Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight

<p>Disappointing scenes around the Muddy water cooler (OK, kitchen tap) of late as I’ve discovered that not a single one of my colleagues has, like me, fallen truly, madly, deeply for US TV drama,<em> Succession. </em>I’m so obsessed with the show that there’s nothing else I want to make small talk about. Have you got involved yet? I really think you should.</p>
<p>It’s an ultra-glossy, New York-set drama about ageing billionaire media mogul Logan Roy and his offspring, who are jostling for position to succeed him. Basically, if you think your family are annoying, you haven’t met the Roys yet. Where it gets really interesting is when you clock that it’s created by Jesse Armstrong, the genius behind <em>Peep Show. </em>This makes for hilarious dialogue – watch out for echoes of <em>Peep Show</em>‘s odd couple, Mark and Jeremy, in the friendship between Logan’s son-in-law Tom (impeccably played by British actor Matthew Macfadyen) and hapless cousin Greg.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OzYxJV_rmE8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>I could wang on forever about how brilliant it is – it’s up there with <em>The Sopranos</em>, <em>The West Wing</em> and <em>Breaking Bad</em> – but I’ll try to stick to a few key points. The character arcs are beautifully done – on the surface, every single disgustingly wealthy character is venal and vile. But then you get to know them and, well, it’s complicated. The locations are a visual feast on gloomy autumn days – super yachts in the Med, sleek Manhattan skyscrapers, Scottish castles; all effortlessly hopped between on a selection of private jets and helicopters.</p>
<p>It’s Shakespearean in scope and feel (with Brian Cox’s terrifying patriarch Logan as King Lear, a role Cox has played many times on the stage), with on-the-money topical themes (the media company has its own #metoo reckoning). Oh, and the fashion is fantastic too – scheming daughter Shiv is so groomed and glossy she makes Gwyneth Paltrow look like a scarecrow, with an exquisitely elegant wardrobe of cashmere polo necks and trouser suits.</p>
<p><em>Succession</em> should absolutely hoover up both writing and acting awards. Troubled eldest son Kendall has Don Draper vibes – he speaks sparingly but he packs an emotional punch. Kieran Culkin (brother of Macaulay) is show-stopping as the hyper, spoilt brat youngest child – you’ll be horrified about what he does for kicks when he’s on his own in his office. And Macfadyen is pitch-perfect as Shiv’s twitchy husband, forever sucking up to Logan, a man who always laughs too loudly and for too long to hide his insecurities.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l9TKHvvaMfE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>It’s on Sky Atlantic but also available via streaming service NOW TV – they’re currently offering a 7 day free trial and I reckon you could nail both 10-part series in a week if you’re really committed! And let me know what you think. Please. I need to talk to <em>someone</em> about it.</p>
<p>PS – <em>Succession</em> is not the only absolute corker on the small screen this autumn. Here are three other doozies worth commandeering the sofa and remote for.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/APduGe1eLVI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><strong><em>His Dark Materials</em></strong>, BBC1, starts Sun 3 Nov</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Essential Sunday night viewing incoming! This epic 8-part Philip Pullman adaptation starts James MacAvoy, Ruth Wilson and Hamilton genius, Lin-Manuel Miranda.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Eyh-xnNWv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:500px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Eyh-xnNWv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> </p>
<div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<p></a> </p>
<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Eyh-xnNWv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">repost @jessybarden: “Fuck it, here we go again.”</a></p>
<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/teotfw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> The End of the F***ing World</a> (@teotfw) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-09-06T15:30:02+00:00">Sep 6, 2019 at 8:30am PDT</time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p><strong><em>The End of the F***ing World</em></strong>, season 2, C4/Netflix, starts Mon 4 Nov</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>This dark teen runaway drama, featuring the rising star Jessie Barden, packs a quirky punch.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vLXYfgpqb8A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><strong><em>The Crown</em></strong>, season 3, Netflix, starts Sun 17 Nov</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It’s finally back! This time with Her Maj played by Olivia Colman and the action set in the mid ’70s.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>Words </i><a href="https://twitter.com/Kerry_Potter"><span class="s2"><i>@Kerry_Potter</i></span></a></span></p>


Are you watching the best show on TV?

You may also like