Recommended Television Programmes

[LMcD]

I recorded this but haven't seen it yet. In my experience the fault of some versions has been to omit the relationship between Levin and Kitty, which Tolstoy clearly intended as a counterbalance to the Anna/Vronsky disaster. In one version they were airbrushed out altogether. I still treasure the old film with Ralph Richardson, with music by Constant Lambert.

Thanks for the spoilers!
I wonder why the cast list was read out.

[gradus]

The 2017 adaptation of Decline and Fall has just been released by Netflix. Strongly recommended with excellent performances from the entire cast. Dramatisations of Waugh's novels always seem to work very well.

[LMcD]

The 2017 adaptation of Decline and Fall has just been released by Netflix. Strongly recommended with excellent performances from the entire cast. Dramatisations of Waugh's novels always seem to work very well.

Thank you - duly noted! For whatever reason, the number of viewers during its run on BBC1 in 2017 fell from 4.49 million for Episode 1 to below 3.12 million for Episode 2 and then below 2.95 million for Episode 3.

[LMcD]

'Cold Comfort Farm' now available on iPlayer. A hugely enjoyable 1995 BBC/Thames TV co-production directed by John Schlesinger. Eileen Atkins and Ian McKellen are both deliriously OTT.

[eighthobstruction]

....Under the banner of Heaven....on ITVX platform....very good, and thought provoking....starring Andrew Garfield....based around the bizarre hypocrisy of the Church of the Later Day Saints in the 70's Utah....fundementalist elements are evident but the strenuous attempts of Church Elders to playdown any controversy ref polygamy, child sex.....Of course one is immediately drawn to the contemporary Right Wing Church antics an d those of extremists with guns....it is a well judged drama , it does not wallow in blood, more on the psychological cult and it's historical origins....https://www.itv.com/watch/under-the-...0/10a5130a0001

[Serial_Apologist]

....Under the banner of Heaven....on ITVX platform....very good, and thought provoking....starring Andrew Garfield....based around the bizarre hypocrisy of the Church of the Later Day Saints in the 70's Utah....fundementalist elements are evident but the strenuous attempts of Church Elders to playdown any controversy ref polygamy, child sex.....Of course one is immediately drawn to the contemporary Right Wing Church antics an d those of extremists with guns....it is a well judged drama , it does not wallow in blood, more on the psychological cult and it's historical origins....https://www.itv.com/watch/under-the-...0/10a5130a0001

By coincidence re-the above, I had decided to mention this morning's Love, Faith and Me, a BBC1 series featuring religious lifestyle-ruled families - this one a Jewish fundamentalist couple in their late 20s - though they looked twice their age - trying to navigate strict marriage codes. I never realised strictly observing couples are not allowed even to physically touch while the wife is on her period - and a lot else besides - seemingly intentionally designed to undermine intimate relationships, in this case pregnancy. The comments of the more liberally-inclined father (the son's) reminded me of a remark by jazz pianist Keith Tippett in another context, "This has to be the first generation where the children are more reactionary than the parents".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l674

[vinteuil]

Recently on BBC4 (and I think still on i-player) : the 1977 BBC Play of the Month, Henry James The Ambassadors

With Paul Scofield as Lambert Strether, Lee Remick as Maria Gostrey, Delphine Seyrig as Mme de Vionnet, Gayle Hunnicut as Sarah Pocock
Directed by James Cellan Jones, screenplay Denis Constanduros

As a reviewer put it : "Seldom seen even on its release as a telefilm in 1977, 'The Ambassadors' remains a memorable and touching entry in the James-on-film canon. But it is not only for James completists, literature buffs, or for fans of Masterpiece-Playhouse-type programmes. Its subtle ironies have great appeal. The playing of Scofield and Remick (as Maria Gostrey) is wonderful; the settings tasteful, and the costumes apt. There's another 60s semi-icon, Gayle Hunnicutt, bouffed up to the nines in there too..."

I thought it was exquisite, and much funnier than most readings of the novel...
.

[Pulcinella]

'Cold Comfort Farm' now available on iPlayer. A hugely enjoyable 1995 BBC/Thames TV co-production directed by John Schlesinger. Eileen Atkins and Ian McKellen are both deliriously OTT.

And Rufus Sewell certainly smoulders as Seth Starkadder.
Watched (had already seen) last night; thanks for the 'heads up'.

[Sir Velo]

Recently on BBC4 (and I think still on i-player) : the 1977 BBC Play of the Month, Henry James The Ambassadors


.

Thanks Vinteuil for trawling the listings so that we don't have to. Downloaded for later viewing. Available until 6 April 24 so we're led to believe. Gayle Hunnicutt isn't the only one with a bouffant if the cast photo of Paul Scofield is anything to go by.

Helpfully, saved under "Play of the Month" for those that may be struggling to find it on Catch Up.

[smittims]

I seem to have overlooked that BBC4 screening. The Ambassadors is I think one of James' best novels , though some critics have denigrated it. There was a good Radio 4 serial version which was , sadly , spoilt right at the end by a change in the plot. Similarly, I was sorry to see the old B/W Ana Karanina has been mangled by trying to shoe-horn it into 108 minutes. Pity; there was some fine acting in it.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Thanks Vinteuil for trawling the listings so that we don't have to. Downloaded for later viewing. Available until 6 April 24 so we're led to believe. Gayle Hunnicutt isn't the only one with a bouffant if the cast photo of Paul Scofield is anything to go by.

Helpfully, saved under "Play of the Month" for those that may be struggling to find it on Catch Up.

Yes, thanks all for these recommendations of treasures in the iPlayer, they are a real boon.

Looking at all the entries under the "Archive" category these programmes lie behind such titles. I enjoyed "Memento Mori" so much - which is behind "Screen Two" (and says available for 10 months). I watched the Olivia Manning trilogies adaptation - "Fortunes of War" and that must have been at the end of its availability. So good I was poised to watch it again - but its nla.

[LMcD]

Yes, thanks all for these recommendations of treasures in the iPlayer, they are a real boon.

Looking at all the entries under the "Archive" category these programmes lie behind such titles. I enjoyed "Memento Mori" so much - which is behind "Screen Two" (and says available for 10 months). I watched the Olivia Manning trilogies adaptation - "Fortunes of War" and that must have been at the end of its availability. So good I was poised to watch it again - but its nla.

Currently priced at £3.49 on Wob (formerly World of Books).

[gradus]

Just caught up with Cold Comfort Farm and enjoyed it enormously. Thanks LMcD for the tip.

[smittims]

I recommend Dan Cruikshank's Warsaw on BBC4 iPlayer. In 1957 the young Dan lived in Warsaw for a while with his father Gordon Cruikshank, a journalist with the Daily Worker and at that time a Communist Party member, who was there to cover the socialist revival movement. Sadly it was quashed by the Soviet system and Cruikshank pere left the Party , disappointed.

But the joy of the programme lies in the skilful film editing of clips from their home movies of the young Dan in the then still-ruined city, juxtaposed with present-day footage of Dan going round the amazingly-rebuilt Old Town. He discusses the dilemma of rebuilding in replica or in modern style. I found it fascinating; I've often wondered whether Britain should have rebuilt cities instead of designing new. In particular I wish the Queen's Hall had been rebuilt , for instance.

[LMcD]

There's another Screen 2 offering this coming Wednesday on BBC4 at 10.00 p.m. - 'Hotel Du Lac'. For my money, anything with Anna Massey and Denholm Elliott will be worth watching.