Freddie Flintoff, Thailand, The Girlfriend, and Playing Gracie Darling

Ian MacEwan: 00:00:00

Foreign.

Hannah Fernando: 00:00:06

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 and Home Magazine.

Ian MacEwan: 00:00:17

th September: 2025

And Robin Wright directs and stars as a mother with reservations about her son's new partner, played by Olivia Cook in Prime video thriller the Girlfriend.

Hannah Fernando: 00:00:51

And we'll also be checking out Azara McDermott's travelogue T the Dark side of paradise on BBC iPlayer and horror series playing Gracie Darling on Paramount. But first, Ian, what is in the news?

Ian MacEwan: 00:01:04

Well, of course I have to mention that I'm very pleased that Grace Dent will be one of the new presenters of MasterChef.

However, in other news, Prime Video have announced that Sophie Turner will star as Lara Croft in their upcoming Tomb Raider series, which is created by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller Bridge. What else is in the news? Hannah.

Hannah Fernando: 00:01:28

And in the return of Disney's adaptation of Giddy Cooper's 80s set saga rivals, Hayley Atwell will join the cast as Helen, the former wife of dashing Rupert Campbell Black, played by Alex Hassell alongside Rupert Everett and her new husband Melisse, her ex's one time show jumping coach, of course. Lots of lots of fun there.

Ian MacEwan: 00:01:50

A superior selection for you this week, I would say. A couple of documentary series, a new horror drama and a new thriller. We're going to start with the first of two on BBC iPlayer.

It is Freddy Flintoff's Field of Dreams Ultimate Test and here's a clip. We've had injuries and in between everything we've had some half decent cricket.

Hannah Fernando: 00:02:23

I've got no idea how this is going to go.

Ian MacEwan: 00:02:25

Why can't we do this again on a bigger scale with two or three different places all at the same time? What could possibly go wrong?

Hannah Fernando: 00:02:32

So much for a team, isn't it?

Ian MacEwan: 00:02:34

You just got to prove it works.

Andrew Freddie Flintoff, former England cricketer, former Top Gear presenter and award winning documentary maker, thanks to his series Field of Dreams, which if you haven't seen it, there've been two series. First of all, he went to his hometown of Preston and assembled a team of youngsters to try and make them fall in love with Cricket.

And then in the second series he took them on a cricket tour to India. Amazing. In the interim, of course, he had his very serious car crash, which you can still see the sort of facial scarring that came from that.

Anyway, yes, he won an award.

You see at the beginning of this, he's mentioned in the House of Commons by Rishi Sunak praising his work and he's coming back to try and enthuse more youngsters. This time he's going to Bootle on Merseyside and Blackpool where he's going to assemble his first girls team and Manchester.

I loved the first two series of this.

It's one of those, it's just one of those subjects that I find incredibly moving because these youngsters, particularly when he goes to Bootle, a lot of these kids are from a pupil referral unit.

So yeah, they're challenging to work with, they've got problems, but it's just, I mean they're great kids and it's just so delightful to see them, you know, after all the mucking about being in this team and learning how to play cricket together is. It just has such an impact on them and on their relationships as a group. And for their first, they can't wait to actually play a game.

They're getting quite bored with all the coaching.

But the first game they're going to play is against the original Preston team that Freddy put together in his first series and they've now been playing together with for three years. So yeah, it's great to see the more experienced team taking on these, these rookies.

It's also interesting to see Freddie working with, with girls because he admits, you know, he's never done that before.

And in this series kind of progress is interrupted by something else because Freddie is appointed to coach the second tier England cricket team who are called the Lions. So yeah, there's that complication as well. He's got a great team around him though.

d in the England team for the: 2025

So this is just a delightful series and if you're kind of interested in teenagers and how they, you know, challenges they face and, and how to kind of how to inspire them and how to relate them in a way that isn't kind of bossing them about or being patronizing. And Freddie is just so natural with him.

I feel he's just, they can relate to him none of them know who he is, but unless they watch Top Gear, you know. But they don't know anything about his sort of cricket, his amazing cricket career. But, yeah, it really is.

It's a delightful series and I. I'm so pleased to see it back. It's. It's terrific. What do you think, Hannah?

Hannah Fernando: 00:06:21

Well, Ian, the thing with Freddie Flintoff is that I just adore him. I think he's absolutely brilliant. So anything that he's involved in, I want to watch. It's as simple as that, really. But this is.

This is a little bit different, really, isn't it? I suppose, to a degree. He's been through a really sort of tempestuous, difficult time in his life of late, with everything that's. That's happened.

And this is kind of bringing him back to his roots almost. It's doing what he loves the most, what he was known for, his cricket.

And I think one of the most likable, engaging things about Freddie is the fact that he is able to talk so openly and be so accountable for some of his actions, which are well publicized and made a number of column inches over the years. And he's kind of. He's unapologetic in who he is, isn't he?

And it's been a real journey for him, which we've kind of, rightly or wrongly, been there for every step of the way. And, I mean, he was even praised in the House of Commons for his amazing work promoting the sport he loves in field of dreams.

And he seeing him set up a youth team and then take those lads on tour in India is absolutely incredible. This is a bit different because it's a female team.

And again, I think that dynamic's really interesting too, and you might hook in some different viewers just watching, but he is the pull here because he's just so real and he's so passionate and his adoration for a sport knows no bounds, really. And it's unusual, I think, these days with the massive price tags.

You know, I'm thinking of football probably more so that sportsmen, sportswomen get paid, or sportsmen more so, I should say, actually, to see somebody who just has that very raw talent and want, ability, capability and love for it is just a joy. So absolutely worth watching.

Ian MacEwan: 00:08:23

Well, brace yourselves, folks, because our next offering is hot stuff. It's a. It's a new drama series on Prime Video. It's remarkable. It's called the Girlfriend, and here's a clip.

Hannah Fernando: 00:08:38

I've never seen Daniel so happy. Oh, to be like her jury's out. Mum. What is wrong with love having someone who has money? They'll never marry you. I'd be careful if I were you.

Ian MacEwan: 00:08:55

He doesn't even know who you are.

Hannah Fernando: 00:09:00

Now. Ian, where do I start? With the girlfriend.

There's that saying, isn't it, about a daughter being yours for life, but your son being only yours till he meets his wife or something like that. I'm sure you'll know better exactly what it is, but we all know of those mums who have have an incredibly amazing relationship with their son.

I have two girls so, you know, I don't necessarily talk with experience of a relationship with a boy, but I think from friends who have got boys it is sort of different. Doesn't mean you love them anymore or any less, it's just, it's just a different experience.

And this really brings to life quite a creepy version of events, I should say because this mother is a close bond with her only son. So, you know, even more intense. Looks set to be blown apart when he meets a very strong willed woman. It's on Prime Video.

You know, I love Prime Video. And it is a kind of psychological thriller.

It's a six parter, it features Robin Wright who also wrote it and is also, you'll probably remember her from Forrest Gump. If you love Forrest Gump, you'll know exactly who she is. But. So her son Daniel, played by Laurie Davidson, starts to date a girl called Cherry.

She's played by the House of Dragons, Olivia Cook. She's a really strong kind of woman.

But these two women straight away are sort of up against each other, vying for his attention, his affection and he's just this. I mean, they've got a perfect life, right?

Laura, she owns a London based gallery, she's done very well for herself and her only son is, you know, is a doctor. He's also an overachiever and they have an amazing life.

And Cherry doesn't come from that sort of background, she's a working class woman but she knows what she wants, she's got a lot of ambition and it's arguably reflected in who she dates and who she wants to date. And you can see these women, just women just coming up against each other until Daniel is stuck in the middle.

And at first it just all seems perhaps largely a bit normal where two women are kind of weighing each other up, you know, is he right for my son? Is he not? You know, et cetera, et cetera.

But it takes the dark, horrible turns and the brilliant thing about this is that you never know whose side you're on. So one minute you're thinking, oh, my God, Cherry is just the wrong woman for him. She's just using him, she just wants him for the money.

And then on the other hand, you think the mum is just incredibly overbearing.

And then there's some sort of creepy, weird sexually stuff that goes on in as much as Cherry is kissing him in one scene and the mother walks in, they kind of look at each other and she just carries on. I mean, most people would jump out of bed, pull the covers over them. Sheer embarrassment. It's like they're getting off on that.

And then there's a kind of weird scene in the pool where mother and son are kind of playing each other and, you know, wrestling around and it's just a little bit too, too close. I don't know whether it's the way it's been set up, but this is edge of your seat stuff. It's.

This is called binge watch and this is absolutely binge watchable. You just can't stop watching it. You almost want to put it on fast because you just want to see exactly what happens at the end.

It's absolutely brilliant. What do you think, Ian?

Ian MacEwan: 00:12:26

Paging Dr. Freud. Oh, it's great. I absolutely loved it. And it's directed by Robin Wright, I believe. And Robin and Olivia Cook are both superb in it.

Just battling the mother in law and the prospective daughter in law, Olivia Cook. I've not really seen her in anything else previously. Yeah, she was in House of the Dragon, but she is a force of nature in this. She is terrific.

And they've done a clever thing. So in episode one, it's like Meet the parents. So she comes.

I mean, there's a lot of property porn in this, you have to say, because Sherry works for like a high end estate agent or they keep calling it real estate, don't they? And Laura, who is Daniel's mum, played by Robin Wright, she lives in this huge house. I mean, it looks absolutely ginormous, doesn't it?

Because all the interior, the amazing interiors and it's full of artworks. Anyway, it's quite clever.

So Jerry comes to dinner and so we see that all play out from the perspective of the mother and then we see it all again playing out from the perspective of Cherry and how, you know, different people can kind of experience the same thing in slightly different ways or kind of read in intention or whatever. It's really well done. But it's all about the women because I do think Daniel is Just a bit of a dick really, isn't he?

But, but the chemistry, but, but the chemistry between them when they meet, that she's showing him a property and you can tell they just want to immediately rip each other's clothes off. Well, which they do. But yeah. Little note, maybe when you go to your first dinner party at your boyfriend's parents house. Well, actually I'm.

No, I'm not going to spoil it. Something happens which perhaps doesn't create the best first impression. And yes, the end of episode one.

So she's also, she's got an ex boyfriend, I think an ex fiance maybe anyway, who is now getting married to someone else and there's real bad blood there. And that relates to the shocking conclusion to the first episode which is just, it's. Oh my goodness me, it is good stuff.

So, yeah, absolutely loved it and as you say, yeah, utterly bingeable. Next up, a new Aussie horror drama series and a hard hitting Thailand Travelogue from Zara McDermott. After this, we're moving across to Paramount.

Plus now for a new horror drama series called Playing Gracie Darling. And here's a clip I wanted to make sure you'd heard, Edward.

Hannah Fernando: 00:15:26

Another darling girl's gone missing. Just like Gracie. It's like it's happening again. Hi, I'm Joanie. I am a psychologist working with Sergeant Rajeshwaran. There's no trace of her.

Her phone's off. She hasn't turned up at any of the hospitals. Frankie. Frankie, what's playing? Gracie Darling.

Gracie Darling, that girl that disappeared back in the 90s. Something is happening in this place. Something evil.

Ian MacEwan: 00:16:01

This is six parter. It starts with some teenagers having a seance with a Ouija board in a creepy abandoned property. So sign me up. Anything like that. Yes.

stance it was a seance in the: 1990

And her friend Joni was 14 at the time. We now catch up with Joni when she's grown up. She's an adult, she's working as a child psychologist. Okay.

But one of the other people at the seance is called Jay, who is now a police officer in her hometown. And another young girl has vanished in similar circumstances.

And there's a game that teenagers play called Gracie Darling, the name of the original girl who vanished. So teens are still doing this, this creepy game in, you know, it's good stuff, I love it. It's got some Dame Harriet Walter.

Yes, as Joanie's mum and it's an Aussie drama. I do think that Morgana O'Reilly who is like so many people, is in the White Lotus. She's terrific as Joanie. I think she's something.

She's got a real presence and yeah, I enjoyed it. I like anything to do with creepy seances that go horrifically wrong. So yeah, I'm in.

Hannah, you must have, you must have done this kind of thing when you were a teen. This is absolutely. This is classic Fernando, surely.

Hannah Fernando: 00:17:58

Well, you are right, Ian. I have dabbled in things I shouldn't have dabbled with. I do hope my mother is not listening. But lots of people have, haven't they? They.

And it is kind of creepy.

And I can tell you that one event that I, that I was doing things I shouldn't be doing, I did ask for all of, or somebody did ask for all of the pumpkins that were carved out at the time with candles to all be blown out. And they all went out and nobody stood up and blew them out. That's really creepy, isn't it?

I think everybody or most people have a little bit of a fascination with something that they don't necessarily know about. And of course you've got really strong believers that there are spirits, others that don't, you know, who, from my perspective, who knows.

But in that, that experience it showed me that something else could be around. So this is kind of things that we just hope our children don't mess with because you never know. And of course this is a horror drama.

So this really capitalizes on that unknown. And that's the point isn't that's what makes you jump, that's.

It's the unknown, it's what's not known behind the door that jumps out at you or have you or the dark and you can't see what's there. And this really capitalizes on that. So as you say, the child psychologist forced to confront this horrific incident from her teenage past.

And I don't know, it's.

I found it really, I found it really interesting actually as well as really creepy because as it taps into a kind of an area that a lot of people are interested but you know, when people go missing, you start to really kind of really freak you out, doesn't it?

And now the fact that she's the Johnny's now working as a child psychologist, I don't know what makes us do it, what makes us go and do these things, what makes us interested I don't know, but it's scary and really good. I think it's absolutely worth a watch. With Halloween nearing not in too distant future, we're gearing up for a scary season.

Ian MacEwan: 00:19:58

We're going to return to BBC iPlayer for our last selection, which is a three part documentary series called the Dark side of Paradise. And here's a clip.

Hannah Fernando: 00:20:13

Everyone is coming to Thailand. It's luxury. This is a dream, isn't it? I want to stop into the world, an escapism.

Ian MacEwan: 00:20:19

Take Benidorm on steroids.

Hannah Fernando: 00:20:21

But one wrong move could put you in real trouble real fast. My brother was murdered. It wasn't an accident. You're not only free to be a man, you're encouraged to do so.

Ian MacEwan: 00:20:31

As long as you've got enough money.

Hannah Fernando: 00:20:32

You get away with anything here. Been in Thailand less than 24 hours and I've nearly got arrested. Now, lots of people are Fans of Zara McDermott.

She was on Love island and she has a huge, huge fan base. And this is a new documentary series which sees her visiting Thailand and kind of exposing the, the darker side of Thailand, I'm sure.

I mean, I actually haven't been to Thailand. I'd love to go and lots of my friends have gone and just rave about it, how brilliant it is and of course the scenery is absolutely beautiful.

But with every country there is probably a flip side to that. And this is where Zara is and I wrote a few notes down when I was watching this because I found absolutely captivating.

And it doesn't matter who presented this, I think Zara does a very good job, I hasten to add.

But actually because she's just so shocked at what she sees and that comes across very authentically and, and she's incredibly genuine in her approach to this. But it really, it really shocked me for a number of different reasons.

And one of the ways they described it was Thailand as a hedonistic paradise for Brits abroad. And of course, you know, Ian, we are both in the game of editing.

You know, we can edit content, we can edit things and this will be highly edited and you'll see, you know, what we're shown.

But you can't make up this video footage which of course the police in Thailand, despite the film crew having documentation and for paying for a license to film, were escorted out of areas. People were getting really quite cross about it. What? Somebody got an ash.

One of the producers, one of the, one of the filmers were, were had an ashtray thrown at the head. It got quite nasty in places.

And you saw a very, very different approach, but also the sort of people that are flooding, leaving, flooding there and leaving our country or other countries. So it sort of starts at the beginning with this, as I say, quite hedonistic paradise. Lots of music in the streets, a lot of fun.

You see the hostels, which are largely very well kitted out for a very cheap amount of money per night, I think under 40 quid a night.

If you're in En Su, there's a bar restaurant within the hostels and then there are people that are paid to look after you, make sure you have a great time. You can see the shots being done. Really. It's sort of mobs on. Or Ibiza on steroids, I suppose, to a degree, those kind of.

But those places seem to be kind of ebbing into the background now, when places like Thailand offer a cheaper and perhaps in some situations, some instances a better proposition. But it does it actually when you get there. And Zara McDermott spends a lot of time interviewing various different people.

Now, prostitution is illegal there, but. And there's. But there's an area where this is clearly happening. They did have permission to film, as I say, but the police forced them out.

They followed them back to their van. It got really quite horrible. They wanted them to delete the footage that they got.

And they were threatening to arrest some of the team, which was, you know, really quite scary. And you can see Zara, who the camera's on pretty much all the time. Her eyes are like saucers at times. You just can't believe what she's seeing.

But there's. I think, as I say, there's lots of things that sort of shocked me about this. I think a.

There's the darker side that we don't see, but there's much darker than that. You know, we. We all know some of that perhaps goes on, but there's a darker side in that. There are influences. There are.

There are channels set up of people that create content to try and get people to. To go over there to give up their lives and to go to Thailand. And that. There's a guy in. I think it's the episode two.

There are three episodes here called Mac. He's 30 and he's originally from Staffordshire, and he puts together these virtual guides to Thailand's sex industry.

He shows people how to negotiate with the women. Top mistakes to avoid in certain bars. And he's somewhat of a celebrity over there. People actually recognize him in the streets.

Older men who have watched him and think they know what to do. There are ideas of how to become a, you know, a real man, a real relationship, a real husband. What does that even mean?

It's really quite grim in places. Of course, there's also footage of people that have gone missing in Thailand, which is really, really frightening.

She interviews people around that too. There are people going out there for a different life to make money. One of the guys that she interviews is making ten grand a month.

He lives in an incredible apartment and just is living the dream. There's no way that he could do that in this country and absolutely loves his life over there. But what does the other side look like?

They can walk into any bar, anytime, the police, and ask for a drugs test. You need to give urine. It feels. It feels corrupt in places of this, the way it's kind of portrayed.

And it's moody music, as I say, you know, it's edited. We know that. But it certainly gives you a real insight into paradise, because I certainly would love to go to Thailand.

And the backdrop is absolutely beautiful. But the. The sex tourism is really probably what this massively focuses on. And also the dreams of Brits going out there.

Like one couple who are living in a tiny, tiny sort of bedsit place 15 floors up. I think they are just desperate to make their money and stay there. They just don't want to go back.

Someone else who was a. I think he chef for three months or five months, something like that, to make the money to be able to go and do a trip there. He's interviewed and he talks about. He does pay for sex. He paid for it twice.

He said to the woman, not paying you again, but then she kept coming back, so you don't need to pay me. But he said it could be a scam.

You know, he says there are situations where women will do that, but then you're caught up and then you go home, you have to send money. It's kind of eye opening. And Zara does a really good job with this. I think it's massively, massively interesting to a lot of people.

Ian MacEwan: 00:27:11

I found it fascinating, I must say, and I was impressed by Zara McDermott, who I guess she's kind of going down the Stacey Dooley route a bit. And she's just got, as you say, she's just got a very authentic reaction to everything she comes across.

And she's just able to, like, she hangs out with these youngsters who are backpackers who are. And hits the bars with them and they, you know, they're very relaxed in her company because she's just, she's just like one of them, you know.

So I think she does a good job. I am from the days when you didn't have a gap year and, you know, the most you would do maybe was a little interrail trip to Europe.

But of course people are, you know, flooding to places like Thailand, Vietnam, aren't they? So I was interested to, to find out more. And I've got to say, Bangkok, certainly the tourist areas, it looks pretty grim, it's pretty awful.

And she hears stories about the sex industry, for instance, that, you know, British fathers bringing their sons over and paying for them to have sex with a prostitute. So that, I mean, it's, you know, it's that really, it's just grim. Also, what's quite interesting is, is the legal situation, particularly in Bangkok.

I mean, I know someone who was over there, was smoking something or other. The landlady reported him to the police. And then of course you have to pay a fine and if you want to get out quicker, you pay a bigger fine.

But if you haven't got the money, bad luck. So you feel like there's a lot of corruption in terms of basically getting money out of tourists.

And you see the police mob handed descending on a bar and they're allowed to force everyone there to have a, to take a urine test to find out if they, if they've taken drugs. So there's all these things that are illegal but tolerated.

The people who are doing, well, you know, the clubs with sex workers in them, the police are okay with that, but they're targeting the tourists who are taking the drugs or, you know, paying the sex workers. It's a. As, you know, as Zara explains, it's a weird situation. It's a kind of blurred line really.

But yeah, I look forward to perhaps seeing some of the more picturesque parts of Thailand as well, which she will do and she'll be kind of. I think she's going to a spiritual retreat as well. She's going to go to a full moon party. I mean, it's just.

There's a lot of, a lot of young people partying a lot. But of course there are dangers as well. Drink spiking.

You know, I think there's a young lad who got stabbed in the throat with a broken bottle and yeah, cases of people going missing, as you say. So for someone like me, who's never really done the big trip to the Far east, yeah, this was, this was really good.

We've got to that time, Hannah, where we find out what the hell you've been binge watching this week?

Hannah Fernando: 00:30:27

Well, I have been exposed to the summer I turned pretty yet again. That doesn't seem to be dying a death in our house anytime soon. But actually, I secretly enjoy it. It's a secret binge for me.

And also Charlotte's new baby, which is on Paramount. Plus, some of you might remember Charlotte from Geordie Shaw. Yeah, it was light entertainment on a.

Ian MacEwan: 00:30:46

Saturday night because I'm very predictable.

I have been watching yet another sports documentary on Netflix about American football, America's team, the Gambler and His Cowboys, which is a potted history of the Dallas Cowboys and how this guy who made a fortune in the oil business bought the team. Anyway, I went. I won't spoil the story, but it's a very good watch. Now we've just got time to look ahead to next week's podcast.

So what's on the agenda, Brenda?

Hannah Fernando: 00:31:27

Well, Jude Law, brilliantly, is back. And Jason Bateman, our New York brothers under threat from gangsters, a new Netflix drama, black Rabbit.

Ian MacEwan: 00:31:35

Good stuff. And John Cleese's Torquay hotel, Fawlty Towers reopens its doors in the stage version of the classic sitcom on youn and Gold.

So we look forward to those and much, much more. But in the meantime, dear listeners.

Hannah Fernando: 00:31:56

Watching.