British TV/General Discussion

Happy Thanksgiving Solar and Appara! 

Thanks  Brit   and I hope your  ' National  Turkey - Day'  was  enjoyable as well  appara .  

At least we now know who killed Melissa  James  and it was no suspect with an  obvious  grudge.  (  came out of  left  field )  so to speak.  Now we are left with who killed  Melisa James's  husband .  Show  ended  with  Atticus  saying it was him  .....   puzzle  ...... ?????

In  Moonflower  ( present )  dogwalker finds  Cecily's  body  in  woods ,  hoping for a different outcome here, still don't know who killed  her thou.  Will  watch again tonight  as I was tired for first view  last night.  

Now for Ridley ,  DI Carol  Farman's son Jack  as you say Brit , hanging with a bad crowd.  His mate ' Jason '  I think his name is , is in with  drug dealing .  Ridley trying to keep him out of the investigation . May or may not succeed .   No Ridley song  in this ep. , instead got one from someone who think they are better than they are.  

Happy Thanksgiving, solar and appara. 

appara, cable tv is abysmal and I have no patience to wait for each episode of the PBS shows, so I got PBS passport (WLIW not Masterpiece, so they don't have Marlow Murders yet) and watched Ridley, VanderValk, and Moonflower in their entirety. When PBS is from hunger, I find some good shows on Britbox and Acorn, which I get through Amazon Prime. And here I thought cable was going to be the be all and end all. Hah.

Neither is top notch, appara, but two recents, Seaside Hotel and Bäckström (not the remake), were excellent. IMHO, of course.

Appara, the price going up $40 dollars is a lot - how do you look at that and say oh yah, I'll pay $40 dollars more. I wouldn't either.

Deedee is correct, Passport through a PBS station donation ($60 a year) would be the most direct way to get the series, but I don't think you have Passport available to you in Canada, so you need to check that out.

When you move on to streaming you can go down a slippery slope. I have Britbox through Prime like Deedee, which I watch all the time because I am more interested in retro series and they offer "Vera" and "Shetland", my two favs. They have self produced series as well, some which I have watched, but none that I have loved. 

You can get Britbox and Acorn directly from each company, I tried this with Acorn in the beginning and had so much trouble with their streaming service I gave up on them and was never interested enough to pay for the service again.

I find that paying for Amazon Prime is the most cost effective way to get streaming services because I purchased from Amazon and utilize the free shipping. It pays for itself in the end. If that would work for you as well then start with Prime and add on another service. "Masterpiece" would give you the PBS content, Britbox or Acorn for British series or go with Paramount or even Mhz for a foreign tv spin. 

So let's say that you get Prime (15.00 a month), use the Amazon free shipping and call that a wash. 

To steam "Masterpiece" would be an additional $6.00 a month, plus you would get Prime series/movies. They don't have a great complement of shows that interest me, but there is stuff that is available. The one thing I always look forward to through Prime is their "sample this month" shows which can be from any of the streaming services. Some months (like this one) there is nothing of interest - other months I have watched series from Acorn and Mhz. 

If you add Britbox or Acorn that's another $8.00 a month.  So with Masterpiece at $6.00 and one of these services ($8.00) you are at $14.00 a month plus your Amazon Prime membership (15.00 a month). Roughly $30.00 a month in fees, but you need to take in consideration the free shipping with Prime which would net you a streaming fee of around $15.00 for two services.

Solar, watched both "Ridley" and "Van der Valk" ... The Ridley storyline is a good one, next week's episode looks to be quite disconcerting for our main characters as it hits close to home with Jack. Let's see where this goes, with drugs involved (what was in that pouch Jack had at Ridley's boat and did he leave it there in an attempt to hide it?) it is going to get very tricky to keep him out of it. 

Felt for his friend Jason, given his background that kid had little chance in life and would have been in a very different position had he been given the proper care he needed. Anyone who says that environment does not play a large role in who we become needs to watch Ridley's interview scene with him. Hits like a ton of bricks - at least to me it does.

The club is doing well - lots of patrons, booze is flowing and people seem to like jazz -  Ridley was 😲. 

We are still up in the air regarding Hendrik and his diagnosis. The storyline is focused on cancer research... how Hendrik possibly may tie in to this is an interesting opening for his health path. Could this lead to him becoming part of a drug trial? Not sure where they are going with any of this, but I do like seeing Piet coming out of his own tightly wound world out of concern for him. 

Yeah Brit ...  not sure which way this Hendrick  business is gonna go.  Lucienne  wants to back off and respect Hendrick's wishes and let him handle it his own way while Piet wants to find a way to change his mind . Next week is the finale , wonder if their gonna resolve it or carry it on till next season , ( hope that's not the way it goes ) . 

Might get a song from  Ridley  next week as it is it's finale as well.  Or maybe not , all depends on what  Jack left on Ridley's boat .  lol  

At least we now know who killed Melissa James  and it was no suspect with an obvious grudge.   (came out of  left  field )  so to speak.  Now we are left with who killed  Melisa James's  husband .  Show  ended  with  Atticus  saying it was him  .....   puzzle  ...... ?????

Yes! Did not even consider him as the culprit, Solar! Not on the radar, knew that he was in some kind of hot water, but he was as smooth as silk - never guessed what was truly going on under that exterior. 

Puzzle for sure. May watch "Moonflower" first this week 'cause they really left us hanging.

Well ,  we now know what  Jack  left on Ridley's  boat  ....  got himself in a spot of trouble over that ....   that business in  Van der Valk  at the beginning of the show with  Hendrik  was a bit cartoonish I thought .  More to follow ....  don't want ta be a spoiler .  

Solar, I watched "Moonflower" first ...  an Anthony Horowitz ending (and a half)! Pulled out alllll the stops. Terrific. I did suspect one of the murderers, but could never actually tie this person to it (and what a story it turned out to be), but oh boy, the reveal in both worlds will have you spinning. 

Yeah  Brit  ........   it was a great ending to the  Moonflower  series  ,  gotta admit  never guessed  murderer in either  ' world '  ...   Miss Cain  totally floored  me , never saw that coming in a million  years .  

Never suspected Aiden MacNeil , the husband ,  because it's always the husband and he was so convincing  and never any suspision on him with all the other characters flying around that seemed more likely.   All these  leo / lion  clues scattered through the show went right over my head.   Never thought Susan would go back to Crete , much less to that hotel disaster . 

Horowitz  driving me crazy with this anagram business     Madeine Cain  /  Aiden MacNeil  ,  said  there will be a 3 rd.  book  with  Susan / Atticus  but can't say it will go to screen at this point ,  fingers crossed  it will .  

Miss Cain floored me too, Solar! That was such a clever spin - like you said, never in a million years did I expect that.

I kept getting that bell ringing in my head regarding Aiden MacNeil - something about him, he was not convincing me as the "heartbroken husband", I just could not find any direct clue that made me feel I was right about him. The Leo lion clues went right over my head too, I knew that "Leo" was the key to the murder - could not pin point who he was.

I also didn't see Susan going back to Crete until this last episode, you could see early on in it she was becoming more and more disillusioned with being back in the UK. Horowitz needed a way to get us to believe she would want to go back to the disaster it was - so he gave her the cash from solving the murder and a remote job that enabled her to step back from running the hotel and allowed her and Andreas to get the place in running order. She can now actually start to enjoy living there which was what Horowitz planned from the beginning - he took a hard road to get her there though (loving Crete), which makes little sense to me.

Solar, I was behind on my PBS shows, I am finally caught up!

In this season of "Ridley" it seems that the young people in the stories have been largely the victims - first, we had the daughter who wound up in a terrible position because of her mother's choice of boyfriend - her life will never be the same because of the circumstances. 

Now we have Jack who is also in a terrible situation - and one that may have severe consequences - because of unfortunate friend choices and his affection for a young woman who had no thought for him and the position she was putting him in. Hiding a murder weapon can not be overlooked, no matter what his true intention was. I am concerned for him. 

And, I will add to this Jack's "friend" Jason, who to me was also a product of his environment and circumstances. All three are paying the price because someone - be it a parent/guardian, let the ball slip; although it was pretty apparent to me that Jason never had anyone to look out and care for him. All three are sad situations. 

Ridley can't seem to make up his mind if he is okay with Maggie and the new bar ownership arrangement or not. Last episode he was gungho - which I didn't believe. This episode he is again apprehensive. We will see where it all winds up.

Great episode of "Van der Valk" - this series has really grown on me. Hendrick's health story will continue on to next season leaving us all hanging. I am still banking on a cancer drug trial from the new drug findings from this season (hopefully though, we will find out that an error was made when Hendrick diagnosed himself and his health is not as dire as he (and we) now think).

I was behind on my PBS shows, I am finally caught up!

Yes  Brit  ..  the beauty of PVR  ..   ya can stack ' m  , till ya get to them .   Got a lot of Dateline and 48  Hours  Eps. stacked   and will get to them  at my choosing .  Your right  ,   common  theme  in  Ridley  this season , youth  being led  astray  under serious circumstances .  Last nights Ridley tucked away in PVR  and will get to it thru the week .  

Ridley can't seem to make up his mind if he is okay with Maggie and the new bar ownership arrangement or not.

Seems to me that  Ridley's  wife was part owner  of the bar along with  Maggie .   When she died  Ridley took over half.   Harry seems to be reaching out  to heal the rift between the two.  Besides , it gives him a place to sing .  lol  

Was hoping Hendrik's health problems  would be  resolved at end of season ...  but not to be ...  seems they want to drag this out .  Ready to do something now by walking into the Clinic  at the fade out.   Don't know how they're gonna get out of this .  If it's a  wrong  self diagnosis  , I think it's gonna make him look pretty stupid  (  stick to the dead  Hendrik  and  leave the  living people's doctors do their work ) .  Just a thought .  

Also, have  The Marlow Murder Club  ,  which aired  Ep. 1  last night .   After  Magpie / Moonflower  by  Horowitz ...  gonna be expecting a lot . 

Solar, watched the first episode of "Marlow Murder Club", it was okay - I wasn't bowled over - not on the same level of "Magpie/Moonflower". That said, it may take a few more episodes to warm up to it, so I am staying open-minded as it may grab me more as it continues. Lead character reminds me of Miss Marple, which I like. 

Yeah Brit  ...   got the same impression myself. Murder plot did not seem that strong.  Became more interested in the scenery , kinda reminded me of Midsomer  a bit . But like you , will give it a few more Eps.   Much more favorable was the plot of  Ridley : The Memory  Jar ,  Part  1 .  Young mother does not pick up her child from school , goes missing .  Cracks showing up in relationship between Annie and Harry. He got all kinds of ideas for changes that don't sit well with  Annie  and he also appears to be a bit of a player .  No singing from Ridley in this one ...  it's good that they're not over doing it.  The odd song makes it work better some how.   Oh .. and  DC  Lakhan  throwing money on slow horses and borrowing  £ 5000  from  Ridley , wonder how that's gonna turn out.  

Yes, "Marlow" does have a Midsomer village feel to it. 

No singing from Ridley in this one ...  it's good that they're not over doing it.  The odd song makes it work better some how.   

So agree. Harry's true colors are starting to show. He's definitely a player, good call. I never trusted him from the get go. 

This is a sad story, seems like all the storylines this season have been especially so. That doctor is involved somehow, I don't think one true word came out of his mouth.

Glad Jack got community service. That was the best outcome that could have happened for him. 

Oh, I forgot to tell you... I've been watching "Matlock" on CBS (Appara had mentioned it) and I am enjoying it. Thanks, Appara!

Well that  ended  S2 of  Ridley   ..   will there be a S3 ? ,  nothing confirmed  at this point .  Was really hoping  that  Dr. ' Slime '  would be led off in  cuffs ,  but ,  not to be unfortunately .   Had lots of sympathy  for  Tara Dunning at the beginning  but that sure turned around at the end. Sitting at the bottom of the stairs watching that old woman  die was too  much, so her being led off in  cuffs was  the right thing to do .  Bach to Dr. Slime ,  was hoping before the end that Ridley would proceed to have Slime  struck off  the registry  for  his   professional  misconduct  in that inappropriate relationship with a venerable patient  ( Tara)  who came to him for help .  Annie finally got rid of  Harry  ..  now it's how to pay him back .  Ridley  is starting to grow on me  , so really hoping for a  S3 .  Can tell he solved the case successfully ..   song at the end.   lol  

Still up in the air about  Marlow  Murder Club   ..   not  warming up to it so far  ..  find the story line not interesting ..  will watching another Ep.  change anything  ...  not  betting  on it .  

Hi all!  With the move to streaming, I haven't signed up for any of the brit feeds yet, nor PBS, as there is just so much to watch between Prime, Disney and Netflix! Hubs and I binged Harrow and now working our way through The Recruit (altho not UK, it's got some twists and turns and it's entertaining), and then for something a little more serious we are going to try either The Devils Hour or Bodies (4 different investigations in 4 time periods.) I have been keeping an eye on PBS for new seasons of Grantchester and All Creatures, cause that would be my incentive to sign up, and then catch up on all the stuff you guys have watched and reviewed!   I am looking forward to viewing those last few episodes of Ridley and Van der Valk!!

The good thing about streaming? I mostly avoided all the American politics, but on the downside have also missed out on watching the DallasStars and EdmontonOilers, my two fave hockey teams.

I have been keeping an eye on PBS for new seasons of Grantchester and All Creatures,

Good ta hear from  ya  appara ..   Ridley  S2  ,  I thought was  good this year.   ' All  Creatures '  will air on  PBS in January .  This is my feel good show so I can't wait .  I have Netflix  and have toyed with the idea of Prime .

Timothy West, one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors, has died at the age of 90, his family have announced.

A statement released by his children, said the actor died "peacefully in his sleep" and was "with his friends and family at the end".

His son Samuel West currently plays Siegfried Farnon in Channel 5's All Creatures Great and Small.

The actor is also survived by his wife, Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9vw893xvo