Recommended Television Programmes

[Serial_Apologist]

Good to read I agree.

I emailed TPTV about the solitary episode and received a commendably rapid reply, saying:

yes there are more on their way - so you don’t miss the others , please do sign up for our FREE Sunday newsletter, sent to you by email every Sunday. Sign up via www.talkingpicturestv.co.uk In it we list what’s coming up on the channel

So that’s good news. Might be worth signing up, uct. I shall try and post alerts here as and when further Maigret episodes turn up in the schedule.

I really love this channel - in its own field it caters for my own age demographic, something which certainly cannot be said of Radio 3 these days.

[kernelbogey]

I really love this channel - in its own field it caters for my own age demographic, something which certainly cannot be said of Radio 3 these days.

Having located this now on Freeview I shall certainly keep an eye on what's on offer. Thanks Nick.

I recall seeing a great many 'War' films in my early teens, which don't invariably stand up to scrutiny now. The Dam Busters is an exception, though on close observation lately it looked to me as though they'd filmed it all with only three Lancasters! From time to time I've wondered whether that plethora of British war films was supported in some way by government funding - to emphasise that we had been the good guys and that the consequent sacrifices, including postwar austerity, were all worthwhile.

[smittims]

TPTV is almost the only TV channel I watch. I enjoyed the old Rupert Davies Maigrets and 'Public Eye' remains a regular favourite.

[underthecountertenor]

Good to read I agree.

I emailed TPTV about the solitary episode and received a commendably rapid reply, saying:

yes there are more on their way - so you don’t miss the others , please do sign up for our FREE Sunday newsletter, sent to you by email every Sunday. Sign up via www.talkingpicturestv.co.uk In it we list what’s coming up on the channel

So that’s good news. Might be worth signing up, uct. I shall try and post alerts here as and when further Maigret episodes turn up in the schedule.

Excellent news. Thanks for enquiring, Nick, and I take back my initial characterisation of TPTV. I'll certainly sign up.

[underthecountertenor]

Just signed up to TPTV newsletter. The reference to Peggy Mount on the sign-up page was charming.

[johncorrigan]

Yes, so it would appear. A great shame: I had never seen Cremer's Maigret before and was grateful for your tip-off. I greatly enjoyed "Les Plaisirs de le Nuit" (rather amusingly bowdlerised in translation as "Maigret in Montmartre," presumably by the same smelling-salts-inhaler who subtitled "Je vous dis merde" as "Break a leg," though I suppose that is the only real equivalent). Cremer was almost exactly how I have always imagined Maigret (and extraordinarily 'lived-in' compared to his younger days) and the filming caught the atmosphere perfectly for me. I was quite surprised by how explicit the club scenes were. Music good too.

I was also unaware of Talking Pictures TV until now, so thank you for that too. It does seem like a rather random treasure-trove, as if someone had bought blind a few cardboard boxes of assorted DVDs in a house-clearance auction. But it's rather charmingly presented in its way.

Mrs C and I very much enjoyed the Maigret programme on Talking Pictures the other night...thanks for the alert. The thing I kept thinking was how much Cremer was reminding me of Jacques Tati. His head movements and all the antics with the pipe seemed straight out of Monsieur Hulot. I also enjoyed how seedy the whole thing seemed. Still didn't get to grips with why the culprit murdered the countess, but it didn't take away from the enjoyment.

[underthecountertenor]

Still didn't get to grips with why the culprit murdered the countess, but it didn't take away from the enjoyment.

Glad it wasn't just me. His motive somehow passed me by.

[johncorrigan]

Glad it wasn't just me. His motive somehow passed me by.

[Nick Armstrong]

Excellent news. Thanks for enquiring, Nick, and I take back my initial characterisation of TPTV. I'll certainly sign up.

Actually I think your characterisation put a finger on part of the charm of TPTV. It is quite a ‘home-made’ family venture which makes its success all the more impressive. The founder, Noel Cronin, can be seen in a rather ramshackle but endearing show at 5pm every Sunday when he and former Radio 1 &c. frontman Mike Read present a nostalgic lucky-dip called The Footage Detectives… The channel seems to be a labour of love by Cronin and his family and team, and makes a lot of people ‘of a certain age’ (as S_A and smittims say above) pretty happy. All strength to their elbow.

[Nick Armstrong]

Excellent news. Thanks for enquiring, Nick, and I take back my initial characterisation of TPTV. I'll certainly sign up.

In the latest newsletter:


Somewhat random programming but better than nothing…

[JasonPalmer]

Enjoying this ballet on BBC four.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hqnt

Birmingham Royal Ballet perform Don Quixote in a production by Carlos Acosta.

Based on Spain’s most famous novel, the classic ballet follows Don Quixote’s extraordinary adventures as he helps young lovers Kitri and Basilio find happiness.

[oddoneout]

I enjoy the Digging for Britain series. It's largely escaped gimmickry so far and I often learn something new and unexpected. Tonight it was the Iron Age method of grain storage - pits in the ground. At first that doesn't seem very likely, but apart from the obvious of choosing suitable ground conditions - well drained - they had another trick. When the grain was put in the ground the outside edge in contact with the soil started to germinate, at which point the pit would be sealed with turves to create anaerobic conditions to halt germination. The grain could be stored for years so long as it remained sealed. If the grain did spoil the pit was cleaned by burning before being re-used. In other parts of the world such invention is either still in use or not long superseded I would think, which perhaps helps to inform such discoveries. The more I find out about ancient and primitive people's ingenuity the more I think we aren't always as clever as we like to think, and it behoves us to at least keep a record of such things and try them out. They might come in handy.
Something for the denizens of the far west tonight also - Romans in Cornwall.

[JasonPalmer]

Interesting program on BBC four about impressionists especially informing us of the new tools available to artists and other such titbits.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012rvkl

[Serial_Apologist]

Interesting program on BBC four about impressionists especially informing us of the new tools available to artists and other such titbits.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012rvkl

Excellent informative programme series, that was.

[JasonPalmer]

Putin vs the west was interesting in explaining what goes on at international meetings and how Ukraine bought time to strengthen their forces and build alliances,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dlz7tz