For those of us who like the old classics iPlayer has the full boxset of Porridge.

kingdragonfly: "Santa Clarita Diet"

Zombie realtor Drew Barrymore

Finally got around to season 2 of Cobra Kai.

I really enjoyed season 1, like a lot of people, and I was really excited for season 2.  And while it was still really good, it felt a little aimless.  The re-introduction of John Kreese was great, and it helped to draw the contrast for Johnny and his character development.  But most of the other characters didn't really develop much.  Daniel, Sam, Robby, Miguel and Hawk kind of just meander along, and make some bizarre decisions.  Daniel seems more confused than before, and seems hell-bent on "beating" Cobra Kai, despite what he's telling everyone about balance.  Sam is moping over Miguel, a boy she dated for a few weeks in the last season, like they're long lost soulmates (Miguel likewise).  A highlight was the introduction of Tory (Peyton List), who while being one-dimensional at least added some fire to the action.  Speaking of which, the school fight scene in the season finale was excellent, a well choreographed illustration of the rivaly between the two dojos playing out in "real life".

Overall, it's still a great show, and I'm looking forward to season 3.  

I also finished watching Halt and Catch Fire. The last 2 seasons were a bit disjointed, compared to the first 2.  I think this is down to the time-leaps that seemed to be designed mostly to propel the cast into new technological developments (such as the internet, browser wars, and search).  It was fun to watch the story weave in around more recent tech, but I think the overall story suffered as a result.  It seemed to become a repetition of the issues explored in the first seasons - the stresses of tech startups, the egos, and so on.  I found myself watching more out of a sense of completion, and also hoping to see what the show was working towards.  It turned out, not much.

There was one character development that I was genuinely impressed with, and that is the death of a core character (no spoilers) in the later half of the final season.  It was quite moving, and took me by surprisel;  However, I felt the story opportunity was squandered.  It seemed like it was going to be a way to propel the characters towards a final resolution.  Instead, they simply carried on doing the same thing they had done the past 3 seasons - looking for the next big thing to lead on.

Similar to Cobra Kai, I still enjoyed the show, despite the downward trajectory of the final season(s).  I really liked the "period" element of a tech-centric show, and it's inspired me to revisit some of my own retro tech.

Chernobyl on Neon - 9.5/10

This lives up to the hype I had read about the show.  It's utterly horrific, but also completely compelling.  I had read some articles about the graphic content, and while there are certainly some graphic images of victims of radiation poisoning, I didn't feel it deterred me from watching.  It felt realistic and gritty, without being off-putting.

I've recently completed some Civil Defence training, and it was particularly interesting to watch the response of people faced with an unimaginable disaster.  There's a line which crops up several times in episode 1 - an RBMK reactor (of the type that Chernobyl was) can't explode.  When people are confronted with statements about the incident, they fall back to this line, and that impacts on the incident response.  So many people, for various reasons, couldn't countenance that a reactor of this type could explode, so therefore it hadn't exploded, and they reordered their world view to match their mental state.  I wonder how many people died because they failed to accept the evidence presented to them.  However, by the same token, there's another phrase which was used (in a KGB context) that has particular relevance for modern-day emergency management - trust, but verify.  Good emergency management relies on verified information, and in the early stages of an event there is rarely good quality, verified information.  But I digress...

The show does a really good job of portraying the claustrophobic environment of the USSR, the demands of the state to preserve "secrets" and "reputation", and the terrible costs of the disaster.  It is a little strange that most of the main actors don't adopt a Russian (or Ukrainian) accent, but I got over that pretty quickly.  Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard are excellent as two of the key players, but the cast as a whole is fantastic.

I thought when I got to the end I would put it away and never watch it again, it was so horrific.  But I actually went immediately back to episode 1 when I finished the last episode, to try and understand it better.  I'd actually be happy to watch it right through again (if there weren't so many other shows I want to watch).

Watched the IT Crowd (on Netflix) with 13 year old daughter. Some of the sexist jokes were lost on her but Ross is simply incredibly funny. Easy to watch as they are short seasons.

Back to Eureka now (after daughter got obsessed with Warehouse 13).

Enjoying Sneaky Pete on Amazon Prime. Not a five-star show but a good watch - described as a crime drama but it’s also a comedy.

freitasm: Back to Eureka now (after daughter got obsessed with Warehouse 13).

Love the Eurek 7.5/10 - have the entire series on DVD. Warehouse 13 7/10 is very similar or a rip off, of The Librarians which was also not too bad 7/10

Which service/services are you using for streaming Eureka and Warehouse 13 please @freitasm?

Really enjoying the NZ based Scandi drama Straight Forward currently up on TVNZ OD - Only got one episode to go.