Episode 250
Die Hard with Window Cleaners
Ian and Hannah review the biggest new films and bingeable shows on UK streaming services for the week beginning Friday 2nd May 2025, including:
Hoping to expose corruption, radical activists take 300 hostages at an energy company's annual gala in a high-rise building. Their cause soon gets hijacked by an extremist within their ranks who's ready to kill everyone. It's now up to a former soldier who works as a window cleaner to save the hostages trapped inside, including her younger brother. Former Jedi Daisy Ridley stars in high action movie Cleaner on NOW TV.
The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways in new Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons.
In London, July 2005, police hunt a rogue terrorist cell responsible for the shooting of a Met Police officer. This is Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on Disney Plus.
TV presenter Katie Piper meets the inmates at notorious New Orleans Parish Prison, and delves into their cases to uncover what drove these women to commit the shocking crimes they've been accused of.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms.
Speaker B:I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman and Woman and Home magazine.
Speaker A:And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV and Satellite Week.
Speaker A:What's on TV, TV Times and what dot com.
Speaker A: nd May: Speaker B:And we'll also be checking out Katie Piper's new US prison documentary series on you and and dangling off a skyscraper in Die Hard style thriller Cleaner on Sky Cinema.
Speaker B:And now.
Speaker B:But first, Ian, tell me what is in the news, please.
Speaker A:The Bob Dylan biopic Complete Unknown arrives on Disney plus this week.
Speaker A:I saw it in the cinema and it's very, very good.
Speaker A:It stars Timothee Chalamet.
Speaker A:And Netflix is going to air a rockumentary about one of my favorite musicians, PJ Harvey.
Speaker A:What else is in the news, Hannah?
Speaker B:Well, on another musical note, in Little Alex Horns comedy, the horn section is coming back for a second series on Channel 4 and that'll be streaming later this month.
Speaker A:Well, let's get straight into it with some high stakes action in a new film which arrives on Sky Cinema on Friday 2nd May and will be available on now.
Speaker A:It's called Cleaner and here's a clip.
Speaker A:Greedy, needy, cocky.
Speaker A:We're gonna shine a light on your crimes.
Speaker A:Cheers.
Speaker A:Great to have you on board.
Speaker A:Any attempt to gain access, the whole building explodes.
Speaker A:Someone got inside one of the cleaners.
Speaker A:Find them.
Speaker A:Put it down.
Speaker A:This has been compared to Die Hard and you can see exactly why.
Speaker A:So it stars Daisy Ridley as Joey, who is a former soldier working as a job.
Speaker A:I don't think I'd fancy a window cleaner on a high rise building.
Speaker A:Okay, so if you suffer from vertigo, this might not be one for you.
Speaker A:And essentially eco terrorists occupy the building because there's a big meeting of all the shareholders of this energy company that's been polluting and doing various other things.
Speaker A:They're led by Clive Owen and one of the chief executives of the company is played by my former upstairs neighbour, Rufus Jones.
Speaker A:But spoiler alert, neither of them sticks around very long.
Speaker A:So you have to have a good villain.
Speaker A:And there is one in this.
Speaker A:He's called Noah, played by Taz Skylar, and he kind of hijacks the eco terrorist operation and he has his own very radical agenda.
Speaker A:Meanwhile, because Joey was dangling on a cradle outside the building when this, this attack took place, she's the only one who can save the day.
Speaker A:It's directed by Martin Campbell, who directed Golden Eye, the Bond film.
Speaker A:And yeah, if you want a sort of high stakes action film, I think it's really good and it's got a little bit of human drama in it as well because Joey has this autistic brother.
Speaker A:So you see a little bit of their relationship.
Speaker A:So yeah, I think it's well put together.
Speaker A:Good baddies, a great action hero in Daisy's Ridley.
Speaker A:What did you think, Hannah?
Speaker B:Yeah, I thought it was a bit weird.
Speaker B:I mean, for me I just kind of.
Speaker B:I sort of understood it but didn't really have any real depth to it.
Speaker B:I mean, like you say, it's got the baddies and the kind of, you know, the action packed sort of element to it, but I don't know, I.
Speaker B:The premise of it is really quite basic, as you say, isn't it?
Speaker B:You know, window cleaner, I don't suppose the kind of the.
Speaker B:Her challenging day and the fact that she's kind of looking after her autistic brother and what comes with that and difficult.
Speaker B:But I don't know, I just, I kept feeling like there was a bit like a joke, there's a punchline coming here and there's a bit more to this and I didn't really get that.
Speaker B:That sent that sense of it.
Speaker B:It's not something that I think, you know what, I'm going to always remember that.
Speaker B:I mean, I have got a memory like a fish.
Speaker B:Anyway, so it'll be gone tomorrow.
Speaker B:But actually with this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I didn't think there was much to write home about, I'm afraid.
Speaker A:Fair enough.
Speaker A:Over on Netflix, it arrived on Thursday the 1st of May.
Speaker A:We have a new comedy series called the Four Seasons.
Speaker A:And here's a clip.
Speaker A:We've been friends for 30 years.
Speaker A:I love all of you.
Speaker A:All of you.
Speaker A:Plus please do not talk about your other hotter friend group.
Speaker A:It hurts my feelings.
Speaker A:I know, but that's so hot.
Speaker A:Are you guys happy of questioning that?
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker A:We sit in the same room monitoring different screens.
Speaker A:We're like co workers at a nuclear facility.
Speaker B:Now this is much more up my streets.
Speaker B:This is really quite funny, but also it hasn't under.
Speaker B:It's kind of.
Speaker B:There's sadness in it as well.
Speaker B:So this follows three couples who have been friends for absolutely years and some of us will kind of relate to this.
Speaker B:There are that Group of friends who then you meet your, you long term partner and you still all get on and you all still go away together and you know, it might be once a year or you know, a long weekend or whatever and this is them and they share these regular holidays.
Speaker B:But as time goes on, and this reminds me of something that happened earlier in the week in my own life with someone else that started to question their marriages and their friendships and their relationships and because one of them, one of the couples decides to divorce.
Speaker B:And of course once that happens, the whole dynamic of that group completely, completely changes.
Speaker B:And this is an eight part series.
Speaker B:So I mean, it's quite bingeable actually once you start watching it, I think you'll want to keep watching it because you want to see what actually ends up happening because every part of you wants this couple that's divorcing.
Speaker B:Well, I did anyway to get back together for the kind of equilibrium to be resumed and restored.
Speaker B:And it takes it, it takes a while because clearly ups, ups and downs.
Speaker B:What, what isn't helped is of course that there is another extra person involved in this and, and that makes it all the harder.
Speaker B:And I just think you, I don't, it makes, makes you question absolutely everything.
Speaker B:And I think certainly when there's been all that years, all that, all those, all those years, all that history between friends, it suddenly starts to make you question.
Speaker B:And also because this particular guy has gone and met someone and is living his best life.
Speaker B:You know, you hear of midlife crises, don't you, and people going off with younger people and what have you.
Speaker B:And it all feels a bit, oh God, yeah, here we go again.
Speaker B:But it sort of played out really quite well with real comedic value.
Speaker B:But also as I say, you come away thinking, God, I.
Speaker B:You can imagine it happening within a group of friends and why wouldn't it?
Speaker B:Probably, you know, statistically out of three or four couples, one of them is, will probably, will probably end up in divorce, sadly.
Speaker B:So I think it's quite relatable in many ways.
Speaker B:But that sort of funny narrative that underpins the whole thing works really well.
Speaker B:But I do like it when there's that, that very funny laugh out loud stuff, but also the depth of feeling quite sad.
Speaker B:And as I say, I do think it's relatable.
Speaker B:Thoroughly enjoyed what I've seen.
Speaker B:Ian, how about you?
Speaker A:Yeah, I enjoyed it.
Speaker A: And it's based on a: Speaker A:Of course, I'm sure I've seen that, but I don't particularly remember thinking it was superb or a classic.
Speaker A:But this is from the team behind the brilliant sitcom 30 Rock, which starred Tina Fey, who is in this.
Speaker A:And you've also got Steve Carell.
Speaker A:So you've got absolute comedy royalty from America headlining in this and it's very believable.
Speaker A:So Steve Carell's character Nick, while they're all on holiday together, he, he has a chat with his male friends and explains, you know, I'm unhappy.
Speaker A:I've been unhappy for ages.
Speaker A:I've got nothing in common with my wife, she's not interested in doing anything.
Speaker A:And I want to, I want to make the most of, you know, what time I have left.
Speaker A:And that's kind of understandable.
Speaker A:And then at the end of episode one, there's just a heartbreaking moment which I will not reveal.
Speaker A:So the script is, is good.
Speaker A:The performances are really believable.
Speaker A:They're great characters.
Speaker A:I actually think.
Speaker A:I mean, I think it's.
Speaker A:From what I can remember, which isn't much.
Speaker A: t's a huge improvement on the: Speaker A:And yeah, I really enjoyed episode one.
Speaker A:It's like a proper, proper grown up comedy drama about just everyday life, not rather than, you know, dangling off a building fighting eco terrorists.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I really liked it.
Speaker A:Over on Disney plus, arriving on Wednesday 30 April, this has had a lot of press.
Speaker A:Unsurprisingly, its new true crime series suspect the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Speaker A:And here's a clip.
Speaker A:There's now no doubt the man shot yesterday has no connections to terrorism.
Speaker A:We can't let this define us.
Speaker A:I can't stop thinking that all of the stuff they sent about John Charles isn't true.
Speaker A:So it's nearly 20 years since John Charles de Menes, who was a Brazilian electrician, was shot dead by police at Stockwell Underground station in London when he was mistakenly thought to be a terrorist.
Speaker A:And this is his story.
Speaker A:And you've got Conleth Hill playing Sir Ian Blair, who was the Met Commissioner.
Speaker A:You've got Edison Alcaide playing Jean Charles.
Speaker A:You've also got Russell Tovey as Brian Paddock, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner, and Emily Mortimer as Cressida Dick.
Speaker A:You've also got Danny Mays.
Speaker A:So it's a strong cast and it's a hell of a story.
Speaker A:And it starts off with the backdrop.
Speaker A:So it was the.the7.7 bombings in London and there was a really good documentary series about that on BBC iPlayer, which is, which is harrowing but well worth checking.
Speaker A:Out.
Speaker A:And it's all about, you know, eyewitness accounts from people who, you know, know, had to go back to the scene of those tube and bus bombings.
Speaker A:So we start there and it's sort of setting the environment that.
Speaker A:That allowed this terrible tragedy to unfold.
Speaker A:So there initially, there are the bombings and then.
Speaker A:Which is probably not as well remembered, there was a second series of attempted bombings which.
Speaker A:Which didn't come off because the.
Speaker A:The bombs failed.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So that's the background is, you know, London is.
Speaker A:Is absolutely gripped by terror.
Speaker A:There could be attacks at any time.
Speaker A:And this is the basis that police are working on.
Speaker A:And you don't get to the incident involving John Charles and the police.
Speaker A:I think it's sort of at the end of the second episode.
Speaker A:But when it arrives, it is absolutely shocking.
Speaker A:The circumstances of his death are horrific.
Speaker A:And we were told this story, we were given this narrative, oh, you know, he jumped over the barriers and ran away from police and then he confronted them on the train.
Speaker A:None of that happened.
Speaker A:He just entered the tube station, sat down on a train, and then you'll see what happens.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:It is utterly appalling.
Speaker A:And, yes, we see, yeah, various members of the Met and how they deal with the sort of the police response and the public response to the tragedy.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Yeah, and a lot of lies were told.
Speaker A:You've also got Max Beasley in this, so people might think they know this story, but.
Speaker A:And it's written by Jeff Pope, who works on Philomena, and Stan and Oli, which my upstairs neighbour was also in.
Speaker A:It's really well put together.
Speaker A:And, yeah, just the shocking truth that was covered up about the needless killing of this young man.
Speaker A:So, yeah, it's gripping stuff.
Speaker A:It's another.
Speaker A:It's another great drama telling the truth about a real life story.
Speaker A:And we've had a few of those recently.
Speaker A:And, yeah, I was gripped by it.
Speaker A:What did you think, Hannah?
Speaker B:Do you know what?
Speaker B:It's things like this.
Speaker B:I'm a bit of an ostrich and I'm burying my head in the sand and I try and almost delete things like this because it's just so awful, frankly.
Speaker B:I mean, it's just so awful.
Speaker B:And when you watch this, you will realize how much more awful it is than you originally thought it was.
Speaker B:Because, as you say, there was so much misinformation, so many untruths, and this innocent man lost his life with a catalogue of error.
Speaker B:And so, you know, seeing that play out, and as you say, it's sort of A bit further on that it all kind of happens.
Speaker B:Seeing the context of it all is incredibly, incredibly interesting.
Speaker B:But the bit that really hit home for me is the family of him who tried desperately to find out the truth.
Speaker B:Because I think when you need closure, you're in another country, it's very hard.
Speaker B:You might not speak the language, whatever those stumbling blocks are.
Speaker B:That information was very, very hard to get.
Speaker B:And I think that that must be just truly appalling for anyone who's lost a brother, a son, you know, whoever, not to have that.
Speaker B:And for me, that's what really, really massively hit home.
Speaker B:And all I can hope with something like this is that accidents happen.
Speaker B:We know that this just seems a catalogue of error, but also it feels very much.
Speaker B:Well, I hope that there's just been some serious learnings because no one should lose an innocent life.
Speaker B:It's as simple as that.
Speaker B:And, yeah, it's.
Speaker B:It's incredibly moving, incredibly upsetting at times.
Speaker B:And you learn so much.
Speaker B:You really do.
Speaker B:I thought I.
Speaker B:I'd read about it all at the time.
Speaker B:As you say, I'm.
Speaker B:As I say, I'm pretty good at deleting things from.
Speaker B:From my mind that upset me, but this brought it all back.
Speaker B:But so much more, so much more that I.
Speaker B:That wasn't reported at the time.
Speaker B:Yeah, definitely worth a watch.
Speaker A:Well, we're going to finish over on you where a new documentary series is available as a box set.
Speaker A:It's called Katie Piper Locked Up In Louisiana.
Speaker A:And here's a clip.
Speaker A:I'm Katie Piper and I'm spending a.
Speaker B:Month inside one of the most notorious jails in America.
Speaker B:A little bit nervous because there's always, always that trepidation of how are they.
Speaker A:Going to receive me?
Speaker A:Fifteen years ago, a violent attack changed my life forever.
Speaker B:They probably don't think that I've had an insight to that life.
Speaker B:I spent a lot of time thinking.
Speaker A:I should have killed him.
Speaker A:And since then I've been trying to.
Speaker B:Understand why people commit violent acts.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you know what?
Speaker B:Katie Piper is a real inspiration, isn't she?
Speaker B:She does a lot of work with woman and home and we're huge fans of hers, to be honest with you.
Speaker B:She was attacked, it was an acid attack 15 years ago.
Speaker B:And she has campaigned tirelessly for women and she has.
Speaker B:She's become a household name and she's just so, in my opinion, completely genuine and just somebody who thoroughly deserves to do well in life.
Speaker B:And this is a really interesting new, New walk for her, really new outing, because she is.
Speaker B:She goes to New Orleans Louisian, and she spends a month in a parish prison and it's, that's one of the most notorious jails in the U.S.
Speaker B:i, I find this kind of thing fascinating.
Speaker B:Anyway, it doesn't matter who's there, I have to hasten to add, but Katie Piper, having been through what she's been through and having to see someone that did that to her sentenced and, and what that looks like, and being through, you know, an act of, of criminality, if you like, against her, it has more, I don't know, gravitas, like, for me anyway.
Speaker B:And she spends time with women who are accused of awful, awful crimes.
Speaker B:And as with all these things, once you start to hear these people talk, lots of questions start to come.
Speaker B:Are, should they be there?
Speaker B:Was there, there a reason they did it, you know, were they provoked, etc.
Speaker B:Etc.
Speaker B:And there's one particular, I think it's the first, the first episode and she, and she meets a woman who is accused of killing her husband.
Speaker B:But what we say on the surface, she's killed her husband, she should be inside.
Speaker B:Of course she should.
Speaker B:She was charged with second degree murder and she, and that carries a mandatory life sentence there.
Speaker B:But once you start to listen to her story, she'd suffered a lifetime of abuse as a child.
Speaker B:She then suffered abuse at the hands of her husband.
Speaker B:And during one of those incredibly violent attacks, she shot her husband in self defense.
Speaker B:And that is why she is there.
Speaker B:And this is what I enjoy about stuff like this, because you go out with this thought, well, you've killed someone, of course you should be inside.
Speaker B:You are, you are a threat to society.
Speaker B:And then you hear the other side and you think, how many times is the law an ass?
Speaker B:Isn't.
Speaker B:Is that, that's the phrase, isn't it?
Speaker B:How many times is there more to this than actually meets the eye?
Speaker B:Should she be in there?
Speaker B:Should she not be in there?
Speaker B:That's the question, you know, should she really be that?
Speaker B:Is she a danger?
Speaker B:And that goes for so many different people.
Speaker B:And that's what this opens up for me.
Speaker B:This opens up that conversation of how many people are banged up, rightfully, wrongfully, whatever, but their stories and giving them a mouthpiece to say them.
Speaker B:I think it's incredibly moving.
Speaker B:I cried quite a lot, particularly during that one.
Speaker B:I don't know what you think, Ian, but I'm a huge fan of Katie Piper and I think this is great.
Speaker A:Yeah, I got so much admiration for her and as you say, because of her own shocking backstory, gives this real Authenticity.
Speaker A:Because, you know, you've got people like Piers Morgan visiting American prisons to interview serial killers.
Speaker A:But, you know, she has a genuine insight into the experiences of some of these women.
Speaker A:So most of them seem to be behind bars either because they've been in abusive relationships and they've fought back or because they've been addicted to drugs or a combination of the two.
Speaker A:And I did actually cry watching it.
Speaker A:What really struck me, apart from the individual stories, was the relationship, well, between the.
Speaker A:Between the inmates and also their relationship with one of the prison guards.
Speaker A:It's so touching.
Speaker A:So this prison guard brings in a sort of big Bluetooth speaker and they all learn to do a dance routine together with the prison officer.
Speaker A:And it's just.
Speaker A:And Katie joins in as well.
Speaker A:And it's just so touching.
Speaker A:You cannot imagine anything like that happening in a male prison.
Speaker A:You really can't.
Speaker A:So, yeah, it's.
Speaker A:There have been a lot of documentaries with celebs, you know, going inside high security prisons.
Speaker A:This one is really good and stands out.
Speaker A:And, you know, let's see Katie Piper.
Speaker A:Let's see her doing more of this kind of stuff because she's very good at it.
Speaker A:Well, we've got to that time, Hannah, where we find out what the hell you've been binge watching this week.
Speaker B:Well, we had a bit of a Saturday night in as a family and we watched Mufasa, which is of we when we talked about this, but it's the, like the precursor to the Lion King.
Speaker B:It's really very sweet and really very good and certainly one for all the family and answers a lot of questions.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:Oh, does it.
Speaker A:And where's that available, Hannah?
Speaker B:We watched that on Disney plus.
Speaker A:Super duper.
Speaker A:Well, I also watched a movie.
Speaker A:It's the Buzz Lightyear movie, the Buzz Lightyear prequel to Toy Story, which I very much enjoyed.
Speaker A:And because there's a new and final series of the serial killer you on Netflix, I was catching up on that because I'm a little bit behind.
Speaker A:And of course, our own Charlotte Richie, who I interviewed yesterday for a new ITV thriller that's coming up.
Speaker A:Yes, she's in seasons four and five of that.
Speaker A:And jolly good, she is too.
Speaker A:And yes, of course EW is on Netflix, by the way.
Speaker A:Well, we've just got time to look ahead to next week's offerings.
Speaker A:So what's on the agenda, Brenda?
Speaker B:Well, Ewan McGregor and Charlie Borman take a long way home as their Motorbike travelogue returns on Apple tv.
Speaker A:And we're in the court of King Louis XVI as French period drama Marie antoinette lands on BBC iPlayer.
Speaker A:So we look forward to those and much, much more.
Speaker A:But in the meantime, listener.
