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Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 1st, 2013, 11:54 am
by charliechaplinfan
I love Call The Midwife, it's perfect for Libby and I to watch.

We've all started watching Frazier, starting at the very beginning, Chris and I loved it the first time around and Libby and Joe are both enjoying it, although some of the innuendo is going over Joe's head, he's still entertained enough by the antics to enjoy it.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 1st, 2013, 12:42 pm
by moira finnie
charliechaplinfan wrote:I love Call The Midwife, it's perfect for Libby and I to watch.
So glad that someone else liked this too. I can't wait for the next season and a second Christmas special. Who is your favorite character? It is a toss-up for me among Chummy, Fred, Jane, and the bonkers Sister Monica Joan. I like learning bits and pieces about their backgrounds as the show goes on. I wept over Fred's back story. How many real people must have lived for decades after the Blitz with those kind of wounds?

Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 1st, 2013, 7:04 pm
by mrsl
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Either I left the room or missed the episode about Fred - what happened?

My favorite character is the very, very gentle Sister Bernadette (Laura Main) and her love story with the doc.

But to be honest, I find it hard to really choose any one character as a favorite. Most of my life I've enjoyed ensemble movies and TV shows. That's probably why I'[m so hooked on Downton Abbey and so many of the other British programs I've watched lately. Many of them are ensemble casts and I like seeing back stories on each character, and different stories each week featuring each character.

I'm spending most of today watching Black Orphan, a mild sci-fi about clones. Yesterday I saw the ad that tonight was the series finale, so I checked out BBC to see what I had missed and found the whole series was being shown back to back all day, so, since there was nothing special playing today, I decided to watch the pilot this morning at 10:00 and continued all day, but as usual I taped the next hour while watching the first so when I watched I could FF through the commercials. It's been a pretty good show so far, but I needed a break for a few minutes. I"m heading back now to see the last three episodes, then at 8:00 one of my favorite detectives is on WYCC - PBS. So my Saturday night has been saved for this week at least.
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Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 2nd, 2013, 9:23 am
by moira finnie
mrsl wrote:.
Either I left the room or missed the episode about Fred - what happened?
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Fred's story is touched on in one of the later episodes in Season Two. Perhaps that hasn't been broadcast on your PBS station, Anne. If you like, you can see many of the episodes from this season here:
http://video.wxxi.org/

I like Sister Jane too (though I thought that her storyline had a whisper of the relationship between Audrey Hepburn & Peter Finch in The Nun's Story about it). From what I've read on British news sites, Call the Midwife is a blend of real events and dramatic fiction, so who knows? Maybe it happened.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 15th, 2013, 2:34 pm
by mrsl
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Recently I mentioned how much I enjoyed a British series called Keeping Up Appearances, but although I liked the star (Patricia Routledge) a lot, I could not recall what other program I had seen her in. Last weekend on Channel 20 WYCC in Chicago, they started running the Hetty Wainthrop mysteries and lo and behold, who is playing Hetty? None other than Ms. Routledge of course. This series, although charming and great fun, are so impossible, you have to get a real kick out of it. I'm so used to seeing things like Criminal Minds, Law and Order: SVU, and so many other crime series, that the unlikelihood of this lady and her "assistant" are a real stretch for the imagination. Here is this housewife lady in her 60's, with her teen aged assistant who solves crimes with only brains, and clues, much like Angela Lansbury did in Murder She Wrote. Hetty is kind of a female Columbo, often giving the impression that she is simply a snoopy and curious old lady, but at the end she sums up the crime like Miss Marple and Hercule' Poirot, with all members present.

Check your listings for any PBS channels that run either show.
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Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 15th, 2013, 3:45 pm
by movieman1957
The wonderful Patricia Routledge also has a small part in "To Sir With Love." Almost 25 years before "Appearances" it takes a minute to pick her up but she's there.

I heard she is the one that decided to leave "Appearances." Nothing wrong with that but she wanted to do some other things. No Hyacinth, no show.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 18th, 2013, 12:38 pm
by moira finnie
Of course this could also have been posted in the thread devoted to cats...but I thought this might be nice for Downton Abbey fans too:

From http://rhymeswithorange.com/

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Re: Other British programming

Posted: June 27th, 2013, 11:52 am
by mrsl
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One thing I have to admit about watching Hetty Wainthrop is that often I can't help seeing Hyacinth rather than Hetty because sometimes Hetty is cleaning up the table or answering the phone, and the mannerisms are so exactly the same.
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Re: Other British programming

Posted: August 25th, 2013, 12:02 am
by mrsl
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Well, now my heart is broken again. ALL of my wonderful Saturday night PBS shows are off the air. Only the various detective series (right now it's Detective George Gently), are on WYCC the other PBS station, so a very tiny spot is saved. Also, the new Miss Marple is on right now on Sunday night during the time slot usually filled by Downton Abbey which returns on January 5, 2014.

There is a new series on Saturday night which is 30 minutes long called The Cafe, but it's not as much fun as the others were. It also has quirky characters, but nothing like those that live in the small town that Doc Martin did - they were all a hoot individually. I just hope they don't mess with my Lark Rise to Candleford. I look forward to that show like a kid waiting for Chris
tmas.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: August 25th, 2013, 8:48 am
by knitwit45
Anne, all is not lost! Foyle's War returns Sept 15. This is, to my mind anyway, one of the best of the best. Michael (sigh) Kitchen is so good in the part of a soft spoken, intelligent detective who always triumphs over evil....


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Re: Other British programming

Posted: August 25th, 2013, 2:02 pm
by mrsl
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I know knitty. I'm only sorry I missed the dissection they did on Foyles War last week, although I am pretty sure they'll replay it again in the next week or two. I do agree that Kitchen is good, but I adore George Gently (M. Shaw). He reminds me of a cuddly teddy bear.
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Re: Other British programming

Posted: October 30th, 2013, 6:21 am
by mrsl
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I just don't understand my PBS stations at all. They had this big announcement about Foyles War, they showed three episodes, and now it's gone and Paradise is in it's place. Paradise is okay, but it's too much like that other show about a department store, and anyway, I want more of Foyle darn it. They completely confuse me at PBS. They have these big programs to announce shows, then they show one or two episodes and boom, they're gone. What ever happened to Miss Marple? DCI Banks?, and Endeavor? Right now Silk is on, on Sunday very late at night, and I'm enthralled with it. I've always loved courtroom movies and shows but this lady lawyer is fantastic. I hope it stays around for a while.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: October 30th, 2013, 8:18 am
by movieman1957
Sad to say but this series of "Foyle" was only to run three episodes. There is a little opening just in case they want to do more but who knows at this point.

Re: Other British programming

Posted: October 30th, 2013, 8:39 am
by stuart.uk
Anne

Here's a link to The Professionals, featuring both Martin Shaw and Michael Kitchen. If anyone is interested on you tube, Call The Midwife star Miranda Hart does a brilliant interview with legendary all round entertainer Bruce Forsyth, who shows he can still dance at 85


Re: Other British programming

Posted: November 4th, 2013, 2:48 am
by mrsl
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Something struck me as quite funny recently, and the last comment from Stuart clinched it. For the past few years, I've seen a lot of recent movies from the late 1990's and the 2000's until 2012, and I still have a hard time knowing various actors from others. For instance, I know the name Orlando Bloom but can't pick him out in a movie except those silly pirate ones where he's standing near Edward Scissorhands. (senior moment) Yet when Stuart named Kitchen and Shaw, I knew them immediately, and I've only been watching British drama for about 18 months. There is a huge age difference of course, but that only proves that talent will out. An actor stands out in your mind and you watch the credits to catch his/her name so you can look them up. Brendan Doyle is another one. I love him as Bates but like him more as Bob Timmons the stern yet loving Pa on Lark Rise to Candleford. These people bring their roles to life and make you want more. Amy Adams was cute in that movie about Julia Child, and altho I know she's been in others since that I've seen, I had to wait until the end to see the credits to know who she was. I guess these kids will ultimately distinguish themselves as Redford, DeNiro, Pacino, Jane Fonda, Julia Roberts and others have, but I don't have the time to wait and see unless I take after my Dad and Grandad and hang around until 95, (whew).
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