Pennyworth

With a darkish but not gothic London in the 60's backdrop this story had me hooked almost from the beginning. The DC tv shows just keep getting better.

The origin story of Alfred Pennyworth, a former soldier living in London and how he came to work for Thomas Wayne, Batman's father.

Pennyworth, is way better than it should be. It's will filmed, the locations, backdrop effects and cinematography are first rate. Set in an alternative 1960s London as Alfie-like Alfred, tries his luck with the women and sets up a new protection business. The pilot is fast paced and similar to the recent Joker movie it's interesting enough to stand alone even if it didn't have any DC connections (which it does).

Echoing a slew of 60 TV shows, The Man from UNCLE, The Saint to name a few, mixed with Michael Caine's back catalogue there's plenty of fun to be had.

The action, fights, shootouts and flashbacks to WWII are well executed. It's surprisingly hard hitting with lots of f-bombs, violence and drama.

A surprisingly great piece of period entertainment.

I just wanted some background TV while my attention was diverted amongst other activities. Didn't take long to stop what I was doing and get right into this. Recent DC shows have been pure garbage, whilst this is closer to Gotham in its Elseworld-ish quirky grimness. But less quirky, even with inclusions of Jack Ripper, Aleister Crowley and the Queen. Excellent production all-round, stand-out performance from Paloma Faith playing a woman who's a wee bit mad. If I was aware they'd do the left vs right political dynamic throughout season 1 I wouldn't have watched it, but surprisingly it was done well. The only problem is I now have high exceptions of season 2.

Totally beyond any expectation. What started as a somewhat desperate search for something watchable on a Friday night ended up being a three-day binge. Lucid, intelligent, goofy, enlightened, tense, unpredictable, relaxed, touching, brave, unapologetic... And then there's the cast, which is just incredible. Jack Bannon is brilliant as the main character, but Ben Aldridge, Ema Paetz or, in fact, anyone from the cast, are not far away either.

Music, from the opening theme to the choice of background tracks ... pure delight

A completely unexpected treat that will hopefully last at least another 3-4 seasons.

I enjoyed Pennyworth a lot more than I expected I would. A show based off Batman's butler didn't really seem that exciting but I couldn't have been more wrong. This isn't Alfred the butler, this is Alfred the soldier/spy. The cast all do a great job, especially Jack Bannon who plays Alfred. He just makes Alfred so damn likable. It has the look and feel of a good 60's spy series. Everything from the cinematography to the wardrobe. They are now on season 3 and each season has been just as entertaining as the others. I'm glad HBO Max picked this up so it's available to a larger audience because this show deserves it.