TV Programmes

[Anita Bensoussane]

The USB port sounds useful, Wolfgang.

I've never subscribed to any streaming services either, Bertie, though I do get the chance to watch things on Sky or Netflix at friends' houses or when visiting family.

At the moment I'm enjoying two dramas on BBC One. Wolf is a bizarre but compelling detective series laden with black humour. Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones) and Sacha Dhawan make for a brilliant double act as oddball criminals Molina and Honey.

The other drama is the second series of World on Fire, which follows characters from a number of countries during the Second World War. All the usual themes are there (duty, sacrifice, horror, comradeship, love...) but becoming involved with so many characters across so many countries gives an all-embracing view of things, emphasising the colossal scale of the crisis.

I've also just watched the first episode of Earth's Tropical Islands (BBC Two), a fascinating look at Madagascar and its wildlife, and will be watching the other two as well (about Borneo and Hawaii).

[Fiona1986]

Wolf is a bizarre but compelling detective series laden with black humour. Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones) and Sacha Dhawan make for a brilliant double act as oddball criminals Molina and Honey.

In the library the books that the TV series Wolf is based on are starting to get more popular again. My colleague (although he works in the library he isn't involved in the issuing/shelving of books) didn't like the ending and so asked if we had the second book so he could see what happened next. As it turns out the series is based on book 7 (of 7, and the author has since passed away) so after getting directions where to find it through the back he went away with book 7 as it was really quite different from the programme. It strikes me as strange to start with book 7, so I wonder if it will come back for another series, with earlier books further edited to fit the timeline?

[Anita Bensoussane]

That does seem strange, Fiona!

I've only watched four episodes of Wolf so far but I've seen other shows where loose endings were left so that there could be another series - but the next series never materialised. Indian Summers and The Good Karma Hospital ended with questions unanswered after two series and four series respectively, while Home Fires finished abruptly after two series, leaving some of the main characters trapped in a house which was burning fiercely!

[Wolfgang]

The USB port sounds useful, Wolfgang.

It actually is, Anita. My old Blue-Ray player features also one and it plays the DIVX-files I create from TV-shows I recorded (and removed the commercials). After working for ages with USB-Sticks (which sometimes hung up) I realized I had a very old unused 2TB external harddrive which also works with the BR-player, and so I copied some series to it.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I've just watched the third episode of I, Claudius

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/ ... i-claudius

It's about the fourth Roman Emperor, who may have had Cerebral Palsy or Tourette Syndrome. He had a particularly murderous grandmother and stayed alive by playing the fool!

I watched the series when it was first shown in 1976 (allowed to stay up late!) and of course remember the wonderful performance by Derek Jacobi as Claudius. This time I'm really appreciating the screenplay, the family problems suffered by Emperor Augustus (Brian Blessed) which are created mainly by his scheming wife Livia (Siân Phillips) who is the aforementioned grandmother.

All good fun

[Moonraker]

I've just watched the third episode of I, Claudius

It's about the fourth Roman Emperor, who may have had Cerebral Palsy or Tourette Syndrome. He had a particularly murderous grandmother and stayed alive by playing the fool!

All good fun

[Bertie]

Interesting to see Frasier is coming back for a new series. And
interesting that Nicholas Lyndhurst is to be a main member of the cast (though no former cast members apart from Kelsey Grammer coming back as a regular, which is a shame).

I've got mixed views on it returning if I'm honest. I loved the first 7 series of Frasier, but felt the last few were much poorer and an increasingly tough watch. So I generally just re-watch the earlier years of the show nowadays and ignore the later ones. And as I'm expecting the new show to be more 'later Frasier' in quality rather than early 'classic Frasier', then I've not got high hopes for it.

But I'll definitely give the new show a go and hope to be pleasantly surprised - especially if Grammer and Lyndhurst work well together.

[Susie9598]

We’re really enjoying I, Claudius as well, Viv. I remember it being on in the seventies, and my parents loving it back then, but I was too young for it then. It’s so well acted, Derek Jacobi is fabulous but there are so many great actors in it.

[Boatbuilder]

Last night I decided to re-watch my DVD of the first series of the factual 2019 ITV drama set between 2003 and 2008 - 'Manhunt'. I didn't start watching it until about 11:45pm after I went to bed and wasn't sure if I would stay awake to watch it all (140 minutes). It is based on the memoirs of Met Police DCI Colin Sutton and starts with the murder of 22-year-old French student, Amélie Delagrange, although the earlier murders of 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell (2003) and 13-year-old Milly Dowler (2002) are eventually linked to the same killer, Levi Bellfield.

DCI Sutton is played by Martin Clunes, who is a good resemblance to the real person, whom I have seen many times in other factual programs and have a certain admiration for. The program is so compelling, I never felt like falling asleep, even after it finished at about 2:15am. There are some very emotional scenes in the drama, none more so than those that involved the parents of Amélie Delagrange, who were very dignified and respecful of the British police. Towards the end of the program and after the sentencing of Bellfield, DCI Sutton and the Family Liason Officer who was assigned to them when they were in the UK visited the Delagranges at their home in France for a second time and they were invited to stay for dinner. I wonder how often that happens in this country?

There is a second series, 'Manhunt - The Night Stalker' which I have, so I might consider re-watching that tonight, but it's 180 minutes

Both series are also available on ITVX (free).

[Jack400]

Coincidentally I watched 'The Child Snatcher: Manhunt ' on Channel 5 catch-up though at an earlier time. About how the police caught up with the kidnapper/ murderer of four children many miles apart in seemingly unconnected cases.

[Boatbuilder]

I have that recorded on my Sky box, Jack. I must get around to watching it. That may be tonight's late-night viewing.

I did re-watch all 3-hours of the second 'Manhunt - The Night Stalker' last night, until 2:45 am today.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Is anyone watching The Inheritance on Channel 5? It's a drama of family tension and secrets, which I'm enjoying so far, and it stars a number of well-known names including Jemima Rooper (George from the 1990s Famous Five series) and Robert James-Collier (Thomas Barrow from Downton Abbey).

[Moonraker]

It is on our wish list! We have the last episode of The Tower 2 to watch, The Inheritance is next up!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I hope you enjoy The Inheritance, Nigel. I watched the second series (and the first, of course!) of The Tower too, and thought it got better and better as it went on.

[Bertie]

Having sat through a number of awful ads last night, while trying to get lost in the world of a film, it got me thinking again: why acting on adverts is often so 'hammy?'

A lot of them are for big products, and they pay for some top names, so it's not as if TV ads are done on the cheap. But even the established actors seem to 'downplay' their acting ability when advertising something. So it seems like a deliberate policy to make them amateurish, and, if so, I wonder why?

Is it because they think viewers will feel they're trying to be 'tricked' into buying something if they're done with straight / serious acting, so making it all feel hammy and like amateur dramatics is a better way to attract people? Or are they really just mostly very poor jobbing actors, and even the established actors just 'phone it in' when employed for ads?