Friday Five: Some TV Shows

I haven't done this for a while, so here are just a few shows I've been watching recently (well, in the last couple of years anyway).

5 TV Shows Watched Recently-ish:

Anti and Ricky Gervais in After Life

1. After Life, Series 1, 2 & 3 (Netflix) - Tony (Ricky Gervais) is struggling to see the point of life after his wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman) has died from breast cancer. He contemplates suicide but is gradually drawn back into the community by his colleagues (Tony Way; Mandeep Dhillon; Tom Basden; Diane Morgan), his dad (David Bradley), his dad's nurse (Ashley Jensen), a prostitute with a solid social outlook (Roisin Conalty), a fellow griever on a park bench (Penelope Wilton), his dodgy postman (Joe Wilkinson), and a beautiful dog (Anti). It's black humour written by a master of the dark art. 
2. Handmaid's Tale, Season 5 (Hulu/ SBS On Demand) - It just keeps getting better! June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) are out of Gilead and still each other's nemeses. The cinematography is outstanding and the writing explores the nature of reproduction, rebirth and new beginnings. It is powerful drama, superbly acted and I just can't get enough of it (baby).



Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaid's Tale

3. Lucifer, Season 3 (Netflix) - Tom Ellis has great style and charisma as Lucifer Morningstar, which is essential as Lauren German as Chloe Decker, the love 'interest', is anything but. There's some biblical hokum featuring angels and demons, heaven and hell, Cain and Abel, but mainly I watch it for the sharp suits, predictable plotting and flash scenery. It's easy on the eye (and the brain) but 26 episodes in a season is too much. Why do you do this, America?
4. Robin of Sherwood, Series 1, 2 & 3 (ITV) - I re-watched the entire box set. Such fun! That Clannad music! Michael Praed 'morphing' into Jason Connery! A young Ray Winstone being gruff as Will Scarlett! Nickolas Grace hamming it up as the Sheriff! The introduction of the Saracen character with Mark Ryan!  Maid Marian proving that frizzy hair was considered attractive! Herne the Hunter proving the writers were on drugs! Ground-breaking sets and backdrops; arrow shooting, quarterstaff fighting, horse-riding and swordsmanship! The same story trotted out 26 times! Guest appearances from the likes of Rula Lenska, Cyril Cusak, Phil Davis, Richard O'Brien and Lewis Collins! This was all so comforting and reminded me of watching television at home in my parents' house pretending I'd already done my homework. 
5. Spirited, Season 1 & 2 (ABC iview) - The Australian supernatural comedy drama romance ticks a lot of boxes. The lead actors Claudia Karvan and Matt King have great chemistry although they are completely different people - she's an uptight dentist; he's a post-punk new romantic. Oh, and he's dead. He inhabits the apartment block she moves into after she splits up with her husband (Rodger Corser) and he haunts people because he can't leave. She is the only human who can see him, so they exchange witty banter, although other humans can only hear her side of it and think she's going crazy. She just might be. It's like Moonlighting with a ghost, and was apparently targeted at 'women in their 40s'. There probably aren't many shows aiming at that demographic. On the basis of this, there should be more.

Matt King, Claudia Karvan and Rodger Corser in Spirited