Television tonight: what's worth watching?

[Mr Larrington]

Fans of amiable nutter and bicyclist TV's Guy Martin might wish to know he has a new multi-part series starting at hours 21:00 on Monday Nov the twenty-twoth on 4, in which he and a couple of bonkers mates convert various unsuitable vehicles into racing ones.

He's got a new van!  And it ent a Ford Transit

[Hot Flatus]

On series 3 of the Wire now.

[Redlight]

Anybody started watching Get Back yet? 

My teenage son has shown me how to access Disney+ on my laptop so I suspect I shall be plugging in the headphones and watching part one tonight while the rest of the house thrills to I'm A Nonentity and Am Going to Sack my Agent.

[perpetual dan]

We’re a couple of episodes into “another life” on Netflix. We’ve already had a dreams episode, and few of them would have been selected for Apollo missions, but there’s quite a lot of astronauts in their pants.

[Kim]

We’re a couple of episodes into “another life” on Netflix. We’ve already had a dreams episode, and few of them would have been selected for Apollo missions, but there’s quite a lot of astronauts in their pants.

Dear god, I can tolerate low budget, and even bad acting, but this is a special kind of awful.  It's like someone who knows nothing about SCIENCE wrote a story about the people you hated at school exploring the universe, and they cast a load of The CW rejects to play them.  In their pants.

The only likeable character, who by no coincidence has remained fully clothed throughout, is the AI with the speech impediment (which I think is a misguided attempt to sound BRITISH).

[mrcharly-YHT]

We’re a couple of episodes into “another life” on Netflix. We’ve already had a dreams episode, and few of them would have been selected for Apollo missions, but there’s quite a lot of astronauts in their pants.

Dear god, I can tolerate low budget, and even bad acting, but this is a special kind of awful.  It's like someone who knows nothing about SCIENCE wrote a story about the people you hated at school exploring the universe, and they cast a load of The CW rejects to play them.  In their pants.

The only likeable character, who by no coincidence has remained fully clothed throughout, is the AI with the speech impediment (which I think is a misguided attempt to sound BRITISH).

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 6% of 18 critic ratings are positive for the series

I think I lasted 5 min in the first episode.

If you are going to do hard sci fi, at least get orbital mechanics slightly correct. Maybe use Kerbal?

[ian]

I'm sure I've mentioned it too, it's utterly awful. I think we managed a couple of episodes, mostly because we couldn't really believe it was that bad. Then it got worse. It wasn't even funny bad. I imagine in a meeting room somewhere this was pitched as what if we merged a reality TV show with a science fiction premise and everyone had snorted so much coke it sounded like a good idea. Surely they must have come down at some point and thought what the fuck did we do? At that point the correct would have been to can it and book a month in rehab. Unfortunately, Netflix who despite the money, just seem mostly unable to produce decent movies and tv.

[Kim]

If you are going to do hard sci fi, at least get orbital mechanics slightly correct. Maybe use Kerbal?

I think this is "hard sci fi" in the 'too difficult' sense.

Also, wossname was perfectly competent at acting when she was in Battlestar Galactica, so I'm not sure why she's lost the ability to do humanoid facial expressions...?

[mrcharly-YHT]

We have started watching 'Shetland'.

My goodness, I'm glad I moved to the Outer Hebrides and not Shetland! People only seem to last 5min out there!

[Mr Larrington]

Quite a lot of it was filmed in Dumfries & Galloway, although a woman working in a bookshop in Lerwick told us that everyone she knew had been an extra in it at least once.

[Kim]

We have started watching 'Shetland'.

My goodness, I'm glad I moved to the Outer Hebrides and not Shetland! People only seem to last 5min out there!

A friend's been watching, and intermittently tweeting about, that.  I missed that it was the name of a series for a while, with hilarious consequences.

It certainly seems to be up there with Midsomer for the abnormally high gruesome murder rate.

[Hot Flatus]

On to series 5 of The Wire. Series 3 was, so far, the poorest (INHumbleO), the rest were great. The writing is great but so is the acting.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Quite a lot of it was filmed in Dumfries & Galloway, although a woman working in a bookshop in Lerwick told us that everyone she knew had been an extra in it at least once.

That is disappointing.
I was surprised last night about how green and not-rocky Shetland was (compared to the Outer Hebrides). 

[rafletcher]

For viewing confusion, location-wise, I commend to you "Professor T" A very odd offering. A remake of a Belgian original, but set in Cambridge. Except it's very obviously largely filmed in Belgium (Antwerp I believe), with obvious clues like yellow post boxes popping up. It also retains some of the original programmes character names, such as Sgt. Donkers. Bizarre.

[Mr Larrington]

Quite a lot of it was filmed in Dumfries & Galloway, although a woman working in a bookshop in Lerwick told us that everyone she knew had been an extra in it at least once.

That is disappointing.
I was surprised last night about how green and not-rocky Shetland was (compared to the Outer Hebrides).

IIRC the long shots in outdoor scenes are shot in Shetland and Jimmy's house in Lerwick actually exists but the rest is done on the mainland, much of it in and around a village one over from where Dougie Henshall lives.

[Nuncio]

On to series 5 of The Wire. Series 3 was, so far, the poorest (INHumbleO), the rest were great. The writing is great but so is the acting.

I'm surprised you haven't said specifically what you thought of series 4. Or was there no real comparison with your professional experience?

[robgul]

We have started watching 'Shetland'.

My goodness, I'm glad I moved to the Outer Hebrides and not Shetland! People only seem to last 5min out there!

We watched all the episodes and enjoyed them, although it get a bit confusing in about episode 3  - and it's obvious from the climax that there will be another series (I think I read that they filmed both series at the same time - presumably for next year some time?)

One question (with a modest spoiler) - Tosh tests pregnant at the end (that's not really part of the latest series plot) - BUT from her appearances in the current series it looks as if she may have been pregnant for real - normally wearing a voluminous coat, or filmed behind a desk/PC screen/car etc.    In real life the actress has had a baby quite recently.

Be interesting to see the next series and how her pregnancy features.

[andyoxon]

The Expanse season 6 (final) just started on Prime.

I've picked up the final book (#9) in the series, Leviathan Falls.

[Jakob]

The Expanse season 6 (final) just started on Prime.

I've picked up the final book (#9) in the series, Leviathan Falls.

Yeah, I'm just about done with the book and will finish that before starting Season 6.

[Hot Flatus]

On to series 5 of The Wire. Series 3 was, so far, the poorest (INHumbleO), the rest were great. The writing is great but so is the acting.

I'm surprised you haven't said specifically what you thought of series 4. Or was there no real comparison with your professional experience?

That's a good point, and yes it was very pertinent. It was weird watching it now, 15 years after production, because to some extent US experience was a precursor to UK experience in education.

Still is, actually. You may have seen my posts on another thread about my own school adopting draconian 'ready to learn' strategies....its a US import. And we are asked to use a teaching model based on Rosenshine, again American.

So yes the stuff about SAT/GCSE type tests was very much the same stuff that has gone on in UK.

Over here the floor targets took no account, until progress
 8,  of school intake, so all sorts of shenanigans went on to try and get close to the unachievable, most notably making the weakest, disruptive kids disappear by "off rolling". 

[Russell]

Tosh tests pregnant at the end (that's not really part of the latest series plot) - BUT from her appearances in the current series it looks as if she may have been pregnant for real - normally wearing a voluminous coat, or filmed behind a desk/PC screen/car etc.    In real life the actress has had a baby quite recently.

Be interesting to see the next series and how her pregnancy features.

That was a very fine piece of acting from her as she was working out whether she was pleased or not.

[mllePB]

Quite a lot of it was filmed in Dumfries & Galloway, although a woman working in a bookshop in Lerwick told us that everyone she knew had been an extra in it at least once.

That is disappointing.
I was surprised last night about how green and not-rocky Shetland was (compared to the Outer Hebrides).

IIRC the long shots in outdoor scenes are shot in Shetland and Jimmy's house in Lerwick actually exists but the rest is done on the mainland, much of it in and around a village one over from where Dougie Henshall lives.

Watched it for the scenery shots.  Spotting genuine Shetland shots was part of the interest. Trees/shrubs are a mainline giveaway. Wheelie bins are a giveaway too - the isles only have very squat boxes covered with (fish?) netting.

[Nuncio]

After the first two episodes in this series I thought it was losing its way a little - a bit aimless. Not any more.

I think the first two episodes were just warming us up. Not sure I could have coped if they'd gone in that hard from the start.

How's your heart rate?

[mrcharly-YHT]

Quite a lot of it was filmed in Dumfries & Galloway, although a woman working in a bookshop in Lerwick told us that everyone she knew had been an extra in it at least once.

That is disappointing.
I was surprised last night about how green and not-rocky Shetland was (compared to the Outer Hebrides).

IIRC the long shots in outdoor scenes are shot in Shetland and Jimmy's house in Lerwick actually exists but the rest is done on the mainland, much of it in and around a village one over from where Dougie Henshall lives.

Watched it for the scenery shots.  Spotting genuine Shetland shots was part of the interest. Trees/shrubs are a mainline giveaway. Wheelie bins are a giveaway too - the isles only have very squat boxes covered with (fish?) netting.

Really? We have Wheelie bins here on Lewis - just tied down or held down with special devices.

I had no idea about the trees/shrubs thing. It does look a lot greener and less rocky than Lewis or Harris.

[Mr Larrington]

Fans of amiable nutter and bicyclist TV's Guy Martin might wish to know he has a new multi-part series starting at hours 21:00 on Monday Nov the twenty-twoth on 4, in which he and a couple of bonkers mates convert various unsuitable vehicles into racing ones.

And on Sunday next he's doing Stuffs with a Lancaster