Is there anything worth watching on the TV?

[Guest]

This a plea for help. I have developed the idea that there is nothing worth watching on the TV – despite Freeview providing so many channels. I have just been through the past 7 days output on all the BBC channels and found nothing that I want watch, nothing at all. I am worried (although perhaps “worried” is too strong a word) that my narrow-mindedness is causing me to overlook some real gems. I would welcome direction to any “should-not-miss” TV programmes from the past seven days or any which are coming up in the near future.

[eighthobstruction]

If you like well crafted police drama with good atmosphere and as solid a plot as can be seen on TV these days - Hinterland on BBC4 last and this Monday....very good I thought, exemplary even....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A couple of repeats -

Simon Sebag Montefiore's excellent three-part history of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03kp6hg/Byzantium_A_Tale_of_Three_Cities_Episode_1/

The first part of Kate Humble & Helen Czevrki's Orbit:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01d7kd5/Orbit_Earths_Extraordinary_Journey_Episode_1/

... and still time to catch up on the remarkable series Gardens in Time - a combination of Horticultural and Social ('tho'of a very particular Class) Histories (the first episode, dealing with Great Dixter and Christopher LLoyd I found particularly ... and for want of a better word ... inspiring:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b042638j/British_Gardens_in_Time_Nymans/

... all from BBC4.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If you like well crafted police drama with good atmosphere and as solid a plot as can be seen on TV these days - Hinterland on BBC4 last and this Monday....very good I thought, exemplary even....

- dda iawn, diolch!

[umslopogaas]

I dont own a TV and never have done. For news and current affairs I see all of what I need on the BBC website and I listen to Radio 4 every day for news bulletins. I usually listen to the R4 6.30 comedy half hour. I dont like drama. If I had a TV I would certainly watch the natural history programmes, if they still have any, some of the old films (but I have seen an awful lot of old films in my time) and some of the comedy. But I dont really miss any of those things, and prefer to spend the evenings reading and listening to my large and ever expanding collection of classical LPs and CDs.

And I have great fun with the TV licencing people, who send me ever-more threatening letters, which I ignore. They have threatened to come and inspect the house several times, but have never done so.

So dont worry, as far as I am concerned, if you can find nothing you want to watch its probably because there isnt anything.

[Anna]

It sounds like excessive viewing but I've been watching Generation War (BBC2) - story of 5 friends in Germany 1941-45; Fargo (C4) - based on the film and sort of Twin Peaks-ish; and caught first episode of Prey (ITV) which I thought pretty good. Also watched new drama about Dylan Thomas, A Poet in New York which will be on English BBC May 18th. Haven't watched Hinterland again as it's already been on BBC Wales but would also recommend it.

[VodkaDilc]

This a plea for help. I have developed the idea that there is nothing worth watching on the TV – despite Freeview providing so many channels. I have just been through the past 7 days output on all the BBC channels and found nothing that I want watch, nothing at all. I am worried (although perhaps “worried” is too strong a word) that my narrow-mindedness is causing me to overlook some real gems. I would welcome direction to any “should-not-miss” TV programmes from the past seven days or any which are coming up in the near future.

I agree that you can more or less give up on the BBC channels - but try Channel 4 (Mr Drew's School for Boys, Rupert Everett on prostitution in the last week) or Sky Arts for lots of operas and concerts.

[Mary Chambers]

There was a beautiful programme called Britain's Natural World: the Wild Places of Essex on BBC4 the other night. I watch documentaries and news mostly. I don't like detective dramas, or indeed most of the fictional output. There is a lot of rubbish, but if you look carefully there is definitely some television that's worth watching.

[Petrushka]

I watch very little television apart from the horse racing on C4 and occasional news. Not really sure why I shelled out so much for a Samsung Smart TV but it's great for watching the racing and music DVDs. If not on here, CDs and reading take up most of my free time, what little of it is left after work.

[gurnemanz]

Apart from sport and news, we mainly watch documentaries, but plenty of worthwhile stuff over the last few weeks. A few that come to mind: Plantagenets, Paxo's WW1 series. British Gardens in Time. The Georgians. Ian Hislop's Olden Days. Prof Richard Fortey on Mushrooms. Composers In Their Own Words. A Very British Renaissance with James Fox, How China Fooled the World with Robert Peston. Wild Burma - 3 docs - first time cameras have been allowed in, Kim Philby betryal (v good} a film about Ian Nairn, Brit Architects ....

Entertainment: The Trip to Italy (Steve Coogan), Rev, current German Drama on BBc 2: Our Mothers, Our Fathers, Line of Duitty.

[mercia]

How China Fooled the World with Robert Peston.

wow - that man has even more power than I thought

[Serial_Apologist]

Tonight on ITV at 10 pm, this might be worth watching:

"Perspectives: the Man in the Hat - Rene Magritte with Will Young
3/6 As a teenager, singer and actor Will Young stumbled upon a book about Rene Magritte, whose trademark was a bowler hat. Ever since that moment, he's had a passion for the surrealist's [sic] art. Now, in Magritte's native Belgium, Will discovers that this man with a sober exterior had the mind of a subversive rebel. Magritte had a childhood that was marked by tragedy and a marriage that survived from his adolescence until his death in 1967. he left behind a stunning artistic legacy"

[VodkaDilc]

Tonight on ITV at 10 pm, this might be worth watching:

"Perspectives: the Man in the Hat - Rene Magritte with Will Young
3/6 As a teenager, singer and actor Will Young stumbled upon a book about Rene Magritte, whose trademark was a bowler hat. Ever since that moment, he's had a passion for the surrealist's [sic] art. Now, in Magritte's native Belgium, Will discovers that this man with a sober exterior had the mind of a subversive rebel. Magritte had a childhood that was marked by tragedy and a marriage that survived from his adolescence until his death in 1967. he left behind a stunning artistic legacy"

There was an article about this in The Guardian last week and I intend to watch it. There does seem to be more substance to Mr Young than there is to most "popular singers". (I'm not sure of the right description for what he does.)

[EdgeleyRob]

I watch football and some music programmes,proms etc.
That's it.
I'd much rather be listening to music.

[teamsaint]

I watch football and some music programmes,proms etc.
That's it.
I'd much rather be listening to music.

Thats how It is round here too.

If i didnt have a 75% discount on Sky, i would probably get rid of the telly.

Too much government propaganda, and drama aimed at 20 and 30 something psycopaths.

So much music to listen to, so much to learn about.