Episode
Does Mark think BACKROOMS is a-maze-ing?
- Podcast
- Kermode & Mayo’s Take
- Published
- May 28, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4962
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. Our guest this week is James Graham, one of Britain’s most prolific and successful writers, including of the brand new BBC series Dear England. Adapted from a play which Graham also wrote, it charts the journey of Gareth Southgate’s England men’s team from the disappointment of the ‘golden generation’ to the success we all cheered on in recent years—except for Mark, of course. No chance of him following the football. James talks to Simon about the highs and lows, moving from stage tp screen, and why Gareth Southgate has a redemption narrative straight outta Shakespeare. Mark reviews it too, plus three more of the week’s big releases—a packed show again. We’ve got Power Ballad, a dark musical comedy of unfulfilled potential and stolen success starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, Backrooms a new A24 horror that started life as a viral YouTube video, and Tuner, the crime thriller starring Dustin Hoffman and last week’s Take guest Leo Woodall. All that plus the usual lovely nonsense. Enjoy! Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 10:04 Power Ballad review 16:38 Box Office 10 30:29 James Graham interview 47:00 Dear England review 53:33 Laughter Lift 01:00:31 Backrooms Review 01:08:22 Tuner review The fundraising page for Dave Mitchell, director of Alien On Stage can be found here: htt…