Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 76: Bonus Episode: The Madison - Our TV Pick for March!

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

This special bonus episode is brought to you by The Madison on Paramount+Consider this your must-watch recommendation for March. Jo and Zoe are chatting about The Madison — a brand new six-part series streaming now on Paramount+. Jo and Zoe get into what made them fall for the show; the beauty of Montana, the warmth and humour woven through the grief, and why this kind of female-led storytelling hits so differently. Plus: Zoe's ugly cry face at episode four, whether horses are actually terrifying, and if Disco Steve should go full ‘Kurt Russell’ with his hair.Episodes 1-3 of The Madison are available to stream now. Episodes 4-6 will be available to stream on 21 March.Stream The Madison on Paramount+  https://www.paramountplus.comWatch Dig It on YouTube - https://youtu.be/2ojQ6zYjqRs GET IN TOUCH 📧 Email us: [e-mail] 📱 Text or Voice Note: 07477 038795 💬 Or tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/447477038795CREDITS Exec Producer: Jonathan O'Sullivan Technical Producer: Oliver Geraghty Video Editor: Cameron Laird

This bonus episode of Digit is brought to you by The Madison, a brand new series starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, streaming now on Paramount Plus. Coming up on Digit's. And I also love that our diggers message me now saying, you will like this because you recommended that to me and therefore I kind of know you're going to like this. Oh, it's great. Which is what resonated with me so much is seeing this family deal with grief in such different ways and how that starts to come through in each of them. A horse has terrified me, Joe. I've been thrown off them. I've been trodden on by them. They don't love me. You're all same. But I tell you what, I just, you watch this and you think, actually, maybe I, maybe I will go on it, like a blazing saddles. All of that, right after this.

Hello, Joe. Hi, hi, zo. Hi, hi, hi, hi. Are you all right? I'm good. Thank you. Yeah, I am. Spring is springing around us. Even though the world is slightly melting somewhat, there are signs of spring that are making me happy and giving me hope. and there's so much good telly at the moment. Yeah, I mean, there's one thing that I think we've both been obsessed with this week. But I think the difference between us you love telly, you consume telly a lot. I fit it into my life when I can. But have you always been obsessed with TV? Yeah, I think it sort of came from watching things with my great gran when I was young.

And I don't know what it is. I love this. It's escapism. I think it's being a hopeless romantic. There is just, I love a great. great movie. I love a sweeping drama. I love a who done it. I read a lot of Agatha Christie's when I was young. But I've always loved the telly. Do you remember in the 101 Dalmatians? There's the little dog that just watches the telly the whole time. I can't remember what the dog was called. Oh, you were that

pup. That is me. I've just like, I always found it to be such brilliant escapism. And as a result, I probably do watch way too much telly. But on the whole, there's a lot of good telly to watch at the moment. So when I get really excited in the buildup to a new drama coming, because often you'll look, won't you, and think, I am going to love that. And I also love that our diggers message me now saying, you're going to love this. Have you watched this, Zoe? You will like this because you recommended that to me and therefore I kind of know you're going to like this. Oh, it's great. So I quite like that community, especially through the last few months that we need that escapism sometimes, don't we, to somewhere completely different. You can park all your problems. You can part the world's problems that

surrounding us at the moment, and just escape to another, someone else's life. Is there such a thing as too much TV? I don't think there is, because we are blessed with such a vast array of things. I think I've always really, let you say, escapism, I've just always gone in the sci-fi direction. I think this is where we differ. I know you love Doctor Who and I love Doctor Who and it's been a massive thing in our children's lives, our lives altogether, but I've always been drawn to the fantasy and the surreal stuff that's going on. So when it comes to who done it's and things like that, I just, I just don't bother watching them. They're just not something that I really love. But when it comes to escapism, there's this TV program which we're

going to chat about, the Madison, which is pure escapism. And it's this amazing cinematic treat. It's a TV program which people are going to absolutely love. You can lose yourself in it. And that's because a lot of it is based in Montana. And when you see the scenery and your eyes just pop and you want to be there straight away. Do you want to explain what Madison is all about for people, for our diggers? Well, it's from Taylor Sheridan. Taylor Sheridan, who famously brought us to the mayor of Kingstown, Yellowstone, and then all the Yellowstone sort of programs that went with it from all the different eras, all of which we've consumed and loved. He's now made Landman as well. He's a brilliant writer. He wrote the screenplay to Sicario, which was such a great film with Emily Blunt.

Hell or High Water was another film that he wrote that I loved. And Wind River, I don't know if you ever saw that. So he was an actor himself. He was in Sons of Anarchy back in the day. But he just writes these incredible dramas from all different settings. And initially I thought the Madison was actually connected to Yellowstone, but it's not. It's a totally different story. And it is about a family, a very wealthy, privileged family,

from New York, the matriarch of whom is the divine Michelle Fyfer, who I have loved since Scarface and Greece too, and I just think she's phenomenal. I was really excited to see her on the one show the other day. I actually texted Alex Jones going, oh my God, Michelle Fyfer. She is always in great films. She makes great choices. Her husband is David E. Kelly, who's made some amazing dramas, so she knows good drama. And she plays the matriarch. Kurt Russell. of overboard. Mr. Goldie Horn plays the father. And it is about this family whose life changes so dramatically with a tragedy and then the aftermath of what happens and how they end up in this different place and these different surroundings and a family dealing with grief. And I think that's

what struck a chord with me so much. This is what resonated with me so much is seeing this family deal with grief in such different ways and how that starts to come through in each of them. And you're watching along sort of seeing this unfold and it's humorous because obviously in all of life situations there are, there's gallows humour. But there's also this sort of feeling of when you lose someone, how you just want to be with them in any way you can, keeping them alive, that's getting in their clothes, being in the places that they love, just trying to hold on to them in every way you can. And I think that's why I've loved this so much, because that's exactly what happens. And you're watching going, I've been there. I have been,

I have done that where I'm like, I'm going. I'm making a pilgrimage to this place because this place, I've never seen this place before, but this is a place that meant so much to them. So there's all of that. And then you've got these very spoiled kids who have had so much their own way. Their parents have spoiled them because that's what you do with your kids. You give them everything. You look after them and suddenly they're thrown into a very different situation and seeing how they all cope with that. And along with this, the tragedy of losing people we love is everything that comes with that when you lose someone. you know, all the dead men trying to organise around a life that's lost. Dead men. I've never heard that phrase before.

Yeah, admin. Admin. Admin. When you've lost loved ones. So you're at your worst. You're suffering at your worst. And then you have to do all these ridiculous things you have to do. Paperwork and sorting and making decisions. And actually all you want to do is just curl up and actually be in the arms of the person. You've lost, really. Just be with them.

So you've got that. kind of, that sort of those different worlds going on here. And so what you end up with is, this, this family thrown into turmoil and surviving through the toughest times. But learning that possibly there is a whole different way of living that they may never have thought about and how much you know the people you love when they're alive and how much you learn about them when they're gone that you, you never realized and you never knew. it's wonderful. I was hooked from the very beginning.

I have sobbed a lot. You've sobbed a lot. I've sobbed a lot and I've loved it. Yeah. No, no. I mean, oh God, I've been consumed with it all this week. But from the very, very beginning because it is so stunning. The setting in Montana is unbelievable.

There's this gorgeous fishing scene with Kurt Russell and Jack from Lost. Jack from Lost. I was very excited to see Matthew Fox. I was like, Jack from Lost in it. Oh my gosh, yeah. But it's them fishing and it's their relationship. the brother's relationship and just this amazing portrayal of the wildlife that's all around them and it really takes its time. So you really kind of relax into this show, I think. You just instantly,

you're there in Montana and you're taking your time and you're looking at what it's like to cast out of fishing line to see whether it snags or what you get and then just looking up and seeing eagles flying or whatever they were. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And then, as you say, the very, very real portrayal of people who get the worst news and their reaction, Michelle Fyfer, is extraordinary, but their reaction. And I think what happens when you lose someone in that moment and the days that follow, you just stop caring, don't you? You don't care about your behaviour, whereas normally you're like, oh, should I say this, should I not?

You just don't care because you are hurting so much and you will say it like it is. And that is what happens with all the characters within the Madison, that they just, just, they speak their truth and they don't care and everyone just reacts in their own different way. But yeah, it's fascinating. I mean, you say that you've been there yourself and I think we all have, we've all lost people. And there are those moments when you're hurting so deeply inside. But then from that point, you start to remember the person that you've lost and the hilarity, the moments, the precious moments you've had with them.

And you gather together, you sit around the table, you start talking about that person. person and and laughter comes, the hilarity comes. You just remember the stupid moments and you start to talk about the character and their personality. You remember them in every, every which way that you can because you don't want to let go. You want to keep them alive forever in whatever way you can. Yeah. It gets you spot on, doesn't it? Yeah, there's some moments where, you know, certain characters are doing certain things that I just thought I did that. That's exactly what I did. I got in my car and I drove. I pulled on all the clothes. I, you know, know, it's like you just want the smell.

That's, that's a thing. That's a moment that got me when a character smells the clothes of someone they've lost. And you just never want that smell to ever go. I can still remember the smell of my granddaughter. The last time I kissed my granddaughter goodbye and he was in the hospital and I remember kissing him on his head. And I can, I can smell it now. You know, yeah. The smell is so evocative, isn't it?

And I will never lose that. I'll never let it go. Isn't it quite brilliant how the brain works that some. Sometimes you can get that smell in your nose of someone you've lost. There is that smell that I'd never understand how that happens. That happened to me the other day. I was like, oh my goodness me, there's that smell. And it's actually not here.

It's sort of like a memory. I don't know how that happens. It's a memory, yeah. Quite incredible. Also, we must say there's budding romance here. There's, you know, there really is, you're like, oh, Oh, good. Oh, hello. Who's that? And there's a lot of, oh, I also wanted to, I mean, horses terrify me, Joe. I've been thrown off them. I've been trodden on by them. They don't love me. You're all same. I'm really scared of them. But I tell you what, I just, you watch this and you think, actually, maybe I, maybe I will go on it, like a blazing saddles. What's the film with Billy Crystal? City Slickers. When they go and they ride horses, I was like, maybe I could go on holiday to Montana.

and ride horses. Maybe that's what I need to do and go fishing. I'm going to say no. I'm going to say no, Zoe, don't. You're going to say no. I'm going to save you. Yeah, no, don't do that. Can I just go over and drive big trucks?

Maybe that's what I need to do. That's fine. It's good because I think also the different generations and the way they react. We've been really carefully because we don't want to give too much away because that will spoil it. And I want people to experience the Madison as we did, starting to watch it and as it unfolds. But one of the observations is about the way he does.

different generations react to grief when things are going horrendously wrong. And I think kids, like young kids, are pretty selfish. It's self-preservation, but also they want their worlds just to carry on and to be happy and to be the way they were. They don't want any interruptions. And then something, they are blindsided. And they'll kind of tolerate it. And they'll look at all the adults around them who are just reeling and emotional. And that's very hard for them to take. So they will just plow on in their own way. And they're very kind of not short-tempered, but not very tolerant, I think, for a very long time of the grief that people are going through. They just want things to get back to normal as quickly as possible.

That's something that we, I was very aware of at Christmas time. We had things going on at home that were just, that flawed us. But ultimately, you felt this responsibility to just keep on going, to just keep normality happening for the sake of the younger people in the family. Because they needed it. They needed life to carry on as usual. You can acknowledge the grief. You can acknowledge the sadness. But actually, in the end, as an adult,

sometimes you have to box it a little bit and you have to spare the children, the grief that you're going through. Absolutely. And then the grief will come to everybody at a different time. And strange things will suddenly bring it up because it's a lot to comprehend. And I think some people go into sort of almost like a shutdown.

Like you say, you just carry on. It's like everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine. and then it will creep up on them. There's something you do see throughout the series. I've watched four episodes now. I'm set. And you see that starting to come to different members of the family at different moments.

And there are things that, you know, and it's heartbreaking to watch that because you see that. And I remember also when you're grieving and you're really struggling, sometimes because life has to carry on. People go to work. People carry on. People, you know. So everyone is there. for you and they'll be there for you, but life does carry on around you. And sometimes that can make you so angry because you're like, everything should stop because something terrible has

happened. And in the meantime, everything's carrying on around you. And it can be so upsetting when you're in the middle of it. But you also have to be so understanding of that. It's so, and that can be hilarious because sometimes you get cross and then you find yourself being quite ridiculous. And other times, the other thing I really love in it is the friends, you know, there's friends characters. And it just watching out, it's like, oh, God, I just thought about my incredible friends who, through all the hardest points in your life, whether that's grief or other things that go on in your life, how your friends are there. And you don't even know how they've got there. They're at the door. There they are.

Supporting you, helping you, doing things that you don't even have to ask them to do. They're there doing those things for you. I've done this. Here's some food. Da-da-da. I've taken the kids here. Boom, boom, boom. Just being brilliant and loving and supportive.

It really made me feel like so chuffed to have the most amazing friends that all hold us up at the moment. Yeah, they just keep you afloat, don't they? They do. It's funny this as well. Madison is funny because it's this family who are very entitled. They're very wealthy. They've had this city life, you know, amazing life. And then they're experiencing what it's like to live in very, very rural and wild Montana.

And, of course, there's all kinds of things that you discover there that aren't, in New York like snakes and hornets. And it reminded me, for some reason, it reminded me a bit of Little House on the Prairie. Just this kind of like madcap family and then weird things keep happening. There's a very funny scene with hornets. And it's how you will deal with it. And it's just hilarious. Very, very funny. Like, how do you deal with the situation when you've never seen a hornet's nest before? I mean, I have never seen a hornet's nest, but what would you do in that situation? And Michelle Fiver is just so great because she's just so strong. I mean, that's what's also really good because it's very much a female perspective, isn't it, in this? It's like you're

understanding the female side of what is going on. There's a lot of very strong female characters in it. And she is steadfast. She is strong. She tells it as it is. And yeah, I really like the way she speaks to the rest of the family. This honesty, which I don't think would have been there beforehand, suddenly comes out and the way she deals with her children and her grandchildren. And it's so good to see, isn't it? Because we've all had those moments of when you just lose it, because you to say what you've said because you're so busy to keep everybody happy that sometimes it just comes out. Yeah, she's so brilliant in it. And there are some really, like you say, the generational things in that, you know, life hasn't gone as well for some people in the family as it has

for others and there's disappointment and there's that thing about feeling like you've disappointed your parents and then there's the whole question of whether parents do too much for their kids and the kids can't stand on their own two feet. But could you do it any other way as a parent, there's great conversation with Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer in a bath about the way they've raised one of their daughters that just, well, it really made me hold my heart. It's like, yeah, that's the problem though. You're going to be there to pick them up and dust them off and sort them out because,

you know, they need you. Our kids really need us. They cover so much. I know. One of the other things that I found really poignant and was the reflecting after you've lost somebody reflecting on how you. you speak to people, how you are with people, the quality of time or the quantity of time that you spend with people, because life is just so fast pace and we just rush through our lives.

And then when people are no longer there, that thought of, oh, would I have done things differently? Could I have done things differently? Should I do things differently going forward? I found it very, very thought-provoking in that way, just like, oh, okay, so maybe I need to slow down, maybe I need to calm down, maybe I need to make more time for other people and appreciate the moments. But at the same time, knowing that nothing. is going to change because it can't because it doesn't. But it definitely makes you think watching this. I did have a photo of my big blubby face off episode four. But it's so ugly cry that I've left it. I haven't changed. You know I only ever watch things on the train, so I can't possibly watch that on

the train. Episode number four. Don't watch number four. I have to save that one for when I get home. Yeah. I'll say that when I have a night on my own and I will watch that. But yeah, I'd love to know what thoughts other diggers have on all the subjects that it raises and what you think of the amazing cast. It's a good, it's a good watch. And I really hope they make more because, yeah, I've only got two episodes left. I'm like, please make some more. One of my big takeaways was whether Disco Steve should have his hair cut like Kurt Russell. He's always reminded me like of Kurt Russell a bit older, then there's disco. And Kurt has managed his hair very well. They've both got mains of hair. And I was like, maybe this is where Disco is. This is where Disco is.

should be going because his hair is kind of like it's wild he's really wild but maybe we could have a vote on it we could put it to the diggers should here's a picture of disco through the years his cut through the years should he now go full cuts he's still so handsome isn't he oh he's gorgeous isn't he isn't he in the christmas chronicles he's plays santa in the christmas chronicles and he is brilliant he's such a great santa i've never seen the christmas chronicles how have i never lovely cheesy Christmas film and he's fantastic in it. Who wants their Christmas films any other way than cheesy? I actually watched one with Michelle Pfeiffer where she's really kind of taken for granted

by her family that came out of Christmas and I was like, oh God, I hear you where she actually leaves the home and they don't even realise she's gone for ages. It's brilliant. I wish I'd watch that. You can watch the Madison brand new original series starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell now on Paramount Plus and do let us know what you think of it. Bye Joe. Bye. Take care. See you.

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