Pilot TV

Empire Magazine

From the creators of The Empire Film Podcast, Pilot TV is your essential guide to every TV show that matters, providing a weekly rundown of all the new must-see TV shows dropping across streaming, terrestrial, satellite, cable, and beyond. Join Empire's James Dyer, Heat's Boyd Hilton, Steph Seelan, and Kay Ribeiro as they bring you breaking TV news, reviews of the week's major shows, and interviews with some of the biggest names in TV.

Pilot TV is here to make sure every minute you spend in front of the box is a minute worth spending. Served with a heavy helping of insider knowledge, irreverence and humour, Pilot TV won't just keep you informed, amused and entertained, but is guaranteed to save countless hours of your life. Because you can’t watch *everything*.

Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to Pilot+ for a bonus episode every Thursday, in-depth spoiler specials, and early, ad-free access to the regular show! Find out more at www.empireonline.com/pilottv

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426 episodes
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Episodes426

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Mar 13, 2023 · 1 hr 51 min
#227 Extrapolations, Ted Lasso, and Redemption. With guests Brett Goldstein, Nick Mohammed and Martha Plimpton
We have a veritable hootenanny of guests on this week's show with both Brett Goldstein and Nick Mohammed on to talk Ted Lasso Season 3, and Martha Plimpton joining us to chat Bermondsey gangsters in A Town Called Malice on Sky. But that's not all, because we also take a look at the near future with star-studded environmental drama Extrapolations on Apple, and head over to Dublin for ITV crime drama Redemption. Plus James apologises for Kay's egregious failure to spot the Robert Kirkman/Brian K Vaughn mix up on last week's show. For shame, Kay.
Mar 6, 2023 · 1 hr 48 min
#226 The Mandalorian, Abbott Elementary, and The Bay. With guest Neil Cross
Luther is back this week (albeit in film form) and series creator Neil Cross drops by the show to talk all about the big man in the coat. Plus, in an unusually feisty instalment of the pod, we evaluate the return of The Mandalorian, explore the phenomenon that is Abbott Elementary and have a huge, three-way blow up about ITV's The Bay, which involves so many shifting alliances and sudden turns it'll give you whiplash. We also (somehow) find the time to discuss some of the properties we're nervous to see coming to the screen.
Feb 27, 2023 · 1 hr 55 min
#225 Unforgotten, Django, and The Diplomat. With guests Sanjeev Bhaskar, Sam Claflin and Camilla Morrone
Unforgotten is back! That's reason enough for celebration but even more so is the fact that DI Sunny Khan himself — aka Sanjeev Bhaskar — is on the show to talk all about it. And that's not all as Sam Claflin and Camilla Morrone also drop in to chat Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six. Elsewhere, the team feast their eyes upon Catalonian murder mystery The Diplomat over on Alibi and nouveau Western Django on Sky Atlantic, plus mull over all the various TV tropes that give them the 'icks'.
Feb 20, 2023 · 1 hr 42 min
#224 Liaison, Fleishman Is In Trouble, and Desperate Measures. With Billy Crudup and Vincent Cassel
Both Billy Crudup and Vincent Cassel join us on this week's show, the former to talk about Apple's retro future series Hello Tomorrow, and the latter about international espionage thriller Liaison, also on Apple TV+. But that's not all, because we also hit the dating apps with Jesse Eisenberg in Disney+'s Fleishman Is In Trouble and take on the criminal underworld with Amanda Abbington in Desperate Measures on Channel 5.
Feb 13, 2023 · 1 hr 21 min
#223 Picard, Better, and The Twelve
We "Make it so" one last time this week with the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, which Trek newbie Kay takes to like a Ferenghi to money laundering. Plus we dabble in a little jury duty with The Twelve on ITVX and some policing with villaining on the side in Better on BBC1. All that and we not only find time to sort out the seating arrangements at one of our listeners' weddings but manage to sift through the Trillions of spinoffs (see what we did there) announced this week as well.
Feb 6, 2023 · 1 hr 36 min
#222 Consent, Funny Woman, and The Gold. With guest Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar joins us on the show this week to chat Wolf Pack and, of course, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. And speaking of Buffy, the team tackles a question (prompted by episode 3 of The Last Of Us) on the greatest single episodes of TV. Plus, we talk about the issue of rape culture in schools via Channel 4's hard-hitting one-off drama, Consent, head back to 80s London for BBC's The Gold, and visit 60s Blackpool with Gemma Arterton for Sky's Nick Hornby adaptation, Funny Woman.
Jan 30, 2023 · 1 hr 59 min
#221 Nolly, Dear Edward, and Your Honor. With guests Russell T. Davies and Joe Cornish
TV legend Russell T. Davies joins us on the show this week to talk Nolly, his new three-part drama, which stars Helena Bonham Carter as Crossroads star Noelle Gordon (and there may be a few Doctor Who nuggets in that conversation as well). Plus Joe Cornish is here to chat all things Lockwood & Co, his new supernatural series on Netflix (which we reviewed on Pilot+ last week). All that and we look at Apple's interconnected drama Dear Edward, watch the second series of Paramount's Your Honor, and Empire's Chris Hewitt crashes the studio and manages to derail the first 20 minutes of the show. Sorry.
Jan 25, 2023 · 1 hr 9 min
Extraordinary: A Pilot TV/Empire Special, In Association With Disney+
Welcome, folks, to a most extraordinary podcast (in association with Disney+). A podcast in which Team Empire and Team Pilot TV get together to discuss the extraordinary Extraordinary, the brand-new sitcom that is now streaming on Disney+. Created and written by Emma Moran, Extraordinary is set in a world where everyone develops a superpower after they turn 18. Everyone, that is, except for Jen (Mairead Tyers), who is approaching 25 and is still fumbling for direction and meaning and purpose. Beautifully observed and very, very funny, it's already been renewed for a second season, and in this very special crossover event, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer and Kay Ribeiro (pronounced Ru-bear-oh) get together to wax lyrical about the show, discuss which superpowers they'd like to have, and much more. But that's not all! (Told you this was an extraordinary podcast...) There are also two interviews with the show's star players -- first, an uproarious, hilarious and frankly chaotic interview in which Chris sits down with the show's stars, Mairead Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, and Luke Rollason; and then a more considered chat with Emma Moran. Do please extra-enjoy.
Jan 23, 2023 · 1 hr 16 min
#220 Shrinking, Extraordinary, and Wolf Pack
This week Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence deliver the anti-Ted Lasso in Apple's Shrinking (which stars actual Harrison Ford), plus we find ourselves pleasantly surprised by new Disney+ original series Extraordinary, and swap Lupin for lupine in Paramount+ supernatural series Wolf Pack. Plus the team tackle questions around the tragic demise of physical media and there's a surprising amount of chat about '90s Europopsters Snap
Jan 16, 2023 · 1 hr 44 min
#219 The Last Of Us, Chemistry Of Death, and Maternal. With guests Kumail Nanjiani and Parminder Nagra
Kumail Nanjiani joins us on this week's show to explain the nature of comedy to James, plus Parminder Nagra stops by to discuss ITV's now back-to-work series, Maternity with Kay. Elsewhere, we go traipsing through the woods with Harry Treadaway in Chemistry Of Death, and are FINALLY able to talk about The Last Of Us, which James has already declared to be the show of 2023. There's also some Golden Globes chat, some musings on shows we'd like to have our memories erased to re-watch and much excitement that it all appears to be kicking off in Carnival Row season 2.
Jan 9, 2023 · 1 hr 23 min
#218 Welcome To Chippendales, The Reunion, and Reginald The Vampire
It may be January but we're stripping off alongside Kumail Nanjiani this week in Welcome To Chippendales on Disney+, watching an early contender for most utterly batshit show of the year with The Reunion on ITVX, and finding the lighter side of undeath with Reginald The Vampire on Sky Sci-Fi. Plus, we talk about some of TV's best character actors, bemoan Netflix's axe-swinging killing spree, and announce the launch of our all-new, very exciting SECOND podcast: the imaginatively named, Pilot TV+.
Dec 26, 2022 · 2 hr 31 min
Review of The Year 2022. With guests Will Sharpe and Denise Gough
2022 is DONE! Well, nearly. And, in place of our regular show this week we bring you our official postmortem of the year that was, packed with our personal picks, our favourite episodes, a look at what we're excited about in 2023 and a bunch of year-related questions from you, our long-suffering listeners. But that's not all, because we also run though our final, canonical, completely unanimous and in no way divisive list of Pilot TV's best shows of 2022, and welcome a pair of very special guests from two of those shows, specifically The White Lotus' Will Sharpe and Andor's Denise Gough. Happy New Year one and all! See you in 2023.
Dec 19, 2022 · 2 hr 7 min
#217 The Witcher: Blood Origin, Happy Valley, and Vardy v Rooney. With guest Laurence O'Fuarain
Merry Christmas one and all! It's our last (regular) show of 2022 and, to celebrate, we have our very own Christmas elf on the show — specifically Fjall from The Witcher: Blood Origin aka Laurence O'Fuarain. And not only do we find said Witcher spinoff in our Christmas stockings this year, but we're also going full Wagatha Christie with Channel 4's Hardy v Rooney, and getting the greatest gift of all: the return of Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley, which comes back after a SEVEN year absence. But it's not all celebration on this week's show, for we are compelled to bid a fond farewell to one of our own as one member of the team heads off to pastures new (with arms full of presents, naturally).
Dec 12, 2022 · 1 hr 42 min
# 216 Litvinenko, National Treasure: Edge of History, and His Dark Materials. With guest Amir Wilson
It's been two years since His Dark Materials last graced our screens but the Philip Pullman adaptation returns this week with the third and final instalment, and we have star Amir Wilson on the show to talk Daemons, dimension-hopping and waging war on heaven. Plus, we see if National Treasure: Edge of History can live up to the movies’ legacy, and watch David Tenant re-enact a political assassination in Litvinenko on ITVX. Oh and it’s Boyd’s birthday as well. All together now: “For he’s a jolly good fellow…”
Dec 5, 2022 · 1 hr 42 min
#215 A Spy Among Friends, Strike, George & Tammy, and Tell Me Everything. With guests Guy Pearce, Holliday Grainger & Tom Burke
Strike is Back! Which is excellent news, but more excellent by far is that both Strike and Robin (street names Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger) are on the show this week to talk about it. Plus Guy Pearce is also around to chat A Spy Among Friends, which marks the launch of ITVX, a streaming service that also brings us Tell Me Everything, enabling us to get in touch with our inner Gen Z. Plus we delight in (or endure) a little country music (depending on taste) in George & Tammy on Paramount+, and we get back in touch with our European brethren as the Dutch take our pronunciation to task, and the Spanish take issue with us perpetuating falsehoods about their accent. It's been quite a week!
Nov 28, 2022 · 1 hr 40 min
#214 The Patient, Three Pines, The Flatshare, and Slow Horses. With guests Gary Oldman & Saskia Reeves
You've got to give Apple's Slow Horses one thing, it's anything but slow. The brilliant espionage drama returns for its second season in one year this week and we have stars Gary Oldman and Saskia Reeves on hand to talk all about it. Elsewhere, we're undertaking some unconventional therapy with Steve Carrel in The Patient, experiencing some even more unconventional living arrangements with Jessica Brown Findlay in The Flatshare, and solving snowy crimes in Canada with Alfred Molina in Three Pines. All that and Beth's toothbrush issue is vindicated, we take a detour on accents and there's even more Andor appreciation (sorry).
Nov 21, 2022 · 1 hr 50 min
#213 Echo 3, Wednesday, and Ghosts (US). With guest Luke Evans
Luke Evans is with us on the show this week, talking Echo 3, Apple's new geo-political thriller set in the jungles of Colombia (there may be a little Strictly chat surreptitiously slipped in there by Kay as well). Elsewhere, we're heading back to school with the best member of the Addams Family in Netflix's Wednesday, and taking a look at what our cousins across the pond have done to beloved sitcom Ghosts. Plus, in a ludicrously extended postbag sequence, James stages a spirited defence of TV bellends and we find out all about Beth's weird vicarious toothbrushing phobia.
Nov 14, 2022 · 1 hr 45 min
#212 Tulsa King, Tell Me Lies, and 1889. With guest Sylvester Stallone
Who do we have on this week's show? It's only Sylvester Stallone, who finally, after all these years, makes his scripted TV debut with Tulsa King on Paramount+. But that's not all because we also take a trip on Netflix's spooky ghost ship in polyglot creep show 1899 on Netflix, and discover that the only thing more horrifying than ghouls and ghosts is college-age men in Tell Me Lies on Disney+. All that and yet more cancellations of shows (some with fairies) as the streamers start swinging the axe with wild abandon.
Nov 7, 2022 · 1 hr 43 min
#211 The English, Mammals, and The Crown. With guests Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and Hugo Blick
Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and The English creator Hugo Blick join us on this week's show to talk about their rip-roaring rampage of revenge through the Old West. Plus we unpick some marital strife with James Corden in Mammals on Prime and head off to Balmoral for the long-awaited (and Judi Dench-baiting) fifth season of The Crown on Netflix. Plus, James tries to come to terms with a week which not only saw drama come to his beloved Witcher, but also the demise of Fate: The Winx Saga. It's been a lot!
Oct 31, 2022 · 1 hr 23 min
#210 The White Lotus, Reboot, and Dangerous Liaison
We're back on holiday at The White Lotus for season 2 of the Mike White's excellent comedy-drama. Plus we're revisiting a bit of saucy 19th century literature in Dangerous Liaisons on Lionsgate+, and getting meta about reboots with, well, Reboot on Disney+. Plus, no halloween episode would be complete without a little haunted house chat (aka what James did on his recent holiday — not to a White Lotus), plus there are some scintillating updates about Beth's recent eye test and the state of Boyd's boiler. Never let it be said that we don't bring you the most *essential* content.