Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Moonraker
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

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Anita Bensoussane wrote: I'd like to see the licence fee scrapped altogether anyway. Numerous other channels manage to attract enough advertisers to keep going and I'm sure the BBC could too. It doesn't make sense to be forced to pay so much for a couple of channels that we barely even watch!
Well, I'd hate to see it scrapped. The licence fee is incredibly good value for money. At little over £12 a month it pays for national and local BBC radio stations, BBC iPlayer and 4 television channels. BBC1 is acknowledged as a world leader in broadcasting standards, as is BBC2. BBC4 shows programmes that most commercial channels would back away from.

The alternative would be a commercially funded tv channel. That means adverts. No thank you!

You think £12 a month isn't good value, Anita? Compared to a Sky subscription it is a gift. That will set you back around £35 a month - and that doesn't include the so called premium sports and film channels. That's a whacking £420 a year - and that mainly includes channels showing little more than repeats or American programmes.

ITV (and the other commercial channels) are advert driven. For example, a 2hr drama on ITV only contains 90 minutes of programming - that's 30 minutes of watching adverts. Even a one-hour drama can be watched on catch-up in 44 minutes.

I'll vote for the licence fee, thank you!
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Katharine »

Although I don't watch much TV myself, I think that £12 a month isn't too bad, and would much rather pay that than subscribe to Cable for even more. It might give me more channels, but I don't find much of interest on the ones that are available to me, and doubt I'd find anything much of quality in the extra ones.

Whilst I agree that programmes are made longer because of the adverts, I have noticed a similar trend on the BBC. A programme will start off telling me what is coming up, then after about 10 minutes, will recap on what I've just seen and tell me what is still to come, it usually does the same again a bit later. I know my memory isn't great these days, but my attention span isn't so bad I need a constant reminder of what is happening!
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Re: Annoying TV

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Yes, that is really annoying - and it's not unique to the Beeb. We like Escape to the Country, but have to avert our eyes as they show you all the properties together with some comments right at the start. There is another irritating habit, the camera focuses on a door-knob or the leaf of a plant, and the rest of the picture is blurred. And I won't even start on crunched up credits/voice overs and Next Week - spoiling next week's programme!

Edited to correct BBcode
Last edited by Moonraker on 30 Sep 2013, 12:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

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I don't even have a tv licence.
There's nothing on tv these days that really interests me. I love the Poirot and Marple adaptations but I have those on dvd anyway. 'Reality tv' and X Factor etc etc doesn't interest me in the slightest, and I love nature and travel programmes but I have tons of those on dvd too, and all the old films that I like.
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I don't really watch very much on the Beeb, actually. Strictly of course, as I love the dancing. ITV I watch for Emmerdale, Downton, and one or two other programmes, I mainly watch Sky. I know some of it is repeats etc, but there's lots of channels to choose from.

I guess the licence is good value for money, what else can you buy for around £12, but I've never really given it much thought! :|

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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

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I feel pretty much the same about TV as Carlotta. I like the occasional documentary too, such as those about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I don't watch any soaps. The only reality type programmes I like are Strictly Come Dancing and my absolute favourite Dancing On Ice. I don't particularly enjoy some of the put downs on the programmes, but I like to watch dancing, and have always been interested in Ice Dance since the early days of Torvill and Dean. It's the only 'sport' I've ever enjoyed watching.
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Carlotta King »

I must admit I do like to watch dancing and ice skating but these modern 'celebrity' dancing/skating programmes annoy me too much with their irritating presenters and judges and even more irritating 'celebrities' so I don't bother to watch them. :D I would rather watch the ice skating on BBC winter sport if I'm going to watch it at all.

I remember being obsessed with ice skating after watching Torvill and Dean's Bolero when I was a little girl :D and I had skating lessons :D
Last edited by Carlotta King on 30 Sep 2013, 17:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I'd rather have adverts than pay the licence fee. That's not because I take any notice of the adverts - it's just that I don't particularly mind the advert breaks. They give you a chance to mull over the programme with your family, discussing what you've seen and perhaps trying to predict what might happen next. They're also useful if you want to pop to the loo or make a cup of tea.

I've only seen two programmes on TV in the last week. One was Downton Abbey, which is on ITV. I enjoyed it (it's just about the only thing I make a point of watching) and don't remember a single advert, so the advert breaks obviously didn't bother me. I spent them discussing the series with my son, who was watching it with me.

The other programme was something I'd never heard of before - a quiz/game show called I Love My Country. My dad was staying with us, and it happened to come on after a DVD he had been watching finished. It was a really boring, poor quality show as there was so much inane chit-chat and loud singing that the questions were few and far between, and you had to wait ages for the next one. We switched off before the end. It was on one of the BBC channels so there were no adverts, but if there had been I expect they'd have been more entertaining than the programme itself!
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

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Anita Bensoussane wrote:I'd rather have adverts than pay the licence fee. They give you a chance to mull over the programme with your family, discussing what you've seen and perhaps trying to predict what might happen next. They're also useful if you want to pop to the loo or make a cup of tea.
Each to his own, I suppose! Personally, I don't wish to discuss a programme until it's finished, and if I need a loo break, I hit the pause button. Now that is a good invention!

On a recent viewing of a Foyle's War, the advert breaks came thick and fast, in the second hour, a five minute break around every ten minutes. You'd be drowning in tea at that rate! :D
One was Downton Abbey, which is on ITV. I enjoyed it (it's just about the only thing I make a point of watching) and don't remember a single advert break
Looks like your memory is failing now! I think there were eight breaks - the programme was extended by five minutes so that an extra break could be slotted in. Eight breaks, that's 32 minutes of loo visits/tea making/family discussions! :|
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

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I agree that it's each to their own. Admittedly I do think in a long film, a loo break is handy, not sure a commercial break is long enough to make a cup of tea though. Nigel, a pause button may be handy for you, but for those of us in the dark ages with a 'normal' TV, that's not an option. :wink:
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Moonraker wrote:
One was Downton Abbey, which is on ITV. I enjoyed it (it's just about the only thing I make a point of watching) and don't remember a single advert break
Looks like your memory is failing now! I think there were eight breaks - the programme was extended by five minutes so that an extra break could be slotted in.
You altered what I said! I said I "don't remember a single advert", the reason being that during the advert breaks my son and I were discussing the programme. By the way, I don't recall having as many advert breaks as you - I think we only had three or four, though I wasn't counting!
Katharine wrote:...not sure a commercial break is long enough to make a cup of tea though.
True, though you can boil the kettle and get the cups ready in one break, and make the tea in the next.

Our TV doesn't have a "pause" button either!
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Lucky Star »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: True, though you can boil the kettle and get the cups ready in one break, and make the tea in the next.
But the water will have gone cold by the time the next break comes along. :lol:
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

There's just about time to do a quick reboil. Perhaps the answer is to have fewer advert breaks but make them a bit longer! :lol:
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Moonraker »

I remember seeing The Sound of Music in the 60s, and being surprised that there was an interval! I had never known an interval in the cinema before.

Sorry, Anita - it looked odd not to have break after advert, I thought I had missed it out in my c&ping, so added a break (PNI)!
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Re: Seven Stories (Winner of Lottery Awards 2013)

Post by Carlotta King »

If anyone has been unfortunate enough to see the Shane Warne hair loss advert in any of their ad breaks they'll know that you've got time to make a cuppa, go to the loo, hang the washing out, read a bit of your book, run the hoover round and load the dishwasher :D :roll:
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