The Virtues was excellent. Stephen Graham has to be one of our finest actors.

Against my better judgement I watched the new Top Gear even though I intensely dislike Paddy.

You know what? It was brainlessly amusing without being mindlessly offensive - which is all you can ask for really.

Second season of Big Little Lies seems decent so far. Whole cast are generally unlikable, especially new addition Meryl Streep as deranged grieving mother. I didn't know how they could continue from season 1 but apparently they can.

Do TV detector vans actually exist?

It was certainly of that time but I don't see how any of them could do it, either now or then.

Yeh, they used to drive around but there isn't a way of detecting a TV. 
I had one knock on my door when I was a kid, told me there was a TV on in the house, there wasn't, I was doing something else. 
Cheeky fucker wanted a 14yr old, alone, to let him in to look around, I told him to go away.

Also finished Chernobyl.

Great tv but bleak as fuck and I can’t believe it was in our lifetime

Gremill wrote:

Against my better judgement I watched the new Top Gear even though I intensely dislike Paddy. You know what? It was brainlessly amusing without being mindlessly offensive - which is all you can ask for really.

I watched it and it was good fun, though in these modern sensible/sensitive times, wondered if it got a bit too close to 'lads lads' locker room style 'banter and hazing'.  Chemistry between the 3 seemed good though.

Last few days I have watched the first two episodes of Good Omens (very average); and six of the first series of Killing Eve (really rather good.  Consistency of quirkiness is all over the place, but plenty in the last two).

Quite enjoying Good Omens - I've never been a huge fan of Pratchett's so my expectations were reasonably low. It's good fun though - a great cast, some good lines and some big ideas make it very watchable. It's also being thoroughly enjoyed by my 10yo, you can see his imagination sparking constantly as he watches - which unfortunately leads to him constantly asking questions.

The story of British TV over the past decade, unfortunately.

Why is David Tennant playing Bill Nighy?

mrsmr2 wrote:

Why is David Tennant playing Bill Nighy?

Presumably because Bill Nighy is too old for the role. He would have been subtler, which would have improved things.

I’ve only watched the first couple of episodes but I can already tell Good Omens is the best Pratchett adaptation to date … but remains not very good. As always, it’s overacted, overplayed, overdone. No subtlety at all. Adaptations of his stuff always feel like a hammer, where the books were a gentle nudge. They’re amusing dramas being played as brash pantomimes. Ruins them every time.

I think it’s caused by people wanting to make them like Hitch-hiker’s Guide, when they’re not like that at all.

Yep. When the very first episode started the way it did I did an inward groan. Story aside, the whole thing just felt very derivative.

Peter Jones was excellent as the book.  The TV series and the radio series are brilliant.

The film was dreadful.  Couldn't get further than 20 mins.