So .. What Do You Watch On TV?

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

Finally caught up with Mr Bates vs. The Post Office this weekend, which has been sat on the box since New Year. I knew it was a scandal before the drama even aired, and I've seen all the coverage in the past 2 weeks but to see it play out over 4 episodes - it's just appalling! Criminal behaviour from start to finish from the Post Office and it is disgusting it has still not been rectified. The Mafia have better morals at this stage. 

[En Passant 3,741]

There's a lot of commentary now kicking around that it's a pity it takes a docudrama to get this much attention and the message over to people. However I was the same i.e. not really sufficiently shocked until I watched this. Maybe part of the issue is the directive to be factual and provide 'balance' that news is beholden to and drama is not? I'm unsure.

 

Vennels managed to hand her gong back but, shock, not the 2.2M in bonuses she received over her period in charge. https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2024/jan/10/now-claw-back-vennellss-bonuses-from-the-post-office-the-rules-allow-it.

 

 

[Toast 16,131]

Finally got around to watching Twin Peaks.  About four episodes in to S2 now and have been enjoying it.

I've got the gold box DVD set which is just the original 2 1990s series.

What's the general opinion on the 2017 series and the film?

[Sod's Law 445]

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Right up my alley. 

[MortalCaso 1,624]

20 minutes ago, Sod's Law said:

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Right up my alley. 

 I watched this anthology when it first came out, highly recommend! A few episodes are duds, but it really scratched an itch for me.

[The Old Crem 3,582]

I’ve been watching the Covid drama on ITV. It’s been very good and very well acted but it is biased against the Goverment as while featuring lots of news clips ignored Boris Johnson getting Covid which has a big impact on society.

 

Surprisingly they didn’t put in a mention of Captain Tom either. 

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

20 hours ago, The Old Crem said:

I’ve been watching the Covid drama on ITV. It’s been very good and very well acted but it is biased against the Goverment as while featuring lots of news clips ignored Boris Johnson getting Covid which has a big impact on society.

 

Surprisingly they didn’t put in a mention of Captain Tom either. 

 

I've only seen one episode so far, but as far as I've seen it's made no comment on government policy per se. It has shown the lived experience of A&E doctors during the pandemic, showing how what they were seeing in hospital was very different to what the public were being told. That's not  political point, it's a matter of public record. Boris getting Covid made no difference to hospital staff they had their hands full with their own Covid patients. Likewise, Captain Tom had no contact with hospital staff, he raised money for NHS charities independent of the particulars of the Covid crisis.

[wannamaker 1,407]

Not really watching it on TV, but I like to binge-watch Mastermind & Only Connect episodes on Youtube. I don't know how many times I've gotten Harold Pinter questions right just because he was deathlist hit.

[Lafaucheuse 4,045]

watching the crown for the first time (Yeah I know… I'm late…) and I thought what a shame they didn't cast Charles Dance to play old Philip, their resemblance is uncanny

[Commtech Sio Bibble 2,028]

4 hours ago, Lafaucheuse said:

watching the crown for the first time (Yeah I know… I'm late…) and I thought what a shame they didn't cast Charles Dance to play old Philip, their resemblance is uncanny

I've seen the first 2 seasons but I gave up about half way through the 3rd as it wasn't the same. And I'm glad I did as from what I've seen, season 4 focuses on Thatcher (not a fan) and 5&6 focus on some of the younger Royals. I'm quite strongly anti-monarchy myself, but I did enjoy what I watched, probably because I love politics and history.

 

Charles Dance is in The Crown. He plays Lord Mountbatten, who is Philip's uncle, and the resemblance is uncanny there too.

[Toast 16,131]

On 20/02/2024 at 15:02, Toast said:

Finally got around to watching Twin Peaks.  About four episodes in to S2 now and have been enjoying it.

I've got the gold box DVD set which is just the original 2 1990s series.

What's the general opinion on the 2017 series and the film?

 

@Handrejka

I've caved in and ordered the Series 3 DVD.  

It's on NOW but the only cheap offer is minimum 6 months. Also on Paramount where I could get a 7 day free trial, but I thought, hell, might as well buy it and have the extras.

Film is not streaming anywhere, and hard to find on DVD/blu ray except for imports.

[Handrejka 1,903]

On 28/02/2024 at 23:59, Toast said:

 

@Handrejka

I've caved in and ordered the Series 3 DVD.  

It's on NOW but the only cheap offer is minimum 6 months. Also on Paramount where I could get a 7 day free trial, but I thought, hell, might as well buy it and have the extras.

Film is not streaming anywhere, and hard to find on DVD/blu ray except for imports.

I must confess that I never got round to watching series 3.

I  am pleased you have enjoyed series 1 and 2

[Toast 16,131]

8 minutes ago, Handrejka said:

I must confess that I never got round to watching series 3.

I  am pleased you have enjoyed series 1 and 2

 

It's arrived and I have watched one episode.  It's not very Twin Peaksy yet as there are some other locations, but it is promising. 

Did you see the film?

[Handrejka 1,903]

3 minutes ago, Toast said:

 

It's arrived and I have watched one episode.  It's not very Twin Peaksy yet as there are some other locations, but it is promising. 

Did you see the film?

I have seen the film, but many years ago.

It's not bad and answers some questions but it doesn't feel very Twin Peaksy either.

[Toast 16,131]

I want to see the film, but for the moment will be keeping it as something to look for in the charity shops

 

A bugbear of mine is that very few shelve DVDs in alphabetical order.  All it needs is all the As together by title, then the Bs, etc.  I'm sure they would sell more if they did.

I can't be doing with scanning a whole wall of DVDs with my head on one side.

 

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

4 hours ago, Toast said:

I want to see the film, but for the moment will be keeping it as something to look for in the charity shops

 

A bugbear of mine is that very few shelve DVDs in alphabetical order.  All it needs is all the As together by title, then the Bs, etc.  I'm sure they would sell more if they did.

I can't be doing with scanning a whole wall of DVDs with my head on one side.

 

 

Same with the books in lots of charity shops. And the Music Magpie in my local Asda - just in any old order, you've got to go looking for a needle in a haystack. It's an annoyance.

[Toast 16,131]

15 minutes ago, RoverAndOut said:

Same with the books in lots of charity shops. And the Music Magpie in my local Asda - just in any old order, you've got to go looking for a needle in a haystack. It's an annoyance.

 

A lot of them do shelve books in order by author, so I can't understand why they don't sort the DVDs as well. I've heard it blamed on customers not putting them back in the right place, but most people are used to DVDs not being sorted, so it might take a while before they notice.

[TQR 14,386]

Boarders, new BBC comedy-drama. Really liked it. It has proven to be hugely popular so looking hopeful for a second series.

[TQR 14,386]

Scoop, the Netflix biographical drama about the Prince Andrew Newsnight interview. Brilliant behind the scenes story, a great depiction of the interview itself by Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell and a reminder of that extraordinary, momentous piece of journalism.

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

Just finished 'Passenger' on ITV. High hopes but sadly did the usual that every mystery drama does these days, didn't even try to have an ending. Just a load of things set up with little to no pay-off. Now I'm supposed to wonder about it for the next 2 or 3 years and then get excited when it returns with absolutely no memory what any of it was about because I've forgotten it all. Not that I even care all that much. There was a good show in there, a sort of weird Yorkshire Twin Peaks, but it just tied itself in knots and didn't commit to anything. So frustrating! 

[justonecornetto 948]

On 02/03/2024 at 16:49, Toast said:

 

It's arrived and I have watched one episode.  It's not very Twin Peaksy yet as there are some other locations, but it is promising. 

Did you see the film?

 

Just noticed your post and since I am rather obsessed with David Lynch and Twin Peaks, especially The Return (series 3), I'd be keen to see if you've got through the 18 episodes, in particular Episode 8, which is something of a cult classic now and I would say is the finest 1 hour of TV ever made. I have the DVD boxset of The Return and the CD with all the songs that were played at end of each episode, also have most of his films on DVD and went to Manchester International Festival in 2019 as there was a lot of David Lynch stuff on offer like all his art stuff and 3 concerts with music inspired by him. I saw and met  Chrysta Bell who played Tammy Preston and there was a special screening of Episode 8 which I've probably watched about 20 times now. Fire Walk With Me is a great film and ideally it's better if you could have seen it prior to watching The Return

[Toast 16,131]

Yes, I did watch all 18 episodes and at some point I caved in and bought a blu-ray of Fire Walk With Me which had English subtitles. (Most Lynch DVDs don't have subtitles and I often have difficulty making out dialogue.)  Overpriced but worth it as the sound was not good and dialogue completely inaudible in a few places.  I watched it about halfway through the return series, I don't think it did too much harm, better late than never!

 

As for Episode 8, I must admit that I fell asleep first time round.    But this was really caused by watching one episode too many, too late.  Not so much the content - although some of the visuals were somewhat hypnotic.  So I had to watch it again when not tired.

 

After watching each episode I looked at the IMDB reviews.  There was one reviewer in particular who provided a very thoughtful commentary, episode by episode, and I found his views helpful.

I've just read Mark Frost's 'Twin Peaks - The Final Dossier' which I got from the library.  It fills in a few gaps but doesn't explain everything.  Which is fine with me!

[justonecornetto 948]

50 minutes ago, Toast said:

Yes, I did watch all 18 episodes and at some point I caved in and bought a blu-ray of Fire Walk With Me which had English subtitles. (Most Lynch DVDs don't have subtitles and I often have difficulty making out dialogue.)  Overpriced but worth it as the sound was not good and dialogue completely inaudible in a few places.  I watched it about halfway through the return series, I don't think it did too much harm, better late than never!

 

As for Episode 8, I must admit that I fell asleep first time round.    But this was really caused by watching one episode too many, too late.  Not so much the content - although some of the visuals were somewhat hypnotic.  So I had to watch it again when not tired.

 

After watching each episode I looked at the IMDB reviews.  There was one reviewer in particular who provided a very thoughtful commentary, episode by episode, and I found his views helpful.

I've just read Mark Frost's 'Twin Peaks - The Final Dossier' which I got from the library.  It fills in a few gaps but doesn't explain everything.  Which is fine with me!

 

The Secret History of Twin Peaks is also a good book which is annotated by agent Tammy Preston. I got it from the library few years ago so might have to borrow it again. Like you I found it helpful to watch a weekly review of each episode on a channel called Mild Fuzz who do good reviews of all the sci-fi, horror and out there stuff on TV and films.

I run a Film Group for my local U3A but I daren't show any Lynch films as they would all think it's too weird, well maybe apart from The Elephant Man or The Straight Story.

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

17 minutes ago, justonecornetto said:

The Secret History of Twin Peaks is also a good book which is annotated by agent Tammy Preston. I got it from the library few years ago so might have to borrow it again. Like you I found it helpful to watch a weekly review of each episode on a channel called Mild Fuzz who do good reviews of all the sci-fi, horror and out there stuff on TV and films.

I run a Film Group for my local U3A but I daren't show any Lynch films as they would all think it's too weird, well maybe apart from The Elephant Man or The Straight Story.

 

Is Mulholland Drive weird? Never seen it but heard good things and the premise seems suitable for an entry-level Lynch offering. Not sure I've seen anything by him, but know his reputation.

[justonecornetto 948]

50 minutes ago, RoverAndOut said:

 

Is Mulholland Drive weird? Never seen it but heard good things and the premise seems suitable for an entry-level Lynch offering. Not sure I've seen anything by him, but know his reputation.

 

MD is his best film which I've seen several times but it is confusing more than weird on first viewing however you begin to get more of a feel for what Lynch is conveying on second or third watch.

The Elephant Man and The Straight Story are great films by Lynch and are more mainstream compared to his usual surreal stuff like Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Fire Walk With Me and Inland Empire.He also did the original version of Dune which he didn't like as he was't given final cut and it's generally panned but I quite like it.

 

EDIT forgot about Blue Velvet which I would recommend as the entry level Lynch film