UK TV evening programmes

General Discussion
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I have found TV very boring these days, so many subjects I won’t even name and even the good ones have gone bad.

So I am off to Netflix or even YT from about 9pm onwards, unless that is, I can find something by checking further down the programme grid.

Top of the shop of course is Vera. Now I don’t want you to think I fancy her, but I do love the way Brenda Blethyn plays the part and I have discovered one of the very few advantages of age related memory loss. You can watch excellent programmes you have seen before (in my case many times) and never once twig the outcome. :joy: Sometimes I do feel as if I have been here before but the denouement is 100% a surprise. :astonished:

Next, for an entirely different reason, is Midsomer Murders. Unlike Vera, I haven’t seen them all, in fact, the evidence is before me every week. I haven’t.

But years ago I got fed up with John Nettles’ depiction of Barnaby. His walk, the way his arms are always held away from his body the way he talks, his mannerisms in general. But more than that, I seem to remember plotlines descending into the supernatural more times than a little. So I stopped watching it. The bloke who took over was no better, Neil Dudgeon, so little peeps after the change did not drag me back.

But now, how things have changed. All my previous prejudices have vanished and I am really enjoying it, including the little jokes that are inserted. The other night, a newly detectified female officer overheard the 2 main characters trying to work out why some woman did what she did to some man. She stepped in with ‘no women I have ever known would do that in that situation’, and the dawning of understanding on the 2 male faces was a joy to behold. :rofl:

But better than that, another night, another detective had to take over from Barnaby because his wife was a witness. I won’t give away any secrets but the name of the usurper was called DCI Dudgeon. This episode was well before the changeover when Barnaby retired, but I wonder if somebody knew that the actor who was later to take over the lead was Neil Dudgeon. I suspect that a good laugh was had by all behind the scenes. :rofl:

BTW, deficient memory kicked in again while writing the above. I needed 3 goes and a visit to Google to get Dudgeon’s name right. The first two efforts were Gudgeon and Bludgeon. :roll_eyes:

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Have you tried all the Shetland series David? I prefer the earlier ones with DI Perez, but they are all good.
For me, Silent Witness is always a good watch. (again, BBC)
We’ve enjoyed watching more than once Last Tango in Halifax (we’ve got the DVDs)
I’ve enjoyed watching Grantchester over the years, even if the stories are a bit silly.

But I agree, Vera is absolutely the best of the best. Not least, I love the fact that we don’t need masses of blood and gore and violence to have a really good plot line.

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Try French TV if you live here, it will help you learn the language. Although if you want to stay in a Brit bubble, go Brit TV

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You can watch from the very first episode of season 1 on iplayer.

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You can even watch Vera in English.

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You’re right, but not only that, the Perez ones are the only ones worth watching imo. I watched the first series after he left, but have not watched this present one.

I came to both Shetland and Vero from first reading all the books. That tends to make a person a tad critical perhaps. :smiley:

I don’t, and I do have French tv, but I like to plan my evening ahead and the programme grid is difficult if not impossible in that regard. The tv mags from the presse are little better. Also not all French programmes have (French) sub-titles.

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Does anyone remember Castaway 2000? 36 people form a community on Taransay, a Scottish Island. I found the whole series on YouTube and have become completely hooked again. (sorry, it’s not UK tv as such)

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Was that the series that got cancelled after filming had started, but they didn’t tell the contestants and kept them on the island regardless?

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No, it was definitely broadcast, hailed as one of, if not thee, the first reality tv shows. The scenario you describe sounds vaguely familiar but it’s not Castaway 2000

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Haven’t watched any live TV since I stopped buying a licence 15 years ago.

Haven’t watched anything on catch-up since 2019.

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I’ve been having a good laugh at Rising Damp, Birds of a Feather and You rang M’Lord recently on one of the lesser channels. Netflix has some new reasonable films, Amazon Prime has a lot of hidden ones if you search the categories . French TV after the main TF1 news is dire in many cases, repeats of series you watched 20 years ago or new series where they show three episodes straight off so you fall asleep and lose the plot or cheesy game shows. I have to admit to being a Judge Judy fan, love to see those morons trying to fleece people get their cumuppance as she takes no prisoners.

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But for those of us who didn’t watch them years ago they can be a treat. That’s exactly how I came across Vera.

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I have two series of Rebus on DVD. After reading all of the books I had a strong mental picture of what Rebus was like in both manner and appearance. The first one with John Hannah playing Rebus just didn’t feel right. Yes he is a Scott. Yes he is undoubtedly a good actor. He just wasn’t Rebus. He was too young, too fit, too conventional. I enjoyed watching the DVDs but it wasn’t the Rebus I knew. The second series had Ken Stott as Rebus and he fitted the role like a glove.

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I had exactly the same view, much as I like John Hannah’s work I don’t think he really fitted the Rebus role.

I also watched the most recent Rebus series and didn’t get on with it at all. Far too much gratuitous swearing and violence, which does nothing for me at all plus the actor playing Rebus didn’t really cut it for me. I suspect part of my issue is that, being Scottish, I find the incongruity of actors with posh Scottish accents trying to play working class hard men quite difficult to overlook.

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Yes I found that too as I did not have any UK since about 2014 but its been repeated so many times now I stopped watching the episodes. My sisters got me hooked on Gogglebox which is a good laugh.

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They often show episodes in a completely random order.
And why do they almost permanently show Columbo? Half the point of it is his way of speaking, which gets lost in the French synchronisation.
It was the same in Germany.

We really enjoyed Downton Abbey! And it’s great that you can switch the language to the original English.

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Sorry David, we are all different and for me Brenda Blethyn is a total turn off. Her fake geordie accent in Vera is not even worthy of being called acting.
Many police type programmes pitch the lead with an actor many years older than the oldesr serving officer, some work but Vera doesn’t.
Now Morse is worth watching, again and again.

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I watched all 8? series of Endeavour on French TV.

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I’ve only just discovered Downton Abbey - I’m enjoying it so much. I’m usually a fan of more sophisticated American streaming drama, such as Ozark, but have become completely hooked on Downton Abbey. It’s a bit like a soap opera really, but it’s fascinating parachuting into that world of the early 20th century. And the casting is so good. Many of the characters are completely believable and you forget you’re watching TV, which is all you can ask for

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Not being a Geordy myself, it’l do for me. :wink: :grinning: