Must Watch reviews: Time, Carrie and The Party

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

This week, Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell join Kylie Pentelow to review Time, Carrie and The Party.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of them?

The third instalment of Jimmy McGovern’s anthology series Time returns to explore life within the prison service. The first series starred Sean Bean and Stephen Graham in a men’s prison, while the second focused on a women’s prison with Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey. This time, David Tennant leads the cast as a prison officer working in a young offenders’ institution.

Both Scott and Hayley think Time is a Must Watch.

Scott says Time is “a Must Watch”.

Scott adds that “I found it completely and utterly engrossing and fascinating”.

He admits that he “watched this in one go, all three episodes”, adding that “I think it is something that you will be compelled to do immediately after finishing the first”.

Praising writer Jimmy McGovern, Scott says he “has always had a knack in looking at institutions, looking at society, posing questions, highlighting problems, but not at the expense of character and story”.

He argues that the drama becomes “incredibly laser-like focused” in its examination of life inside a young offenders institution, where “you see that deterioration over the course of the series”.

For him, “the masterstroke of this is that it looks not only at that caged-in isolation for the inmates but also for the staff as well”, showing the toll prison life takes on everyone inside the system.

He adds, “you realise just the personal consequences that you can't shake off” when dealing with traumatic situations day after day.

Scott also praises the cast, saying, “it's got some really compelling performances in this”.

He concludes by saying, “it was one of those dramas that stays with you”.

“It's difficult but also just very important.”

As Scott puts it, “I was really taken away by this”.

Hayley says Time is “a Must Watch for me too”, although she warns viewers that, as a Jimmy McGovern drama, “it is not going to be cheery”.

A long-time admirer of the writer's work, Hayley says that with McGovern, “it's likely there will be some kind of social point to it”, and believes this series is no exception.

Discussing its themes, she argues that the drama shows how “prison is full of angry, frustrated, frightened people, whether they're locked up or just working there”.

Hayley feels the central message is that “they punish people, they don't fix them”, adding that “they're creating new problems in these hardened people who are then released into the world”.

Hayley adds that, “the whole thing isn't fun, but it's really good.”

She also singles out the performances, saying, “I think David Tennant in this is heartbreaking and perfectly pitched”, while adding that “Siobhan Finneran is just always great”.

Hayley concludes by saying, “these shows are always so well cast that I think you have to watch them”.

All three episodes of the latest series of Time are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Carrie is a new television adaptation of Stephen King’s iconic novel on Amazon Prime. Starring newcomer Summer H. Howell and produced by Mike Flanagan, the creator of The Haunting of Hill House. The eight-part series reimagines the classic story of the prom, the blood-soaked dress and the devastating aftermath, while weaving in new themes and storylines that expand upon the original tale.

Both Scott and Hayley think Carrie is a Must Watch.

Scott says Carrie is “a Must Watch” and admits it was “quite a surprise Must Watch”, given his usual scepticism towards television remakes of classic films.

He praises Mike Flanagan's approach, arguing that “Mike Flanagan has thoughtfully introduced new storylines that weave in alongside the main one”, helping the adaptation justify its longer running time.

Scott also highlights the cast, saying “there's some excellent performances” throughout the series.

One of the elements he found most effective was the atmosphere, explaining that “it feels very, very real” and that “you get the sense of claustrophobia within the school environment”.

Scott feels the series is slightly overextended, admitting that “it feels like a six-parter stretched to an eight-parter”.

Even so, he believes “the production quality makes up for it”.

Scott also appreciates how the adaptation balances old and new, describing it as “a love letter to the original text and also to the original film as well”.

Hayley says that while Carrie is not her favourite Stephen King novel, “it's hard to find a greater horror story than just being a basic teenage girl”.

Given the current popularity of stories exploring female rage, Hayley says, “it makes sense to me that a new Carrie adaptation would come around”, adding, “I can't believe it hasn't happened sooner”.

She is also positive about the creative team behind the series, saying, “Mike Flanagan is always reliable for a Stephen King adaptation” and describing him as “a good general horror guy”.

Discussing his previous work, Hayley notes that The Haunting of Hill House “is one of my favourite novels of all time”.

All seven episodes of Carrie are available to watch on Amazon Prime now.

The Party on ITV, is a five-part drama based on the novel by Elizabeth Day. It stars Luke Evans as a journalist shaped by his lifelong friendship with a wealthy and charismatic politician played by Tom Cullen. It's all set at a party, where things go wrong and someone ends up getting shot.

Scott didn’t think The Party was a Must Watch, but Hayley disagreed and thought it was a Must Watch.

Scott says The Party is “not for me”.

He was most invested in the relationship between Luke Evans' journalist and Tom Cullen's politician, arguing that “the most compelling part is that it follows them both when they were both at university”.

Scott adds that “that part I felt was really well done and also really quite compelling”, particularly as it explored the pair's complicated relationship and shifting power dynamic.

However, he felt the show's structure worked against it.

Scott says, “just as I was getting into it, you'd be taken out of it”, as the narrative repeatedly jumps between different periods.

For him, the biggest problem was that “it was constantly flicking between all three” timelines, making it difficult to become fully immersed in any one storyline.

He also notes that “even from episode two, there's technically four different timelines happening simultaneously”, which he felt made the drama unnecessarily complicated.

Hayley says The Party is a Must Watch.

She praises the ensemble, saying, “the cast is really great”, while adding that “the observations it makes about people and class are really accurate”.

Hayley is particularly impressed by Tom Cullen's performance, describing him as “charismatic, but also manipulative and untrustworthy”.

She also highlights Luke Evans' role in bringing the adaptation to the screen, noting that “he's kind of championed this thing”.

Hayley adds, “my favourite character was the heavily pregnant wife”.

She found the drama highly addictive, describing it as “propulsive and binge-able” and adding, “there weren't any parts where I was bored”.

Hayley concludes by saying, “it's people being horrendous to each other, which is one of my favourite things”.

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

But before all that, why not contact Must Watch with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

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.