Tara Ward: Adolescence, Dope Thief, Drive to Survive

Adolescence   

A family's world turns upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for murdering a schoolmate. The charges against their son force them to confront every parent's worst nightmare (Netflix).

Dope Thief   

Two lifelong friends pose as DEA agents to rob a house, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they reveal and unravel a big hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern Seaboard (Apple TV+).

Formula 1: Drive to Survive

The drivers, managers and team owners in Formula 1 live life in the fast lane -- both on and off the track. This docuseries gives viewers exclusive, intimate access to the people in one of the world's greatest racing competitions. Formula 1: Drive to Survive reveals the true story of the high-octane sport, which goes beyond the fight to be No. 1 (Netflix). 

Season 6 released in late February. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from Newstalk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Twenty three minutes past ten on news Talks eDV means
it's screen time time. Our screen time expert is Tara Awards.
She's here with her three picks for this week. Hey Tara,
good morning. Okay, let's begin with a new show Starnie
streaming on Netflix. It's a legal kind of British drama
tell Us about adolescens.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, this is a new British drama that is one
of the best things I have seen on TV in
a long time, but also also one of the most
intense and heartbreaking. This is created and written by the
actor Stephen Graham who stars in this as well, and
Jack Thorne, who created a show I talked about a
couple of weeks ago called Toxic Town. And it's directed
by Philip Baranteiny who directed Boiling Points. So there's some

(00:53):
real talent behind this show, and it tells the story
of a teenager who is accused of murder. Now, the
thing to know about this show is that each episode
is filmed in a single continuous take, so there are
no cutaway shots, there are no breaks in the drama.
Everything plays out in real time, So the first episode
starts with the arrest at the family house, and then

(01:15):
we drive to the police station and go through the
first hour of the boy being processed and interviewed, and
it feels like you're there. It feels like real life,
like you're experiencing this with these characters as it's happening,
and you just can't look away. Each of the four
episodes looks at what is actually going on with this boy,
and it's not your typical crime drama because he's a

(01:37):
good kid from a good family. But as the series
goes on, things like social media and the influence of
that dark in cell online culture and technology comes into play.
So it's incredibly powerful, heartbreaking television. I watched an episode
last night and I couldn't sleep afterwards. It just really
gets you from the opening moments. It's incredible. But it

(02:01):
is a lot as well.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh man, this sounds fantastic. When you say it's like
a single take, do you mean like one shot.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
One shot the whole episode? So five for a few minutes,
And apparently they've they've captured a lot of behind the
scenes pottage, which I would love to see to see
how they actually because you're you're moving, You're moving through
the house, and then you're moving on the road, and
then you're moving through the police station, and it switches
from the parents to the police officers, to the lawyer
to the detective, and you're just continually moving and shifting,

(02:31):
and it's just like logistically incredible.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
That's crazy because a few shows have tried it. I
think Bear tried it, did it for an episode, or
did like something very similar for an episode, which was
all the Beard did, which was good. And then there
was that movie as well, what was the one, you know,
the movie.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Boiling Point, which is directed by the guy who has
directed this, which also featured Stephen Graham. So a lot
of the people in this show have worked together before,
and I think that really is key to making it work.
They all really trust each other and trust the process,
and it just has paid off.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Nineteen seventeen as well, it's just as seem I'm always like, what,
why why are you doing this? Yeah? You don't have
to do this? Yeah yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
I think I think the director was asking himself the
same thing because it's just such a mission.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeahs fantastic though, great recommendation. Okay, so that's Adolescence. That's
on Netflix now on Apple TV plus tell us about
Dope Thief.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, another crime drama. This one has quite a different
feel to it though. This is gritty and dark and
time's really really funny. This is said in Philadelphia and
the first episode as directed by Ridley Scott, who also
executive produced this. But Dope Thief is about two longtime
friends and low level criminals who run this scheme where
they pretend to be police officers, so they run into

(03:49):
drug houses pretending to be the law. They take all
the money and the drugs that they can find, and
then they sell what they can take and it's a
very successful plan until they choose the wrong neighborhood and
the wrong house and find themselves and over their head
and tangled up in a real undercover police case. Now,
this is not the type of show that I would
usually watch, but I really enjoyed this. It feels like

(04:10):
a cross between The Wire and Breaking Bad, with a
lot of humor as well. The writing is sharp and
self aware, and the two main characters are really likable
and sympathetic, and the show shifts between the more serious
moments of drama and those moments of comedy quite well
as well. So it's taking that heist format and playing
with it a little bit, but still keeping all the

(04:31):
shootouts and the chases that people would expect.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah right, Okay, cool, that's Dope Thief. So that's on
Apple TV Plus and on Netflix a brand new season
of IF One Drive to Survive.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, the seventh season of Drive to Survive. And I
know we've talked about this show before, Jack, but it
is one of the best sports documentary series out there.
This is the season that go this is the series
that goes behind the scenes of Formula One and pulls
back that curtain on what really goes on and is
less about the car racing and more about the personalities
and the money and the politics that are playing out

(05:03):
in the background. And it's the show that has a
little bit of a everything, And I think it has
changed the way we watch sport on television over the
last few years and has also made Formula one really
accessible for a lot of people. But it takes what
is essentially cars driving around in circles and makes it entertaining.
The photography is beautiful, the editing is slick. You've got

(05:24):
all that juicy behind the scenes footage, and it doesn't
patronize the people who already know a lot about the
spot sport as well, which I think is quite a
tricky balance to achieve. Netflix have tried this with other
sports like golf and tennis and American football and athletics,
but Drive to Survive is the best, and I think
that's because there is so much money and ego involved

(05:44):
here and the action is such high stakes. This season
features Liam Lawson. The last episode of the season, episode eight,
is all about Liam, and that's a great episode. If
you just want to watch one episode of Drive to Survive,
I would watch that one.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Ah, yes, very good. I've just started it and I
was wondering, you know, when we would see his side
of things. I'm looking forward to that. I think you're right.
I think it is probably the best of the style
of thing. Although I am also a huge fan of
Tour de France unchained. Yeah, that's excellent as well. Yeah,
that's a close secondary. It's something like you say, it's
the combination of like big personalities, big money, high drama.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
You know.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Anyway, that sounds superb. Thank you so much, Tara. So
those shows once again Adolescence is that fantastic new drama
the one done in a single shot on Netflix, Dope
Thiefs on Apple tv Plus and Drive to Survive Season
seven is on Netflix. And if you are an F
one fan, of course, that's being the first Formula one
race weekend of twenty twenty five and Melbourne just former day.

(06:42):
We've got a book that we're going to tell you about.
This amazing new book from a journo who's been chasing
the F one scene around the world. His name's Luke Smith,
and the book gives a real kind of insiders look
at Formula one, has a few really interesting little tidbits
and exclusive information, So we're going to tell you about
that for mid day.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
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