Screen Babble podcast: Succession finale, The Gallows Pole, and Brideshead Revisited – episode 28

In this week's episode of Screen Babble, Alex reviews The Gallows Pole, Katie remembers Brideshead Revisited, and Kelly raves about Succession
The orange Screen Babble television, featuring images from Succession, The Gallows Pole, and Brideshead Revisited, as discussed in episode 28 (Credit: NationalWorld Graphics)The orange Screen Babble television, featuring images from Succession, The Gallows Pole, and Brideshead Revisited, as discussed in episode 28 (Credit: NationalWorld Graphics)
The orange Screen Babble television, featuring images from Succession, The Gallows Pole, and Brideshead Revisited, as discussed in episode 28 (Credit: NationalWorld Graphics)

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. This week, though, Steven is recovering from a recent trip to Czechia, so instead we’re joined once again by Travel Editor Katie Conaglen (who absolutely under no circumstances sent Steven to Czechia as part of a cunning plan to be on the podcast this week).

As ever, we begin by discussing what we’ve been watching recently, and this week that is – obviously – pretty much just Succession. After five years and four seasons, the hit HBO drama has finally come to an end. We get right into and discuss our last brush with success from pretty much every angle. What’s in a name? Who ‘won’ in the end? Does that even matter? Will we ever see them again? Was this ending what we expected – was it what we wanted? And will we ever recover?

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Next up, Alex takes a closer look at new Shane Meadows drama The Gallows Pole, a three-part miniseries adapting the story of the Cragg Vale Coiners. How does its more surreal approach compare to something like The Gold? Is Shane Meadows moving into television for good? And is The Gallows Pole worth watching?

Finally, Katie brings us back to the future with Brideshead Revisited, the 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel starring Jeremy Irons. Why did the series – at one point the most expensive ever made – cause such a stir on release? How well does it adapt Waugh’s novel? And why does Katie rewatch it so often? 

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for Steven’s Weekend Watch Mini-Babble – although this week it’s Alex’s Steven’s Weekend Watch Mini-Babble – previewing all the best TV to watch over the next few days.

Listen to Screen Babble #27 here…

Where can we watch this week’s shows?

  • Succession is currently available as a boxset in full on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
  • The Gallows Pole is airing Wednesday nights on BBC Two, with the full series available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.
  • Brideshead Revisited is currently available to watch on ITVX and Britbox

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