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Brendan O'Connor

The Watchlist

03 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 7.459 Brendan O'Connor

Brendan O'Connor on RTE Radio 1. Listen back on the RTE Radio Player app.

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7.479 - 26.901 Henrietta McKervey

OK, time now for The Watchlist, our guide to the best film and TV for the week ahead. And I'm joined this week by author Henrietta McCurvey and host of the Extra Vision podcast, Andy McCarl. Good afternoon, guys. Welcome. Henrietta, a couple of crime shows to start with. So Criminal Record with Peter Capaldi is back on Apple TV for season two.

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27.162 - 27.442 Brendan O'Connor

Yes.

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27.522 - 28.283 Henrietta McKervey

Yeah, is it good?

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28.263 - 46.339 Brendan O'Connor

It is. I find with Netflix shows, I skip the recap. And with Apple shows, I have to watch the recap because they tend to be quite dense and meaty and there's a lot going on. And this in the same way that season one was, which was a wrongful conviction plot. We have Peter Capaldi, DCI, Daniel Hegarty back and we now know that he's corrupt.

46.319 - 65.406 Brendan O'Connor

And once again, we are joined by the ever-excellent Kush Jumbo as DS June Lenker. She's still fighting the system. In the first episode of this season, she becomes haunted by her failure to save a teenage boy being murdered by far-right extremists at a political rally. And so we're off. You know, we're straight back into it.

Chapter 2: What crime shows are highlighted in this episode?

65.786 - 73.677 Brendan O'Connor

London looks amazing in its kind of seedy beauty that Apple brings to these shows, like Slow Horses. There's a lot going on, but it's absolutely excellent.

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73.657 - 80.246 Henrietta McKervey

OK, so if you don't like those kind of ITV bland police procedurals, this has an extra bit of Apple magic to it.

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80.266 - 81.768 Brendan O'Connor

It absolutely does. The dial's turned up quite high.

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81.908 - 92.442 Henrietta McKervey

So that's Criminal Record and that's back on Apple TV for season two. Andy, tell me then about Legends on Netflix. This seems like an odd choice for Steve Coogan to be in.

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92.422 - 111.642 Andy McCarl

Yeah, it's a true story of customs officials in the UK in the 90s that went undercover to basically catch drug dealers because they would have people on the front line. They thought they wouldn't be as corrupt. I think the issue is the casting of Coogan. I think he is Alan Partridge. And because he's played him every five years, that's who he is.

111.762 - 121.112 Andy McCarl

You even saw it in Saipan last year where he's playing Mick McCarthy as Alan Partridge. And I think when you look at people like Rowan Atkinson, who's like Blackadder, Mr Bean, or to a certain extent,

121.092 - 143.556 Andy McCarl

demographic he's Johnny English he didn't go back to the well with that whereas Coogan every couple of years has another Alan Partridge so you don't forget that and this I feel like it's a bit of miscasting in an otherwise very interesting show okay yeah so Coogan tries to escape the Alan Partridge all the time but he keeps going back it's like a Sisyphean tragedy okay that's Legends on Netflix from Thursday Henrietta

143.536 - 159.823 Henrietta McKervey

I do feel if the people from 100 years ago could see how we're all pouring over their business now, they wouldn't be happy because people weren't into anyone knowing their business back then. But everyone's at it. Come to your senses starts tonight at 6.30pm on RT1 and the RT Player.

159.803 - 177.626 Brendan O'Connor

That's right, yeah. And tonight, so it's six guests over two episodes, each delving into their own version of the census, like what their 1926 for their family or home place was like. Tonight is Dermot Bannon, the trade unionist Mick Lynch and the Radio Naguelta presenter, Gormla Ní Thuris. And next week, Joe O'Connor, Louise Duffy and Eileen Walsh, who narrates.

Chapter 3: What is the premise of 'Legends' on Netflix?

293.18 - 306.973 Henrietta McKervey

Yeah, for people who like Stephen King things, I think. Yeah. OK, so that is Widow's Bay and that's on Apple TV now. Andy, if people miss the recent BBC adaptation of Lord of the Flies, is it coming to Netflix tomorrow?

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306.953 - 323.13 Andy McCarl

Yeah, it is. It's written by Jack Thorne who's done Adolescence. I was really excited about this adaptation because I really loved Adolescence and I thought that kind of asked more questions than it answered. I was a bit disappointed in this. It's very kind of linear and straight down the line. It's very much here's the good guys, here's the bad guys.

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323.15 - 339.552 Andy McCarl

There's no ambiguity to it, which there is in the novel and there was in the 1990s film that I grew up watching, what I absolutely loved. Now, why you would adapt a story about the fragility of democracy and the collapse of civilization these days, I don't know. Okay, is it worth watching? I would say no. I'd say the film is much better.

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339.672 - 347.574 Henrietta McKervey

OK, let's save people some time there. All right. Henrietta, The Little Drummer Girl is another show that's gone from BBC to Netflix. So this is a few years old.

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347.654 - 356.012 Brendan O'Connor

It is. It's 2018. Yeah, because Netflix has been hoovering up some of these old BBC and ITV shows. Like I saw, you know, Broadchurch and things that I'd missed when they were up first time.

356.032 - 358.035 Henrietta McKervey

Yeah, and the BBC stuff is hard to get if you miss it the first time around.

358.055 - 377.661 Brendan O'Connor

It is very hard to get for us, exactly. And like all of Unforgotten last year was brilliant. So this is a six part espionage thriller directed by Park Chan-wook and it stars Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Shannon. So it's a great, great lineup. This is just before they made Night Manager. It's a novel that Le Carre wrote immediately after Smiley's People.

378.142 - 398.071 Brendan O'Connor

And instead of his usual style up to that, it focuses not on Cold War spy game between East and West, but instead the consequences for Western Europe between the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. And it's really interesting. It's definitely worth a watch. It opens with this very strong scene about a bomb exploding in the house of an Israeli attaché in West Germany.

398.531 - 414.911 Brendan O'Connor

And in the style and production, you can kind of see where Apple developed a lot of its things in more recent years. Like this is nearly 10 years ago. But a lot of those motifs, the fast moving, the way camera angles, you can see a lot of things that we're actually getting more familiar with now through things like Criminal Record and Slow Horses. OK, so it's quality stuff. Yes.

Chapter 4: What is 'Come to Your Census' about?

510.644 - 513.49 Henrietta McKervey

So what did you make of Should I Marry a Murder on Netflix?

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513.47 - 526.883 Brendan O'Connor

Yeah, I mean, obviously the answer is ideally don't marry a murder. If you can help us, sure. I think we're all on board with that one. Do you know what? I started this thinking, oh, it's three episodes. That's typical Netflix. Documentaries are always too long. The true crime. This is really good and it does feel worth its three episodes.

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527.283 - 539.815 Brendan O'Connor

So this really high achieving Glasgow pathologist called Dr. Caroline Muirhead. She comes out of a long and traumatic relationship, goes online and meets a gamekeeper called Sandy McKellar, who works in a private estate in the Highlands about 60 miles.

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539.795 - 542.039 Henrietta McKervey

And this is a documentary, it's not a recreation.

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542.079 - 558.089 Brendan O'Connor

No, it's a documentary, but there is so much footage. She seemed to have been recording her entire life on her mobile. That's what I was wondering. There is so much footage, and I don't see how you could make this without it. He reveals to her after they get engaged, he has killed someone. That's not a spoiler, this comes up really quickly, that he has killed someone and buried the body.

558.55 - 576.383 Brendan O'Connor

And she doesn't tell the police immediately. It takes her a while and then there's this whole thing about, well, what is her relationship? She's still seeing him. He's being investigated. What is actually, I think, hiding underneath the kind of sensationalist title of this is a really interesting story about somebody who's very vulnerable and feels the police aren't protecting her.

576.363 - 594.686 Brendan O'Connor

So she feels incredibly exposed for quite a long time. They know that she has told the police. She's still seeing this guy. Right. And the police aren't protecting her. And of course, it all goes to court and it, you know, plays out as it needs to legally. But it's actually really interesting from that point of view. And also someone whose life is recorded by herself all the time.

594.706 - 600.634 Brendan O'Connor

You get to see her in all sorts of different emotional states. OK. She's really compelling. It's worth your time.

600.814 - 612.755 Henrietta McKervey

All right. Andy. People seem to have enjoyed the first part of Dermot Bannon's Celebrity Superspaces. So the second and I think final part is on RT1 tonight at 9.30.

Chapter 5: How does 'Widow's Bay' blend comedy and horror?

728.901 - 740.239 Brendan O'Connor

She fell into debt to organise crime gangs, lost everything, reinvented herself as a best-selling TV fortune teller who was known for her stark predictions. And she hoodwinked loads of people. And it's this rollercoaster.

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740.219 - 742.204 Henrietta McKervey

And is it stylishly and slickly done?

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742.264 - 747.115 Brendan O'Connor

It really is. And she's great. Erika Toda plays her and it's a great performance. I'm enjoying it so much.

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747.135 - 756.557 Henrietta McKervey

Excellent. Straight to Hell on Netflix. Loads of good recommendations today. Andy, you have 20 seconds to tell me, do I need to go and see Mortal Kombat 2 in cinemas next Friday?

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756.537 - 767.788 Andy McCarl

I think he should have. He enjoyed the Force one. For me, the original 95 was probably the best video game adaptation. And thankfully, this one does actually have Mortal Kombat in it, which the Force film didn't. So yes, I would recommend it.

767.868 - 777.735 Henrietta McKervey

Okay, so straight away it's ahead. All right, Henrietta McCurvey and Andy McCarl, thank you so much. Henrietta, by the way, we'll give a mention, your latest novel is out now. It's called The Woman in the Water. So good luck with that.

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