Must Watch reviews: Half Man, Big Mistakes, and The Neighbourhood

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Campbell join Naga Munchetty to review ‘Half Man’, ‘Big Mistakes’ and ‘The Neighbourhood’.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of them?

The first review is the highly anticipated Half Man by Richard Gadd, who won acclaim with Netflix's Baby Reindeer. This new show, which he also created and wrote, focuses on two estranged men – Niall, played by Jamie Bell, and Ruben, played by Gadd – who grew up as brothers despite not being related by blood. Thirty years on, they're reunited at Niall's wedding, where things turn violent.

Hayley and Scott agree that Half Man is a Must Watch.

Hayley says she watched all of the episodes over two days, which she wouldn’t recommend and says, “you do feel a bit weird afterwards, wandering around your house thinking about it.”

“It's extremely bleak. It's relentlessly miserable. It's all about the things we talk about now around toxic masculinity.”

She notes that creator and actor Richard Gadd has “piled on loads of muscle in an animalistic way to make him look like he's weighed down by his own masculinity.”

“The younger actors are great. Stuart Campbell’s [character] seems like a kind headcase that you'd encounter at a pub and just feel uneasy about.”

She thinks the show isn’t “a masterpiece” but it is “excellent”.

Scott says, “this is a very tense drama set at a very tense wedding. It then turns to a scene of violence between these two brothers and then there is an almighty flashback of how these boys’ lives became intertwined.”

“It looks at the close proximity between power and violence and how people can seek shelter and protection by associating themselves close to somebody powerful, but then that might result in them condoning such violence.”

He explains that the show looks at how you can experience “unspeakable things” in childhood and yet be unaware of how traumatic they were as an adult.

“There is a remarkable, tender storyline about coming out and identity and the pressures you feel in terms of fitting in and what length you would go to hide your own sexuality.”

He describes the performances as “remarkable” adding that the show “captures adolescence in a way that is really rather striking.”

A new episode of Half Man is on BBC iPlayer every Friday.

Big Mistakes is a new show on Netflix created by Dan Levy from Schitt's Creek and the comedian Rachel Sennott. It's about two directionless siblings, played by Levy and Taylor Ortega, who get blackmailed into the world of organised crime. Laurie Metcalf is also in it as their intense mother.

Scott and Hayely think Big Mistakes is a Must Watch.

Scott says, “Schitt's Creek was such a massive show and this is co-created by Rachel Sennett, who is one of the forces behind I Love L.A. So I'm sort of seeing this as a blending of both styles of comedy”.

“The stakes are so deliberately low that in a weird way it's quite funny. This necklace they steal only has a value of about $70 and yet this man is chasing them with a gun.”

Scott says the show ties itself to “far‑fetched scenarios” rather than just being “high stakes with comedy thrown in”.

“It looks at how your faith can be wrapped up with your own identity. Dan Levy’s character is a pastor, he is openly gay, but he can't have a partner because pastors can't have partners.”

He explains that if you’re not hooked by the “surreal state of affairs, you won't be”.

“You're either in it or you're not.”

Hayley thinks Dan Levy is great at sibling relationships and family dynamics.

“It's far less warm than Schitt’s Creek but this is funny, the pace is great.”

She warns that if you don’t like “people shouting at each other”, you’re unlikely to want to watch this.

“I love watching Laurie Metcalf lose her mind about things that don't matter, like sweaty cheese at a wake. She’s dabbing the sweat off the cheese.”

Hayley describes Big Mistakes as “joyful and silly”.

All episodes of Big Mistakes are available to watch now on Netflix.

The Neighbourhood is a big swing for ITV on an untested format, where families move into the same neighbourhood and compete in a series of challenges. They're asked to evict their neighbour by placing a for sale sign in front of their property.

Scott and Hayley did not enjoy The Neighbourhood.

Scott explains, “this has been touted by ITV for such a long time. This costs so much money.”

“They’ve moved in people, they’ve rigged it up full of cameras but once they put the people into the house, they don't really know what to do with them. There's no jeopardy really whatsoever”

He says that because the contestants keep talking over each other, “you're not able to decipher what they're actually saying half the time.”

“It felt like one of those shows that they thought up the concept first before they actually thought how it would actually work.”

Scott also says the first episode was “the dullest first episode of anything that I've seen this year”.

Hayley explains that there is “nothing unusual or unexpected or even delightful about this show.”

“I was annoyed we chose to watch it. I was also annoyed the entire time it was on because I could have been doing something else.”

She is “sick of watching people introduce themselves on reality shows and sick of watching reality shows where people say ‘it is what it is’”.

“This is both a waste of my life and Graham Norton’s.”

Hayley describes it as “one of those Channel 5 dramas, but with real people.”

The first three episodes of The Neighbourhood are on ITVX now with the next episode airing on ITV1 on Friday 1st May.

Listen to the full reviews of all three programmes on BBC Sounds.

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.

We used AI to transcribe and summarise our Must Watch feature. This article was then written and reviewed by a BBC journalist. More on how the BBC uses AI.