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
Jun 10, 2024 • 2h 9min
#290 Presumed Innocent, House Of The Dragon, and Under The Bridge. With guests Danai Gurira and Sam Spruell
We have a guest double bill this week as Danai Gurira drops by to talk about taking up Michonne’s sword again in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and Sam Spruell also joins us to talk all things Fargo. Plus we put Jake Gyllenhaal in the dock in Apple TV+’s remake of 1990 Harrison Ford thriller Presumed Innocent, House Of The Dragon roars back onto Sky, and Under The Bridge takes a look a girl violence when it arrives on Disney+. All that and we share with you the details of the great Pilot TV marriage proposal that never was…
Jun 3, 2024 • 1h 29min
#289 Queenie, Lost Boys And Fairies, and Becoming Karl Lagerfeld. With guests Benedict Cumberbatch and Abi Morgan
Eric star Benedict Cumberbatch and creator Abi Morgan both stop by this week to chat all things Eric, which recently debuted on Netflix. Plus, this week’s slate includes Channel 4’s adaptation of Candice Carty-Williams’ novel Queenie, BBC1’s drama about a gay couple navigating the adoption system in Lost Boys And Fairies, and another jaunt into biographical fashionista territory with Becoming Karl Lagerfeld on Disney+. And the team put their heads together to figure out who their ideal timelord companions would b
May 27, 2024 • 1h 46min
#288 - We Are Lady Parts, The Veil, and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. With guests Vicky McClure and Nida Manzoor
We Are Lady Parts is back, back back! And to celebrate, writer and creator Nida Manzoor is on the show talking to Helen O’Hara. Plus Vicky McClure is also with us this week, chatting Insomnia on Paramount+. Meanwhile, James gets to zombiesplain his little socks off as we tackle the latest Walking Dead spinoff, The Ones Who Live, which brings Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira back into the fold, and Steven Knight’s The Veil comes to Disney+, putting Elisabeth Moss on mission as an MI6 agent trying to crack a possible terrorist.
May 20, 2024 • 1h 43min
#287 Insomnia, Trying, and Bay Of Fires. With guests Rafe Spall and Esther Smith
Trying returns to Apple this week and not only are we reviewing it but Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are with us on the show to talk all about it. Plus we’re up all night with Vicky McClure in Paramount+’s adaptation of Sarah Pinborough novel Insomnia, and ITV gives us a dose of witness protection Tasmania style in Bay Of Fires. Elsewhere we unpick the recent TV BAFTAs and have a little fun with Spotify’s AI chapter headings.
May 13, 2024 • 1h 29min
#286 The Gathering, Rebus, and Orphan Black: Echoes
This episode marks the Pilot TV debut of Empire’s very own Sophie Butcher, filling in for work-shy slacker Kay who’s STILL on holiday. Sophie shares with us some of her favourite shows, plus we finally pin Boydy down on a definitive (laminated!) list of his favourite films so he can’t keep attaching that label to every one he talks about. Elsewhere, we’re delving into competitive teenage athletics in The Gathering on Channel 4, seeing Ian Rankin’s Rebus get reborn on BBC1, and seeing if there’s still some life in the clone saga in Orphan Black: Echoes, which finally lands in the UK on ITVX.
May 6, 2024 • 1h 53min
#285 Dark Matter, Doctor Who, Inside No.9, and The Young Offenders. With guest Jennifer Connelly
We have TWO special guest this week. The first is the star of Dark Matter and all-round screen legend Jennifer Connelly, who joins us to discuss that series. The second is Swindon native all-round Pilot legend Beth Webb, who jumps back in to the show to cover for Kay, who’s on holiday. As well as getting ourselves back into quantum superposition for Dark Matter on Apple, we also tackle the final series of Inside No. 9, the fourth series of The Young Offenders and the new RTD era of Doctor Who, plus James has a lot to say about a certain kissing scene that appears to have traumatised him since last week.
Apr 29, 2024 • 1h 29min
#284 Shardlake, The Responder, and Spy/Master. With guests Martin Freeman and Tony Schumacher
Martin Freeman and Tony Schumacher — the star and creator respectively — join us this week to chat The Responder, which returns for its second series. Plus, we investigate some Tudor crimes with Shardlake and some cold war espionage with Spy/Master. None of which can prepare you for what Boyd’s been watching this week, which not only sees a surprise sprint for the finish line with a show he’d been behind on, but a rather unexpected ‘factual’ show, that dovetails with this week’s listener question to see a podcast far more concerned about measurements than it has any right to be.
Apr 22, 2024 • 1h 23min
#283 The Red King, The Big Door Prize, and Baby Reindeer (take two). With guest Idris Elba
Big ‘Dris himself joins us on the show this week, talking to Kay about Sonic spin-off Knuckles, which comes to Paramount+. Elsewhere, we’re back on the Baby Reindeer beat again this week, seeing as we made such a shambolic show of reviewing it on last episode (in fairness, it wasn’t entirely our fault), and now that everyone’s talking about it, we though it only fair to give it a proper viewing. Plus we revisit The Big Door Prize on Apple, and head off to hang out with the druids in The Red King on Alibi.
Apr 15, 2024 • 1h 52min
#282 Red-Eye, Blue Lights, and Dinosaur. With guests Walton Goggins and Lesley Sharp
Walton Goggins and Lesley Sharp join us on this week’s show. Not together, of course, because the former is with us to chat Ghoul life in Prime Video’s Fallout and the latter is here in her capacity as head of MI5 in ITV’s Red-Eye. And speaking of Red-Eye, we review that show, which sees Richard Armitage on the flight from hell, as well as Glaswegian BBC comedy Dinosaur and the return of Belfast police drama Blue Lights, also on the Beeb. Plus we record our first proper podcast in the new studio, run through our (somewhat belated) 100 Greatest TV shows list, and dispense with a listener question in record time.
Apr 8, 2024 • 1h 29min
#281 The Regime, The Cuckoo, and Baby Reindeer. With Guest Sonequa Martin-Green
Sometimes we at the Pilot TV podcast are the very embodiment of calm, dignified professionalism. This is not one of those times. An early recording prompts unfettered anarchy this week as the team go full Joanna Page, cover a postbag slot we’ve done before and only half review one of the shows (we had our reasons). But all of that’s okay, becasue Star Trek Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green joins us on the show to talk about her final voyage, plus we watch Kate Winslet become a dictator, Jill Halfpenny turn into the lodger from hell and (almost) see a show about a stalker. Absolute chaos.
