Recommended Television Programmes

[Serial_Apologist]

I have mentioned this programme "The hidden wilds of the motorway" about the M25 previously and see it is being repeated on BBC2 this evening https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kjm9
Given this government's attitude to the health and cleanliness of rivers as seen in the news recently the section about the River Chess takes on an added topicality, but it isn't a green tub-thumping programme.

Thanks for drawing attention to this programme, which I would otherwise probably have overlooked.

Under "normal" [sic] environmental circumstances, nature's capacity for recovery and self-renewal is remarkable, even at our latitude, as anyone who lives in this district with an interest in the local history can testify from taking a stroll through the nearby Dulwich Wood and observing how completely nature has reclaimed what had been a double-tracked railway route for nearly a hundred years until its closure in 1961. That route is now largely a nature track where it has not been overbuilt with housing, and one would not have known of its previous use were it not for the tunnel entrances at four points, and a footbridge which has on it a laminated poster depicting the view to it north as painted by the great Pissaro in 1870. Whether or not such natural recovery could still ensue under conditions averaging more than 2.5 degs celsius, without necessitating introduction of species currently foreign to unhindered natural succession is an important question.

[oddoneout]

Thanks for drawing attention to this programme, which I would otherwise probably have overlooked.

Under "normal" [sic] environmental circumstances, nature's capacity for recovery and self-renewal is remarkable, even at our latitude, as anyone who lives in this district with an interest in the local history can testify from taking a stroll through the nearby Dulwich Wood and observing how completely nature has reclaimed what had been a double-tracked railway route for nearly a hundred years until its closure in 1961. That route is now largely a nature track where it has not been overbuilt with housing, and one would not have known of its previous use were it not for the tunnel entrances at four points, and a footbridge which has on it a laminated poster depicting the view to it north as painted by the great Pissaro in 1870. Whether or not such natural recovery could still ensue under conditions averaging more than 2.5 degs celsius, without necessitating introduction of species currently foreign to unhindered natural succession is an important question.

You've answered your last sentence question with your first sentence in some respects! However what those adaptations would look like and what their merits, ecological and for human pleasure, would be are different questions, and has to be set alongside considerations of how much of what is currently present is truly indigenous and/or "natural". It is only relatively recently that it has been recognised that badly degraded and apparently worthless(for nature) land can in fact provide valuable and rich habitat potential, presumably partly because of the erroneous perception ans assumption that the green and pleasant land so many like to see is a natural state and therefore by default the most desirable ecologically and environmentally. The programme does show some cases by simply presenting information for the viewer to process of where things are really not as black and white as might be first thought.
Following on from my mention of the River Chess this article https://www.theguardian.com/environm...arest-habitats gives pause for thought on several levels.

[jayne lee wilson]

"BEAT THE DEVIL" by David Hare......SKY ARTS....

Far more than a Covid Diary, this is a superb, no-punches-pulled anti-government polemic…
The protagonist (Hare, played by Ralph Fiennes) gives us a bleakly candid, physically evocative account of his Covid sufferings, truly appalling.

But its the fierce J’Accuse against this government that truly hits home....

[Bryn]

Thanks for drawing attention to this programme, which I would otherwise probably have overlooked.

Under "normal" [sic] environmental circumstances, nature's capacity for recovery and self-renewal is remarkable, even at our latitude, as anyone who lives in this district with an interest in the local history can testify from taking a stroll through the nearby Dulwich Wood and observing how completely nature has reclaimed what had been a double-tracked railway route for nearly a hundred years until its closure in 1961. That route is now largely a nature track where it has not been overbuilt with housing, and one would not have known of its previous use were it not for the tunnel entrances at four points, and a footbridge which has on it a laminated poster depicting the view to it north as painted by the great Pissaro in 1870. Whether or not such natural recovery could still ensue under conditions averaging more than 2.5 degs celsius, without necessitating introduction of species currently foreign to unhindered natural succession is an important question.

It's proving all I might have hoped for. This is BBC Television at its best.

[Serial_Apologist]

It's proving all I might have hoped for. This is BBC Television at its best.

I remember watching this first time around. MacDonald makes some pertinent comments about the ecological undervaluation granted so-called brownfield sites which are ubiquitously viewed by planning bureucracies and councils as first option choices for development with a glib "Who would want to retain these ugly untidy areas" attitude, when in fact they are far more biodiverse than conventionally cultivated, ecologically low-value "greenfield sites" prioritised for rural protection by nimbys. I would get this programme if the BBC put it out as a DVD.

[kernelbogey]

Universe - Brian Cox

As far as I can see, this has not been discussed here. I've just 'watched' - sort of - the final (5th) programme, the first I've seen. I fouind it hideously overblown: with overdramatic music and a script delivered to camera by Cox in a variety of improbable locations, of absurd 'grandeur': pretty much unwatchable.

[johncorrigan]

In the late sixties over a period of months three young women were murdered after nights spent in the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow. Eventually the police went on the look-out for this frightening character who was given the name Bible John. A very good BBC two-parter explored the story behind the investigation, while also having a look at the social culture of Glasgow at the time, a time of great change in the city, and a great mistrust of authority. It's two one-hour programmes - maybe two 45-minute programmes would have been enough, but I found it really fascinating. His photo-fit image is etched on the mind of many west coasters and still people try to solve the riddle of who the monster was. Amazing footage of the time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011xrp

[Belgrove]

Universe - Brian Cox

As far as I can see, this has not been discussed here. I've just 'watched' - sort of - the final (5th) programme, the first I've seen. I fouind it hideously overblown: with overdramatic music and a script delivered to camera by Cox in a variety of improbable locations, of absurd 'grandeur': pretty much unwatchable.

I agree. Noisy but devoid of serious content, more vacuous than intergalactic space.

[LHC]

Universe - Brian Cox

As far as I can see, this has not been discussed here. I've just 'watched' - sort of - the final (5th) programme, the first I've seen. I fouind it hideously overblown: with overdramatic music and a script delivered to camera by Cox in a variety of improbable locations, of absurd 'grandeur': pretty much unwatchable.

I only saw a small part of one episode and quickly gave up. The Guardian described it as 17 minutes of actual content stretched out to 58 minutes of programming. I also enjoyed Lucy Mangan’s description of Cox’s modus operandi

… a pint of the professor’s knowledge poured into a hogshead of programming, then diluted to almost homeopathic proportions by lyrical meditations on our place in the solar system/galaxy/universe, CGI-rendered impressions of the phenomena and arty shots of spectacular sweeps of land or ocean – the latter always reminds me of the Victoria Wood sketch in which Julie Walters’s character describes how her mother is enjoying life in Spain. “Well, she likes the majesty and grandeur of the landscape, but she’s not too keen on the bacon.”

[Serial_Apologist]

I only saw a small part of one episode and quickly gave up. The Guardian described it as 17 minutes of actual content stretched out to 58 minutes of programming. I also enjoyed Lucy Mangan’s description of Cox’s modus operandi

… a pint of the professor’s knowledge poured into a hogshead of programming, then diluted to almost homeopathic proportions by lyrical meditations on our place in the solar system/galaxy/universe, CGI-rendered impressions of the phenomena and arty shots of spectacular sweeps of land or ocean – the latter always reminds me of the Victoria Wood sketch in which Julie Walters’s character describes how her mother is enjoying life in Spain. “Well, she likes the majesty and grandeur of the landscape, but she’s not too keen on the bacon.”

I for one have always identified more with the universe in a grain of sand than with cosmic infinitude, and tend therefore to find programmes of this kind give me the asteroids. Given that it must be quite difficult to present the universe, where events between the odd supernova don't seem to happen with that much frequency at our scale, at least in our immediate vicinity - and thank goodness, I hear people cry! - from an interest point of view programmes of this kind would probably be better served dealing with physical phenomena closer to our everyday experience that link us in, such as relativity and magnetic fields.

[oddoneout]

I only saw a small part of one episode and quickly gave up. The Guardian described it as 17 minutes of actual content stretched out to 58 minutes of programming. I also enjoyed Lucy Mangan’s description of Cox’s modus operandi

… a pint of the professor’s knowledge poured into a hogshead of programming, then diluted to almost homeopathic proportions by lyrical meditations on our place in the solar system/galaxy/universe, CGI-rendered impressions of the phenomena and arty shots of spectacular sweeps of land or ocean – the latter always reminds me of the Victoria Wood sketch in which Julie Walters’s character describes how her mother is enjoying life in Spain. “Well, she likes the majesty and grandeur of the landscape, but she’s not too keen on the bacon.”

His earlier programmes I found acceptable, but the more recent ones I have watched for a few minutes and then given up. I wonder at what point, why, and by whom it was decided to go full-on overblown, since in my opinion he has sufficient ability to present without the gimmicks.

[Bryn]

I rarely concur with her views but Today's Dateline London contains comments on China by Janet Daley which hit the nail on the head, in feel.

[Serial_Apologist]

Earlier on this evening I watched an interesting programme hosted by David Baddiel on what lies behind social media's effects in contributing to Cancel Culture and destroying reputations and lives. So much now hinges on identity (or what I now prefer to call "capitalism in one person"), this was not gone into analytically beyond realtime examination of Baddiel's brain processes when fed positive and negative Tweets while under a scanner, and one might not have expected it to given Baddiel's largely subjectivistic examination of results triggered rather than sociopolitical causes implicit in social media companies' reluctance to deal with the issue winning them huge profits, but this was in some ways an interesting start to an urgent discussion that needs to be underway without delay.

The BBC iplayer for the programme has yet to appear.

[Bryn]

Earlier on this evening I watched an interesting programme hosted by David Baddiel on what lies behind social media's effects in contributing to Cancel Culture and destroying reputations and lives. So much now hinges on identity (or what I now prefer to call "capitalism in one person"), this was not gone into analytically beyond realtime examination of Baddiel's brain processes when fed positive and negative Tweets while under a scanner, and one might not have expected it to given Baddiel's largely subjectivistic examination of results triggered rather than sociopolitical causes implicit in social media companies' reluctance to deal with the issue winning them huge profits, but this was in some ways an interesting start to an urgent discussion that needs to be underway without delay.

The BBC iplayer for the programme has yet to appear.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/GMkMxbt5vF9nyHS9zq9Fhv/david-baddiel-social-media-anger-and-us

I posted this link on FB, earlier this evening

Here's the iPlayer link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...a-anger-and-us

[Boilk]

Last night Channel 4 News gave Jon Snow, retiring after 32 years as its chief anchor, a 15-minute farewell segment. Memorable snippets, tributes and overall just rather sad...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_NVo-IEbHs