I don't know about you, but I think it feels like it's the 468th of January today, it's cold and miserable outside, our boiler is on its last legs and considering its lockdown and I'm shielding, things are pretty pants right now. To be honest, it's pretty pants for the vast majority of us, isn't it? So I thought I'd share some TV shows I've been watching this month that I have enjoyed, and I thought if you're losing the will during the lockdown, you might enjoy them too and it might pass a little time for you.
There are 5 shows in total, but you knew that already from the title didn't you? There's no order, I'm just going to share the shows with you, give you an overview, and tell you why I'm enjoying them, no spoilers I promise, and you might find something new to watch too, and since we're all indoors right now what better way to spend the time than finding something new to watch on TV.
1. Married At First Sight Australia
This is one of those programmes that my girls love and I end up watching and getting hooked on too, at first I didn't think I'd like it and it was background noise whilst they watched it, but now I can't wait to watch the next episode when one has finished, I am well and truly hooked.
What's It About?
Married at First Sight follows Australian couples in a ground-breaking experiment as they meet for the first time at their wedding. We first see the couples as singles before they marry and they are together in a group of brides and grooms, we find out a little bit about them all and how long they have been single, past relationships etc. We watch them telling their friends and families they are getting married and how, and we see them shopping for their wedding attire, then it's their wedding day where they meet for the first time.
We see their wedding and reception, how their families and friends react and what they think of the chosen spouse, we then follow them on the honeymoon, meet the in-laws and set up home, all the while getting to know one another more deeply.
Each week the couples meet for a dinner party together and then a commitment ceremony where they speak about their relationship with the experts and the other couples and decide if to stay or leave, but there's a twist in their choice. I have laughed, been shocked, appalled, and cringed so much during most episodes, but it's gripping and we're always left on a cliff hanger.
If you enjoy reality TV shows and you watched Love Is Blind last year and liked it, I think you'll like this too, it's definitely worth a try, even if you don't think it's for you, it's an eye-opener if nothing else.
We're around halfway through the latest series, but there are other series available on catchup, on demand etc if you want to catch up, and if you fancy a watch, it's on E4 weeknights at 7.30pm.
2. Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly
Graeme Hall who is also known as The Dogfather has over 10 years experience with training dogs and has built his reputation on finding quick but long lasting fixes to almost any dog behaviour problem. The programme shows Graeme travelling all over the UK to help dog owners with their unruly pooches, we love dogs and have a dog of our own and we love watching animal TV shows so we really like this one.
Graeme usually helps two families and their dogs, who have all sorts of different issues, from aggression to staring at themselves in a mirror, yes you read that right! It's interesting to see just how quickly the dogs respond to Graeme's training and nice to see the often fraught owners breathe a sigh of relief too. It's a nice, sometimes funny and sometimes emotional, easy watch that we find interesting and if you have a dog or just like animals and programmes about them, then I think you'll definitely enjoy this one. It is on Channel 5 on a Tuesday night at 8pm with previous episodes available on My5.
3. The Masked Singer
When the first series of The Masked Singer was advertised, both my partner and I really weren't interested in watching it, but our daughters were, we were surprised as our eldest is autistic and hates people dressed up, but she said because they were going to be unmasked she thought she'd be ok and it was something she wanted to watch so she hoped that she'd be ok.
Surprisingly, both my partner and I both enjoyed the show and we both soon joined in with the girls, guessing and we really enjoyed it. We're on season 2 now and we both look forward to it each week, our daughter is ok with most of the costumes, and the ones she isn't she just listens instead of watching and it's become a Saturday night family favourite in our house.
What's It About?
Each week different characters battle it out in the singing stakes to see who can win what is basically a singing competition but with a twist, we can't see who is singing. The judging panel, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora, Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan all try to guess who is behind the mask (costume with removable head/mask) whilst hearing and seeing some clues before they sing and then based on their singing voice. The costumes look fantastic, they must have had a lot of work put into making them.
This is the second series and some of the characters are Bush Baby, Blob, Harlequin, Robin and Dragon with a few more too, they all look great and have good singing voices too. Some I think are quite obvious, and then some we have no idea, we watch it as a family and we all try and guess, so far we have got two right and I had guessed one a week or so ago, and we think we know some more characters too, I won't go into that though as I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yet.
It's easy watching, a bit cheesy, can be funny watching the judges come out with ridiculous suggestions such as Kate Middleton, I'm pretty sure she has better things to do on a Saturday night, even during lockdown! But we all enjoy it and it's nice to see a family show on TV again and on a Saturday night, there doesn't seem to have been anything like that for a while now.
Even if you don't think it's for you, give it a go, you might be like me and my partner and like it when you didn't think you would, you can watch it on a Saturday night on ITV at 7pm.
4. 999 What's Your Emergency?
What's It About?
It's an inside look at the lives of the emergency services first responders in the UK, cameras follow police, fire and ambulance teams on the front line around the clock whilst they answer emergency calls, providing an insight into their jobs on a daily basis.
Before my health declined, I was a nurse and I absolutely loved my job, and I miss it every day, I think that's maybe why I like watching these documentary type programmes, I can feel close to the career that I miss so much. I also like Ambulance, 24 Hours in A&E and Critical Condition, so there's a definite correlation going on there.
I watch this with my youngest daughter, she has the same taste as me when it comes to the TV, she likes documentaries too and also likes the same programmes as I do, we also like prison life documentaries and crime documentaries so we watch this together.
If you enjoy documentaries, you might enjoy this, especially if you have a career in the front line emergency services, it can be sad and quite shocking, but it can, for the most part, be nice to see people when things are a lot better for them and they're feeling much happier. If you fancy it, you can catch it on channel 4 on Mondays at 9pm.
5. Finding Alice
What's It About?
Alice, her partner of 20 years, Harry and their daughter Charlotte aged 16 are moving into a fabulous "smart" house that Harry has recently built, it's been his dream to build it and he is extremely proud and excited to move in and show them the house he has built for them all.
The night they move in, tragedy strikes and Harry falls down the stairs to his death, in the days and weeks following Alice finds out that her late partner and other family members have secrets, and clearly didn't deal with things too well.
I won't divulge anything because I don't want to spoil it, but we have really enjoyed watching it, so much so, we were going to watch it weekly, but we ended up binge watching it because we enjoyed it so much. It is really good, Alice is hilarious and will definitely make you laugh, and there are sad times too, but it is good.
I think there will definitely be a second series with how they have left the first one. If you want to watch, it is on Sunday nights at 9pm on ITV or if you're like us, you can binge watch on the ITV Hub.
So those the 5 TV shows that I have been enjoying throughout January, I hope I have given you an idea or ideas of something new to watch, please let me know if you do give any of them a watch.
Do you watch any of my 5 current favourites? If so which ones, and what are your thoughts? I'd love to know.