Screen Babble podcast: The Gold, Scream Queens, The Detectorists, and the Happy Valley finale - episode 12

Screen Babble is your essential guide to everything on television, from the mainstream to the marginal. NationalWorld’s podcast producer Kelly Crichton, news and trends expert Steven Ross, and critic Alex Moreland discuss what is – and what isn’t – worth watching.

As ever, we begin by discussing what we’ve been watching. Steven caught a few episodes of music quiz show That’s My Jam, and was not impressed – never mind whether he could answer the questions, that’s beside the point – but enjoyed watching Mackenzie Crook’s comedy The Detectorists. Kelly checked out a couple of new documentaries, including the Fatboy Slim-focused Right Here, Right Now and Netflix’s Pamela, a love story, while Alex has been trying to work out a way to avoid paying to watch Party Down.

We spent a little while debating the merits of the Happy Valley finale – was it everything Kelly had been hoping for since 2016? Did it matter that the crime drama plotline was essentially shrugged off in the end? What was Alex’s big problem with the show the whole way through – and was it ever quite resolved? And when will the cast of Happy Valley return with new projects?

Next, Alex introduces The Gold, a new true crime drama from BBC One that’s going to take the Sunday evening Happy Valley slot. In 1983, six criminals tried to steal a million pounds cash from a safe in Heathrow – and walked out with £26 million in gold bullion instead. How does it compare to the rest of the true crime genre, or other heist dramas like Kaleidoscope? Is it worth watching?

Finally, Steven takes a closer look at Scream Queens, a slasher/comedy from Ryan Murphy currently available on Disney+. How does it compare to the likes of Glee or American Horror Story? Can it sustain the jokes across ten episodes? And where does Ariana Grande give the better performance – here, or in Deep Fake Neighbour Wars?

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for Steven’s Weekend Watch Mini-Babble, previewing all the best TV to watch over the next few days.

Listen to Screen Babble #12 here…

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