Episode 230

Game of Throws | That Christmas | Jack in Time for Christmas | Meet the Rees-Moggs

Ian and Hannah review the biggest new films and bingeable shows on UK streaming services for the week beginning Friday 6th December, including:

Ever wondered what the build-up to the biggest darts tournament of the year is like? Ever wondered how Michael van Gerwen deals with pressure? Ever wondered what Luke Littler's life was like before his meteoric rise? Well, now you can find out in new documentary Game of Throws: Inside Darts on Now TV.

A blizzard hits a seaside town, setting off entwined tales of family, friends, love and loneliness - and Santa making a big mistake. From Richard Curtis (Love Actually), That Christmas is on Netflix now.

Jack Whitehall races against time to get from the US to the UK for Christmas in Prime Video special Jack in Time for Christmas. His frantic four-day journey involves various modes of transport and encounters with celebrity friends including Michael Buble and Rebel Wilson as he battles holiday chaos to reach home.

Unprecedented access to Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, and his extraordinary family as he fights for his political life and fails to keep his seat. Meet the Rees-Moggs is on Discovery+ now.

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Transcript
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Well, hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest

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new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor

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of Woman and Woman at Home magazine. And I'm Ian the Q&Writer on TV Times, TV and Satellite

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Week and What's on TV magazines. And today we're looking at the new releases that will be available

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on Friday, the 6th of December 2024, including the new Richard Curtis animation That's Christmas

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on Netflix politician Jacob Rees-Mogg and family in New Reality Show meet the Rees-Mogg's on

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Discovery Plus.

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probably come with a warning. Anyway, we'll also be checking out Jack Whitehall's funny

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festive offering, Jack in Time for Christmas on Prime Video, and having a game of throws

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with top flight players from the world of darts, courtesy of Now TV. But first, Ian, what is

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in the news? In Apple TV Plus's new 10 part take on the classic thriller, Cape Fear, which

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is executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Javier Bardem. will play

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Max Cady, the ex-con who terrorises a lawyer's family. What else is in the news, Hannah? Well,

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Richard E Grant is joining Netflix's Comedy Ladies First, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as

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a love rat who ends up in a parallel universe, even, dominated by women. I'm sure he's in

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heaven. We're going to start on Sky Documentaries, Sky Showcase and Sky Box Sets and Now TV. This

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arrived on Saturday. the 30th of November is called Game of Throws Inside Darts and here's

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a clip. The world is a sh... place. Yet you can have a night of the darts and forget everything.

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We are the people's game. Players that come from the same working class areas that I came

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from can achieve their dreams, that darts worth £400,000 and change their lives.

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So we've had a lot of very good behind the scenes sports documentaries on streaming platforms,

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haven't we Hannah? Mainly on Netflix, things like Drive to Survive, F1, Tour de France,

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Unchained. So yes, they usually look back at sort of the previous season if you like. So

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you might think, well, I know who won, so what's the point? But if you've watched any of them.

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They are great insight. You see lots of new stuff you'd never imagine you would see. This

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one, as the title suggests, very good title, good punning title, game of throws. Well, it's

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about darts, of course. And darts fans will know that Luke Littler, a 16 year old player,

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he made the headlines at last year's World Darts Championship at London's Alexandra Palace.

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And so this three-parter basically goes behind the scenes that tournament. The World Championships,

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well they get underway this month don't they? And it's just an incredible atmosphere. If

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you haven't seen it on TV or been, it's sort of like a big fancy dress pass here really.

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All these people go in incredible outfits and you know they're all drinking and just having

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a great time. It's an incredible atmosphere. We're meeting some interesting characters so

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we're going to meet Luke the Nuke Littler who now has become a household name because of

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last year's. World Championships. Episode one, you also see a Dutch player and his parents

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who've come over to take part in the competition. You'll see the game, highlights from the games

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as they progress through the rounds and we'll also be going kind of behind the scenes. We're

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here from people like Barry Hearn, who of course is quite a character from the world of sports

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promotion. If you like darts, you're gonna love this, but even if you don't like darts, you

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might well get the bug. after you watch this because it's good stuff and they're great characters

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as well and you're just going to get drawn into the amazing atmosphere of the World Champs

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and I'm sure you will want to tune into it on your TV box. Hannah, do you like the darts?

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I don't know, it's something about darts that just, I don't watch it a lot and I wouldn't

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necessarily put it in the diary to watch when there's a big event but yet somehow it's always

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on our TV box in our house. And erm... I don't know, there's something just really, the audience

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gets behind it, don't they, watching it? I don't know, there's something about it that's just

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quite warm and lovely, and yeah, we've all had a go, haven't we, occasionally, having, throwing

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some darts. And I don't think you have to be completely into the sport to watch this. It's

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a bit like the kind of, the music documentaries we talk about, or other sporting documentaries.

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You know, it's kind of, you know, it sort of shows you. behind the scenes I suppose, it

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kind of shows you know, what it's all about and I think it's just that sort of sportmanship

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really, if you like sport generally and if you like that, I suppose, understanding the sport

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a bit more which I felt like I sort of came away knowing a bit more about it I don't know,

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it just... it's hard isn't it, it's so hard, the pressure on them to get that bullseye,

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to get those good scores, it's just unbelievable I really enjoy it. Snooker's another one, isn't

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it? You kind of think why it's like watching paint dry, but it's not, it just gets you going.

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And it's the same with this. So yeah, I think this is something for everyone actually, even

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if you don't like it, the sport that is. Good stuff. Well, the first of our Christmassy offerings

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now. Of course, Richard Curtis gave us famously. the Christmassy rom-com Love Actually, which

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I think it's fair to say does divide opinion. Well, now he's giving us an animated Christmas

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film which arrived on Netflix on Wednesday the 4th of December. It's called That Christmas.

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And here's a clip. This is the tale of one of the most challenging nights of my long career.

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Oh!

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was knocking on Wellington's front door.

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We are our unfortunate heroes. Valadette, you're in charge. Yes! Eight kid-free hours! Woohoo!

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Hi Danny. Hi Sam. So this is a feature length animation about a group of children who, for

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various reasons, are left to fend for themselves one Christmas. Among the voices you're going

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to hear are...

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Rhys Darby from Flights of the Concords, the lovely Alex McQueen, Fiona Shaw from Killing

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Eve, you might even hear a little bit of Dermot O'Leary, Catherine Parkinson, Bill Nighy, but

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you don't want to hear me talking about it because we're lucky enough to have by popular demand

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the return of our guest reviewer, Freya Fernando, who's going to tell us all about it. Based

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on a set of children's books by Richard Curtis, it's very magical and it makes you feel very

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Christmassy. It's about a Christmas being ruined by a worst snowstorm in history. It's very,

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very funny and the characters are very realistic. The emotions are shown very clearly. I'm not

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a big fan of animation but... I definitely think that this was a very good animated film. Definitely

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in the part where they show Mrs Trapper to be very lonely and not many, not having much comfort

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or friends around her. It's about family and friends coming together and not just family

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and friends but a whole community, the whole hometown coming together for Christmas. because

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that's really what Christmas is about, is coming together and spending time with your family

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and friends and even people around you. It's showing that Christmas is not just about having

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presents, and it's about spending time with loved ones. I think that it's gonna be a massive

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hit, definitely for its animations, because the animations are just incredible. Well, thank

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you so much, Freya. Great job there. We're now going to move over to Prime Video for a one-off

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entertainment show which arrived on Tuesday the 3rd of December. It's called Jack in Time

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for Christmas. And here's a clip. I spy on the thing that came with you. Never have I ever.

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Twister. No. Spend the bottle. Dude, have you taken something? Do you know when you're going

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to meet the family for Christmas? Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. You're great, Christian, you're

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great. Oh, oh, oh.

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This is like a fever dream. Do you have any drugs? Something to just knock me out? Jack

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Whitehall, Hannah, I think we're both fans, aren't we? And as you might have guessed from

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the title, this is all about Jack Whitehall loosely pretending to try to get home for Christmas

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from America because it's, you know, it's clearly just a conceit. and he alludes to that, of

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course it's all just, it's made up. And he's enlisted the help of quite a few celebrities,

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including Michael Bublé, who, he is Christmas, Rebel Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, the chat show host,

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Daisy Mae Cooper from this country, comedian Tom Davis, and actor Dave Bautista from Guardians

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of the Galaxy. Yeah, so the conceit is that for whatever reason, he can't get a flight

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back to the UK from America, whatever. You don't need to worry about that. It's a bit planes,

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trains, and automobiles-ish. And I must admit, the first segment is him with Michael Buble.

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He goes out to Michael Buble's house. And the joke is that in reality, Michael Buble doesn't

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like Christmas. So I was like, well, this whole thing. He's getting his celebrity mates in.

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It's a weekly links together series of kind of celeb guest stars. You know, it's a bit

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lazy. Throw in a bit of league of their own type stunts. For instance, he goes out on the

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ice at an ice hockey game, Jack. But he won me over because he is just a great comic actor.

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And I actually think he would he would be great in a remake of Planes, Trains and Automobiles

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in the John Candy role as the really annoying travelling companion, which is very much what

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he does in the sequence where he's on a private plane with Dave Bautista and it's really funny.

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Daisy Mae Cooper is a black cab driver who's bringing him home from the airport in the UK

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and he's recounting his tale to her. The funniest bit which made me absolutely laugh out loud

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was when he goes dog sled racing with Tom Davis, which you might have seen a little bit of in

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the trailer. That's highly amusing. And he also has a go at bobsledding with, and he's just

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very good at, he meets these real life bobsled team and he's just really good at bouncing

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off people and making them laugh, but not in a sort of, you know, a nasty way. He's just,

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he's just a great comic actor and an all round good egg. So although I was ready to absolutely

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rip this to shreds and say how dreadful it was. I enjoyed it. What did you think Hannah? Well,

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as you say, we're both fans of Jack Whitehall, aren't we? So you know what you mean about

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it because it felt like a bit of a Christmas recipe for disaster but you know, this man

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has got some serious celebrity mates, hasn't he? I mean, can you imagine the contacts book?

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I think my contacts book is good. It's not as good as this. put it that way. I do not have

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Daisy May Keeper's number or Michael Bublé's but as you say Michael Bublé is Mr. Christmas

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the idea that he might not like Christmas is all a bit all a bit ridiculous but I don't

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know Jack Whitehall has got something special hasn't he? He is just very funny in a really

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kind of dry way and even when I've seen him and I don't know if you've seen any interviews

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with him this week where I think he did the one show yesterday or the day before and he's

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just funny because he doesn't seem like a lot of comedians they just sort of say it how it

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is and if it doesn't go down well it doesn't go down well but he's just completely fearless

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in his approach and you know what this is just laugh out loud funny as you say what shouldn't

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be absolutely is and um it kind of he does do things like this and you sometimes worry that

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it might just be a bit of a Do you really need to do this? You know, is it just something

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that you feel like you've got to do to stay on TV? No, not at all. This is, yeah, everything

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he touches really turns to gold, doesn't it? And he says it was a Christmas miracle getting

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this many stars involved, but frankly, it is that context book of his and just proves quite

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how big and what a success story he is. So yeah, if this doesn't tickle you, nothing will. Yeah,

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and I'm gonna put out there, Good comic actor. I was surprised, he's very good. I've watched

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him on a few things now. He's got quite a great personality, hasn't he? No, he's good. Well,

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we've saved, depending on your point of view, the best or worst till last, because we're

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going to finish with a new reality show that arrived on Discovery Plus on Monday the 2nd

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of December. It's called Meet the Reesmogs. Yes, it is, and here's a clip. I can sort of

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see you. It's slightly like Big Brother is watching you. I'm Jacob Rees-Mogg. I've been involved

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in some political controversy. I'm afraid, and this is probably a sin, I quite enjoy winding

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people up. I hope I don't get a cease and desist letter from Johnny Bowden. Could you please

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not wear my clothes? You awful Tory right-wing fox-hunting Brexiteer. Well... Where do I start?

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I mean, I've been thinking about this ever since I watched it and I still haven't come up with

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the answer really. So I'll just go straight in. This is exactly what it says on the tin.

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Who would have thought that the politician that is or that was Jacob Rees-Mogg would invite

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cameras into his rather large abode so that we could have a look around his very privileged

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life. Bentleys no less and wings of houses. Do you not have a wing? If you don't have a

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wing, are you even anyone? But he does like a Greg's baguette. So he's keeping it real

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sometimes, okay? He just, he loves a ham and cheese, a Greg's baguette. But it's fascinating

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really. I'm not sure that you come away...

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thinking any differently or that he shows himself in any different light because I think there

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is a fear around these things sometimes that you know you go on to a reality TV show and

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you can kind of sway public opinion and you know this sort of because you know let's make

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no bones about it this man has got some views that a lot of people do not find attractive

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or like in any shape or form and so you know sometimes when you see people going on TV,

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I must admit, you just think, are you just trying to kind of make everybody see you in a different

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light and change the public perception? And I actually don't think he can really, because

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he is just himself, he plays himself. I don't think there's anything more to this than that

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really. Whereas with other celebrities, now celebrities or that were politicians, perhaps

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there is more to them. But... there isn't really in this, he just seems to be himself. He's

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a very posh chap with six children, whose wife is an RS, and you see a snapshot into their

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very unrelatable life. And then that's absolutely fine. But he stands by all his views, he's

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quite articulate in the way he talks and what he thinks. But again, as I say, for many of

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us, they're very unpalatable, those views. And so it's really hard in my opinion to kind of

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see past that. If you can see past that, you can see this life that is just a kind of very

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different, I'd imagine to most of us, unless you live somewhere like that or in a wing of

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a house. And they talk about, it's the run up to the general election. So, you know, they're

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very open about all of that and they're really open with their views and what they think about

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it and obviously when he was dropped as MP you know what he would do he didn't even know what

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he was going to do his wife didn't know what he was going to do and he's quite ridiculous

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in places again it's sort of in a sort of way you'd already always imagine him to be he's

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got this big gong in his hallway which he bangs and he says oh yes the children come running

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or something worse to that effect but actually he says it's completely ridiculous they don't

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they don't come at all and it's completely ineffective. I just I don't know I think it's fascinating

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for lots of people just seeing how another part of our world lives I suppose but it's an odd

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subject matter I would say for a reality series when you think of we do reality TV series.

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you know, Peter Andre and Katie Price, the Kardashians, you know, there have been so many Sylvester

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Stallone, just to name a few, there are so many who would think, I know we'll do a reality

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show with the Reese Morgz and I'm not sure it's going to be some ratings coup but I... it's

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a really tricky one. If you dislike him you might want to watch it because you dislike

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him so it's kind of that want to feed off that or... Does he have any fans? Is he gonna have

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any fans after this? I'm not so sure. I'm not sure that we're gonna be seeing him in the

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jungle anytime soon, but I could well be wrong. It's, as I say, I'm really struggling to articulate

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myself on this one because it is just exactly what you think. He is no different to what

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you imagine really. And it's just this very eccentric way of life. And I suppose in some

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ways it's quite enthralling because of that, because it's just sort of a bit of a, wow,

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okay, is that, wow, okay. That's how you sit there the whole time thinking, is this real?

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Does someone really live like this? So, worth a watch, yes. Will you be talking about it

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over the dinner table for very long? No, probably not. It is what you expect. What are you thinking?

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Yeah, one episode was enough for me, I think. He does deliberately cultivate this sort of

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eccentric persona and he calls himself the honorable member for the 18th century. When he was at

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university, he always used to wear a suit. He's one of those people who's deliberately eccentric.

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And a couple of things that really struck me, I mean, apart from the amazing wealth, is that

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his kids are looked after by the same nanny that looked after him, which is... unusual.

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And also the whole family dress for dinner like the sons in black tie once a week. So I'm not

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sure how I feel about politicians going into other areas, well just into TV, you know we've

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had Matt Hancock win us the jungle, Ed Balls is a pretty regular fixture on TV now. I don't

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know if it's a great idea. I was kind of surprised. that he was happy to have his kids on camera.

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I mean, considering, you know, safeguarding these days around kids being exposed to media

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scrutiny. So that's rather surprised me. I mean, what you see of Rees-Mogg, you see him in his

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constituency ahead of the election, you know, going knocking on doors, and he seems very

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harmless. He almost, he looks a... bit like a child really in adults clothes and he's very

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overly polite and formal and just seems like a harmless eccentric but as you say he's got

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some dangerous views in my opinion. Yeah and you know he has been a prime mover in the Tory

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party and remember years ago he was on the Ali G, he was interviewed by Ali G. And he was

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one of the few people who I felt kind of got the better of Ali G. So he is a smart cookie,

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and he is very aware of how he comes across. But they also include that footage of him like

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lounging all across the front bench, disgraceful behavior in the houses of commons, just to

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annoy people. And he just, he likes winding people up. And if you've ever seen him interviewed,

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he is pretty clever and it's... you know, he always has the last word. Nothing seems to

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phase him, you know, he's just very good on camera. So, I don't know, I think you're right.

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I don't think you're going to change anyone's mind either way. You either like Rees Mogg

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and what he stands for, which is, you know, privilege basically, and inherited wealth,

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and private schools, and nannies, and that kind of thing, or you don't. So, but yeah, I thought

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it was interesting. I mean, we have seen shows. There was a reality show about a very posh

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family living in a stately home, wasn't there, a while back. I can't remember what it was

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called. I mean, they weren't famous, but they were kind of after, and then the dad was very

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kind of irascible, do you remember? And the kids were running wild and throwing the telly

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in a lake and stuff like this. So it's definitely worth a look though, I think, just purely out

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of curiosity value. And let's get Jacob Rees-Mogg onto either. I'm a celebrity. or strictly come

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dancing. Well, Hannah, we've got to that point where we do a very quick roundup because there's

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a lot of good stuff on this week that we haven't had time to preview. So we've talked about

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this one quite a lot. A new Paramount Plus thriller called The Agency starring Michael Fassbender

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as a CIA agent. That was available from Saturday the 30th of November. Fatal Attraction. The

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TV series, you may have seen it on another streaming platform, but it's now available on U and W

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as a box set. Black Doves, we did trail that last week. We didn't get a chance to preview

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it, but it stars Keira Knightley, yes, and Ben Whishaw, new thriller on Netflix, available

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from Thursday, the 5th of December. Star Wars, Skeleton Crew, oh, yet another Star Wars.

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Featuring Jude Law. Check it out. On so-called normal TV, a very good film on Thursday, the

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5th of December called The Quiet Girl, which is Oscar nominated Irish drama. And finally,

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oh no, two more actually. The Sticky is a new comedy drama on Prime Video, inspired by a

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true story about the Canadian maple syrup heist. And yes, if you've not seen Wonka at the cinema,

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then with Timothy at Chellamay, you can watch it on Sky Premier from Friday the 6th of December.

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Okay, that's out of the way, thank goodness. What the hell have you been binge watching,

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Hannah? Well, I'm a celebrity, of course. I told you I'd be dull for a few weeks and here

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I am still being dull, but it makes for good TV. And also... Well, Ian, you've met my dogs

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now. Dogs behaving very badly. I could do with Graham Hall in here sometime at some points.

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If you're listening, Graham, please do a swing by Fernando Fom because we could we could do

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with a little help. I love Graham with his lovely tweed waistcoat and his cravats. He's great,

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isn't he? We like watching that. Well, I caught the latest 24 hours in police custody, which

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is a reliably good true crime documentary. following a case in Lucerne Police Station. So yeah,

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check that out. We've just got time to look ahead to next week's offerings. So what's on

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the agenda, Brenda? Well, Elton John recalls the highs and the lows for a sparkling career

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in a documentary, Elton John, Never Too Late on Disney+, which will be interesting because

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of course this week he spoke about the fact that he's losing or lost his eyesight in an

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eye, so. That's right. That's right, and Patrick Gibson stars in a Dexter prequel charting the

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serial killer's early years on Paramount+. So we look forward to those and much, much more,

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but in the meantime, listeners, keep watching.

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