The BBC Four Thread

OldRio

two wheels good wrote: »

Thanks, man. Call round for some lentils sometime. We could listen to Yes

I was referring to Meades' lack of rational argument. Not to your good self.
He does good polemic - with great visuals. But that's based on only my first viewing. As I say, I'll look out for more of Meades.

Hahaha....Believe it or not I was listening to 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' last night. Spooooooky.

I have been watching Meades work for many a year now (often with a dictionary at hand.) I may not always agree with his points but he makes intelligent unmissable TV. Not often you hear those words together.

A lot of his other series are on DVD.

I might treat myself
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Jonathan-Meades-Collection-DVD/dp/B001110H14

darjeeling

OldRio wrote: »

Hahaha....Believe it or not I was listening to 'Tales from Topographic Oceans' last night. Spooooooky.

I have been watching Meades work for many a year now (often with a dictionary at hand.) I may not always agree with his points but he makes intelligent unmissable TV. Not often you hear those words together.

A lot of his other series are on DVD.

I might treat myself
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Jonathan-Meades-Collection-DVD/dp/B001110H14

Someone has psoted a lot of them on Youtube too, though at only 360p res; hi-brow in lo-def: http://www.youtube.com/user/MeadesShrine

mike65

Every six months the very future of this channel is called into question by someone within the BBC (:mad:) or at least is the subject of speculation on foot of another warning about spending and "topslicing". Sure enough its happened again today.

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCoQqQIoADAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2014%2Ffeb%2F26%2Fbbc-channel-extra-cuts-tony-hall&ei=33UOU5H9KYmqhQfo9IDADw&usg=AFQjCNHVBzQjMdd6DZIK-bE0P1ChVbbpzg&sig2=fLQlhAoza9j2n2lxenUgtQ

OldRio

darjeeling wrote: »

Someone has psoted a lot of them on Youtube too, though at only 360p res; hi-brow in lo-def: http://www.youtube.com/user/MeadesShrine

Thanks so much darjeeling.
Never though about youtube.

As for the future of BBC4... I suppose its got nothing to do with us but it is the finest channel on TV I can find.


Just read some of the comments on that link Mike.
The dumbing down of society goes on. Tis a good job they don't have to endure RTE.

Skid X

I can't understand how the BBC Director General is ominously quiet about the future of BBC Four.

It is the best channel the BBC has.
It is the only channel which isn't competing directly with UK Commercial Stations.
Even after it's budget was reduced some years ago it still produces a huge amount of quality output
It is the only place the BBC can re-broadcast it's extensive quality archive.

Hopefully pressure will be exerted on him to reconsider.

mike65

Danny Baker seems to have found an unexpectedly welcoming place in BBC4 - he's back again for another series of "Brushing Up On...." which starts a 8.30

Dozen Wicked Words

Salamander is all over the place, and not in a good way. Plot, characterisation and dialogue is a mess. I'll stick with it until the bitter end but it's not BBC 4's finest Saturday evening offering, not even in the same ballpark in fact.

mike65

Curious that Parks and Recreation has been bumped back an hour to 11 pm (maybe to avoid clash with Inside No 9 though which would make some sense I suppose)

Dozen Wicked Words

Anyone else stuck with Salamander? I'm still watching, more Bergerac than Bridge though. Does anyone know what's next after this?

mike65

I'm watching it and its perfectly fine on its level.

Dozen Wicked Words

mike65 wrote: »

I'm watching it and its perfectly fine on its level.

Of course, but then so was Bergerac (as I am re-enjoying from time to time now on BBC 2)

mike65

Sure but there is nothing wrong with that, sometimes people can be terrible snobs!

I think the next series for the subtitled slot is Y Gwyll/Hinterland however as it was also filmed in English maybe it'll be in a different slot - be interesting to see which version they show.

Bob Servant is back for a second run at public office later in the year

Dozen Wicked Words

mike65 wrote: »

Sure but there is nothing wrong with that, sometimes people can be terrible snobs!

I think the next series for the subtitled slot is Y Gwyll/Hinterland however as it was also filmed in English maybe it'll be in a different slot - be interesting to see which version they show.

Bob Servant is back for a second run at public office later in the year

Snob? Moi? How very dare you! :pac:

Saw Hinterland on BBC Wales, the English version, although there is still a good bit of dialogue in Welsh. Its a bit grim in places and DCI Tom Mathias takes miserable to a whole new level but I enjoyed it. Aberystwyth and surrounding areas look stunning.

brian_t

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Anyone else stuck with Salamander? I'm still watching, more Bergerac than Bridge though. Does anyone know what's next after this?

Inspector da Luca - 22 March 2014 at 9:00pm (TBC)

Inspector De Luca is made by Ager 3/Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana. A four-part crime series based on the novels by Carlo Lucarelli, it is set in and around Bologna during the tumultuous years of Mussolini’s dictatorship. Inspector De Luca is an investigator whose brutal honesty and uncompromising character may help him solve cases, but combined with his love of women, they also conspire to get him in trouble...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/bbc-four-acquisitions.html

Skid X

9pm tomorrow - Arena: Whatever happened to Spitting Image?

Might be worth a look

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03yg3yn

Reuniting the founding creative team, this documentary tells the vexed and frequently hilarious story of the genesis of the satirical puppet show Spitting Image, with exclusive contributions from caricaturists Peter Fluck and Roger Law and TV producer John Lloyd.

Spanning the early years of Margaret Thatcher's government to the end of John Major's, Spitting Image puppets became almost as famous as the politicians they lampooned. In 2000, the puppets were auctioned off at Sotheby's and in the course of the programme the team sets out to discover where they now reside and who is taking care of them in their old age.

Revealing the extraordinary technical achievement of the series, Arena meets the caricaturists, puppet-mould makers, designers, puppeteers, impressionists, writers and directors who worked tirelessly to ensure the show landed its weekly jibes and punches at the politicians, royals and celebrities of the day.

Tracing its journey to our televisions screens through 12 years of huge audience figures and weekly controversy to its eventual demise, the film asks what Spitting Image got right, where it went wrong and whether its absence since 1996 has left a hole in the schedules that has yet to be filled by modern broadcasting.

mike65

Must see tv I would say!

Mr Pseudonym

Martin Anmis's England - 21:00, tonight

Novelist Martin Amis, a fierce critic of contemporary society, examines his experience of Englishness. Richly illustrated with archive footage, he reflects on a nation barely recovered from the loss of empire. Amis brings a sharp, humorous and surprisingly affectionate touch to the exploration of sex, binge drinking, football hooliganism, the idea of fair play, multiculturalism, the royal family and the tabloid press.

mike65

Missed that, but not sure if I could cope with an hour of Amis. :pac:

On a lighter I'm really enjoying Danny Baker Brushing Up on...

who_ru

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

Martin Anmis's England - 21:00, tonight

Novelist Martin Amis, a fierce critic of contemporary society, examines his experience of Englishness. Richly illustrated with archive footage, he reflects on a nation barely recovered from the loss of empire. Amis brings a sharp, humorous and surprisingly affectionate touch to the exploration of sex, binge drinking, football hooliganism, the idea of fair play, multiculturalism, the royal family and the tabloid press.

i watched it and it struck me that a lot of what Amis said applies to the Irish too - the weather (grim/depressing), how the grimness of the weather informs and maybe defines our character or outlook, drinking to drown our sorrows (not to celebrate) and forget our inferiority complex, drinking to get drunk, drinking to fight. 'Up and down the country on any given night you will find young people in disarray from drink', was how he described life in England, same applies here. He contrasted this with France or Italy, where getting drunk in public was not something regarded as 'funny'. But their weather is so much better.

His dad sounded like a really funny guy. Telling a young Martin that he used to dream about having the Queen on his lap, he'd be kissing her and feeling her tits. He'd say to the Queen 'C'mon lets go somewhere', with the Queen replying 'Oh Kingsley I can't'. Gas.

Also Martin himself describing his chasing of girls when he was young. Working class girls were the toughest he said, 'living chastity belts' he described them, the higher up the class chain you went chasing girls, there was 'more cause for hope'.

I like Amis, he's entertaining.

mike65

The weather/drink link is well established I think - many Nordics are ranging drunks, depressed in winter and kill themselves in the darkest months. I'd love to live at a Med latitude, trouble is I'd be surrounded by people who are utterly corrupt, always late and speak with a funny accent.

who_ru

mike65 wrote: »

The weather/drink link is well established I think - many Nordics are ranging drunks, depressed in winter and kill themselves in the darkest months. I'd love to live at a Med latitude, trouble is I'd be surrounded by people who are utterly corrupt, always late and speak with a funny accent.

true alcoholism in northern europe is a far greater phenomenon than it is in southern europe.

but northern europe is generally richer than southern europe.

OldRio

I watched the Amis doc last night. He was true to form, obsessed with the class system in England. I found him rather tiresome.

who_ru

OldRio wrote: »

I watched the Amis doc last night. He was true to form, obsessed with the class system in England. I found him rather tiresome.

Well the class system is a fact of life not just there but almost everywhere, it exists here too. and it defined generations (still does).

Mr Pseudonym

who_ru wrote: »

i watched it and it struck me that a lot of what Amis said applies to the Irish too - the weather (grim/depressing), how the grimness of the weather informs and maybe defines our character or outlook, drinking to drown our sorrows (not to celebrate) and forget our inferiority complex, drinking to get drunk, drinking to fight. 'Up and down the country on any given night you will find young people in disarray from drink', was how he described life in England, same applies here. He contrasted this with France or Italy, where getting drunk in public was not something regarded as 'funny'. But their weather is so much better.

His dad sounded like a really funny guy. Telling a young Martin that he used to dream about having the Queen on his lap, he'd be kissing her and feeling her tits. He'd say to the Queen 'C'mon lets go somewhere', with the Queen replying 'Oh Kingsley I can't'. Gas.

Also Martin himself describing his chasing of girls when he was young. Working class girls were the toughest he said, 'living chastity belts' he described them, the higher up the class chain you went chasing girls, there was 'more cause for hope'.

I like Amis, he's entertaining.

You response is appreciated.

I used to idolise Martin Amis's fiction, and so many times did I read Money that, if it were a self-help book, I'd now be a millionaire. However, I always find him disappointing when interviewed. It would seem that the mesmerising turn-of-phrase of his "heroes" requires a hammer and chisel rather than a paintbrush.

First thing which surprised me is that this wasn't a conventional personality documentary - basically, Amis was interviewed in front of his bookcase and the production team put footage to it. I had expected him, a la, for instance, Paxman in his most recent documentary, to move about a bit more! It wasn't even clear if he was in England, nor that he had prepared for the interviews.

While I expected Amis's take on modern England, that's not what we got. Instead, that on the England in which he used to live, and which so repulsed him (to the extent that he emigrated). England is a different place from the one he left - in short, it has lived two generations: no longer is cricket an analogy for how Britain conducts war; no longer does a yearning for war result in football hooliganism - as Amis came close to suggesting.

One thing I did learn from it is that Money has "defeated" Class. It is something I had come close to acknowledging, but never had so definitely appreciated it. I lived a time in England, and it greatly surprised me how much this Irishman (albeit a neutrally-accented one) could integrate with the products of "England's finest Public Schools" - that wouldn't have happened a generation ago.

OldRio

who_ru wrote: »

Well the class system is a fact of life not just there but almost everywhere, it exists here too. and it defined generations (still does).

I do agree with you about the class system in England. I was merely pointing out the obsession Amis has with it.

Mr Pseudonym

OldRio wrote: »

I do agree with you about the class system in England. I was merely pointing out the obsession Amis has with it.

I loved the incident when a young Amis, with a great inferiority complex surrounding class, was answering a "How Posh are you?" quiz in a tabloid (The Mail, he said). And having been doing so well (Lavatory not Toilet; Sofa not Couch) got to the final question, "What would you name your son?" - there were three categories: Montague and Sebastian; George and David; Keith and Martin. I saw it coming from a mile off, but still laughed heartily!

OldRio

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

You response is appreciated.

I used to idolise Martin Amis's fiction, and so many times did I read Money that, if it were a self-help book, I'd now be a millionaire. However, I always find him disappointing when interviewed. It would seem that the mesmerising turn-of-phrase of his "heroes" requires a hammer and chisel rather than a paintbrush.

First thing which surprised me is that this wasn't a conventional personality documentary - basically, Amis was interviewed in front of his bookcase and the production team put footage to it. I had expected him, a la, for instance, Paxman in his most recent documentary, to move about a bit more! It wasn't even clear if he was in England, nor that he had prepared for the interviews.

While I expected Amis's take on modern England, that's not what we got. Instead, that on the England in which he used to live, and which so repulsed him (to the extent that he emigrated). England is a different place from the one he left - in short, it has lived two generations: no longer is cricket an analogy for how Britain conducts war; no longer does a yearning for war result in football hooliganism - as Amis came close to suggesting.

One thing I did learn from it is that Money has "defeated" Class. It is something I had come close to acknowledging, but never had so definitely appreciated it. I lived a time in England, and it greatly surprised me how much this Irishman (albeit a neutrally-accented one) could integrate with the products of "England's finest Public Schools" - that wouldn't have happened a generation ago.

To be honest I thought this documentary was a repeat, I was incorrect.
Amis seemed to be looking back at a bygone age.

A review in the torygraph. As normal, it says more about the reviewer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10715753/England-according-to-Martin-Amis.html

FloatingVoter

Watched it ..luckily recorded. I'll assume Irish = English for this.
We drink too much. Partially because the weather is bad (he didn't make that connection...Pub Landlord did). People who break heads at soccer matches aren't actually football fans. Things were crap after winning a hard fought war. The Nazis were bad. I get insecure when I support my team.
Someone should give this guy a plaque, ring a therapist and call him an intellectual.

brian_t

Thursday 3rd April @ 9.00pm

Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns

Our dashing hero Alexander Armstrong explores the literature that inspired Michael Palin and Terry Jones's classic TV comedy Ripping Yarns, a loving parody of the Boys' Own books and magazines of their childhood.

Featuring clips from Ripping Yarns, archive and interviews with experts, modern-day adventurers and Palin and Jones's own memories.

In this affectionate and entertaining film Armstrong celebrates a long-lost slice of Britishness

followed by the first episode Tomkinson's Schooldays @ 10.00pm

BBC4 first repeated Ripping Yarns back in 2007 but I didn't get BBC4 then.
I didn't catch the the series when it was first shown back in the 1070's either so I'm interested in seeing it this time.

I believe the series continues the following Thursday

mike65

Enjoyed that, taped Ripping itself so will have a chortle at that later.