Must Watch Reviews: House of Guinness
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review House of Guinness.
Steven Knight’s new series opens with the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, plunging his family into turmoil. His four children are left to navigate not only their vast inheritance, but also simmering rivalries and hidden agendas.
Moving between Dublin and New York, the show weaves together political unrest, social upheaval, and family drama, creating a lavish portrait of ambition and betrayal.
What do the Must Watch reviewers make of it all?
What do the Must Watch reviewers think of ’The House of Guinness’?
Must Watch reviewers share what they think about The House of Guinness.
Naga: “Hayley, is this a must watch?”
Hayley: “Not for me, but I knew it wasn't going to be for me.
“There's something about Steven Knight’s shows where they kind of have a desperation to be cool, and for me, it never fully translates into being cool.
“It's just stuff on screen that's trying to be cool — I've never really understood the appeal.
“I wasn't a Peaky Blinders fan, although I did like A Thousand Blows, which was that boxing one…”
Scott: “With Stephen Graham and Malachi Kirby.”
Hayley: “Yeah, I thought that one was good, but mostly they all seem to me like a lot of darkly lit stuff with anachronistic music played over the top of it.
“It's never really spoken to me before, and this one isn't very different.
“There's a scene where they've got ‘Get Your Brits Out’ by Kneecap playing over a brawl around the Guinness patriarch's funeral cortege, and I just find it a bit cringey.
“So, this is not for me — and it probably was never going to be — but it might be for you.”
Naga: “That's exactly what I thought…”
It had a real energy behind it that you don't get with many period dramas"
Hayley: “But if you do listen to Must Watch just to find out where the moustaches are — and you never know, there might be some very specific perverts — I've located another one for you.
“Anthony Boyle, who played IRA member Brendan Hughes in Say Nothing, which was one of my top shows last year — he's in this, and he has another moustache.
“So, I'm just selflessly keeping you updated.”
Scott: “Moustache watch.”
Hayley: “Yeah, it's moustache watch.”
Naga: “Big stars in this — Anthony Boyle, as you mentioned, with the moustache, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, James Norton.
“Scott, for you?”
Scott: “This is a must watch.
“I absolutely adored it.”
Hayley: “What is going on this week?”
Scott: “I loved it.
“I mean, I think this is a show that feels very much like Peaky Blinders.”
Naga: “Did you like Peaky Blinders?”
Scott: “I did.
“Sometimes Peaky Blinders feel a bit style over substance, but I also really appreciated — actually — that it took a historical drama and tried to make it contemporary by putting in much more modern-day music.
“Maybe, you know, the way that they speak to each other feels like how we would speak with each other — although maybe not in the last five minutes or so.
“And I think it had a real energy behind it that you don't get with many period dramas.
“I also found the context of this story fascinating.
“There's a sequence where it highlights how you make Guinness — it's water, barley, hops, yeast — and then you add it to the fire.
“But then it's also family, money, rebellion, and power as being the ingredients that make Guinness.
Scott: “And I think, even though this is a sort of fictional drama inspired by true events, it's the fact that when Benjamin Guinness — who is behind the extraordinary success of this drink — dies, there's a massive protest at his funeral by evangelical Christians, who say that the drink and his work caused ‘sin’ and ‘debauchery’ and so forth.
I binged as much as I could in one go"
“But then there are also Irish people fighting against British rule, because the Guinness family are Protestants.
“So, there's this funeral procession, and there is essentially a riot, as people throw bottles of beer at the casket — and I think that just sets off a kind of interesting story.
“Yes, I think it can be a little bit similar — a lot of people are drawing associations to Peaky Blinders — but I still find that the family dynamic, essentially, it's a bit of a succession battle.
“I found the characters really well fleshed out too — perhaps too many of them, I'd say — but…”
Naga: “And it’s very dark.”
Scott: “But interesting people nonetheless.
“I think Netflix wants this to be a hit, because Peaky Blinders was a big hit for Netflix — even though it was a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ show. I think this will be.
“And I just found it to be a show — on a streaming service that I've been a bit underwhelmed by recently — finally creating something that I will watch every episode of.
“I binged as much as I could in one go.
“It was a bit like splitting the G, when you're having the drink itself — where you try to see how much you can have in one sitting.
“So, overall — yeah, really, really enjoyed this.
“I did enjoy the boxing show too, but I think this is the best thing he's been doing since Peaky Blinders.”
Naga: “I have some issues at the moment with my TV connection.
“So, I don't have a TV at home, right?
“So, I watched everything this week on my phone.”
Scott: “Wow!”
Naga: “And my phone — what's that? Six inches by three inches?
“I found it really dark, like the lighting was really dark in this — and I’m trying, struggling…”
Hayley: “There's a lot of candlelight.”
Naga: “Yeah, struggling to figure out who was who.
“And I get the characters, but that annoys me.
“Go on. What were you gonna say?”
Scott: “I think only watching it… I know this is your circumstance, because you can't watch it on a larger TV — but I think, if you're only watching by phone…”
Naga: “Is it dark?”
Scott: “I didn't find it dark.
“I watched it on the larger screen — not that much — I watched it on my laptop, then I watched it on the home TV.”
Hayley: “It's only dark in the way that Peaky Blinders…”
Naga: “I don't like dark things.
“I don't like having to figure out who's speaking.
“I don't watch Peaky Blinders and won't watch Peaky Blinders, because it's too violent for me — I don't like violent things.
“I didn't think this was particularly violent — obviously when the cortege was going through there were some smacks, people getting smacked…”
Scott: “There are some scenes in episode two that are a bit…
“But not bad — not overly gratuitous.
“It's not like some Amazon shows where they can really top it up.”
Naga: “And that's why I didn't watch it.
“And that's why I didn't watch A Thousand Blows, because I didn't want to see that intense violence.
“I completely agree with you about the music.
“In fact, the music I've heard reminds me of… I don't know if it's Marching Powder, Danny's awful film.
“I know you like it…”
Hayley: “No, it's not a good film.
“I just want that out there.
“I do not like Marching Powder but I do like Danny Dyer.”
Naga: “But it felt like that.
“The music I heard was the same as Guy Ritchie — all those kinds of styles.
“It's been used so many times before, and I just thought, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’
“It's kind of falling back into that kind of trap.
“I think now, to make it feel modern and make it feel up-to-date — when it didn't need it…
“I actually think that the story is really interesting, and I think, even though it's stylish, it's almost too stylish.”
Hayley: “Yeah, it’s like a music video.”
Naga: “It just feels like — I want to know this story, but I think I'll read a book about it.
“I think I'll read about the family and the battles.
“I know this is based on fictional events, but it's…”
Scott: “But is it the fact that, because the music sounds contemporary, it takes you out of it?”
Hayley: “It feels so self-conscious.”
Scott: “I'd prefer it than, let's say, if this was just any other period drama that looked at this period and it was done by any other writer, made by any different production team…
“I think, you know what, you would be the traditional — in this case, Irish — sort of music, with lots of violins and stuff.”
Hayley: “It's not the actual music — it's the music that is indicative of everything.
“It's just the way these shows are done.
“It's just very stylish, and I watch them and I go, ‘Yeah, it looks nice… but it does feel like I've been watching this for a week.’”
Naga: “It feels familiar.
“I don't mind modern music being in there — but it's those songs, those tunes you've heard before, and they indicate the tone.
“It's like, ‘We're telling you the tone.’
“I don't feel like you're discovering the tone, or… it just feels like, ‘this is what you're watching, this is what it's going to be like.
"Enjoy the ride, like all the others which have used that music.’
“Is that fair?”
Hayley: “As soon as it started I was like, ‘Here we go.’”
Naga: “Yeah, and it took it away from me.”
Scott: “I just find that we have — and this always happens about four or five times a year on Must Watch — we review a period drama where they stick to the normal conventions that are unwritten: how they are shot, how they're filmed, how they act in it.
“And then we say, ‘Oh really? It kind of feels very similar or very samey.’
“And then we say, ‘Why won't they do anything different?’
“Okay — maybe this goes too much the other way.”
Hayley: “No, it's not. It's doing the same thing.”
Scott: “It keeps my attention.
“It kept my attention.”
Naga: “I was chatting to friends who all enjoyed Peaky Blinders.
“I've said to all of them, ‘You've got to watch House of Guinness, you're gonna love it.’
“I've actually said, it's not my thing at all, but I know there will be people — if you've got even a slight inkling, you lean towards Peaky Blinders, you will love this — and it will be a must watch for them.”
You can watch all the episodes of House of Guinness on Netflix.
This team the team reviewed 'The Hack' and 'How are you? It's Alan (Partridge)'.
But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.
As always, we like to include your reviews - on shows you love, loathe or lament.
Message @bbc5live on social media using the hashtag #bbcmustwatch or email mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.
Jay recommends watching ‘The Runarounds’ on Amazon Prime:
I wanted to recommend "The Runarounds" on Amazon Prime.
It came out at the beginning of September and it has been such a fun end-of-summer series.
It is set in North Carolina and tells the story of a group of friends, in a band, during the summer after they graduate from high school.
The young actors are extremely likeable, and the original songs are shockingly good.
Thanks for all of the recommendations.
Sue and Neil gave their thoughts about ‘The Hack:’
We just finished The Hack last night.
We thought it was really good, but thought we were watching the wrong episode when we started episode 2, as it seemed completely different.
We enjoyed the look to camera from the tenant - it reminded us of Miranda!
Michael thought ‘Coldwater’ was a must watch:
I just watched Coldwater, and besides Eve Miles being fantastic as always and Andrew Lincoln being kind of raw...I'm gonna go in the direction of a must watch.
Sometimes, seeing great actors in any situation makes me watch, because the screenplay can't possibly be that bad.
To illustrate this point, here are some examples of actors from 'Coldwater' being in other projects that weren't
reviewed amazingly well, but I still enjoyed nonetheless:
Indira Varma -"Rome"
Eve Myles- "Keeping Faith"
Andrew Lincoln: "Teachers"