British TV/General Discussion

Brit, I heard on the news, didn't realize that's where you are!  We get the odd 'house' vibration here, but it's due to the jets fooling around too close to town -and that's enough to startle me off the sofa. An actual earthquake must have really made you sit up and take notice!! 

We sometimes get snow in May and as early as August, but, as Soler said, I'll take the snow any day! Being inland, we don't get hurricanes either!

I did take a sneak peak at a few minutes of the Post Office scandal while it was recording, and I think it will keep my attention. Here, we had the 'Phoenix' system that the gov't said was going to make things easier for the payment of gov't employees. It is still not working properly and eight years later the department responsible asked for around $500 million to “stabilize” the problem. Of course, it's been swept under the carpet by the PTB!

appara  ..   had ta laugh after I read you're post .  I had forgotten all about  ' Phoenix ' .    Remember my neighbour   ( government employee )  complaining back in the day about  how everybodys  pay  was gettin' screwed up.  He's retired now  and I haven't heard him talk about it  in a while.   After reading you're post I watched the first Ep. of Bates and kept saying to myself  as I watched   Phoenix  .. Phoenix  ..  Phoenix   LOL   We needed our own Mr . Bates  to help sort that mess.   $500  million , Typical  government response ..  When they see a problem  their immediate  reaction  is to throw  more and more money at it.  Enjoyed  first Ep.  eagerly  waiting for the next. 

Toby Jones  doin'  a good job.  

I have been emersed in (and taking full advantage of) a free week of Walter Presents from Xfinity at the moment. I have a few series I want to get caught up on. 

Hey  Brit  ....   sounds good ,  what stuff are ya watchin' . 

@solar wrote:
Hey  Brit  ....   sounds good ,  what stuff are ya watchin' . 

Nothing earth shattering, I am watching two series that are different from what I have been watching and some times that in itself is enough. 

First, I am in to the 3rd season of "Inspector Rocco Schiavone" - I watched most of the first season when Prime had it (twice) as one of their monthly freebies. With this free week of Walter Presents I have been trying to finish the current storyline - not quite there yet, but I have had enough of it for the time being, so I'll let it go at this point and pick it up again when WP offers another free week. 

In truth, it is a poor copy cat of Inspector Montabano - anyone who is a fan of that series sees the glaring similarities in this one. But... (and this is a big one) the lead character Rocco, is no Salvo (Montabano). Salvo is always a gentleman and treats woman with the greatest respect - it is a joy to watch him on screen. 

Rocco is crass... grumpy and crass. His team members walk the same path - there is little subtlety in anything they do - very coarse in manner. I have to remind myself that this is Italian TV and acceptance of misogyny in the culture should not surprise me. It is just that I was first introduced to Montalbano and once you have seen the best everything else pales by comparison.

One of the lead female characters in the series was in a Montalbano episode, I couldn't remember her so I pulled out my DVD's and watched it. It is one of my favorites that I (almost) had forgotten about and seeing Salvo in action once again made the differences in how the characters conduct themselves all the more apparent. 

In any event, I read a review of the Inspector Schiavone series that said to hang in as it gets better as it progresses -  and in all fairness I found this to be true. Rocco calms down a bit, shows more compassion and the stories get more interesting as time goes on. So I am going to stick with it and keep going the next time WP gets generous.  It did make me realized how much I miss Montalbano in my life, so I do think I will pop a few more episodes in the DVD player moving forward.

On another note, the Italian language is so much easier to understand than French. The more I watch the better it flows for me - and I don't speak Italian!

Solar, the second detective series I am watching is new to me - "The Wall", this is a series based in Quebec. 

I am not doing as well with my French here as I was doing with "Astrid". Basic conversational phrases are used in that series, so it starts to reinforce in my mind - Canadian French (which seems to be spoken more formally) leaves me lost. 

I have two more episodes left in the first season which follows one story arc. It has been interesting - I think I may have figured out who the killer is, but then again, I may be out there holding on to a red herring and since I am not sure I got it right, it is keeping my interest.

Yes, I've heard many times that our Canadian French speak quite differently than the France French.  Quite some years ago the province decided that there was too much English creeping into their culture, so they made it their mission to remove all traces of 'franglais'  and become more french than the French!  Even more recently, the french language law is going to make it more difficult to to be English-speaking in Quebec.

I personally have found that a lot of Quebec-french take it to the point of being rude and out-and-out nasty to non-french, and because of that, I haven't watched a Canadian french series for eons.

Gettin' further into this  Bates / Post Office  thing .  Like the ' little guy '  goin' up against this large government bureaucracy  and  how seemingly impossible it is to fight them  ,  the fact it's based on a true story gives it that extra bite.   It's showing not to be a quick  battle , it goes on for years but not giving  up  is showing to be the key .  Slow but steady progress .  It's proving to be a fun watch so far . 

Appara, try as they will, French Canadian's with all their emphasis on speaking the most formal form of the French language, will never out French the (France) French! 😉 It takes much more than calling an American hotdog, a hotdog - rather than a saucisse - to water down a culture and I think the French people have come to realize that. Being French is an attitude about life that is uniquely their own and a few American phrases here and there will never change that.

Solar, so glad you are enjoying Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office. It is getting good reviews. Such a nice feeling to hunker down with something you enjoy!

Nope, could not do it. Only had one more episode to record, and I was bored so I thought it might be the perfect time to begin again with this series - I made it through the first episode when it first aired and thought there might be something there. I quit in the middle of the 3rd, I saw no growth to the characters, I saw no signs of epic love - she was the con, he was the mark. Multi-delete, stopped the recording for the final episode and it's Bye Bye Alice and Jack.

Soler, I would love to be a fly on the wall just to see how those 'higher-ups' dealt with the fallout from this series being aired!! They probably had some idea this docu-drama was going to be shining a spotlight on their bad behavior, but they likely didn't realize how far beyond their borders this story would travel, giving the world an intimate look at the devastation their actions caused?  I'm hoping they are scrambling to do the right thing now!!

Gotta  feeling   appara  ..  this is going ta be a tough bunch to crack. Think there is gonna be a whole lot of a** covering going on.  One of there first lines to people was ta say " You are the only one complaining " and of course  each postmaster  believed it until a few started to get together and  compared stories .  So there's the first line of  BS ta come out of them . Gonna be fun watching the bureaucrats  wriggle and squirm  as their BS doesn't hold up to scrutiny .   Fun watch , this . 

@appara wrote:
Nope, could not do it. Only had one more episode to record, and I was bored so I thought it might be the perfect time to begin again with this series - I made it through the first episode when it first aired and thought there might be something there. I quit in the middle of the 3rd, I saw no growth to the characters, I saw no signs of epic love - she was the con, he was the mark. Multi-delete, stopped the recording for the final episode and it's Bye Bye Alice and Jack.

Soler, I would love to be a fly on the wall just to see how those 'higher-ups' dealt with the fallout from this series being aired!! They probably had some idea this docu-drama was going to be shining a spotlight on their bad behavior, but they likely didn't realize how far beyond their borders this story would travel, giving the world an intimate look at the devastation their actions caused?  I'm hoping they are scrambling to do the right thing now!!

Appara, re: " Alice and Jack" -  I getcha... to your credit, you lasted longer than me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68875006 Brenda Blethyn to say cheerio to Vera after 14 years.

@Sheerwater wrote:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68875006 Brenda Blethyn to say cheerio to Vera after 14 years.

Just read the news a few minutes ago, Sheerwater! I came hear to see if anyone else had heard and there was your post. Can always count on you for the latest news. 

I am so sorry to see the series end, it has been my favorite from day one - very few series have ever come close to the first two seasons of "Vera" - it has kept its' quality and integrity through it all, but those first few years were stunners. They put this series on the map and set a bar from which every future episode and (detective) show is compared in my book. It has been fourteen years, so it is easy to forget what a breath of fresh air this series was when it first arrived.  

As much as I am sorry to see it come to a close I was expecting this (as many other fans). Kudos to Brenda B. for hanging in as long as she did and giving us so much TV joy.

Sad news  Sheerwater  ...  read this  and like Brit came  over  here .  After 14 years and being 78 I guess Brenda B. thought it was time to sit back  and relax a bit. . Still have  a few eps. to view in  PVR  from the early years .                                                                                                                                             Looks like things are starting to heat up in  Bates / P.O.  A  Whistle-Blower  has finally got in touch with  Bates.  That should make it interesting.  lol 

"Guilt" coming up this Sunday. I will be watching! Solar, found "First of the Summer Wine" on The 'Tube. Prequel of the series. Not earth shattering, pilot episode is so-so, but it stars Maggie Ollerenshaw (of "Still Open All Hours" fame) whom I love and Peter Sallis. He certainly made a living on this series didn't he - he was there for most of it as it expanded through the years. So because of Maggie and Peter I carried on. 

I had YT on through my TV, (the app on Xfinity) so I let the episodes keep running as I was cooking and doing things around the house, and as it went on, it got better. Not the kind of thing I would sit and give my full attention to, but as background where I could listen and stop now and then to watch, it was enjoyable in the kind of way these blasts from the past can be. 

Deedee, where are you?! Haven't heard from you in a while! I watched "Black Work" on Britbox the other night. I read good reviews on FB, so I gave it a go. It is good - great cast and (at least for me) an unexpected ending - they totally got me.

All set for  ' Guilt '  ,  Brit .  got my PVR set.  Good timing as  Bates / P.O.  finale is also Sunday.   Would love to see another run of  ' Still  Open All  Hours '   nice little feelgood comedy .   Don't know if  David Jason  is a better cop  ( Frost )  or  comedic  shop owner .   Good at both , I would say is my final answer. 

Ya know Brit ..  I have come to a revelation  about  MM  as I  watched  todays show .  I am starting to accept  Neil Dudgeon  as  John Barnaby  as I replacement for Nettles  in   Midsomer Murders .  As that old enemy  ..  TIME  ..  creeps along  swiftly and silently .  Nettles  completed  81  shows before he left  whilst  Dudgeon  is now up to  62 . 

Read an article about Dudgeon  about 2 or 3 years ago  ,  he commented  on  MM   by  saying  "  It's home to me now " .   I have finally accepted it . 

 dee   ..   time to poke your head in the door . 

Would love to see another run of 'Still Open All Hours'

Solar, so would I. So disappointed that they didn't continue the series as they had originally planned. I keep hoping that maybe tptb will change their minds and give us one more season.

I can totally understand your change of heart regarding Neil Dudgeon - at some point you do have to accept that things have moved on and enjoy it for what it is rather than to pine for what it was. John Nettles had his time and now after 62 episodes of his own, it is time to give Dudgeon his due. 😉😊

Guess  this is the last season of  ' Guilt '   with  the adventures of  Max  and  Jake .  It opened so  funny and  quirky  , with running down that old man and then propping  him up in a house ta cover their tracks . Something  Laurel and Hardy about that .  Max being a rich lawyer when this happened .  lol  How fortunes  have changed for him  I thought  while watching the first Ep. of  S 3 .  The Scottish accent  a little hard ta follow at  times  and  Max so  far down on his luck  , hoping ta see his fortunes turn around  and he's back to his former status before that comical car incident . Time will tell before the last Ep.   Lets  see.  

Before  Guilt  next Sunday  ( PBS )  starts another show  called   Maryland  ,  don't know  beyond it's about  2 sisters  who return home  ,  Suranne Jones  from   Doctor Foster   and  Scott  &  Bailey  fame is one of the sisters.  Will watch because of her  ta see what  the mystery is  (  if  any ) .  

Hi guys. Thanks for asking after me.

Misanthropically, I didn't like anything on the PBS schedules, and didn't want to be a wet blanket here.

Then I saw the notice on Vera. Thank heaven there will NOT be a new Vera or a new young Vera. I guess that's why Joe came back. I am truly and sincerely bummed.

Ah, well, there are the reruns.

I liked Dudgeon from moment one, solar. Him early on as the criminal with the Nettles MM was a hoot.

Black Work? Sounds like something I'd like, Brit. Thanks.