Pilot TV
Empire Magazine
From the creators of The Empire Film Podcast, Pilot TV is your essential guide to every TV show that matters, providing a weekly rundown of all the new must-see TV shows dropping across streaming, terrestrial, satellite, cable, and beyond. Join Empire's James Dyer, Heat's Boyd Hilton, and Kay Ribeiro as they bring you breaking TV news, reviews of the week's major shows, and interviews with some of the biggest names in TV.Pilot TV is here to make sure every minute you spend in front of the box is a minute worth spending. Served with a heavy helping of insider knowledge, irreverence and humour, Pilot TV won't just keep you informed, amused and entertained, but is guaranteed to save countless hours of your life. Because you can’t watch *everything*.Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to Pilot+ for a bonus episode every Thursday, in-depth spoiler specials, and early, ad-free access to the regular show! Find out more at www.empireonline.com/pilottv
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 7, 2022 • 1h 41min
#198 The Sandman, Five Days At Memorial, and A League of Their Own. With Guests Tom Sturridge and Vivienne Acheampong
** BOOK TICKETS FOR OUR LIVE 200th EPISODE ON 21 AUGUST HERE: https://bit.ly/3A4lXWY**
The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge and Vivienne Acheampong join us on the show this week to dream a little dream of Netflix's Neil Gaiman adaptation with Helen O'Hara. Plus we take a look at Apple's hurricane Katrina thriller, Five Days At Memorial, and nineties movie spin-off A League Of Their Own on Prime Video. Elsewhere, there's a quick, spoiler-free confab about the state of Better Call Saul and Boyd and James square off for Breedersgate part 2, only this time it's all about the Lord of Dreams.
Jul 31, 2022 • 1h 21min
#197 Paper Girls, Uncoupled, and Irma Vep
On this week’s show we weigh in on Prime Video’s eighties teen time travel drama Paper Girls, watch Neil Patrick Harris enjoy no sex in his city as the star of Netflix’s Uncoupled, and join Alicia Vikanda in HBO’s meta-Hollywood satire Irma Vep. Plus James, who definitely hasn’t been on holiday this week, reveals his true identity as a West Country millennial with a love of workplace comedies.
Jul 25, 2022 • 1h 33min
#196 Surface, Under The Banner Of Heaven, and From
This week's show sees us solving a double murder alongside Andrew Garfield in Under The Banner Of Heaven on Disney+, searching for answers with an amnesiac Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Surface on Apple TV+, and finally getting to find out what's going down in From, the creepy supernatural horror that kicks off the launch of Sky Sci-Fi, formerly Syfy, formerly The Sci-Fi channel. Confused? So are we. Plus we examine the films that really should have been able to luxuriate over a television runtime.
Jul 17, 2022 • 1h 21min
#195 Better Call Saul, Witness No. 3, and Trying
This week we not only dissect the nominations for this year's EMMYs, but James reveals the extent to which Covid (which, in the mother of all ironies, laid him out immediately after recording last week's show) has allowed him to put a dent in his mammoth watch-list, specifically around a certain Breaking Bad prequel. And speaking of which, in a cryptic review that plays out almost entirely in code, Beth and Boyd review Better Call Saul's home stretch while protecting James' delicate ears from any hint of spoilers. And we watch Witness No. 3 on Ch5 and cry (and laugh, but mainly cry) our way through season 3 of Trying on Apple TV+.
Jul 10, 2022 • 1h 50min
#194 The Control Room, Breeders, and Sneakerhead. With guest Michelle de Swarte
Michelle de Swarte is our guest on this week's show, chatting demonic offspring with Beth in honour of Sky comedy The Baby. Elsewhere, prompted by a recent episode of The Boys, the team discuss the most shocking scenes in all of tellydom, plus we announce our LIVE 200th episode (keep Sunday 21 August free!). Review-wise, we wade into The Control Room on BBC1, comedy Sneakerhead on Dave, and James and Boyd try (and fail) not to get into (another) fight about Breeders.
Jul 3, 2022 • 1h 48min
#193 Black Bird, The Baby, The Girl From Plainville, and The Terminal List (plus Stranger Things Vol. 2). With guests Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris and Bill Nighy
As promised a couple of weeks back, we welcome The Man Who Fell To Earth stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris and Bill Nighy to the show this week, where they were warmly greeted by Pilot TV superfan Chris Hewitt. Plus we run through our pick of the 20 best TV shows of the year so far, and even find time to do a quick rundown of the Stranger Things finale (at the very end if you want to avoid spoilers).
We also look at Apple's Taron Egerton prison thriller Black Bird; Sky's parenting black comedy The Baby; Starzplay's true crime drama The Girl From Plainville, with Elle Fanning; and Prime Video's The Terminal List, which sees Chris Pratt kill everyone in sight as a vengeful Navy SEAL.
Jun 26, 2022 • 1h 59min
#192 Westworld, The Undeclared War, Atlanta, Queer As Folk, and Only Murders In The Building. With guest Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg joins us on the show this week, to talk about his new Channel 4 cyber security drama, The Undeclared War. Plus we head back to the future for the fourth season of Westworld on Sky, Atlantic, off to New Orleans for the US reimagining of Queer As Folk on Starzplay, and back to Atlanta for Season 3 of that show, which returns to Disney+. Plus Boyd catches up with the second season of Only Murders In The Building. All that and some Kate Bush love and musings on the pros (and cons) of book to TV adaptations.
Jun 19, 2022 • 1h 43min
#191 Halo, The Offer, 1883, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and MANY more. With guest Pablo Schreiber
Want to hear from The Master Chief himself? Of course you do, which is why Pablo Schreiber joins us on this week's show to talk all things Halo. Plus the team take sides on whether they're #TeamMaggie or #TeamBirdy in Everything I Know About Love, Beth and Boyd go into raptures about the Barry finale and we review ALL the shows. Why? Because Paramount+ launched this week, and with it everything from The Man Who Fell To Earth and The First Lady to The Offer, Halo and the new Star Trek show. There is a LOT going on and we do our level best to cover off the whole lot.
Jun 12, 2022 • 1h 43min
#190 Ms Marvel, The Lazarus Project, and Sherwood. With guests Anson Mount, Paapa Essiedu & Anjli Mohindra
Paapa Essiedu and Anjli Mohindra join us on the show this week to talk all things time travel for Joe Barton's new series, The Lazarus Project on Sky. Plus Anson Mount — Christopher Pike himself — is also with us, sliding back into the captain's chair for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+. Not only that, but we investigate a murder among the miners with David Morrissey in Sherwood on BBC1, and finally get to talk about the latest addition to the MCU, Ms Marvel on Disney+.
Jun 5, 2022 • 1h 53min
#189 We Own This City, The Boys, and Everything I Know About Love. With guest Murray Bartlett
The legend that is Murray Bartlett is our guest on this week's show, chatting all things Physical Season 2, as well as The Last Of Us and (most importantly) Farscape. Plus we finally get David Simon's Baltimore-set follow-up to The Wire, We Own This City, into our eyes; go out on the lash with Dolly Alderton in Everything I Know About Love; and catch up with Homelander, Starlight and the inimitable Billy Butcher in season 3 of The Boys. All that and James, Beth and Boyd still find time to talk about great musical moments in television and re-litigate Stranger Things.
