Screen Babble #4: Slow Horses, the ITVX launch, and Absolute Power

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 recently. Steven has been catching up on the YouTube quiz show No More Jockeys (play along at home: no more Screen Babble hosts!) and coming up to the end of his fifth marathon of The UK Office. Alex has been catching up on the final series of The Good Fight – and prolonging things by rewatching choice episodes of The Good Wife – and started watching the new Paramount+ romcom The Flatshare. Meanwhile, after Steven’s recommendation in last week’s Mini Babble, Kelly started watching spy drama Slow Horses – another Slough set series this week – on Apple TV+.

For our Deep Dive feature this week, Alex takes a closer look at the launch of ITVX, breaking down how the new streaming service works and telling you everything you need to know about its debut drama slate. Should you watch A Spy Among Friends, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, or Tell Me Everything? Which was Alex’s favourite? And what can you look forward to on ITVX across the rest of the year?

Finally, Steven brings us Back to the Future with a classic recommendation: the BBC Two sitcom Absolute Power (2003), which stars Stephen Fry as public relations consultant Charles Prentiss. How does this series compare to its contemporary – and Steven’s reliable favourite – The Thick Of It? Does it have much staying power, nearly twenty years later? And just why might a Series 2 episode have disappeared? You can watch Absolute Power on Britbox now.

Screen Babble will also release a short episode every Friday morning outlining what you should aim to watch over the weekend and beyond. Steven will take us through what’s new and what’s hot so you can focus on settling down to some quality viewing.

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