tv – Hollie Edmeades

My Lockdown Watchlist

20th Apr 2020Hollie Edmeades2 Comments

I’ve been at home with my family since the lockdown was enforced in the UK so we’ve had a lot of time for TV! I thought I’d share the things we’ve watched and whether we would recommend.

The Handmaid’s Tale

My mum and I sat and watched the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale during the first week or so of the lockdown and we definitely had some thoughts about it! Firstly, I’m not sure if ‘enjoyed’ is the right word for it because the whole premise of the story is certainly quite bleak, but it was definitely intriguing and we couldn’t wait to watch the next ones. The story was fascinating and we couldn’t wait to see how it would unravel as we watched on. As well as the story I thought the casting was fantastic and the acting was incredible (Elisabeth Moss is an icon). Every aspect seemed so brilliantly thought out, all the way down to the costume and set design, everything seemed to fit together perfectly to assist the storyline. Like I said it took us around 10 days to watch the whole season because although I usually binge TV I’m actually really happy that we had some breathing time between the episodes to let everything settle and digest. Bottom line is, if you find those dystopian storylines intriguing like we do then I think it’s definitely worth a watch!

Quiz

I LOVED this show. Quiz is a dramatic retelling of the coughing scandal on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire where a couple coughed their way to the top prize of one million pounds. It was super quirky and the balance was hit perfectly between being a drama but also very lighthearted and entertaining. The three part mini series follows the launch of the show, a recreation of the show where the coughing took place and their trial afterwards. It was just so fab, definitely one of my favourite dramas I’ve watched in a while. Also it’s worth noting that Michael Sheen is literally flawless as Chris Tarrant, I kept forgetting that it wasn’t actually Chris Tarrant!

Back To The Future

I only saw Back To The Future for the first time last week. I know. And it was so much fun I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it sooner! Such a great film and definitely one that lives up to the hype. Such a funny, crazy film and I now understand why when people found I hadn’t seen it before their jaws would hit the floor! Personally one of my favourite parts that showed how 80s the film is was Doc being absolutely fascinated by a video camera.

Peaky Blinders

We’ve been watching Peaky Blinders as a family in the evenings and I think its safe to say we’re all hooked! So far we’ve seen seasons 1-3 of the 1920s gangster drama and have really enjoyed how intense the plot lines are. The season finales are always really exciting and it’s nice that the seasons aren’t too long so we don’t have to wait forever for the storylines to play out. I know we’re a little late to the party on this one but I’m glad we finally got there!

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Knives Out

I actually went to the cinema with my boyfriend to see Knives Out at the end of last year but after telling my parents how much I enjoyed it we decided to sit and watch it one evening. I think it’s fair to say that my parents felt it lived up to the hype I’d been giving it and for me it was just as enjoyable to watch the second time round! A classic murder mystery with a twist, it’s the characters that really make this film stand out for me. The cast was phenomenal and everyone was fantastic in their role, particularly Daniel Craig as the somewhat unpredictable detective and Ana de Armas the kind nurse who cannot tell a lie. Although the first time watching it is definitely the best (the twists are brilliant!) I still loved it just as much and had a new appreciation for it the second time round.

The Nest

I feel like everyone has been watching The Nest recently, and with good reason! Another incredible BBC drama, the nest follows a wealthy couple trying to have a baby and a chance encounter with an 18 year old girl just out of care who later offers to be their surrogate. As the couple uncover more about this girls background they realise that all is not what it seemed and they grapple with who she is and the future of their unborn child. The story was totally gripping and we couldn’t wait to see the end, definitely something to watch if you want to make the hours fly by!

Five on Friday 004

19th Apr 2019Hollie EdmeadesLeave a comment

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a great week and are looking forward to the long Easter weekend! Here are the highlights of my week just gone and the best meme I saw this week. I couldn’t resist this one, it’s an Office-Game of Thrones cross-over, I’m only human! Enjoy.

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Be warned: this post is dark and filled with spoilers, Game of Thrones spoilers.

A silverlining to a very dark cloud

The world watched hopelessly this week as the Notre D’ame was engulfed in flames, and yet a silverlining emerged from the devastion. Over €700 million was raised in 24 hours to help rebuild the monument, hopefully setting a precident for how we will react to future disasters. The generosity of people can be greatly underestimated and I’m glad that this was not the case this week.

A long-awaited premiere

Game of Thrones started again this week. Can’t say I’m fully over it yet. I thought the whole episode was a great prologue to what promises to be a very eventful series. Favourite moments included; Sam being told about his family (performace of the series for him!), Ayra and Jon’s reunion, its like she was a kid again and its been so long since we’ve seen that! And most importantly, that final look from Jamie OMG it s h o o k me to the core, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau absolutely nailed it! I could talk about it forever but I’ll stop, I promise. Can’t wait for next week!

A fab night out

I went out this week for the first time in about a month, and I’m a uni student so that’s a loonngg time. I had a fab time with some new and old friends, definitely making it a regular thing!

A brighter week

The weather, particularly over the past few days, has been nothing short of glorious. This sounds like a small thing but warm weather makes me feel so much better about everything and puts me in a fab mood. Thankfully it promises to continue this weekend and I’m excited already.

An adorable film

My mum and I sat and watched Christopher Robin this week and it was one of the cutest films ever! I’ve always loved Winnie the Pooh and I had an ear to ear grin throughout the entire film I felt like I was back to being 5 years old again. Also, Pooh is surprisingly relatable, as I too am always hungry and definitely a bear of little brain.

Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe and follow me on instagram to see when I post first, have a great week.

Hollie x

Top 5 Best TV Dramas

14th Apr 201914th Apr 2019Hollie Edmeades3 Comments

I’m a sucker for a good TV drama. I think I must get it from my parents, anytime there’s a new police drama on TV it goes straight on their Sky+. Below is a list of my favourite TV Dramas and it goes without saying that I would highly recommend you check them out!

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Line of Duty is back and oh boy, is it back with a bang. Now airing its fifth season, Line of Duty is a police drama following three Anti-Corruption officers trying to root out corrupt Police Officers. With guest stars such as Keeley Hawes and Thandie Newton appearing on seasons 2-3 and 4 respectively Line of Duty manages to ramp up the tension every week and leave viewers on the edge of their seats. The storylines throughout the seasons link together making the plot complex and gripping and with seasons 1-4 currently available on Netflix, what are you waiting for?!

From the writers of Line of Duty, The Bodyguard follows Sgt. David Budd (Richard Madden) who gets assigned to a protection detail for Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes). I honestly don’t even want to go too far into the storyline because you just have to see it! It has that same tension of Line of Duty but the story is unique and gripping, I can’t recommend it enough.

Doctor Foster is a two season-long drama about a woman who suspects her husband of having an affair. Played by Suranne Jones, Gemma Foster goes to great lengths to find out if her husband is being unfaithful in season one, and the drama continues in season two when the effects of her actions ripple out onto her son and her friends. Suranne Jones is incredible and makes you feel true empathy for her character, I could watch it again and again.

I think it considered a fact now that Sandra Oh KILLED in Killing Eve. I’m also a sucker for Jodie Comer (who also appears in Doctor Foster) and think that she’s just awesome in whatever I see her in. Killing Eve follows MI5 officer Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) who becomes obsessed with catching assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). The thing I loved about Killing Eve above all else was the dialogue, I thought it was beautifully written filled with wit. I can’t say the storyline was perfect for me but the two leading ladies were outstanding and the writing was amazing, definitely making it worth a watch.

Game of Thrones. It starts TOMORROW and I can’t breathe (can you tell?). I was late to the party on this one but once I got there and had a couple of drinks (i.e. trudged through seasons one and two) I was so there for it! Don’t get me wrong, the first couple of seasons are perfect TV but when I first watched it.. my god I had no idea which way was up, who was who, people were dying left right and centre before I could learn their names! I always say its one you’ve got to put the work in for but they pay-off is like nothing else, its one of those shows where I’m insanely jealous of anyone who hasn’t seen it because watching it for the first time can be mindblowing.

So that rounds up my favourite TV dramas, I hope it gave you a little bit of inspo for your next Friday night in. Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe and follow me on instagram to see when I post first. I’d also love it if you dropped me a comment telling me if you’ve seen any of these, or better yet and suggestions that I have to watch!

Hollie x

Binge-Worthy Podcasts and TV Shows

22nd Mar 201925th Mar 2019Hollie EdmeadesLeave a comment

The best ways to waste a week

Be it a podcast or a TV show, I’m definitely a fully-fledged member of the bingeing generation. I’ll start a show on Monday and by Friday I’m completely obsessed and missing it already. Whether you watch or listen over the course of a couple of months or hibernate for a week and come out a changed person, every show on this list is definitely worth giving a go.

Starting with my favourite podcast, My Dad Wrote a Porno is simply a man sat round the microphones with his two best mates reading an erotic novel, written by his dad, whose pen name just happens to be Rocky Flintstone, honestly you couldn’t make it up. I cannot describe how many times I’ve physically laughed out loud listening to this podcast, whether it be walking down the road with my headphones in or sat in my silent university library during exams period (yes I’m serious). Jamie, James and Alice are hilariously funny in their own right and paired with the frankly disgusting words of Jamie’s father it just gets better and better. Boasting 150 million downloads, a sell-out world tour and an upcoming HBO special this comedy podcast has swept the world. With four seasons ready for you to binge and an upcoming fifth you’re all set for the funniest, most stomach-churning hours you can imagine. You really do have to hear it to believe it.

A relatively recent favourite of mine, The Good Place is a sit com like nothing I’ve seen before. Household names Kristen Bell and Ted Dansen lead the cast of a show about the afterlife and the consequences our choices on earth have on where we go after all is said and done. Creator Mike Schur has worked on great shows like Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99 and The US Office which can only be a good sign. The show is well written and incredibly clever, the big twist in season 1 and the many smaller ones that litter the rest of the seasons show better than anything how this show breaks the mould. The first three seasons are available on Netflix with a fourth in the pipeline, I can’t wait to see the story continue.

Speaking of The US Office, its such a classic that I had put on my list. I only saw the show last year but I’ve watched it through two or three times since then. The ‘will they won’t they’ couple Jim and Pam are cemented in the top spot as my favourite TV couples of all time and its only one part of the show that makes it so incredible. One of the biggest achievements I can see is that they managed to created 9 seasons of consistently great television that had a satisfying ending, something that seems to be exceedingly rare in long-running shows. Now available on Amazon Prime Video, its such a classic that I’ll watch again and again.

Over the past year I’ve grown to love Potterless, a podcast telling the tale of a twenty-something year old man reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. Mike gives a fresh take on the books and sometime backs himself into tight corners making interesting predictions that can blow up in his face rather spectacularly, much to the amusement of his listeners. He is currently around about halfway through book 7 but fret not as he has promised to review all the films and spin of books J. K. Rowling wrote as addition to the series as well at the Cursed Child stage show and much much more. A quick warning, he has turned many people against Quiddich as he brands it “the worst sport ever”. Nevertheless, Potterless is a great easy listen perfect for any Harry Potter fans who want to jump back into the Wizarding World with from a new perspective.

How could I not talk about the phenomenon that is Game of Thrones. I was definitely late on the bandwagon again but once I got into it I was fully hooked, I cannot express how excited I am for season 8 to land (3 weeks to go!). I was put off watching it thinking it was just another fantasy drama I wouldn’t have enough interest in to bother making sense of but the fantasy element is such a small part of a complex world that is riddled with politics and conflict. The show has a cult following with internet threads that would take months to wade through spouting theories and ideas for plot points in both the show and the books. I haven’t got round to reading the books yet (don’t come for me) but I’m so excited to read George R. R. Martin’s winding, intense stories.

I hope that gave you some inspiration for your next binge and I apologise in advance for your future procrastination, but I think it’ll be worth it with quality content like that! Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe and follow me on instagram to see first when I post. And definitely let me know your favourite bingeing material in the comments, I’m always looking for ways to avoid working (like writing blog posts on the best shows to binge…).

Hollie x