From the creators of The Empire Film Podcast, Pilot TV is your essential guide to every TV show that matters, providing a weekly rundown of all the new must-see TV shows dropping across streaming, terrestrial, satellite, cable, and beyond. Join Empire's James Dyer, Heat's Boyd Hilton, Steph Seelan, and Kay Ribeiro as they bring you breaking TV news, reviews of the week's major shows, and interviews with some of the biggest names in TV.
Pilot TV is here to make sure every minute you spend in front of the box is a minute worth spending. Served with a heavy helping of insider knowledge, irreverence and humour, Pilot TV won't just keep you informed, amused and entertained, but is guaranteed to save countless hours of your life. Because you can’t watch *everything*.
Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to Pilot+ for a bonus episode every Thursday, in-depth spoiler specials, and early, ad-free access to the regular show! Find out more at www.empireonline.com/pilottv
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Treasure Island, The Party, and Time. With very special guest host Russell T Davies
Steph is ill this week so we’ve drafted in a replacement host to cover her absence. That host? The Notorious RTD himself! Having just co-penned his memoir with one Boyd H
Oct 12 1 h 40 min
Carrie, Kill Jackie, and Pierre. With guests Sienna Miller and Dominic West
On this week’s show, WAR stars Sienna Miller and Dominic West collar Boyd to talk their divorce drama on Sky Atlantic (48:50-1:01:51), plus we dissect the recent list of
Oct 5 1 h 47 min
WAR, Break Clause, and Blue Lights. With guest Siân Brooke (and Ziggy)
We have a dog in the studio this week (very good boy 13/10) as guest Siân Brooke brings her miniature sausage dog Ziggy in to see us (and also to talk about the new serie
Sep 28 1 h 50 min
Youth, The Blame, and The Split Up. With guests Sharon Horgan, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren
On this week’s show we have a trio of guests as Sharon Horgan joins us to talk Youth on HBO Max (28:01-35:17), while Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan chat all things Mobla
Sep 21 1 h 45 min
American Hostage, Slow Horses, and Crew Girl. With guests Patrick Brammall and Sanjeev Bhaskar
We have a guest double show this week as not only does Boyd chat weith Sanjeev Bhaskar about The Split Up (1:09:19-1:25:55), but Patrick Brammall joins us in the studio t
Sep 14 1 h 56 min
Colin From Accounts, and The Gentlemen. With guests Paddy Young and Jack Shep
In this week’s podcast we discover precisely why Steph is playing the new Harry Potter (and why you should never visit the zoo during a heatwave), we take a trip back to
Sep 7 2 h 00 min
Vigil, Trigger Point, and The Rainmaker
We’re off to the Arctic circle this week with the return of Rose Leslie and Suranne Jones’ investigative thriller Vigil on BBC1 (40:00), putting the ‘boom’ back in ITV wi
Aug 31 1 h 08 min
PLUS Dark Matter
Have a free episode of PilotTV+ on us!
We’re back into the multiverse on this week’s Pilot+ as we delve into the second season of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter on Apple TV+
Aug 27 46 min
The Terror: Devil In Silver, Dog Park, and Fightland. With guests Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler
We have not one but two Green Lanterns on this week podcast as both Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler put up with James fanboying both over Lanterns on HBO Max and of course
Aug 24 1 h 56 min
Lanterns, Ludwig, and Sunny Nights, plus Animation Education
We’re back to a full house this week as James returns from his holidays, and an even fuller house than that, in fact, as we have a surprise ringer parachuted into this we
Aug 17 1 h 26 min
House Of The Dragon Season 3 Spoiler Special. With showrunner Ryan Condal
As a special bonus, we're making our House Of The Dragon spoiler special available to everyone! For more of these, early, ad-free access to the main podcast and a second
Aug 13 1 h 18 min
The Shards, Hit Point, and Alley Cats
Apparently, it’s our 400th episode so to celebrate we invite special guest Darren, our esteemed editor, to join Kay, Steph and Boyd for the opening ‘What we’ve been watch
Aug 10 1 h 25 min
Possession, Benidorm Is Murder, and Lioness. With guest Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais is our guest this week, talking all things Alley Cats, and yes, it’s an animated show, but a very very adult one. We’re also celebrating James’ absence with
Aug 3 1 h 43 min
The Vampire Lestat, Furious, and The Rapture
Furious is definitely the word for this week’s show. Not just because we’re reviewing the serial killer show of the same name on Disney+, but because that is a perfect su
Jul 27 1 h 36 min
The Crow Girl, Ride Or Die, and The Hawk. With guest Anya Taylor-Joy
Anya Taylor-Joy is our guest in the studio this week, talking both her new show Lucky on Apple TV and her (and Steph’s) love of dogs (32:50-50:51). But that’s not all, be
Jul 20 1 h 48 min
The Westies, Ann Droid, and The Five Star Weekend. With guests JK Simmons and Tom Brittney
We finally unveil (in typically shambolic fashion) our shows of the year (so far) list in this week’s episode as an arcane mathematical formula is applied to our individu
Jul 13 2 h 06 min
The Dark, Human Vapor, and X-Men ‘97. With guest Esther Smith
Esther Smith is our guest on this week’s show, talking all things Trying Season 5 (38:15-48:52). Plus we pick through the wreckage of the TV schedules this week to try an
Jul 6 1 h 36 min
The Bear, Silo, and Elle
Ever wondered what a ‘winter show’ looks like? Well fear not because Steph clues you in on this week’s show as we dive into another triad of televisual entertainment. Fir
Jun 29 1 h 30 min
Sugar and The Agency
We’re down to two shows this week as the world cup (or embargoes, depending on who you ask) closes its vice-like grip on the airwaves. But what a pair they are: we’re bac
Jun 22 1 h 18 min
House Of The Dragon and The Light In The Hall: Still Waters. With guest Javier Bardem
Thanks to the world cup (and a handful of embargoes), there are only two shows we can cover this week, but that’s okay because not only is one of the triumphant return of
Jun 15 1 h 43 min
Chart trend
Position in the TV Reviews chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#100#198JulAugSepOct
#58
all-time peak
169
days in the top 100 since Jan 2025
Chart positions
Where Pilot TV ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 16, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
The group's banter and camaraderie are consistently entertaining. It often feels like eavesdropping on the conversation of a long time group of friends. Finally, its a great travel companion as I’m catching up on missed shows on a long cross country drive.
Rhorth · Apr 2025
I refused to listen to this show due to my allegiance to the Empire podcast for the longest time. I caved many years ago and now love this show. I assumed you needed to watch a lot of TV to find value in this podcast: however, this is not the case. The banter between James, Boyd, and Kay is brilliant.
Freddy Sea · Mar 2025
Being a Brit living in the US this is a great resource for learning about English TV to hunt out, as well other stuff too. I’ve enjoyed shows I would not normally not watch but have been amazing like ‘this is gonna hurt’ and ‘it’s a sin’ and avoided some clangers too. Superb banter from the pilot crew. Viva la pilot plus, a worthy investment
rogfitz · Dec 2024
Longtime listener, Pilot+ subscriber, first time reviewer... better late than never? I am a huge TV fan and work in the industry, and this is the best TV podcast I've found, by far. I love learning about shows on the big streamers and so many great UK shows I might not have otherwise heard of, being from the US. (Now I need to petition local streamers to pick more of them up, and release them closer to their UK premiere dates!) The Co-Pilots all come with knowledgeable and differing POVs that compliment and contrast each other well. Like James, I cannot stand 99% of reality shows and run away from cringe humor. Like Kay, I love foreign titles and grew up with some of the best YA shows that have ever aired. And like Boyde, I'm an equal-opportunity trier of new shows, and watch so much that I have trouble retaining names and plot points. Thank you for broadening my TV horizons and making me laugh twice a week!
LindseyReecher · Mar 2024
I am not a regular listener of this podcast but listened for a review of a particular show called Sanditon. I found it interesting that the three people on the podcast reviewed season 3 of Sanditon without watching season 2 at all, and with one person watching 2 episodes of season 1, skipping season 2 altogether then watching season 3. It is a shame that they gave their opinions on a season that told the second half of story arcs that were begun on season 2 when the show was brought back. To say that you love Austen adaptations but complain that they’re not lavish enough boggles my mind. You would not have liked the Andrew Davies adaptations of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility for one thing. You cannot say that there is no chemistry between the lead couple when there is an explanation for their awkwardness with each other, and proves that you haven’t seen season 2 at all. I did not find the banter to be particularly amusing, and now that I know that the hosts are more interested in being clever than being knowledgeable, I will take a pass on this podcast.
Enchantmentfel · Jan 2024
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