User Profile
Lucy
Lucy - UK I like to watch shows that have intricate plots and great characters including dramas, thrillers, mysteries, crime dramas, superhero capers & those with sci-fi/fantasy settings. I love reviewing shows and discussing lists on sidereel too!
Reviews
Ultimately you watch this show for cute, adorable children and the antics they get up to! The psychologists who comment on their behaviour are very articulate at explaining things and give the children's behaviour some context, explaining all the mini experiments they conduct clearly.
Pleased to see a range of children being filmed, from all different bakcgrounds and family life. I certainly feel the children involved in the programme learnt as much as the audience did during the show.
An engaging and thought provoking series that fully explores how humans have come to dominate every habitat on Earth, from the most remote to the most populated. The indigenous or remote tribes of people featured have been filmed sensitively and the cinematography documenting even their day to day lives is breathtaking and highly facsinating.
John Hurt's narration gives the mini series scope and gradeur and overall the whole vibe from the show is positive for the future of humarnity and life on Earth in many forms. Worth a watch purely for the diverse shots of some of Earth's most beautiful places as well and thought [rovoking themes.
Epic in scale, the Beastmaster course is scarier and much tougher than than total wipeout (think the original Ninja Warrior but with more skill involved) which means the stakes are higher and competition for victory is fiercer than any other obstacle game course show I've watched previously. The contestants are all another level too, most are pro athletes, gymnasts, rock climbers, weightlifters, sports stars or train in crossfit and parkour. They're some determind people that's for sure.
The main difference to other obstacle course shows is the use of 6 different countries worth of contestants to get the patriotism flaring up and you do end up rooting for individuals as well as certain countries participating. The American style of show editing gets annoying though as they chop and change things up a bit too much and repeat the same facts endlessly.
However, I continued watching until the end for some amazing stories from the contestants, and of course the Brazillian and German commentators who really made the show great with their quick wit and hillairousness! For Netflix's first proper 'game show' they certainly put time, money and effort into making it 'epic', but for next season some better editors would be nice please!
Peep Show is a very honest and character driven comedy, using a unique POV camera to tell the entire show from Jez and Mark's perspectives. Their inner thoughts voice overs provide some of the best comedic moments and give us a great insight to exactly who Jez and Mark are and what they're thinking (even if at most times it's horribly cringeworthy).
You feel like rooting for Jez and Mark to be successful in their endevours as well as disliking them when they're mean, spiteful or just plain stupid. Having access to their inner thoughts drives the plot forward as well as getting to know each character intimately. By the end of the first season, you feel like you really 'know' each of the characters and why they make the decisions they do (and in future seasons not be surprised by their often ridiculous escapades).
Both Jez and Mark are unsuccessful, lazy, silly and cringeworthy at trying to live a life where they have money, jobs and romance BUT we can all relate to some of the things they do or think which is really Peep Show's main draw - as much as you can dislike Jez and Mark, they represent us all at some point in our lives! Inane things such as watching The Apprentice and stiring a coffee mug quietly become key plot points as the show mostly focuses on the challenges of living an everyday, normal life.
A series that focuses on 'normal' life has some drawbacks; the plots are reused as Mark and Jez make the same mistakes repeatedly, the same cast of characters is used and reused without having huge character developments, and the final season was pretty dire as all the best ideas had been used up previously!
However, the series is brilliantly funny at times, with Mark and Jez's dry, dark humour and they do find themselves in some hillarious situations (e.g. running over a dog, burning it and eating it for reasons...) and the camaraderie between the two is enjoyable to watch. Overall, this is a uniquely British and honest comedy with solid acting from a wide range of comedians, and in the earlier seasons at least, a refreshing take on how two middle aged men live in Britian.
This was my first foray into the world of anime, and I enjoyed this show immensely! The animation is gorgeous - figure skating can't be the easiest thing to animate, and all the many routines were drawn beautifully. I loved the character development of all the main ice skaters/firends/coaches and how they grew as performers and athletes over the skating season. It felt like I was watching an indepth sports documentary at times!
The real stars of the show are Yuri and Viktor who form a deep bond and make each other better skaters as well as better people over the course of their coach/skater partnership. Loved how their relationship became one of deep love and equals on the ice by the end of the series. It definitely reminds you about the power of believing in yourself, trusting those who care about you and pushing yourself to show the best of your abilities.
Lots of cute anime moments, the poodle dog and toy were adorable as well as the fans and children! The music for the series was wonderful and very well suited to ice skating. Also loved the titles and credits, very intriguing to see the ice skaters social media updates after each episode!
Looking forward to seeing how all the skaters grow and develop in season 2, I feel there's a lot of scope for this show to grow (especially if we get a female skate program shown a bit more, that would be amazing).
Before Sherlock there was a curly haired, socially awkward, big coat wearing British detective and for most of his run, Jonathan Creek was a brilliantly compelling and ingenius detective show. (Let's forget about season 5 and the awlfully written Polly).
Jonathan Creek differs from a lot of 'whodunnit' type crime dramas as it focuses more on HOW a crime/conundrum was done rather than who did it, which makes for some interesting cases and great writing to slowly reveal how a crime was done. Jonathan's out-of-the-box style thinking comes from small clues and piecing them together slowly, without telling anyone how it's done, until the big 'explaining' conclusion - which keeps you guessing as well as keeping the pace of episodes even.
Jonathan has a range of 'assistants' (similar to Doctor Who) who help him solve cases over the shows course, but really the best was his crime writer friend Maddy, who provides the perfect balance of sarcasm, humour and helpful advice. The show's earlier seasons also had great subplots including the ongoing book deals/writing Maddy does, Jonathan's career as a magician's trick inventor and the ongoing romancing of Adam and any attractive lady.
The puzzles and locked room mysteries varied hugely and it was always a challenge to work out exactly how they were done and sometimes even who commited the crime was hard to guess too. But the audience is never treated as if they are stupid or can't follow Jonathan's deducations and everything is always explained at a good pace with ample time to process how clever the puzzle and it's solution are (I'm looking at you Sherlock), giving a wider appreciation of stage magicians and sleight of hand tricks. Goodness knows how the writers come up with some of these puzzles *takes hat off*
All in all, the show sould really have ended around 2010, with the Christmas Special 'The Judas Tree', any episodes after that are far more flaky and poorly written. But even with the series dwindling in qualiy, the majority of the show is well scripted, nicely paced and inherently British, providing me with many evenings worth of high quality, if gentle, detective entertainment.
Stunning cinematography and beautiful photographs are presented in interesting bitesized chunks with this great documentary series. All the photographers involved are very knowledgeable and make for good presenters, explaining their inspirations, processes and passions for projets really well. I have certainly learned a lot about photography and the Earth whilst watching!
Smart, sassy and undoubtedly British, Hustle is the con show where family comes before money and great performances ensure a genuine love for all the characters involved. Oh and cheesiness comes joint second with comedy gold moments.
Ah Game of Thrones season 7, you had your ups and downs, you had your battles and looong episodes, you had your ridiculous time frames and wobbly character development. But overall, I’d give this season a thumbs up, rather than a thumbs down.
There was significant development of the main plot lines this season; endgame is fast approaching, sometimes too fast let’s not talk about the speedy teleporting of characters in the same episode, but the advantages of this meant that silly subplots and weird talking scenes (remember in s4 where Tyrion had a monologue about beetles?!) were left out, streamlining the show to focus on all the important events and main characters destinites, wooo!
It was great to see so many plot lines FINALLY converge; the reunion of the Stark children, Daenerys and Jon meeting, everyone meeting in Kings anding, the army of the dead reaching and breaching the wall - there was certainly a satisfying amount of payoff for those of us invested in the series. Character interations are always the strongest part of Game of Thrones and I was glad to see some important conversations between characters were had, as well as the sharing of information - plotwise, the show has gone further in these 7 episodes compared to the previous 20!
The dragon battles, sea battles and personal battles of all the characters were excellent, and I loved how the Greyjoys were featured in this season as having more of a significant role to play in the show. The seafight at the end of the second episode was amazingly shot and really unlike any other we’re seen on the show so far. Fingers crossed Asha Greyjoy lives to see the final season.
I also enjoyed how much Jaime Lannister grew as a character across this very short season. Seeing him and Brienne have some screen time together again was brief, but wonderful and I am so glad show!Jaime seems to be following the path of book!Jaime as we go into the final season.
However, there were some parts I disliked, Littlefinger’s demise wasn’t satisfying as his characterisation had been poor for seasons and it felt more like the writers had lost interest in him, which was a shame. Also the time jumping in individual episodes, although could be logically explained later, wasn’t very clear at the time and it definitely lessened the tension in those episodes (aka ‘Beyond the Wall”). Also WHY DID JON AND DAENERYS HAVE TO GET TOGETHER?! Especially after laying it on thick to the viewer that yes, the characters were related?!
Aside from these issues, it was a solid season highlighting what the important battles really are in Westeros, as well as setting many of our favourite characters on the path to seal their fates. I still cannot predict who will end up on the Iron Throne or who will survive to see the new world after the army of dead are (hopefully) defeated.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’m rather keen on the CBBC series of Wizards vs Aliens. I was quite excited to see if the 3rd series reached the glorious heights of series 2.
Short answer: No it definitely DID NOT.
Long answer: (contains spoilers and some negativity)
Series 2 had wonderfully emotional story lines, well thought out plots, excellent character relationships and a super finale, with one of the main characters coming out as gay on a prime time children’s tv show (a first in the UK, to my knowledge). Series 3 didn’t really have any of these wonderful things.
The series started off well enough, your usual typical Tom-and-Benny-need-to save-their-school-from-aliens story, which was all well and good. But then the second story featured the departure of Benny! :( The thing which makes the show so so good is the excellent relationship between Tom and Benny, who are really quite different individuals, but both have their strengths and are proud of them (Tom having magic/courage and Benny using science/intelligence). The team work, friendship and sacrifices the boys are willing to make for each other makes for a dynamic relationship and great screen chemistry, which in turn keeps the story lines going along nicely. I appreciate that actors move onto other projects, BUT there was no suitable replacement for Benny for the rest for the series and it weakened the show considerable for me :( Each week other characters would try and fill in the gap, but to be honest it felt more like Tom was going through a series of semi-helpful companions rather having a solid friend and teammate helping out. Also Benny never got that date, which I think most people in the WvA fandom were hoping to see this series.
Another HUGE hole in this series was the absence of Lexi. Her relationship with humanity/Tom in the last series really made her a well developed character and the impact she had on Tom’s life was huge (spending 20 years together and having a child, pretty significant if you ask me) and these were almost COMPLETELY UNMENTIONED throughout the series :S I understand that it would have been hard to incorporate a “Find Lexi and Benny Jr” story arc, but there were so many opportunities to include a mention of her that were missed which was a shame.
The stories themselves this series have also been a bit lackluster, none lived up to the emotional heartbreaking The Thirteenth Floor from last series and some felt very similar to previous episodes (Ursula nearly dying again, for example) or even episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The finale of series 3 was almost exactly the same as series 2, in that Tom uses alien extracted magic to cast a few big spells and save the world (except it wasn’t as good as there was NO BENNY). The introduction of Jaz just for the series finale was a bit odd, as I felt no emotional connection to her when she was helping to save the world. If she’d been introduced as soon as Benny had left or in earlier episodes, it might have made her presence a little more significant.
However, there were a few characters that brightened up the series. Lady Lyzera was fantastic as Varg’s wife, she really got into the villain role and was cunning in a way that even I didn’t predict at times. However I am a little bit disappointed that we didn’t find out more about her magic as surely Neckross absorb magic so how could she use it if she absorbs any magic close to her?? The brief return of Jathro Technician 15 was a lovely surprise. He allows the Neckross to have more varied conversations and his technical knowledge moves the plot along nicely, so WHY DID HE HAVE TO GET KILLED OFF?! :(
It was nice to see Katie and Quinn have a bit more of a role this season, even if Katie is not as feisty as I’d like her to be. I would have loved to have seen more of Michael too, as he has lots of good lines and ideas, but I felt he was a wee bit underused. Varg’s characterisation was all over the place this series, he went from being angry with Tom to begging for his help and was basically being led by his wife’s decisions this series. It weakened his character a lot which was a shame as as the new king of Neckon, I hoped he might come into his own a bit, like Lexi did last series, sadly I didn’t feel this happened.
Possibly the best part of this series though has been the expansion of wizard history, lore and community. Lots of great historical references to wizarding wars, Caraticus Crow, other wizarding families and the mysterious Neverside. It was great to learn more about the very essence of magic and ground Tom’s magic in context!
Overall some interesting ideas and magical history this series - Lady Lyzera was an excellent addition to the main cast - but without a strong friend/relationship to be a lead character with Tom, the stories felt like they’re missing something. After all, what’s the point in saving the world if you haven’t got a best friend to share it with?
This review contains spoilers. Click the text to reveal.