And welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film
releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman
and Woman at Home magazine. And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV Satellite Week, TV Times and What's
on TV magazines. And today we're looking at the new releases that will be available on
Friday the 24th of January 2025, including Leo Woodle as a math genius
Apple TV Plus thriller Prime Target and Martin Clunes in the hard-hitting new ITVX drama Out
There.
And we'll also be checking out Disney Plus' crime drama High Potential starring Caitlin
Olsen as a sleuthing single mum, love it, and the return of action-packed Netflix by thriller
The Night Agent. But first Ian, what is in the news? Coming to ITVX next month, Legacies will
follow the next generation of supernatural beings at the Salvatore boarding school for the young
and gifted. What else is in the news Hannah? Well, a new Netflix sports documentary series,
Rafa, will profile Majorcan tennis superstar Rafael Nadal. Oh my goodness. Amazing. Well,
the theme for this week, if I had to choose one, Hannah, is Brainiacs. Yes. So we're going
to start over on Apple TV Plus with a new thriller series, which arrived on Wednesday, the 22nd
of January, is called Prime Target. And here's a clip. Who are you? People are paying attention
to you. Your work is the cornerstone to all digital security. Bank accounts, defense systems,
government records. Do you know how valuable, how dangerous you become? I want to help you.
I don't need help. Yes, you do. someone built a key that could pick every digital rock in
the world? We're talking chaos on a global scale. So we seem to be having a bit of a run of dramas
about high-functioning slightly neurodivergent people, don't we Hannah? In this one we have
Leo Woodle who was in the TV adaptation of One Day. He plays Edward
Cambridge University okay so I've got to say oh it's eight episodes by the way to drop this
week and then it's weekly he's not a very pre-possessing character he's sullen he's moody he's rude
he's pretty inconsiderate he's rather arrogant but he's incredibly good-looking so he kind
of gets away with it in my book anyway so he is where he's working on It starts in a rather
unusual fashion. It starts in Baghdad. And you think this is going to be a completely different
kind of series. A bomb goes off, and these people fall through to this chamber below. OK, and
you think, which looks very ancient. And you think, what's that all about? Then we go to
Cambridge University, people swanning about on bicycles, and the lovely David Morrissey
as Edward's tutor. who he doesn't really rate, he doesn't kind of think he's up to the job,
he's kind of testing him a little bit. So we see him having a kind of one night stand, treating
this girl who's clearly got a crush on him rather rudely, but yes we hear about his research
into prime numbers, and it becomes apparent that someone is watching him. So we've had
kind of maths geniuses writing on a blackboard before, haven't we Hannah? I'm thinking...
Goodwill Hunting with Matt Damon and later on in this episode we'll have someone else doing
a very similar thing. So yeah it's kind of about Brainiac Maths guy, his research for some reason
is attracting unwelcome attention so I enjoyed it I have to say I mean I love David Morrissey
he's terrific it's got Stephen Ray in it as well. Woodall is great in the lead role it's
an interesting premise so yeah. Recommended what does you think Hannah? Well maths has
never been my strong point I'm just going to say that it's always been my Achilles heel
always and You kind of it's like it's like a roadblock for me you know you just got to understand
it nearly always depends on that person teaching you and When I started to watch this I thought
oh gosh prime numbers remember those you know you could always what exactly is that? The
thing is with this is that? Even though I don't like maths I can appreciate someone who is
very good at maths and be a little bit jealous if I'm honest of them too. This production
is a classic Apple TV production isn't it? You know it's got, you kind of know you're watching
something from Apple because it's just the quality of it as much as anything. And I suppose it
is quite captivating the idea that people are still trying to find something that's groundbreaking.
why have we not already found it? And he's on the verge of finding a pattern in these prime
numbers which then has huge consequences. So it is quite interesting and I think if, I know
you sort of talked about other things that are similar but I don't think we've had anything
like this for quite a while in terms of that really sort of brainy, you've got to really
think about it. It feels like a different premise. So I think even if you don't like maths and
I don't like it simply because I'm not good at it and I'm incredibly competitive. Even
if you don't like it like me, I think you will enjoy this. I think it's got, it's multi-layered.
It's interesting. But I'm gonna say you've got to sit down and watch it. It's important that
you sit there and watch it. You can't be doing something else, I don't think. Over on ITV
One and as a box set on ITVX became available on Sunday, the 19th of January, and it's been
heavily trailed. It's a new drama series called Out There. And here's a clip.
It's okay, Nathan. Your secret's safe with me. How are we gonna get rid of him, Dad? Stop!
Please! Kill him. Sometimes in farming, you have to kill a healthy animal for the betterment
of the herd. Yes, so this stars the very brilliant and my favourite Martin Klund and when his
name's in something it's certainly worth a watch. He's just, I don't know, he's just great isn't
he? This is something quite different for him though because this is about County lines drug
dealing so really we've seen him I mean we've seen him in loads of things and he's brilliant
in loads of things but of course Doc Martin is probably the most current in our minds and
he's sort of he's that kind of unusual tricky awkward character In this he plays someone
different because it sort of deals with a subject, as I say, county lines, drug dealing, which
is absolutely terrifying. And if I'm honest with you, I don't think I knew an awful lot
about it. So I found this quite, you know, this educated me to a degree of kind of how horrific
and a horrible business this really is. And this is just a family of two. Mother passed
away. So it's just Martin and his son.
living together and he gets caught up. So I mean, I think the wife has died about two years
ago, really sad, really awful. And he kind of just goes, I suppose goes off the rails, but
when you watch it, you realize how easily you fall into this drugs gang without really wanting
to, and then regretting it, but not being able to get out of it. So. You know, Martin said
when he took this part, the reason he took it is because it was so well investigated, so
well interrogated, it's really authentic and I kind of believe that it is. It is action
packed, it is scary and I think any parent thinks they're sort of living out on the sticks and
it's absolutely fine and you know nobody can be harmed, you couldn't be further from the
truth. So for me, I thought it was, from what I've seen so far... again an absolutely brilliant
Martin Clunes piece of work and everyone in it to be honest with you and not only that
it shows a different side to the countryside than you've perhaps seen. What do you think
Ian? Yeah I really liked it and like you I'm a big fan of Martin Clunes he's very talented
I mean he's great at comedy but he's really good in this at straight drama and he's also
doing a Welsh accent which is not for the faint-hearted and manages it very well, yeah, so he's a Welsh
farmer called Nathan, and his son is played by Louis Ashbourne Circus. So as well as the
county lines thing, it also looks at how difficult life is for farmers. It's hard to make a profit,
there are big corporations coming in and buying up land, so that's also going on in the background.
Meanwhile, there's someone is flying a drone over his land. shoots one of them down at one
point. You think what's going on there? He breaks up a teenage party at one point with a shotgun.
The whole thing is given a kind of blue wash. It's really nicely made. It's actually made
by the production company that Clunes runs with his wife. I really liked it. Interesting subject
matter and Clunes is great in the lead. Over on Netflix, arriving on Thursday the 23rd of
January, we have a second season of action thriller The Night Agent. And here's a clip.
I cannot trust anyone. So you can watch this second season I think without having seen the
first but I did go back and watch some of the first season and it's really good. So it stars
Gabriel Basso as an FBI agent called Peter Sutherland and in season one after sort of a versing a
bomb attack he was given a job manning this White House spy phone that is only supposed
to ring in extreme circumstances. It did ring and then he got involved in a whole espionage
plot, which went right up to the top of government and politics and a threat on the life of the
president. So as we pick up in season two, he's now a field agent. That's kind of like his
reward. He's in Thailand, but spoiler alert, his cover is blown. And again, it's the situation
where there's a mole, there's someone on the inside who can't be trusted, therefore you
can't trust anyone. And so he kind of has to go on the run AWOL. I think Basso is great
in this because he brings, I think he brings quite a lot of depth, which could be a fairly
two-dimensional role. And he is, you know, he does get beaten up quite a lot. He suffers
a lot in this role. He's a real kind of action hero as well. Yeah, I think it's very well
made. The show runner for it is Sean Ryan, who made that brilliant series, The Shield. So
I just thought this would be another kind of by the numbers FBI thriller, but it was much
better than I expected and I really enjoyed it. What did you think, Hannah? It's, you know
what? I keep talking about this and I sound like a broken record, but I do think it's important
when you're investing time in these things to know that you need to, you know, this isn't
just something that you can just kind of jump in and out of. It is good, but it's quite,
you know, you've got to follow it, haven't you? And I think the whole conspiracy part of this
is what's interesting. You know, the idea of what's going on at the highest level of the
US government. dare I suggest it is quite sort of you know it's eye opening and the idea of
having you know thinking that phone would never ring and then it did I enjoyed what I've enjoyed
what I've seen so far but to be honest with you I think that it's not something I would
naturally you know go to and think do you know what I really want to watch this but I it's
definitely worth a watch but just you know put everything to one side and sit down and enjoy
it. We're going to finish on Disney Plus with A new crime drama series that arrived on Thursday
the 23rd of January is called High Potential and here's a clip. You're a single mom with
three kids pretending to be a cop. I am consulting. You got a dead body, you got to go.
Oh, this is right up my street Ian. I really enjoyed what I've seen of this. This is based
on a French series. It's 13 parts and it's set in LA. It follows the life of a single mom
Morgan Gilroy. She is a cleaner and she's absolutely brilliant. From the minute she hits the screens,
she just fills you with joy because she's got so much going on. Just say she's a single mom.
She's, you know, trying to keep everything going at home whilst also trying to hold down a job.
And she's just having great fun while she's cleaning up after other people and just going
about her business. And she's completely unfiltered. And I think that's what's really nice about
her. She just sort of gets on with absolutely everything. But she's cleaning in this office,
and it's where they're looking at sort of what's gone on with a particular crime. She gets involved,
they look back at the videotapes to see what's going on, and she's kind of changed some of
the people that she thinks are the perpetrators. And they look back at the video cam to see
what's going on and it's her dancing away and straight away you just adore this character,
she's so much fun. But what they realise and what's so brilliant is of course everyone's
like, who is this absolute lunatic? What is she doing? Why is she tampering with something
so important when she's here to clean? You know, kind of know your place. But of course actually
she's got this really incredible ability which is recognised by one... of the women at the
very top who says, you know what, she's got an exceptional IQ. We need her, she's working
things out. And so they take her on board, EQ her, seeing coming to a whodunnit crime scene
with a baby and a pram and just lots of, it's really funny in places and really silly and
really incredible and unbelievable. But it just has this sort of different vibe about it, which
makes it really viewable, you're really warm to her, it's a lot of fun and the fun character,
I don't know, it just puts a smile on your face, I really enjoyed it. What did you think Ian?
Yeah I really liked it I must say and it's that main character Morgan played by Caitlin Olsen,
she's just irresistible isn't she, she's got a touch of the Erin Brockovich's about her
because of the way she dresses. and as you say she's got no filter, she's absolutely hilarious,
she's a force of nature and we see her like her car's breaking down so she's on the bus
with all the kids and a shopping trolley full of groceries and yes and her getting involved
with the LAPD is where the clash of these two worlds and then the fact that she's just totally
herself in every situation but she has this great talent for spotting things, a bit like
Patience which we reviewed recently, she sees things that the police don't notice. So yeah,
unexpectedly I absolutely loved it. A quick round up of the rest of this week's new arrivals.
So a couple on Paramount Plus we have Beacon 23, second and final series of the sci-fi thriller
set aboard a space station. You also have the movie Star Trek Section 31 in which Michel
Yeoh reprises her role as Philippa Georgiou. On iPlayer you have Alan Carr and Amanda Holden
in Amanda and Alan's Spanish Job, which is a second series of their renovation show. And
on Disney Plus we have a six part political satire called Whiskey on the Rocks. This is
A Soviet submarine ran aground on the coast of Sweden and nearly sparked a very serious
Cold War incident that could have resulted in nuclear war. It's kind of in the style of Armando
Iannucci's work, particularly The Death of Stalin, and it stars Wallander's
Thorbjorn Falzinn who is trying to keep the peace with Leonid Brezhnev and President Reagan
rattling their sabres. So yes, I've watched episode 1 of that and it's highly recommended.
Now Hannah, we've got to that time where we find out what you've been binge watching over
the last week, so tell all! Well, let me tell you, I have been binge watching The Traitors.
I want to binge watch it more. I want it on every single night. It's not, that's annoying
me. I've even got to the point where I've watched it twice to see what more I could see. I'm
absolutely obsessed with it. How about you, Ian? Well, I haven't been watching The Traitors
because I still don't get what all the fuss is about, but I know a lot of people absolutely
love it. I've been watching, of course, a lot of documentaries, The Fake Grooming Scandal
on Channel 4. The Amazon review killer on Channel 4 enjoyed both of them. And they also had a
documentary series about Marilyn Manson, didn't they, and allegations against him. Now we've
just got time to look ahead to next week's offering. So what is on the binge watch menu, Hannah?
Well, I can tell you that Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter will play broadcaster Brian Walden and
former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Channel 4 drama, Brian and Maggie.
Apple TV Plus documentary series, Vietnam, The War That Changed America, looks back at the
controversial conflicts. So, we look forward to those and much, much more. But in the meantime,
listeners...