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Watched anything good lately?

Yesterday, we started watching The Office Australia, which recently dropped on Amazon Prime. As the name implies, it’s an Australian remake of The Office.

We’ve only watched 6 of the 8 episodes so far. My current view is that even though it’s getting an absolute slating on IMDB, I think it’s actually quite good!

Many of the characters are quite evidently inspired by those in the US Office (I haven’t watched the UK Office, but I imagine there are some similarities with those characters too), but one key difference in this version is that the equivalents of Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute are both women. Hannah Howard is the boss here, and she is actually quite funny, embodying much of the same humour and cringiness of Michael Scott!

One key thing I liked is that they have modernised the premise quite nicely and made the storylines somewhat different from the US version. A lot of remakes follow their source material very closely in their initial episodes, but they have made the storylines somewhat different here. The whole premise of the first season revolves around Hannah bringing her employees back into the office full-time and trying to meet lofty sales figures in order to save her employees from the threat of being made fully remote, which is quite topical and certainly different from the original!

Thus far, it’s a fun watch, in my opinion; I look forward to seeing how it develops!
 
Think I watched the first 3 episodes on Friday and enjoyed them.

Feels so far more in common with the UK version with its cringe levels but obviously that could change (as the US one did from season 2).

Will hopefully finish it off this weekend.
 
I enjoyed this tonight. It's an old archive series that's been added to iPlayer at some point, called 40 Minutes. The episode I just watched must have been from the early 80s or something, and the theme was a trip from London up to Scotland and taking in some random sights and peoples along the way. Very nostalgic old Britain type stuff with nice old footage. It looks like there are quite a few other episodes of different interest, so it might be worth dipping in if you're into that type of thing. It's called 40 minutes because the episodes all last around 40 minutes, apparently 👍

This is the episode I watched:

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Two - 40 Minutes, The Great North Road

Lucinda Lambton travels along the Great North Road, the backbone of Britain.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

This one looks like it might be interesting, about a biker gang from that period:

www.bbc.co.uk

40 Minutes - The Outcasts

Roaring through the streets in dirty denims and leather, The Outcasts present a menacing appearance to the respectable folk of East Anglia. (1985)
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

This is the available series:

www.bbc.co.uk

40 Minutes

Documentary strand
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
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Me and my parents recently started watching The Thick of It for the first time. As someone who is rather interested in politics, I thought it might be a fun watch.

Let’s not beat around the bush; the language is utterly foul if you’re even vaguely offended by such things. Peter Capaldi’s character alone (a government spin doctor, akin to a Dominic Cummings type) probably drops more f-bombs than in all the TV shows I’ve watched before put together, and it’s probably the only TV show I’ve watched where they use the really bad c word so freely…

But if you can get past that and aren’t offended by swearing, I do think it’s rather entertaining, and I am definitely enjoying it! We’re currently on the series where Hugh Abbot has just left the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship and been replaced by Nicola Murray as Secretary of State.

The thing I like about it is that the situations are so farcical that they’re funny, but in a way, you could almost believe that situations like them actually happen. For instance, the ministers sat together coming up with completely contradictory policy ideas, or the factory visit where the woman repeatedly yells at Hugh Abbot “Do you know what it’s like to clean up your own mother’s p***?”, or the Secretary of State “forgetting” that he spoke to two experts rather than one when dealing with the Select committee… the situations are farcical enough to make for brilliant comedy, but they certainly don’t lack believability either!

If you’ve never watched it before and you’re even vaguely interested in politics, I’d definitely recommend giving it a watch… although perhaps not if you’re offended by swearing or watching with younger members of the family!
 
Matt N said:
Me and my parents recently started watching The Thick of It for the first time. As someone who is rather interested in politics, I thought it might be a fun watch.

Let’s not beat around the bush; the language is utterly foul if you’re even vaguely offended by such things. Peter Capaldi’s character alone (a government spin doctor, akin to a Dominic Cummings type) probably drops more f-bombs than in all the TV shows I’ve watched before put together, and it’s probably the only TV show I’ve watched where they use the really bad c word so freely…

But if you can get past that and aren’t offended by swearing, I do think it’s rather entertaining, and I am definitely enjoying it! We’re currently on the series where Hugh Abbot has just left the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship and been replaced by Nicola Murray as Secretary of State.

The thing I like about it is that the situations are so farcical that they’re funny, but in a way, you could almost believe that situations like them actually happen. For instance, the ministers sat together coming up with completely contradictory policy ideas, or the factory visit where the woman repeatedly yells at Hugh Abbot “Do you know what it’s like to clean up your own mother’s p***?”, or the Secretary of State “forgetting” that he spoke to two experts rather than one when dealing with the Select committee… the situations are farcical enough to make for brilliant comedy, but they certainly don’t lack believability either!

If you’ve never watched it before and you’re even vaguely interested in politics, I’d definitely recommend giving it a watch… although perhaps not if you’re offended by swearing or watching with younger members of the family!
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I can't wait for you to discover "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister".

The Thick of It also had a spin off film, "In The Loop". The same characters as the TV series but mostly unrelated, also worth a watch.

As for Malcolm Tucker, he was entity based on Alistair Campbell.

I'm glad you're enjoying the series though!
 
The Thick Of It was amazing TV.

Think the Rise of the Nutters/Spinners and Losers double bill special was just amazing TV. On first watch Tucker looks like it's all falling apart around him, then on second watch you realise he's pulling all the strings to make himself indispensable.

In The Loop, is great and we get Capaldi and James Gandolfini going head to head (also very sweary).

Armando Ianucci also created the American political comedy Veep which is also very good.
 
Anyone watched The Jackal? May give it a go
Was disappointed with Cross on Prime

Also just downloaded Apple TV with a free trial? Any recommendations?

I’m into American political dramas / crime dramas mainly.

Also - watched on a long haul flight recently.

Rabbit Hole on Paramount is worth a watch!
 
As a government employee the scary thing for me is how close to the truth these satires get. Yes it’s definitely dialled up for comic effect, but so much of it happens or nearly happens. SW1A is another example @Matt N - not quite as sweary but in a similar vein and also worryingly accurate.

I also second Goose’s recommendation of yes minister and yes prime minister - BBC 4 tend to show them.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I can't wait for you to discover "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister".

The Thick of It also had a spin off film, "In The Loop". The same characters as the TV series but mostly unrelated, also worth a watch.

As for Malcolm Tucker, he was entity based on Alistair Campbell.

I'm glad you're enjoying the series though!
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The start of my degree in public administration type stuff.
First tutorial in political analytics and statistics*.
"Go to the media library, and make sure you have watched every single episode of both "Ministers" series. There will be a test at the end of term."
Those were the days, fifty pence a pint in the student union next door, halls a hundred yards away...well worn triangle for the first term.

*edit...subtitled "How to lie to the plebs with numbers".
 
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Jb85 said:
Anyone watched The Jackal? May give it a go
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I've been really enjoying it on now TV, the cat and mouse feel of the chase is pretty good, even if the family story isn't so interesting.

Jb85 said:
Also just downloaded Apple TV with a free trial? Any recommendations?
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Slow Horses is excellant.
Severance is interesting and season two will be along in the new year
The Morning Show is a bit soapy but still entertaining
For All Mankind is an interesting drama based on what if the Russians got to the moon first and the space race kept racing, each season jumps forward in time
Mythic Quest is funny sitcom in a video game developers
 
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