Recommended Television Programmes

[Bryn]

5star [so say] version on $ onDemand last night https://www.channel4.com/programmes/...id-copperfield

Hmm:

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[underthecountertenor]

It is superb.
Available with lots of other wonderful stuff in this box, used for under £20.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you! I’ve snapped it up (for a little over £20 inc p&p) in 3 clicks. Looking forward to somehow finding the time to watch them.

[Nick Armstrong]

5star [so say] version on $ onDemand last night https://www.channel4.com/programmes/...id-copperfield

I seem to be the only person on the planet who found that unwatchable - a superficial, flippant mess. I was amazed as I usually have loads of time for Iannucci, and he’s a passionate Dickensian

My reaction to the current Great Expectations adaptation is a bit more complex, and I’ll post about it once I’ve seen the whole thing.

[Serial_Apologist]

I seem to be the only person on the planet who found that unwatchable - a superficial, flippant mess. I was amazed as I usually have loads of time for Iannucci, and he’s a passionate Dickensian

My reaction to the current Great Expectations adaptation is a bit more complex, and I’ll post about it once I’ve seen the whole thing.

I await your assessment in great expectation then, Nick!

[Padraig]

I await your assessment in great expectation then, Nick!

You'll keep your eye alert then, S_A?

[eighthobstruction]

I seem to be the only person on the planet who found that unwatchable - a superficial, flippant mess. I was amazed as I usually have loads of time for Iannucci, and he’s a passionate Dickensian

My reaction to the current Great Expectations adaptation is a bit more complex, and I’ll post about it once I’ve seen the whole thing.

I havent watched it ....now I don't have to ...............Re Great Expectations....I watched up to the credits and found it (those first few minutes) like the intro to Raiders of the Lost Ark etc....really setting the scene and pace and personalities....BUT while it is a favourite novel - I don't like it being played with....So I did not watch further, even tho' the first 10 minutes were breathtaking and visually excellent... (strange kind of card , this boy Eh?)

[Quarky]

Knowing there are a few Maigret fans here, I draw attention to a series on Talking Pictures TV, every Tuesday evening 9p.m., which I have just come across. A french version of Maigret, and more authentic IMV:: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/tv-highlights/

[Nick Armstrong]

Knowing there are a few Maigret fans here, I draw attention to a series on Talking Pictures TV, every Tuesday evening 9p.m., which I have just come across. A french version of Maigret, and more authentic IMV:: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/tv-highlights/

Quite a lot of discussion above, see e.g. #2272…

[Serial_Apologist]

Earlier on I watched a twofer on BBC3 about the devastated lives of good young people evicted from their living premises in Manchester, Bristol, London and Birmingham as a result of rent hikes. The housing market needs to be fixed with urgency - if not after the next general election, though I have my doubts if Labour will do that. Absolutely heartbreaking - one feels guilty for having availed oneself of the relative affordability of purchasing at a time when it still was, just about.

[Quarky]

Quite a lot of discussion above, see e.g. #2272…

Un grand merci.

[Nick Armstrong]

I await your assessment in great expectation then, Nick!

Well, here you are then…

Having finished the Great Expectations adaptation, my overall reaction is that it was a failure.

I’m a big fan of Dickens and this novel in particular, but have no issue with intelligent reinterpretations.

It started well, I thought - the first episode was the best by some margin. I liked the way the characters of the two convicts were fleshed out, Compeyson being made less of a cipher than in the book. Contrary to an opinion expressed in an earlier post here, I didn’t have a problem with Pip being presented as a slightly older lad, especially when played so well by the actor - he was watchful, thoughtful, already aspiring to something more, and it struck me as a coherent starting point. Alas the actor who took over for the older Pip wasn’t a patch on the youth, and this dull central performance was a big flaw in the dramatisation, for me.

I wasn’t unduly put out by the use of the ‘wrong’ surname for Pip, or the effing and blinding (the words weren’t invented in the 20th century, but presumably wouldn’t have been tolerated in Victorian literary works). The ‘colour-blind’ casting had some cogency, e.g. given the Havishams’ trading past. The casting of Jaggers had me looking up the facts about black lawyers in 19th century London (there were a few); and after all, he is described in the novel as a “man of an exceedingly dark complexion”.

But the problem with all that was that in setting me thinking about such things, it distanced me from the action.

And I suspect this contributed to the one thing for which I can’t forgive this adaptation: it was dramatically boring for long stretches. A lot of the dialogue struck me as clichéd (as did a lot of the alternatives to Dickens’s plot lines), and the writer almost completely overlooked what Dickens knew well - the value of balancing humour with pathos. The moody earnestness of it all seemed to exclude humour, at least in the latter 5 of the 6 episodes.

There were some interesting touches - the glimmerings of an evolution in Jaggers (one of the strongest performances I thought, by an actor/rapper known as “Bashy”, apparently…) through his contact with Pip, or the portrayal of Miss H by Olivia Colman as someone more dangerous and abusive than the normal ‘daft old bat’ characterisation.

But those touches couldn’t rescue this series - with a wooden central character and uninspired (re-)writing, far too much of it was just dull - the one thing the original isn’t.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, here you are then…

Having finished the Great Expectations adaptation, my overall reaction is that it was a failure.

I’m a big fan of Dickens and this novel in particular, but have no issue with intelligent reinterpretations.

It started well, I thought - the first episode was the best by some margin. I liked the way the characters of the two convicts were fleshed out, Compeyson being made less of a cipher than in the book. Contrary to an opinion expressed in an earlier post here, I didn’t have a problem with Pip being presented as a slightly older lad, especially when played so well by the actor - he was watchful, thoughtful, already aspiring to something more, and it struck me as a coherent starting point. Alas the actor who took over for the older Pip wasn’t a patch on the youth, and this dull central performance was a big flaw in the dramatisation, for me.

I wasn’t unduly put out by the use of the ‘wrong’ surname for Pip, or the effing and blinding (the words weren’t invented in the 20th century, but presumably wouldn’t have been tolerated in Victorian literary works). The ‘colour-blind’ casting had some cogency, e.g. given the Havishams’ trading past. The casting of Jaggers had me looking up the facts about black lawyers in 19th century London (there were a few); and after all, he is described in the novel as a “man of an exceedingly dark complexion”.

But the problem with all that was that in setting me thinking about such things, it distanced me from the action.

And I suspect this contributed to the one thing for which I can’t forgive this adaptation: it was dramatically boring for long stretches. A lot of the dialogue struck me as clichéd (as did a lot of the alternatives to Dickens’s plot lines), and the writer almost completely overlooked what Dickens knew well - the value of balancing humour with pathos. The moody earnestness of it all seemed to exclude humour, at least in the latter 5 of the 6 episodes.

There were some interesting touches - the glimmerings of an evolution in Jaggers (one of the strongest performances I thought, by an actor/rapper known as “Bashy”, apparently…) through his contact with Pip, or the portrayal of Miss H by Olivia Colman as someone more dangerous and abusive than the normal ‘daft old bat’ characterisation.

But those touches couldn’t rescue this series - with a wooden central character and uninspired (re-)writing, far too much of it was just dull - the one thing the original isn’t.

Thanks for your very full assessment, Nick. I had been considering watching the adaptation; I think I'll give it a miss.

[Stanfordian]

'Malpractice' - on ITVX. I thought it was great. One of the best crime drama series I have watched for some time.

Directed by The Responder’s Philip Barantini, written by former NHS doctor Grace Ofori-Attah, and produced by the team behind Line of Duty.

[johncorrigan]

The final season of 'Guilt' was terrific. I thought it was funny and full of terrific performances from a high quality range of Scottish actors. Mark Bonnar's facial expressions throughout were a delight. I believe all three series are available on the BBC i-player if you haven't seen the previous two.

On a slightly different front, BBC2 have been running all series of 'Detectorists' weekly over the last few months. Although it is available on the i-player, I have been sitting down to watch it every week - I've seen it all before but it remains a TV highlight of the week for me. One of the all-time great British TV programmes for me.

[Bryn]

Currently on BBC FOUR, now, is a documentary about the "Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor". Very well done indeed, even the accompanying music is decent, from Mozart to Reich.

Wow! Just now we got a clip from Varèse's Poème électronique.