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

Newest first

Sep 9, 2024 · 1 hr 23 min
#303 Nightsleeper, La Maison, and The Teacher
It’s a special quarantine version of the pod this week as James, still struck down with Covid, feebly attempts to host the podcast while Boyd and Kay stay as far away from his lurgy as humanly possible. But despite a minor case of plague and an absolute dearth of telly this week, the team manage to hit the tracks for real-time train-based thriller Nightsleeper on BBC1, shagtastic educator drama The Teachers on Channel 5, and a trés Français fashion drama La Maison on Apple TV+. All that and you also get to hear how Kay’s boozy leaving drinks went and why Boyd now wears a t-shirt with her face on.
Sep 2, 2024 · 1 hr 39 min
#302 Slow Horses, Colin From Accounts, and The Tower. With guests. Gary Oldman and Eve Hewson
James returns from his Taycation this week, but don’t fret because to make up for that we have Gary Oldman on the show this week discussing the joy of Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses, and Eve Hewson chatting The Perfect Couple on Netflix. And speaking of Slow Horses, the arrival of Season 4 on Apple TV+ is cause for much celebration and is one of three triumphant returns this week, alongside Colin From Accounts, which finally makes its way to BBC2, and ITV’s The Tower.
Aug 26, 2024 · 1 hr 28 min
#301 Sambre: Anatomy Of A Crime, Grace, and Only Murders In The Building. With guests Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan
James is still absent while he devotes every waking hour to recovering from the Taylor Swift concert, so Boyd and Kay are joined by all-round legend Sophie Butcher, who recently compared Dating Naked UK and Love Island to Claire Denis’ masterpiece Beau Travail. Up for review this week are season 4 of Only Murders In The Building on Disney+ (we will not be doing a spoiler special for this season, though, due to public demand), plus French series Sambre: Anatomy Of A Crime on BBC4, and the new fourth series of ITV1 crime drama Grace, starring John Simm. And yes, Grace episodes are 90 minutes long. Apologies all round. As for the guests we have the lovely comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan discussing their Rob & Romesh Vs series on Sky Max and NOW. Just to underline that James is away this week…
Aug 19, 2024 · 1 hr 56 min
#300 Sherwood, Pachinko, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and We Might Regret This. With guest James Graham
We made it! 300 episodes (not counting the many episodes of Pilot+ or the spoiler specials) feels like quite the milestone, even if we weren’t able to do a live show because James has tickets to see Taylor Swift. He did manage to drag himself away from Eras Tour prep (those friendship bracelets don’t make themselves) to drop in and join Boyd and Kay for the 300th show, though, despite being on holiday. Could it be because Boyd and Kay both refused to watch yet another Walking Dead show? No comment. We do, however, get a run down of Dead City on Sky, as well as round two of Pachinko on Apple TV+, We Might Regret This on BBC2, and the return of Sherwood on BBC1, and on the subject of Sherwood, the creator and writer of the show, James Graham, is this week’s guest. Plus we have a few of you on as Well, leaving us testimonials to mark our threehundredieth birthday. Hooray!
Aug 12, 2024 · 1 hr 31 min
#299 Bad Monkey, Daddy Issues, and The Twelve. With guest Nico Mirallegro
We can’t review Paramount+’s Stags this week as it’s embargoed, but that didnt’ stop star Nico Mirallegro dropping by the pod to talk about the stag do from hell. Elsewhere, we can’t lie, this week is somewhat anarchic. Kay and James are sleep deprived to the point of delirium and even a well-rested and thoroughly perky Boyd can’t stop the good ship Pilot from taking on water and coming perilously close to capsizing completely. Still, between bickering about the olympics, exploring the etymology of Strictly Come Dancing and some minor controversy about how to pronounce a rather important name, we still manage (somehow) to review Vince Vaughn’s crime adventure Bad Monkey on Apple, Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey’s dysfunctional family drama Daddy issues on BBC3, and Sam Neill’s Aussie legal drama The Twelve on ITVX. Frankly, it’s a miracle we got through it all!
Aug 5, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
#298 Slip, Company You Keep, and Irvine Welsh’s Crime
Like an episode of 24, we’re racing against the clock on this week’s show. But the imminent threat of being thrown from the studio by Jack Bauer didn’t stop us from dimension hopping with ITVX’s Slip, digging up a relic with Company You Keep on Alibi and heading up to Scotland for some criminal shenanigans with Irvine Welsh’s Crime, now on ITV1. Plus Boyd waxes lyrical about the Olympics, Kay asks about Summer shows and the practice of ‘raw dogging’ gets a full examination — not the kind you think!
Jul 29, 2024 · 1 hr 22 min
#297 Totally Completely Fine, Interview With The Vampire, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
We have vampires AND zombies this week in an undead double bill (Kay was thrilled) as well as people hurling themselves to a watery doom. More specifically, we tackle the second season of Interview With The Vampire on BBC2, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on Sky Max, and Totally Completely Fine on ITVX. But that’s not all, because we pull out some Paramount+ recommendations for those looking to drop into that streaming service (assuming you’ve forgiven them for cancelling Halo!), reel off some comfort watches for maternity leave and crunch some stats over recent streaming figures. All that while Boyd beams in from his holiday in NYC. Now that’s dedication.
Jul 22, 2024 · 1 hr 28 min
#296 Time Bandits, Piglets, and Elspeth. With guest Freddie Fox
Champion of the green team Ser Gwayne Hightower aka Freddie Fox joins us on the show this week to fill us in on the latest developments in House Of The Dragon, plus we dissect this year’s Emmy nominations, which saw Shōgun and The Bear (*cough* not a comedy *cough*) leading the pack. Elsewhere, we take a look at Apple’s Gilliam-esque reimagining, Time Bandits, head into police training with ITV’s Piglets, and experiment with the latest spin-off in The Good Wife franchise with Elspeth on Sky Witness.
Jul 15, 2024 · 1 hr 27 min
#295 The Jetty, Mr. Bigstuff, and Those About To Die. With guests Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram
Stars of Apple’s Lady In The Lake Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram join us on this week’s show despite a few technical hiccups. Plus we end up unearthing a cold case in BBC1’s very pointed Jenna Coleman police drama The Jetty, welcoming Danny Dyer back into the family with Mr. Bigstuff on Sky Max and getting our sandals on for some gladiatorial action in Those About To Die on Prime Video. All this despite Kay being stuck at home and having to beam into the studio via the wonder of modern technology, braving the sweltering heat of her office to do so (there’s a whole window drama, you have no idea).
Jul 8, 2024 · 1 hr 15 min
#294 Sunny, Spent, and The Turkish Detective
Most films and TV shows are shot entirely out of sequence, so we went full Method on this week’s podcast and decided to record the entire show out of sequence to see what it’s like (and because we had an appointment with Rapman, but that’s another story). The result? Anarchy. And possibly madness. Still, amidst the carnage, the discussion of a Pilot OnlyFans, and the cancellation of another of James’ beloved shows, we still found time to tackle Apple’s darkly comedic robot drama Sunny, and two BBC2 shows: Michelle de Swarte’s Spent and Istanbul set police drama The Turkish Detective.
Jul 1, 2024 · 1 hr 30 min
#293 My Lady Jane, The Bear, and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. With guests Rob Brydon and Anna Chancellor
We may not have been able to cover The Bear last week but fear not, because our food order arrived in time for this week’s show and our take on The Bear’s third season is finally ready to go. Plus, not only do we fall under the spell of Prime Video’s My Lady Jane, but stars Rob Brydon and Anna Chancellor stop by to share parenting tips from this anachronistic alternate history. Not enough? A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder lands on iPlayer and speaking of murder, we manage to do exactly that to this week’s listener question.
Jun 24, 2024 · 1 hr 24 min
#292 Douglas Is Cancelled, and Land Of Women. With guest Rapman
We may not be able to review Netflix’s Supacell until the next Pilot+ but that didn’t stop the show’s creator, Rapman, from dropping by to talk all about his Black superhero saga. And while we’re talking about things we couldn’t review, there’s a whole debacle about The Bear (a Bearbacle?) that plays out this week, so if you’re joining us to find out what Carmy and the gang have been up to, you may be disappointed. We do join Hugh Bonneville for Douglas Is Cancelled, however, and head off to Spain with Eva Longoria for Land Of Women. So there’s that, at least.
Jun 17, 2024 · 1 hr 23 min
#291 We Were The Lucky Ones, Peacock, and Beacon 23. With guests Matt Smith and Fabien Frankel
We’re dancing with dragons on this weeks shows as two of the stars of House Of The Dragon join us on the show: Matt Smith and Fabien Frankel. Plus, we take a look at WWII family drama We Were The Lucky Ones on Disney+, renew our gym membership with the second series of Peacock on BBC3, and head out into space with Lena Headey for the arrival of space lighthouse sci-fi series Beacon 23, which arrives on Disney+. All that and Boydy, who hosted the screening of the Inside No.9 finale (he may have mentioned it) provides his definitive list of the best nine episodes of the show.
Jun 10, 2024 · 2 hr 8 min
#290 Presumed Innocent, House Of The Dragon, and Under The Bridge. With guests Danai Gurira and Sam Spruell
We have a guest double bill this week as Danai Gurira drops by to talk about taking up Michonne’s sword again in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, and Sam Spruell also joins us to talk all things Fargo. Plus we put Jake Gyllenhaal in the dock in Apple TV+’s remake of 1990 Harrison Ford thriller Presumed Innocent, House Of The Dragon roars back onto Sky, and Under The Bridge takes a look a girl violence when it arrives on Disney+. All that and we share with you the details of the great Pilot TV marriage proposal that never was…
Jun 3, 2024 · 1 hr 28 min
#289 Queenie, Lost Boys And Fairies, and Becoming Karl Lagerfeld. With guests Benedict Cumberbatch and Abi Morgan
Eric star Benedict Cumberbatch and creator Abi Morgan both stop by this week to chat all things Eric, which recently debuted on Netflix. Plus, this week’s slate includes Channel 4’s adaptation of Candice Carty-Williams’ novel Queenie, BBC1’s drama about a gay couple navigating the adoption system in Lost Boys And Fairies, and another jaunt into biographical fashionista territory with Becoming Karl Lagerfeld on Disney+. And the team put their heads together to figure out who their ideal timelord companions would b
May 27, 2024 · 1 hr 45 min
#288 - We Are Lady Parts, The Veil, and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. With guests Vicky McClure and Nida Manzoor
We Are Lady Parts is back, back back! And to celebrate, writer and creator Nida Manzoor is on the show talking to Helen O’Hara. Plus Vicky McClure is also with us this week, chatting Insomnia on Paramount+. Meanwhile, James gets to zombiesplain his little socks off as we tackle the latest Walking Dead spinoff, The Ones Who Live, which brings Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira back into the fold, and Steven Knight’s The Veil comes to Disney+, putting Elisabeth Moss on mission as an MI6 agent trying to crack a possible terrorist.
May 20, 2024 · 1 hr 42 min
#287 Insomnia, Trying, and Bay Of Fires. With guests Rafe Spall and Esther Smith
Trying returns to Apple this week and not only are we reviewing it but Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are with us on the show to talk all about it. Plus we’re up all night with Vicky McClure in Paramount+’s adaptation of Sarah Pinborough novel Insomnia, and ITV gives us a dose of witness protection Tasmania style in Bay Of Fires. Elsewhere we unpick the recent TV BAFTAs and have a little fun with Spotify’s AI chapter headings.
May 13, 2024 · 1 hr 29 min
#286 The Gathering, Rebus, and Orphan Black: Echoes
This episode marks the Pilot TV debut of Empire’s very own Sophie Butcher, filling in for work-shy slacker Kay who’s STILL on holiday. Sophie shares with us some of her favourite shows, plus we finally pin Boydy down on a definitive (laminated!) list of his favourite films so he can’t keep attaching that label to every one he talks about. Elsewhere, we’re delving into competitive teenage athletics in The Gathering on Channel 4, seeing Ian Rankin’s Rebus get reborn on BBC1, and seeing if there’s still some life in the clone saga in Orphan Black: Echoes, which finally lands in the UK on ITVX.
May 6, 2024 · 1 hr 53 min
#285 Dark Matter, Doctor Who, Inside No.9, and The Young Offenders. With guest Jennifer Connelly
We have TWO special guest this week. The first is the star of Dark Matter and all-round screen legend Jennifer Connelly, who joins us to discuss that series. The second is Swindon native all-round Pilot legend Beth Webb, who jumps back in to the show to cover for Kay, who’s on holiday. As well as getting ourselves back into quantum superposition for Dark Matter on Apple, we also tackle the final series of Inside No. 9, the fourth series of The Young Offenders and the new RTD era of Doctor Who, plus James has a lot to say about a certain kissing scene that appears to have traumatised him since last week.
Apr 29, 2024 · 1 hr 29 min
#284 Shardlake, The Responder, and Spy/Master. With guests Martin Freeman and Tony Schumacher
Martin Freeman and Tony Schumacher — the star and creator respectively — join us this week to chat The Responder, which returns for its second series. Plus, we investigate some Tudor crimes with Shardlake and some cold war espionage with Spy/Master. None of which can prepare you for what Boyd’s been watching this week, which not only sees a surprise sprint for the finish line with a show he’d been behind on, but a rather unexpected ‘factual’ show, that dovetails with this week’s listener question to see a podcast far more concerned about measurements than it has any right to be.