Must Watch Reviews: ‘Lynley’, ‘Can You Keep a Secret?’ and ‘Heated Rivalry’

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

This week, Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell review ‘Lynley',’ Can You Keep a Secret?’ and ‘Heated Rivalry’.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of them?

Heated Rivalry is a sports romance starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. The series follows two rival hockey stars who eventually form a secret relationship as they compete for glory.

Hayley: “I think this is a must watch for a bunch of reasons."

“It is a lot like a soap, but I think it's a well-made one."

“And I think it knows exactly who its audience is."

“And it's building the show around them right down to the music choices."

“There was even a bit where everyone was dancing and doing broody faces to ‘All the Things She Said' by t.A.T.u."

“I think a lot has been made of the sex scenes, but it's probably a lot less pornographic than you've been led to believe, although that may be a generational thing."

“Heated Rivalry is basically a lot of perfect-looking people in nicely-lit hotel rooms."

“It’s been ages since we've had a word of mouth hit like this."

“It's genuinely a word of mouth thing in a completely un-manufactured way.”

Scott: “This is a Must Watch for me because I think a great drama is one that lures you in thinking it's going to be one thing only for it to be another."

“You tune in initially because you hear about this hockey drama about two guys who hook up in secret thinking that it's going to be a sexy, horny piece of TV."

“And it is."

"But it ends up being something way, way more than that."

"It's a tender and beautifully layered love story with simply astonishing chemistry between the two leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams."

“It's beautifully shot."

“It's clear that it's been made on a limited budget, but it's the fact that the chemistry and the storyline is so authentic to the books, but also, I think, so well-written for TV."

"It stands up completely."

“Something I've been thinking a lot since I watched Heated Rivalry is ‘why has this show had such an impact? Why has it resonated with so many people and so quickly?"

"And I think it is a lot about what it represents, because over my lifetime, I think we've gone from queer storylines on TV virtually being non-existent or deemed to be too controversial to TV being occasionally mentions but never explored - ie the gay best friend to being explored, but then being given a gut-wrenching, sad, horrible ending to being part of soaps before the watershed, but accompanied with tabloid headlines calling it a moral outrage and completely unsuitable for children to being explored."

“But then, after the watershed, them been deemed still to be too controversial or watched by a loyal LGBTQ+ audience to shows that do explore important issues such as HIV and AIDS and the crisis, and shine a light on the voices that we needed to hear from during that terrible time, to shows that now are aimed at young people telling them that everything's going to be okay."

Scott and Hayley both agreed this was a Must Watch.

All six episodes of Heated Rivalry are available to stream via Sky and Now.

Lynley is a crime drama based on the Inspector Lynley novels by Elizabeth George. Starring Leo Suter and Sofia Barclay, the series follows two polar-opposite detectives as they solve crimes.

Working-class detective DS Barbara Havers is paired with Oxford graduate DI Thomas Lynley as they fight crime.

Hayley: “It's not for me."

“It’s one of those shows where there's no real emotional up or down."

“It's just this kind of pleasant flatline that's neither cosy crime in a Midsomer Murders village way, nor is it a bleak detective show that looks at genuinely dark things."

“It's this middle ground where things are vaguely sinister, and that's as dark as it gets."

“And the puzzle is wrapped up within an hour and a half."

“I thought it was anodyne and forgettable.”

“I prefer my TV crime to be harrowing and mess me up a bit. Your mileage may vary because you may want the opposite thing that I want from a show."

"But this does feel like something I've seen a million times before and probably on ITV."

“I also think they're trying to do something here with the class divide between the extremely posh detective who keeps dropping in Latin phrases and the working class partner who keeps mentioning class divides."

"But it's all a bit obvious."

“And also it feels like a crime show that is based on other crime shows rather than anyone checking how crimes are actually investigated, and that always feels a bit surface-y to me.”

Scott: “A show that is 90 minutes has to really deserve it."

"I’m afraid this doesn’t."

“It was a soup of every single other crime drama I have ever seen and not good enough as a result."

“I don't mind the normal conventions of ‘there's been a murder’ …We go round to suspect one, we go round to suspect two, we go round to suspect three - and they're all acting a little bit shifty.

"One is maybe quite guilty, but is actually telling the truth…The other one is being quite truthful and is actually really quite guilty."

“That's all fine, but it has to be something to make it stand out."

“And it doesn't in any way."

“It sort of felt a bit one dimensional with some of the minor characters, it felt a bit flimsy with some parts of the filming."

“It felt like something that would be daytime than actually during the evening."

“I immediately watched Patience on Channel 4 and found it so much better a programme."

Scott and Hayley both agreed this was not a Must Watch.

Lynley is available to watch every Monday on BBC One and is available to stream on the BBC iPlayer now.

Can You Keep a Secret? is a sit‑com starring Dawn French and Mark Heap.

The series follows the lives of a couple, Debbie and William Fenton, who commit insurance fraud and go all the way to keep this a secret.

Hayley: “I thought this was a good watch rather than a must watch."

“It's completely silly."

“Nothing groundbreaking."

“But I thought it was a good sitcom with some funny tangents usually related to them watching Border Control Australia.”

“I think what made me like this show is that they hadn't hatched a plan to rip off a life insurance company — it was just an opportunity presented to them after a series of other people being completely incompetent.”

“I really thought that was funny, for some reason.”

“It's good in an old-fashioned kind of way.”

“And it's full of characters who pop up for about 30 seconds and then disappear.”

“I don't think it's one of those shows that will change the world, but I thought it was a fun way to spend half an hour.”

Scott: “I agree with Hayley, a good watch, not a must watch.”

It's essentially a part comedy, part suspenseful thriller.”

“You have to watch from the very beginning.”

“There's a storyline going from beginning to end.”

“I can say there's a lot of similarities with the Daisy May Cooper drama comedy, ‘Am I Being Unreasonable?”

“Which we like to think is also done very well, critically, too.”

“And I agree with Hayley, there are very funny one liners that are sprinkled throughout, I think not as many as youwould hope for it to be a must watch for me, but I did find it consistent.”

“I also think it captures the small town mentality quite well.”

“I think it captures the couple in the way that they talk to each other.”

“And if you have both got your parents still alive and you are witnessing this, then it captures their decades long relationship really, really with nuance, which I find quite endearing.”

Scott and Hayley both agreed this was not a Must Watch.

Can You Keep a Secret? Is available to stream on the BBC iPlayer now.

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

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.