Beacon 23

Series: 1; 8 episodes. Watched on Amazon Prime. Rating: 3.5/5 Sometime in the 23rd century, in some desolate corner of the galaxy, a soldier named Halan lives alone on a sort of celestial lighthouse. One day, a government agent named Aster crash-lands nearby, claiming she’s been sent to study strange rocks recently discovered in the…

Apples Never Fall

1 season; 7 episodes. Watched on TVNZ+ Rating: 2.5/5 This series is based on a book written by Liane Moriarty who also wrote Big Little Lies. Annette Benning and Sam Neill star as Joy and Stan Delaney, married tennis coaches who’ve recently sold their academy and retired. Then a wounded, young woman arrives on their…

Trigger Point (2)

Watched on TVNZ+. Season 2, 6 episodes. Rating: 3.5/5 Lana Washington is back in the job, having spent six months in Estonia, training Ukrainian explosives experts on how to disable bombs. Not only is Lana back at work, but she is giving a formal speech about what it takes to be an explosives officer, or…

Criminal Record

Watched on Apple+. 1 season, 8 episodes Rating: 4.5/5 It starts on an unassuming night in London. Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty moonlighting as a chauffeur, drives a luxury car down the dark streets. Elsewhere in the city, an anonymous, frightened young woman frantically calls Emergency Services from a dark phone booth. Spooked, she quickly…

The Bridge

Watched on Three Now (the “+” version of Channel 3) 2 seasons – but I’ve only watched 1 (and I think that’s enough for me). 12 episodes. Rating: 3/5 The Bridge follows two police detectives – one Mexican, one from the U.S. – and their joint effort to capture a serial killer who is operating in…

Slow Horses

Season 3; 6 episodes. Watched on Apple TV+ Rating: 5/5 This time, Jackson Lamb and his team of disgraced MI5 agents are caught in a conspiracy that threatens to expose a buried MI5 secret in London, linked to a romantic affair in Istanbul. As they try to unravel the mystery, they face danger, betrayal, and…

The Outlaws

Seasons – 1 (of 2); episodes – 6 per season. Watched on Amazon Prime. Rating: 3.5/5 The story takes seven characters from different backgrounds, sticks each of them in a red tabard, hands them a sweeping brush and watches as the inevitable culture clashes take place. “Everyone’s a type,” says Rani, the self-proclaimed “studious Asian…

Vigil

Vigil Season 2; 6 episodes. Watched on TVNZ+  Rating: 4/5 Vigil Season 1 is worth watching too. My review is at the link below. This time Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva  emerges as a specialist at uncovering wrongdoing in the British armed forces. A fantastic opening sequence takes place on a military training ground in…

Bay of Fires

Watched on TVNZ+. 1 Season; 8 episodes Rating: 3.5/5 Anika Van Cleef is a high-powered “Toorak (posh Melbourne suburb) Mum”. She is CEO of an investment company she took over from her controlling father and now runs with her new partner, Johann. But Anika is betrayed by Johann and becomes the target of an attempted murder….

The Tunnel

Watched on TVNZ+ Season 1: 10 episodes (there are 3 seasons and I will watch all of them, eventually) Rating: 4/5 In Folkestone and Calais, detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann are called to investigate the death of a French politician who was murdered in the “Chunnel” – the politician’s body was placed with half…