Episode 238
Katherine Ryan is Quite Annoying
Ian and Hannah review the biggest new films and bingeable shows on UK streaming services for the week beginning Friday 14th February, including:
Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy are two highly-trained operatives appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from a mysterious evil that lurks within, in Apple TV movie The Gorge.
Comedian and mother-of-three Katherine Ryan sets out to explore out-of-the-box parenting ideas and meets some of the families across the UK who are living and breathing them. At Home with Katherine Ryan is available on U.
In extraordinary detail, US soldiers and Somali fighters recall the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu and the now-famous downing of three Black Hawk helicopters in Netflix documentary Surviving Black Hawk Down.
Detectives Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and Sunil 'Sunny' Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) try to solve a series of cold cases involving murders and historic disappearances in season 6 of ITVX drama Unforgotten.
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Transcript
Well, hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest
Speaker:new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor
Speaker:of Woman and Woman at Home magazine. Yes, you are. And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV Satellite
Speaker:Week, TV Times and What's on TV magazines and whatsowatch.com website. Yes. And today we're
Speaker:looking at the new releases that will be available on Friday, the 14th of February 2025. Happy
Speaker:Valentine's. including Apple TV horror The Gorge, starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor Joy as
Speaker:smitten snipers and Hanging Out at Home with Catherine and Ryan courtesy of you. Yes, we
Speaker:will, but we'll also be checking out the real story of a calamitous US forces mission in
Speaker:Somalia in the Netflix series Surviving Black Hawk Down and the return of ITVX cold case
Speaker:crime drama Unforgotten. But first Ian, what is in the news please? Well, A, I've had flu
Speaker:for a week, but like Alan Partridge, I've bounced back. And B, Annette Bening? will star as a
Speaker:mob boss in the Apple TV plus drama Lucky, which features Hello, Anya Taylor Joy, as a woman
Speaker:trying to move on from her criminal past. What else is in the news, Hannah? Well, it's very
Speaker:much in the news, isn't it? But Netflix documentary, Grenfell, will examine the events that led
Speaker:up to the very tragic 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in West London. Well, it's a Valentine's
Speaker:themed podcast in some ways, Hannah, and what's more romantic than two cold-eyed assassins
Speaker:falling for each other. Yes, we are starting on Apple TV Plus with a new horror film which
Speaker:arrived on Friday the 14th of Feb. It's called The Gorge. And here's a clip. West Tower Observation
Speaker:Post, your home for the next 365 days. There is no outside communication here. What's that
Speaker:on the other side? That is East Tower. Contact with the other side is strictly forbidden.
Speaker:So what's the mission? To keep people from going in the gorge? No. You need to stop what's in
Speaker:the gorge from coming out. So I do love a horror movie. I loved The Queen's Gambit, which starred
Speaker:Anya Taylor-Joy. And I loved Whiplash, which was the breakout movie for The Fabulous Miles
Speaker:Teller. So when I saw they were both appearing in this, not just those two but also Sigourney
Speaker:Weaver! I thought I'm well up for this. However, quite early on there were a few red flags.
Speaker:Okay, so they say show don't tell, don't they Hannah, about how to make film and TV? Well
Speaker:there's a lot of telling and not showing at the beginning of this and at one point... a
Speaker:man starts playing an accordion in a graveyard. I'm like, red flag, red flag, and then starts
Speaker:telling his story. Anyway, so for quite a lot of the beginning of this, I was getting really
Speaker:annoyed at how badly told the story was and how utterly implausible the entire setup was.
Speaker:But once I'd got over that, I just thought, why don't you just go with it? and enjoy it.
Speaker:I did enjoy it. And at the heart of it, I mean, you've got a fair play to Taylor Joy and Teller
Speaker:for getting through it and making you care because they managed to do that, God knows how. And
Speaker:the story about the two of them, they're both assassins, they're both snipers. And I will
Speaker:not explain the reasons why they're stationed on either side of this mysterious gorge. which,
Speaker:you know, and the reasons behind that and the backstory will all become clear, but it's highly
Speaker:unlikely tale. But yeah, they kind of fall in love across the chasm. They can see each other
Speaker:through sort of binoculars and they write messages on big white boards for each other. That's
Speaker:rather charming. Sigourney Weaver, I have to say, she kicks off doing a very boring kind
Speaker:of interview scene with Teller, and she's... not really used very well in this, I would
Speaker:have to say. You also have Sopi Doresu, who was super in Gangs of London and he has the
Speaker:kind of Basil exposition role. So when Teller's character, I should tell you the names of the
Speaker:characters, didn't I say? Miles Teller plays Levi, an American sniper on one side of the
Speaker:gorge, and Anya Taylor-Joy plays Drusser, who was a Lithuanian assassin on the other side.
Speaker:Okay, so poor old Soapy Dirisu as JD, he's the guy who's now leaving his post in the tower.
Speaker:Each of them has to spend a year there and so he has to give this very long speech explaining
Speaker:to Levi like this is how it is blah blah. Anyway, yeah, as I say, I mean it's just a totally
Speaker:crazy premise and it gets crazier once they go into the
Speaker:But I enjoyed it. Yeah, I did enjoy it. It's just totally off the wall, but with absolute
Speaker:star power in the two leads. So yeah, what did you make of this, Hannah? Well, there is star
Speaker:power, which is kind of why it's so weird, I think. And like you say, you kind of, you think
Speaker:it's gonna be amazing because of it, and you have to get over the fact that it's a bit ridiculous
Speaker:to actually kind of start to enjoy it. I mean, the idea that two snipers fall in love. from
Speaker:across the gorge is kind of a kind of crazy, weird premise for it anyway. It's not, I'm
Speaker:gonna be really honest with you, it's not for me, I find it too kind of far-fetched, too
Speaker:ridiculous in places. I don't think the narrative that great either. And given the style of watch
Speaker:to this, do you feel it could have been kind of better and I'm kind of surprised they wanted
Speaker:to be involved in it. But having said that, this is a genre that it's... you know, it's
Speaker:not my thing, it's not something that I absolutely love. So for somebody who perhaps, you know,
Speaker:does like this more sort of far-fetched, slightly unbelievable storyline, then it's for you.
Speaker:But no, I've got to be honest with you, it didn't catch me. Okay, and while we're about it, another
Speaker:horror movie, post-apocalyptic thriller, Elevation, is currently available on Prime Video. That
Speaker:stars Anthony Mackie. And while in the gorge there are monsters coming from the deep, in
Speaker:elevation there are these monsters that cannot go above 8,000 feet altitude. But if you go
Speaker:below that line, they're called reapers. They're kind of like these giant bugs that have conquered
Speaker:the planet. And if you go below that line, they will try and kill you. So yeah, check that
Speaker:out, that's quite fun. Now, yet more romantic offerings Hannah has as we move across to the
Speaker:streaming platform You for a new series called At Home with Katherine Ryan. And here's a clip.
Speaker:Full disclosure, this queen is just trying to hold it all together. When did you get permission
Speaker:to have a cat? Never really, but it's fine. So can I entertain the nation and be the best
Speaker:wife? We were able to get into the bathroom. I didn't know we were saying that. And mom?
Speaker:I'm the parent still and if I say no, I say no. Okay, well we'll see about that. This is
Speaker:my life and you may watch and you're probably gonna wanna judge. Yeah, Katherine Bryan is
Speaker:definitely back. I mean, she sort of started out, I think I remember seeing her on kind
Speaker:of Whose Line Is It Anyway or something like that, you know, on that kind of comedic circuit.
Speaker:And she's really, I guess, become a household name of late. And I would say she's relatively
Speaker:marmite in terms of a comedian. I think some people really struggle with her. And I try
Speaker:quite a lot because I think it's really brilliant that there's a successful female comedian,
Speaker:but this is kind of the other side of her. And this is her reality show, essentially. For
Speaker:those of you who have tuned into this before, we'll know that this very much tracks. the
Speaker:family life and the dynamic behind closed doors or not behind closed doors in this instance.
Speaker:So you've got her there with her husband, you've got their two children, Fred and Fenna, and
Speaker:then you've also got her daughter Violet from a previous relationship and that sort of kicks
Speaker:up. There's lots of interesting kind of storylines in here that people might relate to. So for
Speaker:example, Violet, she's 15, she's a bit of a force of nature, she doesn't want to... She's
Speaker:in GCSE years and she's not knuckling down. She wants to do other things like, you know,
Speaker:doom scroll or, you know, do the things that teenagers want to do essentially. She's no
Speaker:different to many others. And so you can see his difficult relationship with her. And he
Speaker:quite, he says, I have not known her for that long. I don't feel like I can step in and,
Speaker:you know, be really hard on her. I find that really difficult. And he says, you know, but
Speaker:I think she, her mom, Catherine, is a bit. is a bit kind of easy on her to which she has
Speaker:a right go at him back. And that is sort of the premise of this. She's quite hard work,
Speaker:Catherine Myron, in this as a cohabitant, I would suggest. She's quite, she's a force of
Speaker:nature herself. And this sees her kicking off this 10 month comedy tour where essentially
Speaker:he takes the reins of the family life while she goes and does stand up comedy. It's interesting
Speaker:because I always think with a lot of comedians they're, you know, they work so hard to get
Speaker:their content and I think she has done previously but she sort of talks about, I'm worried about
Speaker:I haven't got new content, I'm worried about this, I'm worried about that and she has this
Speaker:real mum guilt. So whether this is kind of female skewed, probably, there's real working mum
Speaker:guilt where they feel that they can't do enough. The other thing... She breast feeds all the
Speaker:time. So, you know, she's getting her boobs out all the time, frankly, all over the shop.
Speaker:She said there isn't anyone that hasn't seen them now. And she's very sort of earth mother,
Speaker:yet a career woman. And can those two really, really connect? And she convinced him to go
Speaker:and see a therapist. Turns out they're both sleeping in bed with their children. So they're
Speaker:saying, you know, perhaps you need to see someone, an intimacy counselor as well. It's very, you
Speaker:know, there's nothing sort of that they don't talk about. I, as I say, I think Catherine
Speaker:Ryan is relatively more like for people. I mean, I was late to our pod because I was slightly
Speaker:involved in it. I couldn't stop watching it. So that says something. So I find it really
Speaker:quite interesting. And you do get, I don't think she hams up with the cameras either, but Ian,
Speaker:what do you think? Interesting one, this. I did enjoy watching it though. It kind of irritated
Speaker:me quite a lot, but. almost in a good way, if you know what I mean. So UKTV have previously
Speaker:done Meet the Richardson's, which was about John Richardson and his comedian partner. And
Speaker:that was very much, well, kind of scripted really and played for laughs. Though of course they're
Speaker:not together anymore, are they? But it was about their home life, but it was a fictional version
Speaker:deliberately. And you understood that this was, you know, there were people acting in it as
Speaker:well. This is supposedly playing it a bit more straight about the many family life reality
Speaker:shows we've had about celebrities. However, Katherine Ryan does seem to be kind of crowbarring
Speaker:in potential comedic material. So she makes a big deal out of, oh, should I be a trad wife,
Speaker:and makes some jokes about that, and dresses up in a sort of old fashioned dress, and it's
Speaker:all a bit. It all seems a bit forced. But I did find it interesting. I mean, she's not
Speaker:my cup of tea comedically. And I think you get the impression she's quite a challenging personality.
Speaker:Though you're not sure how much of that is a sort of persona that she's putting on. But
Speaker:certainly her partner, because I think they first met when they were quite young, and then
Speaker:they sort of reunited many years later after she'd already had a child with someone else.
Speaker:He seems quite a sort of even-tempered, mild-mannered fellow, and she drags him to couples' counseling.
Speaker:And of course, it turns out, which is often what happens when one partner is desperately
Speaker:keen to take the other to counseling, it turns out that the person who was keen to go into
Speaker:the counseling is the one who's causing most of the problems. Because you see that, and
Speaker:again, I don't know if she's putting it on, but she just constantly speaks over him, says
Speaker:how rubbish he is at everything, and yet complains. Now she complains that he doesn't take the
Speaker:lead, but then she says, but I'm the best leader, so he'd be rubbish at it anyway. So, and it
Speaker:is kind of funny, I guess. I'm not sure. Well, anyway. The teenage stuff is good, because
Speaker:obviously that dynamic of a stepfather coming into the family, and then the younger kids
Speaker:actually being his kids. That's a really complex and challenging dynamic, I think, especially
Speaker:for the child who has a different father. So that was quite interesting. So I did find it
Speaker:a good watch, but I found Catherine Ryan quite annoying. But I kind of think that in a way
Speaker:that's kind of her shtick is her comedic persona is this kind of like brassy, overconfident
Speaker:show off. And some of that does leak in. So you're never really sure, are they just putting
Speaker:on an act to make this good to watch? How much of it, how much truth is there in this about
Speaker:their relationship and their family life? Also, I'm very, it does really worry me when people
Speaker:put their very young kids into a TV show because obviously they have no way of consenting to
Speaker:that. I think that's a dangerous road to go down. But anyway, I did find it interesting.
Speaker:Over on Netflix. Yet more romantic fare for you, Hannah. We have a three-part documentary
Speaker:series called Surviving Black Hawk Down. And here's a clip. It was the most violent thing
Speaker:I've ever witnessed.
Speaker:Instruction is where I took my camera and I press record There's no way I'm gonna live
Speaker:through this I'm gonna sit To be added in a soul you that slowly over the horizon
Speaker:That Black Hawk was down. Black Hawk down, we got a Black Hawk down. Yes, you may remember
Speaker:the brilliant 2001 Ridley Scott film Black Hawk Down, which starred Josh Hartner and Ewan McGregor.
Speaker:And it was all about this infamous incident in Mogadishu, Somalia, where, yeah, American
Speaker:forces were pinned down. Three helicopters were shot down. And. they were going in to sort
Speaker:of target a warlord, but it turned into kind of like a survival and rescue mission for their
Speaker:own personnel. And this is actually produced by Scott's Production Company. And this time
Speaker:we're hearing from the people who actually took part. And it does flesh out some quite interesting
Speaker:backstory because... The US involvement abroad is fraught with danger, as has been proved
Speaker:many, many times over the years. But in this case, they were helping to bring in aid, because
Speaker:basically the civil war was kind of causing a famine. But when they started targeting this
Speaker:warlords, you hear from Somalians who had experience of what it was like having the Americans there,
Speaker:boots on the ground. And one in particular who explains how initially he was sort of working
Speaker:for the United Nations, but because of the way he was treated by American troops, he turned
Speaker:and kind of supported the warlord against them. So, yes, an extraordinary story. And by the
Speaker:end of episode one, you're just getting to the point where so there's all this planning to
Speaker:go in with air cover from helicopters. and then you've got a sort of cortege of military vehicles
Speaker:going in and they're gonna capture this warlord and sort of his lieutenants, that's the idea,
Speaker:and bring them back to the American base. But then it all starts to go horribly wrong. And
Speaker:it's interesting hearing from them, I mean these guys, young guys who were in the military,
Speaker:and this was their first engagement, of course they were really excited. And they didn't think
Speaker:anything could possibly go wrong because the overwhelming force of the US personnel and
Speaker:it just very quickly all went horrifically wrong. So yeah, it's a fascinating story. It's a well-made
Speaker:documentary series. What did you think, Hannah? Well, do you know what? I really enjoy stuff
Speaker:like this if enjoys the right word because of course the subject matter is pretty awful.
Speaker:But... I enjoy it because I think it just fills part of my lack of knowledge, I guess. And
Speaker:docu-series like this are just so incredibly interesting and the learnings and... I just
Speaker:think a lot of the stuff is sort of, you know, when we have history lessons, you don't necessarily
Speaker:hear about everything, do you? You hear about the big things, but this is a big thing for
Speaker:a lot of people. And you know, just seeing how, you know, the US forces were bringing in, you
Speaker:know, aid and kind of... how it all started and I suppose, I mean as I say, I've only seen
Speaker:the first part of this, but you're engrossed immediately. And I think because the world
Speaker:is kind of like, I don't know, it feels a bit of a precipice doesn't it at the moment, a
Speaker:bit of a knife edge. When you watch something like this and the horrors of, you know, situations
Speaker:like this, it just makes you realise how important harmony is I guess. So I found it incredibly
Speaker:interesting and very well done, which is also quite difficult, isn't it, when there's been
Speaker:a film? It's sometimes quite difficult to go back, but I think the premise of this is slightly
Speaker:different and the way they've done it is very different. Okay, we're going to finish with
Speaker:the return of a very popular cold case crime drama, which is available as a box set on ITVX.
Speaker:It's Unforgotten, and here's a clip. So you take the parts here. Head, arms, legs. Knees
Speaker:and toes, knees and toes. The killer was interrupted. We did nothing wrong! So it's about the oldest
Speaker:motive for murder there is. I don't know why, but when I started to watch this, I just wanted
Speaker:to cry loads of times. I don't know why it did this to me. I don't know whether I'm just feeling
Speaker:completely, you know, in a place where I need to cry. But I don't know. There's so much going
Speaker:on. It's like a sensory overload, I would say, almost immediately. So we're back with Detective
Speaker:Sonny and Jess. who everybody will know from the previous series, Sonny played by Sanjeev
Speaker:Bhaskar and DCI Jess Jones played by Sinead Keenan. And they're fairly new into their relationship,
Speaker:but it's less brought in the series. They've got a real respect for each other and they
Speaker:work well together, but they find that there's a body being found in this very sort of bleak
Speaker:marshland. And I mean, all of these things, there's no... It does what it says on the tin,
Speaker:you know, every kind of episode doesn't it or every series kind of opens up with that You
Speaker:know something gruesome a gruesome finding and this is this is no different But what I like
Speaker:about this and some people might not like and I usually don't like my caveat It's kind of
Speaker:going to and from all different stories, but I think actually that's what makes it different
Speaker:So you've got that going on over there and then you've got the relationships because of course
Speaker:we know that DCI James, her husband, was having an affair. She's got a really busy job. She
Speaker:gets called, she's got to go out. I think he feels quite lonely. You see that dynamic. You
Speaker:see the fact that he was doing a meal for them and she got called, she had to go out. She
Speaker:got home, empty bottle of wine, phone on the table. She goes through the phone. She can't
Speaker:get into the phone, actually. The pin goes wrong. Obviously, there's a lack of trust there as
Speaker:well. So there's kind of that going on. And then we see a lot of refugees climbing out
Speaker:of the back of a lorry and sort of being shoved out into the world and people picking them
Speaker:up. So there's another storyline there. So there's a kind of a sensory overload, but it does all
Speaker:come back together, it all weaves in. I mean, I think this is something that if you liked
Speaker:it last time, you're gonna like it this time. It's as simple as that. It does what it says
Speaker:on the tin and it's not deviating from. And I think that's quite sensible because there
Speaker:was a really sort of a warmth in reception for it. So yeah, I have to say I did enjoy it.
Speaker:But as I said, I don't know why it's sort of there was lots of emotion for me with lots
Speaker:of these things. There's lots of, well, obviously sad stuff happening, but you go from sort of
Speaker:seeing something like a cold killing, if you like, or is it to, you know, family situations
Speaker:and upset emotions. So, yeah. I enjoy it. What do you think Ian? Well the same week that we
Speaker:had a new Asian detective, Verdi, arriving on BBC One, we have the return of D.I. Sunil Khan
Speaker:played by Sanjeev Bhaskar. And I mean Unforgotten has been very popular and highly rated, but
Speaker:I've never really got into it. I remember trying to watch it early on when the fabulous Nicola
Speaker:Walker was the other lead. And I sort of found the banter. between the two characters rather
Speaker:excruciating. Anyway, I did watch it this time. And there was a lot about it that I liked.
Speaker:First up I thought, Silent Witness, you need to up your game because they cram so many different
Speaker:storylines into the cold case. And you're thinking, how are these all gonna come together with
Speaker:these different strands? So you've got... a sort of right-wing GB News type commentator
Speaker:played by Myanna Buring. Okay. And then her, her fiance is a paraplegic. Then as you say,
Speaker:Hannah, there's a refugee story and also caught up in that is kind of about how the British
Speaker:have treated people who worked for them in countries where they were perhaps in a war zone or wherever.
Speaker:Then you've got a history lecturer, Juliette played by Victoria Hamilton, who I really like.
Speaker:There's a whole storyline there, kind of about trigger warnings and that kind of thing in
Speaker:universities. I mean, I'm sure like the anti-woke brigade are gonna be very overexcited about
Speaker:this. And then you've also got radicalization online, which is a storyline about an autistic
Speaker:young man who's... mother who is clearly a hoarder is played by Michelle de Triis yes from some
Speaker:others do have them many years ago. Anyway so I kind of feel they've a bit thrown a bit too
Speaker:much at it and especially tackling all these contentious issues you know each one of them
Speaker:on its own is like a hot potato isn't it but yeah they certainly um they certainly give
Speaker:you bang for your buck and I shall be fascinated to see... how it all works out. And I mean,
Speaker:meanwhile, of course, you know, you can't be a TV detective without a troubled home life,
Speaker:as we know. So appropriately, Jess has concerns about the fidelity of her partner. And Sunny,
Speaker:well, he's a bit lonely, really. He's trying to kind of connect with his family, but finding
Speaker:it difficult. In fact, we start out, he's dining on his own in a restaurant, and that kind of
Speaker:sets the tone. So yeah, I have to say I was impressed, but I kind of feel like too many
Speaker:contentious issues competing for attention. But yeah, I mean, I'm fascinated to see how
Speaker:it all pans out. And there was a lot about it that I liked. Now we've got to that time, Hannah.
Speaker:Will you find out what you've been binge watching this week? Well. you'll be pleased to hear
Speaker:that I was wanting to be in the sun because it's so miserable here and so I've been watching
Speaker:A Place in the Sun because actually it's making me feel like oh I don't know I just want to
Speaker:book a holiday really. Also um and I don't know why I haven't watched this before but I haven't
Speaker:watched it for absolutely ages since Noel Edmonds did it but I've been watching Deal or No Deal
Speaker:which of course has got the new newish presenter Stephen Mulhern it's got exactly the same vibe.
Speaker:It's a bit like strictly, it's kind of this overexcited behaviour by everybody who loves
Speaker:everybody. It's kind of like this commune, or community I should say, of people. It fascinates
Speaker:me. How about you? Quite a lot of daytime TV I noticed there, Hannah, yeah? Well there's
Speaker:a very good... Well I'm working hard Ian. There's a very good true crime documentary series on
Speaker:Netflix, which is all about the Boston Marathon bombings and the hunt to find the bombers.
Speaker:And that is well worth a look, I must say, an incredible story. Now we've just got time to
Speaker:look ahead to next week's offerings. So what is on the binge watch menu? Well, muscle bound
Speaker:crime fighter Reacher returns to face a formidable foe on Prime Video. And the untold story of
Speaker:America's black space pioneers is recounted in the space race on Disney+. So We look forward
Speaker:to those and much more, but in the meantime listeners...
