Television tonight: what's worth watching?

[mattc]

There should be an episode of The Cleaner containing Greg Davies on at some point in the festivities too.

And Lo! it was good.

(Perhaps not the best one they've done ... but very good as Xmas specials go!)
Detectorists is next on the schedule...

[citoyen]

Anyone watched the Traitors?

It's been touted as excellent

My son is watching it as I type. I have no idea what is going on. It seems to be mainly people shouting at each other. And/or crying. With dramatic music.

One of the contestants just said “I literally had my arse on the table”. What he meant (I think) was that he was being accused of being a traitor. He didn’t literally have his arse on the table.

I’m struggling to discern the entertainment value in this. But that could just be me.


ETA: he’s just explained it to me. My initial assessment was right - it’s basically people shouting at each other and crying and accusing each other of being traitors. It could have been created by Jean-Paul Sartre. I think it might actually be brilliant.

[Basil]

Mrs B tried one ep.  Her verdict was over expectant people getting over emotional about nothing and crying.  Totally, totally irrelevant and irritating.

[robgul]

I didn't see the Christmas Carole last night (no dustbin lid TV here) but based on the reviews I shall be asking to watch it on catch-up at my BiL's today after lunch.

What we did was Bob & Paul (and of course Ted) doing a bit of fishing - excellent as usual.

[Hot Flatus]

Mrs B tried one ep.  Her verdict was over expectant people getting over emotional about nothing and crying.  Totally, totally irrelevant and irritating.

Anyone watched the Traitors?

It's been touted as excellent

My son is watching it as I type. I have no idea what is going on. It seems to be mainly people shouting at each other. And/or crying. With dramatic music.

One of the contestants just said “I literally had my arse on the table”. What he meant (I think) was that he was being accused of being a traitor. He didn’t literally have his arse on the table.

I’m struggling to discern the entertainment value in this. But that could just be me.


ETA: he’s just explained it to me. My initial assessment was right - it’s basically people shouting at each other and crying and accusing each other of being traitors. It could have been created by Jean-Paul Sartre. I think it might actually be brilliant.

Thankyou, both.

As an inchoate curmudgeon, its probably best that I avoid this, unless of course I wish to confirm my suspicion that everyone is a cunt including, naturally, me.

[TheLurker]

Last night rather than tonight. BBC4. Chap rescuing pipe organs from deconsecrated churches and disused chapels. By turns informative, saddening and (slightly) uplifiting.  I expect it'll be on Auntie's intarweb TV offering for a while yet.

[Mr Larrington]

I bin watching the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, featuring Dame Sue Black on forensics.  Interesting stuff.

[Hot Flatus]

Started watching Severance on Apple tv (7 day free trial...Will have to be a binge watch)

But I'd already had too much food and wine and went to bed about 10 minutes later.

[Kim]

For the benefit of anyone who hasn't already pirated^[1] Our Flag Means Death, you can now get your silly low-budget historical comedy with lashings and lashings of unexpected queer representation on that BBC that they have now:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dk8v81


_{[1] Ba-dum, and indeed, tish.}

[Kim]

I binge watched His Dark Materials.  They did pretty well with the special effects, although there was a fair bit of padding to get some action sequences in.  The books are pretty flawed in plot terms so I can't blame the adaptation, but the revelation that

(click to show/hide)

you can't live in another world for long

is dropped in pretty abruptly to give the required melancholy ending.

I'm surprised they didn't change the ending, tbh.

Also, an unexpected example of sign language done properly in mainstream drama.  They used a Deaf actor and the camera angles mean you can follow the dialogue and everything (we'll overlook that they don't use some impenetrable parallel-universe dialect of BSL, as the series is operating under the SG1 rules^[1] of linguistics).


_{[1] 'Everyone speaks English regardless of planet and species, except where necessary for the plot.'}

[mrcharly-YHT]

I binge watched His Dark Materials.  They did pretty well with the special effects, although there was a fair bit of padding to get some action sequences in.  The books are pretty flawed in plot terms so I can't blame the adaptation, but the revelation that

(click to show/hide)

you can't live in another world for long

is dropped in pretty abruptly to give the required melancholy ending.

I'm surprised they didn't change the ending, tbh.

Also, an unexpected example of sign language done properly in mainstream drama.  They used a Deaf actor and the camera angles mean you can follow the dialogue and everything (we'll overlook that they don't use some impenetrable parallel-universe dialect of BSL, as the series is operating under the SG1 rules^[1] of linguistics).


_{[1] 'Everyone speaks English regardless of planet and species, except where necessary for the plot.'}

Later seasons of Silent Witness have a BSL-using deaf recurring character.

Some of the 'conversations' with her are annoying; people not facing her during conversation, and using very minimal BSL.

[Flite]

Reminded by watching "Digging for Britain" on Sunday, for the next few days we will be watching Time Team, series 1.
Then if I can find them, all episodes from the following 20 years.
They all look so young!
Geophys in it's early days, in fact computing in it's early days for many of us.

Mostly despair of current TV programmes, only programmes we watched over Xmas/New Year were the Royal Institute Lectures.

[rafletcher]

A bit of an emotional roller coaster repeat of last night. Catching up whist my wifes away, an episode of "Ambulance", followed by one of Channel 4's "Big Boys", which is great fun.

[mrcharly-YHT]

The Rig

This is really a Dr Who plot without Dr Who.

Ridiculous daft tosh, but enjoyable for the decent acting and atmospheric set.

[Legs]

I binge watched His Dark Materials.  They did pretty well with the special effects, although there was a fair bit of padding to get some action sequences in.  The books are pretty flawed in plot terms so I can't blame the adaptation, but the revelation that

(click to show/hide)

you can't live in another world for long

is dropped in pretty abruptly to give the required melancholy ending.

(click to show/hide)

The Oxford Botanical Gardens are going to be overwhelmed with people looking for that bench.

I'm half-watching just so we can get it finished.  It's all gone a bit weird.  I think I was more-or-less understanding most of the first two series, but I'd evidently forgotten a lot of what was going on.  It's not really particularly gripping because you can be sure there's a deus ex machina to dig them out of any plot hole.

[L CC]

The Rig

This is really a Dr Who plot without Dr Who.

Ridiculous daft tosh, but enjoyable for the decent acting and atmospheric set.

Heh.
I'm 'saving' a bunch of telly for when I'm off work post-op.

Don't bother with The Rig. It's Shit.

If anyone has any recommendations for EASY binge watching while I'm in pain and doing rehab, let me know. We have streaming but no BBC.

[Auntie Helen]

Which streaming do you have?

We’re mostly Prime but currently enjoying Berlin Station on Netflix (we are both very familiar with Berlin so it’s great to spot the sights).

We thought The Man in the High Castle on Prime was excellent.

I liked Motherland Fort Salem on Prime although I think it is YA rather than oldie like me.

On Netflix we like Kleo but it might not be on UK Netflix.

Channel 4 streaming has The West Wing - I watched the whole thing over a year and it was brilliant.

[nicknack]

'Undone' on Prime is brill. Binge watched season 2 last night.

[mrcharly-YHT]

The Rig

This is really a Dr Who plot without Dr Who.

Ridiculous daft tosh, but enjoyable for the decent acting and atmospheric set.

Heh.
I'm 'saving' a bunch of telly for when I'm off work post-op.

Don't bother with The Rig. It's Shit.

If anyone has any recommendations for EASY binge watching while I'm in pain and doing rehab, let me know. We have streaming but no BBC.

Silent witness

[Kim]

I don't think I've seen Witless Silence since Clarissa left.  I can't imagine the lack of snark has improved it.

[Auntie Helen]

It’s got a bit too gloomy for me. They have a black actor and a Jewish character so it’s ticking additional diversity boxes now the disabled character is gone.

[Hot Flatus]

Accidentally watched a bit of traitors.

As described above. Can't be arsed.

[Legs]

I don't think I've seen Witless Silence since Clarissa left.  I can't imagine the lack of snark has improved it.

We're up to Series 16 in the Great Silent Witness Watch-Through.  Am going to miss Harry when he departs!

For undemanding watching on catch-up, how about Death In Paradise?

[mrcharly-YHT]

I don't think I've seen Witless Silence since Clarissa left.  I can't imagine the lack of snark has improved it.

She was the best character in the whole series.

Observed by my partner "Was it intentional that the disabled character is the only character who has a functioning relationship?"

[rafletcher]

I think we might try the first of the new Ken Burns' "The US and the Holocaust".