit like Pennyworth and the Kick behind films in feel perhaps. Enjoy it for what it is which is bull5hit but for the most part enjoyable bull5hit!

Severance

A shady biotech corporation, Lumon Industries, uses a mindwipe medical procedure called "severance" to separate the consciousness of their employees between their lives at work and outside of it. The employees are carrying out seemingly mundane and a bit bizzare roles within each department with no idea on what the departments combined efforts produce, is it something completely immoral or just some weird cult? After one employee is mysteriously replaced his best friend at the company starts to uncover a web of conspiracy.

This was a brilliant watch which barely scraped the surface of possibilities in the first series and leaves you hungry for more. I'd file it in the sort if sci-fi but isn't sci-fi bracket but maybe a bit dystopian with a nice sense of humour running through. A real curious series.

8/10