simon-pickersgill77 Reviews

Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country (2020–2023)

Why?

[1/10 · 17 February 2022]

Why did anyone EVER think that this would be of interest to ANYONE?

Perhaps this demonstrates just how detached some TV executives must be from the difficulties and lifestyles of the average people watching their output. During a pandemic that has had a crippling economic effect on countless families and literally killed thousands, why would anyone even remotely care about some posh, privileged TV celebrity building a mansion in the countryside? Watching her privileged kids design and execute their own massive bedrooms, each with their own en-suite bathrooms, interspersed with shots of summer games in the grounds of their huge estate, complete with private lake is sickening to say the least.

Patriot (2015–2018)

Like Coen Brothers movies? You'll LOVE this.

[9/10 · 12 March 2021]

This is a black comedy in the style of Fargo. So, if that's your cup of tea you'll be hooked on Patriot. I would've given it 10 stars had I not been left with the feeling that it could've gone further. That said, without giving anything away, this show is more about the journey than the destination.

In life, things don't always go according to plan. In a nutshell, that's the premise of Patriot. And yet, it's so much more than just a dark comedy. It's also an insightful study of people.

The story is loosely based around an off the books mission to avert nuclear capabilities falling into the hands of Iran. However, there is no "good versus evil" here. The story's main protagonist is also its main antagonist, and the characters you might expect to be portrayed as a threat have heavily extolled virtues too.

In short, every main character has their own back story to tell and the viewer is credited with the intelligence to determine who they want to root for. Regardless of who you choose you won't feel cheated.

And finally, the use of song as a story telling device is nothing short of genius.

Bridgerton (2020– )

Simply unacceptable

[1/10 · 25 January 2021]

Any presentation of the past must be done with great care. While romance, as a genre, has always presented life through a rose tinted lens, it shouldn't skew realities beyond the sphere of its main protagonists. A romance set in Nazi Germany, for example, would be in very poor taste if it were to present a history in which the Holocaust didn't happen. Yet, in a sense, this is the path the makers of Bridgerton choose to take.

Wish as hard as you might, but the past is the past; you can't rewrite history. But that doesn't stop some people trying, which is what makes this appalling show so insulting.

Today, society is far from perfect. But, at least it is trying to address the mistakes of our predecessors. Race remains a huge issue, even now, in the 21st century, but things were far worse in the times during which Bridgerton is supposedly set. Those were dark times of slavery and oppression by the mighty British Empire over anyone who wasn't Anglo Saxon white.

Bridgerton, on the other hand, doesn't quite see things that way. It portrays a past in which society's upper classes were multi cultured echelons in which the colour of one's skin was inconsequential. In fact, it idealises the past to such an extent that it reaches levels we are still striving to achieve now, centuries later.

Presented in the modern day, the story would no doubt be quite engaging. It gains nothing, so far as I can tell, from its "historical" setting, yet in choosing that setting the story takes second place to the raft of blatant historical faux pas. The childish dialogue replete with "Shall" and "Shall not"s, "My Lord" and "My Lady"s is a future effort to make the setting more believable.

Wine Country (2019)

Don't go to McDonald's for Filet Mignon

[8/10 · 10 May 2019]

This is a simple, unpretentious comedy about middle aged women getting drunk and acting inappropriately. Don't read anything more into it and you won't be disappointed. I laughed because I could identify with it, but I probably wouldn't have found it as funny otherwise. Maybe this one is for the 40/50+ viewers.