We Need a New Telly Series

[antongould]

In Gould Towers West Wing was always the best ... in my view Rumpole it leaves House of Cards for dead ....

[Jonathan]

I don't know if sci-fi or fantasy is your thing but we've been really enjoying Grimm. Stargate Universe was also very good, shame it was cancelled after 2 seasons.

[Conchis]

Very late in the day, but I've recently caught up with the first series of Peaky Blinders - I'm aware that the third series has just started, but I want to watch it in sequence, so I'm holding fire until I've absorbed series 2.

So far, I think it's superbly made and acted and the period detail is impressive. The only slight irritant is the amount of offing and blinding - not that I object to that, I just don't think it's historically accurate: not even the filthiest navvy working on the roads back then would have used the kind of language these people use.

Good also to see Britain's second city (Brum) getting some dramatic attention: it doesn't get nearly enough.

I've tried with American drama series, I really have - but there's something about the glossiness of it all that I just can't get on with. My loss, I know. :)

[Nick Armstrong]

Very late in the day, but I've recently caught up with the first series of Peaky Blinders - I'm aware that the third series has just started, but I want to watch it in sequence, so I'm holding fire until I've absorbed series 2.

So far, I think it's superbly made and acted and the period detail is impressive.

At the risk of Dave2002 thinking that the telly's never off here , I completely endorse that, Conchis. I suppose I didn't mention it because given that the thread remit included Mrs Finegold's regret at the end of Downton, the violence and - yes - bad language of PB seemed slightly off-message... difficult to imagine dramas further apart on the spectrum than Downton and Peaky Blinders. Save I suppose that they are both set in more or less the same period of British history, interestingly enough, and with similarly acute attention to period detail.

The performances, the look of the production, the deft, gripping use of anachronistic music (esp the haunting Nick Cave theme with its warning bell / death knell.... see below) are addictive. Especially good is one of my favourite actors Sam Neill's mighty turn as Major Campbell - and two episodes into Season 3 I can tell you without spoiling anything that a new character is introduced, equally menacing and mesmerising, played by another of my favourite actors!

Another unmissable series (but richardf - maybe wait till the missus has retired to her bedchamber before sampling! )

.

That theme music:

[richardfinegold]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We've tried House of Cards and Game of Thrones and thrown the towel in after a couple of episodes. Foyle was really our favorite, we loved the Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks characters. I left the Downton watching to spouse while I would listen to Mahler. Boardwalk Empire arrived today, a cheapie from the charity shop, and tonite after a couple hours of listening to my newly acquired 42 CDs of Jean Pierre Rampal we will start Season Two of better call Saul.
I should mention we don't get Pay TV, since we watch it so infrequently I refuse to ante up. The downside is that we can't sample many shows. So we rely upon recommendations and then either purchase episodes via Apple TV or hunt for DVD/ Blu Ray. I learned about Deutchland 83 on this Forum and so I am keeping a keen eye for further recommendations...

[Serial_Apologist]

I read the title to this thread as being "We need a new Telly Savalas"!

[Cockney Sparrow]

Speaking of Foyles War, which I enjoyed too, I've always thought Michael Kitchen came from the (extremely) understated school of acting - and very effective too.

I was tickled to find him swearing like a trooper when he played the rock star's manager in the "Brian Pern: A life in Rock" series. (Brian Pern being a spoof character. The references from the setting in the world of Rock passed me by as I know nothing about it. However. Michael Kitchen plays a character who (metaphorically) shoots from the hip (and the lip....)

As in, from 47 seconds point here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlD846fwtME&list=PLOPhOIKNEhxNv-5q-pT4piX3uoN_Etu1b

[Dave2002]

Upstart Crow with David Mitchell has just been recommended to us. Worth sampling I think - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...crossed-lovers

[richardfinegold]

Speaking of Foyles War, which I enjoyed too, I've always thought Michael Kitchen came from the (extremely) understated school of acting - and very effective too.

I was tickled to find him swearing like a trooper when he played the rock star's manager in the "Brian Pern: A life in Rock" series. (Brian Pern being a spoof character. The references from the setting in the world of Rock passed me by as I know nothing about it. However. Michael Kitchen plays a character who (metaphorically) shoots from the hip (and the lip....)

As in, from 47 seconds point here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlD8...4piX3uoN_Etu1b

Yes, quite a change. My favorite scenes from Foyle were of him fly fishing while wearing his tie

[Nick Armstrong]

Upstart Crow with David Mitchell has just been recommended to us. Worth sampling I think - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...crossed-lovers

Except perhaps for Harry Enfield's 'Shakespeare père', it struck me as forced and lame - ghastly pale imitation of Blackadder, and pretty unwatchable...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Except perhaps for Harry Enfield's 'Shakespeare père', it struck me as forced and lame - ghastly pale imitation of Blackadder, and pretty unwatchable...

I agree - except that I thought Harry Enfield was dire here, too.

[johnb]

I'll throw "Waking the Dead" into the discussion.

It is currently being repeated on the Drama channel and I think it is rather good - one of the best episodic crime series I've seen. It's enlivened by Boyd's (Trevor Eve) <cough> anger management problems, the touches of humour in the script and the interactions between Boyd, the psychologist/profiler (Sue Johnston) and the rest of the team.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'll throw "Waking the Dead" into the discussion.

It is currently being repeated on the Drama channel and I think it is rather good - one of the best episodic crime series I've seen. It's enlivened by Boyd's (Trevor Eve) <cough> anger management problems, the touches of humour in the script and the interactions between Boyd, the psychologist/profiler (Sue Johnston) and the rest of the team.

Do you remember the young Trevor Eve as a private detective in Shoestring, John? Channel 4 iirc. I was living in Bristol at the time he had his houseboat - he put the Floating Harbour and Clifton Suspension Bridge on the national map, I thought at the time.

[subcontrabass]

Do you remember the young Trevor Eve as a private detective in Shoestring, John? Channel 4 iirc. I was living in Bristol at the time he had his houseboat - he put the Floating Harbour and Clifton Suspension Bridge on the national map, I thought at the time.

BBC One 1979-80 - predates Channel 4 (started November 1982).

[Serial_Apologist]

BBC One 1979-80 - predates Channel 4 (started November 1982).

I stand corrected - thanks, SCB.