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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May 31, 2021 · 1 hr 28 min
#138 - Lisey's Story, Anne Boleyn, Time, and Feel Good. Featuring Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie
Charlotte Ritchie and Mae Martin join us on this week's show to talk about the second (and final) series of Feel Good on Netflix. Plus the Pilot team dissect last week's Friends Reunion special, before embarking on a bumper reviews segment covering Stephen King adaptation Lisey's Story on Apple, Jimmy McGovern's Time on BBC1, Channel 5's adaptation of the last weeks of Anne Boleyn, and Feel Good itself.
May 23, 2021 · 1 hr 32 min
#137 - Solos, Rebel, and Before We Die
James’ re-watch of Game Of Thrones comes to a triumphant conclusion this week, so brace yourselves for an extended monologue/re-evaluation of that show as he drives Terri to the brink of catatonia with fresh takes on all things Season 8 (it ends at 18:43 if you feel your life ebbing away and/or want to avoid any GoT spoilers). And speaking of re-evaluations, we discuss how we view other classic shows differently over time as our perspectives on life change. Plus we finally get to see Amazon’s Solos, see if Star’s Rebel is worth a watch, and hit the beat with Lesley Sharp in Channel 4’s Before We Die — which is also a phrase uttered frequently during James’ aforementioned Thronesplanation.
May 16, 2021 · 1 hr 57 min
#136 - The Nevers, Innocent, and We Are Lady Parts. Featuring Katherine Kelly
Katherine Kelly is our guest on the podcast this week, telling us all about her role in series 2 of ITV's Innocent. Plus The Nevers finally arrives on Sky — bringing with it a welcome dose of Victorian superpowers — and Channel 4 unveils its all-new comedy centring around an all-girl, Muslim punk band with We Are Lady Parts. All that and Terri finally gets around to watching Succession, plus we reveal the secrets of how we balance our gargantuan watch lists with having personal lives (we don't).
May 9, 2021 · 1 hr 35 min
#135 - The Underground Railroad, Jupiter’s Legacy, Domina, and Motherland. Featuring Rafe Spall and Esther Smith
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith drop by the show this week to talk to us about the second series of Trying. Plus we head back to imperial Rome for Domina on Sky Atlantic, explore an alternate history of the American South in Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of The Underground Railroad on Amazon, and finally reveal what we thought of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix. Plus we catch up with the latest seasons of Motherland and Inside Number Nine on the Beeb, and thrash out our picks of the most rewatchable series ever.
May 2, 2021 · 1 hr 41 min
#134 - Mythic Quest, The Pursuit Of Love, and Bloods. Featuring Josh Duhamel
Josh Duhamel joins us on the show this week to talk about Netflix’s new superhero series, Jupiter’s Legacy. Plus we head back to the 1940s with Emily Mortimer in the BBC’s The Pursuit Of Love, clap for a pair of hapless carers in Sky’s Bloods, and force Terri to watch the second season of Mythic Quest on Apple TV+. We also get into the Bafta TV nominations and explore which departing cast members most hurt the ratings of long-running TV shows.
Apr 25, 2021 · 1 hr 29 min
#133 - This Time With Alan Partridge, Shadow And Bone, Viewpoint, and The Mosquito Coast
*Note: This episode's interview with Noel Clarke has been removed in light of the recent accusations of sexual misconduct.* On this week's show we get into Netflix's YA fantasy Shadow And Bone, Apple's adaptation of The Mosquito Coast, and the long-awaited second series of This Time With Alan Partridge, which may or may not provide Terri with an excuse to dust off her Martin Brennan impression. You have been warned.
Apr 19, 2021 · 1 hr 27 min
#132 - Mare Of Easttown, Starstruck, and Rush. Featuring Ron D. Moore
Battlestar Galactica creator Ron D. Moore joins us on the show this week to talk For All Mankind. Plus we celebrate Kate Winslet’s triumphant return to the small screen in Mare Of Easttown on Sky, Rose Matafeo’s comedy genius in Starstruck on the BBC, and Fox UK’s ongoing commitment to resurrecting long-cancelled shows with Rush. Plus we talk about some of the best shows to cross international boundaries and get very excited about Line Of Duty (without dropping any spoilers).
Apr 12, 2021 · 1 hr 21 min
#131 - Leonardo, Too Close, and Frank Of Ireland
This week's show sees us joining Aidan Turner in Milan for Da Vinci drama Leonardo on Amazon, watching Emily Watson and Denise Gough go head-to-head in ITV's Too Close, and witnessing the Gleeson brothers raise merry hell in Dublin thanks to Channel 4's Frank Of Ireland. Plus we talk through the upcoming seasons of TV we're most excited about and Boyd explains why Line Of Duty is shaping up to be the Avengers Endgame of TV crime drama.
Apr 5, 2021 · 1 hr 24 min
#130 - Them, Wellington Paranormal, and Intruder
Assuming you're able to rouse yourself from a chocolate-induced coma this Easter Monday, we have a similarly sugar-fuelled episode of the podcast for you as we brace ourselves for supernatural horror/social realism thriller Them on Amazon, What We Do In The Shadows spinoff Wellington Paranormal on Sky, and burglary-gone-wrong thriller Intruder on Channel 5. There's also some serious discussion about *that* Unforgotten finale and while spoilers for the show are again quite clearly signposted, you can avoid the entire discussion by skipping everything between 11:56 and 19:38. Terri, James and Boyd's screaming row about appropriate spoiler etiquette on twitter, however, must be listened to in full.
Mar 28, 2021 · 1 hr 21 min
#129 - The Irregulars, Keeping Faith, and The Syndicate
On this week's show we take a trip back to Victorian London for Netflix's YA-themed Sherlock show The Irregulars, plus a jaunt to Wales for the final series of the BBC's Keeping Faith. And then, for reasons, we also review the *fourth* series of Lottery-winner drama The Syndicate, in which a group of dog groomers strike it rich. Plus we get very excited about the penultimate episode of Unforgotten (spoilers are clearly signposted but occur between 5:20 and 11:21), and explore some of the great shows that began their lives on the big screen.
Mar 22, 2021 · 1 hr 45 min
#128 - The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and Hausen
If your week could be measurably improved by the sound of Terri quacking uncontrollably then you’re in luck, because there’s an abundance of duck sound effects to accompany this week’s reviews section as we tackle The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+. When not replicating a mallard’s mating calls, we also share our reactions to nihilistic German horror series Hausen on Sky, and immerse ourselves in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Meanwhile, we take a look at instances where great shows go bad and the news section is hijacked by a lively debate about Jed Mercurio’s use of the C-bomb (actual C-bombs abound - you have been warned) and the depiction of violence on telly.
Mar 16, 2021 · 1 hr 18 min
#127 - The Flight Attendant, Calls, and Line Of Duty
AC-12 is back in the house this week as we catch up with all the latest Ted Hastings developments in Line Of Duty series 6 on BBC1 (NOTE: contains no spoilers or plot discussion for this or previous seasons), plus we pick up the phone for Apple’s batty audio-only drama Calls, and finally get to go on a holiday (albeit a vicarious one) as we join Kaley Cuoco for jet-setting murder mystery The Flight Attendant on Sky. All that and Terri disappears down an Unforgotten rabbit hole and we take a trip down memory lane to the shows we loved back when we were knee-high to a grasshopper.
Mar 8, 2021 · 1 hr 5 min
126 - Grace, neXt, and Love In The Time Of Corona
James and Terri made a Faustian pact in advance of this week’s show, which leads to a rather unexpected instalment of What We’ve Been Watching. Then we then try to work out what on Earth is going on with BBC Three, how the Golden Globes ceremony was one of the best things on telly last week, and which teen shows float each member of the team’s respective boats. Plus we find ourselves looking for love in lockdown via Star’s Love In The Time Of Corona, on the trail of a rogue AI in Star’s curiously capitalised neXt, and on the trail of a missing person in ITV’s surname-based cop thriller, Grace.
Mar 1, 2021 · 1 hr 36 min
#125 - Your Honor, Dollface, and The Walking Dead
On this week's show we find ourselves in the familiar scenario of watching a law abiding Bryan Cranston abandon his regular life for one of crime in Sky’s Your Honor. Plus James makes a valiant stand against Terri and Boyd when the team review Star's new comedy, Dollface, and Terri is forced to watch the new bonus episodes of The Walking Dead, despite only ever having seen one episode in her life. Not only that but the team also reveal their favourite telly picks from the dark days before the current era of Peak TV, and James insists on inflicting his latest rewatch obsession on everyone, whether they want him to or not.
Feb 22, 2021 · 1 hr 19 min
#124 - Big Sky, Unforgotten, and Love Victor
Star launches on Disney+ this week and we sift through the launch releases on that service, which involves finding out what Lagertha the shieldmaiden is up to post-Vikings in Big Sky, and discovering if Love Simon’s big screen magic can survive the transition to the small screen in Love Victor. Plus, we dig up another cold case with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar in series 4 of ITV’s Unforgotten, get into a big old discussion about which books need adapting for TV ASAP, and Terri simply cannot resist talking about *that* ending in Behind Her Eyes — but don't worry, the spoilers are clearly signposted and you can skip the whole discussion by avoiding everything between 09:13 and 16:56.
Feb 15, 2021 · 1 hr 41 min
#123 - Behind Her Eyes, Bloodlands, and For All Mankind
Finger-wagging abounds on this week's show as we manage to fall into an argument/therapy-session over why each of us are the way we are with regard to telly viewing habits, and why James has never watched a documentary series all the way through. We also find the time to watch the new Jed Mercurio-produced James Nesbitt thriller, Bloodlands, immerse ourselves in the batshit world of Netflix's Behind Her Eyes, and finally give For All Mankind a proper chance when we get mooned by that show's second season.
Feb 10, 2021 · 2 hr 35 min
The West Wing Spoiler Special, featuring Aaron Sorkin
We've been threatening to do it for weeks and now we've finally delivered. Here, for your listening pleasure, is a Pilot TV spoiler special dedicated to the greatest TV show ever made: The West Wing. To celebrate the fact that Terri binged the entire show over the past month, and in recognition of the fact that James needs absolutely no excuse to bang on about it until people beg him to stop, we bring you a mammoth recording where the team thrash over the themes, the cast, the major plot points and much, much more. Plus, you can enjoy James' interview with the man who started the whole thing: West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Enjoy!
Feb 8, 2021 · 1 hr 55 min
#122 - Soulmates, Can't Get You Out Of My Head, and The Vanishing At the Cecil Hotel
On this week's show we're looking for true love in Amazon Prime's new anthology drama, Soulmates, investigating a true crime mystery in The Vanishing At the Cecil Hotel on Netflix, and taking a look at Adam Curtis' mind-bending new iPlayer series, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. Plus Terri goes off on a venomous diatribe agains the Golden Globe nominations and we somehow end up in a protracted musing about the state of modern telly and the evolution of viewing habits. Because why the hell not?
Feb 1, 2021 · 1 hr 37 min
#121 - ZeroZeroZero, Ramy, and The Drowning
On the show this week we take a look Andrea Riseborough and Gabriel Byrne's drug-smuggling thriller ZeroZeroZero on Sky Atlantic, track down a missing person in The Drowning on Channel 5, and check out Channel 4's latest comedy, Ramy, which only people with StarzPlay will have already seen. Plus Terri explains why, despite all evidence to the contrary, she *never* watches rubbish telly and we bear witness to the 'triumphant' return of James' guitar.
Jan 25, 2021 · 1 hr 47 min
#120 - Marcella, Resident Alien, and Damien. Featuring Anna Friel
Anna Friel joins us on this week's show to talk about the third season of Marcella, which makes its belated UK debut on ITV this week. Plus Terri goes inexplicably nuts for demented Sky comedy Resident Alien, and we discover that the devil's in the details (which in this case include having been cancelled nearly half a decade ago) for Fox UK's Damien.