1 00:00:06,466 --> 00:00:11,388 And welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film 2 00:00:11,428 --> 00:00:15,990 releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman 3 00:00:16,130 --> 00:00:21,493 and Woman at Home magazine. And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV Satellite Week, TV Times and What's 4 00:00:21,533 --> 00:00:26,455 on TV magazines. And today we're looking at the new releases that will be available on 5 00:00:26,535 --> 00:00:33,438 Friday the 24th of January 2025, including Leo Woodle as a math genius 6 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:43,758 Apple TV Plus thriller Prime Target and Martin Clunes in the hard-hitting new ITVX drama Out 7 00:00:43,798 --> 00:00:44,078 There. 8 00:00:47,246 --> 00:00:51,708 And we'll also be checking out Disney Plus' crime drama High Potential starring Caitlin 9 00:00:51,808 --> 00:00:57,911 Olsen as a sleuthing single mum, love it, and the return of action-packed Netflix by thriller 10 00:00:57,931 --> 00:01:04,974 The Night Agent. But first Ian, what is in the news? Coming to ITVX next month, Legacies will 11 00:01:05,054 --> 00:01:10,376 follow the next generation of supernatural beings at the Salvatore boarding school for the young 12 00:01:10,536 --> 00:01:15,987 and gifted. What else is in the news Hannah? Well, a new Netflix sports documentary series, 13 00:01:16,087 --> 00:01:21,890 Rafa, will profile Majorcan tennis superstar Rafael Nadal. Oh my goodness. Amazing. Well, 14 00:01:21,910 --> 00:01:29,915 the theme for this week, if I had to choose one, Hannah, is Brainiacs. Yes. So we're going 15 00:01:29,955 --> 00:01:37,699 to start over on Apple TV Plus with a new thriller series, which arrived on Wednesday, the 22nd 16 00:01:37,839 --> 00:01:44,829 of January, is called Prime Target. And here's a clip. Who are you? People are paying attention 17 00:01:44,849 --> 00:01:50,958 to you. Your work is the cornerstone to all digital security. Bank accounts, defense systems, 18 00:01:50,998 --> 00:01:56,025 government records. Do you know how valuable, how dangerous you become? I want to help you. 19 00:01:56,045 --> 00:02:04,803 I don't need help. Yes, you do. someone built a key that could pick every digital rock in 20 00:02:04,823 --> 00:02:11,446 the world? We're talking chaos on a global scale. So we seem to be having a bit of a run of dramas 21 00:02:11,506 --> 00:02:19,709 about high-functioning slightly neurodivergent people, don't we Hannah? In this one we have 22 00:02:19,829 --> 00:02:26,572 Leo Woodle who was in the TV adaptation of One Day. He plays Edward 23 00:02:30,834 --> 00:02:39,640 Cambridge University okay so I've got to say oh it's eight episodes by the way to drop this 24 00:02:39,700 --> 00:02:48,606 week and then it's weekly he's not a very pre-possessing character he's sullen he's moody he's rude 25 00:02:49,186 --> 00:02:55,110 he's pretty inconsiderate he's rather arrogant but he's incredibly good-looking so he kind 26 00:02:55,150 --> 00:03:00,918 of gets away with it in my book anyway so he is where he's working on It starts in a rather 27 00:03:00,958 --> 00:03:05,579 unusual fashion. It starts in Baghdad. And you think this is going to be a completely different 28 00:03:05,619 --> 00:03:13,262 kind of series. A bomb goes off, and these people fall through to this chamber below. OK, and 29 00:03:13,322 --> 00:03:17,563 you think, which looks very ancient. And you think, what's that all about? Then we go to 30 00:03:17,603 --> 00:03:23,125 Cambridge University, people swanning about on bicycles, and the lovely David Morrissey 31 00:03:24,125 --> 00:03:29,343 as Edward's tutor. who he doesn't really rate, he doesn't kind of think he's up to the job, 32 00:03:29,363 --> 00:03:36,125 he's kind of testing him a little bit. So we see him having a kind of one night stand, treating 33 00:03:36,166 --> 00:03:43,048 this girl who's clearly got a crush on him rather rudely, but yes we hear about his research 34 00:03:43,108 --> 00:03:50,211 into prime numbers, and it becomes apparent that someone is watching him. So we've had 35 00:03:50,251 --> 00:03:55,073 kind of maths geniuses writing on a blackboard before, haven't we Hannah? I'm thinking... 36 00:03:56,706 --> 00:04:01,810 Goodwill Hunting with Matt Damon and later on in this episode we'll have someone else doing 37 00:04:01,830 --> 00:04:09,256 a very similar thing. So yeah it's kind of about Brainiac Maths guy, his research for some reason 38 00:04:09,316 --> 00:04:15,882 is attracting unwelcome attention so I enjoyed it I have to say I mean I love David Morrissey 39 00:04:16,042 --> 00:04:21,827 he's terrific it's got Stephen Ray in it as well. Woodall is great in the lead role it's 40 00:04:21,847 --> 00:04:27,791 an interesting premise so yeah. Recommended what does you think Hannah? Well maths has 41 00:04:27,851 --> 00:04:33,295 never been my strong point I'm just going to say that it's always been my Achilles heel 42 00:04:33,415 --> 00:04:39,500 always and You kind of it's like it's like a roadblock for me you know you just got to understand 43 00:04:39,540 --> 00:04:44,763 it nearly always depends on that person teaching you and When I started to watch this I thought 44 00:04:44,844 --> 00:04:49,787 oh gosh prime numbers remember those you know you could always what exactly is that? The 45 00:04:49,807 --> 00:04:54,775 thing is with this is that? Even though I don't like maths I can appreciate someone who is 46 00:04:54,815 --> 00:04:59,038 very good at maths and be a little bit jealous if I'm honest of them too. This production 47 00:04:59,278 --> 00:05:05,162 is a classic Apple TV production isn't it? You know it's got, you kind of know you're watching 48 00:05:05,222 --> 00:05:12,167 something from Apple because it's just the quality of it as much as anything. And I suppose it 49 00:05:12,287 --> 00:05:21,733 is quite captivating the idea that people are still trying to find something that's groundbreaking. 50 00:05:22,162 --> 00:05:27,424 why have we not already found it? And he's on the verge of finding a pattern in these prime 51 00:05:27,464 --> 00:05:33,168 numbers which then has huge consequences. So it is quite interesting and I think if, I know 52 00:05:33,228 --> 00:05:36,589 you sort of talked about other things that are similar but I don't think we've had anything 53 00:05:36,609 --> 00:05:42,533 like this for quite a while in terms of that really sort of brainy, you've got to really 54 00:05:42,573 --> 00:05:46,915 think about it. It feels like a different premise. So I think even if you don't like maths and 55 00:05:47,535 --> 00:05:52,258 I don't like it simply because I'm not good at it and I'm incredibly competitive. Even 56 00:05:52,298 --> 00:05:57,141 if you don't like it like me, I think you will enjoy this. I think it's got, it's multi-layered. 57 00:05:57,841 --> 00:06:02,303 It's interesting. But I'm gonna say you've got to sit down and watch it. It's important that 58 00:06:02,323 --> 00:06:07,246 you sit there and watch it. You can't be doing something else, I don't think. Over on ITV 59 00:06:07,386 --> 00:06:14,210 One and as a box set on ITVX became available on Sunday, the 19th of January, and it's been 60 00:06:14,330 --> 00:06:20,053 heavily trailed. It's a new drama series called Out There. And here's a clip. 61 00:06:31,008 --> 00:06:34,533 It's okay, Nathan. Your secret's safe with me. How are we gonna get rid of him, Dad? Stop! 62 00:06:34,553 --> 00:06:42,704 Please! Kill him. Sometimes in farming, you have to kill a healthy animal for the betterment 63 00:06:42,744 --> 00:06:52,306 of the herd. Yes, so this stars the very brilliant and my favourite Martin Klund and when his 64 00:06:52,366 --> 00:06:58,189 name's in something it's certainly worth a watch. He's just, I don't know, he's just great isn't 65 00:06:58,209 --> 00:07:06,234 he? This is something quite different for him though because this is about County lines drug 66 00:07:06,274 --> 00:07:09,677 dealing so really we've seen him I mean we've seen him in loads of things and he's brilliant 67 00:07:09,697 --> 00:07:13,780 in loads of things but of course Doc Martin is probably the most current in our minds and 68 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:21,599 he's sort of he's that kind of unusual tricky awkward character In this he plays someone 69 00:07:21,639 --> 00:07:27,202 different because it sort of deals with a subject, as I say, county lines, drug dealing, which 70 00:07:27,242 --> 00:07:31,104 is absolutely terrifying. And if I'm honest with you, I don't think I knew an awful lot 71 00:07:31,124 --> 00:07:35,906 about it. So I found this quite, you know, this educated me to a degree of kind of how horrific 72 00:07:36,147 --> 00:07:43,991 and a horrible business this really is. And this is just a family of two. Mother passed 73 00:07:44,011 --> 00:07:48,573 away. So it's just Martin and his son. 74 00:07:51,768 --> 00:07:56,633 living together and he gets caught up. So I mean, I think the wife has died about two years 75 00:07:56,673 --> 00:08:01,218 ago, really sad, really awful. And he kind of just goes, I suppose goes off the rails, but 76 00:08:02,039 --> 00:08:06,884 when you watch it, you realize how easily you fall into this drugs gang without really wanting 77 00:08:06,924 --> 00:08:14,074 to, and then regretting it, but not being able to get out of it. So. You know, Martin said 78 00:08:14,094 --> 00:08:18,876 when he took this part, the reason he took it is because it was so well investigated, so 79 00:08:18,916 --> 00:08:24,157 well interrogated, it's really authentic and I kind of believe that it is. It is action 80 00:08:24,177 --> 00:08:28,819 packed, it is scary and I think any parent thinks they're sort of living out on the sticks and 81 00:08:28,839 --> 00:08:33,700 it's absolutely fine and you know nobody can be harmed, you couldn't be further from the 82 00:08:33,740 --> 00:08:40,850 truth. So for me, I thought it was, from what I've seen so far... again an absolutely brilliant 83 00:08:40,890 --> 00:08:47,173 Martin Clunes piece of work and everyone in it to be honest with you and not only that 84 00:08:47,273 --> 00:08:51,575 it shows a different side to the countryside than you've perhaps seen. What do you think 85 00:08:51,675 --> 00:08:56,797 Ian? Yeah I really liked it and like you I'm a big fan of Martin Clunes he's very talented 86 00:08:56,817 --> 00:09:02,579 I mean he's great at comedy but he's really good in this at straight drama and he's also 87 00:09:03,279 --> 00:09:10,430 doing a Welsh accent which is not for the faint-hearted and manages it very well, yeah, so he's a Welsh 88 00:09:10,470 --> 00:09:17,013 farmer called Nathan, and his son is played by Louis Ashbourne Circus. So as well as the 89 00:09:17,053 --> 00:09:25,837 county lines thing, it also looks at how difficult life is for farmers. It's hard to make a profit, 90 00:09:26,117 --> 00:09:30,919 there are big corporations coming in and buying up land, so that's also going on in the background. 91 00:09:31,579 --> 00:09:39,343 Meanwhile, there's someone is flying a drone over his land. shoots one of them down at one 92 00:09:39,363 --> 00:09:44,386 point. You think what's going on there? He breaks up a teenage party at one point with a shotgun. 93 00:09:45,047 --> 00:09:49,930 The whole thing is given a kind of blue wash. It's really nicely made. It's actually made 94 00:09:49,970 --> 00:09:56,935 by the production company that Clunes runs with his wife. I really liked it. Interesting subject 95 00:09:56,975 --> 00:10:03,400 matter and Clunes is great in the lead. Over on Netflix, arriving on Thursday the 23rd of 96 00:10:03,460 --> 00:10:10,505 January, we have a second season of action thriller The Night Agent. And here's a clip. 97 00:10:34,286 --> 00:10:42,291 I cannot trust anyone. So you can watch this second season I think without having seen the 98 00:10:42,351 --> 00:10:48,496 first but I did go back and watch some of the first season and it's really good. So it stars 99 00:10:48,756 --> 00:10:56,902 Gabriel Basso as an FBI agent called Peter Sutherland and in season one after sort of a versing a 100 00:10:56,962 --> 00:11:03,430 bomb attack he was given a job manning this White House spy phone that is only supposed 101 00:11:03,470 --> 00:11:11,735 to ring in extreme circumstances. It did ring and then he got involved in a whole espionage 102 00:11:11,775 --> 00:11:16,378 plot, which went right up to the top of government and politics and a threat on the life of the 103 00:11:16,438 --> 00:11:23,642 president. So as we pick up in season two, he's now a field agent. That's kind of like his 104 00:11:23,802 --> 00:11:32,507 reward. He's in Thailand, but spoiler alert, his cover is blown. And again, it's the situation 105 00:11:32,567 --> 00:11:39,753 where there's a mole, there's someone on the inside who can't be trusted, therefore you 106 00:11:39,773 --> 00:11:48,320 can't trust anyone. And so he kind of has to go on the run AWOL. I think Basso is great 107 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,924 in this because he brings, I think he brings quite a lot of depth, which could be a fairly 108 00:11:52,984 --> 00:11:57,368 two-dimensional role. And he is, you know, he does get beaten up quite a lot. He suffers 109 00:11:57,889 --> 00:12:03,261 a lot in this role. He's a real kind of action hero as well. Yeah, I think it's very well 110 00:12:03,301 --> 00:12:10,646 made. The show runner for it is Sean Ryan, who made that brilliant series, The Shield. So 111 00:12:11,227 --> 00:12:18,653 I just thought this would be another kind of by the numbers FBI thriller, but it was much 112 00:12:18,673 --> 00:12:24,297 better than I expected and I really enjoyed it. What did you think, Hannah? It's, you know 113 00:12:24,357 --> 00:12:30,002 what? I keep talking about this and I sound like a broken record, but I do think it's important 114 00:12:30,022 --> 00:12:32,945 when you're investing time in these things to know that you need to, you know, this isn't 115 00:12:32,965 --> 00:12:37,669 just something that you can just kind of jump in and out of. It is good, but it's quite, 116 00:12:37,889 --> 00:12:43,475 you know, you've got to follow it, haven't you? And I think the whole conspiracy part of this 117 00:12:43,535 --> 00:12:48,599 is what's interesting. You know, the idea of what's going on at the highest level of the 118 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:57,207 US government. dare I suggest it is quite sort of you know it's eye opening and the idea of 119 00:12:57,227 --> 00:13:02,691 having you know thinking that phone would never ring and then it did I enjoyed what I've enjoyed 120 00:13:02,711 --> 00:13:06,454 what I've seen so far but to be honest with you I think that it's not something I would 121 00:13:06,534 --> 00:13:11,618 naturally you know go to and think do you know what I really want to watch this but I it's 122 00:13:11,658 --> 00:13:16,943 definitely worth a watch but just you know put everything to one side and sit down and enjoy 123 00:13:17,003 --> 00:13:23,679 it. We're going to finish on Disney Plus with A new crime drama series that arrived on Thursday 124 00:13:23,699 --> 00:13:30,563 the 23rd of January is called High Potential and here's a clip. You're a single mom with 125 00:13:30,603 --> 00:13:35,625 three kids pretending to be a cop. I am consulting. You got a dead body, you got to go. 126 00:13:49,569 --> 00:13:56,434 Oh, this is right up my street Ian. I really enjoyed what I've seen of this. This is based 127 00:13:56,674 --> 00:14:04,880 on a French series. It's 13 parts and it's set in LA. It follows the life of a single mom 128 00:14:05,241 --> 00:14:11,175 Morgan Gilroy. She is a cleaner and she's absolutely brilliant. From the minute she hits the screens, 129 00:14:11,555 --> 00:14:17,056 she just fills you with joy because she's got so much going on. Just say she's a single mom. 130 00:14:17,436 --> 00:14:23,858 She's, you know, trying to keep everything going at home whilst also trying to hold down a job. 131 00:14:25,098 --> 00:14:29,800 And she's just having great fun while she's cleaning up after other people and just going 132 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:34,041 about her business. And she's completely unfiltered. And I think that's what's really nice about 133 00:14:34,101 --> 00:14:43,983 her. She just sort of gets on with absolutely everything. But she's cleaning in this office, 134 00:14:44,384 --> 00:14:51,049 and it's where they're looking at sort of what's gone on with a particular crime. She gets involved, 135 00:14:51,249 --> 00:14:56,774 they look back at the videotapes to see what's going on, and she's kind of changed some of 136 00:14:56,814 --> 00:15:05,083 the people that she thinks are the perpetrators. And they look back at the video cam to see 137 00:15:05,103 --> 00:15:10,545 what's going on and it's her dancing away and straight away you just adore this character, 138 00:15:10,565 --> 00:15:14,067 she's so much fun. But what they realise and what's so brilliant is of course everyone's 139 00:15:14,087 --> 00:15:18,969 like, who is this absolute lunatic? What is she doing? Why is she tampering with something 140 00:15:19,009 --> 00:15:24,431 so important when she's here to clean? You know, kind of know your place. But of course actually 141 00:15:24,671 --> 00:15:32,603 she's got this really incredible ability which is recognised by one... of the women at the 142 00:15:32,623 --> 00:15:37,687 very top who says, you know what, she's got an exceptional IQ. We need her, she's working 143 00:15:37,727 --> 00:15:45,554 things out. And so they take her on board, EQ her, seeing coming to a whodunnit crime scene 144 00:15:45,754 --> 00:15:52,059 with a baby and a pram and just lots of, it's really funny in places and really silly and 145 00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:59,565 really incredible and unbelievable. But it just has this sort of different vibe about it, which 146 00:15:59,625 --> 00:16:07,008 makes it really viewable, you're really warm to her, it's a lot of fun and the fun character, 147 00:16:07,028 --> 00:16:10,231 I don't know, it just puts a smile on your face, I really enjoyed it. What did you think Ian? 148 00:16:10,491 --> 00:16:16,076 Yeah I really liked it I must say and it's that main character Morgan played by Caitlin Olsen, 149 00:16:16,677 --> 00:16:20,400 she's just irresistible isn't she, she's got a touch of the Erin Brockovich's about her 150 00:16:20,420 --> 00:16:25,675 because of the way she dresses. and as you say she's got no filter, she's absolutely hilarious, 151 00:16:25,695 --> 00:16:30,118 she's a force of nature and we see her like her car's breaking down so she's on the bus 152 00:16:30,158 --> 00:16:36,401 with all the kids and a shopping trolley full of groceries and yes and her getting involved 153 00:16:36,421 --> 00:16:42,885 with the LAPD is where the clash of these two worlds and then the fact that she's just totally 154 00:16:42,925 --> 00:16:47,928 herself in every situation but she has this great talent for spotting things, a bit like 155 00:16:47,968 --> 00:16:53,475 Patience which we reviewed recently, she sees things that the police don't notice. So yeah, 156 00:16:54,575 --> 00:17:01,899 unexpectedly I absolutely loved it. A quick round up of the rest of this week's new arrivals. 157 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:10,124 So a couple on Paramount Plus we have Beacon 23, second and final series of the sci-fi thriller 158 00:17:10,644 --> 00:17:19,889 set aboard a space station. You also have the movie Star Trek Section 31 in which Michel 159 00:17:19,909 --> 00:17:29,232 Yeoh reprises her role as Philippa Georgiou. On iPlayer you have Alan Carr and Amanda Holden 160 00:17:29,532 --> 00:17:37,774 in Amanda and Alan's Spanish Job, which is a second series of their renovation show. And 161 00:17:37,934 --> 00:17:44,776 on Disney Plus we have a six part political satire called Whiskey on the Rocks. This is 162 00:17:50,666 --> 00:17:58,448 A Soviet submarine ran aground on the coast of Sweden and nearly sparked a very serious 163 00:17:58,928 --> 00:18:06,510 Cold War incident that could have resulted in nuclear war. It's kind of in the style of Armando 164 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:13,532 Iannucci's work, particularly The Death of Stalin, and it stars Wallander's 165 00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:27,363 Thorbjorn Falzinn who is trying to keep the peace with Leonid Brezhnev and President Reagan 166 00:18:27,723 --> 00:18:32,206 rattling their sabres. So yes, I've watched episode 1 of that and it's highly recommended. 167 00:18:32,586 --> 00:18:36,068 Now Hannah, we've got to that time where we find out what you've been binge watching over 168 00:18:36,088 --> 00:18:41,223 the last week, so tell all! Well, let me tell you, I have been binge watching The Traitors. 169 00:18:41,323 --> 00:18:45,646 I want to binge watch it more. I want it on every single night. It's not, that's annoying 170 00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:51,509 me. I've even got to the point where I've watched it twice to see what more I could see. I'm 171 00:18:51,569 --> 00:18:55,271 absolutely obsessed with it. How about you, Ian? Well, I haven't been watching The Traitors 172 00:18:55,291 --> 00:18:59,614 because I still don't get what all the fuss is about, but I know a lot of people absolutely 173 00:18:59,654 --> 00:19:05,377 love it. I've been watching, of course, a lot of documentaries, The Fake Grooming Scandal 174 00:19:05,617 --> 00:19:12,104 on Channel 4. The Amazon review killer on Channel 4 enjoyed both of them. And they also had a 175 00:19:12,484 --> 00:19:18,546 documentary series about Marilyn Manson, didn't they, and allegations against him. Now we've 176 00:19:18,586 --> 00:19:23,568 just got time to look ahead to next week's offering. So what is on the binge watch menu, Hannah? 177 00:19:23,968 --> 00:19:29,131 Well, I can tell you that Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter will play broadcaster Brian Walden and 178 00:19:29,211 --> 00:19:33,532 former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Channel 4 drama, Brian and Maggie. 179 00:19:36,650 --> 00:19:42,476 Apple TV Plus documentary series, Vietnam, The War That Changed America, looks back at the 180 00:19:42,516 --> 00:19:48,663 controversial conflicts. So, we look forward to those and much, much more. But in the meantime, 181 00:19:48,703 --> 00:19:49,123 listeners...