Recommended Television Programmes

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes indeedy.
Indeedy yes.

i think he got knocked out in the earlier rounds though.

Obviously made a bad impression(ist), then.

[johncorrigan]

I loved 'Mrs Wilson' on the Beeb earlier this week. Ruth Wilson in terrific form (what else!) playing her real-life Grandmother, the magnificent fag-smoking Fiona Shaw, and the mysterious Keeley Hawes lurking in the background made for a really enjoyable watch. Really looking forward to how this story pans out.

[antongould]

I loved 'Mrs Wilson' on the Beeb earlier this week. Ruth Wilson in terrific form (what else!) playing her real-life Grandmother, the magnificent fag-smoking Fiona Shaw, and the mysterious Keeley Hawes lurking in the background made for a really enjoyable watch. Really looking forward to how this story pans out.

Very much agree JC

[Serial_Apologist]

I loved 'Mrs Wilson' on the Beeb earlier this week. Ruth Wilson in terrific form (what else!) playing her real-life Grandmother, the magnificent fag-smoking Fiona Shaw, and the mysterious Keeley Hawes lurking in the background made for a really enjoyable watch. Really looking forward to how this story pans out.

There's an interview with RW in this week's RT, in which she speaks of the oddness of playing the woman who gave birth to her own mother! I can vouch for the verisimilitude of the period detail as regards interior decor, furnishings, and the stiff upper lip formalities of the era.

[Richard Tarleton]

mother!

Father . Fiona Shaw reprising her spymaster role in Killing Eve.....excellent all round, a word for the son of the first Mrs Wilson.....

[Serial_Apologist]

Father . Fiona Shaw reprising her spymaster role in Killing Eve.....excellent all round, a word for the son of the first Mrs Wilson.....

Thanks for that correction, Richard.

[jayne lee wilson]

I though the latest Dynasties film, on the Painted Wolves, was just about the most emotionally overwhelming nature documentary I ever saw. The reaction of the two canine families, after one of their number had been captured and killed....!

Some of the images were haunting in themselves, these dark, buff and mottled creatures against sand, bare trees, a low sun, their dark eyes full of fear and knowledge.... ...but the narrative was fairly wrenching...

[Anastasius]

I though the latest Dynasties film, on the Painted Wolves, was just about the most emotionally overwhelming nature documentary I ever saw. The reaction of the two canine families, after one of their number had been captured and killed....!

Some of the images were haunting in themselves, these dark, buff and mottled creatures against sand, bare trees, a low sun, their dark eyes full of fear and knowledge.... ...but the narrative was fairly wrenching...

I'm afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for these contrived anthropomorphic shows, Jayne.

[Bryn]

I'm afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for these contrived anthropomorphic shows, Jayne.

“Animals do have a lot of human characteristics, particular primates, particularly chimps. It’s anthropomorphic to say that an animal is angry, to a degree, but that’s what we know and that’s what we call it. But it’s unjustified anthropomorphism that’s the danger, so you have to be very careful when you’re writing it. Every time you say he was jealous for example, you had to be absolutely sure, have absolute evidence that what you’re saying is correct.”

Gues who, and in relation to which current televison series.

[Anastasius]

“Animals do have a lot of human characteristics, particular primates, particularly chimps. It’s anthropomorphic to say that an animal is angry, to a degree, but that’s what we know and that’s what we call it. But it’s unjustified anthropomorphism that’s the danger, so you have to be very careful when you’re writing it. Every time you say he was jealous for example, you had to be absolutely sure, have absolute evidence that what you’re saying is correct.”

Gues who, and in relation to which current televison series.

Dunno....Channel 4 News ? Coronation Street ? Doctor Who ?

[Stanfordian]

Berlin Station

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for these contrived anthropomorphic shows, Jayne.

Well if you watched that Dynasties episode about the Painted Wolves, and didn't see: grief, fear and knowledge (of predatory danger, and the threatening environment around them) then you are plainly in denial: which can only mean that you've never lived with animals, or not for any length of time which would allow you an insight into their own animal feelings and reactions - many of which we share. Including Love, whether carnal or parental.
Oh and, you are self-evidently not a subscriber to New Scientist either.

(I'm sure many here have experienced that close companionship or friendship with a Cat or Dog... What may start as a provider-bond can develop into something much richer and mutually rewarding: they simply want to be with you, as much as you want to be with them).

***
Angry Animals?
Having lived with and closely observed Cats for most of my life, I would say that anger and fear are two of the most obvious emotions you see them experience, in relation to humans and to other Cats.
This is observably true of most garden birds as well, especially when competing for access to the abundant provisions I lay out for them, or in their reaction to the proximity of Sparrowhawks and Buzzards; or indeed even in their reactions to a false alarm (raised by another bird) about the same.

[Bryn]

Well if you watched that Dynasties episode about the Painted Wolves, and didn't see: grief, fear and knowledge (of predatory danger, and the threatening environment around them) then you are plainly in denial: which can only mean that you've never lived with animals, or not for any length of time which would allow you an insight into their own animal feelings and reactions - many of which we share.

Oh and, you are self-evidently not a subscriber to New Scientist either.

Let's face it, if you want anthropomorphism at its finest, then Richard Dawkin's your man. He manages to take it to the molecular level.

[Richard Tarleton]

I'm afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for these contrived anthropomorphic shows, Jayne.

Can you explain what you mean by "anthropomorphic" and "contrived" here, Anastasius? The zoologists who have been studying them for years get to be able to identify every individual and give the animals names for identification, yes, and clearly a lot of editing takes place - they don't just leave the cameras there to run - and we can argue about the music. But what we see are the actual animals' lives. This isn't Disney, or Johnny Morris, giving them voices or attributing human emotions to them. We're observing animal behaviours forged by thousands of years of evolution. The now obligatory ten minutes' "how we did it" bits at the end are in many ways the most interesting.

[oddoneout]

Britain by Boat: 2 Grumpy Sailors. Superficial, silly and sometimes rather staged - but I've been enjoying it nonetheless. Footage of sailing boats makes for relaxing viewing which is sometimes just what is needed, and I find the grumpy sailors entertaining rather than irritating - perhaps because I'm getting well into the grumpy stage of life myself - but I do find myself wondering what really went on in some of the scenes. Michael Buerk and John Sergeant are after all not buddies.