Episodes
-
TV Time Machine #36: Pop Idol, Linda Green, Babyfather, That Mitchell and Webb Situation
Matt, Luke and Dawn (she's still stuck on the Time Machine) look back at what was on television in October 2001. A very young David Mitchell and Robert Webb get their very first sketch show, which aired on UK TV Play. Next, fresh off the success of Popstars, ITV launches a new singing competition...
-
# 528: Time, The Party, Carrie, Below
Matt and Dawn are back reviewing four shows available to watch this week. On BBC One, Jimmy McGovern's prison anthology series Time returns for its third series. On ITV, their new Sunday night drama The Party, is a mix of many genres but closely resembles Rivals on Disney+ but without anything…
more -
527: War, Pierre, Break Clause, Celebrity Traitors S2
Matt and Dawn are back reviewing four shows available this week. On Sky Atlantic, there's glossy legal drama War, starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller, which is written by podcast favourite George Kay. The series has been heavily advertised using its two well-known leads, but the show is at…
more -
TV Time Machine #35: Bob & Rose, 'Orrible, The Corner
Matt, Luke and Dawn are back aboard the TV Time Machine to look at the TV landscape of September 2001. First, the utterly charming romantic comedy drama Bob & Rose, which starred Alan Davies as a gay man whose life was turned upside down when he met and fell for a woman played by Lesley Sharp.…
more -
# 526: Slow Horses, The Blame, Apocalypse, Brothers
Matt and Dawn are back, joined by site contributor Ruthie Nugent, to review shows available this week. ITV has a new police drama starring Michelle Keegan. The Blame puts police misogyny at its centre and is actually better than the trio is expecting. Next, Channel 4 has a new social experiment/...
-
Colin From Accounts, Last Seen, The Box, Blood Sacrifice
Matt, Dawn, and Luke return to review 4 shows available on platforms this week. The adorable but also brilliantly funny Australian comedy Colin From Accounts for its third and final season. The series does a clever thing to keep things fresh for the age-gap lovers Ashley and Gordon, moving things...
-
The Podcast heads to the last Edinburgh TV Festival.
Though TV has been rather quiet this summer, Matt was given the chance to attend the final Edinburgh TV Festival to learn about what the channels and the streamers are looking for in new commissions, as well as to preview the things they are excited for in the autumn and beyond. The highlights…
more -
# 524: Ted Lasso, Furious, Possession, Hit Point
Matt and Dawn are back to mop up the shows they've missed in a lackluster August. Beginning with the return of Ted Lasso on Apple TV. This fourth season, three years after the third, wasn't planned, and it sees Ted return to coach an all-female team, but does the new series still work? Next,...
-
The TV Time Machine # 34: Mental, Bedtime, The Armando Iannucci Shows, Grosse Point
Matt and Luke are still aboard their TV Time Machine, looking back at the TV landscape of August 2001. Like in 2026, the TV isn't at its best in the summer, but we have found 4 shows to discuss, and each one is worthy of discussion. On UKTV Play, which became Dave, Iain Lee hosts an innovative…
more -
The TV Time Machine # 33: The Office, The Fugitive, Revolver, Brass Eye
Luke and Matt are back aboard their TV Time Machine to observe the TV landscape of August 2001. Luke is still struggling to remember what he was doing, but Matt was working at the company his dad worked for alone in an empty warehouse! On television, satirical Channel 4 series Brass Eye returns…
more -
# 523: Heartstopper Forever, The Rapture, Ride or Die, Anne Droid
Matt and Dawn are joined by site contributor Tyler to review four new shows available on different platforms this week. Firstly, Heartstopper, a show the trio have loved, concludes with a feature-length film, Heartstopper Forever. The condensed nature of Heartstopper Forever means a lot of what...
-
TV Time Machine #32: Waking the Dead, Nice Guy Eddie, World of Pub, Secret Life of Us
Luke and Matt help Gary board the TV Time Machine to travel back to review the TV landscape of June 2001. Sue Johnson leaves the Royle sofa behind and plays a very different character in the BBC's cold case procedural Waking the Dead, which ushers in what will become nine years of shouty Trevor...
-
# 522: The Bear, Lucky, Elle, Trying
Matt and Dawn are joined by Luke to review four shows available on streaming services this week. Firstly, a once firm podcast favourite, The Bear, bows out with its fifth and final season. This season has a different shape, with the first 7 of 8 episodes taking place over the course of one...
-
# 521: Cape Fear, The Witness, Alice & Steve
Matt and Dawn are back to review 3 new shows available to watch this week. Site contributor, Ruthie Nugent, joins them to review Apple TV's pulpy thriller Cape Fear, which is the third adaptation of the story. Netflix has a new drama based on a horrific British crime. The Witness looks at the...
-
TV Time Machine #31: Big Brother 2 - How reality TV evolved.
25 years ago, Channel 4 went all in with the second series of their social experiment reality series Big Brother. Following on from the Nasty Nick scandal and Vanessa Feltz having a slight breakdown during the first celebrity edition of the show, the channel devoted a lot of time to the second...
-
# 520: The Four Seasons Season 2, Tip Toe, Hacks, Make That Movie
Luke returns to join Matt and Dawn to review four new shows available on various platforms this week. Firstly, Russell T Davies is back with an original drama about modern society called Tip Toe. The series features career-best performances from Alan Cumming and David Morrissey as two men on a...
-
# 519: The Burroughs, Ponies, Widow's Bay, Two Weeks in August
Mo Walker joins Matt and Dawn to review four new shows available to watch this week. First, The Burroughs from Netflix, which functions almost as an elderly version of Stranger Things set inside a retirement community, led by performances from Alfred Molina and Geena Davies. Next, on Sky, Ponies…
more -
# 518: Falling, Rivals, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Smoggie Queens S2
Matt and Dawn reunite with Dawn's Maid for TV co-host Sarah to review four shows available to watch this week. Firstly, the brilliantly camp Jilly Cooper-inspired show Rivals is back for its second series. Next, Jack Thorne of Adolescence fame is back on Channel 4 with the warm and sweet-natured...
-
# 517: Believe Me, Legends, Unconditional, This Not a Murder Mystery.
Matt and Dawn are joined by Doctor Who and Star Trek podcaster Suky to review four new shows available this week. Jeff Pope, king of adapting true stories into compelling drama series, is back with Believe Me. This four-parter, available now on ITVX, focuses on the horrific sex crimes of Black…
more -
TV Time Machine # 30 - Messiah, Murder in Mind, Survivor and Ant & Dec's Slap Bang!
Matt and Luke fire up their TV Time Machine and set course for April 2001. Fresh off the huge success of SMTV Live, Ant & Dec get their first shot at a primetime Saturday night show on ITV. The result, isn't Takeaway, but Slap Bang, a mix of comedy sketches, game shows and Ant & Dec doing a lot…
more -
516: Half Man, The Cage, Secret Service, Prisoner
*The episode suffers from some audio issues*. Gary returns to the podcast alongside Matt and Dawn to review four brand new British dramas available this week. Fresh off the massive success of his Netflix series Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd is back with his first original idea for a series. Half…
more -
# 515: Euphoria, Beef, Hacks, Mint
Luke is back with Matt and Dawn to review four new shows available on different platforms this week. First, HBO's teen drama Euphoria returns for its long-awaited third season. The series, which was once one of the most talked-about and provocative shows on television, now sees its characters...
-
# 514: Margo's Got Money Troubles, Malcom in the Middle, Big Mistakes, Your Song
It's just Dawn and Matt this week who review four shows available this week. On Apple TV, there's Margo's Got Money Troubles, with another strong lead performance from the always brilliant Elle Fanning. The series tells the story of a college student who finds herself pregnant and forced to look...
-
# 513: Race Across The World, Twenty Twenty Six, The Minatare Wife, The Burbs
Matt and Dawn are joined by Mo Walker to review four new shows available to watch this week. Race Across The World returns and still manages to delight us. Hugh Bonneville returns as Ian Fletcher, who is in charge of running the World Cup after leaving the BBC. Twenty Twenty Six is the third in…
more -
# 512: The Pitt, Babies, Bait, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen
Luke joins Matt and Dawn for another look at four shows available this week. HBO Max has finally launched in the UK, which means our long wait for the award-winning medical drama The Pitt has come to an end. The 15-episode series functions differently from any other show in the genre, with each...
-
# 511: SNL UK, Last One Laughing UK, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, Imperfect Women
Comedy expert Sophie Davies joins Matt and Dawn to review a very comedy heavy week. The American institution Saturday Night Live comes to the UK with the launch of SNL UK on Sky One. Two comedy hits return for their second seasons on Prime Video. Jimmy Carr hosts another impressive cast of…
more -
TV Time Machine # 29: The Dave Gorman Collection, Teachers, Celebrity Big Brother for Comic Relief.
Matt and Luke are back aboard their TV Time Machine to March of 2026. BBC Two launches the innovative and brilliantly funny The Dave Gorman Collection, which sees a then unknown new comic Dave Gorman, set out to meet as many people with his name as he can. Presented as a slide show presentation,...
-
# 510: Gone, A Woman of Substance, Rooster, Vladimir
Luke is back on the podcast joining Matt and Dawn to review four more shows available this week. Beginning with A Woman of Substance, Channel 4's new take on one of their first dramas which aired in the 80s. This new adpatation seems out of place on Channel 4 but also in 2026 where it feels like…
more -
# 509: Paradise Season 2, Scrubs reboot, DTF: St Louis, Handcuffed
Original podcast member Gary returns to the pod to join Matt and Dawn to review four new shows available this week. Stirling K Brown is back in the second season of Paradise on Disney+. The post-apocalyptic series first episode takes the action away from the underground bunker and focuses on the...
-
# 508: How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, The Walsh Sisters Dirty Business, The Lady
Matt and Dawn are joined by TV fan Mo Walker, to review four new shows available to watch this week. Firstly, Lisa McGee, the creator of Derry Girls is back with a brand new twisty comedic thriller in Netflix's surprising series, How to Get to Heaven of Belfast. Next, also set in Ireland, the...
-
TV Time Machine #18: Phoenix Nights, The Vice, Banzai, 2 Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps
We're back aboard the TV Time Machine and the date is January 2001. Channel 4's comedy offerings are Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights as well as the strange take on a Japanese gameshow, Banzai. On BBC Two, yes BBC Two, an 18-year-old writer is handed her own sitcom which becomes surprisingly big 2…
more -
# 507: Lord of the Flies, Small Prophets, Betrayal, The Muppet Show
Matt and Dawn are joined by Ruthie Nugent to review four brand new shows available this week. Beginning with the BBC's impressive adaptation of Lord of Flies. Written by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, his four-part take on the classic story almost plays like a sequel to the Netflix series. Next,...
-
# 506: Shrinking, Under the Salt Marsh, Take That, The Beauty,
Matt, Dawn and Sarah are back to review four new shows available this week. First, Apple's sweet comedy Shrinking is back for its long-awaited third season and proves yet again what an incredible performer Harrison Ford is and how special that cast is. Next, Kelly Riley and Timothy Spall star in...
-
TV Time Machine # 27: Popstars
Matt, Luke and Dawn hop aboard their TV Time Machine to visit January 2001 and watch the whole first series of Popstars from ITV. The show that introduced us to Nasty Nigel, Darius and Kym Marsh, as well as being the pre-cursor to music reality shows like Pop Idol and The X Factor. It was a…
more -
# 505: Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials, Things You Should Have Done, Blackshore
Matt and Dawn are back to review three big TV shows available this week. Luke joins them to give his take of Netflix's big Agatha Christie adaptation from Doctor Who and Broadchurch writer Chris Chibnall The Seven Dials. Then, Dawn and Matt gush over the sheer silliness of the second series of…
more -
504: Hijack, Heated Rivalry, His and Hers and Can You Keep a Secret?
Matt and Dawn are joined by Sarah Kennedy to review four more shows available this week. Apple's Hijack sees Idris Elba's Sam in a perilous situation as he travels, this time aboard a train rather than the plane from the first series. Next, the trio try and get their heads around Heated Rivalry,...
-
# 503: The Night Manager, Lynley, Waiting for the Out, The Traitors UK
Matt and Dawn return for their first podcast of 2026, reviewing four shows available this week. They are joined by site contributor Ruthie Nugent to review, the return of The Traitors on BBC One as well as the strange return of The Night Manager after nearly ten years away. The new shows this…
more -
# 502: The Best TV Shows of 2025
It's that time of year again as Luke joins Matt and Dawn to count down the top 10 shows of 2025. Expect discussion on Hacks, Big Boys, Pluribus, Task, Dying for Sex and more.
-
TV Time Machine #26 - December 2000 - January 2001 - The Last Ever Fast Show, Victoria Wood: All the Trimmings, 2000 Acres of Sky.
Our final TV Time Machine of 2000 is also our first of 2001. Christmas of 2000 saw sketch show The Fast Show bowed out with a trio of farewell episodes. Victoria Wood had the prime-time slot on Christmas day with her 'All The Trimming's' special. Whilst in early January, Michelle Collins and Paul...
-
Our Christmas Party Pod
With the festive season upon us, Luke, Matt and Dawn and various other members of the wider Custard TV team reflect on the year in television, get merry, and in the case of Dawn, recite poetry to top off the year on the podcast.
-
# 501 - Stranger Things, The War Between The Land and the Sea, Amadeus, Simon Cowell: The Next Act
Matt and Dawn are joined by Mo Walker for their last proper podcast of 2025. They review the return of Stranger Things on Netflix, the latest Doctor Who project The War Between The Land and The Sea on the BBC and Sky's upcoming take on Amadeus starring former White Lotus star Will Sharpe. Lastly,...
-
Our 500th episode!!
To mark 500 episodes of the podcast we get the old band back together. Matt, Luke and Gary reunite with the newest member Dawn to count down their favourite shows that have debuted over the course of the 14 years of the custard TV Podcast. Thank you all for your tremendous support over the years...
-
# 499: Bunny Monroe, A Play for Today, Wild Cherry, The Beast in Me
Matt and Dawn are joined by TV fan Tyler to review four brand new shows available this week. Matt Smith stars in Sky's new drama Bunny Monroe which really surprises the team. Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys join forces in Netflix's pulpy drama The Beast in Me, Channel 5 revive TV tradition in their...
-
# 498: Pluribus, All Her Fault, Tresspasses, Celebrity Race Across The World
Luke, Dawn and Matt are back to review four shows available this week. Beginning with Vince Gilligan's sci-fi genre-bending new series Pluribus which is now available on Apple TV. After a long time in his own Breaking Bad Universe, the acclaimed showrunner is back with a completely original idea,...
-
TV Time Machine #25 - November 2000: One Foot in the Grave, Never Never, Human Remains
Matt and Luke fire up their TV Time Machine to travel to November 2000 to revisit the final episode of iconic BBC comedy One Foot in the Grave. As well as Rob Brydon and Julia Davies' mostly forgotten but still a little gem relationship comedy Human Remains. Also, John Simm and Sophie Okenado…
more -
# 497: Down Cemetery Road, Lazarus, The Ridge, The Chair Company
Fellow podcaster Mo Walker joins Matt and Dawn to review four new shows available this week. Slow Horses is a massive hit for Apple TV, so now the streamer is banking on another series of novels from author Mick Herron in the hopes of lightning strikes twice. Dame Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson…
more -
# 496: Riot Women, The Iris Affair, Leonard & Hungry Paul, Celebrity Traitors.
Matt is joined by both Maids from Maid for TV in Sarah and Dawn. The trio reviews Sally Wainwright's new drama Riot Women, which sees women of a certain age form a rock band, initially to enter a school talent show, but eventually as a way to channel their frustrations with life and to be seen by...
-
TV Time Machine # 24 – October 2000 – Blackadder Back and Forth, Fat Friends, Without Motive, North Square
Luke and Matt are back aboard their TV Time Machine. This time, they are looking at four shows which aired in October 2000. Made for the Millennium Dome, Sky airs Blackadder: Back and Forth, which sees the iconic cast reunite for what is a strange beast. Ross Kemp is back in ITV's crime drama...
-
# 495: How You? It's Alan Partridge, Wayward, Film Club & Frauds
Matt and Dawn are joined by Sophie Davies to review four new shows available this week. First, Mae Martin's mysterious new Netflix series Wayward. Next, Suranne Jones and Jodie Whitaker play a pair of conwomen in ITV's six-part drama Frauds. Then, continuing her domination of 2025 ater Toxic Town...
-
# 494: Slow Horses, The Hack, Black Rabbit, Trying
Matt, Luke and Dawn are back to celebrate the return of the best British drama series, Slow Horses as well as Jack Thorne's take on the hacking scandal in the form of ITV's The Hack. Netflix has Jude Law and Jason Bateman as a pair of unconvincing brothers. And from Apple, but now on BBC One and...