Episode 236
The President, a Prime Minister... and Alison Hammond
Ian and Hannah review the biggest new films and bingeable shows on UK streaming services for the week beginning Friday 31st January 2025, including:
When two old friends, Brian Walden and prime minister Margaret Thatcher come together for their last ever TV interview, little do they realize that they're about to embark on one of the most famous political exchanges of all time. Harriet Walter and Steve Coogan star in Brian and Maggie.
A serene community is inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals, but their tranquillity explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds. Sterling K. Brown stars in Disney Plus series Paradise.
Apple TV's new docuseries takes a raw, intimate look at the war's impact on America as the 50th anniversary of Saigon's fall approaches, in Vietnam: The War that Changed America.
Former tour rep Alison Hammond and son Aidan head to the Sunshine State - on a quest for family adventure in true American style in new travel series Alison Hammond's Florida Unpacked on BBC iPlayer.
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Transcript
Well hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV
Speaker:and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Women
Speaker:and Women in Home magazine. And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV Satellite Week, TV Times and What's
Speaker:on TV magazines. And today we're looking at the new releases that will be available on
Speaker:Friday, the 31st of January 2025. Finally, January is nearly over, including Channel 4 drama Brian
Speaker:and Maggie starring Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter as broadcaster, Brian Walden and former
Speaker:Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. And, sorry about that, the Apple TV documentary series,
Speaker:Vietnam, The War That Changed America, looks back at the controversial conflict.
Speaker:Yes and we'll also be checking out none other than Alison Hammond's new Florida travelogue
Speaker:on BBC iPlayer and high stakes thriller Paradise on Disney Plus. But first Ian, what is in the
Speaker:news? Production has begun on the farewell series of the critically acclaimed Sky original comedy
Speaker:Brassic, starring Joe Gilgan. What else is in the news Hannah? Well for the second successive
Speaker:year. ITV1 and ITVX will be the exclusive UK home of the prestigious Oscars with Jonathan
Speaker:Ross hosting coverage on Sunday, the 2nd of March. Oh, any Oscar predictions that you want
Speaker:to share? Do you know what? I just keep thinking everything's going to be cancelled. This award
Speaker:season just seems to be kind of, you know, fated, doesn't it? So we'll have to see. Well, we've
Speaker:got, I think, quite a broad selection. We've got a real life political drama. We've got
Speaker:a high stakes thriller. We've got a war documentary series and a travelogue. Come on, what's not
Speaker:to like? We're going to start on Channel 4 streaming with a new drama, which arrived on Wednesday,
Speaker:the 29th of January as a box set. It's called Brian and Maggie. And here's a clip. When you
Speaker:think of the news, how it sounds, does it sound like me? You sound like our audience. Your
Speaker:first guest should be someone quite loud. Draw in some press.
Speaker:Here we are. I enjoyed that. Well then we should do it again sometime. He's a journalist at
Speaker:the end of the day These people must always be kept at arm's length. Are we all ready to
Speaker:face the lens of history? Well, this has a lot to recommend it Hannah It stars Steve Coogan
Speaker:who is playing journalist Brian Walden and of course, he's previously
Speaker:stars out to some extent as an impressionist so he's well qualified to impersonate a real
Speaker:person. And you've got Harriet Walter as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It's written
Speaker:by the brilliant James Graham who he wrote Sherwood but he's done a lot of plays including one
Speaker:that was in the houses of parliament in sort of the days of Harold Wilson, just as Thatcher
Speaker:was about to come to power. So this is very much in his wheelhouse, though it was kind
Speaker:of Kugen that kind of got the project going. Anyway, long story short, it's sort of, it's
Speaker:the story of the relationship between Walden, who I didn't realize had actually been a Labour
Speaker:MP before he became sort of political pundit and interviewer on television. and Maggie Thatcher
Speaker:and it's sort of leading up to this particularly important interview that was sort of seen as
Speaker:the beginning of the end of Thatcher. It was after her Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, had resigned.
Speaker:So yeah, it's a very interesting look back at a particular moment in time. I mean, interestingly,
Speaker:they were actually quite friendly. Alden and Thatcher up until that point I should add.
Speaker:Coogan is great as Walden and I think, I mean, the people we've had previously playing the
Speaker:Iron Lady, well you've had Meryl Streep, you've had Gillian Anderson, I think Harriet Walter
Speaker:does a really, really good job. Impressive. So I mean, I remember Brian from his days on
Speaker:the telly. And I remember this interview actually. And you're gonna see quite a few other real
Speaker:life characters including, well Nigel Lawson is played by Ivan Kay. You've got Bernard Ingham,
Speaker:who was Thatcher's press secretary played by Paul Clayton of Peep Show fame. Jeffrey Howe,
Speaker:of course, a Thatcher ally played by Paul Higgins. So yeah, if you're interested in British politics,
Speaker:this is really good. What did you think? I thought it was good actually, I agree with you, but
Speaker:I was particularly interested in Harriet's role, as you say, as the Iron Lady, because it's
Speaker:quite a role, isn't it, in terms of the amount of amazing people that have done it previously
Speaker:and who have done well. And it's really easy to kind of pull them apart and say that, you
Speaker:know, Gillian Anderson, she overplayed it slightly, when actually, really, when you watched it,
Speaker:you just totally bought into it, that it was Margaret Thatcher. And I think Harriet did
Speaker:a really good job and I watched an interview with her just the other day and they showed
Speaker:kind of the before and after and obviously she was sat there talking as her and then her as
Speaker:Margaret Thatcher. And you've done a really, really good job, haven't they, with the makeup
Speaker:and absolutely everything that goes with it. So there's kind of like an immediate buy-in
Speaker:in terms of how she looks. But also she was saying that she approached this character.
Speaker:in the same way she approaches any character that she plays, which is just to kind of get
Speaker:inside their head, to try and become that person, and to try and really understand, you know,
Speaker:their mannerisms and absolutely everything. And I think that's why this is so credible,
Speaker:because I think she's done a really good job in that research piece ahead of time, because
Speaker:as I say, I think taking on a part like this after so many others, it is really tricky,
Speaker:and kind of, if you don't do it well. you're going to come under some criticism for it.
Speaker:And I certainly don't think she will and she certainly hasn't from what I've seen. So I
Speaker:think it is interesting because it is a bit of a political love story. It is telling us
Speaker:stuff that this is before my time, but it's taught me a lot of what was going on there
Speaker:and the intricacies of that relationship. So yeah, I think people will really enjoy it no
Speaker:matter your political values. We move across to Disney Plus for another new drama series.
Speaker:which arrived on Tuesday the 28th of January. It's called Paradise, and here's a clip. For
Speaker:the record, your name is Xavier Collins, correct? Yes. You have two children, James and Presley.
Speaker:Yes. When did you last see Cal Bradford alive? I walked the president to his room when he
Speaker:turned in at 2204. Yes, so this has eight parts and it's a pretty high-stake thriller, but
Speaker:you will, so I started to watch it and I didn't realize who was playing the main character,
Speaker:Xavier. And of course it's the guy that was in This Is Us, Sterling K. Brown, and I absolutely
Speaker:loved him in that. I really did. It took me a little while to kind of get my head out of
Speaker:that as who he was. So yeah, so this is a pretty it's pretty thrilling. But it's this place
Speaker:they live is Paradise. It's pretty aptly named. It's an amazing place. And then this murder
Speaker:shakes up the whole community. But. He works with the president, he works for the president,
Speaker:his security for the president, and he finds the president dead on the floor. and you see
Speaker:all the authorities as they would in the situations of just descend upon the crime scene and asking
Speaker:questions and he was the last person to be with the president and they had and what's interesting
Speaker:about this is it's not just kind of like a whodunit I mean of course you know ultimately that that's
Speaker:what you're going to find out but this is about the relationship that he had with the president
Speaker:because um the president seemed to be quite a um a character didn't have many friends you
Speaker:know, sort of quite awkward. And yet they struck up a friendship that sort of filled a gap for
Speaker:him. So it was quite sort of nuanced friendship. And the finger is pointed at him, you know,
Speaker:did he do it, didn't he do it? And for me, it was, I mean, it's exciting for a start, from
Speaker:what I've seen of it so far, I'm pretty... it keeps you going, like as in you've got to kind
Speaker:of, you're into it immediately, it's pretty pacy. So also there's a sort of this real power
Speaker:craze woman called Samantha Redmond and she kind of mixes the whole thing up as well because
Speaker:she's.
Speaker:I think that strong female character in this in what otherwise would be quite a male dominated
Speaker:area. She's kind of putting a two penny worth in. It kind of, I feel like at first when I
Speaker:started to watch it, I thought, do you know what? This is just going to be literally a
Speaker:whodunit. We're gonna find out and that's the end of it. But it's not, it's really intricate
Speaker:and it really keeps you watching. It's interesting. I absolutely love him so much. And I think
Speaker:he's just as brilliant in this. He plays a really strong character but with a really sensitive
Speaker:side too. Ian, is it one for you? It's kind of quite, it's quite a difficult one to kind
Speaker:of explain, but I think Disney Plus have done a done a good job with this. It is a difficult
Speaker:one to preview because you don't want to give too much away. But let me just say that at
Speaker:the end of episode one, there are developments that sort of change everything about the whole
Speaker:story and your understanding of what's going on. And That's as much as I'm going to say,
Speaker:watch it and you'll be like, Oh my, what the heck? But yeah, it's great. It's a brilliant
Speaker:twist. I love it. The place, Paradise, the community, when I first saw it, it sort of looks like
Speaker:this perfect sort of American suburbia and it looks very like the town of Celebration in
Speaker:Florida, which was actually built by the Disney Corporation and it's just looks like a picture
Speaker:perfect. small town America. Anyway, yes, I actually say at the heart of it is this relationship
Speaker:between Xavier, the security guy and President Cal Bradford played by James Marsden. And yeah,
Speaker:the yeah, the sort of jumping off point. Well, a bit of a way into the episode is the president's
Speaker:death, but it's could have jumps between timelines. So you keep flashing back to like, how did
Speaker:he get the job? What was his relationship like with the president? Also, he's got a, yeah,
Speaker:his private life. He's bringing up two kids, but he's a widower. So you learn a little bit
Speaker:about that. I have to admit, initially, I found the dialogue a bit cringy. Like, first off,
Speaker:he engages in some very over the top banter with one of his colleagues who he kind of meets
Speaker:while he's out jogging. And then they kind of, the chat with the kids. at home I didn't find
Speaker:very convincing and then these sort of intense conversations with the president late at night,
Speaker:like the president likes to have a drink late at night and wants him to go come and have
Speaker:a drink with me and tries to get to know him a bit better. It didn't really ring true with
Speaker:me but he is, Sterling K Brown is great in the lead role, he's just got this kind of steely,
Speaker:very cool detached persona and conspiracy element well if it is a conspiracy we don't know who
Speaker:killed the president because also as you said he was the last person to see him alive so
Speaker:he's under suspicion so what happened there and then yep as I say by the end of the app
Speaker:everything changes absolutely massive plot twist which is terrific so yeah I did enjoy episode
Speaker:one over on Apple TV plus Arriving on Friday the 31st of January, we have a new documentary
Speaker:series called Vietnam, The War That Changed America. And here's a clip.
Speaker:You may have seen movies about Vietnam, but this is the real story told only by those who
Speaker:were there. We were brothers. The camaraderie is so strong. You know he's willing to die
Speaker:for you, and he knows I'm willing to die for him. Six episodes to this one, Hannah. And
Speaker:there have been some pretty exhaustive... and very good documentary series about the Vietnam
Speaker:War. And it is a conflict that absolutely fascinates me, I must admit. I mean, for starters, what
Speaker:the hell was America doing, getting involved? And it was because of this sort of absolute
Speaker:panic about the spread of communism, wasn't it? But, and America just, I mean, so many
Speaker:lives were sacrificed on both sides. And the war dragged on and successive presidents just
Speaker:continued to prosecute the war. So this, what makes this a bit different is, it's actually
Speaker:to mark the anniversary of the fall of Saigon. In this, we're getting testimony from people
Speaker:who served in Vietnam and they're using, I mean, Vietnam was, had sort of the most TV and film
Speaker:coverage of any conflict that had come before. So, you know, they sent a lot of camera crews
Speaker:out there. So you're getting that kind of boots on the ground action that was shot at the time.
Speaker:And you're hearing from these veterans about, you know, what it was like, because, you know,
Speaker:a lot of these people were teenagers. It's very moving, actually, because, you know, there
Speaker:are two guys who feature, who became kind of best buddies, like one of them was a big bruiser.
Speaker:And the other one was kind of quite shy and nervous. So they kind of teamed up and then
Speaker:one of them stood on a mine and survived. But you know, in episode one, they're kind of recalling
Speaker:that. So it's a slight, it's looking at it through a slightly different lens. And interestingly,
Speaker:one of the people who features went on to write the Tom Hanks movie Castaway. and also to get
Speaker:an Oscar nomination for his work on another Tom Hanks film, Apollo 13. So yeah, this is
Speaker:very much up my alley because I still watch The World at War, which I've seen countless
Speaker:times. I am fascinated by war documentaries and Vietnam is just such a fascinating conflict
Speaker:and in episode one as well, these two guys that I mentioned. They talk about the fact that
Speaker:they were the guys who got sent down when they started discovering these networks of tunnels
Speaker:beneath the sort of Vietnam jungle, they were the guys who went down into the tunnels and
Speaker:what they found down there was remarkable, like these huge chambers where, you know, the Viet
Speaker:Cong could, you know, they had like an operating theaters down there and they, they would eat
Speaker:and drink down there and sleep down there and they were kind of, they connected different
Speaker:villages. So. Yes. I think it's a new look at the war very much from the viewpoint of the
Speaker:people who took part and with the footage that was shot, you know, in and among the action.
Speaker:So, yeah, I really liked it and I will watch the rest. What did you think, Hannah? Yeah,
Speaker:I really liked it too, although I always find these things, you know, dreadfully upsetting,
Speaker:just that we don't seem to learn anything ever. And I think just hearing in this documentary
Speaker:style from the people who lived through the war on both sides of the conflict is what's
Speaker:harrowing and what's so upsetting. And particularly a pivotal moment in all of our lives right
Speaker:now. It's just, it feels ever more pertinent, I suppose. I didn't know. If I'm honest with
Speaker:you, a huge amount about this war, as in sort of the reasons and how it started and what
Speaker:have you, and you come away learning an awful lot. But I remember doing war poetry for A-level
Speaker:and do you know what, it just, it upset me so much at the time, it left me, and I actually
Speaker:find things like this quite harrowing, but it's so interesting and you learn so much. And as
Speaker:I say, at a time when it's so pertinent and so kind of in our lives. It's every reason
Speaker:to understand why no one's really a winner in any of these things. Over on BBC iPlayer, it
Speaker:arrived as a box set on Monday, the 27th of January. We have the new travelogue, Alison
Speaker:Hammond's Florida Unpacked. And here's a clip. The Hammonds are here. I'm hitting the Florida
Speaker:highways with my son Aidan. Let's go. We're on a mission to prove you don't need big bucks
Speaker:to have big fun babs. Bye bye winter blues, sunshine stay here we come. Yes so everyone
Speaker:will know Alison Hammond from This Morning and she does an awful lot of other stuff as well.
Speaker:She seems to be absolutely everywhere at the moment. But her and her son Aidan, this is
Speaker:kind of a travelogue I suppose of her and her son showing us all, us mere mortals, how to
Speaker:have an epic holiday. on a budget and I suppose if you do go to Florida, I mean you know you're
Speaker:going to have to dig deep don't you, the pockets need to be quite deep to afford luxury like
Speaker:that and to do it well. If you're going that far away you want to do it well. And you see
Speaker:her and her son, she does talk about Aidan a little bit, particularly with regards to relationships,
Speaker:but this is kind of the first time, he's been pictured on the red carpet with her, but this
Speaker:is kind of the first time. he's really surfaced on TV as such and sort of become someone in
Speaker:his own right, I suppose. And the two of them embark on this adventure across America Sunshine
Speaker:State. It's ten episodes. They go off the beaten track. They don't do all the... They don't
Speaker:do everything that you think they do, but they also do visit the gems. But they're always
Speaker:looking for best deals, whether it comes to food or drink, accommodation. travel, those
Speaker:once in a lifetime experiences. So I think, to be honest with you, a lot of people will
Speaker:watch this and you know, it's a bit like watching Martin Lewis who gives you tips. You know,
Speaker:I'm not suggesting she's any Martin Lewis by any stretch, but what I mean is, is that somebody
Speaker:giving you tips and tricks and ideas of how to find something that you really want to do
Speaker:on a bit of a budget, you know, is really helpful to a lot of people. I mean, it has been bashed
Speaker:a lot. People are saying, that she's just done it and she's got a free holiday herself by
Speaker:doing this. But it's a bit mean because actually, do you know what? To you are going to come,
Speaker:there are some takeaways from this. Is it something that I think that you, is it a must watch?
Speaker:No. But if you do fancy visiting Florida, if you do fancy getting away, you like Alison
Speaker:Hammond, yeah, crack on. Well, I visited Florida quite a few times. So I was interested. see
Speaker:this. I do think it's an interesting part of the United States, but we have said before,
Speaker:Hannah, haven't we, that there are way too many celebrity travelogues. And as if to prove the
Speaker:point, arriving on the same day and also available as a box set on BBC iPlayer, you have Wyn and
Speaker:Joanna all at sea with the singer Wyn Evans and Gavin and Stacey's Joanna Page exploring
Speaker:the So I have to say, I was looking forward to Florida Unpacked, but I think it's pretty
Speaker:ropey. I have to say I was not impressed. Good things. I quite liked seeing Alison's relationship
Speaker:with her son, Aiden, who seems like a nice lad. However, I mean, as you say, 10 episodes, they've
Speaker:stretched it thin. Oh my God. In episode one, all that happens in episode one, I kid you
Speaker:not, is they hire an RV, recreational vehicle or motorhome. Uh, and then they go to sort
Speaker:of stay in this big sort of national park where they can, where they can, you know, camp as
Speaker:it were, and they go in on a canoe trip. That's it. That's the, oh, they go shopping as well.
Speaker:They go, they buy some food. That is it. I mean, come on. Yeah. That is not enough. And I mean,
Speaker:yeah, I enjoy watching Alison, uh, on things like Bake Off. I think she's good value, but
Speaker:I mean, it's not, you know, Obviously she didn't plan the itinerary and she hasn't kind of written
Speaker:loosely the script of what's going to happen. So she makes a decent enough fist of it, but
Speaker:really I thought it was pretty poor. I have to say, and I will not be watching any more
Speaker:episodes. It's just, no, it's a no from me. I sometimes wish that they would get people
Speaker:that are authored in that subject to do it. You know, it just seems like random just to
Speaker:get, because they're a celebrity. Oh yes, that'll work. I think you're right. It just doesn't...
Speaker:Ten episodes Ian! Come on! Just a few more new arrivals to flag up for you this week. On Netflix,
Speaker:arrived on Wednesday the 29th of January, a new series of six nations full contact. The
Speaker:behind the scenes series to coincide with the return of the International Rugby Tournament
Speaker:this Friday. Over on Prime Video, this arrived on Thursday 30th January. You're Cordially
Speaker:Invited is a comedy starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon about two bridal parties
Speaker:struggling to share a small destination venue which is accidentally double booked. Yes. On
Speaker:Netflix, also arriving on Thursday 30th, Season 2 of The Recruit. which is a CIA adventure
Speaker:starring Noah Chintanio. And finally, on You as a Box Set, we have Guy Martin, Proper Jobs,
Speaker:in which the self-confessed speed freak explores four so-called proper jobs, starting with work
Speaker:as a deckhand on a fishing trawler in Devon. Well, we got to that time. I don't know, where
Speaker:we find out- What the hell you've been binge watching this week. Well, let me tell you that
Speaker:to be honest with you, I've kind of been at a loss now because the traitors has finished.
Speaker:That traitors finale was absolutely brilliant. Although not necessarily who I wanted to win,
Speaker:but that's what I've been binging on. Now I need to find a new binge. And I did watch,
Speaker:oh, to declare or not to declare. We watched with the children the other night. That was
Speaker:quite funny. How about you? Well, I've been watching my old favorites, new episodes and
Speaker:old episodes, 24 hours in police custody, which is just super true crime documentary. Junior
Speaker:Bake Off, of course, which is better than adult Bake Off, in my opinion. I mean, Harry Hill,
Speaker:the amount of effort he puts into presenting that sketches, jokes, props, it's just not
Speaker:to mention the argyle pattern tank tops. And of course. Pottery Throwdown, which I absolutely
Speaker:love. Now we've just got time, before we say goodbye, to look ahead to next week's offering.
Speaker:So what is on the binge watch menu, Hannah? Well BBC iPayers star-studded drama Miss Austin
Speaker:explores a mystery in the life of the famous author. Oooh. And Caitlin Deaver plays a real-life
Speaker:scammer, remember this, who faked a terminal illness in the Netflix drama apple cider vinegar.
Speaker:So we look forward to those and much more but in the meantime listeners.
