The Honeymoon Period

After Work Drinks: An Important Announcement, Mulan and The Crown

Important news!

We’re making some changes to the podcast. Join us as we launch the inaugural episode of our new show After Work Drinks to find out what we’re up to. 

In today's show, we make our announcement and then get down to business discussing the latest TV and film news. We chew over Disney’s decision to put the live-action remake of Mulan on Disney + (for a premium fee!). And we get excited about the casting news for the final two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown.

#22: “Jack Duckworth glasses” – Orange Is The New Black, Penny Dreadful, Halt and Catch Fire, Reported Missing, To Catch a Sex Offender, A Simple Plan (1998)

It’s our wedding anniversary, so naturally we spent our time exploring Mark’s hatred of New Year’s Eve and The Dark Knight Rises.

Mark’s been watching some old shows: Orange Is The New Black (8:08), Penny Dreadful (12:34), and Halt and Catch Fire (16:18). And Elaine’s been catching up with two new crime documentaries: BBC1’s Reported Missing (20:48) and Channel 4’s Crime and Punishment: To Catch A Sex Offender.

And our Date Night film this week is neo-noir crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998). Perfect for a romantic day (!).

#21: "Pharoahs' Video in Cottingham" - Race Across The World, Stath Lets Flats, The End of the F***ing World, The Deceived, The Crow (1994)

We’ve got no intro music. And no family quiz or old school Top of the Pops to talk about. So, how will we open this week’s show? Rod Hull and Emu, that’s how!

Following on from our recent BAFTA special, we’ve caught up with some winning shows we missed first time round. We review the first series of Race Across The World (4:10), Stath Lets Flats (13:14) and The End of the F***ing World (19:13). Plus, Elaine made Mark watch the first episode of new Channel 5 psychological thriller, The Deceived (27:08). Safe to say, Mark had strong views...

Our Date Night film is gothic revenge drama The Crow (1994) (35:17). Which became, quite frankly, an excuse to talk about goth clubs we went to in the 90s.

#20: “Rambo Where’s Wally” – Fort Salem, The Last Wave, How To Build A Girl, First Blood (1982)

This week, Elaine’s had what we’re calling a ‘grief week’. So the first part of the pod goes into baby loss and bereavement, and if that’s something you want to avoid – jump ahead to Mark’s rather entertaining rant about The Emmys (8:26).

 

We’ve been watching US witches fight in alternate-world drama Fort Salem (13:57), French people surf in supernatural series The Last Wave (20:39), and Brits doing questionable accents in coming of age comedy How To Build A Girl (27:47).

 

Our Date Night movie was First Blood (or, as Elaine likes to call it, Rambo) (37:24). It did not go as Mark anticipated…

Bonus Episode! BAFTA TV 2020 Results Special

We watched the 2020 TV BAFTAs and then recorded a podcast about it... 

 

We bring you the nominees, winners, surprises and, on occasion, some insightful analysis (!) from the first virtual industry award show since COVID-19 swept the globe. 

 

And, as is usual for The Honeymoon Period Podcast, we ask THE important questions, including "what's in Claudia Winkleman's bookcase?" and "who murdered Saskia Duncan in EastEnders?". 

 

Enjoy! 

#19: “Do you know what a Flat Topper is?” – Athlete A, Bad Education, There She Goes, Stargate (1994)

This week, we report back from our first visit to the pub in over 4 months! And it happened to be our wedding venue too. 

 

Elaine reviews Netflix documentary Athlete A (3:20), an in-depth expose of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse within elite gymnastics. Mark’s been watching recent Sky Movies premiere Bad Education (14:10). No, we’d never heard of it either. And no, it’s not the one with Jack Whitehall! We also return to our beloved BBC comedy-drama There She Goes (24:00). We’ve finished series 2, so we take the opportunity to say more about how this wonderful show resonates with us as parents of a disabled child. You can hear our initial thoughts on series 2 (and the show generally) back in Episode 17.

 

Our Date Night film is the Roland Emmerich classic sci-fi adventure Stargate (1994) (35:31).

#18: “Holly Valance’s house” – The Plot Against America, I May Destroy You, Taken (2008)

This week, we discover Van Morrison is much younger than he looks. Yes, it’s Russ Abbot and Alice Cooper all over again!

 

Quiet week for telly. Elaine finds the first few episodes of new Sky Atlantic mini-series The Plot Against America (6:37) a struggle – but not for the reasons you might expect. Mark, meanwhile, has finished Michaela Coel’s highly praised drama I May Destroy You (17:05). A warning here: Mark does talk about the series as a whole, so major spoiler alert for key plot points and character moments in this part of the pod.

 

Our Date Night film is action-thriller Taken (2008) (25:15). And if you’re in need of a drinking game, take a shot every time we say “Big Liam”…

#17: “Drink my coffee. Eat my Minstrels” – Mrs America, There She Goes, Alex Brooker: Disability and Me, The Old Guard, Bloodshot, Flatliners (1990)

This week – in the words of George Michael - let’s go outside! We reflect on our tentative adventures outdoors as our shielding lockdown relaxes.

It’s been a bumper week for television. And we might need a new jingle as we’ve thrown in some films too!  We have a difference of opinion after watching the first episode of US mini-series Mrs America (8:30) but both declare our undying love for BBC2’s comedy-drama There She Goes (16:53). Elaine reviews comedian Alex Brooker’s intimate documentary exploring his disability (featuring his amazing mum!) in Disability and Me (27:45). And Mark’s watched two new films: The Old Guard (33:06) on Netflix, and Bloodshot (41:19) at….wait for it…. THE CINEMA!

Our Date Night film – if you make it that far! Sorry, it’s a long pod this week – is Mark’s mum’s favourite supernatural horror Flatliners (1990) (47:00)

#16: “Expect my play to be out in 2022” – Hamilton, Glow Up, 7750, The Naked Gun (1988)

This week, Elaine despairs at Mark’s lack of knowledge about classic 80s sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo and we reflect on a rather hairy moment in some local woods on Mark’s recent 40^th birthday.

In our Watching Television segment we review the show Disney bought for $75 million. That’s right – we watched Hamilton (5:23)! Find out what we thought of the show everyone’s talking about. We also return to BBC Three’s Glow Up (28:02) to discuss the series as a whole (you can revisit our original thoughts in Episode 10).  And Mark reviews 90 minute action-thriller 7500 (35:40) available now on Amazon Prime.

Our Date Night film is The Naked Gun (1988). Enjoy!

#15: “Off Ground Tig” – Talking Heads, Floor is Lava, Make Me Famous, Unbelievable, The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

This week, it’s Mark’s last podcast as a 30-something! We’ve also been making random appearances on other podcasts – thanks to Flixwatcher Podcast (http://flixwatcher.tv/) and Chris A (IJ in the UK) from The IndyCast (https://www.facebook.com/ijintheuk/).

Big week for TV. We review the BBC’s re-working of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads (9:00), Netflix obstacle course Floor is Lava (18:20), BBC3’s reality TV morality tale Make Me Famous (26:09), and Netflix drama Unbelievable (32:03).

Our Date Night film is The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (39:20).  As part of our discussion, we touch on the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood. Here’s a link to the article Elaine mentions: https://ew.com/article/1992/10/23/acting-against-racism/