The Boxsets That Got Us Through May
Given we’re all going to spend June glued to Love Island it’s hard to think how you’ll find time to watch any boxsets, let alone the six we’ve suggested here. But when the Majorcan dust clears, then you’ll need something to replace all that time with, you could learn a language or do a nightclass, but most likely you’ll be looking for the perfect boxset, so here’s everything we’ve been watching the last month…
Amidst a bunch of colleagues watching murder, rape and suicide boxsets, Deputy Editor Phil‘s been trying to keep it light and cheerful with a couple of comedies. It’s about to get heavier…
Friday Night Dinner
My wife hates Friday Night Dinner, it’s puerile, silly and abrasive. Which is exactly why I think it’s brilliant. It’s also warm and brilliant. The sitcom focuses on a Jewish family and their Friday night dinners (a Jewish tradition). The talent is undeniable, with household names Tamsin Grieg (Episodes and Green Wing) as Jackie and Paul Ritter (Quantum Of Solace, Harry Potter) as Martin playing parents to up-and-coming stars Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners) as Adam and Tom Rosenthal (Plebs) as Jonny, their ever-sardonic, quick witted children but the real genius has to be in the script which is excellent.
Each episode centres around the family’s attempts to enjoy a peaceful Friday night dinner, which is invariably interrupted by events, generally including weirdo nextdoor neighbour Jim, perfectly portrayed by Mark Heap (another Green Wing alum). The quick wit and limited set (we rarely leave the family’s suburban home) are classic sitcom, but amid the family disarray and squabbles warmth somehow radiates from the show. Now in its fourth season and showing no sign of slowing down, Friday Night Dinner is a real feast.
Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father
Approach Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father with care, you will want to commit serious bodily harm on whoever commissioned this series the entire way through the first episode and then reoffend at intervals throughout the entire season. But stand back from the blunt instrument, it really is worth bearing with. Because beneath many flashes of frustrating banality this is a fundamentally heart warming journey of discovery.
As Travel Editor at The Handbook (have you checked out our travel pages?) I was drawn to the show because it documents a trip through South East Asia and functions as a pretty standard TV travel journal. However, as a travel show it’s clearly been planned by someone just back from their gap yah, filmed in obvious, touristy locations in a path so well trodden that it covers very little new or interesting ground. But in reality this was always a vehicle for Whitehalls Snr and Jr to spend some screen time together so who can blame them for wanting a half decent holiday thrown into the deal?
Through this lens we suddenly see a well honed machine kick into gear. The gags for the camera fall flat, the set-ups almost always fail to look genuine, but what can’t be denied is the love between a father and son and a perfectly honed dynamic that’s hilarious and lovely. Genuinely special are the times (and there’s a major one in the final episode, so hankies at the ready) when this is allowed to take centre-stage. The whole show is worth watching just for the unscripted, intimate father-son moments, and I’ll take all the dross just to enjoy them.
Accidental comic-book fan Editorial Assistant Charlotte has been enjoying a couple of teen dramas based on comics…
Riverdale
A handful of my friends had embarked on the Riverdale hype, and being a serious sufferer of FOMO (fear of missing out, for those who are missing out on the acronyms), I couldn’t help but get involved. Based on characters from Archie Comics, the first episode begins with (and this isn’t a spoiler alert) the murder of a twin and the mystery that ensues. If you love a whodunnit then I couldn’t recommend anything more whole heartedly.
Characters Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) come together to solve the mystery with a tonne of romance and drama thrown in. The best way to describe it, in my view, is like a bag of pick and mix – you have absolutely no idea what you’re going to get but you know it’s going to be good. From singing and dancing, to murder mystery, to a complete disregard for narrative – it keeps you on your toes.
Filmed in quite a Wes Anderson type way with vibrant colours and extravagance galore, I have now successfully indulged in both seasons at the sacrifice of exercising, but we all know that when you get going on a good series, there’s really no going back. Growing up binging on The Sweet Life of Zac and Cody, I began to really feel my age too when I discovered lead character and narrator Jughead Jones, played by Cole Sprouse is in fact Cody… mind blown. The first season sees two timelines, the main story and various flashbacks and a whole load of drama. As is the norm with most enticing series’, just when all problems seem to be solved, a new one makes its way to the surface, enter season two, as ‘the black hood’ causes havoc across the town.
The End of the F***ing World
I think it must’ve been the name that made me arrive at The End of the F***king World, because the synopsis certainly wouldn’t. The series, which has one season so far, focuses on the fictional life of a budding teen psychopath and a rebel hungry for adventure. Sounds alluring right? Well, not really. However, after giving this strange and very bizarre show a go, I was glad I stuck it out.
Based on the comic book series by Charles Forsman – clearly I’m loving this whole comic book-based vibe as of late – the concept feels quite adventurous and weirdly romantic seeing as the protagonist is a 17-year-old psychopath, who persistently imagines ways in which he can kill fellow role-lead Alyssa, including ferociously sharpening a hunting knife whilst staring at her. The eight-part series is all a bit odd, again Wes Anderson vibes seeping through. It’s dark humour at its finest, perfect for anyone looking for something a little weird and wonderful. Oh, and it’s also set in England in an unspecified town outside London, but has a ridiculously intense American aesthetic, again adding to the weirdness.
Despite the startlingly gruesome thoughts of lead character James, it turns out both characters are completely useless in their pursuits of seeking out Alyssa’s real father, and you just can’t help but laugh at the frantic nature of it all. If you’re not looking for too big a commitment either, this is perfect, with each episode running at around 20 minutes.
Over on the other side of the office, Operations Manager Charlotte (not to be confused with Editorial Assistant Charlotte) has been awakening her sense of social justice with 13 Reasons Why and Dear White People.
Dear White People
This was a fluke find, clever Netflix marketing started playing me a trailer for Dear White People and I thought it looked quite slick so gave it a chance and I’m so pleased I did. I smashed through two seasons in less than two weeks, frantically recommended it to a friend who then got through it in two days – a true TV warrior and also hungover and in need of binge worthy TV.
Dear White People is about an African American society in a prestigious, fictional, Ivy League university; the series begins shortly after a fraternity on campus hosted a black face party. Each episode takes turn focusing on a different character and you see how each one fits in and overlaps with the other characters’ stories although the whole series loosely revolves around Sam, an outspoken student who broadcasts a podcast called, wait for it, ‘Dear White People’. It’s enlightening, funny, easily digestible in 20 minute episodes and so bang on the pulse with race relations and the experiences of black people in America at the moment.
13 Reasons Why
13 Reasons Why is an original Netflix series set in an American high school following the story of a teenage girl called Hannah who commits suicide and the 13 tapes she left behind, each one dedicated to a person who she blames. There are themes of sexual violence, drug abuse and bullying – it’s a riot as you can imagine. So, it might not be the most cheerful of series (did you read the premise?) but it’s addictive and gripping and there are also plenty of sweet, humorous moments to tide you over.
The second series was recently released and is about Hannah’s parents suing the school for their negligence and covers more, very relevant topics like rape culture and (spoiler alert!) high school shootings. Be warned, there’s an extremely graphic horrific rape scene in the last episode that has caused uproar and petitions for the show to be cancelled, the producers addressed it by saying rape is more commonly than we like to think and any anger or disgust felt should be directed at the perpetrators. The producers experienced a similar backlash in the first series after being accused of glamorising suicide so have taken extra precautions this time around in regards to awareness and have included a link after every episode to a suicide prevention website they created which also covers sexual assault, bullying, gun violence and much more.
Editor Emily continues her dark and tortured obsession with death…
The Alienist
Don’t be fooled into thinking The Alienist is some sort of sci-fi thriller, the name actually refers to those who studied people with mental illness during the 19th century as those suffering were said to be alienated from their own true natures. And surprise, surprise because this is me, this series sees Daniel Brühl (an alienist), Luke Evans (a newspaper illustrator) and Dakota Fanning (the police commissioner’s secretary) come together as a makeshift team trying to investigate a serial killer who is murdering boy prostitutes in 1896 New York. Based on the book of the same name by Caleb Carr, the series weaves fact and fiction, with Theodore Roosevelt as the police commissioner, a position he did hold from 1895 to 1897, so it ticks my historical quota.
It’s thrilling, gruesome and will have you hooked.
Evil Genius
Another month, another true crime series. I would like to point out that I don’t just watch crime series, I’m also rather partial to the Kardashians, Love Island and Ibiza Weekender, but this month it’s been all about Evil Genius. If you got hooked to Making of a Murderer then chances are you’re going to like this, admittedly not as gripping but still, this is such an absurd case you couldn’t make it up. The four-part series follows the story of the collar bomb or pizza bomber, a high-profile 2003 case which saw the bizarre murder of Brian Wells.
It doesn’t really go into depth in the same way podcast Casefile does, but it’s worth a watch to see the unsettling lengths people will go to for money and when infatuated.
