Howdy Peeps!
I’ve been doing a lot of paperwork recently, so I’ve had the dual-screen permanently on YouTube or Netflix so I don’t die of boredom.
Netflix are currently churning out ridiculous numbers of pilot episodes and series. Most of them have been hugely successful and there has been high demand for the return of some series.
I found 2 recently that I wanted to share with you:
The first is called “The Stranger”… I’ve always been a fan of murder mysteries, but the cast list of this got me intrigued:
The detective is Siobhan Finneran, (You may know her as O’Brien from Downton or Janice from Benidorm!) her best friend is played by Jennifer Saunders (who among many other comedic roles, was the legendary Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous) and the miserable, money-grabbing developer is played by Anthony Head… depending how old you are, you will know him for different things (mostly in the 90s); a very old coffee ad, Adam Klaus in the first series of Jonathan Creek, the mild-mannered librarian in Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the stuck-up Prime Minister in Little Britain (dude needs an award for keeping a straight face when David Walliams jumped on him)! So that was a really long-winded way of saying I was already invested.
The plot starts slowly and you think it’ll be a gentler drama, but it rapidly picks up the pace, I found myself pressing ‘next episode’ immediately because there are some serious cliffhangers at the end of episodes.
The young actors in this are brilliant. As a heads up it is gory in parts and there is reference to drug use, but if you can cope with that the plot is engaging, the acting strong and there is enough left open to make another series.
The second series I want to share with you is even better! Locke and Key starts like a family fantasy film.. think Haunted Mansion or House with a Clock in its Walls! It gets a bit aggressive in the middle but not really dark. It’s got some good graphics, including the live action shadows (think Dr. Facilier’s friends in Princess and the Frog, but in a real-world setting). There are also some really intense close-ups of the antagonist’s face/eyes/expressions… pretty scary on PC or phone (not so bad at distance on TV)… I’d say that it’s a good teen mystery, better than the best of Riverdale but not as tense as The Woman in Black…although there are moments! Good fun and totally open to a series 2!!
Have a look if these sound like your kinda thing, I can’t wait to see what Netflix do with them next!
Have a good one!
Anna x
A Peace of Life 