Three TV Shows You’ll Be Binging On

I haven’t been writing as much as I would have liked these past few months, and as much as it’s true that I’ve been working hard, been travelling, had a lot of people over and kept myself busy going out and doing loads of new stuff in London, I’ve also been spending a lot of time binging on TV series… But, in my defense, not on any kind of shitty garbage telly. No, I’ve only been watching really good TV that, to apologise for my recent AWOL behaviour, I will share with you today.

Honestly, I’ve been watching loads of different shows… but I needed to make a (hard) choice as I couldn’t talk about all of them. So I’ve decided to go for three shows that I’ve watched this year.

These three shows:
– Are dark period dramas,
– Are featuring famous Hollywood actors (as we can see a lot of at the moment),
– Have deeply moved me somehow,
– Most importantly, don’t last for 30-odd seasons! So, yes, you’ll be binging on them, but it won’t take half of your precious leisure time to go through them all!

For a list of the other shows I’ve been watching recently, see at the bottom!

The Knick

1900s, downtown New York, The Knickerbocker Hospital (‘The Knick’) – we follow the daily lives of a bunch of surgeons pushing the boundaries of medicine to come up with groundbreaking inventions, medical techniques and treatments.

It’s directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Clive Owen as Doctor John Thackery, a brilliant cocaine-addicted surgeon.

What I really loved about this series is to see the evolution of medicine, the discoveries of the time and the crazy treatments and methods used at the time. We don’t realise how much has changed in a century. From the introduction of electricity in hospitals, to the use of very strong drugs as anaesthetics, and some really obscure methods (ancestor of the nose job: using a piece of skin from the forearm to reshape a syphilis-lost nose, but in order for the blood to flow from the face to this piece of skin, the patient had to have it still attached to the rest of the arm, in a very uncomfortable position, for several weeks! You can find a parody of this episode by Amy Schumer here).

Really gripping plots, interesting historical facts and wonderful acting! There’s only 2 seasons of 10 episodes each, and the series is now unfortunately finished.

Penny Dreadful

The only one here that I haven’t actually binge-watched on, but I that have actually been following faithfully for 3 years, until it finished earlier this year, breaking my heart at the same time!

Frankenstein, vampires, werewolves, Dorian Gray, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,… Penny Dreadful has it all! But as cheesy as it might sound, it’s not!

There are many storylines to follow in Victorian London, but the main character is nevertheless beautiful tortured Vanessa, played magnificently by Eva Green, and her quest in finding her childhood friend, with the help of Ethan (Josh Hartnett, who is very much like a good wine: he gets so much better with age!) and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton). There’s a brilliant mix of extraordinary actors, including my girls Helen McCrory and Billie Piper!

I don’t want to say more, because I might spoil it for you, but this series is a jewel!

Peaky Blinders

The one I have watched most recently in this list, mainly because everyone at work was talking about it and this girl doesn’t like to be left out! And boy, was I amazed!

It’s also the only one that’s not finished, but we’ll have to wait another year before watching season 4. So 3 seasons so far, with only 6 episodes each – needless to say: no excuse not to watch it!

The story is about fierce (and oh so handsome) Thomas Shelby, absolutely perfectly played by Cillian Murphy, head a criminal gang called the Peaky Blinders in the 1920’s Birmingham. The gang really existed and was called like that because of the razor blades stitched in their flat caps.

Cast also includes Sam Neill, Tom Hardy and Helen McCrory (again! This woman is amazing!) and if you remember my article on Liverpool, most of it wasn’t actually shot in Birmingham, but in the empty streets of the Beatles’ city.

Other really good shows I’ve watched in the last 12 months or so:

Orange is the New Black
Making a Murderer
Daredevil
House of Cards (damn you Netflix! Give me my social life back!)
Scandal
The Honourable Woman
Veep
Masters of Sex
Parks and Recreation (officially my new favourite show!)
In the Flesh
Gotham
The Leftovers (OMG OMG OMG, so soooo weird, but just perfect!)
Blackadder (oldie but so goodie)
Doctor Who (yep, no, scratch that above, I’ve just joined the list of Whovians! THIS is my new favourite show!)

(Please don’t judge me for the length of this list.)

Happy binging!