It: Welcome To Derry, Trigger Point, and Art Detectives. With guest Stephen Merchant

It: Welcome To Derry, Trigger Point, and Art Detectives. With guest Stephen Merchant

Author: Empire Magazine October 27, 2025 Duration: 1:35:01

Stephen Merchant joins us on the show this week, not only chatting to James about his recent zombie apocalypse debut in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, but ruminating on comedy, rhyming slang, the legacy of The Office and 24. Plus, we follow the exploits of some we’re hanging out with some very different Derry girls (and boys) in It: Welcome to Derry on Sky, take in a little fine art with Art Detectives on U&Drama, and find out if booms still shake the room in series 3 of Trigger Point on ITV.

(Episode 360)


If you’re trying to keep up with the sheer volume of television arriving each week, it’s easy to feel adrift. That’s where Pilot TV comes in. Brought to you by the team behind The Empire Film Podcast at Empire Magazine, this weekly discussion cuts through the noise to highlight the series truly worth your time. Each episode finds hosts James Dyer, Boyd Hilton, Steph Seelan, and Kay Ribeiro gathered for a lively, informed chat that feels like eavesdropping on the best kind of TV-loving friends. They deliver a smart, comprehensive rundown of new releases across every platform-from streaming services to terrestrial broadcasts-ensuring you never miss a must-see show. Beyond the reviews, the podcast brings you breaking industry news and sits down for conversations with some of television’s most influential creators and stars. It’s the perfect companion for anyone who wants to navigate the modern TV landscape with insight and a critical eye, transforming the weekly deluge into a curated viewing guide. Tune in for a genuinely essential, and thoroughly entertaining, take on the small screen.
Author: Language: en-gb Episodes: 100

Pilot TV
Podcast Episodes
#306 Grotesquerie, Industry, and Showtrial [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:18
It’s a crime special this week as not only do we delve into Ryan Murphy’s latest bowl of depravity in crime drama Grotesquerie on Disney+ but we also have Crime Monthly editor Steph Seelan standing in for Kay, who’s stil…
#305 Apples Never Fall, Ludwig, and Joan (plus A Very Royal Scandal) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:37
There’s an ever-so-slight mix-up this week over whether a prestige BBC drama about tennis coaches should be masquerading as a Spanish language show about pirate ambulances, but that particular wrinkle thankfully gets iro…
#304 The Penguin, The Wives, and Frasier. With guest Ruth Wilson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01:05
Ruth Wilson is our guest on the show this week, talking about A Very Royal Scandal, which comes to Prime Video this week but is also heavily embargoed so we can’t tell you about it on this week’s show. Luckily, she can!…
#303 Nightsleeper, La Maison, and The Teacher [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:32
It’s a special quarantine version of the pod this week as James, still struck down with Covid, feebly attempts to host the podcast while Boyd and Kay stay as far away from his lurgy as humanly possible. But despite a min…
#298 Slip, Company You Keep, and Irvine Welsh’s Crime [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:02
Like an episode of 24, we’re racing against the clock on this week’s show. But the imminent threat of being thrown from the studio by Jack Bauer didn’t stop us from dimension hopping with ITVX’s Slip, digging up a relic…