Jonathan Meades: The Joy of Essex

[eighthobstruction]

I see Jonathon Meades is on Private Passions 27.4.14....

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

he has a book out in May

[french frank]

he has a book out in May

I do wish they wouldn't do that. It might be only to provide a 'topical' angle (like appearing in a new BBC series) but it does give it more of a 'consumer' angle.

[eighthobstruction]

I do wish they wouldn't do that. It might be only to provide a 'topical' angle (like appearing in a new BBC series) but it does give it more of a 'consumer' angle.

....yes, very messy....

[amateur51]

I do wish they wouldn't do that. It might be only to provide a 'topical' angle (like appearing in a new BBC series) but it does give it more of a 'consumer' angle.

Misery!

[Serial_Apologist]

I quite enjoyed the clip - my childhood view on the world was different too, if not quite in the way his was and is.

[mercia]

I see Jonathon Meades is on Private Passions 27.4.14....

now that he has said that when he is presenting his TV programmes he is putting on a (theatrical) performance and that we are not watching the real him, I don't feel so bad at not always understanding him

[Wallace]

now that he has said that when he is presenting his TV programmes he is putting on a (theatrical) performance and that we are not watching the real him, I don't feel so bad at not always understanding him

I used to find him intimidating - both on the TV and in his newspaper restaurant reviews. I wondered how anyone could be so fluent and have such a vocabulary. However when he puts down his script and pushes aside his thesaurus he ums and ahs like the rest of us and peppers his speech with clichés - but perhaps not as many of these as the rest of us. I am a fan and regret that there are now so few broadcasters of his calibre. On PP he made the point that 30 or 40 years ago this was not the case. Muggeridge was mentioned. Now whatever you feel/felt about MM, he spoke his mind. So few broadcasters do these days. Many are insipid unadventurous individuals. Anyway, long may he continue writing books and making programmes even though time waits for no one.

Robert Mcfarlane is on PP next Sunday. I am a RMcf fan too. But, oh dear, it is a repeat from last year!

[underthecountertenor]

I thought it was PP at its best. Michael Berkeley drew out an unexpected softer side, and even a vulnerability, in Jonathan Meades; and his choice of music was fascinating - I had not heard the Henze film score before; Fabrizio de Andre was a lovely discovery for me; and I'd never heard Brel sing Le Plat Pays in Flemish: even more haunting than in French. His explanation of his final choice (The Stones' Time Waits For No One, as Wallace hinted above) had me heading to Wikipedia to discover that Meades is already 67 (and Berkeley 66). Came as quite a shock!

[eighthobstruction]

yes the Henze film score was exceptional....

[teamsaint]

I thought it was PP at its best. Michael Berkeley drew out an unexpected softer side, and even a vulnerability, in Jonathan Meades; and his choice of music was fascinating - I had not heard the Henze film score before; Fabrizio de Andre was a lovely discovery for me; and I'd never heard Brel sing Le Plat Pays in Flemish: even more haunting than in French. His explanation of his final choice (The Stones' Time Waits For No One, as Wallace hinted above) had me heading to Wikipedia to discover that Meades is already 67 (and Berkeley 66). Came as quite a shock!

Can't say I preferred the Brel in Flemish, but it was good, and very interesting to hear.I didn't know there was a Flemish version.
The Henze clip was fascinating, and the De Andre interesting at least. A really good programme, and shows that some good can come of a family background in field sales.

I assume that the Score of Muriel is only available on DVD, not CD ? The DVD is available at around £8, so worth a punt I guess.

[Nick Armstrong]

I thought it was PP at its best. Michael Berkeley drew out an unexpected softer side, and even a vulnerability, in Jonathan Meades; and his choice of music was fascinating - I had not heard the Henze film score before; Fabrizio de Andre was a lovely discovery for me; and I'd never heard Brel sing Le Plat Pays in Flemish: even more haunting than in French. His explanation of his final choice (The Stones' Time Waits For No One, as Wallace hinted above) had me heading to Wikipedia to discover that Meades is already 67 (and Berkeley 66). Came as quite a shock!

Agreed about this programme and thanks for highlighting it here and on the other thread, went out of my way to hear it and was rewarded. I sensed a totally different Meades from the looming 'character' in shades which he plays on screen!