Stiller, Lazarus, Leonard and Hungry Paul

Hannah Fernando: 00:00:00

Foreign hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman and Woman at Home magazine.

Ian MacEwan: 00:00:17

And I'm Ian McKeown, writer on TV and Satellite Week. What's on TV and TV Times magazines.

th October: 2025

Hannah Fernando: 00:00:45

And we'll also be checking out quirky comedy Leonard and Hungry Pool. It is quirky also on iPlayer and US crime drama the Hunting Party on youn.

Ian MacEwan: 00:00:55

But.

Hannah Fernando: 00:00:56

But first, Ian, what is in the news?

Ian MacEwan: 00:00:57

Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman will team up to appear in upcoming legal thriller Discretion on Paramount. Plus, what else is in the news, Hannah?

Hannah Fernando: 00:01:07

Well, Ramesh Nranganathan, a big fan of, is the host of the new celebrity challenge show. Oh my goodness, there's another celebrity show. Would you rather decide to survive on Prime Video?

Ian MacEwan: 00:01:19

Yes, I just read Ramesh's memoir straight out of Crawley while I was on holiday and it's very, very funny. Yeah, recommended. So good selection. I think this week we've got a doc, a showbiz documentary. We've got, well, another Harlan Coburn.

They just keep on coming, don't they? And with a stellar cast, we've got a rather weird American crime drama and a rather charming Irish comedy drama.

So we're gonna kick off on Apple TV with a feature length documentary called Stiller and Nothing is Lost. And here's a clip.

Hannah Fernando: 00:02:03

We come from a showbiz family now.

Ian MacEwan: 00:02:05

The comedy of Stiller, Anne Mera, Jerry.

Hannah Fernando: 00:02:07

Stiller and Anne Mera, Ann Mera and Jerry Stiller. We grew up around them, working together and improvising.

Ian MacEwan: 00:02:15

And that's what we did because they did it. They're looking at not only my fault in comedy.

Hannah Fernando: 00:02:18

This is the mother of my 2K.

Ian MacEwan: 00:02:20

This is the father of one. So of course we're all well aware of Ben Stiller, who is one of the comedy greats from America, also has directed things and he directs this.

And it's close to home because it's all about his mum and dad, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who, I mean, people will be aware of Jerry, I guess in the UK because I mean, he has been in films with Ben. I think he was in there something about Mary, which is Hilarious. Oh no, I'll tell you what he was in. He was in the Heartbreak Kid which Seek it out.

It's very, very funny.

And he was also in the original version of the Taking of Pelham One Two Three with Walter Matau, which is a classic film but in America they were a big deal as a showbiz couple. And so you see Ben, he starts it quite nicely actually.

So he's with his sister and they're in the family house surrounded by, you know, books and photographs and he's talking about, well, how am I going to this? How are we going to do it?

You see some terrific footage of like they used to go on chat shows, the mum and dad and they, they bring the kids on as well and get them to do things like play the violin. So it's, it's rather sweet.

And also, you know, growing up in a showbiz family of course has its challenges, you know, and I've always, I've always had that impression. Priscilla, I really like him. I think he's hilarious and things like Meet the Parents and Zoolander, he's just, he superb. So many things he's done.

But I guess there was quite a lot of pressure on him growing up with those famous parents and you, you know, there's a lot about their relationship. They're quite an interesting couple. I think they complemented each other. She's very, very kind of easy, natural and confident.

Whereas you feel like the dad, he kind of, he has to try harder. You feel at what he does.

And yeah, they could talk about their ups and downs and yeah, you see, I'd completely forgotten that Jerry was in the Taking of Pelham. He's like the transit cop.

So, yeah, it's a fascinating documentary and I learned a lot because I wasn't really aware of how big the parents were in the States as a double act, you know. And also the mum was a very good straight actor as well. So yeah, I thought it was really nicely done. A lovely documentary. What did you think, Hannah?

Hannah Fernando: 00:04:50

I enjoy stuff like this. I mean, I'm quite invested in celebrity given, you know, my job title, I suppose.

And I often realize or know, and it's so clear what you see in front of the cameras is very, very different to what's behind the cameras.

And we also know with comedians as well, don't we, that they're often very, very different as people than they are when they're doing their stand up or whatever. We kind of know that that's fact. But this is really interesting because you see behind the curtain, don't you?

Here you really see someone's life, as you say, being brought up by people who were stars themselves. So as child stars has got a reputation, I think, of going off the rails. And Ben Stiller hasn't done that in the same way as we've seen others do it.

But I think it's really interesting to see it through his eyes and seeing those kind of lines that have been blurred because his parents were, you know, entertaining millions of Americans with their comedy act, and their children were at home, okay, they probably had all the money to have all the best nannies and everything else. But that's, that's really. That's not a normal in averted commas. Childhood, is it? So I think you kind of.

You see behind that, and I don't think he's particularly complaining of that. It's just. It's a different way of being brought up. And I think it's really easy to blame and say, oh, but he's where he is probably.

He's clearly got talent.

But because of them, you know, he's got some natural talent, but also, you know, he managed to get into the business before everybody else because of them. So I think that. I don't know, it's. It's a really.

It feels very authentic, a very true account and not just a moan fest, which I think quite often these things.

Ian MacEwan: 00:06:35

We move across to prime video for a new supernatural drama series called Lazarus. And here's a clip. Lot of Lazarus. I'm here so you can speak. What thoughts would you like to discuss? God. I've been speaking with him.

And what have you been speaking with God about? You. He said you were a fake. Like father, like son. And I asked him to punish you. And you know what he said? What did he say?

Hannah Fernando: 00:07:17

Yes. Do you see ghosts, Ian? That's the question. This is something else. As you say, Harlan Coburn Productions just keep coming, don't they? And this is.

This is pretty special, in my opinion. I absolutely love Sam Claflin. You'll remember him from the Hunger Games. Also, for Pirates of the Caribbean fans, you'll know he played Philip Swift.

And reading the interviews that he's done, it seems that he really campaigned for this part. He absolutely loved the part. And he plays it really, really well. He's really haunted. So he plays the part of Joel Lazarus, known as Laz.

And he plays the part of this forensic psychiatrist who is notorious for being so, so brilliant. You know, he. He's. He's well acclaimed and he's Haunted by his own family history.

So already there's a, there's a history here, there's a story behind here his sister that took her own life and he kind of moved away from all of that but has never ever dealt, dealt with that at all. He kind of ran away from everything and that has been the family history that has literally haunted him.

But then in recent times, his father, played by Bill Nighy, he, he is, he takes his own life and this is when he absolutely hero worshiped him, absolutely adored him. And he doesn't believe, he doesn't believe this. He says no, this isn't, I don't think they did take their own lives.

There's a, they're being murdered and he starts to see ghosts. And of course anybody listening is like, are you on medication? You know, what's the problem here? What's going on? You know, you, this is not real.

So he's kind of, almost everything he's saying is unfortunately adding fuel to the fire that he's not really with and not being taken seriously essentially. But he's in absolute turmoil.

He wants to find how these two really big parts of his life, his sister and his father are deceased and he doesn't believe that they did take their own lives. It's really cleverly done. It's quite edge of your seat stuff. You don't know what's coming.

I think it's, there are times I think where you think oh, I know what's going to happen and you don't. There are good twists and turns here. I don't know if you particularly. He liked the paranormal stuff, Ian, but I quite like this.

I'm not as keen as you know, on sci fi stuff but this sort of paranormal idea is really interesting and there's some really creepy people in here. You know, he is dealing, as I say, he's a forensic psychiatrist so he's, he's inside prisons talking to people.

You know, he's interviewing this one guy who says he, he speaks to God and he.

I mean I went to the Thorpe park fright night the other night into one of the mazes and it just reminds me of that those stary ey stare into your soul and, and that's what goes on here. It's really, really well played by everybody because it's quite a full on part for Sam Claflin actually.

It's, it's, he's the center of all of this and you can see his whole face is haunted. The acting is superb. I think it's, it's really, really good. What do you think, Ian?

Ian MacEwan: 00:10:34

Well, Coban certainly churns them out, doesn't he? The adaptations of his works. And this was. This was co. Written specially for TV with Danny Brocklehurst, who wrote 10 pound poms.

I. I'm not a huge fan of Coben's stuff. I sort of always get the impression that it's.

He thinks of the big, totally unexpected plot twists first and then he writes around that, and often I don't find them very convincing. And that can work if you think of you. You sort of referenced the Sixth Sense, didn't you, at the start? And that.

That was, you know, that was all about the plot twist and that really worked.

So I sort of think going into the supernatural realm is quite a smart move for him because, you know, because you're expecting to suspend your disbelief in this realm. I agree with you. I think Claflin is. Is superb in this. He just gives it some gravitas. He doesn't overdo it.

We've also got the lovely Alexandra Roach, who's playing his surviving sibling, Jenna. And, yeah, Bill Nighy. He's just the coolest actor of his generation, isn't he? He's just. It'd be nice to see more of him in this. What I.

His office, which.

This is where it all kind of starts to go weird because Laz goes to his dad's office and he has a drink of whiskey like his dad used to do when he starts looking through case files. And that's when the weird stuff starts happening. His office looks like a sort of, I don't know, a bank crossed with a stately home.

What psychiatrist has an office like that?

Hannah Fernando: 00:12:12

Those were the days, Ian. Those were the days, Ian, when we had offices, PAs and everything else. Those days are gone, my friend.

Ian MacEwan: 00:12:20

But, yeah, I mean, it's. It's just. I mean, the thing about Coben's work is you just can't stop watching it because at the end of every episode, there's something that just.

You think, I've got. I got to carry on with this. And this is no different. But I think I enjoyed it more than. I mean, there seemed to be.

Richard Armitage was always previously in virtually every Harlan Caveman. But yes, I. I liked this. It grips me. And yeah, with Claflin and Nighy in it and Roach, you can't go wrong.

Over on youn and Alibi and the streaming platform, you. We have a new thriller called the Hunting Party, and here's a clip.

Hannah Fernando: 00:13:03

ichard Harris was executed in: 2017

Ian MacEwan: 00:13:11

Why?

Hannah Fernando: 00:13:12

The truth is, he's not actually dead.

Ian MacEwan: 00:13:15

He and some of the most dangerous criminals the world has ever known, they escaped from a classified prison.

Hannah Fernando: 00:13:23

How many?

Ian MacEwan: 00:13:24

A lot. This is a 10 parter. And yeah, get ready to suspend your disbelief because you're gonna need to.

So the jumping off point is there's this underground prison. Looks like a kind of great big silo with. With it's in its secret as well. No one knows about it.

Well, you know, obviously certain people do, but it's not widely known about. And all these notorious criminals are, you know, who supposedly have been executed. They're being kept there captive.

Not only that, weird experiments are being done on them. So, yeah, already you're thinking, if you're going to do this, you've got to set it in the future, otherwise no one's going to buy it.

Anyway, that's the setup. And then there's an explosion. Well, of course we did the Last Frontier recently did with a plane full of very nasty criminals.

Crashed, landed, and they all went on the loose. And yeah, there's an explosion in the prison. Lots of criminals are at large.

And yeah, the star of this is Melissa Roxburgh, who plays one of those brilliant FBI profilers who can just like, read people. She's called Bex Henderson, and she's left the bureau for reasons that presumably will become apparent as we. As it unfolds.

She's working in a casino, sort of sussing out who's cheating, you know. Anyway, of course she gets called back to the bureau because one of the fugitives is Richard Harris. No, not the actor.

Hannah, I know what you're thinking. He's a serial killer who she thought had been executed. She worked on the case, but now. Now she finds out, yeah, he's still alive.

He was in this prison and now he's free and they presume that he's just going to, you know, the same behavior is going to occur again. So I thought, well, yeah, I mean, despite the whole weird stuff with the prison, I did get drawn in. I quite like Bex as a character. And she sort of.

She clashes with this CIA agent, Jacob, played by Patrick Sabongui, who's not letting on the. The whole truth of what's been going down. Then there's also a very handsome prison guard, Shane, played by Josh McKenzie. He comes along for the ride.

And then we're also getting flashbacks from her work with her former partner, which ended quite badly. You'll see it in flashback. And he's very handsome as well. And, yes, we may not have seen the last of him. That's all I'll say. So, yeah, the.

The Richard Harris case is all wrapped up in episode one. I'm like, well, that was easy. There's a good twist in it. But I thought, oh, okay. I thought they were going to spin that out.

So it's basically going to be each week they're going to hunt for a different criminal. So, you know, it's. It's a pretty silly setup, but, you know, I found it perfectly watchable. Yeah, I like the female lead.

You know, it's one of those kind of Clary Starling, just really intuitive types, you know, slightly bucking against the system. So, yeah, bit of escapist nonsense. Yeah, perfectly okay. But I don't think I watch anymore. What does he think, Hannah?

Hannah Fernando: 00:16:50

Do you know what? I think you've summed up really well?

The only thing I did think draw comparisons with was last week we were talking about the plane crash, weren't we? And the fugitives kind of escaping. And this has a real sense of that, too, I have to say.

It kind of plays on all my fears, like I again said last week, the idea that there are lots of very sick people on the streets and they're trying to catch them. And you talked about Richard Harris here. I mean, and of course, you know, his crimes are heinous and absolutely awful.

He sadistically tortured several women, and he's caused around there to strike again, and they've got to try and, you know, catch all of these different people, and they're absolutely everywhere. And kind of the idea of this kind of the hunting party tells you absolutely everything, doesn't it?

That they are literally hunting these horrid, horrid people. So I did think. I did enjoy what I've seen of it so far.

It does seem like they kind of went full whack in the first episode, which kind of seemed a bit strange. I thought they'd have strung that out a bit longer, as you said.

But I think that the whole premise of this just plays on people's fears and so therefore will work quite nicely. And it does. You just think, what if. And I suppose as well, what if that happened? Everyone's got a prison somewhere near them, right?

And the idea that this. This could happen. And of course, this is an explosion, you know, this is something that, you know, is out of someone's control.

And they just have seemed to. To manage to run away. And also it comes down to data, doesn't it? I mean they thought that he was dead and he was not dead, things like that.

Are they actually still searching for him? It plays on what could be, I suppose. And that's I guess why I found it. So app.

Ian MacEwan: 00:18:26

Well, we're going to finish over on BBC iPlayer with a new comedy drama series called Leonard and Hungry Paul. And here's a clip.

Hannah Fernando: 00:18:36

Leonard's story began 32 years ago. He was raised alone by his mother, his father having died tragically in childbirth.

He was a boy with a big imagination and not many friends to share it with. However, Leonard looked away from the loneliness and into the vast inventive universe of his mind.

Now this is a bit of a slow burn, or it was for me anyway, because it starts so first of all, the narrator is Julia Roberts and I, I didn't realize for a little while into it that it was Julia Roberts. There is some real Hollywood star power here. So just, just, just to say that straight away.

So it starts with us being introduced to this lad, Leonard as a baby, explaining it's got some kind of weird sort of humour throughout it. It's not for me, it's not. Laugh out loud.

His, they say his father dies through childbirth and he's left with his mother and they become this sort of pair like a mother and son, almost like they're married.

They just kind of coexist in a relationship that isn't exactly normal for a mother and son in terms of him, he, they call it that he doesn't, he doesn't have the eureka face and he's, he's. Obviously there's some neurodiverse issues here. The mother kind of is his biggest fan, biggest campaigner at school.

When he struggles at school and school are calling her in and talking to him about him and they cohabit in really quite a happy, nice way. But it's like he never grows up. She babies him. So that's kind of where it starts.

But when she passes away, I suppose that's when you see him having to spread his wings a little bit and becoming the person that he truly is. And I don't think, as I say that he is probably your average lad, but he is somebody who has got a lot to give.

He's clearly a really bright, a bright boy. And this other chap called Hungry Paul, he's a part time postal worker.

He's also a little bit strange, a little bit awkward at times and they live this very, it's a really unassuming existence. And you see, you see snapshots.

This is why it's a bit of a slow burn because you kind of see snapshots into each of their lives and their worlds and their jobs and how awkward they are in those positions. So hungry. Paul, for example, is in the hospital, goes to see somebody and doesn't know what to say.

He makes her think that she's dying and it causes a big scene. There's no kind of social etiquette around this at all. And Lenny's probably.

Leonard, he's called Lenny, is probably more of a likable character, I suppose there are moments where you see his eureka face which they say he doesn't have. He kind of smiles a bit here and there and he finds things a bit funny.

And he's working in the office and the fire alarm goes off and he meets somebody and instantly there's a massive attraction and there's talk kind of that predecessors this where we don't really know whether he's got it just because he has never met anyone, because he's always been with his mum. Does he take his mum to a plus one wedding, for example, or does he try and find a partner? But now he's kind of on his own.

As I say, he can spread his wings and he feels this kind of real connection with her. And you begin to see this character come alive.

You begin to see this person fulfilling their potential, I suppose because although he's an introvert, there's something very deep within him and you can absolutely see that. And he's got so much to give and so much to bring to the party.

So as I say, for me, it took me quite a while to get my head around exactly what was going on in this. If I'm honest with you.

I think probably it's one of those things I need to re watch and will actually really like and we'll still be talking about this and you know, several months time. That's actually genius. That was absolutely brilliant. But I have to say I just kept watching. Where are we going with this? What's going on? What?

That's not that funny. Why have we done that? And this is a bit awkward and this is a bit uncomfortable. A bit uncomfortable to watch at times actually.

So it was, as I say, it's a slow burn. I think you'll enjoy it. I don't know what you think, Ian. For me it's worth watching again. I need to watch it again.

Ian MacEwan: 00:23:09

I agree. Because I started watching episode one and in my immediate thought was this isn't going to be for me.

But I, but I did get into it and it's adapted from a novel and so it needs that narration I think because obviously the novel has this particular sort of quite, quite wry tone and. But I do think having an American Hollywood star, Julia Roberts narrating a show that's set in Dublin, it doesn't quite work. I don't know.

I know apparently she was a big fan of the book so she was really keen to do it. You know, obviously it's a selling point and yeah, we'll sell it I guess around the world. But anyway, yeah.

Alex Lautha from Alien Earth plays Leonard who. Who writes children's encyclopedias. Yeah, interesting job. And Laurie Kiniston from Fool Me Once is Hungry Paul.

I don't know if we ever find out why he's called Hungry Paul. He's a part time postal worker. So it's kind of in the same ballpark as Film Club, which be the Amy Lou Wood series that we did recently.

And it's a sort of quirky comedy drama about people who don't quite fit in but have this rather touching relationship.

And then because you've got Jamie Lee o' Donnell, who's brilliant in Derry Girls as the real, the most extrovert of the girls playing Shelley, she really injects some energy into it and she's absolutely terrific.

So yeah, it's just like Film Club, it's something different and it's about people, the sort of people who don't necessarily get written about as the main characters in, in TV shows. So yeah, I, I did enjoy it actually. Yeah, I was, I thought it was charming.

Now we've got to that time Young Hannah Mirlad where we find out what the hell you've been binge watching.

Hannah Fernando: 00:25:10

It's just a traitor. I don't know what I'm gonna say from now on. It's just a traitor.

Ian MacEwan: 00:25:15

Don't tell me what happens. Don't tell me.

Hannah Fernando: 00:25:17

I won't tell you what's happened. You've been away. I won't tell you what's happened. Oh, it's just brilliant. I love it. I absolutely love it.

And of course we have the news that Tess and Claudia are quitting Strictly.

Ian MacEwan: 00:25:28

Yeah, yeah.

Hannah Fernando: 00:25:31

They always said they'd go together.

Ian MacEwan: 00:25:33

Well, opportunity knocks. They'll be looking for a couple of presenters, a couple of super fans.

whole week was Beverly Hills: 90210

And you have to ask yourself, what the hell were the SWAT team doing? Because he seems to be wandering around for ages and ages after they found him. Just. Anyway, yeah, remember that? It was a great series, wasn't it?

Now we've just got time to look ahead to next week's offering. So what is on the binge watch menu, Hannah?

Hannah Fernando: 00:26:17

Well, Emma Thompson stars as a PI Investigating a missing person case in Apple TV drama Down Cemetery Road.

Ian MacEwan: 00:26:25

And Colin Farrell plays a con man in high stakes Netflix thriller Ballad of a Small Player. So we look forward to those and much, much more. But in the meantime, dear listeners.

Hannah Fernando: 00:26:42

Listening.

Ian MacEwan: 00:26:44

Oh, nice.

Hannah Fernando: 00:26:45

I like what you.