What I’ve Been Watching Lately

There’s still not much to do these days but I’ve found myself tuning into more television. I wanted to share what I’ve been watching lately with some of my personal opinions.

The Circle

I’ve not watched The Circle before but I was drawn in by the Celebrity Stand up 2 Cancer show in March 2020. There were just 6 episodes shown each evening and 12 contestants. It was won by Lady Leshurr who was pretending to be Big Narstie. So, she was a catfish.

So, I’m an oldie, I do Social Media but it’s not as important to me as some of the younger generation these days. I’ve heard the term ‘Catfish’ but I’ll admit to having to need to look it up.

A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive relationship.

Mmm, doesn’t sound too nice does it? In this program, however, it seems the Catfish is someone who is trying to fool the other players by being someone else in an attempt to win.

The whole show gives a feeling of how the future may look. Everyone locked in their own space and communication by a social network of voice controlled connections. To me, it’s all kind of freaky! But, it’s also quite addictive.

I was a big fan of Big Brother when it started in 2000 (wow, over 20 years ago!) and found it fascinating to watch how a group of strangers reacted to living together. Human behaviour is always interesting to observe, but in these programs there is always an outside source forcing the interactions into more interesting television for the viewers.

As someone with a background in psychology I find these programs both fascinating and disturbing. Once they hook you in though, it’s hard to break away.

One thing to note with all reality shows though, you don’t get to see everything. What you do see is carefully edited for the best entertainment. I would hate to be a contestant on one of these shows, I guess the prize money is well earned!

RuPauls Drag Race UK

I didn’t watch the last Uk Drag Race, but I did watch some of the Canadian Show and thought it was interesting but I really got ‘dragged’ into this series. (pun intended.)

I watched every episode and I learnt so much. These drag queens are truly talented, it’s an artform. I love how they create a whole new character and then transform themselves into something new and different every week. Also, you get get to know the actual men behind the characters and often hear all about their back stories, some of which are heart breaking, some heart warming. The show is a bit risqué, and there is bad language (although the BBC decided to bleep some out which after hearing the actual performance made me wonder why, there had been worse! I guess there would have been some viewers that complained though.)

I went through all the emotions watching this show, tears of laughter, and of sorrow. My favourite didn’t win, my second favourite didn’t win. But the winner was well deserved though. I’m not going to reveal it just yet though as I watched on iPlayer and terrestrial television is yet to show the final show.

Schitt’s Creek

I was late to the party with this series. I remember watching the first two episodes and thinking what a load of rubbish. Then one afternoon while I was feeling pretty rough, I binge watched another four episodes. That was it, I was hooked. This dysfunctional family that didn’t even know how to hug each other, were plunged from riches to a small town in the middle of nowhere. The Father had bought the town as a joke present for his son, but it ended up being all they had left after they had their entire fortune embezzled by their business manager. From mansion to motel, from riches to nothing.

After I’d watched the first series I had hoped their was another, then I found there were six series in total…yay! I’ve just finished series two and the last episode left me feeling a little emotional.

I love the acting in this series, at first I thought the characters were ‘wooden’ but that’s the whole point of the show. Most of the characters ‘grow’ along with the show. This is a real ‘feel good’ show that will make you laugh and groan. I can’t wait for more.

Schitt’s creek is currently available on Netflix.

Line of Duty

I’m looking forward to the return of Line of Duty this weekend. It’s the sixth in the series and if you haven’t watched it before, well, where have you been? I do like a good detective show and Line of Duty is complicated, intriguing, and full of action. The first series was filmed in my home town of Birmingham and I recognised so many of the places, including the pub. It was then moved to Northern Ireland.

As well as figuring out crimes we see corrupt police, undercover police and an overall underlying suspicion that there is so much more to the police than meets the eye. It’s all very intriguing and if you love a good crime series then this is something different that you will enjoy.

What I want to Watch

I’ve just finished reading Behind her Eyes which is also a series on Netflix. I will get around to watching it, although I see a lot of mixed feelings about the ending. I’m also trying to work through the second series of a Discovery of Witches. I’ve found it difficult to get into the characters being in a completely different timezone.

I think The One looks really interesting so I’ll give that a try. I also like the look of The Irregulars.

I think I might be glued to the television for a while yet.

What have you been watching lately? Do share your television favourites with me in the comments.

Previous posts on television and films I enjoy can be found here.