Recommended Television Programmes

[Dave2002]

A lot of the music is from the wrong period though. I've only seen the first two episodes and couldn't help wondering why they were playing the Kinks - this is a nit well and truly being picked, I've enjoyed what I've seen.

That's a subtlety which passed me by - but I might have noticed if there'd been a live performance by Beecham (d. 1961) in the video. I did live through this period, but have never had more than a very slight interest in pop music.

What has surprised me is the notion that Profumo was actually rich - which seems to have been the case, having had a large legacy from his father, who was involved in insurance businesses.

It also appears that he did good work after stepping down as an MP, and was able to carry on without significant paid work as a volunteer, presumably due to his inherited wealth.

I do wonder whether 6 expisodes are/were really necessary to throw slightly more light on this rather unhappy affair. I think it could have been compressed to two. The Jeremy Thorpe series a year or so back got through another scandal with presumably less padding. I get the feeling that broadcasting companies are comissioning series based on history, and the details could be written down in a few pages, and read in a very short time - but then people don't read books any more, do they?

[eighthobstruction]

That's a subtlety which passed me by - but I might have noticed if there'd been a live performance by Beecham (d. 1961) in the video. I did live through this period, but have never had more than a very slight interest in pop music.

What has surprised me is the notion that Profumo was actually rich - which seems to have been the case, having had a large legacy from his father, who was involved in insurance businesses.

It also appears that he did good work after stepping down as an MP, and was able to carry on without significant paid work as a volunteer, presumably due to his inherited wealth.

I do wonder whether 6 expisodes are/were really necessary to throw slightly more light on this rather unhappy affair. I think it could have been compressed to two. The Jeremy Thorpe series a year or so back got through another scandal with presumably less padding. I get the feeling that broadcasting companies are comissioning series based on history, and the details could be written down in a few pages, and read in a very short time - but then people don't read books any more, do they?

....yep i too believe 6 eps likely to be at least 2 too many/far....

[vinteuil]

What has surprised me is the notion that Profumo was actually rich - which seems to have been the case, having had a large legacy from his father, who was involved in insurance businesses.

... Profumo certainly had funds.

His father, Albert Profumo (4th Baron Profumo in the nobility of the Kingdom of Sardinia, his ancestors having included merchants and syndics of Genoa as well as the Principal Secretary to Cavour) had made his fortune in insurance. Albert owned much of the Provident Life of London insurance group.

[johncorrigan]

Well .... (IMVHO):
The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, which we 70+-year-olds watched and thoroughly enjoyed, was very funny and came across as a genuine reflection of the lives and concerns of a younger generation, which perhaps explains its consolidated audience of just over 17 million. The idea of a borderline neurotic setting up a walkie-talkie link so that he could check on the sprouts situation in the house across the road struck as us hilarious but not impossible in real life. The choice of 'sing-along Christmas anthem' was a good example of the welcome avoidance of sickly seasonal cliches.
I'm sure 'Call The Midwife', which we've never seen, achieves it modest aim of providing a dose of well-crafted escapism.
As for 'Mrs Brown's Boys', we repeatedly find ourselves subjected to the last few minutes when waiting for the news when programmes are running late. This experience suggests that the programme is beneath contempt.

That pretty much sums up life in our household, L. I thought Gavin and Stacey was much better than I expected it to be, though I notice it got into a wee bit bother for Bryn and Ness singing 'Fairytale in New York'. I thought they made a great job of running jokes and the actors seemed to be really enjoying being back together.

[vinteuil]

I do wonder whether 6 expisodes are/were really necessary to throw slightly more light on this rather unhappy affair. I think it could have been compressed to two.

Initially I had thought that three episodes wd be ample. But no - we've had three full episodes, in no way padded, and we haven't yet reached the critical trial which will lead to the downfall of all parties. It will be interesting to see how far they go beyond that - the collapse of the Macmillan administration, Profumo's "redemption" thro' charity work at Toynbee Hall, the after-lifes of Ms Keeler and Rice Davies, the continuing re-assessment of the fate of Stephen Ward...

.

[LMcD]

Initially I had thought that three episodes wd be ample. But no - we've had three full episodes, in no way padded, and we haven't yet reached the critical trial which will lead to the downfall of all parties. It will be interesting to see how far they go beyond that - the collapse of the Macmillan administration, Profumo's "redemption" thro' charity work at Toynbee Hall, the after-lifes of Ms Keeler and Rice Davies, the continuing re-assessment of the fate of Stephen Ward...

.

The IMDB complete cast list makes no mention of Harold MacMillan.
Good though the Jeremy Thorpe series was, it was ultimately more comical - almost knock-about - and the characters were introduced to us fully developed, which was just as well because there wasn't enough time for them to develop, whereas a number of people in the series under discussion are observed undergoing a deeply troubling journey. The rate at which the holes which various people keep digging for themselves are getting wider and deeper makes for a really engrossing drama.

[Richard Tarleton]

Looking at Valerie Hobson's filmography on Wiki, I'm reminded she played Edith d'Ascoyne in Kind Hearts and Coronets as well as Estella in Great Expectations. Her last stage role was The King and I at Drury Lane from 1953, which I was taken to in 1955 or 6, but I expect she'd retired by then.

[Dave2002]

The IMDB complete cast list makes no mention of Harold MacMillan.
Good though the Jeremy Thorpe series was, it was ultimately more comical - almost knock-about - and the characters were introduced to us fully developed, which was just as well because there wasn't enough time for them to develop, whereas a number of people in the series under discussion are observed undergoing a deeply troubling journey. The rate at which the holes which various people keep digging for themselves are getting wider and deeper makes for a really engrossing drama.

Seems we have a difference of opinion here. I want to spend time living my own life, not going over other people's lives and events in minute detail. I find the series quite interesting, but I think it is too slow - but perhaps that's just the nature of video material. As I wrote earlier, I could read about this much quicker - I don't need to have a portrayal of events in order to gain understanding. TV and film producers do have a vested interest in trying to feed us stuff, so they're not necessarily going to keep things as short as possible.

[LMcD]

Seems we have a difference of opinion here. I want to spend time living my own life, not going over other people's lives and events in minute detail. I find the series quite interesting, but I think it is too slow - but perhaps that's just the nature of video material. As I wrote earlier, I could read about this much quicker - I don't need to have a portrayal of events in order to gain understanding. TV and film producers do have a vested interest in trying to feed us stuff, so they're not necessarily going to keep things as short as possible.

Vive la différence!

[Serial_Apologist]

Has anyone else been struck by the ironic resemblance of Ben Miles as Profumo to John Redwood? Entirely coincidental, I'm quite sure of that!

[vinteuil]

. I want to spend time living my own life, not going over other people's lives and events in minute detail..

... I don't think Proust or Henry James are the boys for you, then.

Come to think of it - do you enjoy reading fiction / literature at all?


.

[Richard Tarleton]

The IMDB complete cast list makes no mention of Harold MacMillan.
Good though the Jeremy Thorpe series was, it was ultimately more comical

Only a dog died......

The two wives - Valerie Hobson and Marion Stein - made similarly unfortunate choices.....

[Nick Armstrong]

Initially I had thought that three episodes wd be ample. But no - we've had three full episodes, in no way padded, and we haven't yet reached the critical trial which will lead to the downfall of all parties. It will be interesting to see how far they go beyond that - the collapse of the Macmillan administration, Profumo's "redemption" thro' charity work at Toynbee Hall, the after-lifes of Ms Keeler and Rice Davies, the continuing re-assessment of the fate of Stephen Ward...

The latter is indirectly one reason I too have been intrigued by this dramatisation, and glad of the level of detail. (I am finding it very well done, including James Norton who I usually find more wooden than the surrounding furniture but who seems somehow right as the strange Stephen Ward with all his socialite veneer).

One of the earliest libel actions in my legal career arose out of the publication by an English newspaper (our client) of a serialisation of a book* alleging that Ward had been framed. Pre-publication research had led them to believe that all the relevant senior policemen had died; in fact one had merely retired to Australia, and up he popped and sued. I had to get into the whole saga in great detail, trying to track down and talk to surviving witnesses etc (I remember speaking with “Lucky” Gordon on the phone).

So it’s been fascinating seeing all these figures brought to life (not least the solicitor depicted as advising Profumo and the Government, Derek Clogg, who was a former partner at the firm I was at - his name was still on the notepaper when I accepted the job, I seem to recall) in a production that tells a complex tale extremely well I think.

Oddly enough, I later had two further libel actions arising out of the Profumo Affair (at a different firm), acting for this formidable lady: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maureen_Swanson... The section there headed ‘Libel Cases’ gives a summary.

Quite strange that the facts of the drama seem so familiar despite me being aged 2 when they actually happened...!

.

* (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Affair-Stat.../dp/0224023470 - republished in updated form in 2013 https://www.amazon.co.uk/English-Est.../dp/149093989X)

[Richard Tarleton]

Fascinating, Cali

I see, scrolling down your amazon link, that Andrew Lloyd Webber even made a musical about Stephen Ward

[LMcD]

... I don't think Proust or Henry James are the boys for you, then.

Come to think of it - do you enjoy reading fiction / literature at all?


.

The running joke among some of my fellow students reading English Literature was that they would benefit from a few tutorials on the best way of translating Henry James into English.