The Letter for the King: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on The Letter for the King, a coming of age fantasy series based on the best selling Dutch novel 'Tonke Dragt'.

It's available now on Netflix

Have you watched it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...

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Scott: “Even though it is nonsense and confusing… it is extremely watchable"

"Game of Thrones was a huge success because it went away from the ‘Ye Olde’ style of English. It was made with a modern twist even thought it was in a fantasy world, so it had that kind of realism to it. It also had a lot of problems in terms of the amount of gratuitous sex and violence and also how women were written into the show. I think what they’ve tried to do with The Letter for the King is make a kid-friendly show that manages to have the adventure, but without all the bad things that Game of Thrones had.

"The problem is that you end of getting something that really isn’t that interesting to kids either. I think it ends up being a bit bland, it lacks in story-telling and pacing. It only really gets going from the second episode. It also has a baffling lack of insight and intel into the setup. It does this thing which The Witcher did also, where it sets up this premise written down on the screen in front of you using terms you have never heard before nor ever will, and then it never explains it again. So you have real difficulty in tracking who is talking and who hates who and why!

"Even though it isn’t a Must Watch, I have to say it is extremely watchable. Even though it is nonsense and the plot is confusing and has a lack of context, I binged the first three episodes without even blinking."

Hayley says: “I’ve grouped this in with what I’ve called ‘chainmail shows’"

"It definitely feels as if it is pitched to a younger audience. It is based on a Dutch children’s book from the 1960’s which has sold over a million copies… so there is already an existing fan base ready and waiting.

"There are lots of scenes that I feel like I have seen before, along with lots of dialogue I’ve already heard. This is simply because we have become so saturated with fantasy stuff lately. This has all the ancient prophecies, magical powers and horses and castles. It isn’t gory; there is no gratuitous violence or sex, so it doesn’t have that Game of Thrones feel to it.

"I’ve grouped this in with what I now call ‘chainmail shows’. In terms of things we’ve reviewed recently, we’ve had The Witcher, Carnival Row, Knightfall… any show where someone is wearing chainmail and you can pretty much write the dialogue while the TV is on mute. This urge from production companies to try and find the next Game of Thrones has got me thinking about what we actually liked about Game of Thrones. They seem to think it was all the Kings, Queens and Knights, but I’m not sure.

"I think I liked Game of Thrones despite it being about Kings and Queens and Knights, not because of it. I feel deeply full of fantasy stuff right now. If I never see another jousting competition then I will be absolutely fine!"

The Letter to the King is available now on Netflix.

Must Watch is available as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds, or through your podcast app.

This week, the team also review Save Me Too on Sky Atlantic, and Gordon, Gino & Fred: American Road Trip on ITV. Plus recommended boxsets to binge with 10-13-year-old children.

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