British TV/General Discussion

Solar, checked out the preview, looks to be a scary one. Is it? 

Wouldn't say scary , Brit .  but ongoing intrigue.  Michael C. Hall  is not a detective but a surgeon  who's daughter had disappeared  after attending a party within the gated community where they all live .  While looking for his daughter he discovers all kinds of weird things about his neighbours . Gated communities are supposed to be SAFE  ..  hence the title .  Will watch till end ta see how deeply involved that Van der Valk guy is , if at all.  Not a bad watch but not  recommended . 

Brit, are you watching the reruns of Baptiste? I found them unpleasant, and could not watch.

Meanwhile, nothing else drawing me in. Not on PBS, not on Britbox or Acorn.

Reruns of Law and Order, with Jerry Orbach.

@deedee713 wrote:
Brit, are you watching the reruns of Baptiste? I found them unpleasant, and could not watch.

Meanwhile, nothing else drawing me in. Not on PBS, not on Britbox or Acorn.

Reruns of Law and Order, with Jerry Orbach.

 

No, I 'm not. That happens sometimes, you go back to something and it hits you a completely different way. Occasionally, it is even better the second time around, which I found with my recent rewatch of Giri/Haji. So good, I probably will watch it again at some point. 

"Law and Order" is a constant in my house - the Hubs can never get enough, he watches the episodes over and over - the old ones, the new ones. It is his "go to" TV series.

I just finished two series that I found a drain to finish.  "White Dragon" and "Redemption", (Prime/ Britbox) Both started strong the first two episodes, then "White Dragon" went totally off the charts, Simm's character was annoying to the tenth degree - I only kept going because I was already in it and wanted to see how it ended. They did tie it up in a nice bow at the end, but even that didn't bring any real good feelings, which is what happens when there are no characters that you actually like. 

I had read a review of the series on the site that recommends whether a show is worth a watch or a miss -- can't remember the name of the site - and even they said to give it a pass (and they are usually generous with their critiques). I should have listened. Now, I should mention that I did read a post on the FB British TV page and there were people who loved it. Each to their own.

"Redemption" was better, the acting was strong and I liked the lead actress in the role. After a good start though the story got predictable and I found myself sloshing along the last two episodes to get to the end. It was okay - not bad, not great.

So, like you, I can't find anything new that interests me. I am currently back to my "Ballykissangel" rewatch, which I shelved for a while and started rewatching the first season of "Ugly Betty". Perfect to binge. 

Deedee, "Rumpole of the Bailey" has hit Britbox. I own the DVD box set, but I don't pull out my DVD's much these days, so this is a great addition to the line-up. I am definitely up for a rewatch, been hankering to see the cast again, particularly "my guy" Peter Bowles. 

Also, "Above Suspicion" has been added - have you seen this? I haven't, was wondering if it is worth a watch. I usually like Ciaran Hind's in anything he does.

Brit, I'll have to give Above Suspicion a try. Although I'm curious about the 'voice dubbing' in the Rotten Tomatoes review.

Decider.com 'stream it or skip it', is that the review site you mean? It is one of the sites I check out.

Hi All!  I'm kinda like a blast from the past myself 'eh?  LOL

I was browsing ahead on my guide and noticed that the beginning of September  Sundays are going to be jam-packed with goodness!  I know that you have probably already seen them on Netflix, Passport or Britbox - but for me?  Shiny and New!      Unforgotten (sans Nicola), Van DerValk and Professor T!  

I've also tagged the Based on a True Story with Kaley Cuoco just because she makes me laugh! W Network,- original Peacock which I don't have either- so this is also new to me.

How has everyone been keeping?  Here, it's been a busy, smoky year! The winds created by the forestfires seemed to raise up and dump all their smoke right above our little town, but on the plus side, I've gotten some lovely pics of the orange sun in the morning and evenings! Hubs had a nasty cough off and on since the spring (we put it down to the air quality, and him being a dedicated smoker), right up till June when an emerg doctor decided to dig a little deeper into why he couldn't breathe and had to sit up all night to sleep, and why the inhalers didn't help.  Yeah, when you read the books, that's one of the first signs of heart failure. So, turns out around the heart and lungs were filling with fluid, heart couldn't keep up...and now he is down to under 20%. Good thing he's a senior and our Blue Cross covers the bulk of the cost of these meds of pretty colours! Me, Ima keeping busy, started cleaning out this huge house and hoping to sell and move to something a little smaller...we sure don't need 5 bedrooms now that the kids have moved out!  Speaking of Five Bedrooms, I will soon be seeing a new season of that one too!!

My grandbaby of course is adorable, and unquestionably the cutest little bebe in Canada! Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm now a granny to a human child?  LOL.  His name is Damon, and is such a little doll, and so easygoing!!  Those two new parents have no idea how lucky they are. Well, that's the highlights, see you guys again soon!

Hi  appara   ...  been a long time since we all heard from  ya .  How ya doin'.  Not much goin' on here ....  since we're goin' thru the dry spell just waitin' for the fall season ( fall is my best time since I hate the hot muggy summer weather. )  Have the  ' All Creatures ...  Behind the  Scenes ' of season 3  special  still on my PVR  which I captured  a few weeks ago ,  will get to that in a few days .  Have been grabbing eps' of  ' Before we die '  with  Lesley  Sharp from  ' Scott  and  Bailey '  (  in PVR  that are being  shown on  PBS  in the wee small hours . ) Other than that , just waitin' .  Unforgotten  will be ' interesting ' ta see  without Nicola and looking forward to  Professor ( oddball )  T.  Seen that Van der Valk guy in a Netflix  show called  ' Safe '  he plays a good sleezy role better than a hero cop .  Been followin' the  wildfire business goin' on out there ...  makes ya wonder if there is any forest left in BC to burn. 

@appara wrote:
Hi All!  I'm kinda like a blast from the past myself 'eh?  LOL

I was browsing ahead on my guide and noticed that the beginning of September  Sundays are going to be jam-packed with goodness!  I know that you have probably already seen them on Netflix, Passport or Britbox - but for me?  Shiny and New!      Unforgotten (sans Nicola), Van DerValk and Professor T!  

I've also tagged the Based on a True Story with Kaley Cuoco just because she makes me laugh! W Network,- original Peacock which I don't have either- so this is also new to me.

How has everyone been keeping?  Here, it's been a busy, smoky year! The winds created by the forestfires seemed to raise up and dump all their smoke right above our little town, but on the plus side, I've gotten some lovely pics of the orange sun in the morning and evenings! Hubs had a nasty cough off and on since the spring (we put it down to the air quality, and him being a dedicated smoker), right up till June when an emerg doctor decided to dig a little deeper into why he couldn't breathe and had to sit up all night to sleep, and why the inhalers didn't help.  Yeah, when you read the books, that's one of the first signs of heart failure. So, turns out around the heart and lungs were filling with fluid, heart couldn't keep up...and now he is down to under 20%. Good thing he's a senior and our Blue Cross covers the bulk of the cost of these meds of pretty colours! Me, Ima keeping busy, started cleaning out this huge house and hoping to sell and move to something a little smaller...we sure don't need 5 bedrooms now that the kids have moved out!  Speaking of Five Bedrooms, I will soon be seeing a new season of that one too!!

My grandbaby of course is adorable, and unquestionably the cutest little bebe in Canada! Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm now a granny to a human child?  LOL.  His name is Damon, and is such a little doll, and so easygoing!!  Those two new parents have no idea how lucky they are. Well, that's the highlights, see you guys again soon!

Hello, Appara! So good to hear from you!! Congrats on becoming a grandmother, so exciting and I am sure that Damon is the most adorable child in all of Canada! You are starting a whole new adventure, both with all the fun and joy of being a grandma, and with your downsizing plans. It's a whole new world opening up - enjoy every minute.

So sorry that you took the brunt of the wildfire air quality - we got just the tail end of it here in New Jersey and I couldn't go outside for more than a minute because it effected my breathing due to my asthma - so I can only image what it was like for you and your husband. Wishing your husband all the best, breathing issues are difficult, I went through it with my Mom, I know though you will stay on top of it. 

Looking forward to the continuation of the Mystery season with "Unforgotten" and "Van Der Valk". Best time of the year for us PBSers. 

I have added "Five Bedrooms" to my must watch list - since it is a very short list at the moment, I think I will be getting to it soon.  

Don't forget   PBS  Masterpiece  tomorrow night  ... Unforgotten  Season  5  Ep 1   with  DI  Sunny  Khan's  new  partner   DCI  Jessica  James  (  Sinead Keenan ) . Following  with  Van der Valk   Season 3   Ep 1  Freedom in  Amsterdam  Part  1 .  Have  PVR  on  stand  by.   lol   

@solar wrote:
Don't forget   PBS  Masterpiece  tomorrow night  ... Unforgotten  Season  5  Ep 1   with  DI  Sunny  Khan's  new  partner   DCI  Jessica  James  (  Sinead Keenan ) . Following  with  Van der Valk   Season 3   Ep 1  Freedom in  Amsterdam  Part  1 .  Have  PVR  on  stand  by.   lol   

Solar, I am ready! DVR is all set. Btw, I watched two shows on Netflix I enjoyed, if you like Star Trek, "Star Trek Into the Darkness" is good. I wasn't sure I would like it, but I was pleasantly surprised - light entertainment, full of action and I liked the reimagined characters. 

The other is "Unknown - Cave of Bones". So interesting... it is about a new found "other" species (over 100,000 years old) that they say are not human (or of the beginnings of human origin), but had the capacity for love and went to great extent to care for their community members as they moved from this world to the next, the same as we do. The capacity for this, even though they mentioned their small brains (repeatedly), makes me feel they are more human-like than they say they are. Coming to the conclusion (as they did) that they are a new species - not primate, not human may actually be the best way to understand who they are. 

Anyone who is a pet parent already understands that the size of the brain has nothing to do with what any being is capable of understanding, feeling or doing.

Anyone who is a pet parent already understands that the size of the brain has nothing to do with what any being is capable of understanding, feeling or doing.

Amen to that, Brit.

New Chelsea Detective, Season 2, episode one only, on Acorn. New partner - Sonita Henry left for another show - isn't bad. 

@deedee713 wrote:
Anyone who is a pet parent already understands that the size of the brain has nothing to do with what any being is capable of understanding, feeling or doing.

Amen to that, Brit.

New Chelsea Detective, Season 2, episode one only, on Acorn. New partner - Sonita Henry left for another show - isn't bad. 

Good to hear, Deedee. I was wondering how the new partner was going to work out. 

I wouldn't watch Unforgotten, but did anyone see Van Der Valk? Interested to hear how you all liked the end of episode one.

@deedee713 wrote:
I wouldn't watch Unforgotten, but did anyone see Van Der Valk? Interested to hear how you all liked the end of episode one.

Not yet, Deedee. Plan to view Van Der Valk  tonight.

I did watch "Unforgotten" last night... do not care for the actress who is Cassie's replacement and that is not going to change regardless of how her character grows in the future. I feel the same way as Sunny, I don't like her. 

I realize she is dealing with a lot as this season opens and I will say that her abrasiveness with others is partly due to her taking her situation out on the people around her, but my understanding of that will not change my feelings about her. There are times when an actor doesn't gell with me, I just don't care for them as an actor - I can't explain it any better than they rub me the wrong way - and she falls in this group.

THAT BEING SAID... I don't watch this series for her, I watch it for Sunny and the team and they all were on point last night! I forgot how complex the stories in this series are, how they weave different characters and situations together, overlapping the stories until the puzzle pieces start to fill in. 

Here we are, first episode down and we have a handful of threads - all going on at the same time - and we know something will bring some of these threads together - and some, as they always are, are red herrings meant to keep us guessing. I had to remind myself of this... to be wary before I start making judgements that will get me going on the wrong path.

I find this series to be unique in how they tell the story, letting it develop over a number of episodes until bam - we start to get some real insight in to what is really going on. No other series does it quite the same way.

Yeah  ,  gotta  say  S5 E1  of  Unforgotten  ..  left me with  mixed  feelings.   Glad ta see it , on one hand , but not so sure I liked what I saw  on the other.  Good ta see Sunny and the team once again  but not so sure what the writers are tryin' ta do with this new character  DCI  Jessica  James .  Why are they deliberately  starting off  making her unlikable ..  what is their point.  I get it the woman has big personal troubles  (  that she just found out the morning of her new job start. )  but she seems to have an abrasive personality with Sunny and staff. Ya know what they say ..  ya never get a second chance ta make a first impression .  It will set the tone of her relationship with them forever. The structure is the same old Unforgotten  ...  different story lines , seemingly unrelated  that leave ya guessing which ones are  relevant  and which are red herrings.  I loveit. 

Van der Valk  was good and I watch but he's not a fav. of mine .   dee ,  that head knock  will teach her ta stay in bed  instead of roaming around outside . 

Will watch  Professor  Oddball  tonight ....  It's  S2 E1 ,  ' Ring of Fire '  pity it's not S3 but that will come  later at some point.   I find  Professor T  interesting  because of how his mind works in viewing a crime .  But he's so  odd I feel he should be locked up half the time .  lol  

dee ,  that head knock  will teach her ta stay in bed  instead of roaming around outside

True, solar, but what GOT me..........look away, Brit!..................was the um, cop outside the room, duh, where did he go and Dr. Dimwit who took the word of a patient that she was so much better the doctor could leave her unattended. Sorry, this was a scream at the tv moment for me.

Oh, and I still find Piet as unappealing as kale.

Need not say anymore about my dislike of Miller vs the perfect Professor T Koen De Bouw. But I do always like seeing Frances de la Tour, she of the keeper of Albert Finney's head in Cold Lazarus. Hope you've all seen it, along with Karaoke.

Deedee, I agree that ending scene in Van Der Valk was more than a bit on the contrived side. I know that they wanted the outcome of the hospital patient getting that knock on the head so that she could be kidnapped (they already have shown teasers of this, so no spoilers there) which was abrupt in and of itself - walk out the door and wham - but on the other hand, like we didn't know that something was going to happen?!

That's the point.  That whole hospital scene was a total set up and we all knew what was going to happen. "Oh yes, run to the screaming patient, I'll be alright" as she pulls the IV's out of her arm not ten seconds later. Where did the cop outside the room go? I guess he ran to see what was happening with the shooter. I would think that protocol would say he should have stayed on post, but if he had, then how could she have run in to the arms of the kidnapper. Who knows if the cop was even still there, everything was happening so quick and the team was all over the place (ending up with guns pointed at each other 🙄). They have to do better with the writing of these stories, they are getting a little too lazy.

I do like the new team, not sorry to see the guy who spent most of his time eating (and little else) gone - he was a waste of time; the other guy though was smart and a real help in the investigations - I wish they would have kept him on - I liked him.

I am finding that Piet is growing on me! Even surprises me. Kale though, never will. 

"Ya know what they say ..  ya never get a second chance ta make a first impression. It will set the tone of her relationship with them forever."

Such a good point, Soler!  No matter how things progress with her, the team will not forget her chilly and abrasive behavior towards them in this first meeting and investigation. I'll go one step further and say that there is going to be a part of the audience that will never like her because of it as well.

"Why are they deliberately starting off making her unlikable ..  what is their point."   

Exactly! If a substantial part of the audience does not come to embrace her (later) when she sees her behavior for what it is (we know that is coming), this could have a lingering negative effect on the series going forward. 

You are right, what was the point in going in this direction. We would all assume that there would be problems with any new person taking over for Cassie with all the emotional baggage that is still there, why add to this by making her go after Sunny and the team? If she does not sit well with the fans, there is no way that she will continue in the role. They will have no choice but to find a Cassie #3 or let Sunny take over (assuming they want to continue with the series). 

Sunny is running the show anyway from behind the scenes, she may think she is in charge, but she isn't. When he said to her they begged me (to take on her job) I was like oh boy, he is laying down the gauntlet.

The problem is that they need Sunny to have someone to play off of, that is what he does best. If he is in charge, they don't have the ying and yang that makes his character so important to the series. 

Regarding Professor T...

pity it's not S3 but that will come later at some point.

The third season of the original version was the best!  I, like Deedee, don't care for Miller's version (I too have already said this numerous times). I hope though for your sake that Miller's version comes close, because I think you will really enjoy it, it was such a good watch.

@deedee713   wrote   ..   .was the um, cop outside the room, duh, where did he go   ....  yeah   ,  where did he go ...  maybe it was him who bopped  her on the head ,  to teach her a lesson to stay in her room.   

Brit ..