I saw [this series](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80197844) being advertised on Netflix and featured in various media. I was intrigued by it being set in a Parisian jazz club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMUPp_hNMlM

The cast were not familiar to me. Lead [André Holland](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2428245/) has been in movies Moonlight and Selma, but I have not seen those. I believe some of the cast are actual musicians and their performances look authentic. The music is original rather than a series of jazz classics.

The setting is a small club in outer Paris with a rich racial mix and assorted petty crime. The dialogue is a mix of English, French, Arabic and some east European languages. Characters can switch languages within a conversation, much as they might in real life. The filming is also very naturalistic with lots of quick cuts that mean there is always movement.

Renowned American jazz pianist Elliot Udo has set up a club with his partner Farid and a house band of mixed characters. Unfortunately Farid has been mixing with criminals and things get nasty. Elliot's life is not made easier by his teenage daughter Julie coming to live with him.

Each of the eight episodes centres around one of the characters, but not exclusively. They are all messed up in some way.

After the first episode I was not sure I wanted to continue. There was some shocking, but not graphic violence that put me off a bit, but I decided to persist. The characters and story are compelling, and I liked the music. It is a world I know little about, but may be familiar to some who live in cities where you may encounter petty crime regularly. They do not try to glamourise it.

I am not going to say too much about the plot as I hate spoilers. The trailer does not give away too much, but gives you some idea of the situations involved.

If you like a bit of gritty drama and enjoy some smooth jazz then it may be up your street.

A very different programme that I will recommend is [Staged](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08dnl67). This is a BBC production and so may not be available outside the UK for now. It was filmed under lockdown and features actors David Tennant and Michael Sheen who just appeared together in Good Omens. The plot is that they are due to appear in a play together and the director decides they can start work by connecting via video link. So you have a series of video calls with some scenes offline too. I guess they shipped cameras to the homes of the cast and they had to set things up themselves. Directing it must have been interesting. David and Michael play exaggerated versions of themselves and their wives feature too. You even see some kids in the background. There are some nice meta touches. Watch the title sequence change each time. Episodes are only 15 minutes and there are only six of them. I laughed a lot. There are a couple of star cameos to enjoy. I guess a lot of actors are available to work right now.

I am looking out for other things to watch. I have seen the first couple of episodes of Space Force on Netflix and may watch the rest. I have other things on my list to work through.

Happy viewing.