I'm watching the first episode if Joanna Lumley's Great Cities of the World. This one is about Paris. I love everything she does, including her travel programs. 😃
I find @CoolHandBond 's appraisals of soap operas amusing. It's like dipping back into the coffees one's had over the years and saying, right, I'll have three of these coffees now and see what I make of them. Nah, nothing. Or watching old football matches, the whole point is it's in the present. You build an interest over time, most of the drama comes from characters' one-upmanship or wrongdoing that needs to be redressed in the next episode.
The first episode of EastEnders was rubbish, the characters are finding their feet. One worth revisiting might be the Christmas Day special when Dirty Den lands his lush landlord wife Ange her divorce papers. But you have to be invested in the characters, over the weeks, with the sense that everyone around the country is equally invested.
That said, there are no decent soaps today I'd recommend. I suppose big series like Lost, or Line of Duty are almost like soaps - the first series rocks and then there's the sense the writers are forced to pad it out over several series with lots of red herrings. The first series of Line of Duty is great and series 3 very good but after that I did give it up as it was just padding it out.
Jason Watkins and Tala Gouvela star as the mismatched cops in this British crime series. It’s set in the lovely city of Bath which is a pleasant change from the usual grimy cities of other series. The first episode of series 3 has more twists and turns than a maze but it holds up pretty well and Alan Davies turns up in a suitably eccentric role as a linguist anthropologist. Undemanding fare, but Watkins is excellent (as usual) as the shy but astute detective.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The 1957 movie with Henry Fonda is one of my favourite films. I knew that it was based on a TV show but had never seen it until now when it has turned up on the Amazon platform. It was an episode in the Studio One series - the first episode of series 7. The plot concerns the deliberations of a jury who are determining the innocence or guilt of a young man accused of murdering his father. It is a powerful piece of television. Robert Cummings takes the role to be later played by Henry Fonda and two other actors play the same roles again in the movie. The script was lengthened for the movie and certain characters are different to the ones in the movie. It is tautly directed by Franklin Schaffer who would go on to direct Planet Of The Apes, Papillon and The Boys From Brazil.
Well worth watching. Another episode is also on the platform starring Steve McQueen and William Shatner so I will be watching that soon.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
There's been a series of documentary and live stuff of the Rolling Stones on the BBC. I'm a fan, but a lapsed one. I watched the 1978 Sone Girls Live concert which was on tonight as I thought it might demonstrate the band at their raucous best, not the over produced CD / vinyl friendly live stuff we usually get. Certainly was raucous. A smaller venue, an indoor theatre in Fort Worth, Texas, and the band working in close proximity. Very seventies set list: eight of the ten tracks from the Sone Girls album get an outing, and a smattering of other fare from Mick Taylor era. Only Honky Tonk Women & Jumping Jack Flash make it in from the sixties. No encores. No introductions. Very raw looking and sounding and pretty good. Would have been nice to have at least Satisfaction or Let's Spend the Night, but there you go . And yes, much more like an actual Stones concert.
Yeah, I saw a bit of that, the Stones looked young then, and Jagger was almost trying a different persona, sort of make up and New York Dolls thing going on.
The Charlie Watts strand of the Stones documentary was interesting - his OCD for instance, his particular ways and his many bespoke suits that he got made in a shop on Saville Row that looked like the one in the Kinsgmsan. This doc was made after he died so he wasn't being directly interviewed about it though he didn't seem the most vocally demonstrative fellow, still there were some clips of him chatting. Nothing on Wyman though he was the first to do a somewhat humdrum memoir of his time in the band, of course the grooming scandals that have happened since put his dalliance and marriage to Many Smith in a very bad light, to his credit Watts at the time when asked said he was happy for Bill Wyman but clarified the he didn't think it was a good match, he was offering muted congratulations.
I will try to catch up with the Jagger one on iPlayer.
Written by Only Fools And Horses John Sullivan this is an excellent comedy starring Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis and a good support cast. Two ex-lovers accidentally meet a few years after Vince had jilted Penny on their wedding day. Sullivan is excellent at creating characters that you feel for and this series is no exception as over 3 seasons we watch the couple bicker and argue themselves in and out of love again. There are lots of visual jokes and the script is sharp. Very, very good.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
A 4-part documentary on the famous Piccadilly hotel. We go behind he scenes as head chef John Williams prepares the delicacies and we see how events are organised and how the Christmas tree is erected and dressed. It’s certainly a different world at the Ritz. I’ve had afternoon tea there in the past, and it’s nice to get dressed up, but it’s not somewhere I would want to frequent on a regular basis, but it’s great for a special occasion.
Interesting, in a sort of vacuous way.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I'm banned from watching those programmes. I watched the Ritz one and loved the look of the Saturday dinner dance evening they do. As a teat for my birthday my Hubby booked it and we went. Cost him an arm and a leg. It was fabulous though. He wouldn't let me watch the programme about The Savoy 🤣
That sounds lovely @Lady Rose Ive promised Mrs CHB to take her to dinner there when we’re next in London. We have had dinner at the Savoy and must admit I wasn’t that enamoured with it.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I don't do comics books (or books really) and in some ways I think it's better as I take stuff at face value. I loved The Witcher and knew nothing about it before watching. I think the same with The Sandman. Just finished E6.
It's an adaptation of the first book in a series by Mick Herron, a modern spy series set in London and featuring a group of failed spooks who occupy a shabby building in the Barbican known as Slough House. The books are very entertaining spy novels, brilliantly written by Herron, and with a lot of amusing banter between the ensemble cast of misfits. Their boss is Jackson Lamb, an accomplished agent, but rather a disagreeable human being with some rather unpleasant habits.
The TV adaptation is very faithful to the book, and is exceptionally well cast with Gary Oldman taking the role of Jackson Lamb, and Kristen Scott-Thomas as the senior member of MI5 who oversees the slow horses. The rest of the ensemble do a really good job too - a standout being Jack Lowden who plays River Cartwright, the closest thing to an action orientated spy in the group, and his grandfather (a highly respected retired spy) is played by none other than Jonathan Pryce, who really comes across very similar to John Le Carre in his senior years. Another nice touch is an original theme song by Mick Jagger who is apparently a big Mick Herron fan.
I definitely recommend both the books and the TV show. The second novel has already been filmed and is due for release later this year. Subsequent books are shooting soon. I am particularly keen to see how the ensemble of characters grows and develop over the course of the show.
I read Slow Horses and, sorry, could not disagree more. A terrible excuse for a modern day thriller with up-teen cliches and a host of computer geeks doing most of their research in a cafe. Too much chopping and changing of scenes to deliver the necessary literary tension. Mark Herron clearly had a screenplay of this in his head before he wrote the thing down. It's like reading a visual modern TV thriller. No literary ambition other than relate an A to B to Z story. Rubbish.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,848MI6 Agent
I've heard people compare the Mick Heron novels to the Boysie Oakes novel series by our own John Gardner. I was wondering if there's anything to this?
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I recall your aversion to Mick Herron Chrisno1, and of course respect your opinion but I've always found Herron's writing to be very much to my taste, and I think his gift for description is exceptional. As for the humour, if that doesn't appeal to you then that will be detrimental to your enjoyment of the books.
Admittedly part of his structural technique is the chopping and changing of scenes as you've mentioned, and this is a structure that does bring television/film techniques to mind. I guess it's up the reader to decide whether they like this or not.
Also, if the espionage plot of Slow Horses doesn't grab you, in my opinion it's plot is my least favourite of all the novels. The first novel is primarily focused on introducing the Slough House ensemble. Subsequent novels get more interesting in their plots.
Obviously I don't expect to change the mind of anybody who isn't a Herron fan. That's just my opinion. But it's one that is shared by many fellow spy literature fans.
@Silhouette Man I haven't read enough Boysie Oakes to properly comment on any similarities. But there is probably something to that. I think also Len Deighton's nameless spy (aka Harry Palmer) books could be a worthy comparison. I have heard other spy fans comment that Herron is something of a modern day Deighton.
I hope you will enjoy the second series Gymkata. The second book is one of my favourite in the series. I have heard that the second series is a little less faithful to the novel than series 1 was though. I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done with it though. It was filmed concurrently with the first series, so they clearly had quite a bit of confidence in the show.
That's a relief! I have the greatest repect for you, Lady. But personally I like to eat, breathe, read and stuff like that, so I couldn't hjelp reacting to your post. 🙂
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,848MI6 Agent
Thanks, @Golrush007. That's good to know. I did buy a few of the Mick Herron novels when they were on offer at The Works here in the UK. Not gotten around to reading them yet but will have to try them out some time. I've heard Herron being compared to Deigton too, of course one of the biggest names in the spy fiction genre.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I’ve been ploughing my way through the Doctor Who series for the past couple of years and have reached the 20th anniversary special episode. This reunites the five doctors up to that point and several companions. Written by script editor Terrance **** it involves the current Doctor meeting up with his previous incarnations and companions in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. It all gets a bit confusing as The Master is seconded by the Time Lords to rescue the Doctor in return for a pardon for past misdeeds.
It’s nice to see the old doctors, Tom Baker didn’t want to return so some unused footage is used of him, and William Hartnell who had passed away by then is played rather well by Richard Hurndall, but we do see old footage of Hartnell at the beginning. Carole Ann Ford returns as the doctors granddaughter, the Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith and Jamie all return along with current companions Turlough and Tegan. The actress who plays Tegan is very wooden, nice legs though!
I quite like it when series revisit past characters and this episode has it in spades. Its an entertaining feature length episode and a fun celebratory way of attaining 20 years of adventures. Oh, yes, the Daleks and Cybermen turn up as well!
Very Good.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Anything good on TV? Of course not, it's summer! TV HQ is in Oslo where ut rarely rains, so probably they figure everyone is outside in the sun instead of watching TV.
Comments
I'm watching the first episode if Joanna Lumley's Great Cities of the World. This one is about Paris. I love everything she does, including her travel programs. 😃
I find @CoolHandBond 's appraisals of soap operas amusing. It's like dipping back into the coffees one's had over the years and saying, right, I'll have three of these coffees now and see what I make of them. Nah, nothing. Or watching old football matches, the whole point is it's in the present. You build an interest over time, most of the drama comes from characters' one-upmanship or wrongdoing that needs to be redressed in the next episode.
The first episode of EastEnders was rubbish, the characters are finding their feet. One worth revisiting might be the Christmas Day special when Dirty Den lands his lush landlord wife Ange her divorce papers. But you have to be invested in the characters, over the weeks, with the sense that everyone around the country is equally invested.
That said, there are no decent soaps today I'd recommend. I suppose big series like Lost, or Line of Duty are almost like soaps - the first series rocks and then there's the sense the writers are forced to pad it out over several series with lots of red herrings. The first series of Line of Duty is great and series 3 very good but after that I did give it up as it was just padding it out.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
McDonald & Dodds - Season 3
Jason Watkins and Tala Gouvela star as the mismatched cops in this British crime series. It’s set in the lovely city of Bath which is a pleasant change from the usual grimy cities of other series. The first episode of series 3 has more twists and turns than a maze but it holds up pretty well and Alan Davies turns up in a suitably eccentric role as a linguist anthropologist. Undemanding fare, but Watkins is excellent (as usual) as the shy but astute detective.
TWELVE ANGRY MEN (1954)
The 1957 movie with Henry Fonda is one of my favourite films. I knew that it was based on a TV show but had never seen it until now when it has turned up on the Amazon platform. It was an episode in the Studio One series - the first episode of series 7. The plot concerns the deliberations of a jury who are determining the innocence or guilt of a young man accused of murdering his father. It is a powerful piece of television. Robert Cummings takes the role to be later played by Henry Fonda and two other actors play the same roles again in the movie. The script was lengthened for the movie and certain characters are different to the ones in the movie. It is tautly directed by Franklin Schaffer who would go on to direct Planet Of The Apes, Papillon and The Boys From Brazil.
Well worth watching. Another episode is also on the platform starring Steve McQueen and William Shatner so I will be watching that soon.
Has anyone seen Murder In Provence on BritBox?
I quite fancy this, mainly because it stars Roger Allam. It starts tonight on ITV.
There's been a series of documentary and live stuff of the Rolling Stones on the BBC. I'm a fan, but a lapsed one. I watched the 1978 Sone Girls Live concert which was on tonight as I thought it might demonstrate the band at their raucous best, not the over produced CD / vinyl friendly live stuff we usually get. Certainly was raucous. A smaller venue, an indoor theatre in Fort Worth, Texas, and the band working in close proximity. Very seventies set list: eight of the ten tracks from the Sone Girls album get an outing, and a smattering of other fare from Mick Taylor era. Only Honky Tonk Women & Jumping Jack Flash make it in from the sixties. No encores. No introductions. Very raw looking and sounding and pretty good. Would have been nice to have at least Satisfaction or Let's Spend the Night, but there you go . And yes, much more like an actual Stones concert.
Yeah, I saw a bit of that, the Stones looked young then, and Jagger was almost trying a different persona, sort of make up and New York Dolls thing going on.
The Charlie Watts strand of the Stones documentary was interesting - his OCD for instance, his particular ways and his many bespoke suits that he got made in a shop on Saville Row that looked like the one in the Kinsgmsan. This doc was made after he died so he wasn't being directly interviewed about it though he didn't seem the most vocally demonstrative fellow, still there were some clips of him chatting. Nothing on Wyman though he was the first to do a somewhat humdrum memoir of his time in the band, of course the grooming scandals that have happened since put his dalliance and marriage to Many Smith in a very bad light, to his credit Watts at the time when asked said he was happy for Bill Wyman but clarified the he didn't think it was a good match, he was offering muted congratulations.
I will try to catch up with the Jagger one on iPlayer.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It's summer and there's a football championship going on, so of course there isn't anything good on TV!
JUST GOOD FRIENDS (1983-1986)
Written by Only Fools And Horses John Sullivan this is an excellent comedy starring Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis and a good support cast. Two ex-lovers accidentally meet a few years after Vince had jilted Penny on their wedding day. Sullivan is excellent at creating characters that you feel for and this series is no exception as over 3 seasons we watch the couple bicker and argue themselves in and out of love again. There are lots of visual jokes and the script is sharp. Very, very good.
INSIDE THE RITZ HOTEL (2019)
A 4-part documentary on the famous Piccadilly hotel. We go behind he scenes as head chef John Williams prepares the delicacies and we see how events are organised and how the Christmas tree is erected and dressed. It’s certainly a different world at the Ritz. I’ve had afternoon tea there in the past, and it’s nice to get dressed up, but it’s not somewhere I would want to frequent on a regular basis, but it’s great for a special occasion.
Interesting, in a sort of vacuous way.
I've been buying loads of old TV shows on both download and physical media, like DVD and Blu-ray. Here's my list But
I'll probably forget something .
The avengers from season three onwards
The new Avengers both seasons
The Saint ( B&W and colour seasons )
The return of the Saint
The six million Dollar man ( complete box set all seven series plus movies )
Mission Impossible the original series box set and the 1980s revival 2 seasons
Department S
The fall Guy seasons 1 and 2
Remington Steele Box set
Father Brown ( Kenneth Moore 1970s tv series )
Father Brown all seasons
Lord Peter Wimsey all five 1970s BBC specials
Campion bbc 1980s detective series set in the 30s
The Mrs Bradley mysteries box set
Star Trek Original three seasons
Star Trek TNG all 7 seasons
Are you being served Box set and Grace and Favour the follow up to AYBS 2 series.
I'm banned from watching those programmes. I watched the Ritz one and loved the look of the Saturday dinner dance evening they do. As a teat for my birthday my Hubby booked it and we went. Cost him an arm and a leg. It was fabulous though. He wouldn't let me watch the programme about The Savoy 🤣
Just watched 3 episodes of The Sandman on Netflix. Absolutely love it so far.
That sounds lovely @Lady Rose Ive promised Mrs CHB to take her to dinner there when we’re next in London. We have had dinner at the Savoy and must admit I wasn’t that enamoured with it.
That’s a great list @Thunderpussy a few of those are streaming on BritBox at the moment so I’m watching them 😁
@Thunderpussy yes, a great list. Campion was underrated. Department S is on London Live sometimes. That show is seriously odd.
Van Der Valk - rather good
I don't do comics books (or books really) and in some ways I think it's better as I take stuff at face value. I loved The Witcher and knew nothing about it before watching. I think the same with The Sandman. Just finished E6.
Has anyone here watched Slow Horses on Apple TV+?
It's an adaptation of the first book in a series by Mick Herron, a modern spy series set in London and featuring a group of failed spooks who occupy a shabby building in the Barbican known as Slough House. The books are very entertaining spy novels, brilliantly written by Herron, and with a lot of amusing banter between the ensemble cast of misfits. Their boss is Jackson Lamb, an accomplished agent, but rather a disagreeable human being with some rather unpleasant habits.
The TV adaptation is very faithful to the book, and is exceptionally well cast with Gary Oldman taking the role of Jackson Lamb, and Kristen Scott-Thomas as the senior member of MI5 who oversees the slow horses. The rest of the ensemble do a really good job too - a standout being Jack Lowden who plays River Cartwright, the closest thing to an action orientated spy in the group, and his grandfather (a highly respected retired spy) is played by none other than Jonathan Pryce, who really comes across very similar to John Le Carre in his senior years. Another nice touch is an original theme song by Mick Jagger who is apparently a big Mick Herron fan.
I definitely recommend both the books and the TV show. The second novel has already been filmed and is due for release later this year. Subsequent books are shooting soon. I am particularly keen to see how the ensemble of characters grows and develop over the course of the show.
I read Slow Horses and, sorry, could not disagree more. A terrible excuse for a modern day thriller with up-teen cliches and a host of computer geeks doing most of their research in a cafe. Too much chopping and changing of scenes to deliver the necessary literary tension. Mark Herron clearly had a screenplay of this in his head before he wrote the thing down. It's like reading a visual modern TV thriller. No literary ambition other than relate an A to B to Z story. Rubbish.
I've heard people compare the Mick Heron novels to the Boysie Oakes novel series by our own John Gardner. I was wondering if there's anything to this?
I recall your aversion to Mick Herron Chrisno1, and of course respect your opinion but I've always found Herron's writing to be very much to my taste, and I think his gift for description is exceptional. As for the humour, if that doesn't appeal to you then that will be detrimental to your enjoyment of the books.
Admittedly part of his structural technique is the chopping and changing of scenes as you've mentioned, and this is a structure that does bring television/film techniques to mind. I guess it's up the reader to decide whether they like this or not.
Also, if the espionage plot of Slow Horses doesn't grab you, in my opinion it's plot is my least favourite of all the novels. The first novel is primarily focused on introducing the Slough House ensemble. Subsequent novels get more interesting in their plots.
Obviously I don't expect to change the mind of anybody who isn't a Herron fan. That's just my opinion. But it's one that is shared by many fellow spy literature fans.
@Silhouette Man I haven't read enough Boysie Oakes to properly comment on any similarities. But there is probably something to that. I think also Len Deighton's nameless spy (aka Harry Palmer) books could be a worthy comparison. I have heard other spy fans comment that Herron is something of a modern day Deighton.
I hope you will enjoy the second series Gymkata. The second book is one of my favourite in the series. I have heard that the second series is a little less faithful to the novel than series 1 was though. I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done with it though. It was filmed concurrently with the first series, so they clearly had quite a bit of confidence in the show.
You don't do books?
!!!! 😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲
Not strictly true but I generally do horror/gothic/occult novels. 👿
That's a relief! I have the greatest repect for you, Lady. But personally I like to eat, breathe, read and stuff like that, so I couldn't hjelp reacting to your post. 🙂
Thanks, @Golrush007. That's good to know. I did buy a few of the Mick Herron novels when they were on offer at The Works here in the UK. Not gotten around to reading them yet but will have to try them out some time. I've heard Herron being compared to Deigton too, of course one of the biggest names in the spy fiction genre.
DOCTOR WHO: THE FIVE DOCTORS (1983)
I’ve been ploughing my way through the Doctor Who series for the past couple of years and have reached the 20th anniversary special episode. This reunites the five doctors up to that point and several companions. Written by script editor Terrance **** it involves the current Doctor meeting up with his previous incarnations and companions in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. It all gets a bit confusing as The Master is seconded by the Time Lords to rescue the Doctor in return for a pardon for past misdeeds.
It’s nice to see the old doctors, Tom Baker didn’t want to return so some unused footage is used of him, and William Hartnell who had passed away by then is played rather well by Richard Hurndall, but we do see old footage of Hartnell at the beginning. Carole Ann Ford returns as the doctors granddaughter, the Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith and Jamie all return along with current companions Turlough and Tegan. The actress who plays Tegan is very wooden, nice legs though!
I quite like it when series revisit past characters and this episode has it in spades. Its an entertaining feature length episode and a fun celebratory way of attaining 20 years of adventures. Oh, yes, the Daleks and Cybermen turn up as well!
Very Good.
You'll catch my review soon...
Anything good on TV? Of course not, it's summer! TV HQ is in Oslo where ut rarely rains, so probably they figure everyone is outside in the sun instead of watching TV.