Screen Babble 50: remembering Friends' Matthew Perry, JFK: One Day in America review, and revisiting Darkplace

Screen Babble is your essential TV podcast that brings you all you need to know about what's on television, from the mainstream to the marginal. I'm National World’s podcast producer and this week I'm joined on the podcast by our resident TV critic Steven Ross and Simon Cutler of National World's marketing team.

This week Steven has been rewatching some old Friends episodes following the passing of Matthew Perry. The team is sad to see him go, agreeing he was the funniest of the 'Friends'. Many mourn him for his work that impacted all our lives but also for the way he helped other people in real life to deal with addiction issues. 

Steven has also been watching Time, as have I, and we both think it's a really strong piece of drama. The second series of Jimmy McGovern's prison drama contains many a criticism of the system and poses some difficult questions. There are some stellar acting performances too, Bella Ramsey deserves particular mention for their excellent portrayal of a pregnant drug addict inmate Kelsey. You'll hear more of our thoughts on the podcast and about whether the series might return for a series three.

Simon has been watching Cunk on Earth starring Diane Morgan in a spoof interview series where she aims to show how far humanity has come, or not - in this witty mockumentary tracing the history of civilisation. He's also been watching Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime - a fantasy epic, now in its second tv series but with many to come. Find out what you can expect from it on this week's podcast.

My recommendation beyond Time this week is for the Amazon Prime documentary on women's rugby in England, No Woman, No Try, which looks at the challenges and progress within the sport. It's eye-opening what those who play women's rugby have to put up with compared to the men's game but it is moving in the right direction. Like many things, it may need to speed up thought, see what you think by watching this enlightening sports documentary.

On the 'deep dive' this week Steven's positive streak comes to a dismal end with his review of JFK: One Day in America - National Geographic's documentary to mark 60 years since the assasination. There's a plethora of JFK-focused content coming up on TV and streaming in the coming weeks, hear why this may be one to avoid.

Finally, Simon takes us 'back to the future' reviewing Garth Meranghi's Darkplace - a good one for the week that's in it and probably a lot less scary than much of what's on TV at the moment.

Join us again next week for episode #51 when we will talk Sopranos with Benji Jackson - no this is not a drill - and plenty more recommendations to keep you entertained as the evenings draw in.

Listen to Screen Babble #50 here:

Where can we watch this week’s shows?

• Time is on BBC iPlayer.
• Wheel of Time and No Woman, No Try are on Amazon Prime.
• Cunk on Earth and Friends are on Netflix.
• JFK: One Day in America is on Disney+
• Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is on Channel 4.

Screen Babble: how to follow the show

Screen Babble is available to download on all podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. You can watch Screen Babble on Freeview Channel 276, Shots!

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Do you have a TV question you’d like the Screen Babble team to answer on a future episode, or a recommendation of your own? Send it to [email protected] or [email protected].