Homeland was the first series that got me hooked on binge-watching. My business partner suggested that I watch this new American series and I wasn't sure because it wasn't much of a soapie, but when I tried it, I was hooked.
The show had such a compelling storyline and the lead character was fascinating. I had never seen a female character on TV who is not apologetic about her sexuality, and is damn good at her job without being a stereotypical super-bitch in a soapie.
I make sure I watch The Queen every night, not only because I'm a co-headwriter but it's such addictive TV that I watch just to enjoy it.
Since the end of The Good Wife, another show I really loved, I have not found another TV show to watch weekly, so I end up on National Geographic or the History Channel.
When Roots was first broadcast in America, it changed the face of American TV. America was forced to face slavery head-on. If you look at Eastern Europe post the Soviet Union collapse, so much great content was made to examine that period.
Post '94 in SA, we've never really told great stories about our history. What is missing is the need to tell South African stories that represent the true sense of where we come from and where we are going.
At the moment South African TV is very much escapist - we've not really dramatised racism, tribalism - mostly because broadcasters are so scared of doing anything that is deemed controversial so we end up with happy-land TV. I really would like to see good human dramas about the post-Apartheid South Africa that is not apologetic.
My production company Tshedza Pictures, which I co-own with Gwydion Beynon, is producing the telenovela The River for 1Magic on DSTV premium and that is our focus for this year...