Pilot TV

We have a gaggle of guests for you this week as Jesse Plemons joins us to talk Netflix’s Zero Day (51:21) and the three stars of Apple’s Surface — Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Millie Brady — also drop by (17:43). Elsewhere, we strip down and buff up for a bit of bare-knuckle boxing in Victorian London with A Thousand Blows on Disney+ (1:31:15), and take a trip to Thailand for the latest instalment of Mike White’s jamboree of misery, The White Lotus, on Sky and NOW (1:09:17).(Episode 324)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

Dodgy influencers are the order of the day on this week’s show as we take a look at Netflix’s wellness drama Apple Cider Vinegar (39:12). Plus, we join three hapless boys (and one plastic swan) in BBC comedy Funboys (51:04), and head up to the mean streets of Bradford for the Beeb’s adaptation of the DCI Virdee novels (59:48). Plus, the team chew over television’s most fiendish cliffhangers and James attempts to explain the significance of the impending Buffy reboot to Kay.(Episode 323)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

We have a trio of brilliant British shows for you this week as Chris Lang’s Unforgotten reunites Sunny with his famous backpack for its sixth series on ITV (52:22), Jack Rooke’s Big Boys gets a last hurrah as its third and final series hits Channel 4 (59:40), and Lucy Punch starring Motherland spinoff Amandaland makes its debut on BBC1 (1:07:26). Plus we take a deep dive look at this week’s Next On Netflix presentation and Ben Travis gets called at home to answer for his ridiculous question. (Episode 322)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

This week, we’re on the hunt for the president’s killer with Sterling K. Brown in Paradise on Disney+ (1:04:01), heading back to the ‘80s to re-live one of the final interviews with Margaret Thatcher in Brian And Maggie on Channel 4 (44:49), and catching up with Rob McElhenney’s gamemasters in season 4 of Mythic Quest on Apple TV+ (1:18:55). All that, and James does his level best to make Kay break her 2025 no swearing rule, with mixed success.(Episode 321)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

We’re chatting Prime Target with Leo Woodall and Quintessa Swindell this week (34:16), before hand-picking a single pair of shows to review this week — which has a lot more to do an array of embargoes than an indicator of special quality. Still, we’re back in procedural land for High Potential (54:53) and back in the ‘80s for a bit of geopolitical wrangling with submarines in Swedish miniseries Whiskey On The Rocks (1:03:21) — both on Disney+. Plus we get a small assortment of listener questions from Kay and Boyd reveals his unnatural love of the big light. (Episode 320)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

We’re back! it’s 2025 and to kick things off, James Norton and Niamh Algar join us to chat all things Playing Nice on ITV (26:05). But that’s not all, because ITV also brings us this week’s Wales-set drama Out There (1:00:48) with Martin Clunes. We hop back both to the birth of the Wild West and to last week, when American Primeval debuted on Netflix (51:32), but none of that can possibly match the excitement surrounding the return of Severance (1:11:19), which finally returns to Apple TV+ for a second season three years in the making. Can it live up to the show’s critically acclaimed debut? Listen and find out. (Episode 319)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

Merry Christmas! and welcome to Pilot TV’s festive round-up of the year that was. Over the course of two glorious hours, we break down the last 12 months in television, sifting through the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2024. From our official best shows list, to honourable mentions, listener questions, some of our favourite moments and an extended (and excruciating) blooper reel from our editor, Darren, we send the year out in style and pave the way for an even better 2025. So kick back, listen up and enjoy!

In our final regular podcast of the year, we speak to the legendary Nicola Walker (26:53) about The Split: Barcelona, as well as Harlan Coben and Nicola Shindler (1:28:19) for Netflix’s Missing You. Plus, we go all festive and sift through some of the great telly coming your way over the Christmas period, including A Ghost Story For Christmas (1:44:29), The Christmas episode of Doctor Who (1:49:06), and the latest season of Steven Knight’s SAS: Rogue Heroes (1:55:26). We also find time to open Santa’s sack and answer your questions in a bumper Christmas postbag, before signing off for a little chocolate-assisted R&R. Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

In an unexpected turn of events, Pilot TV’s set visit to the new third (and fourth) season of Apple TV+’s Silo resulted in a sit down interview with both Rebecca Ferguson and the big Apple himself, Tim Cook (27:24). Never one to miss a chance to wax lyrical about Foundation, James cornered the Apple CEO to discuss the streamer’s penchant for brilliant nerdy sci-fi. Elsewhere, we review BBC1’s latest Strike instalment, The Ink Black Heart (1:19:03), and speak to star Holliday Grainger while we’re at it (1:00:45), plus we catch up with Kaley Cuoco’s serial killer podcast in the second season of Based On A True Story on Sky (1:31:19). Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 12 hours early, with a second weekly show, and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+ at empire.supportingcast.fm.

We were delighted to be joined in the studio this week by friend of the pod and Black Doves creator Joe Barton, who heroically braved Euston traffic and his post-premiere hangover to make a triumphant return to the podcast, sitting in with us this week as we chatted everything from animation to comedy and the creative powers of the ‘Merrineum’. Elsewhere, we dabble in Tim Miller’s new video game inspired Prime animation Secret Level, and Netflix’s adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s 100 Years Of Solitude.