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Robsk II

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I saw 'Maigret Sets a Trap' yesterday starring Rowan Atkinson in the title role - ITV's latest offering in their long running feature length crime drama habit that started all those years ago when Inspector Morse first caught the 'Last Bus to Woodstock'. A serial killer is stalking the streets of the Montmartre area of Paris killing young women. So the pressure is growing on the cerebral Chief Inspector Maigret to identify the attacker before he strikes again ...

 

I really wanted to like this because the premise is interesting enough and I've always admired Atkinson. However, the whole thing fell rather flat for me as our hero delivered a glum, low key (to the point of being monotone) performance that failed to inspire this viewer with any sense of the 'thrill of the chase' or even welcome outbreak of humour to lighten proceedings.

 

Many comedians go on to make fine 'straight' actors as long as the audience can learn to see past their comic roots. But on this evidence it seems that Atkinson may be a exception to that rule - or maybe a rather lacklustre script just didn't give him very much to work with. I must also add that, although filmed in France, this almost entirly British production lacked much in the way of a authentic Gallic flavour that might have set it apart somewhat from all the other detective series that clutter our screens today. A French TV adaption of these stores may have proved to be more satisfactory I suspect.

 

Be that as it may, I see that ITV have more episodes 'Maigret' in the pipeline. We can only hope this series finds its feet soon because this first story was a bit limp.

 

I think the Michael Gambon portrayal was better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If modern America interests you even slightly then surely you cannot afford to miss the documentory series "Inside Obama's Whitehouse" shown on BBC2.

 

The US President is often depicted as the most powerfull man on earth, but as we see here in reality all too often executive power is severely constrained if the President does not enjoy the support of Congress. Nevertheless, Obama will go down in history I think as a inspirational and much better than average President who could perhaps have been a truely great one were it not for the dysfunctional nature of US politics that makes it almost (but not quite) impossible to get anything important done.

 

The adsurd reaction from Obama's many right wing opponents to his attempts to introduce healthcare and gun-control reform illustrating just how difficult the job of President is now in the land of the free - and the redneck. However, looking at some of the candidates being lined up to replace him methinks this administration may be as near as we come to seeing a real life "West Wing" in the foreseeable future.

 

Highly recommended.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/group/b074g0gt

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  • 2 weeks later...

The concluding (and feature length) episode of the BBC's intense police corruption drama 'Line of Duty' is due to be broadcast this coming Thursday - and by all accounts we are promised a absolute cracker.

 

In last week's genuinly shocking instalment fans of the series witnessed DS "Dot" Cotton (Craig Parkinson) brutaly murder the disgraced DI Lindsey Denton (Keeley Hawes) as she sat beside him in his car - but crucialy only seconds after she had e-mailed a incriminating image on her mobile phone to the Met's 'AC12' anti-corruption unit. So the question is can the (DNA splattered) Cotton again manipulate his credulous bosses into blaming someone else, or at long last is time finally starting to catch up with this irredeemably 'bent' and murderous copper?

 

I can hardly wait to find out ...

 

103736.jpg

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Louis Theroux: "Drinking to Oblivion" - BBC 2 Sunday.

 

A straighforward, but increadably moving, documentary this as Louis Theroux follows a small group of truely hard-core acholics in and out of South London's King's College Hospital. I should say here that I do struggle somewhat to really understand the problem of acholism as I seldom drink now and have never really managed to acquire much of a taste for alcohol. But any sense of isolation from the issue, or lack of empathy for the drinkers one may have felt was soon dispelled as the programme powerfully brought home the suffering of these poor people in no uncertain terms. Yes alcoholics are seemingly guilty of making some pretty bad lifestyle choices, but many of the heavy drinkers featured here are clearly worthwhile and decent Human Beings who have had a hard life and just can't cope anymore. There but for the 'Grace of God' go any of us perhaps ...

 

At one stage Loius was hurridly recalled to the Casualty Dept when Joe - a young man he had been following through the detox process - suffered a relapse and turned up in the middle of a massive Vodka binge. I swear you would have needed a heart of stone not to feel for the lad. Then Louis had to watch on helplessly as Joe - in a drunken stupor - decided to walk out of Casualty before any emergency detox treatment could be arranged for him. It almost felt that we were watching this gentle and intelligent 32 year old walk out to face his death.

On another occasion we saw a older man who's liver was so very damaged by years of excessive drinking that his body was retaining HUGE amounts of fluid around his torso. The sight of litres of this vile stuff being drained off was quite ghastly I assure you. When told that he might perhaps have only 3 months to live the gravity of his situation didn't really seem to hit home somehow.

 

Theroux is I think a brilliant programme maker. He has a unique way of gently cutting to the heart of the matter when it comes to people - without ever being at all aggressive or openly judgmental - that is both wonderfully exposing and yet utterly humane all at the same time. Sadly I suspect that there may not be all that many 'happy endings' for at least some of the alcholics featured here, but at least the programme ended with the welcome sight of Joe looking much better and living back with his father in Brighton - God I hope he makes it.

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The concluding (and feature length) episode of the BBC's intense police corruption drama 'Line of Duty' is due to be broadcast this coming Thursday - and by all accounts we are promised a absolute cracker.

 

In last week's genuinly shocking instalment fans of the series witnessed DS "Dot" Cotton (Craig Parkinson) brutaly murder the disgraced DI Lindsey Denton (Keeley Hawes) as she sat beside him in his car - but crucialy only seconds after she had e-mailed a incriminating image on her mobile phone to the Met's 'AC12' anti-corruption unit. So the question is can the (DNA splattered) Cotton again manipulate his credulous bosses into blaming someone else, or at long last is time finally starting to catch up with this irredeemably 'bent' and murderous copper?

 

I can hardly wait to find out ...

 

103736.jpg

 

The ending was a cracker, not the way I was expecting it to finally pan out. Glad they are making a fourth series and I hope they can retain the high standards we have seen so far.

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^ It was certainly 'edge of the seat' stuff at times wasn't it!

 

Much as I enjoyed it you might say that the script risked becoming ever so slightly OTT or "Hollywood" when the egregious "Dot" was reduced to shooting his way out of the Police station when caught out lying. However, my sister told me last week that if Cotton did get away with it again she would never watch this series again on a point of principle ... so she'll be pleased then :scared:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Jimmy Hill: A Man For All Seasons.

 

A little while ago we saw the dark side of football when the BBC broadcast that devastating 'Hillsborough' documentary. But our game can be a wonderful experience too and one of those who did so much to transform football into what it is today was the extraordinary Jimmy Hill. This is a immensly warm, effectionate and above all funny tribute to a man who was all that and more.

 

If you have not yet seen it then find a spare hour and catch up - I promise you won't regret it.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07c6mvq

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  • 3 weeks later...

Top Gear.

 

I'm wondering what other people make of this new series with its virtualy unchanged format, but entirly new team of presenters? Despite the big build-up I though that the first episode was a bit of a let down, messing around in old Reliant 3 wheelers has been done before (and better) by Clarkson afterall. But the second instalment showed a marked improvement I think. Chris Evan's genuine love of fast cars shined through, indeed he became remarkably emotional about those wonderful McLarens, and the South African piece worked well enough. More of Sabine Schmitz please - a TV star in the making.

 

I'm not the least embassed to admit that I loved the old series with a passon and that almost unique sense of real 'mateship' we saw develop over time between Clarkson, May and Hammond is very hard to replicate I think. You don't just turn that type of thing on and off like a tap. But Matt LeBlanc is funny and effortlessly cool with it in a way the old team never were and (with a little hindsight) Chris Evans is perhaps the ONLY person who could fill Clarkson's huge shoes - because love him or loathe him JC is surely the greatest motoring journalist of his generation. Your stereotypical tough act to follow.

 

So I reckon the BBC have done all right and that while new Top Gear is still very much a work-in-progress - less celebrity chat please - with a bit of luck the series will survive the upheaval and drive off into the future. I hope so anyway.

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I thought the old series was starting to get quite tired and dull and was quite happily missing it regularly, so this idea of keeping the exact same format with new presenters doesn't exactly do much for me. Evans is trying to be too similar to Clarkson, but his squeakier voice doesn't really sound right in that role. I keep hearing about Leblanc being a success, but is it only me who thinks he sounds just like a really bad actor reading his lines all of the time? He's terribly wooden and unconvincing.

 

What's missing is the way the old presenters, as annoying as they were, used to be able to chat to the camera while they were driving and make it feel like they were confiding in you about what they really thought about the cars. There's also a lack, so far, of personal involvement in the tasks. The old presenters would have been fixing up those Reliants in their own style and doing repairs, (I know it was all fake and they weren't really that hands on involved, but the program is semi fictional anyway).

 

It's a weaker version of a show that was already fading.

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  • 1 month later...

Gogglesprogs - Channel 4.

 

A fairly staightforward offshoot from C4's successful 'Gogglebox' series you may already be familiar with - but with young children replacing the adult TV addicts on display this time. Now that may not sound all that original or interesting I suppose, but against the odds Gogglesprogs turns out to be a little gem of a series and rather better methinks than the original programme it is based on. The kids are frequently charming and watching their honest reactions to the TV shows they see is both entertaining in itself and a truely fasinating insight into what it is to see the world through the innocent eyes of a child again. Delightful TV.

 

The Somme 1916: From Both Sides of the Wire - BBC2.

 

Most TV history is rather superficial in nature I'm afraid - more magazine than book if you know what I mean. But this series is much better than that because it is based on extensive archival reasearch conducted into the battle and not just another sombre but 'by-the-numbers' account of the tragic personal story's of this infamous battle's many victims. Crucially, this time we see the Somme not just from the familiar Brirish side but from the often neglected German perspective too.

Yes we all know that the Somme was indeed a frightful slaughter. But why was that so and how exactly did the heavily outnumbered German Army successfully withstand the pulversing artillery bombardment it recieved? If the answers to those old questions still interest you as much as they do me, then you too might find this superb series to be as unmissable as I have.

 

The Two Ronnies - Yesterday

 

Maybe watching too much 'nostalgia TV' is not the best use of precious time in this short life. However, when it comes to the Two Ronnies I just can't stop myself. Watching this old series again for the first time in many years you soon realise that not every sketch is great by any means - the big end of show 'song and dance' numbers may be cliched and not to everyone tastes in this day and age.

But at its wonderful best - especially when the great Ronnie Barker stikes top form - then there is little funnier to be seen on TV regardless of when it was produced. Both Rons have gone now alas - but bless 'em because they surely brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people in their time.

 

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Edited by CHAPEL END CHARLIE
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  • 4 weeks later...

Not sure if it has been mentioned before but since I only found out about last week and am watching it I defo recommend Gomorrah, drama based on a book about Mafia wars in Naples.

 

It is absolutely quality

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2016/05/10/gomorrah-sky-atlantic-review-ugly-in-a-good-way/

Edited by Convict Colony
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I've been watching and much enjoying the new Billy Connolly travelogue series 'Tracks Across America' - ITV Tuesday.

 

The format is a familiar one as Scotland's greatest export adandons the trike he drove in Australia a decade ago and rides the railroad instead across the vastness of the North American continent, stopping off in various 'out of the way' places to take a quick look at what appeals to his endearingly rebellious and independent spirit. This is all highly entertaining, but truth be told my enjoyment of this series is tempered a little by the sadness of witnessing the heavy toll both age and Parkinson's Disease have taken on our Billy.

 

But while his body may be failing him you can rest assured that wonderful spirit and sense of humour still endure and although in many ways I could hardly be more different from Billy I can think of very few other Human Beings I'd rather spend a hour with given the chance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't normally post about watching tv but I watched a film on Netflix that was so moving I had to share it.

 

It was " I'll be me " telling the story of Glen Campbell's final tour and his battle with Alzheimer's . You don't need to be a fan of his or country music to be moved by it . And people like me with parents reaching that age and in some cases fighting this horrendous disease will be particularly moved.

Amazing how he still got out there playing amazing guitar and great singing despite not knowing where he was half the time and forgetting his kids & wife's name . It was a warts and all exposure , with him losing his rag , forgetting words , & trying to find the way to his own bathroom . His final concert was equally sad & uplifting as he started to lose it on stage before somehow pulling it off . It was uncomfortable viewing at times , but well worth watching .

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  • 4 years later...
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Just started watching Slow Horses on Apple TV. Gary Oldman leads as an extremely grungy, flatulent, MI5 section head, with a motley collection of failed agents sidelined by Kristen Scott-Thomas' Head of Operations.

Imagine George Smiley in a flasher Mac, surviving on noodles, and having not had a bath for months.

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On 27/12/2023 at 11:26, badgerx16 said:

Just started watching Slow Horses on Apple TV. Gary Oldman leads as an extremely grungy, flatulent, MI5 section head, with a motley collection of failed agents sidelined by Kristen Scott-Thomas' Head of Operations.

Imagine George Smiley in a flasher Mac, surviving on noodles, and having not had a bath for months.

Ha, was just coming onto this thread to comment on Slow Horses and you've beaten me to it.  I finished the third season last night.  It's the best thing on TV for me, absolutely brilliant.  Writing and acting is top notch right the way through and Gary Oldman is superb.  

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The Lazarus Project - have watched both series over the last month - Loved it.

All the light we cannot see - 4 episode mini series based on a book. I enjoyed this a lot. 

Two very different viewing experiences there.

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  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

My son recommended this to me and I signed up to the free trial of Apple TV but I haven’t yet worked out a way to see it on my TV or Virgin TiVo.

Does this help ?

https://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-tv-edit/tips-and-tricks/how-to-watch-apple-tv-plus-on-virgin-tv

 

If not, you can access it from any Internet browser. And when you manage to get access, do try Slow Horses, as mentioned above.

Edited by badgerx16
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9 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

Does this help ?

https://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-tv-edit/tips-and-tricks/how-to-watch-apple-tv-plus-on-virgin-tv

 

If not, you can access it from any Internet browser. And when you manage to get access, do try Slow Horses, as mentioned above.

Thanks. I need to keep on digging. I have TiVo boxes which are different to the ones in the article. I would ring them butbthat would take forever.

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29 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Thanks. I need to keep on digging. I have TiVo boxes which are different to the ones in the article. I would ring them butbthat would take forever.

Presumably your TV isn't "'smart"'.

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Also the remake of Shogun. Has Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne, a bit more authentic than Richard Chamberlain. Jarvis played Barney Thomason the sniper that Tommy Shelby got to try and kill Moseley in Peakies. 

Edited by Winnersaint
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My lounge tv is over 10 years old so I can’t find and Apple TV app for it. My TV in the conservatory is more modern and has the app but it’s still too cold out there.

I have dug out a Firestick and after replacing the batteries in the remote and downloading the app I can now get Apple TV+ in my lounge.

Now I need to get my soundbar working for the full effect. My wife didn’t like the noise that it made.

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