Self-Discovery, True Life Drama & Chiswick to SoHa

Hello world! This time we're doing another segment of three shows I saw. These feature a show that popped up on my feed, which I'm sure is fate, a true life drama based on Britain's most notorious jewel thieves, and a spin off to the show Motherland. So without further ado, here is my review of the three shows I've watched!

XO Kitty:

The first show I’m going to talk about is series 1 of XO Kitty, based of the novels “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”, created by Jenny Han and starring Anna Cathcart.

This follows self-proclaimed matchmaker Kitty Song Covey travelling to South Korea to not only surprise her boyfriend but to also discover the roots of her late mum. And whilst there, she learns alot about life and what true love means. 

Kitty (Anna Cathcart), definitely made her mark at KISS, and I loved it! But once there she realised that life is not the same as it was in Portland, and after reuniting with her boyfriend Dae (Choi Min-young), his secret and trying to be the nice guy he is sent her on a whirlwind adventure. But whilst also learning more about her late mum (as before the series she went to the same school in Korea), she also learnt more about herself, especially when it came to romance. This featured having feelings for enemy and Dae’s fake girlfriend Yuri (Gia Kim), who was open about the reality of being a gay woman in South Korea, sending her on a journey of self discovery. But she also made some new friends whilst there. These are in the form of athlete Q (Anthony Keyvan), who also had his own journey which I’ll mention in a moment, and popular boy Min ho Moon (Sang Heon Lee), who had this tough exterior and hated Kitty, but overtime we got to see a soft side to him, and realising he likes Kitty more than he lets on.  

Other characters also made their mark on the show. These included professor Alex Finnernan (Peter Thurnwald), who was fostered and came to KISS to know his father professor Daniel Lee (Michael K.Lee), who in turn didn’t want to be a professor but mentioned of his true passion. We also got to know more about the principal of the school Jina (Yujin Kim), Yuri’s mother who tried to make a perfect family, but after sending Yuri’s girlfriend Juliana (Regan Thurnwald which Yuri discovered) away and also finding out that Alex was her son, it made her realise she needed to think about where her true loyalties lie. We also got to see other students personality, which include Q’s lover Florian (Théo Augier Bonaventure), who broke the rules at the end of the series after explaining his family life at home, but due to Q’s principals as an athlete, it definitely put a strain on his relationship, and quirky student Madison (Jocelyn Shelfo who I feel is the American version of me), who hooked up with Min ho but broke things off after realising they both want different things.

I don’t think I have any downsides to it at all, as after seeing clips on my Instagram feed about the show, maybe like Kitty stated with her matchmaking skills, it was fate. But something like this is definitely an area I want to explore, and after adding my Korean language onto my Spotlight profile, reaching out to the casting team in America may be my next step forward to getting on a show like this or something similar.

Overall I would give the show a full house! It had drama, it had light hearted moments, revelations and a lovely journey of self discovery. And I can’t wait to binge watch season 2! 

Joan:

The next show I’m going to talk about is Joan, starring Sophie Turner and casted by Jill Trevellick.

This tells the story of one of Britain's most notorious jewels thieves where amongst the drama, was simply doing it for a better life. It was also based on the book by Joan Hannington herself.

Sophie Turner played the role of Joan beautifully. Not only is portraying a real life figure challenging, but the fact that it’s a person who had multiple identities (therefore an actor playing a character who also played other characters) had that extra level of courage, and it definitely paid off. We can also see that deep down she is a good person, but wanted the thrill of excitement, and later on realising the impact it would have on her daughter Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long). She could tell that she loved Boisie (Frank Dillaine) from the minute they laid eyes in each other. After a brutal marriage to her ex and a not great childhood, he was what she needed. But it didn’t come without any danger, part when it came to thieving in order to support Joan. And whilst he disagreed with some of her methods, he supported her every step of the way.

There were other characters in the show that had an impact on Joan’s life. I don’t know which were based in real life, but they certainly added to the story. These include Boisie's friend Albie (Gershwyn Eustache Jr), a former cellmate of Boisie who at first is on board with Joan, but he broke her trust right at the end of the series after his link to Gary earlier on and then leaving on his orders. This didn’t go unnoticed by his wife Val (Laura Aikman), who had no clue on his work and what he gets himself into. Nancy (Kirsty J Curtis), was also someone who had an impact on Joan’s life as whilst also putting boundaries in place, knowing the impact it’ll have on Kelly. Gary (Nick Blood and based on Joan’s former husband Ray Pavey), was the one that started this journey as well as cussing Boisie's dismiss, abit police detective Tom Fordwick (Jack Greenlees who was sympathetic to Joan), convinced her many times to help out, even though she made it clear she didn’t trust the coppers. But at the end of the series, following the realisation that Kelly is better off with her foster mum Sue Ashbury (Caroline Faber), realised that giving evidence would’ve made a more positive impact. 

I think my only downside was that there wasn’t a transcript of what happened following the events of the series. But after doing some research, I managed to see snippets of what happened to Joan after the events of the series, which included going straight and writing her book, which at least gave me abit of closure. I also think that because the last episode had the most twists and turns, I wasn’t surprised as much throughout most of the series. But maybe that’s because I researched a little bit beforehand therefore was prepared for the unexpected.

Overall I would give the show a 4.95. It had drama, tension and portrayed the story of Britain's most notorious jewel thieves. 

Amandaland:

The final show I’m going to talk about is Amandaland, starring Lucy Punch, Joanna Lumley, Rochenda Sandall and casted by Rachel Sheridan.

As seen on IMDb, the synopsis of the show goes as follows:

"Amanda, a divorced mother, relocates with her teenagers to South Harlesden. She faces modern parenting issues like teenage rebellion and environmental concerns, while her mother's loneliness adds chaos."

Lucy Punch reprised the role of Amanda. After doing some research, her lifestyle in Chiswick from the previous series was so different to life in SoHa aka South Harlesden. After downsizing and starting a new “co-lab” (which is something I’m going to use when I get a job outside of acting), it definitely had it challenges. That and the appearance of her mum Felicity (Joanna Lumley), needing to keep an eye on her every 5 minutes. But it’s safe to say that by the end of the series, she feels settled in her new home, thinking about her children Georgie and Manus (Miley Locke and Alexander Shaw). That and after having relationship with property developer Johannes (Peter Serafinowicz), who made her see that it’s not all about the materialistic things. 

There are some other characters who helped Amanda feel at home. These include childhood friend Anne (Philipa Dunne), who over exaggerates in many situations, two of which were some arousing experiences at a camping trip and also her son Darius (Jack Veal), dating Georgie, and Amanda’s next door neighbour Mal (Samuel Anderson), who feels like second to best to football coach JJ (Ekow Quartey), who feels that his son Ned (Archie Smith), prefers, but JJ is not the brightest tool in the shed. But Mal may also have feelings for Amanda, as the looks he gave during the last episode I think was an indicator. There was also chef Della (Siobhan McSweeney), who finds Amanda abit annoying, and her wife Fi (Rochenda Sandall), who is quite eccentric, especially when it comes to talking about her travels, her fashion career and her passion for ceramic pots. But that’s why she fits in with the show, along with hers and Della's laid back style of parenting of their daughter and Georgie's friend Morten (Anya McKnenna-Bruce).

I think my only downside to the show was that I felt most moments would be more funny to anyone who’s a parent, and not having children myself it didn’t really click. However, I did find Anne’s reaction to fit guys funny and also felt for Darius and Georgie when Anne tried to help out. 

Overall I would give the show a 4. Whilst it didn’t make my sides hurt, I do appreciate the hard work all the cast and crew put in, and it made up for some heartfelt moments at the end of the series. And now that it’s been confirmed for a second series, they’ll be more adventures to come in SoHa.

And that’s my review of the show! Let me know if you’ve seen these shows and what you thought of them.

See you soon for another blog. Until next time…

This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)