GOOD TV

[Stanley]

I enjoyed watching the Master's snooker over the weekend. The skill levels are quite amazing. I didn't shed too many tears when Judd Trump was knocked out. Brilliant talent but he is young and needs to do some growing up.

[Whyperion]

The Indoor Bowls is on this Week , rather addictive to watch

[Whyperion]

With the return to the Cinema of Silent Movies in the form of 'The Artist' are the multiplexes getting Cinema Organs instated or hiring the local band to provide suitable musical interpretation?

The travelogue too is not dead , following the Summer Telly of 'Ade in Britain' ( now repeated weekends on ITV something , Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys manages to entertain railway buffs and a good mix of the old , the past , the new and the future is covered by Michael's narrative which is enough to impart information and opinion without cluttering the programme up. John Sergeant meanwhile has just finished on BBC Four ( but will be endlessly repeated ) Tracks of Empire , covering Indian Railways from East India Company to the Raj and Present day's intensive network with dedicated freight lines and a sensible 5 foot gauge showing how industrial growth is dependent on a good rail network. Back to England and the Hungry Sailors (Cornish Based Dick and James Strawbridge cook ingredients sourced from their South Coast of England's Ports of Call ( and a bit inland ) on board a pilot cutter , I am impressed with James's illustrated menu card done each day in limited time, filmed in the rather good British Summer of 2011.

[Stanley]

Watched the bowls semi final yesterday and will be looking in on the final today. Such a gentle sport. All right I know the steel and rivalry is there but like golf and snooker they are kept in check and don't interfere with the enjoyment.

[Stanley]

Good bowls final and I enjoyed it. Did anyone watch the 'Worst place in the world to be a binman'? A London binman spending ten days in the waste industry in Jakarta. It brought home the differences between our comfortable lives and conditions at the sharp edge in a developing country. Very well done I thought and what a lovely family he stayed with! He came back a sadder and wiser man. TV at its best I reckon.

[Bruff]

Good TV? Well. it's a guilty pleasure of mine and so it's 'good' in my book.

'Take Me Out', Saturday night on ITV. 30 women decide whether they are happy to go on a date with a chap who is introduced via the 'love lift. They indicate their view of the chap via keeping their light 'on', or turning it 'off', based on 1st impressions, some background and so on. There is no this would work if 30 blokes decided whether they'd date a woman, but this way round I find it quite endearing in its own way.

The other week a decent, smart enough chap appeared from the love lift and most of the lights stayed on. Then, a VT showed a bit about the chap and he was an investment banker banging on about the good things in life and the money he made. All the lights went out in an creeping-death of 'ping, ping, ping'. And no wanted a date with him.

In the style of host Paddy McGuiness when any chap is ready to exit the the love lift: 'let the banker, meet the draft!'

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Next Sunday 'Worst place in the world' is a fisherman. I shall be watching......

[Stanley]

Enjoyed Panorama on Monday. Nice to see that one of my least favourite men, the Noble Lord Ashcroft is still being investigated. Seems quite clear now that when he said he had no connection with the construction company in Turks and Caicos Isles he was lying to Parliament. PE reported this week that he has bought Dodds, the parliamentary publishers. This man uses his wealth to pursue his own ends and is pathologically secretive, I'm glad he is being watched.
Saw the RBS programme last night and if I have got it right Fred the Shred is now plain mister. Not sure how much good this will do, after all the RBS board voted unanimously for the ABN-Amro takeover. What we should be concentrating on is the general ethos rather than one, not very attractive or talented man. I loved the insight where the bank he left to move to RBS called to wish RBS well, they were getting on with the big party to celebrate his departure!

[Nolic]

Watched my Sky + recording of the BBC documentary on child protection social workers in Bristol last night. I usually shy away from programmes about social work as I invariably get very angry at the way their work is portrayed.
This was good and very real. The one question left for me was why did it take bruising on the child of almost 4 with severe behaviour problems and no speech to get child protection involved. What were the health services doing with their responsibilities to monitor pre- school children and were social services involved previously. The big problem now is to find a family resilient and caring enough to take on this little mite with all his present and future problems. When Cameron and his similarly ill informed cronies shout that its taking too long for kids to be adopted they should be made to watch this programme and they might see some answers. Nolic

[PanBiker]

Enjoyed Panorama on Monday. Nice to see that one of my least favourite men, the Noble Lord Ashcroft is still being investigated. Seems quite clear now that when he said he had no connection with the construction company in Turks and Caicos Isles he was lying to Parliament. PE reported this week that he has bought Dodds, the parliamentary publishers. This man uses his wealth to pursue his own ends and is pathologically secretive, I'm glad he is being watched.

Glad someone is still watching him, he used to be at the top of Gordon Prentice's list of ne'er-do-wells along with "The Duchy of Lancaster".

[Stanley]

Quite Ian. He pumped about £500,000 into the campaign for the seat that saw Gordon lose and it was done in such a way that it was hidden from the public. I tackled the present incumbent in the Letters page of the BET during the campaign but he avoided answering my queries whilst going on about openness and transparency. Not impressed....

[Whyperion]

Maybe should be under spring , but what was in the TV listings as Footie Derby v Nottingham F, called off due to weather conditions , what did BBC1 put on, In London at least D Attenborough's Repeat of an episode of Frozen Planet. Looks out of kitchen window , sub zero overnight and light fall of snow, heard reports of the Northern M25 having trucks and cars parked up overnight.

[PanBiker]

Looking forward to "Bomber Boys" on BBC1 at 9.00pm, should be good.

[Stanley]

I watched it Ian and thought it was very good. Well researched and a very rare picture of a Lancaster carrying a Tallboy for the attack and sinking of the Tirpitz.
Watching the footage about the tail gunner reminded of my old mate Bob Jacobsen who did 33 missions with the 100th Us Bomber Group as a tail gunner.... Brave men.

[Nolic]

Has anyone been watching Borgen, one of the Danish TV productions that BBC 4 have shown over the past 12 months. Subtitles but that doesn't detract from good story lines and excellent acting. Even better that "The Killing". Try to catch the repeats if you like good political drama and intrigue that's not too heavy. Nolic

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019ch5q

[Stanley]

Watched Panorama on Trolls last night and it chimed in nicely with our present debate about site direction. Have you noted that BBC4 is re-running Michael Gambon in 'The Singing Detective'?

[PanBiker]

"How to Build a Planet", last night on the BEEB, They do make some very good program's dont they? From cooling lump of rock to the emergence of land based animals, fascinating stuff and put over very well. I never knew that the whys and wherefores how soil came about could be so gripping! Breathing 300 million year old oxygen released from iron ore another highlight, plus being revived from oxygen deprivation by living in a box full of plants at the Eden Project site. Brilliant TV.

[Whyperion]

BBC2 , on iPlayer , Britains Heritage Heroes. - Touring Lancashire and Yorkshire Borders.
Episode 3 of 15
DURATION: 30 MINUTES
John Craven and Jules Hudson champion British crafts. They witness the work being done on the Lancaster canal by a hardy bunch of volunteers, then move on to Halifax to get creative at a textile mill with a colourful new life. On the road they meet artists, drystone wallers and even traditional ice-cream makers, all working hard to give their heritage a future.

The Mill is Shaw Lodge Mills where the buildings are being put to commercial , leisure and artistic use. Formerly Holdsworth's production space ( http://story.theholdsworths.org.uk/events/1933jh.html )

I think Barnoldswick has let itself miss out on the 'Loft' conversions of many former mill buildings as commercial space or living space that places like Keighly etc have turned some that have fallen out of manufacturing use. Shaw Lodge Mill's Chimney and boiler pipework area are now an indoor Climbing Activity Centre.

[Stanley]

Watched part of it but must confess I was exasperated by the number of mistakes in the dialogue due to inadequate research. As for Barlick mills, weaving sheds were a very specialised construction and the ones that were suitable for conversion have been re-used. There are many problems associated with them and the sad truth is that most were beyond re-use.

[Whyperion]

Yes, I agree. Many industrial buildings were constructed merely for the purpose of shedding light on the work activity , and providing some means of keeping the wind and rain out, with a power source to machinery. Even the office conversions have resulted in the workspace being difficult to heat and keep at reasonable humidity compared to a modern , purpose built office and light industrial spaces.

[Stanley]

I've been enjoying the programmes on BBC4 on armed forces logistics. Recorded the second episode of the 'Singing Detective', I was ready for bed! You're right Ian, we are very lucky to have the BBC, some good and interesting programmes despite the rise in the tide of LCD programming.

[Tripps]

Have you seen the series (BBC2 I think) which follows a British worker doing his equivalent job in a third world country. I've seen a bin man in Indonesia, a fisherman in Sierra Leone, and a train driver working in Peru. Graphic Tv in which each emerged with the greatest respect for the work of his opposite number. If you're a bit unhappy with your situation here, then watch it. You will realise how well off you are. A humbling experience.

[Stanley]

David, I missed the fisherman but saw the other two. You're right, bit like Capstick Comes Home, we don't know we are born!

[Stanley]

You won't be surprised to hear I watched the prog on BBC4 on the T34 last night. Took me back to Berlin on the 1950s, these would have been the opposition if the balloon had gone up! We could have had JS3s as well.... We made up our minds that in the event, we'd go for the tracks first to stop them and then worry about brewing them up.

[Stanley]

I'm getting increasingly annoyed by Time Team on C4. Tony Robinson is more like Zebedee than ever and they all have a bad case of 'presenter syndrome'. The young lady with the teeth seems to be the obligatory eye candy, doesn't do anything but ask obvious questions and I have yet to catch a glimpse of any depth of historical knowledge. Andrew Langland has been transported from 'Victorian Farm' and doesn't impress. Francis Prior is a good man on pre-history but is lost when it comes to anything modern. There are too many staged arguments and set pieces which are supposed to entertain us. Phil and the digger driver are the main stars and the old back up team seem to be absent. The excavations are the only good things, oh and Ratchar is good. The programme has lost weight and isn't the resource it used to be. Mind you, I still watch it for the excavations...