The government yesterday announced it would step up its arrivals policy to mandate hotel quarantine or ‘managed self-isolation’ for all returning New Zealanders – people like Andrew Todd, who describes what it’s like to live in a Covid-19 quarantine zone. Four weeks ago, I was living in Canada, earning a meagre but stable income as … Read more
The story of how loser lawyer Jimmy McGill became legal superstar Saul Goodman returns to Lightbox tonight for its second season. Andrew Todd looks at how Better Call Saul avoided the curse of the prequel. Spoilers for Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad follow. Who is the audience for Better Call Saul? Those who haven’t … Read more
This is Sci-Fi week at The Spinoff – we’re running a bunch of content devoted to the most ambitious genre of them all. First up: Andrew Todd defends the much-hated theme song to Star Trek: Enterprise. // Star Trek: Enterprise, the sixth and thus far last TV show to bear the franchise’s name, was initially met with some … Read more
For decades fans of pulpy TV genres like sci-fi and fantasy have made do with a few mainstream hits, a lot of late nights and many what-ifs. That changes with today’s arrival of The Zone, and Andrew Todd is thrilled. As a young New Zealander seeking to escape the hellish drudgery that was teenage life, … Read more
Horror had a fairly minor place on television until the last decade, when it rose from the grave. Andrew Todd looks at what has driven its revival.// Horror on television, like in the movies, has always seen peaks and troughs in popularity. Back in the day, most TV horror came in the form of anthology … Read more
Andrew Todd watches the unaired pilot of Blackadder, one of English comedy’s foundation stones, and finds a very rough draft with shards of brilliance. // Blackadder is a cultural keystone as vital to English TV comedy as Fawlty Towers or The Office. Over its four series, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Rowan Atkinson delivered what is … Read more
Spaced birthed one of today’s most celebrated comedy directors, writes Andrew Todd.// Some shows come along as fully-formed works in the own rights. Others are flawed beasts that don’t quite hit it out of the park, but highlight the potential of their creators’ work to come. Channel 4’s 1999 comedy series Spaced, at first glance … Read more