I watch a fair bit of TV – because I work at home, mostly between 8-5.30 I’m on my own. I like to watch or listen to something to add a bit background noise. Now my odyssey through the Collings and Herrin podcasts is complete, I imagine I’ll be churning through boxsets as I work. However I MUST tell you about my TV Top 3 at the moment.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of good television out there. These three though, are what I’d urge you to watch. They are all brilliant in their own way.
First up
1 – GameFace – E4 / All4
The first series actually came to an end last night, however all the episodes are available on All4 now. This show is utterly magnificent, it’s written by and stars the wildly talented Roisin Conaty. GameFace follows the life of Marcella, a mostly out of work actor, whose boyfriend left and remarried someone after knowing them for a matter of hours. The writing in so good, the characters are convincing, and it will lead you on journey of all your emotions. It also looks wonderful, the director has done an incredible job. It has the feel and scale of something you’d find on Netflix, however the soul is very much rooted in British Sitcom. There are lots of Family Guy style ‘cut tos’ where the action flashes back to (often embarrassing moments) which are wonderfully executed.
The first series is just six episodes, and you could probably watch them all in one sitting. Be warned, the language is filthy at times. However, it’s real – it’s the sort of language people use. It’s been picked up by Hulu in the States so I’m desperately hoping there will be more episodes. I can’t recommend it enough, if you take one recommendation from this list – it should be this one.
2 – Mr Robot – Amazon Prime
Mr Robot is a funny one, I think it is possibly one of the most innovative dramas of the last 10 years. It tells the story of Elliot (Rami Malek), a hacker fed up of the imbalance in society and his battle to take down ‘E-Corp’. The first season is SO strong, the first episode will instantly draw you in. The second season though, is a bit weak, and perhaps over indulgent in places. However, overall, as a complete work, it’s outstanding. It has a real ‘Kuberick’ feel in places, the scoring and music choices are excellent. There’s a dark ‘Fight Club’ vibe to it as well. It’s slick, and clever and despite being very nerdy, and using a lot of tech speak, you can enjoy it regardless of your IT knowledge. The latest episode is one entire single shot running continuously for the entire episode. Something I’ve not seen before – considering the scale of the episode it’s incredible on a technical level, and fantastic as a viewer.
As hard as it is to recommend something I’ve struggled with in places, it’s well worth sticking with. Promise.
3 – Man Down – Channel 4 / All4
I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t keen on Man Down immediately. It didn’t draw me in immediately like GameFace did. However, once you get into it and appreciate the silliness it’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s penned by the star, Greg Davies and tells the story of Dan. Dan isn’t the most likeable of humans, and nothing ever goes right for him. It’s a very typical ‘farce’ sitcom, and it’s ridiculous at times – it just all works well though. The cast is magnificent, and I LOVED the Tony Robinson’s character in Series 2 – ‘Daddy’ was so amazingly horrid and dark. It makes me chuckle just thinking about it. Man Down is a lot of fun, and will definitely make you chuckle.
What’s rocking your TV socks at the moment? Drop a comment!
