Anyone that’s been here a while knows that I’m a big TV and movie fan, and I’ve been watching some really fantastic stuff lately that I need to talk about! Rich has been taking a real barrage of fangirling from me, so it’s time to bring it to a new platform!
Ashes to Ashes
If you follow me elsewhere online you’ve already heard about Ashes to Ashes. It’s a sequel to Life on Mars, though you don’t need to have seen it, and it’s my favourite show to have ever existed. I love it more than Doctor Who, or The X-Files. It follows Alex Drake, played by the incredible and iconic Keeley Hawes, after she ends up in a coma and wakes up in 1981.
Every actor gives a flawless performance, the writing is impeccable, every scene, shot and soundtrack choice is just perfect and there isn’t a thing about this show that I don’t adore. If you only ever watch one thing I recommend, it should be this, and if you’re in the U.K. it’s on Netflix to make it easy!
Bob’s Burgers
I’ve dabbled with Bob’s Burgers for years but always ended up no longer being able to watch it, or watching poor versions on YouTube, so Disney+ adding it has been a saviour for me, and after a few episodes Rich has ended up really into it too! The titular Bob’s Burgers is a family run burger restaurant, and we follow the family running it on crazy misadventures each episode. I’m not always the biggest fan of animated shows, but it’s so funny, and sometimes super touching and wholesome.
Tipping the Velvet
I only found this because Keeley Hawes is in it, and we’ve already covered that she means the world to me, but it’s really a great show! I’m still only part way through, so no spoilers thanks, but it’s a touching romance following Keeley as Kitty, a female performer who essentially performs an early drag show, and a local Oyster girl as they fall in love. It’s a beautiful romance that just makes me feel warm and mushy inside, and I can’t wait to finish it!
Us
I wanted to see Us when I saw it advertised in the cinema, but I never get round to going to the cinema so it didn’t happen. Finally it’s been added to Netflix, and it’s just as good as I expected! It’s a very creepy horror film, I love that it has a solid mixture of body horror, psychological horror, and undertones of a 90’s thriller. Having the ‘token black family’ replaced with a token white family is a glimmer of hilarity in a movie that otherwise terrified me in the best way.
Honour
Honour is on the ITV Hub and it’s a drama from a few years ago. Keeley Hawes (obviously) takes the main role as DCI Caroline Goode as she investigates a young Muslim girl who is missing, and though to have been murdered in an ‘honour killing’ by her family. It’s of course a very rough subject and it’s a rather distressing and upsetting show to watch, especially since it’s based on a true story, but it feels like an important thing to watch and is quite tactfully done.
Marchlands
I watched this show waaaay back in the day when I was about 15 and obsessed with Alex Kingston, then again a few years back when I fell in love with Jodie Whittaker, then again more recently upon realising Dean Andrews is in it. With a cast like that you know it’s going to be good, but it really has held up super well over multiple watches across almost a decade! It features 3 different families in different time periods, all being haunted by the same event that happened in the house. It’s spooky, sometimes quite funny, and overall a really lovely, scary, self contained show, kind of like an early Haunting of Bly Manor.
A few of these were on my ‘must watch eventually’ list, and a few other things I watched from that list weren’t good enough to mention, so if you have any suggestions for things to add to my list please do leave them below!
-Dana
Carry on Beautiful! 