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  • Showing only topics in ~tv with the tag "united kingdom". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. "The Reckoning" - there are some problems

      BBC has just put out a 4 part "factual drama" based on Jimmy Savile. It is available here. Steve Coogan plays Savile. Here is the IMDB page for it. For those who don't know, Jimmy Savile was a...

      BBC has just put out a 4 part "factual drama" based on Jimmy Savile. It is available here. Steve Coogan plays Savile. Here is the IMDB page for it.

      For those who don't know, Jimmy Savile was a live dj, a radio dj, and a tv presenter. He played local dance halls, and then moved to Radio Caroline in 1958 when he was 32, and he moved to BBC TV in 1964 when he was 38. There were allegations made against him right from the start of his dj career, and as time went on these became more and more known among the public, but organisations failed to deal with them and failed to hold him to account. When he died hundreds of people came forward. After extensive police investigations police concluded he was a prolific sex offender, and probably the UK's most prolific sex offender. Wikipedia article about savile, and wikipedia article about the abuse scandal.

      Coogan is a great, he's clearly a talented actor and he does pretty well here. The show heavily features a dramatic representation of Savile's biographer, Dan Davies.

      The show covers Savile's entire career. It shows changing public perceptions of him, it shows him testing boundaries and getting away with minor rule breaking, it shows the manipulations of power he used to get access to girls.

      But there are problems here. There are many complicated reasons why people don't report sexual abuse, and this show fails to do anything but pay minor lip service to those. Biggest for me is the focus entirely on Savile, and not the systems that enabled his abuse. Clearly he is the only person responsible for the abuse, but how did he get away with it so long, why didn't anyone stop him, why did organisations let him continue? There's a mealy-mouthed attempt to explain this, but that's a few lines of dialogue at most. This is important! The question of "How do we stop abusers?" needs a robust, evidence based, approach that doesn't stop at a shrug of the shoulders and "we dunno, he was a master manipulator". He absolutely wasn't, he was just brutally uncaring and wealthy. You come away from this show thinking that organisations were well meaning but a bit clueless, but that wasn't the case. Society just did not care about abuse enough to prevent it from happening, and we need to examine why we allowed it to happen.

      Each episode starts by interview survivors, and it's good that their voice is prominent.

      The TV drama Three Girls about the Rochdale Grooming scandal is better - it focuses on victims and how they were let down by the system. Or you could watch The Red Riding Trilogy one, two, and three - this is fiction, but features investigations into the Yorkshire Ripper case.

      5 votes
    2. Last episode of Endeavour

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Can someone explain the end of the episode to me, a poor American who has never seen the original show? I think I was following right up until the gunshot, and then... wtf?

      6 votes
    3. Any fans of British comedy series here?

      I moderate(d) the Allo Allo subreddit before that site…well, you know. I know the show has many fans, and I want us to all congregate here! I miss feeling like there were others out there. I am...

      I moderate(d) the Allo Allo subreddit before that site…well, you know.

      I know the show has many fans, and I want us to all congregate here! I miss feeling like there were others out there.

      I am guessing those people haven't ended up here, so I thought I should broaden it to include British comedy series in general. What's your favorite? Why?

      62 votes
    4. What are good British TV comedies that are not too specific to the UK?

      By "not too specific to the UK", I mean something that can be enjoyed and understood (on a cultural level, not the language - subtitles take care of that) by someone who is not part of that...

      By "not too specific to the UK", I mean something that can be enjoyed and understood (on a cultural level, not the language - subtitles take care of that) by someone who is not part of that culture. For reference, I really enjoyed The IT Crowd and Peep Show. Thanks!

      8 votes
    5. The BBC's Welsh crime drama Hidden is back for its third-and-final series this week

      I thought I'd take the time to post about a series I've been looking forward to for over a year now. Hidden is a fantastic crime drama set in Wales, and a third series was announced early last...

      I thought I'd take the time to post about a series I've been looking forward to for over a year now.

      Hidden is a fantastic crime drama set in Wales, and a third series was announced early last year. The Welsh version, Craith, aired late last year. This week, the bi-lingual version airs on BBC One Wales and BBC Four. In my opinion it's the perfect crime drama: set in the mountains of North Wales, with a great soundtrack and unconventional storyline. Some shows focus only on the investigation and the victim, who probably just admits to the crime at the end. Not so here.

      Sian Reese-Willams, who plays DCI Cadi John, explained what the series is about back in 2018:

      It’s not a classic detective drama in that it deals with the whodunit and the police catching the bad man. It’s much more of a personal drama. It takes time to delve into the lives of everybody that gets caught up in the crime - the detectives, the victims, the family of the victims and even the bad guy. You’re trying to understand him.

      It really plays with the idea of nature versus nature and almost tries to twist you into sympathising against your better judgement; it’s exciting and thought provoking. The characters are really interesting and it covers a lot of human emotion.

      Here's another interview ahead of the second series.

      Series two picks up around nine months after series one ends. We find Cadi trying to deal with the grief of losing her father, while trying to keep her head in her work.

      It’s a difficult time for her - just as one begins to come through the initial shock of losing someone and start to try and deal with it, that’s the time that everyone around you starts to forget and move on. She’s also faced with dealing with the estranged daughter of the victim of the case, and the parallels she sees between the two of them are difficult for her to navigate professionally.

      The first two series are on iPlayer now, and if you speak Welsh (or like subtitles) the third series is already on S4C Clic under the title Craith. Hidden is on BBC One Wales this Wednesday at 9pm, and BBC Four this Saturday at the same time.

      2 votes
    6. Peter Kay's Car Share

      This is another British comedy that I think people will enjoy. The title is weird: Peter Kay is the stand up comedian, but he's playing a character in this sitcom. IMDB calls it "Car Share", but...

      This is another British comedy that I think people will enjoy. The title is weird: Peter Kay is the stand up comedian, but he's playing a character in this sitcom. IMDB calls it "Car Share", but BBC calls it "Peter Kay's Car Share". It's British, so weirdly small number of episodes: only 12 (and this includes all the specials).

      The setup sounds like it's going to be unbearably claustrophobic, a series long bottle episode. A supermarket sets up a car sharing scheme, and we watch John and Kayleigh share a car as they drive to work everyday. But this creates intimacy and we get to learn about the characters. It's heartfelt and lovely. It's well acted, and I think it's very funny.

      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4635922/

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kay%27s_Car_Share

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02n62v4

      4 votes
    7. Detectorists - "unremarkable lives gone slightly awry"

      I'm currently re-watching all episodes of Detectorists and it's one of my favourite tv things ever, so I thought maybe Tildes would be interested. Detectorists is a single camera sitcom about two...

      I'm currently re-watching all episodes of Detectorists and it's one of my favourite tv things ever, so I thought maybe Tildes would be interested. Detectorists is a single camera sitcom about two men and their friendship around their metal detecting hobby.

      Here's the link to the BBC Four webpage for it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06l51nr

      Some review sites -

      Rotten Tomatoes 100% (few reviews), 99% audience score: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/detectorists

      IMDB 8.6 : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4082744/

      Guardian review (because she writes about it far better than I can): https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/09/detectorists-rich-portrait-unremarkable-lives-gone-slightly-awry-mackenzie-crook

      Detectorists is about nothing and everything. Made with palpable love, it’s about people and their passions; camaraderie and community. As a portrait of male friendship, it is closer to documentary than drama, delving beneath the topsoil of mid-life ennui via the sparsest of exchanges. You won’t find a laughter track, or smart-arse punchlines or an oh-so-subtle veil of irony here; instead of begging for your attention, Detectorists is notable for its avoidance of snark. It’s the drama least likely to culminate in alpha plonkers blowing up cars, taking down baddies or ravishing beautiful women.

      Instead, it lingers lovingly over dewdrops on grass, magpies on gateposts, scudding clouds and gently fluttering leaves. Even an alfresco wee takes on a painterly aspect, viewed solely through the steam cloud billowing from behind a sunlit tree. Meanwhile, the camera makes high art out of Lance’s face in closeup, crestfallen as he unearths a scaffolding bracket instead of an Anglo-Saxon nugget, and from Andy’s silent incredulity when a colleague jokes about Richard Attenborough when he means David.

      Radio Times review https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2017-12-13/detectorists-series-3-review/

      If all British programmes took this much care over their tone, look and overall distinctiveness, the golden age of television would never go away.

      Modern comedies are often predicated on cruelty: laughs are hard, clanging or sharp as barbed wire. In its quiet, undemonstrative way, Detectorists has ploughed its own furrow. Buried in its field of fun are evergreen truths about life, and the things we don’t say but should. So if kindness and companionship are unfashionable, I know which side of the hedge I’d rather stand.

      13 votes
    8. Crime and Punishment is an interesting, hard to watch, docu about the UK prison system

      Channel 4 describe the programme "Series that captures the work of police, probation, prison, prosecution and parole". Here's a link to the first episode:...

      Channel 4 describe the programme "Series that captures the work of police, probation, prison, prosecution and parole".

      Here's a link to the first episode: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/crime-and-punishment/on-demand/64655-001

      Crime and punishment is a documentary series that looks inside prison to tell the stories of the criminal justice system from the viewpoint of those involved.

      The first episode spends some time talking about the unjust "Imprisonment for Public Protection"[1] sentences (these are no longer given by the courts but there are thousands of prisoners still imprisoned on them), how they went wrong, and the awful effect they have upon prisoners. It's a difficult watch. It shows how severely the mental health of prisoners is when they're on this type of sentence, including their serious self harm.

      Episode two talks about pressure inside prisons and how that results in "riots", about how prisoners use the only power they have available to them.

      I like the programme because it avoids judgmentalism. The prisoners are not reduced to the bad guys; the officers are not simplified to the good guys. You hear a little bit about some of the offences committed by the prisoners

      Here's a Twitter thread from someone working in the English NHS. She works in forensic services as a psychologist. https://twitter.com/SarahE_Davidson/status/1173707912981700608

      I guess Channel 4 On Demand have geo-blocking. I don't know if it's available on other services, or on torrent.

      [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprisonment_for_public_protection

      7 votes
    9. The Chefs' Brigade

      This is a British cookery show. They take a bunch of people who cook for a living but who have basic skills. These people are paired with a chef who has four Michelin stars and eighteen...

      This is a British cookery show. They take a bunch of people who cook for a living but who have basic skills. These people are paired with a chef who has four Michelin stars and eighteen restaurants. They visit different restaurants around Europe to have competitions to cook that restaurant's own food.

      Things I enjoy about it: it does a good job of showing that people who have somewhat fucked up lives will always find a place in cheffing. They could have stayed in the UK but they decided to go around Europe.[1] There's a couple of incidents of poor behaviour being corrected (some of the women chefs are ignored and spoken over by some men, the women stand up for themselves and get an apology).

      Things I don't like: there's some cheffy bollocks around the pressure and discipline of a brigade; it's still a reality-show competition and that introduces some artificiallity; they send people home each week and I always hate that aspect of programmes.

      It's available on Pirate Bay.

      Here are some reviews which I think are fair.

      https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/30/the-chefs-brigade-review-a-cookery-challenge-worthy-of-willy-wonka

      https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-chefs-brigade-bbc2-episode-1-review-jason-atherton/

      [1] I can't describe how pathologically awful Brexit has been for the UK. :-(

      7 votes
    10. What is your favorite non-American TV show?

      I feel like most people on reddit (and probably here, too) only really watch American shows, but there IS a lot of good content in Europe and other countries as well. Sometimes those shows come to...

      I feel like most people on reddit (and probably here, too) only really watch American shows, but there IS a lot of good content in Europe and other countries as well. Sometimes those shows come to the US in a butchered, Americanized remake, but those are rarely as good as the original show.

      Bonus points if it's not orginally in English (so British & Australian shows don't count either!).

      One of my favorite tv shows (at least the first season) is the French 2012 supernatural drama series Les Revenants. It's got a captivating story with some great acting and a killer soundtrack (by the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, if you're into that kind of music). It fell apart a bit in season 2 and never got picked up for a third season, but it's still very much worth watching for that first, brilliant season.

      23 votes