Must Watch reviews: The War Between the Land and the Sea, Amadeus and The Revenge Club

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

This week, Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell review 'The War Between the Land and the Sea', 'Amadeus' and 'The Revenge Club'.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of them?

This is a five-part Doctor Who spin-off on BBC One called The War Between the Land and the Sea. In this series, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce has to take action to prevent a global war when an ancient species, the Homo aqua, comes out from the sea. Russell Tovey plays Barclay, a very low-level transport arranger, who ends up leading this discussion, by mistake.

Scott says “this is actually better than the main series of Doctor Who. Because it was one story stretched over five episodes, it had the pacing really secure.”

“Russell Tovey is this ordinary guy thrown into the situation essentially because of HR. His backstory cuts through the plot being stifled by legacy.”

“Russell T Davies brings fascinating themes. The special effects are really rather good.”

Scott says he’s “a little bit anxious about whether it’s going to stick the landing,” but so far has been “pleasantly surprised”.

Hayley says the idea of the show is “solid” but it isn’t a Must Watch for her.

“I like the fact the world has to figure out how to make peace and solve the climate crisis at the same time.”

“It has a humanness I like, but it does have that modern Doctor Who thing I don’t like. It always feels to me like a bad soup of tonal shifts.”

“I got really annoyed with the sound. The dialogue was so low I had to turn the subtitles on, and it was drowned out by the soundtrack.”

Scott says this one’s a Must Watch but Hayley disagrees.

The first four episodes of The War Between The Land and the Sea are available to watch on BBC iPlayer with the fifth episode available on 21st December at 8.05pm on BBC One.

Scott says “the first couple of minutes made me go, ‘oh, here we go,’ but then I really got into it.”

“Joe Barton is known for creating TV which is so unique and original. He really takes tried and tested formats and reinvigorates them a little bit.”

“Will Sharpe is a fantastic person to play Mozart. He’s such a complex character, incredibly gifted, and my word doesn’t he know it. Just incredibly smug, boastful, keeps changing things in his music.”

“The clash between him and Salieri is rather interesting. Salieri is respected but passe, Mozart is the new. That contrast works well.”

Scott says he “really enjoyed it as a piece of television for this time of year”.

Hayley says she’s “a huge fan of the Milos Forman movie”, and “isn’t against remakes” as they “can explore new things.”

“Mozart’s wife has more of a role here, but I don’t think it adds much. While it might be cruel to compare it to a film that won eight Academy Awards, I do think they started it by doing this.”

“Tom Hulce played Mozart as deeply annoying with that stupid laugh. Will Sharpe plays him so straight that I have no feelings whatsoever towards this guy.”

“Paul Bettany as Salieri was better. He’s got pain, self-loathing, and this knowledge that what he’s doing is disgusting, but he’s going to do it anyway.”

“There are great wigs, lovely colours, but the central tension wasn’t there for me.”

Scott said this one IS a Must Watch… but Hayley didn’t think so.

Amadeus is available to watch on Sky and the streaming service NOW from Sunday 21st December with the first episode also airing that night at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.

The Revenge Club, a new six part series on the streaming service Paramount+, starring Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Martin Compston and Meera Syal. Based on the hugely successful book by The Othello Club J.D. Pennington, which was only out this time last year, the series is about strangers who decide to team up and seek revenge on their exes after meeting in a divorce support group.

Scott’s verdict is that “the cast is fantastic. Martin Compston, Amit Shah, Sharon Rooney, Meera Syal – all brilliant.”

“The premise is fascinating. Many of us have thought about revenge after a breakup. But instead of healing, these people go down the wrong road.”

“The reason it doesn’t work is that everyone is so one-dimensional. We don’t know anything apart from that they are divorced or hurt.”

“The way they seek revenge is ludicrous and ridiculous, but not believable. The pacing is ridiculous too. It could have been a great opportunity, but it doesn’t feel like it’s working.”

Hayley thinks this one is “sort of childish and might be fun if you’re also fun and childish, but I really couldn’t be bothered with it.”

“The first hint you get that these people are unhinged is that the support group is filmed. Everyone is obviously court ordered to be there.”

“They go to the pub afterwards and encourage each other to carry out insane revenge plans. It really reveals why everyone wanted to divorce these people. They’re awful.”

“They say things like ‘this is how losers become winners’ and ‘hearts don’t break, they rebrand.’ It’s not for me.”

“Martin Compston does his Scottish accent, so that gets some points.”

Both Scott and Hayley agreed this one was not a Must Watch.

All episodes of The Revenge Club is available to watch on Paramount+.

Listen to the full reviews of all three programmes on BBC Sounds.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on [email protected].

We used AI to transcribe and summarise our Must Watch feature. This article was then written and reviewed by a BBC journalist. More on how the BBC uses AI.