British TV/General Discussion

Sad  ....     indeed  ,  I only have  Netflix  and it leaves much to be desired .   beside  All  creatures   S5    currently on   PBS  Masterpiece  along with  Miss Scarlett  ...   Thereare several shows coming up but no air dates  listed .   A bit of a tease.  It does list  Wolf  Hall  for Mar. 23   just might give it a second chance  and have a watch. 

Currently  ,  spending my time  viewing  Vera  S 12  & 13  on a streaming service I have .  Just to end with ....   was channel  surfing  a  while back  and came across a channel  doing a binge run of the old series  ' Friends '   and watched a bit .   I realized that I had never watched one single Ep. of this show when it was current . Had no interest then , have no interest now.  

Quite apt, Solar. Then again, I'm at the command of my dog, and Warren is rolling in dough!

'heart series'. Again, very apt, Brit. My heart of course belongs to Thaw, and Brett, and Shaw. Brenda is right up there with the guys. 

Funny, Miss Scarlett without her Duke leaves me cold. Trying to kickstart some heat with the new guys is leaving me colder. I assume Stuart Martin left for greener pastures.

I watched Friends when it was all the rage. It's not a rewatch series for me, like Seinfeld, especially in light of Perry's horse tranquilizer death. Really?

Happy Valentine's Day to All! 

Currently, I am finishing up my "Midnight Diner" rewatch as we are taking a break from Netflix after this month. There's nothing left of interest to watch at the moment so it is time to move on. Most likely will resubscribe  after "The Diplomat" comes back, but no rush. 

I had mentioned to you that I followed Rufus Sewell's new wife Vivi on Instagram...well, no more. What a spoiled, obnoxious brat she turned out to be. At first she seemed nice and quite vivacious (she has an outspoken, in your face personality) and I felt for her given she was coping with two very hard loses in her life. I understood, as I was going through a difficult loss of my own. As time went on I came to realize, mainly do to the fact that she has no filter and doesn't think before she speaks, that she does not appreciate how privileged she is - not disputing her own work to get there. She has access to so much, can buy herself out of a situation in the matter of moments where others have no other choice but to wallow in it - and still she finds fault. Nothing is quite good enough for her - definitely a glass half empty type of person. Good luck to Rufus, he will need it.

Also, I am back to watching the new episodes of "Matlock" with Kathy Bates on CBS. 

Never did find  Midnight Diner  on  Netflix   Brit  ..  maybe I'm not lookin' hard  enough.  lol   Slim pickins  on Netflix  these days ..  last thing I watched and enjoyed was   Yellowstone  with  Kevin  Costner .  Sounds like  Vivi  should look up  Blake  Lively  ..  I think they got a lot in common .    Enjoyed  Rufus  when he did   The Man in the High  Castle. 

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a63914218/unforgotten-confirmed-season-7-itv/

British crime thriller Unforgotten has been recommissioned for season 7.

The hit series wrapped up its sixth run last Sunday, and hot on the heels of the finale, ITV have announced that it will be back for more.

Stars Sinéad Keenan (DCI Jessie James) and Sanjeev Bhaskar (DI Sunny Khan) announced the exciting news on Instagram, saying they were "thrilled" to reveal that they will be back, while also holding up a season 7 script.

Creator Chris Lang, who will write the new episodes, said in a statement: "I am so delighted to have been asked to create another series of Unforgotten, and given the opportunity once again to follow Sunny, Jess and their brilliant team, as they attempt to crack another cold case."

The sixth season has proven a hit, the first episode taking in a peak of 7.4 million viewers after 14 days, making it the second biggest performing drama of the last year across all broadcasters, according to ITV.

The new season has also taken in 18.3 million streams, while the series as a whole has 24 million streams this year.

Great  news  sheerwater   ...   Unforgotten  Season 7  is a go .  Just watched  the finale  of  All  Creatures...  S5  about a week ago or so ,  it was a very enjoyable watch and read a few days age that filming of  S6  has just begun recently.   Two of my  favs . 

Hi guys. I've been underwater as of late because - as you all know - it has seeped across the globe -  I now live in crazy town. My Netflix subscription is done and I am thinking of subscribing to Max so I can rewatch the "West Wing" and live in an alternate reality for an hour or so and remember a world where cruelty and ignorance is not celebrated. The most sickening thing, these are my countrymen, so I have to own it. And, that is all I need to say 'cause you all understand. 

It has been touch and go with Miss Buddy this past week. She stopped eating days ago and went in to Gi Stasis. I got right on it with appropriate meds and took her to the vet. 

I think it was due to pain from the growth of the tumor again, which had receded in early December, enough so that she could comfortably live with it.  All of December, January and up to last week she has been living the life - running up and down the stairs to meet me, always so excited about her food, treats and just her life. 

We have a full schedule of stuff to do during day and well in to the night - we would get ready for bed with a light late supper of greens (part of her "night night" routine) and then settle down to listen to an audiobook. She loves listening to the voices reading/acting the stories. This at 1:30/2:00 AM in the morning. (Rabbits are nocturnal.) Then she waits for the Hubs to get up 5:00/6:00 AM for breakfast and runs around with him while he gets ready for work. My girl lives large. 

Animals thrive on routine and she loves her's - it is Miss Buddy's world and the Hubs and I happily live in it. The fact that I am a night person and my husband is an early bird fits her to a tee. She gets another breakfast when I get up, her meds, and then settles down to sleep and rest for the afternoon until her first dinner time of greens with a later larger meal to follow. She does eat hay, it is always available and she munches - with the steroids she has a large appetite so consumed a great quantity of food daily.

She is slowly coming out of the GI Stasis, eating some greens, but not consuming much hay yet. We are thrilled she is still with us, but the whole ordeal has taken its' toll. I don't think she will go back to my high energy little peanut again. I am trying to come to terms with that. The blood test show that the steroids are effecting her liver, which was always our greatest fear. 

We have made the most of these last six months...my girl and I have had such a good time together, we have not wasted one moment. I am eternally grateful for that. What time we have left I don't know, but I am not giving up, because she isn't. We go on fighting to the end. 

' Crazy '   indeed   Brit  ...   we  live in interesting  times .  lol    Sorry to hear about Miss  Buddy  having troubles  , it makes for a stressful time for you .  

Midsomer Murders: The Killings at Badgers Drift has been turned into a stage play: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/midsomer-murders-the-killings-at-badgers-drift/richmond-theatre/

Agatha Christie's great-grandson James Pritchard has revealed that a fresh dramatisation of iconic detective Miss Marple is in the works, describing the character's stories as some of the mystery novelist's best.

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/agatha-christie-miss-marple-reboot-newsupdate/

Crazy to the nth degree, Brit. I completely concur.

It makes my heart swell to hear about Miss Buddy, your bond leaps off the page. I wish only the best for you all.

Glad to see your excitement! While waiting for All Creatures, rewatching Anatomy of a Scandal sounds like a great choice—Michelle Dockery never disappoints! Lol.

sheerwater  ,   Badger's  turned into a stage play  ..  now  that is an interesting  concept.  Seen  Badger's  Drift  several times  and it never   ' gets old '  so to speak .  I think a stage play would be awesome .    I have read something about  Miss Marple getting a modern makeover .   Something about a 30ish  American woman taking on the roll.  Don't  know how that's gonna go over  but will be interesting to see. 

Yes  Suf ..   the finale of S5 of  All  Creatures  was a heartwarming  , enjoyable  view  ,  was a Christmas  themed  show .  ....   S6 is already in  production  , something to look forward to.  A  good  way to spent time ..  a  re watch of Anatomy of a Scandal .. YES ,  Michelle  Dockery   earned her supper in this one . 

Thank you Solar and Deedee for your kind words and your support that I know is always there. Today Miss B. is having a cozy blanket day, as I write this she is laying on my chest all wrapped up warm in a blanket dozing on and off - her breathing is a little heavier today, so it is comforting to be close to Mom, and nice and warm. She took her steroid med, so that should help with any inflammation she may be experiencing. I have learned not to jump to any conclusions (which can be hard to do) because she may be just resting and restoring herself and be up and running later this evening. Rabbits are very fragile, they can go right to the edge and then make a turnaround that astonishes you. I hold my breath a lot these days.

Sheerwater, the part in the article  that stood out to me...

"I hate the phrase 'cosy crime' and I don't think it's what my great-grandmother wrote," he began, "but her books had humour and I don't think everything needs to be as dark as Sarah [Phelps, screenwriter] made it."

🙄 Well yeah, because it became clear that many people weren't happy about the new darker versions of the Poirot stories which we have been subjected to and they, outside of Branagh's "Orient Express", did not do as well with the public as he or his father had thought they would. I call this retrenching - they insisted that people wanted to see an edgier production, some may have, but not enough, as most of those productions have landed in the bottom of the streaming universe rarely to be heard of again - yet the older versions with Suchet and Ustinov are still talked about fondly (and watched) by Christie fans per comments I see on various FB groups. 

So he is basically saying, that "cosy" may still be a bad word to him, but he'll get over it to make sure that the new versions of Miss Marple don't go the same route. I personally am not interested in watching a younger version of the character - that to me goes against the core of the Marple character, but there may be an audience for it, we will see.   

The new "Towards Zero" production is getting some positive reviews. 

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/towards-zero-review-agatha-christie-gets-right-3556864

This is promising - I'm staying open minded, I've always liked this story so would be happy to see another version, especially one which is getting a thumbs up.

Badger's turned into a stage play  ..  now  that is an interesting  concept.  Seen  Badger's  Drift  several times  and it never ' gets old ' so to speak.  I think a stage play would be awesome.

Solar and Sheerwater, I so agree, this is interesting! "Badger's Drift" is at the top of the heap of Midsomer stories - so true, Solar, it is a great story that never gets old for Midsomer fans.

Surfian,  I re-watched "Anatomy of a Scandal" several times myself. As Solar says, Michelle Dockery certainly earned her supper on that one. It is very good.

Brit, I'm trying to remember, and I think I liked the young Jane Tennison, hated the young Miss Fisher, and probably some other lazy reboots that I watched for only a nanosecond.

I turned off Murder Is Easy, but can't remember why. Good grief.

And of course the Cracker reboot with poor Robert Patorelli was abysmal.

And never one to be consistent, I can watch Elementary over and over and .........

I did like Blue Lights of late, but season 2, not season 1.

Deedee, I remember you were not a great fan of the "Young Hyacinth" (Mrs. Bucket) prequel either! 😉 I didn't mind it, but I didn't really watch it thinking there was any true association to the Hyacinth character in "Keeping Up Appearances" as I didn't with "Prime Suspect: Tennison", "The Young Montalbano", or "Endeavour". I couldn't even watch the Wallander prequel. 

I look at prequel series/shows as stand alone productions and disassociate them from the originals, because I am always going to be disappointed if I don't. 

I have not done well with any of the Christie remakes. There is not one outside of "Murder on the Orient Express" that I have not gotten through without gritting my teeth. For me, the production values of the movie was excellent and made up for Branagh's questionable Poirot impersonation. The man thinking he can play Poirot is the true definition of seeing oneself through rose colored glasses. I too didn't last with "Murder is Easy". I am hoping that "Towards Zero" turns the corner on this. 

"Elementary" is good, it is a "reimagining" that works. Partly because it is so clever - that and putting together two lead actors that have great chemistry. Jonny Lee Miller is perfect in the role.

Which proves that remakes can hit the mark. I have to mention the recent "Maigret" with Rowan Atkinson. Who would of guessed (well, I didn't) that would have turned out as well as it did. 

Talking about "Maigret", aren't we getting a contemporary adaption of the books/series coming up on PBS Masterpiece at some point. I am holding my tongue, I learned my lesson the last go around with Atkinson.

My problem with a young Miss Marple is the DNA of that character is her age and her (long) life experience living in a country village. That is who she is and what she brings to every investigation she takes on. 

It is her age - and how she blends in to her environment - because of people's assumptions regarding this that gives her the edge.  You can't translate that to a young(er) woman. Yes, you can have a younger Miss Marple out there solving crimes, but from what perspective? Where is the life experience?

Brit :

I look at prequel series/shows as stand alone productions and disassociate them from the originals, because I am always going to be disappointed if I don't. 

Sooooooo   right  Brit .   Learned my  lesson  from  the  ' Lewis '   series .   Thou  not the same as a prequel  I just  couldn't sit down and enjoy a show without  seeing  Morse in every scene Lewis was in  (  the  ghost of  Morse )  lol   ....  I had to dissociate  Lewis from  Morse  and concentrate  on the  story line and other actors . A very good story line  by the way with good murder  plots .  I would  just  by - pass Lewis and dismiss him as a secondary character  and  call it  DS  Hathaway's  show.  So , I get your point with prequels .

So true, Brit and solar. I did the same with Endeavour, I never warmed to Shaun Evans (btw, did you see him in Until I Kill You on Britbox?), but the supporting cast was outstanding.

And until Lewis went all schmoopy, I enjoyed the show. 

Funny, I can't re-watch either.

I couldn't remember Young Wallander or Young Hyacinth either. Guess I lasted all of a second on each. Blech.

And yes on Rowan Atkinson's Maigret, very well done. But of course TPTB made episodes and were done. 

But they keep trying.

But they keep trying...

Yes, they do Deedee. The new reboot of Maigret with the young(er) version of the character will be airing this Mystery season on PBS. There are a lot of stories to be told in that franchise (I know most of them, if not all), my calculation is that they are banking on a hit that they can expand to fill the void of "Endeavour". The Bruno Cremer series was fourteen seasons long with fifty-four episodes. So you can see the potential if they just work with the material already written. Since it is a younger version of the character they may start writing new stories for him that "go back in time" and leave Simenon's work alone....we shall see. 

I don't know about you all, but I am struggling to get in to anything (something?) to watch these days - nothing, and I mean nothing is appealing to me. Last night out of desperation (because Poirot is my comfort viewing) I watched Poirot's "Murder on the Links" - haven't seen that one in years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I have to say, and I have said it before - my goodness did they dress Hastings beautifully. They do long shots of him dressed to perfection - the tailoring is exquisite, the combinations of pants, sport coats, dress shirts and ties - and let's not forget the hats - are so classic and so spot on, it's a masterclass for men in how to dress. So classic that it even holds up today although double breasted suits are currently out of fashion (unfortunately). The hubs prefers double-breasted jackets and lightly pleated pants (you don't want to go too heavy on the pleats these days - a bit too retro) and he has had to give up on the suit jackets - unless your going custom, very difficult to find. The pleated pants are easier - he hunts them down. For me, Hastings style of dressing will always be what I consider the very best in a well-dressed man. 

Meanwhile  I'm sitting a foot  away from the T.V.  , bowl of pop corn in my lap   , eating furiously.  Trumpsky on the news  ..  51st.  State  ,   51st. State ....   No , No,  Nooooooooooooooooooo  !!!!!      lol