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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) | Season 4 of Downton Abbey will begin on January 5, 2014. Sherlock, Season 3, will premiere on Sunday, January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) will return as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air. |
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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Not near excited about Downton Abbey as I am about the return of Sherlock Holmes. Can barely wait.
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I'm looking forward to all the programs. I watched the Call the Midwife Christmas episode and I'm looking foward to that new season also.
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It looks like the three new Sherlock episodes are two hours each and will air after some of the one hour episodes of Downton Abbey.
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I have never watched the "Sherlock episodes" going to start.
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Mark
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Happy New Year everyone!
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JeanneP, we'll be interested to hear your views on this Sherlock. We see his analytical process when he sizes up a crime scene through computerized notations on the TV screen as he estimates measurements, compositions, timeframes, etc.
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Oh! I don't know Marcie. Sound a little deep for me. I like the old Sherlock Holmes of years ago. Solves crimes the old way. I will give it a shot.
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Surprisingly, perhaps because I don't generally like when someone updates to modern old classics, I adore this Sherlock. Last Saturday I rewatched the final Season Two show. After that, I thought I needed a refresher on how he and Dr. Watson got together. I ended up watching all of Season One and one featuring Irene Adler in Season Two. This Sherlock version of Hound of the Baskervilles, however, is not my favorite; I still prefer the original.
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Jeanne, I must have given the wrong impression. I don't think this Sherlock is "deep" as in boring. I'm glad you're going to give it a try and see for yourself.
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I did watch one of the repeats yesterday..don't think I will be watching him. Seems always in a rush.
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We saw the first - and long awaited - episode of the new season of Sherlock on Wednesday night. Brilliant. My daughters got me interested in this, and now I'm as addicted as they are. Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman are such a great pair, and in this series Freeman/Watson has a new love interest (who is played by his real-life partner), and Mycroft is developing as a character. I won't give anything else away!
We also saw a new one-off adaptation of the novel 'The Thirteenth Tale' by Diane Settafield (which I haven't read) starring Olivia Coleman and Vanessa Redgrave. I was terrified, though as usual my 15 yr old wasn't....but we both enjoyed it hugely, so I hope you get it over there in due course.
Rosemary
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I agree that the new Sherlock is brilliant.
I saw a new Phryne Fisher on PBS last night. Absolutely delicious. Such fun!
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Rosemary, Thanks very much for the "previews." I am looking forward to Sherlock later this month and do hope that we get The Thirteenth Tale. It's in my humongous to be read pile.
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We don't get Phryne Fisher on PBS in our area. I'm hoping Netflix will pick up the new series.
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Yes now to discover how he switched places with the executioner with no one the wiser
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Downton Abbey, Season 4 starts Sunday!
An email from Masterpiece says:
You've waited all year (with the patience of Carson and enthusiasm of Daisy), and now you're about to be rewarded with Downton Abbey, Season 4, premiering Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014 at 9pm ET on MASTERPIECE on PBS (check local listings).
Before you step back into the saga of the Crawleys, get prepared with our selection of essential short Downton Abbey videos. Hear first hand from series creator Julian Fellowes and actress Michelle Dockery about Mary's tumultuous journey, get an insider's glimpse at new characters and locations, find out what series insiders really had to say about Matthew's death in season 3, and see a Season 4 preview. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/video/downton-abbey-dont-miss-videos/?elq=c1f34357878c4ac987dc50e81e15c19f&elqCampaignId=785
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I hadn't watched the Sherlock Holmes series, but last night I watched the little segment that was linked in a Masterpiece email awhile ago. Now I'm intrigued and will have to watch from the beginning - if I have time to see them all before January 19, when the links expire. Maybe that deadline will make this cold, seemingly interminable month go faster.
I can watch one episode during the Packer/49er game today - just watching it would chill me to the bone.
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It's good to be inside, nlhome. The forecasted temperature at game time was around -5 degrees.
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It was only in the low 40s but a slow north wind was dropping temps just as I spent less than a half hour covering more tightly hose bibs and covering with two outdoor blankets I have the herbs - in that time breathing so froze my lungs I am in pain all afternoon as they thaw. I drank hot tea to help but oh my - so I cannot imagine how y'all living in teen and below teen temps can even go out of your houses - if cold kills human bugs like it kills insects I should be healthy for weeks.
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The two hour showing of the new Downton Abbey season was wonderful. Wonderful!
I do hate the back stabbing downstairs, though. Don't want dear Anna to be doubted and in trouble. Lady Cora is pretty thick, really.
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I'll be watching, but I probably won't be as interested now that they've gotten passed WWI.
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I enjoyed last night's episodes too, MaryPage. I thought they were written well. I can't believe that Lady Cora would think ill of Anna. The new lady's maid and Thomas make a good, evil pair!!!
Dan Stevens, who played Matthew, is in a film that supposed to come out in the US this month, SUMMER IN FEBRUARY, that focuses on the early 20th century love triangle between British artist Alfred Munnings, his friend Gilbert Evans and Florence Carter-Wood. It's gotten mostly negative reviews from critics in Britain. The trailer is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JulDCiXBx-s
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I must say I am not fond of Lady Cora. I'm getting a bit sick of how she does nothing but put her head to the side and simper. i also think she's a bit thick and is meant to be, because people bypass her if they want anything done and go to her daughters, gran., even the earl or whatever he is.....(and goodness knows, he's not bright....I think Julian Fellows must have socialist leanings!!)
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I think Lady Cora was good for her money and her simpering way allowed the money to flow without question so it did not take a lot of smarts on either the parts of Granville or his lady to keep tradition going - the smarts will be what this new generation must use if they are going to preserve Downton.
Looks like O'Brien closed the door and this new lady's maid opened it - although O'Brien was softening so they probably did not have too much left for her because it appears they need an alligator downstairs to stir things up. And it appears as fast as Thomas seems to redeem himself to the viewer he is off with another set of underhanded antics.
I thought Matthew's mother had great lines with an insight to what it is like to loose a grown child that for her was her only child.
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They were certainly defensive about Matthew's leaving, weren't they? Did your broadcast have Julian Fellowes (who I think is a great writer, I've loved his books) and the producer appearing before hand, saying it couldn't be helped, and hinting that they had short notice? All the press has been full of the fact that fans had a very hard time with his being killed off, they were shocked and apparently very angry. Stevens went right to Broadway, apparently he has a lot of film offers also and he wanted to take them. Didn't they say he was not interested in returning even for a guest shot? So they had no choice but to kill him off.
I thought that was extraordinary, I don't think I have ever seen that: the author/ creator and/ or (producer) explaining, kind of whining that the actor left them in the lurch at the last minute. The reaction must have been enormous.
They said had he been playing a servant (like...what was her name who was so nasty?) then it wouldn't be a problem. And they hint that this year's cast will return for the next series but that doesn't mean that they will all continue always, something about British casts only have 2-3 year contracts to begin with.
What on earth happened to the garment? I can't tell what it is, is it a sleeve? It's something that Cora particularly liked, it looked as if it had been gutted, can anybody tell what it was?
I wonder why somebody doesn't try to mend it. It looked embroidered or beaded to me, did it to you?
Surely all that beading could be fixed, but what possible accident could have happened in the first place?
Not like Cora to immediately jump on the bandwagon of blame, is it? She's been somewhat saint like the entire series. That's strange, I thought.
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Mind you, I only know what I read, but I have read in several different reports that they all signed three (3) year contracts for Downton. And then, those who chose to, signed 3 year renewals. Some chose not to.
The maddening thing about Anna is (1) she has been there from the git go and has proven her loyalty over and over and over. Remember, in Season One she was one of the three women who moved the body of the Turkish diplomat who died in Lady Mary's bed! That was Lady Mary, Cora, and Anna. They KNOW she is the most devoted servant they have. They KNOW this! And then she showed her colors by working without let up to find the truth about the conspiracy against Bates and free him from prison. Cora knows all this! This is 1922, and we know Anna has been there since before World War One began. That puts her there since at least, and probably before, since 1914. All those years! How in this world can that old trouble maker Thomas and a brand new maid blame the new maid's failure at HER job on Anna? It just does not compute! And that Cora would complain to the Earl rather than ask Anna herself, considering what they have been through together? And that the Earl would be so strong worded with poor Bates about it? Not bloody likely, I say.
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MaryPage, you're right. That scenario is a weak spot in the writing for that episode (soap opera tactic). I think it was meant to get us incensed about the injustice. It seems to be working!
Ginny, when I try to search about the "garment" everyone seems to be calling it that. I don't know what it was or how it was ruined. Maybe I'll try to watch again and pause the TV.
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I agree the only thought I had was that maybe Cora is so rattled by O'Brien leaving that the least little thing un-nerves her so she does not know what to expect from any of the old faithful servants or who to trust. After all she thinks Thomas hung the moon having walked in on the nurse scolding her grandchild to go back to sleep that he was a naughty boy. And so any servant that Thomas questions is suspect. She may not have much power but being a protector of her daughter's babies is her only avenue to being a tiger and Thomas unleashed that purpose and value for her life. He is the one who insinuated it was Anna.
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Decisions! Decisions!
So hard.
MPT (Maryland Public Television), our Baltimore PBS channel, is showing a brand new Phyrne Fisher murder mystery I have never seen at eight o'clock tonight.
WHUT (Howard University Television), our Washington, D.C. PBS channel, is showing the Holiday Call the Midwive Special that I missed at Christmas time. At eight o'clock tonight, of course.
Nothing else good on. Nothing else I want to see.
But Boo Hoo and Bah Hah, I want to see BOTH of these!
I guess I will choose the Holiday Special and hope to catch Phyrne later. WETA, our Northern Virginia PBS channel, is showing Phyrne now on Thursday nights. From the beginning. So eventually they will show the one I am to miss tonight.
Decisions! Decisions! And I appear to be entertaining all of the nastier symptoms of coming down with a full blown common cold virus. Dang and blast.
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I hope it's not the flu, MaryPage. Take care of yourself.
It's awful timing when there isn't much on TV but of the few things you want to watch, they are on at the same time!
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I was going to pass on seeing this season's Downton Abbey, but changed my mind and watched the rerun last night.
From the library: The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook by Emily Ansara Baines (she has also written one for The Hunger Games)
Some yummy recipes include their version of Bubble and Squeak, with bacon, peas and carrots added, Royal Brown Windsor Soup, Mrs. Patmore's London Particular, a pea soup named for London's famous thick fog, Mrs. Patmore's Dropped Chicken (remember when she dropped the chicken on the floor?), Pork Pie Balls, Dark Desires Chocolate Cake, and lots more.
The book is divided into two sections. Part one is recipes to serve upstairs and Part 2 is for staff meals. You can bet that there is lots of heavy cream and butter involved in the desserts, puddings and cream soups. Lots of artery clogging recipes, so of which are time consuming. There are short paragraphs about the recipe, when appropriate to serve, manners or the era, but not near as much as I would have liked.
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I'm glad you are watching Downton with us, Frybabe. LOL re some of the recipe names. What a clever idea for a Downton "products" spinoff.
There is a caution re "violence" for tonight's episode of Downton Abbey. That does not bode well.
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Wow - Julian Fellows knows how to get under your skin as if it was not drama - feels too real.
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Barbara, yes that was quite a shock.
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I agree. Last night's episode was quite a shock---interesting to wonder where this is all going!
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I love how Julian Fellows has depicted Matthew's mother - I never heard or read but those are the confusing feelings when I lost my son - who am I - if someone asks, how many children do I say that I have in one word - Other painful events experienced by my children and I remember feeling like I could not stop grieving and could not enjoy myself or smile or feel good - it is so satisfying to see this behavior on TV - it is as if Julian Fellows understands and gave me affirmation for my feelings.
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Thank you for sharing that Barb.. As well as Julian Fellows, we have Penelope Wilton to thank for acting the character so brilliantly. She is such a fine and versatile actress. We are quite a bit further on in the plot than you are. and I don't think it's spoiling anything to let you know that she remains very much in the story.
Very best wishes,
Rosemary
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I admire her, as well, Rosemary, and have so enjoyed seeing her in other films.
Her personal life fascinates me. It seems her 2nd husband, father of her daughter, married her sister after divorcing her! That means her daughter's stepmother is also her auntie. I am not at all sure I could be entirely peaceful with that!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, has returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) will return as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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Barb, the scenes with Matthew's mother must have brought your memories to the fore. I appreciate your sharing those thoughts. I agree, Rosemary, that Penelope Wilton is an exellent actress and makes her part so believable. I really like the interaction between her and Maggie Smith this season, as well as between her character and the doctor.
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Now that her son Mathew is gone ,maybe a romance will bloom for her and the doctor. How she can keep up that life without her son paying the bills hard to do.
That house now belongs back into the estate. I am sure she won't expect Mary to cover her.
Think I am ahead of the writers on this.
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I would think the opposite: that Mary would feel obliged to look after her mother in law and the grandmother of her child for her lifetime.
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I think most of these people would have had private incomes of their own. I doubt if Matthew was paying for everything.
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I think Julian Fellowes has lost his way. I found the last episode so wrong in so many ways. I hope I am wrong.
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I am watching and enjoying this season's Downton Abbey. Such good acting and a good story line, too.
Sally
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Welcome, Xine48
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Yes, welcome to the discussion, Xine48. What happened to Anna did seem very different from past episodes.
Hi, Salan. :-)
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she acted it out so well - really struck chords - so glad he is showing what had been hinted at in so many of these stories about help in these great houses and even in smaller houses - it has in the past in story after story been blown over although noted and shown from the perpetrators side.
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Going to be interesting to see how this with Anna is going to be played out. Bet, like her husbands murder trial it will run the whole season.
I just seems that when Mathew moved his mother came with him because of her circumstances regarding funds. Her husband had not left much.
Sure that Mary would provide a allowance but not to live in that big a house with butler, cook. maid etc. Her Grandmother live well but she was the one who was well provided for in Husbands will. They should both become roomys and live in one house. Bet that would be fun...Writer could have a blast.
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Interesting thoughts about the financial condition of Matthew's mother. It hadn't occured to me.
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I just now found this Discussion but am "up to date" watching Season 4 of "Downtown Abbey".
I agree with everything that's been said, especially about Cora's "wistful" look.
There are some other actresses who must be known for the same "talent?" and it seems there are frequent close-ups of them written into the script. That's similar to close-ups of Julia Roberts' big grin in everything she's in!
Several new plot twists for the new season. Good old soap opera formula, isn't it? :)
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I was planning on watching Sherlock Holmes tonight. Beginning of a new season. But I was just seeing the end of the last season showing Watson at Holmes grave. What is going on. I have never watched it before.
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Callie, yes, Julia Roberts certainly has a signature grin. Good comparison with the signature looks of some of the Downton Abbey women.
Jeanne, since the end of last season many people have been trying to figure out how Sherlock accomplished the feat of looking like he killed himself jumping off the building while we all know that he can't actually have done so if we're going to have a season 3!
The episode tonight should be very interesting!!
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Well, hurrah for Mrs. Hughes for taking charge and fixing things for Tom. I want things to go well for Tom, and I don't want him to be so STUPID! Scheesch!
This Downton is becoming too much of a melodrama. I want ordinary.
I must say that Michelle Dockery is certainly growing into her part and giving us some magnificent acting. And I am so gratified that Violet now approves of Isobel.
But back full circle, Hurrah for Mrs. Hughes! Hip! Hip!
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I watched Sherlock last night. Is it my imagination, or did it seem a little more "muted" than the other seasons. Sherlock seems to have softened in his attitude toward others. The whole thing seemed a slightly awkward, but then I guess everyone would feel a bit off when they have to readjust to the discovery that someone they valued was not dead after all. I thought some of the bits where they jumped to possible "how he did it scenarios" and especially at the end where he was apparently having, what, flashbacks?, also confused at first. Now that I have watched the commentary from the actors and producers on how they put the show together and their rationale for doing one thing or another I will have to watch the rerun next Saturday.
I am losing interest in Downton Abbey, so did not watch it last night. I don't care to follow the storylines for Edith and Anna any further.
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I thought the black singer was interesting. There was very popular black nightclub singer of the 30s and 40s in London ..."Hutch"....who was a favourite of the upper classes especially the Prince of Wales ( he of Mrs Simpson fame) and was rumoured to have had an affair with Princess Margaret. He was AC/DC so had affairs with people like Cole Porter, too. I happen to have some of his music---Begin the Beguin was one of his best. I have a feeling we are going to see more of the singer in Downton if I am right and he is based on Hutch. (Leslie Hutchinson)
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MaryPage, I was thinking the same thing. Hurrah for Mrs. Hughes. She really came through in this episode. She helped both Tom and Mr. Carson. I'm really glad that the intrigue with Tom isn't going any further. But in the previews it looks like Thomas has brought in another ally...
I am glad too about the evolving relationship between Isobel and Violet.
Poor Anna, does she really think that her husband would actually KILL that terrible valet? Maybe it's because she feels like killing him herself.
Dana, thanks for that information about Leslie Hutchinson. It does look like the singer will be a recurring role this season.
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Frybabe, gosh the Sherlock Holmes was confusing last evening, with all of the scenarios about how he might have pulled off the fake death. The other stuff was confusing too. I'll have to watch it again. I did like the humor in it.
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Mrs Hughes is turning into the Downton therapist. Tom, the butler, the maid....all get their 45 minutes!
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It is difficult to watch Anna go on but they are so on target - and yes I can see how Anna would have exaggerated concepts of what could happen - the unimaginable happen to her so anything is possible. Even today in our enlightened world it is still difficult for most women to have it known what happened - TV shows have made it appear as more understanding - but compared to the numbers even those brave enough to go to rape or incest survivor meetings are slim in number.
Mrs.Hughes is like the in-house therapist which when you think of it there was usually someone in every family that became the healer and secret keeper before we had therapists.
I do think it is Violet who is softening - she even looks softer - during the era before the war I cannot see her being so concerned for the welfare of anyone much less Isobel. Mr. Carson seems to be just the opposite - he appears stodgier as he is aging as does Lord Grantham.
And yes, I am with all of you on Tom - so glad that did not go any further.
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Sherlock was interesting although confusing to me with several scenarios of what happened shown - could not see the rational for that - but i loved the part played by Dr. Watson and hated to see him made a fool at the end - his anger was so right on - and now a women he loves - I really like the part they have carved out for him where as Sherlock seems less noble, glib and less manly regardless his ability to take physical punishment which I still do not understand why that was a part of the story.
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There is someting else that bothers me a little with this new Sherlock. Well, two things really. One is that I recall seeing advance clips (I think) of Sherlock in a monastery and the person (forget his name) who insisted he was not dead showing the DCI a map and ticking off Holmes type detections across Europe and heading for London. I didn't see any of that referenced in the show itself except that a fan group was positive he lived. The other is that this year, in addition to your comments Barb, I thought Sherlock seemed less sure of himself. Perhaps what they intend on showing is that while Sherlock was out there in the ether for two years, he discovered that he is not infallible and not a world unto himself, and who discovered he really does need others on an emotional level that he couldn't or wouldn't admit to previously.
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I tried watching Sherlock for the first Time. Couldn't make it to the end and so will not try it again. Give me the stories and the Sherlock of the past. These I don't understand him. Did like Watson and the girlfriend of his who is both show and real life. Good match.
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Dana, you're right. Mrs. Hughes is the in-house therapist and also giver of good advice.
I agree with everyone that Watson's new fiance (did he really get a chance to ask her to marry him after Sherlock interupted?) is wonderful. I like the way they have portrayed her as liking Sherlock and encouraging the "boys" to work together. She also seems to have helped on the case.
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JeaneP, I don't think this season opener was a good place to start watching the "Sherlock" series. It was definitely a bit confusing, even to those of us who watched the last two seasons. The show afterward, where the actors and producers talked about putting the season opener together, did help a little. Nevertheless, I am going to have to watch it again to get some of the action straight.
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I agree, Frybabe. This first episode was definitely filmed/edited different than the last seasons.
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The real "Mary Poppins"Author will be profiled on our PBS station tonight Friday at 8PM.Illinois time. Hope they show her. see if she looks like the actor who played her in Mr. Banks
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I saw "Saving Mr. Banks" this afternoon and am really looking forward to the PBS program.
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Instead of "The Real Mary Poppins" on my PBS station, another program began and a banner went across the screen reading,
"Tonight's showing of "The Real Mary Poppins" has been withdrawn by PBS. We apologize for the inconvenience".
Did this happen to anyone else?
The Mary Poppins program was written up in our monthly PBS station's magazine and listed in the weekly tv schedule. I've never heard of anything like this.
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Callie, I did a search and found one PBS site that had a notice saying that it was a legal "rights" issue that caused the station to cancel THE REAL MARY POPPINS program. I guess they didn't have all the permissions they needed.
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Marcie, I should have searched before I posted because I also found that - from Seattle, I think. Must have been a last-minute thing that didn't get settled as expected.
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Too bad. I'm sure there are some upset people in the programming department!
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I bought the DVD set of Season 6 of Doc Martin with some of my Christmas presents of Barnes and Noble gift certificates, and I have just recently been viewing it and having a ball. It is true what has been said, this is the very best season yet. A total hoot and such good fun for me enjoying from my easy chair.
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I watched the latest Sherlock last night. Bizarre! It looks like they are going to stick with their makeover of Holmes as a more humble, bewildered, and maybe not quite a world unto himself as before, more emotional. I really expected to see the story solving the bank robberies shown at the beginning of the show. Nope, completely ignored through the rest of the show.
The other night I watched the rerun of the season opener. It did little to solve my confusion and puzzlement regarding the scenes.
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Forgot to mention that I think Martin Freeman is doing an outstanding job.
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Frybabe, yes, the second season of Sherlock has a completely different tone. Sherlock doesn't seem to be quite his old self. I'm still deciding whether I like the dynamic trio. I agree that Martin Freeman stood out for me this episode although it mostly featured Sherlock.
MaryPage, I really like Doc Martin too. I had borrowed Season 6 from the library and really enjoyed it.
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Looks like Anna was right about Mr. Bates. I can't believe that he will actually kill the guy who raped her.
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Marcie, I think he will try!
Although the announcement of Mr. Gillingham's marriage has been announced, I suspect he and his valet will appear at Downton again. Maybe while the estate inspectors are there - since one of them was apparently interested in Mary at one time.
Is Matthew really going to take Sibby to America?
My PBS station indicates that this was Episode 6 of 8. If so, I can see several cliff-hangers developing for the final episode.
The plot thickens!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, has returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) will return as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
I don't remember reading any of the later Sherlock Holmes adventures, but they indicated that Dr. Watson did indeed marry in the resurrected Holmes stories that Doyle wrote. Will have to read them.
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I thought Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law did an excellent post Reichenbach Falls episode in their last outing (a movie in the theater, not on PVS), as Sherlock Holmes, also featuring the incredible Jared Harris as Moriarty. And the woman who plays Mrs. Watson also did a super job.
Unfortunately this Sherlock, the second of two, is hard to watch due to a couple of scenes, which on DVD you can fast forward thru quickly, but they did an incredible job, and I resisted them for a long time due to preferring Basil Rathbone's take on it.
Unfortunately also both Downey and Law are very hot as actors so they may not be available for the third installment. Shame, they are very good. To me the second film is better than the first.
I haven't seen the Cumberbach one, I need to try tho he looks too young to me to be the great detective.
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Ah, but Ginny! He is so darn GOOD!
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Ginny, I really enjoy the Robert Downey, Jr./Jude Law duo too. I love the humor between them. I see that Jude Law thinks that they will do a Sherlock 3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2487328/Jude-Law-confirms-plans-join-forces-Robert-Downey-Jr-Sherlock-Holmes-3.html
If you watch the Cumberbatch version, I suggest you start with last year's.
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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! Thank you for that gladsome news, I'm amazed what with Robert Downey in the...what is it Ironman series? OH good! I may try to see an old Cumberbach, if he's that good.
I even like the supporting cast in the Downey-Law series, Mrs. Watson whom I did not like at first turned out to be good, and of course Steven Fry (if I've spelled his name correctly) as Mycroft and Jared Harris, who I thought almost stole the show. That was a good cast. I hate they killed off Irene Adler tho.
You're right, the humor is so fun in the film which is somewhat dark and I did have to scroll past the Harris- Downey torture scene.
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Ginny, yes, I think that Jared Harris made a perfect Moriarity. I agree about the awful torture scene. I find that I've blocked it out and don't remember the details.
I really like Stephen Fry too. I think my first introduction to him was with Hugh Laurie in "Jeeves and Wooster." So funny!
In the Cumberbatch PBS series and the TV series, "Elementary," with Jonny Lee Miller, the character of Mycroft appears to behave badly to Sherlock at times, maybe with a secret agenda. I don't recall if there is any of that in the books.
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My Downton Abbey Season Four DVDs arrived from Barnes and Noble today. I had pre-ordered them with my Christmas gift certificates. Have quite a few DVDs in my stack to be watched already, so who knows when I will get to them. A comfort to know they are there, though!
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MaryPage, I'm with you. I like to own DVDs and it is a comfort to know that they are there!
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We borrow quite a few from LoveFilm and some from the library, but I agree, I like to know that the ones I really love are there on the shelf - Brideshead, The Jewel in the Crown, Some Like It Hot, Love Actually, Mona Lisa Smile....they are some of my enduring favourites.
Rosemary
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Rosemary, I too really loved to watch Brideshead and Some Like it Hot always makes me laugh.
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It's good to have films, and books, that you can return to and still find something new in - I feel like that about the best of Barbara Pym's novels, and also about Brideshead. The scene where they fling open the shutters onto the Grand Canal in Venice still fills my heart with joy (and a tiny bit of envy..... :-) )
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One of my big thrills owning Season 6 of Doc Martin (the only season I have purchased) is all of the extras added to the DVD. I would never have known, otherwise, that the wife, in real life, of the actor playing Doc Martin (Martin Clunes) is the PRODUCER of this entire series! Her name is Philippa Braithwaite.
They go to Port Isaac once a year and stay for 4 months and film with tons of gawkers watching. They adore the village and feel like villagers now.
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Yesterday was a day that I spent just watching movies. (I love those kind of days :D). Anyway I found a movie on HBO Demand called "Capturing Mary".(2009) with Maggie Smith. I had never heard of it, has anyone here seen it? I enjoyed it. It was a followup to a movie called Joe's Palace. The only connection was that it takes place in the same house but in different years and both have the same character Joe. I liked both of them except by the time I watched "Joe's Palace" I was getting bleary eyed so I think I will watch that one again.
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Never seen either Jeriron - would you recommend them? What are they about?
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Capturing Mary starts off withe the character from aJoe'Palace explaining why he is in charge of this big house that Jo one lives in. Maggie Smith comes to the door ane he lets her in and she goes on to explain to him who she is that she came to parties there when she was young. She tells him of her relationship with one of the guests etc etc.
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Couldn't find capturing Mary or Joe's place. Will look further.
Also a shocker today. Philip Hoffman found dead today of a drug overdose. Only in his 40's. He was on top of the world I thought with all the good movies he has been in past few years. I will never understand the Drug world...
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Since I spent the summer catching up on Downton Abbey, I now try to watch the rerun each week..our PBS shows the previous week first and then the current. I don't always catch the current, but can generally get the rerun. Mrs. Hughes spilled the beans and Anna seems to be correct.. Mr.Bates has murder on the brain..What a shame.. and what happened to the ladies maid of Coras that was dead set on Tom. I missed a week... somewhere, so there is a different ladies maid for Cora..Again an ally of Thomas.. who should have been gone years ago in a well run house.
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Steph, the ladies maid was found out by Mrs. Hughes to be pretending to be pregnant in order to trap Tom into marriage. She was let go. Thomas recommended the new ladies maid and, therefore, seems to have a hold on her to "report" to him any news/secrets she overhears upstairs.
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I almost gave up on Sherlock last night at the beginning. I am glad I continued as my puzzlement and dismay were alleviated. What an interesting (astonishing?) ending. I really must read the stories after Conan Doyle brought him back. I do not remember ever reading any where Dr. Watson had married.
Moriarty will be back in the next season. Yeay! I was just thinking I missed his character this season, and there he is on the after show behind the scenes bit. His words at the end of the behind the scenes show were, "Miss Me". It wasn't exactly a question the way he said it.
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Hmm, in the original Sherlock, I think Dr. Watson was married at least once and possibly twice.. Thanks for catching me up on the Cora maid situation. Cora needs to look more closely at her maids.She does not seem able to, but is so determined in so many other ways..l
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Would someone tell me how to get to the online showing of the new Downton Abbey? We go to bed too early to watch the broadcast version.
Thanks.
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You can go to PBS.org and watch it on your computer. (I have the PBS app on my iPad and watch it on my TV using airplay and the Apple TV box).
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ursamajor, here is a link to the first episode of this season:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365143420/?utm_source=gplus&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=downtonpbs
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There is a Sherlockian researcher who spent a year trying to put Arthur Conan Doyle's stories in chronological order. He says that Watson was married SIX times!!! http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/Who_is_Sherlock/WatsonsWives.html
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Downton Abbey comes on at nine o'clock every Sunday night where I live. They always, without fail, lead into the new episode with the hour long episode from the previous week. In other words, my PBS station, and a lot of others, rerun the previous week's Downton Abbey episode at eight o'clock every Sunday night.
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I watched the first episode of season 6 Doc Martin. Soooo good! I love the cast of characters.
Sally
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Yes, I watch mostly the 8pm , since that one is easier for me to watch and not decide to doze off.
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I enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes episode. They have great villains. Sherlock hates Charles Augustus Milverton.
And, Frybabe, you're right that Moriarity will be back next season. We learned of several ways that Sherlock could have faked his own death but what about Moriarity??
What do you think of the revelations about Mary?!!!!!!
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Sherlock Holmes is never going to do it for me. I tried watching it again. Just can't. Really like little Watson though.
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Andrew Scott is such a brilliant actor. We've also recently seen him in a three-part drama called The Town. It's very different from Sherlock, and rather bleak, but as ever he was excellent. Martin Clunes is also in it.
Rosemary
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I tend to have a mental picture of my Sherlock and rarely watch movies, tv portraying him. Ruins the inner pictures. Basil Rathbone all those years ago was who I thought portrayed him best.
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Basil Rathbone WAS Sherlock Holmes. And ever will be, world without end.
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I suspect we are showing our age, but as far as I recall, Sherlock was never portrayed in the books as young.
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I've watched it without comparing it as if it was a totally new series that has nothing to do with the Canon Doyle books and I see it as an avant garde show that reminds me of when we first read Atonement by Ian McEwan - it was all mirrors and reflections and what appeared like disconnected bits - so that the presentation seems to be more important in this new Sherlock series than the actual story. The story line has reflections here and there of the Canon Doyle stories.
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Too bad the link isn't working for me to the PBS interviews. I remember hearing the producers say they had no intention of staying true to the stories. I forget how they put it, but they didn't want to be just another remake. In its own way, the same could be said for Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes. In that one we have a female Watson and a Sherlock who goes to NarcAnon or whatever they call the drug version of AA.
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I guess I am a traditionalist.. Have a detective story, but don't change Sherlock.
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I haven't enjoyed this Sherlock and finally gave up that show.
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I watched "Sherlock" last week and exclaimed to our grandson, age 18, that it was like watching a Dr Who episode. Well, you know he immediately pointed out that the Sherlock writers also wrote Dr Who. Well, since I am a dyed in the wool Dr Who fan, I am now must be a "Sherlock" fan. I do like "Elementery" quite a bit, too. So, if one is on when another is on, I just DVR one. Also, we have Prime Time On Demand which has repeats of all three available for a few weeks.
OH, and I must say that so far my favorite Dr Who actors have been Tom Baker (who is my age now, so you can figure that I have been a Dr Who fan for loooooooong time!) and the present one, Matt Smith.I have always enjoyed the humor in all of them. Far out, that's what I like!
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My favorite by far has been David Tennant. But then, I am quite enamoured of him.
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A new show starting tonight after "Dalton Abbey". Must have taken S. Holmes to another time. I never could get interested in that.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Our PBS station showed Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes which I loved and I recorded it along with "Downton Abbey" and a movie entitled "The Making of a Lady". Has anyone ever seen that? or even heard of it?
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Only three Sherlock's this season, major bummer. Our PBS is not, that I noticed, showing the Jeremy Brett Holmes series. I agree, Adoannie, that his was super.
I didn't bother watching The Making of a Lady. It doesn't appeal to me, from the short blurb I read about it. Besides, I was reading a book I didn't want to interrupt. Maybe later.
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Maggie Smith is such a glorious example of a long time actress. I loved the rerun last night where she managed to overcome Matthews Mother yet again.
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You are so right Steph! I was just thinking about actors that have (and still are) stood the test of time. Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and others.
Sally
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Most of them English.Their training is spectacular.
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I did watch "The Making of a Lady" last night and thought it was pretty good. It is quite a suspense thriller in a way, with danger lurking in the huge old gothic-type mansion. I probably would not watch it again though as the novel depends for its success on the gothic element and once one knows what happens there is no incentive to see it a second time.
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Thanks, Hepeskin (and welcome to the discussion!). I'll check to see if the program is available "on demand."
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mark
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Present
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I do wondor why the Brits do such a spectacular job of productions and we don't.. Hmm.
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For some reason, the overall attitude in Great Britain is still a striving for excellence, even over and above money.
We are now totally craven here in the States. Everything is money. EVERYthing!
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Well there was Gettysburg, that was a pretty impressive production, and there are others, done by PBS and NOVA.
I'm not sure all British TV programs are up to the standard of Downton Abbey, either. But they do have good programming and shows.
Roots was another great production. I'm sure we can think of some uniquely American programs which were of quality, if we're speaking only of television programming.
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We have a very few that are up to Brits standards. For one, I hated Roots and thought the overacting was really stupid.. When I am in England, I do laugh however.Their humor is a bit ruder than ours and some of their reality type shows are way way over the top.
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My Mom, who was Welsh, could never understand British humor. Go figure.
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Never realized that our British humor was hard to understand. I use to think that Americans didn't have any when first here.
I notice it at times when I go to see a British film. I can be laughing alone.. Yet on some US movie Americans they are rolling in their seats and I don't see any thing funny..I don't think British humor makes fun of people as US do. We sort of sympathise more.
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I remember when I was a teen, I was amazed that Mom didn't get the British humor. I had no problem with it. My first encounters probably would have been on Jack Parr and/or Ed Sullivan show. We watched Rumple of the Bailey and Steptoe and Son, but I think they came later. Even later, the all the British sit-coms that PBS showed. Who could forget Benny Hill or Are You Being Served?
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My favorite was Fawlty Towers. They don't show that too much on PBS. Of course my very favorite is "As Time Goes By", But that's really not a comedy, I guess.
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Those sat.night Brit com. Shows been on for ever. Time they got some new ones. Don't know what pbs does with all the millions donated. They only had to pay for them 1 time. So many newer ones been on in UK. Buy a few.
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They used to have a really far out reality show in London.. It was supposed to surprise peopleThe one time I tuned it in.. Probably mid 80's.. They actually showed up a t a house and repainted it while the owners were off to work.. I mean a really bright color.. I am not quite sure I would have thought it was funny if I had owned it.
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I am not particularly fond of Absolutely Fabulous, but George likes it. Yes, I used to like Brit night, at least four comedies back to back after Lawrence Welk.
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Ah Sunday, time for another dose of wonderful castles and far off problems.
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I am also enjoying the new (to our area) Doc Martin. Such good acting in both Downton and Doc.
Sally
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I watched Murder on the Home Front on my PBS station last night. Set during WWII, it follows a forensic technician trying to solve a series of murders while trying to convince the police of the value of proper evidence gathering and analysis. The police routinely are contaminating evidence and leading suspects into confessing to things they didn't do through threats and intimidation. It didn't get into trying to convince the court system to see the value of the new forensic methods to convict (or not). I do not know if this was a once and done or the beginning of a series.
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Iam always a week behind on Downton, but enjoy it anyway. Was really funny to see Lady Mary and the pigs.. I also feel for Edith..There must be a solution for her.She was so happy for such a short time.
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I thought that the were really rushing through the show .(Dalton Abbey ) last night. Trying to get a little of everything covered. It was No. 7 now I am thinking that only be 8. So what will be the cliff hanger? I don't think Anne husband is involved in the death of ( you know who.)
Only Rosemary knows... Along with my UK family and they know not to tell.. It is getting sort of like US. Soap operas now Plots are easy to figure out.
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Need to go to library today. Wonder if they are again closed for Presidents' Day
Snowing here again here today. Not been out for 3 days. They do promise us 45 deg. On Tuesday.
Maybe get out then.
Did anyone see on the news this morning that the Minister of this church who sometimes had that big snake with him when preaching. It bit him and he didn't dash fast to emergency room. Well he died. Today. He was wrong thinking that G-D would not let it hurt him. One can believe to strongly...
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Downtown Abbey was interesting. Mr. Bates last word on the topic to Anna was that he wouldn't do anything without thinking it through (or something like that). That definitely could be read both ways (he did it or he wouldn't have done it!)
Mary now has three suitors!!!?
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well Mary is rich and I think back in those times, her husband would automatically control her money...so yes I bet she does have suiters.. Took the quiz on characters on facebook and I came out as Mrs.Hughes.
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Steph, those three guys don't seem like they would be after her money. The Downtown estate is in trouble anyway and it sounds like it will take a lot of work to keep it running.
Mrs. Hughes is definitely growing in my estimation. She's been courageous and done so many things over the past few episodes to help many of the staff members.
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Next week being the last of this section of Downton I can see next season will be about Mary and her suitors.
The Teapot Dome scandal was in the early 20s - do we get into the early 30s do you think? My gut says that's when Michael Gregson surfaces. I bet he is somehow wrapped up in German Politics. However, in the 20s Hitler was a nobody, a returning vet living hand to mouth but there was the party that he was affiliated with and he wanted to put his hometown on the map. However, we do have Cora's brother coming from America in the next series - is that Lady Edith's solution so she does not have to give up her baby and she will live in America with Cora's brother who will find her an American husband.
I too think Bates was about other business when he took his day in York - I think it will be some huge surprise he is arranging for Anna.
I wonder if Moseley and Baxter tie the knot - it may be a shadow story that follows Mary's expolits upstairs. And what abut Thomas - does he cause trouble that forces Baxter's hand so that she spills what she knows about Anna which may not name Green but with so many in the house now knowing and then does Bates blame Anna because in his mind she was too friendly enjoying Green's company.
And Daisy - dear Daisy - if the story goes to the Depression that may be a huge change to the staff as Downton would not be able to support and Daisy may go on to the farm. In fact that may be the logical end wrapping up a way of life that soon became extinct with modern appliances making it possible to run a household even as large as Downton just as we see the special about Highclere Castle successfully housing the 8th Earl of Carnarvon and his family.
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I read this week that three new characters are being added to Downton Abbey for Season 5.
Richard E. Grant will play Simon Bricker, "who visits the wavering estate as a guest of the Crawleys", Anna Chancellor will be in a guest role as Lady Anstruther.
Rade Sherbedgia will play a Russian refugee. Hmmm....will he and Mr. Gregson return together or will he come to bring news of Mr. G.? Either way, it will be yet another person from a different culture for the Granthams to deal with.
I agree that Mr. Bates was about other business. Maybe looking for another position so he can get Anna away from the Vicious Valet?
Looks as if Thomas may be losing his source of gossip.
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But bates won't have to leave because now the rapist is dead. I think that Thomas will be out of the show next. Baxter will tell something on him as to why he is blackmailing. Then she will end up with Mosley who will get Thomas job.
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True - and that story line could take quite a while to spin.
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Can't see Thomas going while there is still a downstairs - the story plot needs a Villon and Thomas has filled that role nicely plus there are some likeable qualities about him and over the series he has done a few nice things - granted for selfish reasons but he is not all bad. We did feel for him when all his contraband was useless that he invested all his money into.Now I could see Mr. Carson retiring and since the family likes Mosely he would take over an even smaller staff.
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I cannot see Carson retiring and I honestly think that Lady Cora would be bereft without him. She depends on him for everything. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Edith. She deserves a better shot at life.
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Yes, you are probably right, Carson is one of those who will die at his job.
I had not known about the Russian coming in the next section of this story - yes, that could be where Edith's love has gone - as a reporter he must have been wanting to see for himself - wasn't the movie Red with Warren Beatty taking place in the 20s and early 30s -
With the Olympics turning the lights on Russian art and the beauty of some of their buildings it is making me want to start a delve into some Russian literature - Chekov who wrote mostly plays is someone who I never read - wouldn't it be grand to see the collection of Farberge eggs all in one location.
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I'm wondering if that tenant farmer who has just come back to Downton (from?) and taken over his Dad's farm and now taken on the new pig investment is married.
If not, Edith could marry him on condition he agree to be a good father to her unborn child. And then, several years down the road, there they would be, minding pigs and living happily with a pretty little Earl's grandchild, when back to Downton pops up the real father!
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I think MaryPage that was a suggested solution made by Edith- it appears he is married and Edith thought a good couple that she could see her child growing up and even visit at times however, both her Aunt and her Grandmother pointed out someone could spill the beans or wonder why she was visiting so often or the child could end up looking like her so the child would be better out of Edith's life and raised elsewhere by a loving couple - Switzerland was last the chosen destination.
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In that period, the solution of Switzerland makes sense, but for Edith, it might be the last joy she ever has. Maybe she could makes a detour to see if she can find Michael, don't think she is quite that brave however.
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Edith and aunt will leave for Europe on Sundays last show. This will be one cliffhanger so wont hear about her again until next series. They will leave a few hangers this time. Some people stopped watching past few weeks. They want people back on order to keep it running. To me Thomas not been interesting lately. I wouldn't. Miss him. Daisy will do more. If he FIL signed the farm to her she will be a rich women. That could bring the young man back in. Won't do much with Rose and the Coloured man. She could run off and that will end her in the show.
So only time will tell us ( or our families in UK who are a season ahead.)
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
But the baby has already been born when the last (episode 9 of Season 4) begins. It is 1923, and because the Season for debutantes has begun, it must be late spring. I will say no more. I had pre-ordered the DVD set, and for some reason it arrived early, so I have had a sneak preview. That is to say, I have seen the whole thing on my own.
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I figure Bates will be in the forefront next year. Also Mary of course,, I like Tom and hope they might find him a nice girl.
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I am quite enamoured of Tom, as well and all. I think he is such a decent chap, and he rises to the occasion so well and with such honesty. When you have seen the final episode of Season 4, you will admire him even more. He has a couple of scenes with Maggie Smith that are beyond priceless. I so want everything to go well for him.
The very last scene before the credits roll makes for a snapshot just too delicious to bear. You will LOVE it! I mean, how could ANYone not!
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Oh Good. Tom is such a solid person.. I know it wont happen, but Mary would be better off with a human being rather than the males they are matching her with.
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I think Mary should be left to remain Single. Not matter who she gets she will be one lady to put up with. She was a little demanding of her first husband. Has to be in full charge....Not many men in her so called class liked that.
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MaryPage, you say "But the baby has already been born when the last (episode 9 of Season 4) begins." I think that in the USA, they are combining episodes 8 and 9 tomorrow evening for the season finale. Originally in the UK, they ended the season with episode 8 and showed the next episode as a Christmas special in 2013. I'm glad that we don't have to wait until next season to know what you know!! ;)
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Marcie, on my set of DVDs of Season 4, Episode 9, the last episode of the season, is extra long, BUT it has nothing to do with Christmas. It may well have been the UKs Christmas Special, but all of it, every bit, takes place in the late spring or early summer of 1923 during THE SEASON, that is to say, during the time of the years debutantes being presented. Rose, as you expect, is one of them, so the Crawley family is all out to get her presented properly.
I loved this episode, and urge you not to miss a minute of it.
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Yes. the last episode each year seems to be extra long, so I assumed they do a special edition.. Ediths baby??was that who was born..
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Yes, almost (using my faulty memory here) at the very beginning of the 2 hour long episode 9, the very last episode of Season 4, there is a conversation in which it is made clear that Lady Edith has had her baby and that months and months have gone by and it is now, right now, that the London Season is opening with the Presentation to Their Majesties.
By the way, I think they did an Excellent job of showing the British attitude toward the Prince of Wales vis a vis the American. It is important, I think, for you to know going into this episode that here in America all the gossip about his many affairs, most of them with married women, was in our newspapers and on our radio. We even knew the names. The British knew none of this, as their papers kept the royal family out of the gossip items. So when Shirley MacLaine, the American mother of the Countess of Grantham, knows who is who, she is being quite accurately truthful, for that is the way it actually was. Oh My, I can remember listening on the radio to his abdication speech. Remember? "Without the help of the woman I love!" I expect we will watch the Crawley's listening to that in some future series of Downton Abbey.
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But here in the US last week. Edith was only 4 months pregnant if that because she had just the week before decided and gone to the Dr. office for a abortation.. You are loosing me. Does it move that fast.
Maybe I should go and pick Season 4 up as it is waiting for me to do that at the library. Then watch tonight and see how ours ends.
Here is will be showing 6:30pm to 8pm from last week and then starting No. 8 at 8Pm until 10PM. I am then thinking that will be it for us until next series starts. Maybe in September of this year. Never know.
Maybe tonight from 8pm to 10pm will be series 8 and series 9. That way I suppose she could have had a baby but there are other things going on that they will have to shoot way forward with also.
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In UK we never heard of the Prince of Wales having lots of Affairs. Did hear of the American women having many even when she had a husband. 2 with men in the Nazi Party. She and the Prince seem to have had many friends there. Think that is where she was suppose to have tagged on the the Prince. It was bound to know a lot about what the Nazi Party and Hitler were planning even years before the war started.
Only problem written about him at that time was soon after he got in he was wanting to spend lots of money on Wales. Lots of Building etc.
The problem besides that affair with Mrs. Simpson was that Politicians in at that time were against him in everything. Sort of like the Republicans and President here in America right now.
Never agreed on anything and so wanted him out. He really didn't want in anyway and wanting to Marry her just made it easy for him to get out. He liked the way is life was just over in Europe. Party and party. Was a weak man.. She led him around. I saw her just one time. Remember, she was not a pretty women at all.
Did a favour. We all really liked his brother who got to be king. Specially his wife. She was a big help to him. What a mess would have been had the POWales stayed. Specially when the 1939 War started. Would have let Hitler just taken over..... Gives me the creeps just thinking about it...
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I am still a week behind with Downton..But the party was splendid.. Daisys father in law is the smartest kindest man.She really needs to listen to him more. He wants to help her. Anna looks close to collapse. She is convinced that somehow Bates killed Green.. So is Lady Mary however. Hmm cant say I actually like any of Mary's beaus.. Possibly the one who came to help farms is the best of the lot. Looks as if Tom may have found a lovely funny girl for himself..I loved the episode and adored Lady Marys outfit for the rummage sale. The blue see through hat was gorgeous. I don't like hats, but that one was so perfect for her face.
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I envy the styles of those days. There is rarely any such thing as "pretty" anymore. I miss that.
In looking, for the second time, at last night's final episode for this season, I had the distinct feeling that bits and pieces were cut from the version on my DVD. Might be my imagination, and my memory is too short lived to be able to point out where, but I think it was cut. Probably to fit the time allotted.
But the styles are divine. If you liked the village bazaar held on the castle grounds, Steph, you will love the presentation and the ball in the last episode. The gowns are to swoon over.
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I didn't realize at the beginning of episode 9 that Edith had had the baby anthe DVD and will watch wondered why she kept referring to it as a girl. Thanks MaryPaige for letting me realize that. I have the DVD and will watch it again.
The cloths are wonderful.
I really am going to miss it until it comes on again.
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Yes, as I said before last night, there is a scene right at or very near the beginning of Episode 9 in which Lady Edith is having a little visit at her grandmother's home (the "Dower House" on the estate) and they speak of the baby girl, making it quite clear that since the last episode Lady Edith has been away off to Switzerland with her Aunt Rosamunde and had the baby, which was a girl, and left it with a family there, after Lady Edith staying long enough to wean the baby and get her figure back.
Episode 9 takes place in the summer, probably the early summer, of 1923. It makes you feel so in the moment that I had to take myself aside and remind myself that my dear departed husband was born in October 1923. In short, Lady Edith's baby was older than he, and he died in 2006 at age 82!
I thought this was a truly great episode. I would never have guessed this series would just get better and better. Wasn't Tony the true gentleman in owning up to the snobbish Lady Mary about Charles being well bred and to be titled and richer than he! And with the Lady Mary constantly talking to Charles, prior to finding out what his prospects are, about "our sort and your sort," I would think he would want no part of her. I wonder what that bit at the palace party was when Charles was standing next to Lady Dudley Ward and obviously knew her well and called her by her first name?
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Funny how some of us see things different. Human nature....
Re: Television Today
Now I thought last nights Downton Abbey. Was badly done. It was like they just didn't know how to write each thing in order to make sense from the previous week. Had to have jumped ahead almost a year on some thing ( like the baby being born. Her staying with it a few months ) something about it needing to adjust. Talking about a will and things being left to her by the man when never saying what happened. That would have had to take a few years after knowing he was dead.
I heard them mention Mr. Mosley. The big communist leader of that time. So that man of hers must have been a member of that party. Reason of going to live in Germany for a time.
Mary. Acting like a teenager liking 2 men fighting over her. And why as Shirley McClain even been in it along with that son. Added nothing. Shirley was like a person who had had a stroke . Looked 90 years old. Must have taken the part for very little money.
The thing with the Prince of Wales. What was that about? Actor a poor choice. Added nothing to the story. Had there been time they would have had him and rose having a affair. Ithink they got the stories of the Prince mixed up with the previous prince. The son of Queen Victoria.. He was the one had lots of young women and would drop in on parties uninvited. With girls on his arm.
I bought the first 3 but I don't want the rest. Started good but think the writers lost their way.bet the actors who left are not sorry.
They couldn't even come up with a good cliff hanger. That one was week...
I am sure the UK one has more to it.
They used 25 min. At the end of prev.week ? Started new one at 8pm. But only until 9:30 . Then both of last 30 min. Was pledging...doubt UK did that.
Lots will not be looking in suspense for the next part to arrive....
So all in all I was disappointed in the last two weeks of it.
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Oswald Mosley was not a Communist, he was a Fascist.
Lady Edith's lover was a man married to a woman who was so mentally ill (quite, quite mad) she was to be locked up for all the rest of her life. In GB at that time, you could not get a divorce for that reason. So he was going off to Germany to establish citizenship there and get a divorce so that he could marry Lady Edith. He told her she was to be in charge of his business while he was gone and would inherit. He did not know about the baby.
You can Google search Lady Dudley Ward and find out she was indeed a mistress of the Prince of Wales. You can even search Images and find a picture of her with him. She is, along with the entire royal family, one of the rare real figures of the time present in this story. I have read books about Edward VIII and they tell of many affairs, all seemingly with married women. Lots of photos of him with them at Fort Belvedere and other places.
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In UK one couldn't get a divorce way into the 70s. Was real hard. I got one here in the u.s but wasn't acknowledged in UK.. I still could not have a church wedding there. Now Civil wedding( like Prince Charles are done)
Whoops my battery down
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Mary Page.
Growing up we just thought it all as one. Fascist, Communist. Called them all the same. Use to go to the Mosley Marches on believe it was May 1st. Just for the heck of it. Marched like the Nazi party did. Doesn't Russia have the same day.
Then they came with Socialist. That was me then not knowing that much about it. Don't know if can vote Communist now. Think it all goes under teh Socialist. I never was or am now interesting in any voting.
I remember when applying for A Visa the US Embassy checked all that stuff out. Wanting to know what my Grandparents were. Parents. As if I knew.
Doubt they even bother with that anymore. People coming in from all over thinking all kinds of things. I am even more confused in the US Parties.. So never bother. Just like the one I agree with.
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Isn't Mosley the name of one of the servants? He seemed a sort of odd, weak person when first introduced but he's really shown strength and helped the new ladies maid break free of the hold of Thomas.
MaryPage, I too really enjoyed the last episodes. I thought it was a satisfying season finale.
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Marcie.
We got off the subject. The Mosley we are talking about was the leader of a Fascist movement in the UK. Lasted quite a few years. I don't know if he ever accomplished much for anyone. Acted like the Nazi party in a way. Fancy Boots, Uniforms. marching.
What is Communism and Fascism?
Communism is a system or a theory of social organizations where the holding of all property is common, with actual ownership ascribed to the community or state.
Fascism is a system where the government is led by a dictator. The dictator has complete authority and forcibly oppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism.
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May 1st was the USSR's Independence Day. It was something I used to have in common with them because it was the day my divorce became final. I doubt it is celebrated in Russia today since the USSR broke up.
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It could be that the Soviet does still celebrate May 1, since it was a bring out the big guns sort of day and I remember they have some sort of military parade in the spring. Mary is the type to love having men vie for her attention. Other than Matthew, she strikes me as not quite human. Pretty though.
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Don't you think Mary is a little bit to thin? Her facewould look better with some weight on.
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I would like the bBC to do a series another series on "Lillie Langtry" now she was interesting. Mistress of
King Edward V11. Now there was a playboy....but Lillie was his Match.
She always my favourite
These aristocrats really had their fun back then. No wonder that the blood of royals in Europe was tainted. Took years to get it clean. Seems to be doing o.k in the UK now.
Go into here to read.
Welcome to Lillie Langtry .Com...............
An educational tool and catalyst for Lillie Langtry enthusiasts and collectors of Lillie Langtry memorabilia. This website is dedicated to the life of Lillie Langtry and contains the most concise collection of photographs and information about her life and afair with the former King of England Edward VII.
Lillie Langtry (née Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, nicknamed the Jersey Lily) (13 October 1853 - 12 February 1929) was a British actress born on the island of Jersey in 1853. Her father was the Dean of Jersey.
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Lillie married Irish landowner Edward Langtry in 1874. Some say that the attraction to Edward was because of his yacht and that he insisted he take her away from Jersey and set up home in London. Lillie did not begin her stage career until several years later after her husband had become bankrupt. She also had a daughter who was born in 1881, Jeanne Marie Langtry (who married Sir Ian Malcolm of Poltalloch in 1902, had four children, and died in 1964), and whose father was definitely not Lillie's husband. The child's actual father was reportedly Lillie Langtry's lover Prince Louis of Battenberg (later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, 1854-1921), who married Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and the Rhine in 1884 and became father of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, and grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. A recent biography of Langtry suggests that another of her lovers, Arthur Jones, may have been Jeanne Marie's father, though Prince Louis's son, Lord Mountbatten, always maintained that his father was the one.
Lillie's heyday as a society beauty culminated in her becoming a semi-official mistress to the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria's son Albert Edward ("Bertie"), the future king Edward VII. Other lovers included wealthy Britons Robert Peel and George Baird. Among her friends were the Irish writer Oscar Wilde and the American artist James McNeill Whistler. She was for a time the manager of the Imperial Theatre and also manufactured claret at her 4,200 acre (17 km²) winery in Lake County (northern) California, which she purchased in 1888 and sold in 1906.
In 1887 Lillie became an American citizen, and divorced her husband the same year in California. In 1899, she married the much younger Hugo Gerald de Bathe, who would inherit a baronetcy, and became a leading owner in the horse-racing world, before retiring to Monte Carlo. She died there in 1929, and was buried in the graveyard of St. Saviour's Church in Jersey - the church of which her father had
An educational tool and catalyst for Lillie Langtry enthusiasts and collectors of Lillie Langtry memorabilia. This website is dedicated to the life of Lillie Langtry and contains the most concise collection of photographs and information about her life and afair with the former King of England t VII.
Lillie Langtry (née Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, nicknamed the Jersey Lily) (13 October 1853 -
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I loved reading about Lily and remember the pictures.Ah for the days of voluptuous women, a little meat on their bones.. and yes, Mary is too thin, but that seems to be a disease of all the younger ones on the show. Anna, Edith, Rosemund.. Not Cora, she looks all woman and is so very lovely.
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I doubt in that time very few women that thin. They could have had those women put a little weight on to make it more realistic.
Although I only weighed101 lbs up to age 42.thought I looked perfect. Only thing big was my bum....
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At 45, I weighed 110, then menopause set in and boom.. don't even want to discuss it.
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Same here. I was all of 103 when I graduated high school and was around 115 at 35. I started steadily gaining while going back to college and working at Rodale. Our small building hosted an all you can eat lunch for employees and guests (organic does not necessarily mean low cal) and where the kitchen was next to my office. The cook would be in early, so we sometimes got to taste test stuff, bagels every morning, the editors often made pizza with their latest hot pepper find, and every month someone had a birthday which required ice cream and cake.
I found an app for my Kindle that helps me keep track of calories much better than I could before, so I've been steadily decreasing my weight by between one half and one pound a month since the beginning of the year. My goal is to drop about 20 more pounds.
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Way to Go Frybabe - I dropped 20 pounds last year by refusing to buy and eat any more processed food - the only frozen I buy is veggies that are not treated with a sauce and the only canned I buy is Tomato sauce and chopped up tomatoes that are free of preservatives. Mom's brand does it on the sauce. - Cooking all my meals and often doing a pot of Chicken that lasts several days including slices from the breast for lunch -
This year I am doing away with Bread and substituting when I want a sandwich with what I call rusks - they are those thick crackers about 2 inches by 6 inches from a Swedish company - they come as fiber, or whole wheat, or sesame and a few other grains. However this year I am adding 10 minutes a day on the Nordic Track that i nearly sold and that I purchased without staying with it over 25 years ago. Anyhow, with just the 10 minutes on the Nordic Track and no bread, as well as cooking my own food this year hurrah, hurrah, I have already lost 8 pounds.
OH yes, no bread like deserts either but amazing I have such a sweet tooth and I do not miss the muffins and cookies - I do eat Chocolate and find the grapes to be great to nibble on during the day and when I am just 'needing' a real sweet I use my own homemade jam spread on one of those rusks - with a cup of tea or coffee very satisfying. My energy is back and it brought with it my cheerful view of my world.
I am convinced it is all the preservatives in the food that is making us fat and half the fat is hard to get rid of because the food helps us collect water that by eliminating the chemicals the water does start to drain away without any water pills. Water leads to headaches and for me depression and so I finally hit on a system that I do not feel is a heavy weight on my will power and I did it step by step over in over a year so that for now at least I cannot not see going back. Plus I have all these ways to cook a really nice meal in less than 10 minutes.
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The one Dr. saying that I was anemic did it to me. He giving me the B12 shots twice a week. I am around 135 now. I feel fine at it. Would not be able to diet in order to take any off. In summer it goes down about 5 lbs.
I just could not give up bread, potatoes, few cookies. Milky way once in awhile.Never eat after 6pm. Don't care to eat out that much. Love cooking so always my own food no frozen. At my age would rather keep a little on. Helps if you come down sick with flu type things. Sort of like my big bottom also. Need it for wear jeans.
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Sounds wonderful Barb, I have lost about 8 pounds since January 1, but have stayed stuck for the past few weeks. I really truly dislike cooking for one.Wish I didn't, but there it is, My problem is that I loathe leftovers.. I freeze them, but that just really fills up the freezer and I can always find a really good reason not to heat them up. Sigh.. Oh well.
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Steph and idea - why not find a friend who is into healthy eating and one evening a week swap going to each other's house to cook and share an evening meal - that way you are cooking for two and enjoying some company - if it does not work out you can always use the summer heat has started and you have to prepare for your summer in NC.
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I picked up the season4 of Downton Abbey and watched the last hour of it last night. I had watched the show on Sunday. Thought maybe this copy of the UK one had a little more on it. It doesn't.
All the way through it when they mentioned leaving they still kept saying (THEY were going up to LONDON) should be going down. They seem to forget they are in Yorkshire North U.k. They are filming it in the Southwest. So from there it would be more up. Drives me crazy.
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Jeanne, it grates on my ear when people in OKC say they're going "up to Dallas".
IMO, we go down to Dallas, up to Wichita, over to Little Rock and out to Amarillo. Don't know where I got these ideas - but....there it is. :)
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We do a lot of 'out to' out to Lubbock - out to Dallas - even out to Round Rock which is only 25 minutes north of us - the only one we 'over to' is Houston and Bastrop - we run down to San Antonio - the rest of them if it is within a 4 or 5 hour drive we run out to but if it is longer than we simply drive out to. And so 'run to' seems to have a distance meaning.
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Barb, we have a lot more country to drive/run "out to", "over to", etc. than a lot of folks do! :D
When we lived in Colorado and were going to visit family in Amarillo, someone asked if we were going to see some pro game in Houston "while we were in Texas". They were astounded when we told them it's 750 miles from Amarillo to Houston.
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My family would come over from England and say could we go to Disney world this weekend. Or different far away places. Thought the girls could just come or we could go see them any time looking for things to do . Not realizing all over thousand miles from Illinois.
After a few times coming and us taking a month around the country, they finely realized the country was big. Not like UK that can be covered in a few hours.
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One more distance story when we lived in Colorado and then I'll hush.
My husband was on Sabbatical to do graduate work at a college just east of Kansas City and there was another family there from Pennsylvania. She asked if we were going home over a long weekend break in classes. When I said "No" because it would take a day and a half to go and the same to return, she exclaimed, 'But you only have to drive across Kansas!"
Lengthwise across Kansas and halfway across Colorado just about equaled the seven states they had crossed from their home.
Umm.....what PBS Classic were we talking about? :D
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Tomorrow night is the last episode of this years Downton.. Sigh..
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See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
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Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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Steph, on our local PBS we've already seen the last episode of Downton. The next PBS Masterpiece isn't scheduled until March 30. It's the second season of SELFRIDGE (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/).
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Our PBS station has started its two-week fund-raiser. There are a few new programs - but most are the same old same old. <sigh>
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I've been watching reruns of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries on another PBS channel which had not bought and shown them previously, and am enjoying them just as much as I did on the first go round. She is SUCH a delightful actress, and I love every actor and actress in these stories.
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Steph. Yes, I believe you mist the last week for Downton Abbey. On pbs. Unless your station recorded it.
I didn't care for Selfridges and so will give it a miss.
PBS . A fund raiser again. Not long since had a 2 week one and never stop having a daily one here.
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MaryPage, on your recommendation I've gotten a couple DVDs of Miss Fisher from our library. I'm enjoying them very much. LOL, she has a new guy in every episode.
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Our PBS shows last week between 8 and 9, as an enchore, So that is what I meant. I generally watch it then.
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I swear that one spells words right on these IPads but on reading later they come up different. My last one I wrote Missed and it liked Mist better.
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My Kindle does the same think, JeanneP. It thinks it knows what word I want better than I do.
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Marcie, aren't the clothes and hairdos heavenly!
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Boo. we had some sort of exercise program, last night on PBS,,What in the heavens name is happening to the station, so I have missed the last episode and will need to look it up on line and watch it on my IPAD.. Darn..
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Steph you can watch it online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/
If you have cable you could watch it "on demand" on your TV.
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Thanks Marcie,, now to figure out a time to actually sit down and enjoy. I seem to be involved in way too many meetings. Hmm. I may have overdone the " figure out what happens in Kings Ridge" syndrome.
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Are we on Season 4 or Season 5 now? I only found season 4 on the linked site.
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ursamajor, we just finished season 4 of Downton.
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and in England, they are doing season 5??
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Before we get away from Downton Abbey, I wanted to strongly agree with Mary Page about the costuming for the series but I also want to mention something that we noticed about all the shows taking place in a different time of our history but most for now in Downton. Its all the different modes of transportation that are shown to us as they begin to appear. That's so incredible! We've gone from mostly horses and buggies to cars in such a short time.
We were watching Season One over of the show and really began to see things change. I love these people and feel honored to watch them grow as the world was growing. Amazing that the production seems to have no trouble with finding the proper cars for certain years. And the kitchen which is now getting to see a mixer, a typewriter, a telephone etc etc. Remember when Carson was practicing answering the phone?? A riot to see!
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I guess our grandkids would scratch their head and laugh aloud seeing pictures of us watching the Test patterns when we first got a TV in our homes or even watching the test pattern on TVs in store windows that we would all stand in front of. I still do not tweet much less half the stuff the new phones allow. Amazing in one life time the changes that seem to start in earnest by early 1800s.
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Yes, and it is exciting (and a little scarey) to imagine what the next 10 years of our lives might bring.
Sally
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I am constantly going nutz over things being in stories and books set in my own early lifetime that should not be there. Things we did not say or do or have.
Doonesbury has been offering cartoons going back to 1970 in the newspaper this past week, and it starts with stating that colleges were putting roommates together based on their backgrounds with the assistance of computers.
There were universities who owned humongous computers that took up whole rooms and could not calculate as fast as my current PC, but they were using them for the math and science departments and for business and accounting, NOT for matching up people!
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Annie, it is true the costumes in Downton Abbey are to die for also, but I was referring to the clothes and accessories in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Phryne Fisher herself wears stuff I swoon over.
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My older son started college in 1979..Tufts and they did not use computers to match roommates, but they did use them for the room lottery every year. You went on line and got a random number.Then the computer would pick a start number and then you got to pick rooms based on that. Sort of fun.
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Midwives and Selfridge's came back on my PBS channels last night. Both most excellent.
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I watched Selfridge's last evening too. It was interesting to see the focus on women fighting/asserting themselves for rights/freedom.
Afterwards there was a 20 minute or so program about the actual Selfridge who seems to have died without any money in his 80s. He was kicked out of the store that he had started by the Board of Directors because of his personal spending habits from the store's money. He came back almost every day to stand in the street and look in the windows of the store. That was very sad. I hope that the series doesn't go into that.
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Hmmm....typed a post on my Tablet and it showed as entered. Now I'm on my pc and it's nowhere to be seen.
Sorry if this ends up being a repeat.
I just watched last week's episode of "Mr. Selfridge". I'd forgotten some of the characters and didn't recognize others. I think the change in the women's hair styles made a difference.
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Callie, Yes, I noticed the change in hairstyles too.
I find that I'm getting a bit confused between Mr. Selfridge and The Paradise which has so many similarities.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/paradise-s1/
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Yes I was looking forward to what happened next after who ever it was who runs after who ever was leaving the Department store and saw that must have been the Paradise - sure hope Selfridge stays faithful to his wife - the scene near the end where the went for a drink was not very re-assuring. Lady May's husband is a piece of work isn't he...
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Barbara, yes. Lady May's husband, Loxley, is awful. What do you think he is going to do with the list of leather manufacturers that Selfridge gave him?
I guess that there is a 'season 2' of THe Paradise but that will be it for the show. http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/paradise-bbc-axe-show-make-3138353
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my guess - he charges the government the higher price showing somehow invoices as if from the higher quality and price companies and actually gets the boots for the cheapest pocketing the difference. From what we learned viewing Downton I think he is one of the many who after WWI goes under when these marvelous country estates are taxed - he appears not to have a good handle on making money but then Lady May is tucking aside her saving grace in the form of jewels.
I wonder what Hanri has up his sleeve as the reason he cannot stay at Selfridges - whatever I wonder if his plan will be affected by the war. When Rose first found him with his beard I thought for a minute it was her painter down on his heals - I notice Harry has a new painting of Rose in his office - a lighter more summery look.
And my oh my Miss Mardle has it made - now what?
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Barbara, yes, I think that Loxley has some kind of kickback scheme in mind and I too thought that it was the painter that Rose found. I don't know why she would have been looking for Henri.
Miss Mardle was dumped by Mr. Grove and he's really regretting it now!!
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Really enjoyed "Mr Selfridge" on Sunday night. It was good to see familiar faces. And, of course, now we know that Rose has always known that her husband was a skirt chaser, even after she returned from Chicago. His ego knows no bounds!
As to Midwives, I just can't watch another woman being delivered of a child. I do appreciate what the story is telling us about women in that time and the actors are very good at presenting a picture of midwives. We DVR watch the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock when Midwives comes on.
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A new series started on Sunday night in the UK - The Crimson Field. It's about VAD nurses in WWI in France. Hermione Norris is the matron of the field hospital at which three new recruits have just arrived. Daughters and I enjoyed the first episode - of course it's full of cliches and every character has a 'secret', but it's perfect Sunday evening viewing - Anna calls it 'Call the Midwife in Wartime' :-)
I imagine it will come to PBS in due course.
Rosemary
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I am in love with Call the Midwife.. No idea except it shows England at a particular time and I love the bikes and thefierce independence of the women.
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I love "Call the Midwife", also. All the characters are soooo good. The acting is excellent and I love the story line.
Sally
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Rosemary, thanks for the advance notice about The Crimson Field. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
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I think I will try Netflix for the earlier Call the Midwife,I would love the background.
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Sounds like a good idea, Steph. My public library has the dvds for season 1 and 2 available. I didn't see much of those episodes either.
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I believe Call The Midwife takes place starting just after World War II and going into the nineteen fifties. East End London. True background, Jenny the narrator having written a book when she was much, much older. Church of England nuns, not Roman Catholic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_the_Midwife
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Worth
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yes, Idid get that they were not roman catholic nuns, but C of E. The fancy caps brought back memories. My mother was a nurse and I know how much she and friends loved their different caps. Now of course, no one ever wears them .
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There we go again, Steph! Both my mothers: my mother and my mama (my stepmother) were nurses.
One of my 5 daughters is a nurse.
Two of my 13 granddaughters are nurses.
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;D
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See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Now Discussing
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
COMING
This summer (June 15 - September 7) look forward to new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
ALREADY DISCUSSED
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Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
MaryPage, we have some sort of secret connection.. My Mother was adopted, so possibly through North Carolina, there is an invisible bond.
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Loved the girl who played the pregnant inmate..Beautiful creature.
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Yes, I thought so as well.
My mother was not adopted, but she wound up as a foster child. She was the oldest of 3 little girls when her mother, a grandmother I never knew, died when she was 10. Their dad was unable to take care of them, so they were placed with families in the same town. Not the town, nor even the state, they lived in, but the same town in a nearby state. The two younger girls went to the same family, just a block from where my mother went. The younger one was adopted by that family and took their name. That always pained the older of those two. My mother stayed with her family as an only child, but was never adopted. She went to the Army School of Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital, and thus got her education for free.
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Foster children.. the farm next to where my parents lived took in fosters. a boy and girl until they graduated from high school.. They would keep them even if they aged out to let them graduate.
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After tonight this is what I think - Henri will turn out to have been helping Jewish families get out of Germany and he may even be Jewish - it looks like Agnus still loves Henri - I wonder if she and Victor will last and what of her brother, will he stay alive - hope Harry doesn't loose Rose again but Delphine Day has a plan that includes hurting Rose - and it appears young Mr. Selfridge, Gordon has a crush on a salesgirl I think she is Miss Bunting but I get them confused - and dear Miss Mardle I think she is leaving herself open for another heart ache - her young Belgium will turn out to either be married or have a girl back home. Cannot figure out what happens to Loxley but they sure created a smarmy villain that we can easily curl our lip up at him when he appears.
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Oh I did love last nights Call the Midwife. It looked as if the young adults with various limitations were quite reall and it was so impressive. Did even doctors think that it was hereditary?
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Barbara, we've all been wondering what Henri was doing in Germany. That's an interesting guess.
Yes, Loxley is a smarmy villain. Good adjective! It's he who pushes Selfridge to accept the "intelligence" job in Germany by telling Selfridge that he has lined his own pockets with the store and not done anything for England. What's up with Delphine? What happened between her and Rose?
Steph, I thought that CALL THE MIDWIFE was very good too. It seemed that the doctor had never seen a case of a pregnant woman with Downs Syndrome. He didn't know if she could give birth normally and did venture that the condition was hereditary. Since marriage seemed out of the question in those days and pregnancy out of "wedlock" was a terrible stigma for anyone, with or without a disability, it seems that most doctors would not have had experience or knowledge in this area.
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I thought Midwives was very well done and so different from the previous shows, and then our PBS station ran a very interesting presentation about the history of Sr Angelena.
I am really impressed with the historical fiction we are watching on PBS recently with The Midwives, of the '50s' , Selffrige of the WWI era, and Bletchley Circle offering us women who served in WWII as code breakers and, of last night, are looking into the trafficking of young girls from Balken countries whose parents paid to have them placed in nonexistent jobs. This is happening right after the war ends. So, we are learning about the thriving Black Markets
in many European countries happening because of shortages of desired luxuries that are not available. three shows that are historical fiction on Sunday nights. I am truly loving it!
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I'm also loving the Sunday night shows on PBS!
"Call The Midwife" was especially good last night - not only with the Downs Syndrome characters but also with the young man who has....muscular dystrophy? cerebral palsy? Both he and the young woman who played his girlfriend were very good actors.
I sometimes have to remind myself that the show is set in a time when little was known about a lot of medical conditions we now think of quite differently.
Years ago, a local woman, whose child had Downs Syndrome, started The Meadows Center for Opportunity to train/hire challenged people for jobs and assist them in living independently.
One of the Center's businesses shreds papers and other data "trash" for both businesses and individuals. Another one hires workers to sort/count/package small items that are sold in quantity.
It's not uncommon to see someone with Downs Syndrome as a restaurant greeter or a grocery store stocker.
I recorded "Mr. Selfridge" and only saw the "teaser" for last night's episode. Hadn't thought about Henri being part of the French underground - quite possible! I suspect that, if someone else doesn't "take care" of Lord Loxley, Lady Loxley will!!!!
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This is a good web site that has lots of links showing where and when shows will be showing in the US?
Thebritishtvplace.com (http://www.Thebritishtvplace.com)
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Call the Midwife was a little different last night and very good. Some scenes had to have been taken in a home of people with disabilities such as Downs . And CP. I had both experiences in the UK with both. This was in the 1930s to 1950s there were those homes back then. We have 2very good ones here in my town in Illinois. One for ages to 15 and the other for life time. Have the daughter of a friend still there at age 59. Parents now past. They do say that many more children being born with Downs. They can now test for it in early stages of
Preg. And abort. A family decides.it seems that it can be passed as on TV it was showing 3children in one family. So much Med. Science does not know.
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Callie and JeanneP, Did you notice when one of Sr Angelina's friends, a young mother, was talking to her, that she held a baby with Down's? So glad someone identified what was wrong with Jacob, the father of ?????? baby. Did everyone get that little short presentation about Sr Angelina who wrote the original book about the midwives? That she had served in WWI and WWII? She was celebrating her jubilee anniversary of taking her vows, so that would be her 50th?? Is that right?
Callie,
Yes, I think Lord Loxley has caught on to Lady Loxley's inviting the singer to the celebration. And, I hope she does him in! I thought she was the one with the money when they married but after last nights entertainment, I think he had the money. What a !!!!!! he is!
We are getting Bletchley Circle after Selfridge; is anyone else? I guess I can look into that link that Jeriron left here for us.
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Thanks for that link, Jeriron. There is some not so good news (for me) at that site.
It says, "The Bletchley Circle,which, despite garnering nearly 5 million weekly viewers in the UK, was axed by ITV. Fans of the mystery drama about former World War II code-breakers are not happy about the cancellation, and have taken to social media to get the show back for a third series. Whether the effort results in Amazon or another company bringing the show back for a third series, as happened with Ripper Street, remains to be seen."
I hope some company picks up this show. I think it's been great.
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Ripper Street was one of our new programs here in the US that we really liked. But when it came back, the shows seemed to be much more violent than they had been so we quit watching it.
The Bletchley Circle shown last night seemed to have changed 'key' from the earlier ones. I do like the show but its almost as though it has a different writer. A different something. Its probably me, not them.
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Now I could be wrong but I thought the Jubilee celebration tied into one we always had for the Royals. Seems like we had one for Queen Elizabeth as she would have then been on the Throne as wasn't it 1952 last night. I am not sure.
I have some tin biscuit boxes and teapot that says Queen Jubilee with certain dates on.Most going back to King George and Mary. Seemed like they held a Jubilee every 5 or ten years. Don't think it was for the Nun.
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Full coverage of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking 60 years of her reign; latest news, pictures and video from royal events in 2012, the ...
Now Elizabeth was crowned in 1952.
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I thank my lucky stars for PBS every Sunday night. Lots of good stuff during the week, as well, such as Phryne Fisher and DCI Banks and George Gently. Barbara, I hope, hope, hope you are right about Henri. I, too, am convinced he is a good man. But I hope the money was going towards something like saving Jews. However, this WAS World War One, and it was the Nazis in World War Two who murdered anyone with Jewish bloodlines.
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OH yes, I forgot - well what ever it is I do not think he is supporting Germany and I do not think he is in the black market - the rush to turn in anyone who has an interest in Germany reminds me of the early days of WWII and I guess we still do it since after 9-11 every Muslim in this country especially with middle eastern heritage was thought to be a terrorist.
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I am glad that others enjoy Call the Midwife with the Downs. I have a cousin whose daughter taught Home Ec to Downs and managed to convince a county that they could run the cafeteria at the county building. They did all sorts of jobs for years and then some stupid politician decided that they should put the cafeteria up for bids and some company who does not hire any of them is doing it.Very sad and stupid.
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Midwife's treatment of Downs, etc, was outstanding! Instead of magnifying the differences between Downs and non-Downs, we saw slices of their lives which could resonate with most viewers. It was easy to feel their joy at the dance, their delight at choosing lovely clothes, and the intensity of their attachment to one another. This may have been mentioned before: has anyone read the book?
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For those who don't get the email, here is the summer Masterpiece Mystery program:
http://www.kcpt.org/announcements/masterpiece-2014-summer-schedule/
I can't find it posted on the PBS site, but got an email with this listing. After trashing the post, I really had to hunt for the schedule. Found it on KCPT.
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What is the title of the book?
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Thanks for the schedule, Frybabe. Here's the same one on the main site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/news/masterpiece-2014-summer-schedule/
Call the Midwife book info from wikipedia:
Call the Midwife, later called Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s, is a memoir by Jennifer Worth, and the first in a trilogy of books describing her work as a district nurse and midwife in the East End of London during the 1950s. Worth wrote the book after retiring from a subsequent career as a musician, and it was originally published in 2002.[1] Reissued in 2007, it became a bestseller, as did the sequel Shadows of the Workhouse (2005, reissued 2008) and the final volume Farewell to the East End (2009). By the time of Jennifer Worth’s death in June 2011, her books had already sold almost a million copies.[2] In 2012, the popular BBC adaption of the trilogy boosted sales further, and all four of the author's books about the East End (the "Midwife trilogy" and In the Midst of Life (2010) went back into the charts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_the_Midwife_%28book%29
Good to see you, mrssherlock!
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Mrs. Sherlock, long time, no post... I am now going to look for the trilogy for Call the Midwife, since I love the series.
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Sherlock, long time away for you. Welcome back!
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Whew... none of the used book sites have any of the three books.. It has been reissued in many forms, but I find no one that has a reasonable price.. Sigh.
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No library copies either, Steph?
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Gosh Steph, such a shame that you don't live here - I've just been into The Works (a discount book shop) and seen those books in the '3 for £5' section! Maybe you can pick them up when you are on your trip?
Rosemary
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I can get the first book as an eBook from my library, but of course, I can't keep it like you can if you are getting it from somewhere on the net. And they have all three books.
The books themselves are pretty popular right now but they own quite a few copies of each one.
If Rosemary can get them in Scotland for such a reasonable price, maybe you should inquire on the Amazon site for GB. They might have outside sellers of used books at better prices and you could order and have them shipped to your hotel. I did that for something that I needed at the Leo House in NYC when I arrived. I ordered it from the Manhattan Home Depot and there it was, at the front desk.
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None of the "call the Midwife" books are in LP here. Also they are in Soft back. I got them but sent them back to the Library. Just waiting now to see if they are out anywhere in LP. If not then I will read the small print.
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Here's the Amazon UK site:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=call+the+midwife&sprefix=Call+%2Cstripbooks%2C446
They have just about any copy you might want and if they have used, even better.
But, the exchange rate is not good and these cost us just as much in England as they do at home.
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I've just looked at The Works online site - they do not appear to have the '3 for £5' offer, but they do have the first two books for £1.99 each, plus (I think) a further 30% off this weekend if you put their code in:
http://www.theworks.co.uk/search/midwife
Would you be able to order them from this site and get them delivered to your hotel? Or does the exchange rate (about which I know nothing) make them much more expensive for you?
Hope it helps,
Rosemary
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I will hit a few used book stores in London. Somewhere I have a list of good ones.. Paperback would be easier since I have to worry about weight.
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When I was in Scotland and England I hit every used book store along my way, and they were simply wonderful about mailing the books I bought back to my home in the States. Addicted to books as I am, I had a ball doing this. Every single book, and there were at least 40, all told, arrived safely as promised. The booksellers in the UK are great human beings!
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Thanks for the advice.. I prefer mailing if they will.
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Oh joy, kinda. The new fall schedule is out, but it does not include a Wallander. I do so much want to see what they did with The White Lioness. However, new Miss Marple, new Lewis, and Bill Nighy is back with a spy series.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/news/masterpiece-announces-fall-2014-schedule/?elq=01fcd499949e4055b7cfa4d45d140841&elqCampaignId=913
Overall, I am very pleased with the choices for this summer and fall.
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I'm also very pleased with the summer and fall schedules on Masterpiece. For some reason I just haven't enjoyed either Selfridges or the new Sherlock.
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I agree, Jean. I haven't watched any of the Selfridge, skipped the last season of Downton Abbey, and while the new Sherlock was okay, I can't say that I really enjoyed it near as much as before. The only one of the listings for this summer and fall that is ifsy for me is Death at Pemberton. I am not a big fan of fan fiction, which I guess is what you might characterize that one as.
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Oh Call the Midwife was outstanding. I had forgotten that in the 50's shock therapy was popular and even worked to some extent. So I was riveted to the story.. I still don't quite understand the sub plot of a nurse or a midwife.. What was Jenny trying to do? work in hospitals??
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I must have missed an episode of Midwives. I didn't know why Jenny had been away grieving. I'll look to see if I can find what I missed. It seems that at the beginning of this episode she wanted to go back to work but not in the familiar setting that had too many memories for her. So she did go to work in a London hospital. Too much "efficiency" there for her at the expense of personal contact with the patients.
The shock therapy scenes were done "tastefully," I think, but still scary.
It seems that the treatment still exists. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy
"ECT is considered one of the least harmful treatment options available for severely depressed pregnant women"
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I thought Selfridge was good last evening with a good explanation for Henri's behaviour.
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See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
Now Discussing
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
COMING
This summer (June 15 - September 7) look forward to new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
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Watch Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
I didn't understand the reference to a "bleeding heart" either. Let me know if you find an answer. BTW I found an interesting novel about a midwife in Appalachia. The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman is based on the author's experience in midwifery, a lay midwife like Patience Murphy. The 30's provide a background of much depth with plot elements such as the Depression, Prohibition, Ku Klux Klan, coal miners' labor woes, etc. I can hardly put this one down.
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In addition to being part of Jenny's grief-healing process, I thought her time in the hospital was a good way to show the viewing audience another side of midwifery at that time.
Good Episode!!
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Yes, Selfridges improves with each episode - have any of you gone on the PBS site for Selfridges - it includes a quiz that tells you which character you are most like - fun.
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Jennies boyfriend died from a fall.. That is why she went away.. I do remember shock therapy.Actually one of the Kennedy daughters had it. Sometimes it worked, but a lot of time, no.. Still is was accepted treatment for a long long time.
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Yes, that's right. I was going to post it, and then you did.
Jenny's beau died, and she mourned something fierce. So they packed her off to a nunnery for a retreat, and Sister Monica Joan recited Leigh Hunt's "Jenny Kissed Me," which has been one of my all time favorite poems since I was a child.
Then she came back, but felt she had to go to London to try something different. Then she decided that was not the place for her!
I have watched and enjoyed every single episode of Mr. Selfridge, as well.
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I think I want to start the Selfridge from beginning, so may do it this summer on Netflix.
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Thanks Steph and MaryPage for the info about Jenny's boyfriend.
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Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
James Henry Leigh Hunt
Sister Monica Joan cried like a mother seeing her son off to war or jail as she recited this to Jenny as she was leaving.
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I, too, have loved Jenny Kissed Me since first reading it.
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Steph.
The Kennedy girl. they did more than Shock Therapy. It was a operation they did. I think the name is something like Lobotomy. Don't think this is allowed anymore.
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Back to Midwife: I've scored Jennifer Worthy's first book. Call the Midwife: a memoir of birth, joy and hard times.` Much richer than a mere chronology she regards the East End as an anthropologist might. Her descriptions of labor and delivery are very graphic; I had no idea what was going on down there when my children were born.
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I am hoping to maybe find the trilogy in London.. It is hard to find here. I too always love Jenny Kissed me and wanted to be Jenny when I was young.
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Worth's book's fascinating, can hardly put it down. Descriptions of East End London in the 1950's could also be 1850's so little seems to have changed. Books two and three are on my reserve list. Jennifer Worth was born in the same year I was!
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Appears to me that both the Midwife and Selfridges is coming to an end - will they really continue the story of Harry Selfridge for 8 episodes of his dark and out of control days - each season seems to include 8 episodes. - of course it could be a setup after he says everything was done with Rose in mind and when she dies he has no muse or moral compass to focus the direction of the store and so easy seeing why he gambles and womanizes it away but I am not looking forward to seeing that tale played on the screen. the ads show some good ones coming up but our schedule only shows the summer fund drive and repeats of Sherlock - Father Brown is the only one with new shows and with so much repeat and dull I hope I do not miss that series -
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Last night was the final episode of Call the Midwife and it acted as if the end of the show.. I loved it. Cried when the Momma died, laughed at the joy of the doctor and wife. All in all a wonderful ending..
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After the interview with the cast it said watch season 4 next year .
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Yes it did! Steph, it will start again next spring! Or so they have promised.
I was very pleased with how Call The Midwife ended this season.
And very, very pleased with how Mr. Selfridge ended. I understand that was, indeed, the end. I do love my writers to tidy everything up and make life come out seeming worthwhile!
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It's interesting. I thought that the endings of both Mr. Selfridge and Call the Midwife were series finales (not just for the season). They seemed to me to be wrapping things up for most of the characters. I guess I was wrong.
I just read that "A third Christmas special will be broadcast in December 2014. The day after the final episode of series 3 was broadcast [in the UK], it was announced that although Jessica Raine will not return as Jenny Lee, Vanessa Redgrave will narrate the Christmas Special (and will narrate all future series) as "mature" Jenny. On 28 February 2014, BBC confirmed that Call the Midwife had been commissioned for a fourth series, set to air in early 2015."
On February 21, 2014 It was announced that a third series of Mr. Selfridge was commissioned to begin production in April 2014.
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My t v guide said "Season Finale" for both series. It reads "Series Finale" when there will be no more episodes filmed or shown.
The guide has not had a "dot" by Father Brown episodes for several weeks so I thought it was in re-runs.
Last night's episode of "Doc Martin" was the first one in Season 6, the most recent one to be filmed. On the OKC PBS station, there is a repeat on Thursday nights at 9:00 p.m. CDT.
As I understand it, a new season is only made every other year and there are usually 8 episodes.
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Iam so glad, I do love Call the Midwife.. It has a realism that our tv shows only do for murder and mayhem.. English actors have a basic underplaying that I love.
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Callie, have they been using a dot out there where you live to show that an episode is a new one being shown for the first time on that particular channel?
Here, they have always used an N. For new. Always. You could absolutely count upon it.
But I have noticed just recently that they seem to either have stopped doing this, or missed doing it with some shows. Frankly, it has been driving me crazy.
My son Chip always replies: "That's a short drive, Mother!"
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MaryPage, Yes, the TV guide in the newspaper has a dot - on all channels. The guide on my TV says "New". If a movie is being shown for the first time on any channel, the newspaper guide will say "Premiere".
LOL at your son's comment. Mine usually look at each other and ask, "Time to call The Home?"
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Where is downton abbey?
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I was very satisfied with the season's finale of both Call the Midwife and Selfridge. My PBS guide says a new Last Tango starts in June. I am looking forward to it. I think we have a new Doc Martin this Sunday.
Sally
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Pioneers of Television's treatment of 'Late Night' had me laughing out loud. Steve Allen,what wouldn't I give to have his genius on TV today. Much of today's humor and its actors are targeted to a younger audience; our generation has passed its prime, we've become the old fogeys who talk too often about good it was way back when. PBS' series on Vs pioneers is a lovely walk down Nostalgia Lane.
Its hard to get back in the mood for Doc Martin. I was glued to the set for the first years but it no longer charms me. Selfridge and the Midwife are gritty, more realistic. Martin seems shallow and silly. Don't you hate it when you outgrow shows?
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I do! I do!
But I have to tell you that after dragging for several seasons, Season 6 of Doc Martin is the very best. Not entirely the way I would have written it for the way I want things to go, but still and all, it is a great set of episodes. I bought the set of DVDs for the 6th season by pre-order and have already seen them all.
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I don't think I have Doc Martin on my pbs channel. At least I keep looking. Will it be on Sunday in place of Call the Midwife??
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Doc Martin is shown here on Sunday night at 11:00 p.m. (CDT). There's a repeat at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday night. Our PBS station has been showing the entire series. Season 6 began last Sunday night.
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I'll give Doc Martin a few showings to see if it will grab me. Missed the Jeremy Piven Live six am is early.
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Yes, please do give it a few episodes. Doc Martin has a form of Asperger's (am I right, MaryPage?) and takes a bit of getting used to. He always solves the medical problems brought to him - but has absolutely no "bedside manner".
Part of the humor is in his blunt reaction to the residents of "Port Wenn" (some of which is deserved, IMO) and their ignoring his brusque ways.
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CALLIE, I think he has something on the autism spectrum, and most probably Asperger's syndrome. Once, in one of the episodes fairly early on, a neighbor who was also, as I recall, supposed to be a professor of psychology or something like, actually accused him of having Asperger's. In the show. So I thought my guess as to what the writers were trying to portray him as was right. But I have read bits and pieces here and there arguing the point, so I don't try to be pushy about it. Bottom line, I just don't know what they are meaning to say.
I see a doctor in whose hands I would gladly and instantly put my own life or that of any of those I love. A man who is thoroughly disliked, but deeply loved and trusted. And who is totally at sea as to why people misperceive his intentions.
Here in the Baltimore/Washington DC megalopolis we have THREE (3) PBS channels! They all 3 show Doc Martin every week, and at differing times on different days. They do a lot of repeats. Doc Martin is extremely popular in this area. We like that tongue in cheek sort of humor.
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I see a doctor in whose hands I would gladly and instantly put my own life or that of any of those I love. A man who is thoroughly disliked, but deeply loved and trusted. And who is totally at sea as to why people misperceive his intentions
Very well put, MaryPage...and very true.
As you probably saw in the first episode of Season Six, he is very protective of Louisa - now that she is his wife.
I also saw compassion in the way he handled Mrs. Tishell in the last episode of Season Five. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing her in this week's episode. Does she return for Season Six?
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My take on the Doctor is - he was unloved and an ignored little boy so that for self-protection he became disengaged from people and turned to something he could control - his achieving through the application of his education - because of his years of detachment he has no clue how to show or speak to someone in a loving caring manner - he is polite and reserved as taught to a British schoolboy sent away to school. I think his heart was broken so many years ago he buried the pain behind his stoic responsible solution to life. I think he is basically a kind man with again, no clue how to express his feelings to the point he probably buried his feelings as a boy when he realized he was not loved. I think feelings he never owned are stirring with the birth of his child that he is struggling with his own identity.
For Louisa his responsible nature is a lighthouse for her having grown up with an irresponsible father who she learned she could not trust or respect however, I think she is baffled over the Doc's inability to tell her in small ways he loves her or their baby - he has no people skills and I bet she thought she could love that part of him away. I do not think she fully comprehends what Martin's mother did to him when he was a boy.
Most of the cast act out in character some sort of dysfunction but done in a way that makes it all seem normal which in truth is close to reality for most of us.
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I have been trying to find him locally, but no luck..When I get back, I will be going to North Carolina,, their PBS is not easy to get. Where I live there is closer to Georgia and South Carolina than anywhere.
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Two more things about the show Doc Martin:
The setting is beyond divine. And it is a REAL place. The real name is Port Isaac, Cornwall, and the Doc Martin bunch own the town for about half the year now, while filming.
The acting is superb; none better.
Yes, CALLIE, Mrs. Tishell comes home.
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Well, you all have gone over the guard rail of my boat! We are just now hearing from Doc Martin telling her he loves her. No wedding or baby has been revealed yet. Thanks a lot, folks!! ::) ::) ::) Hahaha!
I am in complete agreement with Mary Page and BarbStAubrey concerning the Doc's handling of patients and citizens of the area, but we didn't not hear about his next door neighbor asking him or accusing him of having Asburger's. So, let's see ::) ::) Should we watch on Sunday or not! But of course, we will, because are enamored of/by this wonderful presentation.
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Annie, I am really sorry to have spoiled it for you. Doc Martin has been on here for years and years and years, and is doing repeats over and over again. I forget that some people are watching for the first time.
Well, here's hoping you enjoy to the fullest ANYway!
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Last Tango in Halifax is new to me; it's quirky as so many British programs are. I'm always surprised by the offbeat plot twist and turns. Love watching Ann Reid again. She has become a favorite of mine since Ladies of Letters.She has been memorable in other favorites of mine: Midsomer Murders and New Tricks. Reading her bio in Wikipedia I see many others I will seek out.
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MaryPage,
You didn't ruin it for us! We love the program so much that we will watch Thursday's program over tonight. At least for the first 20 minutes, since we missed that much on Thursday night. Then we will watch another one tomorrow night.
Let me tell you that tonight we will be seeing program about Louisa's father coming to town and his ADD friend kidnapping the Doc, Louisa, Mrs. Tinsea?? and Martin's aunt. In this part of the story, the Add friend decides to let them go to save the baker who has fallen off the rocks that, the guy, who owned the shotgun that was involved in Martin's aunt being shot, is having an upset because the injured man has been nest robbing on the cliffs. The shotgun owner thinks that he owns those cliffs and doesn't want the nests disturbed 'Member that one??? So what we are watching is series six? and if not, which series is it?
One thing I do know, is I now watch the Doc for signs of Asburger's(not sure of that diagnosis) of how cold he seems at odd times and how long it took him to tell Louisa that he loved her. I even read over Barb's post about Martin and see that the way he was treated as a child is what makes him cold(maybe suspicious) of the people around him.
Asberger's doesn't come to mind at all. I have a teen aged great nephew who has that problem. But, of course, he was born the way he is and he is just a delightful young man. Much credit goes to wonderful parents who are also raising 4 other children in that household. Isaiah is the their youngest.
Jackie,I also love Midsomer Murders but haven't seen Ladies of Letters or New Tricks. I will be looking at my library for the DVD's or on Netflix for those titles. I thought that Last Tango in Halifax was over. Are you just now watching it? I'm pretty sure we've seen the end of it. I liked it but it did seem to jump around a lot.
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Ann you have lots to enjoy - do not remember exactly what episode but you are still early in the story line.
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See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
This summer (June 15 - September 7) look forward to new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
ALREADY DISCUSSED
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
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Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Barb, So glad to hear that. We did watch again last night and laughed even harder at the going's on that the writers come up with. We have such poor sit-coms in the states anymore. Just silly dumb stuff. No cleverness or good writing. Thank goodness for BBC and PBS.
Today was high school graduation day for our oldest grandson here in Ohio. Last high school graduation we went to was in New York and 15 years ago. Our first grandson there. After this graduation which went well for the 559 graduates, our son, grandson and 3 siblings left for a 10 mile overnight hike in the Zaleski State Forest . Getting ready for the 7-day AT hike they have planned for June.
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no Doc Martin in Orlando, possibly when I get to Franklin, that PBS will have it or the BBC
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Am looking forward to this new mystery season on PBS. I enjoyed David Tennant in Broadchurch, but never saw his other series, Dr. Who (?).
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So, Steph? Have you seen any Doc Martin yet?
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Jean, yes, the new series, THE ESCAPE ARTIST with David Tennant, starts tonight. He plays star defense lawyer Will Burton. See a preview at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/previews/escape-artist-preview/
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Ohmigawd, I am SO in love with him, and completely missed seeing it listed. Will know to look next time, but I saw a rerun of an Endeavor episode. Somehow, I don't think Escape Artist was on my local PBS channel. Will check it out soonest!
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I watched the first 15 minutes and couldn't get into it.
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I thought it was good. A little different then the usual Masterpiece but there is rarely anything that I don't like on masterpiece that's comes from England. I'm looking forward to the new Endeavour that starts the end of the month.
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I watched the first 45 minutes or more of Escape Artist and got too anxious about the "perp" and what he might do. I thought the program was well done and liked the defense lawyer and his family but I couldn't watch the rest. Maybe I'll be braver this week and watch it on demand.
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I watched it all the way through but came close to changing the channel once or twice. David Tennant is good in that part and sure makes it all believable.
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I thought he was stiff - the actions were there as he protected his child but there was a sterile overtone - the only warm believable part for me was when the two boys were coming home together on the bus. Tennant seemed like an empty paper shell even before his wife is killed - he and the apartment are a match - so far not enjoying it.
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I checked, and although we have 3 PBS channels available to us, WETA & WHUT did not offer it at all, and MPT offered it only at four o'clock in the MORNING! Scheesch!
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MaryPage try the PBS web site they sometimes have the show on the web site and sometimes it is only available a week after it was shown on TV.
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I didn't like it at all. I agree with Barb and thought like she did that it was an empty shell of a piece with paper characters. Glad we didn't watch it all, now that I learn his wife was killed! How predictable. Is that all they could do to give it shock value. Makes me think of something I heard about the recent Cannes film festival--that the latest trend is for movies to torture animals. How low can we go I wonder. I guess having everyone sexually abused is becoming old hat. I don't mind violence ( but NOT to animals) when set in a context of real characters--eg the Sopranos or Wallendar (Swedish version) come immediately to mind, but they are both exceptional.
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I guess I'm the only one that thought it was good. I don't believe a lawyer who "wins every case" will be naturally a warm person, but I thought he showed his wife real love.
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Interesting - the difference between British and American sense of humor from Stephen Fry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2AbqTBxao&list=TLwW83qizS64YsSRdGcWy6-0SwvHD9hawI
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Well.. I finished the episode today. I had to know what happened. I thought that the acting was very good and didn't find the husband/father cold. He did seem very pre-occupied with his work. I thought it was interesting that he called his wife and told her he was scared to go into his class reunion by himself. I think they had a good relationship even though he works all the time. I am wondering what happens in part 2 (the final episode) next week.
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I was confused over the fct that PBS says 2 part an I've read 3 parts so what it is is that It was shown in England in three parts and here pbs has made it 90 mins each in 2 parts. Seems they have done that with several shows.
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Yes, I think they have, Jeriron.
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Since I am not a fan of David Tennant's Dr Who acting, I was really not surprised at how blah this was. I think we will skip the rest of it.
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Jack Davenport!! I saw the blurb in the Newsline about Pirates of the Caribbean and couldn't figure out who he was, so I looked him up.
Oh I like him so MUCH. Here he is in an interview included in the Pirates II DVD, he's Norrington, love him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J43Wc_51Fdk
I'm going to have to watch that one, he's got quite a sense of humor.
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I just found out today, and it is driving me crazy that I did not know it before, as probably all of you did, but did you know that Colin Dexter, who is the author of the Inspector Morse series, and now the prequel of that, the Endeavor series, always appeared in every episode of Morse, and now does so with Endeavor? I shall be looking for him and hoping I spot him!
Just one more thing to goad me!
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Oh fun! Just like Raphael, i don't know what he looks like, will have to study up, when anybody sees him, holler!
Last night was looking for something, anything to watch while folding laundry, flip flip flip, and on PBS channel 33 UNC Asheville NC, I found House of Cards. Not the new one with Kevin Spacey, the old one with Ian Richardson, boy is he good. Just put down the towels and gloried in his wonderful acting. He's absolutely marvelous. It was episode 3 of 4 and so I ordered the entire set again, I had an old VCR tape set but they now have all 3 seasons on one DVD, remastered in 2013 on Netflix. I've also read the books by Michael Dobbs, there's a trilogy.
That man is incredible. So WICKED in portraying the cold blooded machinations and ambitions of the Chief Whip in Parliament. (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42553000/jpg/_42553463_richardson1_203bbc.jpg) Loved the debate scenes, nobody can do it like he does. One person on Amazon said, but there's nothing positive or redeeming here. Yes there is: Ian Richardson. Just watch the master at work. I mean he can do more acting with his eyes than most can with an entire movie.
What a treat to watch. I love Kevin Spacey who does the new US version, (which was smart because there will never be another Francis Urquhart like Richardson's. ) Wow wow wow. 5 thumbs up! I hope they are rerunning the entire series on PBS.
Masterful!
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I've just read a lovely piece by Ian Richardson's wife (he died in his sleep in 2007 the night before starting a Midsomer Murders) and right before their 46th anniversary.) It begins with Helen Mirren bursting into tears at a BAFTA awards and dedicating hers to him. It's called something like "The Night Ian Richardson Died in My Arms," (it's the Daily Mail), but it's not histrionic, it's lovely.
I guess the thing is, he apparently was in life the opposite of the character he played in Urquhart, and he really did deserve all the awards and nominations he got for that part. He was 72, a previously unknown heart condition and what a love story.
Here's an Obit, this is nice, on the effect his portrayal of the fictional Urquhart on the real government:
http://www.today.com/id/17067009/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/house-cards-star-ian-richardson-dies/
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I've never been able to watch the entire netflix version, the original is so good.....they don't acknowledge that the new one is a copy, maybe they do but I haven't seen an acknowlegement anywhere----like so many things--Come Dancing, Britain's got Talent...etc, etc...
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Oh, yes, bring back House of cards!
Did you see Neil Burnside, aka Roy Marsden, on Escape Artist? I'll have to watch Sandbaggers again, he's such a good actor. Like Fargo's ending it was too pat for my taste.
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I loved The Sandbaggers, but watched some recently and they had really dated. You'd be disappointed I think! I liked him as Inspector Dalgleish. He looked a bit fat and old in the escape thing I thought.
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Dana, yes he did look a bit fat and old in THE ESCAPE ARTIST. I found myself worried for Will at the end...worried that the lady lawyer (his "competition") would cause him to be found guilty. My sympathy for him was kind of a gut reaction. On thinking about the episode, what Will did seemed crazy though I could see that someone would be driven "over the edge" by a smirking, deliberate, deranged killer.
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Season 2 of Endeavour starts this Sunday!
See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/episode/endeavour-s2-e1-trove/
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the plot of the Escape Artist was I do not even know what - it showed a side of life and how the law has become a tool that I am not comfortable with and yet, it is more true than not - so that to get what we consider justice is like playing chess to outwit the police, judge, jury and a courtroom - I still did not see this was the best performance i have ever seen from David Tennant - the deranged killer acted his part better without being so stiff and the female lawyer was also good again better than Tennant - so I cannot imagine what happened except he may have been attempting to portray a man who lost his soul and integrity which would make him appear in comparison to his full early family life like a stick figure empty egg shell of a man.
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So, who was the escape artist? Can you spell irony? David Tennant's normal expression he looks angry. The female lawyer was very sympathetic until she defended the deranged killer there she lost me. The author's viewpoint, though seemingly authentic, was too cynical for my taste.
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Jackie, yes I didn't realize the irony of the title until the end. I understood that the female lawyer was trying to win her competition with Tennant's character as number 1 lawyer. I think that is why she took the case. She wasn't very sympathetic in how she won but Tennant's lawyer character might have done the same. I really didn't get why she was following up leads and figuring out what Tennant was up to (other than to be the one to tell the audience what he likely did).
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what it amounts to Tennant's character gets away with murder - so sure she wanted to prove it however,it was wrapped up in her defending the killer of his wife and getting him off in the first place.
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I had forgotten what happened at the end of SEASON 1 of Endeavor. I just watched the last episode, HOME, of last season at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/full-episodes/endeavour-i-home/
It was a good one I think.
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I forgot as well - something must have happened that laid Morse out of commission for awhile and whatever it was still haunts him - he does come across more hardened than earlier - The Halifax thing came on here just before Endeavor - what a hoot it just keeps coming with what would have been typical beyond the pale behavior for the 1950s mixed in with wanky behavior for today.
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He got shot, but saved the day, at the end of the last season. I hate to admit it, but I like this young Morse better than the old one.
Did anyone spy the author anywhere?
"As was traditional in the original series, writer Colin Dexter who created Morse, makes cameo appearances in each episode, for example, reading a newspaper on a bench in one scene and in another, sitting on the upper deck of an Oxford bus service."
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Marypaige can't agree with you on that one.
I watched a new British sitcom that came on last night at 10 Called Vicious . It was about two senior gay men. (Comedy) the stars are Derek jacobi and Ian McKellen.
I was surprised to learn that that both actors are actually gay.
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I do like young Morse and I liked the old one too :-)
I thought this episode was very good. I didn't find Colin Dexter in the episode. I forgot to look part of the time.
I am not sure about the new season of LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX. Kind of screwy behavior.
I'm going to watch Vicious on my cable "on demand" in the next few days.
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Screwy? Last Tango in Halifax cast? Understatement of the year!
Vicious' dialog reminds me of La Cage aux Folles. Facing the common concerns of aging from a slightly skewed viewpoint.
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I thought it was more about the girls than the two elders except for their opinions which were strong. Poor Gillian instead of being outraged at the dead beat husband it is easier to be outraged at her - then one minute she has no privacy and a houseful the next she is alone - oh my - it is a bit like a soap opera but fun, easy and the scenery/homes/etc are wonderful.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
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This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2014/selfridge2.jpg) |
Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Watching Tango as I type and I see what you mean about screwy. Having been caught taking Midsomer Murders seriously, then learning it is satire I believe the Brits have done it again with Tango. Complications occur excessively IMHO. It's too much like a soap.
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Yes I think we were looking at worst for a comedy and at best a romantic love story and instead we are getting a farce.
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Jackie, As the British say, I must be very "thick." I didn't realize that Midsomer Murders was satire, though I do see humor in it.
Barbara, you could be right. That would make more sense out of that episode of LAST TANGO!
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I am thoroughly enjoying Last Tango for the superb acting. They are all just flat out THE BEST! That, in itself, is a treat. Throw in the Yorkshire vistas, and I squiggle with delight.
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Wat is the allure in Yorkshire? It's right up there with Cornwall on my bucket list. Maybe James Herriott romanticicized Yorkshire for me and millions of other viewers?
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When I visited Yorkshire in 1971, it was principally to see York Minster. As an avid fan of English History since 8th grade, it was one of the places I listed for my husband as a MUST while he spent 9 months planning our month long private tour of Scotland and England. He taped a huge map of Great Britain to our Bridge table, set up for that whole 9 months, and meticulously planned every detail. David asked me in advance: "Which 3 places MUST you see?" I replied: Salisbury Cathedral, the Western Hebrides, and the City of York." He very carefully allotted time for each. We had planned 3 days in York, and totally unbeknowst to us, 1971 was the 1,900th anniversary of the founding of that city. So we took the train down from Edinburgh and a taxi to our hotel, The Chase. The cabdriver said, in that wonderful accent, "You ere to see tha Queen?" We nearly jumped out of our skins. She's here? She will be, tamarra. Look over there, see in that corral? Those are the horses of the Household Cavalry. They just brought em up ere from Lunndon.
And so they had! First time in over 350 years or something that they had left London. And the first time in that long or longer, I forget now, and a granddaughter now owns my journal from that trip, that the Queen had been welcomed in the City with trumpets and all. Wow! Well, we saw her. Twice. And were within 8' of her both times! What a great addition to our trip!
But basically, yes, Yorkshire is beautiful. And I had not yet read anything other than Wuthering Heights that made me yearn to see the moors. And yes, we DID visit the Bronte home. But those miles and miles and miles (we rented a car) of little green fields, no two shapes EVER precisely the same, surrounded by miles and miles and miles of grey stone walls and reaching right up to the sky, were lovely beyond words.
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And yes, we spent 3 days in Cornwall. After driving all around it, we stayed in Fowey. We did not like Cornish pasties, but everything else was simply wonderful and Cornwall DESERVES to be on your bucket list!
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I was lucky to have been raised where the Yorkshire Moors were our walking grounds. We could go 5 miles NE and into Yorkshire. and about 20 miles NW and over into Scotland.
Greatest places if only could count on having some Summer Weather. Could not always count on that. This past 2 years have been really bad.
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Okay, I have a question. Does anyone have any inkling what the gloved hand with the ring at the end of Endeavor was all about?
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I wondered about that too. Also, last week's show ended with a gloved hand taking the missing notebook from the crime scene.
Mary
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That makes three of us. I remember, and you probably do, too, the ring. The young guy with the portion of Indian blood who worked in the museum wore it. Apparently a ruby. And when Morse saw that portrait of an ancestor of that family wearing it, he immediately knew that guy was related, because he reasoned that that was the type of ring that went down from father to son, and so on through the generations.
I enjoyed the show immensely, especially the scenery and the young actresses. But COME ON! You know perfectly well that after a whole hundred years, those rooms up there in the attics would not have been left just as they were. At least, most certainly not in any house I have ever lived in.
The woman who ran the school was sure a red herring, wasn't she! I had her pegged, because from the git go she kept referring to eons ago when she had been a girl there.
I think that was Colin Dexter rushing into the building under an umbrella very near to the beginning of the tale.
But the fist in the black leather glove with the ring on, THAT was the greatest mystery. Morse himself, maybe? But then , how would HE have gotten hold of the ring?
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I spent the night on PBS last night. First an hour of Last Tango, and oh, how I loved it. Such great acting and such high drama! Fun!
And then an hour and a half of Endeavor, followed by half an hour of Vicious (a bit over the top, I brush my teeth and get ready for bed while it is unfolding), followed by an hour of Scott & Bailey. I really, really adore Scott & Bailey. Last year it was on Monday nights at ten, and this year they have moved the new season to Sunday nights at eleven. Dunno why, as I hate watching stuff that late at night. However, this is one of the very best and best acted crime shows EVER, so I will NOT miss out on it!
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MaryPage, I thought the umbrella guy might have been Colin Dexter too, but wasn't he the one that also went upstairs and was murdered? I watched about 10 minutes of Vicious, but it a bit over the top too and turned it off. I'll have to look into Scott and Bailey. I don't remember seeing it on the schedule, here, but I wasn't really looking that far ahead.
Good memory CubFan. I forgot about the gloved hand taking the notebook last week.
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This is who we have to look for, and honestly, he is never on long enough to identify!
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&q=Colin+Dexter&gbv=2&oq=Colin+Dexter&gs_l=img.12..0l3j0i24l7.1156.3172.0.6203.7.4.0.3.3.0.63.204.4.4.0....0...1ac.1.34.img..0.7.204.eO0uI_8f2TA
And this is ALL about Endeavour, including the fact that Dexter is in every episode!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_(TV_series)
I cannot figure this one out to save my neck. There is, there really IS a website of wikipedia all about the TV show Endeavor. But when I copy the site and paste it in here, it WILL NOT come up! Why, oh why? I've tried it three times now, with exactly the same results. So do a search for Endeavor on your own, and you are bound to find it. I think.
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MaryPage, somehow the last parenthesis is not picking up as part of the link. That is why yours isn't working.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_%28TV_series%29
I noticed that mine changes the parentheses to %28 and %29 when I paste it here, but it works.
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BTW, John Thaw's daughter was in this one.
I've always liked the music for Morse and Endeavor, so I finally got around to looking up the composer, Barrington Pheloung. It turns out that he did two uncredited appearances in the Morse series as a choir master and as himself in one of them as well as as himself in a documentary called The Music of Morse. I'd like to see that documentary.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006224/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr8
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Latest Endeavor is one I'll have to watch again. Tango has taken an absurd turn, but I have to see the next episode no matter where the plot takes us. Vicious is a hoot and a half. Each character is perfectly cast. Is Scott and Bailey on the horizon? It's on my never miss list.
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for goodness sake I caught a dropped mouth gapper - our local PBS is repeating the Father Brown mysteries and last night was the one where the missing sister was found years later as another sister entered the secret hiding place under the house built to hide priests during the reformation - towards the end the inspector tells Father Brown he is going to London promoted to the London police and I forget if it was him or Father Brown who say something about their village of - get this - Candleford - and so Father Brown Mysteries takes place in Candleford some 100 years after Lark Rise to Candleford
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Boy, did I ever have a marathon last night! A new Inspector Lewis followed by a new Last Tango In Halifax followed by a new Endeavour followed by a new Scott & Bailey!
Enjoyed every one of them. Had one hour after Lewis/before Last Tango and half an hour between Endeavor and Scott & Bailey, so I managed to eat some supper in the first break and brush my teeth in the last one. Started at six and wound up at midnight!
Loved them all, but most especially Last Tango. Oh my, I really like Gillian, and I wish she would stop letting her mouth run off without putting her head in gear first. As for Scott & Bailey, I really like BOTH of them, but while Bailey is fantastic at her job, she sure is a mess in her personal life. She needs a shrink and some medication, Big Time! Ai yi yi!
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Well I could hardly watch Last Tango last night - Cecilia is awful and he is not much better with their ugly gossip - Gillian tells another story from her Dad - I hate this kind of gossip and exaggerating the truth and Cecilia protestith too much about not manipulating - what is her game - or are they supposed to depict older folks with nothing left in their lives and so gossiping takes center stage. We can see Caroline manipulating and so what was her phone call to Gillian all about after hearing her mother lie about Gillian not liking Caroline. This show is making me uncomfortable - not sure if it will be on my playlist. They will end up having Gillian thrown in jail. And I bet the baby isn't theirs.
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Barb: Take a step back to put distance between yourself and Tango's rampant emotions. Personally I can't stop watching because I haven't a clue as to where the story is going next.
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Here's a link to Colin Dexter's appearance on 7/13/2014.
http://www.veooz.com/photos/cH6r8vW.html
And another link to a site that's been collecting Dexter's appearances in the John Thaw's "Inspector Morse".
http://mjmcx2too.homestead.com/thawdexter.html
I had a great time searching for these! I love the internet; its my library!
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I think that" The last Tango in Halifax" is so true to life. Reminds me so much about how it was up in some parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire when I was growing up. I am surprised though that some of the people in the US are understanding what some of the people are saying. Very North England accents.
I thought it said that a blood test was done on the baby and it is the boys. I just hope they don't show it being handed over to the one who is wanting to try and have a baby.
Celia reminds me of my Ex. Mother in Law.( God rest her soul). Things came out of her mouth without her giving a thought.
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Jeanne as I remember hearing they did not do a blood test because he did not want one done - wow for the girl to just up and leave the baby - oh my but it is the gossiping and building exaggerations filled with bipartisan views that makes me really uncomfortable watching and I am sure it is close to reality not only in northern Britain.
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Oh! I thought I heard them say that they went and got a D and A test done soon as it was born..
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I forgot to keep looking for Colin Dexter in the Morse shows. Will remember next week.
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DNA, not D and A.
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What did you all think of the latest Endeavour? I'm surprised at his new relationship with his neighbor :-)
It seemed to be a complex episode.
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The casting for Endeavor is outstanding, especially CI Bright. I hate it when one episode ends and can hardly wait for the next.
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Me too. I wish it were daily and would go on forever :-)
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I thought him and his neighbor was sweat - of course we already know it never went anyplace - I am confused I thought last time the eldest daughter - Thursday's daughter was presented to the American couple as their granddaughter and that Thursday had married her mom knowing that she was either on the way or was already born - this week he continues to say he has two children giving no indication the daughter is anything but his - and so Thursday also has a lost love - we did not yet get to Moss's lost love that was the reason he never married or did we and I forgot?
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No Scott and Bailey on the Oregon Public Broadcasting schedule. Plus I've missed out entirely on Women of Achievement on Sunday which featured Coco Chanel. Downton Abbey has become ubiquitous, Vicious was about a tryout for the role of the fourth cook. LOL funny.
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Celia said there was a paternity test and it was the boy's baby. I just hope the boy doesn't end up with as many problems as his mother.
Marcie, I feel the same about the Endeavor series. I really enjoy it.
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Scott & Bailey is a one hour long crime show with two detective WOMEN as the leads. They are lower working class women, with their lives including all of the difficulties of today. Both are absolutely brilliant at their jobs, and the Chief of their working team of men and women is a woman (they call her Godzilla), and HER chief is a woman. Despite her enormous ability at her job, Rachel Bailey is one really messed up dame; not surprising when you consider her mother. I mean to say, it is amazing that she gets it together AT ALL, considering her mother. But you will be constantly appalled at the choices she makes. The acting is absolutely top notch, and it is that more than anything else about this series that will pull you in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_%26_Bailey
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In general, I have found, all levels of British actors are superior to the run-of-the-mill Americans who fill the minor roles in tv productions. Also there is little of the cult of personality I find so rampant in film and tv. I love to watc the Tony awards because there are so many outstanding actors who don;t have entourages and there is no 'red carpet' frenzy. And of course the entertainment reveals the paucity of the same on the Oscar show.
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Hm after reading your post Jackie it hit me - I bet it has to do with money - doesn't it always - but the money that can be made from a successful movie is probably 10 times what can be made from even a successful TV series - and that is a whole series - hours of filming or whatever it is called when they make a TV program - even the cost to make a movie is in the millions and so everything that can be a chance to market the product which would include awards is considered marketing and the marketing budgets for a million dollar project is going to be much higher as a typical percentage of the investment towards the profits.
And I can also see something happens to people, the nicest of them when they have big money surrounding them - a few I've known for years in Real Estate - a couple of Real Estate lawyers for instant who made nice money and came to a time in their lives a few years ago where they made good investments - well those investments have been paying off big time and I am embarrassed watching and listening to them - they quickly get this knack of sounding off hand about things that they had never experienced nor had most in the group experienced - sorta bragging by acting befuddled over what comes with high dollar living. And so these movie stars are probably feeling the 'egoness' of being a part of and they themselves receiving this kind of money that they never dreamed would be their life and then, after a few years they become so used to it that they play the game
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The English actors are so well trained -- looking at their bios most have attended acting schools and spent much time learning their craft.
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I enjoy recognizing some of the British series actors in other shows.
Recently, the shy little nun who married the doctor on "Call The Midwife" was in an episode of "Father Brown" and Alvin from "Last of the Summer Wine" had a bit part on "Last Tango In Halifax".
Neither role was a really different type of character and I think that speaks well of the character actors who know their "type" and don't try to experiment.
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I enjoy that also, Callie. I recently saw Nicola Walker, who plays Celia in Last Tango In Halifax, play a role in Scott & Bailey. Have also seen her in a few other parts. She always catches my attention, because she is so good.
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wasn't she the cook in something like Downton Abbey - cannot remember but it was a period piece
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/mystery_2013/endeavour.jpg)
This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2014/selfridge2.jpg) |
Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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I had to look these up since I have trouble remembering the actors names:
Nicola Walker plays Gillian in Last Tango. She was in a Scott & Bailey that was filmed in 2013.
Anne Reid plays Celia. Barbara, she did play Mrs Thackeray, the cook, in the BBC's revival of Upstairs Downstairs.
Sarah Lancashire plays Caroline. She was Miss Audrey in the recent BBC series, THE PARADISE.
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Edit: Oops - sorry. If you saw my prior message, I had given a link that describes the characters, not the actors. Try this one:
http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/last_tango_in_halifax/details/ (http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/last_tango_in_halifax/details/)
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Thanks, Callie.
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Whoops! I am so sorry! My bad! I was THINKING Gillian and slipped, just the way my mouth does these days, and said Celia. Nicola plays GILLIAN, of course! And yes, the actress who plays Celia played a cook in another series. Here is what Nicola has been in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Walker
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Doc Martin fans would be surprised at Carolyn Catz' portrayal of a cold pragmatic DI in DCI Banks. Such a difference from Louisa I almost didn't recognize her.
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Oh, I agree, I agree! And I love her in BOTH parts! Caroline Catz. I have owned all of Peter Robinson's DCI Banks books and read about half of them and passed the half I have read on to a favorite granddaughter, who loves all of the same stuff I love. He is still writing them, and I believe there have been 21 in the series thus far. The BBC television series is a bit changed from the books, but still most excellent. Oh, the acting! They had a manipulating, murdering female on there that was one of the best actors I have EVER seen, bar none! Her name is Monica Dolan
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Warning! My Wild Affair sounds like a charming story. Baby elephant rescued and raised by animal lovers with other orphans. So I thought when I turned it on. BUT The ending is not happy and one of the images haunts me, I'm working very hard to get it out of my short term memory.
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I am so sorry - we are flooded with images right now of folks, children, bodies, animals in distress - the horror - the lone photo for me that summed up much of this horror was of a young Indian boy chained to a bus stop and left there for days till someone rescued him. God what is going on - OK I cannot feel guilty because of my life - I am doing no one any good if I go down hill emotionally and become less than full of hope, cheer having faith that we can and will tap into our courage and noble spirit - listing my gratitude's has worked for me in the past - so instead of saying a rosary I think I need 5 decades of gratitude's spoken/prayed aloud for today.
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Well this should get us out of our sober mood - the trailer for this weeks Tango in Halifax - I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all - should be a good episode tomorrow night.
http://www.klru.org/schedule/episode/256156/
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Barbara, you express a lot of what I am feeling, as well. I know where you are coming from.
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There's a lovely article in today's New York Times titled Adieu to That Dapper Detective, which is about David Suchet and what he's been trying to do with the character Poirot all these years.
It's a nice article with some personal vignettes in it concerning Christie's family, and it pertains to the August 3 debut that's next Sunday of the first of two new Poirot films. I was very surprised to learn that two would be on PBS but three others would be shown by Acorn. On Acorn TV. Acorn is the distribution group that have a lot of the Masterpiece Theatre PBS stuff first before anybody else does.
I didn't know they had a television station and I hope it's not a streaming issue, because I won't be able to see the series, if so.
Here's the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/arts/television/david-suchet-reflects-on-25-years-as-poirot.html
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I knew David Suchet wanted to do all of Poirot; I didn't realize (never counted all the shows) these are the last. Cheers to him for such perseverance. Roku offers Acorn TV with a 30 day free Trial. The Roku website didn't say how much the charge is after that.
I don't know if you noticed, but at the bottom of the NYT article on Suchet there is a link to James Garner's obituary. Sad to say, if you haven't heard, he passed away Saturday.
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Oh no! I did not know! I am so sorry to hear that.. The one day I didn't start the day with the CNN news app!
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I can't believe they left such a cliffhanger for Morse. My jaw is still dropped, eyes wide. It will be a long wait for next season.
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Yes did not see that coming
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Ensanguining the skies
How heavily it dies
Into the west away;
Past touch and sight and sound
Not further to be found,
How hopeless under ground
Falls the remorseful day.
A.E. Housman
From poem XVI
When the young Morse quotes this bit to Thursday, it is a reprise of his quoting it in the very last episode of MORSE, the one in which he dies. I mean, a reprise for us according to the order in which we viewed these episodes. We were backwards in time, of course.
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I loved it!
Trivia: There were 64 episodes of MORSE. Of course, as you well know, they are still doing Endeavor. I like Endeavor best.
The constable in the last bit of last night's episode? That was Chief Constable Strange, the fat old man who mourns Morse's loss in HIS last episode! Check it out! Not the same actor, of course, but the same character. I swear!
Because I had to go and look up to see what was going to happen, and there was that, and many other, tidbits of interest.
Last Tango in Halifax never ceases to surprise and amaze me. I loved last night's episode, but must admit it never goes where I expect it to!
And Scott & Bailey was superb. According to the critics, the next episode, which will also be the last for Season Three (they are filming Season Four) has some of the best acting EVER!
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By the time PBS gets the next Endeavor, they'll have to rebroadcast this one to jog memories. I was sorry to see it end that way, but it was a good one. I'm looking forward to Poirot. I really enjoy Suchet's portrayal.
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You're right Jean, that we're going to need a refresher next season. I was a little confused about some of the many characters...trying to keep them straight. But I loved the episode. I figured from the start that the supposed senior police officer "ally" was bad. But I didn't realize what was going to happen at the end. Morse and Thursday are so good together.
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I suspected Deare, at least didn't trust him, but wondered about Chief Superintendent Bright too. I still think something untoward is up with him. We'll have to wait til next season to find out. When Thursday told Morse that he would probably die a copper, I figured it was an omen. However, I was still surprised when he got shot.
Oh GROAN! I just saw that IMDB lists Season 3 for 1016. We must wait TWO YEARS????????
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Well, we all know that Morse dies in the saddle, as it were: a much older man, close to retirement, and still a detective, on an Oxford quadrangle, of a massive heart attack. We were THERE! All of us.
So we have to add two and two and know that Endeavor will recover from his wound and get out of jail, exonerated from whatever charges. However long it takes, I now have something great to look forward to. I love Endeavor!
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Frybabe, yes, there seemed to be a few foreshadowings of Thursday being shot. And Bright has always seemed suspicious. I'm thinking that he's probably a red herring but you never know.
MaryPage, it is great that it seems like there will be a season 3. I hope that Masterpiece will confirm that soon (and maybe hurry it up!)
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You have to wonder if it is actors with a full schedule in other jobs or if they are calculating some years to show on Morse - I notice this season he did not look quite as wet behind the ears as last season.
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I was doing some snooping. Since Shaun is an Evans, I was interested to see if he may come from a Welsh background. He is from Ireland, but grew up in Liverpool. The Evanses are ubiquitous (My mom was an Evans).
Roger Allam (Thursday) was the narrator, death, in The Book Thief. Both he and Anton Lesser (Chief Super. Bright) were in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Anton Lesser is playing the part of Thomas More in Wolf Hall, which I understand is already in production.
Barb, the answer is yes. I looked at the IMDB listings and all three seem to be involved in other things as well as Endeavor. I am guessing that that is why we won't be seeing any more Endeavor until 2016 or that Masterpiece has other things already planned.
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aha - busy actors - thanks for the tidbits about what other productions we have seen them act.
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thanks, Frybabe.
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Saw a bit of promos for January and Downton,, oh for it to start.
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JANUARY 4th HERE.
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AHA MOMENT! I finally understand why it's sometimes so difficult to hear what people are saying in British TV shows. In American shows, the actors go through their lines once, then come back, and say them again over the completed piece with engineers adjusting the sound so they can be heard. British shows rarely do this.
How they coordinate the new voices with the lip movements of the actors, I don't understand!
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I didn't know that!
So tonight is the premiere of the first of the new Poirot's!
I checked with the local programming and we have it on both NC and SC PBS so I'm spoiled for choice, at 9 pm Eastern. An hour and a half. It will be exciting to see Suchet again as Poirot, I'm really looking forward to it.
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Hate to see him go but he gave us a good run - wonder what he will do next.
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He just completed something called Effie Gray which is about John Ruskin and his teenaged bride Euphemia Gray. The movie is schedule to release in the UK in September. Dakota Fanning plays Effie, Suchet plays John James Ruskin, and Emma Thompson, who wrote the script, plays Lady Eastlake. Oh, what an all star cast: Robbie Coltrane, Claudia Cardinale, Derek Jacobi, and James Fox, among others who I don't recognize off hand. Greg Wise plays John Ruskin. I am sure I've seen him but I don't recognize him. I don't see anything else listed on IMDB.
Ah, Hah! He is now on world tour doing a play called The Last Confession which is about the very short rein of Pope John Paul I. Suchet just finished a run in Los Angeles. I haven't found a schedule of where he goes next.
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What a surprise! I'm watching my first ever episode of Last Tango in Halifax! It's great. I'm sure you all have talked about it at some point, but i never heard of it before. So true to life of family relationships. Has it been on for long? My "info" says 2nd season, but i don't remember seeing anything about it before.
Of course, i'm making this analysis, of it being good, in about 40 minutes of watching.........i could be totally wrong. ;D
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mabel, we've talked a bit about LAST TANGO and most of us have enjoyed it though it gets crazy at times. The cast is great. The situations they get into are a bit much, in my opinion, taken all together. I'm about to watch tonight's episode.
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Frybabe, thanks for the info about Effie Gray. It sounds exciting. I remember Greg Wise from Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility. He played Willoughby.
I found out that he and Emma Thompson are married.
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Mabel, this is the second season for "Last Tango..." and I think there may be just a couple of episodes left before the season ends.
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Well after tonight I do not know what to make of Jillian - and is it really off with Caroline and Kate -
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I thought Poirot last night was a little odd; it felt a bit "off". Definitely not one of my favorites.
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Oh! I liked the beginning or what I was able to see of it in fits and starts, his writing everybody? I thought that was a nice touch. Unfortunately one of those huge storms came up and came across our area, and I wasn't able to see the rest! Darn! I did think solving the murder immediately was quite interesting with the chess pieces, but I just wasn't able to see enough of it -- so I wondered what everybody thought. All is well here, thank goodness, tho I heard there were some tornadoes before it got here, in TN.
Hope everybody is OK.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/mystery_2013/poirotxii.jpg)
This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.
ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2014/selfridge2.jpg) |
Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Yes, the beginning was interesting. I thought the conclusion was a bit odd. I just didn't care for the ultimate reason for all the elaborate maneuvers.
Off subject, but it is funny how things seem to bunch together. During my morning browse through Project Guttenberg, I found a book on John Ruskin, mentioned below. I skimmed through it. It has lots of pictures, but I saw no mention of Effie Gray. I am not sure if this book is about John or his father John James, but it looks interesting to me. JR seems to have dabbled into art, writing and music - a multi-talent. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46426
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Hi all, and so sorry for the long silence. The Edinburgh International Book Festival starts soon, and what with that and the just Festival (spirituality/philosophy/social issues/beliefs, etc) and the Fringe and now also the Art Festival, I am in a flat spin trying to keep up with all the stuff I need to review. Fun though!
I just wanted to mention that last night Madeleine and I watched a one-off programme about Scottish contemporary art, Scotland's Art Revolution: the Maverick Generation. It covered many of the artists featured in the GENERATION exhibition which recently opened all over the country, especially in Glasgow and Edinburgh, to showcase people like Julie Robertson, Ross Sinclair, Toby Paterson, Christine Borland, Alison Watt, etc.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/59dn48m6jsCH7GYfyHB3tf8/the-maverick-generation (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/59dn48m6jsCH7GYfyHB3tf8/the-maverick-generation)
We really enjoyed it and afterwards we talked a lot about the independence referendum and what we feel about it. My children were all three born in Scotland; I was born in London - but we all have the right to vote as we live here.
I was away in York last week, which was lovely but far too hot. When I got off the train at Waverley and walked back up the Royal Mile on my way home, I couldn't stop a huge smile spreading over my face - it was just so good to be back in Edinburgh, despite all the tourists, the noise, the tatt, - it really is a fabulous place to live.
Rosemary x
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That's a steep walk, Rosemarykaye. I hope you didn't have to walk too far with, I assume, baggage. When we were in Edinburgh eons ago, we stayed at the Carlton. I see it is still there, much redecorated I am sure. It was the first time I encountered heated towel racks.
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We had a thunderstorm here! A major event -- the last one we had was about two years ago.
Fry: when they broadcast the Poirot here, one of the episodes had the sound and pictures out of sinc, so you would see the mouths move about two seconds before you heard the sound. the second episode was just a very little off, so it seemed funny, but I wouldn't have realized why if I hadn't seen the first one.
Last tango is getting really soap-opera-ey, but I still love it. But to watch it, I have to miss the father Brown mysteries, which air at the same time. First time I wished I had DVR.
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ah too bad there is something comforting about the Father Brown Mysteries - there is NOTHING comforting about The Last Tango In Halifax. As to Poirot I can see why it is his last - not so much is he aging but his support actors are all aging so that no way can you believe they are still functioning detectives, officials etc.
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Spent all evening last night with PBS. An old Lewis had seen before and enjoyed again. Tried to watch the Poirot, but unlike most of you, have always felt a quite strong distaste for this actor. Ick! So did a million other things while that was on.
But loved, as always, Last Tango in Halifax. Thought every speck of it was great.
And wound up with the last hour, last episode, of this season's Scott & Bailey. It was beyond wonderful. The gal who plays Gillian in Last Tango played a woman at the end of her rope, and she was fantabulous. Nicola Walker.
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I keep meaning to tell you, and keep forgetting to tell you, so here goes, because I just had the thought just now and I will forget again in a jiffy:
The brilliant Sally Wainwright who wrote Last Tango In Halifax
is also the one who thought up and writes the scripts for
Scott & Bailey! Scott & Bailey just wound up its 3rd season and has begun filming its 4th.
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I watched the Poirot on my cable "on demand" this evening. I agree, Barbara, that Poirot's former "sidekicks" have aged. He looked about the same. The episode was quite strange. What the culprit said about Poirot liking to "make spectacle" seemed to make parody of the series. It seemed out of place. For me, it drew attention to Poirot putting the other people's lives in danger by letting the "scene" play out (so that he could solve the crime with flamboyant arm waves). Why didn't he just have the person arrested earlier in the evening?
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Right now I came accross a series with Martin Clune on streaming called "William and Mary". I'm really enjoying it. He's so unlikable in Dr. Martin and completely different in this. I've also watched a documentary with him calledMartin Clune: a man and his dogs. Enjoyed that too. It's 6 parts not all dogs just the first one . The others are horses, wolfs. Etc.
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I like "William and Mary, but have trouble understanding many of the actors, so never quite know what's going on.
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I would be lost without closed captions.
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I love captions. They are so helpful to catch all of the words... almost like reading the script.
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I watched a new Miss Fisher's Mysteries last night, not a very good one at that, but I enjoyed little Jane coming home from school for the holidays. Then I watched an old and early Morse (well, of course, there are not any NEW ones!) and found it not a very good one, either, but it aroused my curiosity and I did a little research. There were THIRTEEN (13) books, and they did THIRTY-THREE (33) television episodes. All 13 books became TV stories, albeit somewhat changed, and then there were 20 stories written just for the television films. Colin Dexter appeared in every one, usually in a pub somewhere.
Also, it is in his will that no other actors ever play Morse. Apparently his Estate will hold the rights for 70 years after his death before his works are in the public domain, so no other Morses in OUR lifetime! And as of this week, at least, Dexter is still alive and writing.
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Thanks for that good information, MaryPage.
I look forward to seeing if the next Poirot (tomorrow night) is similar at all to the one last week or more like the "old" ones that I had gotten used to. There are only these two Poirot episodes this season and then we'll see a new series, BREATHLESS, a medical drama which starts August 24.
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Well, just finished watching the final episode of LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX, and loved it! Absolutely relished it. Perfection, that's what it was. Did you like it as much as I did?
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I certainly did - although I wish the closing kiss had been between the bride and groom!
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And best of all it leaves room for more - does Jillian hook up with Robbie and does she tell him or is there a marriage with her keeping her secret - looks like the others are all settled for a bit - even Celia and her sister made peace - nice - the bit with the four young ones and Alan was precious - the good friend who has the boat, cannot remember his name but he played a bigger part and was just wonderful - what a fine cast.
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I have loved Derek Jacobi ever since he did the Brother Cadfael series eons ago, and have tried to catch everything he has done since, but NEVER have I been so completely delighted out of my skull as I was with his so-called "speech" at that wedding! And weren't those young men Great? Oh, I could watch that bit forever and ever afterwards!
I had thought Jacobi's greatest triumph was Claudius, but I was wrong! He still has gifts to show us!
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I too enjoyed TANGO. Yes, Derek Jacobi's "speech" was hilarious. They all were wonderful. He's a good singer and a very good dancer too. He seemed to do a number of different dances with his new wife and was very graceful. The whole cast is great. Poor Gillian can't stay out of trouble!
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Yes, she has absolutely no judgment, and yearns to be appreciated. Given her history of perfectly ghastly abuse, one can well understand why this is so. But what an industrious worker she is! She runs that sheep farm ALL BY HERSELF, from A to Z (taking the animals to market), and manages looking after Sarah Jane (Calamity) at the same time! I found her an amazing person; someone I would like, while deploring some of her impulsive acts. SHE IS A PERSON WHO SHOULD NEVER, EVER IMBIBE ALCOHOL!!!!!
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I just noticed that Sunday was the last Poirot. I don't know why I thought there were more than two. Anyway, this last one was better than the first. Surprised and not surprised at the ending. It was nice to see Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wanamaker) one more time.
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I believe there are 5 with only 2 showing on PBS - and yes, I loved seeing Zoe Wanamaker - I love the part she plays in the Poirot series - I was disappointed with these last two - it was like he was a caricature of himself - his heart did not seem to be in it - he did and said appropriately all the things we come to expect from Poirot but there appeared to be an effort made to capture the walk and be discreet - the sharp bite was not there - he said he was going for a walk but not as snippy as in the past - I felt there was an edge missing or maybe a heart for the character.
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Oh, that's right Barb, I forgot. I am not likely to see the others, then, because I don't want to sign up for any additional services.
I'm trying to cut back on what I do get to lower expenses.
Do you suppose Suchet played it that way to show an aging Poirot? At one point, I remember him castigating his "little grey cells" (he didn't even use the term this time) for not working well. It is so odd to see him without his usual supporting characters too. I know he wanted to do all the Poirot, so I rather doubt he was losing interest. He has even written a book, according to USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/08/01/david-suchet-finished-poirot-run/13464297/
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Watched my first Miss Fisher last night. Hmm. the clothes are wonderful..She is gorgeous, the plot is thin, but I will keep watching. I liked the maid very much.
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FryBabe:
You are right about Poirot. He is aging and his heath is failing . It will show more in the last shows which won't be shown until next year.
I have Acorn/tv streaming and they are showing all of them this month.
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Steph, so glad you are on the ride through Miss Fisherland at last! The plots are ALWAYS thin, and the people similar to characters in the board game CLUE. But OH, THE CLOTHES! The clothes make the hour absolutely divine. And the actors are having fun and they are all darlings and you will come to love them: Phryne, Mr. Butler, Dot, Janie, and on and on. I count it a brightly lit hour of pure fun in my week.
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I am still at the sorting out stage of the show, but hopefully will start to regard them as individuals.
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I fell asleep just for a few minutes watching Poirot. I did see the whole ending. I think I might watch the first part again. It was an involved story. I think that it dragged a little due to the way it was filmed. There were a lot of "distance" camera shots with a tiny Poirot in the distance and a lot of him in the outdoors walking or walking fast with his little steps. I don't recall an episode before where he spent so much time outdoors.
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A second Miss Fisher, this one introduced Jane,,, the plot is close to non existant. but between that house and the car.. whew.. that is wonderful.
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I enjoyed the second Poirot much more than the first, but the old series with Captain Hastings will always be my favorites. The new ones need a different screen writer IMO.
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I want to live in that house! I want to have a Mr. Butler. I want that CAR!
But most of all, I drool over the clothes. Lov um!
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Jazz, a beautiful jazz singer and now Miss Fisher and her policeman are growing closer. He is yummy as well.
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Oh, I remember that jazz episode; the music was heaven!
You see, even though the stories are so ridiculous and skimpy, the twenties, the time of my mother being young and putting rouge on her knees to dance the Charleston, that time is brought back SO beautifully. Thrills me at the same time it tears me up inside.
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Last nights was a bust. Mostly too dark, a strike, Phryne jumping into bed with some sort of anarchist.. and Dot in danger. Did not like that one at all.
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Nothing for us this weekend - pledge drive and no Masterpiece, or any of the Brit Coms - not even a repeat... and so the TV will be dark tonight - which is fine I will be busy looking at the supermoon.
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I watched a delicious repeat of Phryne Fisher last night; the one in which she starts out doing the Tango and winds up doing a fan dance. Oh, and she meets the Inspector's ex-wife, and we find out Dot has a sister.
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Oh me, ex wife.. I had one of those days and never got to watch any neflix stuff at all.
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I had a lovely, unexpected treat last night when I stumbled onto our South Carolina PBS station and they were doing a pledge drive, which I think was a rerun, so possibly you've seen it already. This one was really well done and they were showing a film called Being Poirot, in which David Suchet talks about how he embodied the character.
And it's a joy to watch. Suchet takes a trip to Belgium to find Poirot, we go right along, and what he finds there what he sees there and how the people react to him is just magic. Then he takes a trip on The Orient Express, talks about why Poirot never married, and in general is marvelous. Dresses for dinner on the train, but as himself. Love it.
Yes he's older, Suchet is 68, and he looks different, and so do we all, but when he talks about Poirot, he's so animated his face lights up the brilliance of the man really show through and it's a wonderful experience. Quite frankly I think it's perfect for my generation, the sadness of letting something you've created and loved having to be let go, but the joy in the creation of it in the brilliance of the man.
He takes the Poirot character very seriously, he always answers always fan mail, he seems sorry to let it go, but he's done all of them, hasn't he?
An article in the Washington Post three days ago says of the missing episodes (there are five last episodes) and they've only shown two now, but the rest will be on public tv in November.
Agatha Christie's grandson talked about his favorite books ....it is a wonderful program if you can see it. They show the filming of the very last episode, too, it looks like a really good one.
Thank you, Frybabe, for the notice of Suchet's book. I'm really looking forward to it. I love the way he reads Christie when he does each of the films. I love to watch him read so carefully and reflect. There was a scene where he was reading Christie on the Orient Express and talking about how he and Poirot were both outsiders. Wonderful!
Do see the Being Poirot film if you get a chance: it is a real treat.
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Watched the first episode of ESCAPE ARTIST last night. It was, of course, a repeat, but I missed it when they had it on in June. Anyway, the story is FULL of holes and rather over the top, but I guess the writer had his heart set on a weird twist at the end. Anyway, I am a bit in love with David Tennant, so he thrilled me. But there were ALSO tons and tons of other great actors; actors we see over and over and over again in BBC shows, and love.
Richard Burton's daughter Kate!
Tony Gardner, recently John on Last Tango In Halifax.
Anton Lesser, who was Chief Superintendent Bright on Endeavor.
Roy Marsden, who so memoribly played Adam Dalgliesh in P.D. James murder mysteries.
I could go on and on. It was like a very pleasant reunion of dear souls, and I enjoyed myself immensely. More next week!
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Oh Poirot and Me just came and I love it. Lots of great photos and rave reviews, David Suchet's own story of what it meant to play Poirot in 66 films. The book begins with the death scene in the last program, and I really could not put it down till I had read the entire chapter. Lots of inside details.
Super book for those who like his Poirot, and who does not? Lots of things about how they made his hands look older, and his face, etc.
Wonderful!!
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/mystery_2013/breathless.jpg)
This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings. INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own?
ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2014/selfridge2.jpg) |
Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Last night whatever the pbs station was ( I think U.of NC) having a pledge drive. Got to see the Susan Sarandon preview of Downton Abbey. Great to see the actors out of character. Edith is quite different and Mrs. Hughes is amazingly different and much younger.But oh.. the on and on out of sight things they wanted you to buy . I know pledge drives are necessary. but this one included a truly obnoxious woman fluting away in that sort of fake voice. Bah.
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I really hate the pledge drives on PBS. They seem to have more of them & they last at least a month. I contribute to pbs, but make a point not to do it during the drives & I tell them why.
Sally
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My local PBS station seems to like to overdo it with 50s and 60s music shows the last few years.
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Usually pledge time has some special that is an exciting change to the usual lineup of programs but not this time - I guess they are appealing to a younger adult crowd.
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Interesting find considering Uncle Tom's Cabin is on our voting list. My PBS station is running The Search for Josiah Henson...the Man Behind the Story of Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Time Team America Special tomorrow night at 8PM. If I remember, I'll watch it.
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Thanks for letting us know about that program, Frybabe.
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The local PBS station mostly does Lawrence Welk, etc. so I rarely watch it.
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On my PBS radio station here in Ohio this is what is being broadcast right now!
http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/timeline/
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History Detectives is doing one subject shows now. Last night I watched one on the 1865 explosion of the Mississippi steamship Sultana killing around 1800 people. The ship was only supposed to carry less than 500. They uncovered some very interesting connections between Abraham Lincoln and the quartermaster who was in charge of assigning so many Andersonville survivors to the doomed ship.
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Oh, forgot to tell you last night, my local PBS has started showing Father Brown. It was okay, but not great.
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A new series, BREATHLESS, will start on Sunday. Jack Davenport stars as a brilliant London surgeon in 1961, when doctors were treated like gods and acted the part. Don't miss Breathless, a stylish story of a dark secret, premiering Sunday, August 24, 2014, 9pm ET, on MASTERPIECE Mystery!
Miss Marple and Inspector Lewis will be back in new seasons in September and October!
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I am especially looking forward to Miss Marple and Inspector Lewis. :)
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Me too, Jean. From the description, I don't know what to think about BREATHLESS. I guess I'll have to wait and see tomorrow.
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We do not get Breathless until get this 3: in the morning but it does show next Saturday at the 8: PBS Masterpiece Saturday Night and then part II on Sunday the following day.
Nothing to speak of but all the fal di rah about Downton that I do not think the new series is even shown till after the holidays.
I can see they are being wise though - no one is doing anything during the day in this heat - not even any vehicles on the road - I saw two teens in the open park across the way - it is like the old saying 'mad dogs and Englishman go out in the noon day sun' - oh and the water bill I will have - had to water twice this week - any grass that does not get shade from trees is parched white.
And so I can see how everyone will be out this evening after about 7: when that breeze from the coast finally kicks up - we still do not get dark till after 8: so the runners and bike riders will be out and Moms will be shopping and tonight the kids go to bed early because tomorrow is the first day of school. TV will be the last thing on the minds of most till this first week of school is completed and we are being promised a slight cool down.
OH the butterflies in many a first and second grader's tummy tonight and in the morning - I do not think it is as bad for those whose parents both work and they had been in kindergarten or a day care center.
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We have wakened this morning to our third absolutely delightful day of coolish temps brought in from bay waters on merry breezes. I have been enjoying having the a/c turned off and all the sliding glass doors fully open so those breezes can burble through my condo from east to west and out the other side. So refreshing!
I did not much care for Breathless, but will watch all 5 episodes. I like a lot of the female actors, especially the one who plays Lily, who is, in real life, a Page from Wales. I have seen her previously, and just love her.
Breathless is new to the states, but not to Great Britain. There it is a failed series that was not renewed after its first and only season. It was also done in six (6) episodes, but these have been eclipsed into only 5 for PBS showing. I cheated after last night's show, which was on here in Eastern Daylight Time from nine until ten thirty, and Googled Breathless episodes. So now I have read a synopsis of the whole show, episode by episode. Nothing very exciting, but I will, as stated, watch it all. It is supposed to be set in 1961.
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I just finished the first season of a mini series from England called "Happy Valley". It stars Sarah Lancashire. She is a Police sergeant in a rural town in Yorksire. It's in 6 parts and they are filming another 6. The thing is right now it is only showing on Netflix streaming.
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She played the Headmistress, Celia's daughter, in Last Tango In Halifax, didn't she? I have heard she is THE great favorite in Great Britain just now. Oh, I tell you, I think of that last episode of Last Tango and how great Derek Jacoby was, and I Giggle!
So, do you like Happy Valley?
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oh yes, did you like happy Valley? I read a report of it someplace and it sounded pretty grim. If I want grim, I've got real life I reckon....so if its grim its got to be fun too......like the Sopranos for example, which I am rewatching for pleasure for the umpteenth time......I thought "Breathless" was rubbish and boring, didn't watch it all, not surprised it bombed. The early 60s was before my time as I graduated in 69, but I can tell you there was no big hoo ha about abortions when I was in med school in Scotland in the 60s. Altho still illegal they were labelled as D&Cs and happened frequently.
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Marypaige
Yes I enjoyed Happy Valley. But I'm a mystery fan. And a foreign tv show fan. I like Sarah Lancashire.
Truth be told I buy lots of English, Italian and Swedish police tv DVDs.
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oh I love the Swedish Wallander series. I just got the latest series....marvellous, altho I do miss the actress that played his daughter but killed herself.
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I don't think I heard about her suicide, Dana. Sad.
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I'm going to put Happy Valley" in my Netflix queue. I'm also a mystery fan. I watched the Swedish Wallender with English captions and liked it much better than Wallender with the Englishman (his name escapes me :()
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The Swedish Wallander is so much better then the English one. I recently bought the last season. I hated to see it end.
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Ginny
How did you get the book Poirot and Me? According to Amazon it doesn't come out till Oct. 1st.
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I got it in paperback from Amazon UK. For some reason I have a real affinity for those paperback books that England puts out immediately. I love being able to go in a bookstore and get any book pretty much in paperback there. I even like the paper format it's printed on. Of course they won't last as long as a hardback. I really think that the hardback is what's going to go in the controversy book versus e-reader? I think it's the hardback that's going to go, first.
The shipping is more than what I currently pay on Amazon Prime, which is zero, that's true.
It cost 6 pounds 29 which is $10.43 for the paperback. But then I had to pay shipping. But the hardback here is going to be $26 and something cents without shipping added. The paperback here will be available for $12 and something. So if a person had Amazon prime here in the states they could get it for approximately two dollars more and not have to spend gas to go there bookstore, by waiting a couple of months.
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Interesting what your memories are about abortions, Dana, for there you were, clear across the ocean from us, and my memories coincide precisely.
I go back much further than you do, having been born in 1929, but yes, if a woman or girl had access to doctors and hospitals, and if her life was not lived in a Catholic world of churches, neighborhoods, schools and hospitals, then an unwanted pregnancy could very often have her doctor pop her into hospital or clinic for a quick D & C. I mean to tell you, I remember simply dozens of people who had those, and most of them were for change of life babies, as they were called back in the day. If you were younger, the D & C was for "menstruation difficulties", or some such. Anyway, I never hear the term any longer, but for a while there it seemed to me everyone I knew and their mothers, aunts, cousins and sisters had had a D & C at one point or another! I'm not trying to make any point of any kind whatsoever here, except to agree with your memory of real history. Oh, and if any of you are wondering how in the WORLD the subject of abortion came up in this forum, of all places, it is because it is one of the principal themes in BREATHLESS. Some of the principal doctors are taking one or two nurses and performing illegal abortions for extra money to support their lifestyles. They refer to these dead of night excursions as "specials." In the show.
I hope to see Happy Valley one of these days. Perhaps I will purchase the DVDs. I do not do Netflix, as I strongly dislike watching films on my computer AND I do not like to borrow and have to return by a certain date, etc.; or indeed, to have the obligation of remembering to return at all!
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Isn't that interesting, MaryPage. Sometimes when things were left to the docs it worked out for the best (of-course I'm biased!).
I remember terminally ill people being given larger doses of morphine. Of-course they were in hospitals in those days.
In fact King George V was given a large dose in the evening so his death could be announced the next morning. That's not the same thing, of-course, and rather shocked me when I read about it!
I watched the first episode of Happy Valley. I thought not bad, watchable. Not great, story line a bit predictable and could get nasty...however I'll watch more.....haven't watched a netflix for a while, time to get my money's worth!!
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Ginny
Thanks for the information. I never thought about doing that.Oh well I ordered it so I'll have something to look forward to in October.
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I did that with one of Jo Nesbo's books last year. It had long since been published in Great Britain, but not yet here in the States. Barnes & Noble would let me "preorder" it, but I did not want to wait, so I ordered it from Amazon.UK.com. It was here in a jiffy, and the whole thing was as easy as any order ever placed from Amazon here, or any other Statesside place. After all, their books ARE in English!
Just don't make the mistake of ordering videos or DVDs from Great Britain. I made that dreadful mistake years and years ago, and no one questioned me about it! Their stuff DOES NOT WORK on our stuff. Hey, I know that is not proper technical talk, but I confess to being severely challanged in that department. I only know they would not work, and when I questioned why, THEN they told me well of course not! Like I should have known!
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Ouch I hope the hardback stays with us - I had recently decided that rather than suffering through another paper back I would either wait and buy used or buy fewer books just to have my hardback - that feels good in my hand, that while reading I can prop up on my chest or tummy, that the cover does not get all bent and when the book is closed the cover actually closes and the pages of a hardback are of a different paper so they are easier to turn - I hate opening a book that in order to read the page closest to the binding you have to practically break the binding and that is what I experience with a paper back so that when I have completed reading the book it looks used.
Now I do enjoy the pocket size paper backs for my cozy mysteries - even have the entire collection except, the last in the series not yet out in pocket size of Agatha Raisen
I have not been so excited about receiving a new book in I do not know when - but today is the 26th and I pre-oredered The Miniaturist: A Novel sounds fascinating - I want to get finished today so I can read tonight - perfect timing with absolutely nothing on PBS or TV period - except for the evening news I have not had the TV on for two weeks now.
This is what Amazon has to say about The Miniaturist
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office—leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .
Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand—and fear—the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.
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Ginny, my Miss Marple series, unfortunately, are not HD but in the standard TV format. I bought these before HD TV sets were so available. I'm sure the newer HD sets will be better, but these still play OK. Netflix streaming videos with Joan Hickman are also in standard TV format.
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MaryPage, I agree, it's quite fast and agreeable to order from AmazonUK, and they do have so many books before we get them, except now the postage has gone up, it's not a very economical solution. I guess it depends on how badly one wants it. :)
FlaJean, Hickson is Hickson! My old tapes are VHS and of poor quality, I hope I can at least SEE these.
Ouch
Oh dear, why do you say "ouch," Barbara, as if my opinion is painful to you?
I'm sorry if that's the case, and I'm glad you like hardback books, but I don't, even though the house is full of them. They are tiresome to dispose of and heavy to hold, especially the big ones, at night to read. Every one of those I am looking at now as I type this is heavy and cumbersome.
For text books of course I prefer hardbacks, they last longer. But for pleasure reading of any kind, give me a paperback any time. And I LOVE the British ones, there's something different about them, and the Poirot, at least, despite having over 300 pages and being a pretty good sized book, is light as a feather.
Jeriron, I will be interested in your opinion of the Poirot book. I was just thinking today about his comparison of British and American actors at such events as the Oscars, etc.
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Good grief not your opinion the idea you shared that hardbacks may have seen their day - one more of the new ways that are too much to get used to and I would prefer not to see it happen - I do really prefer reading a hardback and it is like a piercing arrow to think this is another of the joys that will no longer be available to me - ouch arrow going in - ouch pulling it out - and ouch healing as I would have to reach for a paperback or electronic reading devise. What was the story of each memorizing a book to save its contents from some new world order - well I would be saving all hardbacks I could find even if it means not reading new literature.
As to getting rid of I do not know if you have half price books stores in your area but here they will only take hardbacks - don't get much, maybe a quarter a book - but Good Will takes them and that is a tax write off - or in various Farmer's Markets folks sell them for a $1 a book. A really good book or text book Amazon will buy back for either credit or you can arrange to get it in cash but it is more involved.
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We just got an Amazon gift from our son and wife for our 58th anniversary. My husband says get whatever I want (sweet man that he is) ---so I'm definitely ordering "Poirot and Me" as one of my choices. Sounds terrific.
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I have Acorn streaming they are the only ones that are showing the last 5 of season 13 of Poirot. PBS will have them this winter. right now they had the first 2. Acorn also showed an interview with David Suchet which was really nice to see.
I'm really looking forward to getting the book.
Acorn has all the series so I've started watching them again. Great fun to see them from # 1.
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Yes, I'm going to do that too. I hope you and FlaJean (he IS a sweet man!) enjoy the book. There are some things that perhaps he goes into too much detail on but a really nice picture of the man emerges and one who takes his job as Poirot very seriously. I want to see his new Orient Express, I did not realize there were two Poirot Orient Expresses.
Or are there three? I want to see his new one.
Also he goes into such detail about each production I also want to see them from the beginning. There must be a rush for them, I notice Netfilx said there would be a long wait for one of them.
Have started reading Mapp and Lucia again, there's really nothing like it, is there, tho the new (paperback) British all inclusive edition seems to have some mean spirited assessments of the characters by the commentators. I'm wanting to reread the entire series again and think for myself. Sometimes these reviewers and critics are really more mean spirited than the books they review.
Personally, like many of you here, I love it.
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I get the sense that humor has to be very loud and abusive in nature in order to be considered funny by today's generation.
Me, I was born to love the British tongue in cheek quiet bon mots. I find them clever. Brainy, if you will. And it is that ability to be clever, especially with double entendres, that fills me with chuckling bubbles. Always has. Always will.
I think it is a family inheritance, as well and all. What my family found amusing, I found amusing. In teasing one another, and there was a lot of loving teasing at which my Uncle Buster excelled and I continuously tried and failed to one up him, we never, EVER, resorted to the meaness or outright rudeness that passes for wit these days.
Yes, I adored Mapp & Lucia, and never wanted them to come to an end. Blazing in the forefront of my memory is the kick I got out of, and still remember with ripples of amusement, the names of Shakespeare plays used for the various rooms in Lucia's home! Their bedroom door featured: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING! Oh, how Benson made me laugh with Joy!
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Well I finally got around to watching "Breathless". Didn't like it at all. I don't like that type of American shows either. But the English usually do things better but not this time.
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Watched another Father Brown mystery last night. It is only so-so in my opinion.
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I watch "Breathless" Last week. Doubt I will stay with it.
Now this I think I will like. Been reading about it in the paper.
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Josiah Henson...the Man Behind the Story of Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Time Team America Special tomorrow night at 8PM. If I remember, I'll watch it.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/mystery_2013/missmarplevii.jpg)
This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings. INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own?
ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2014/selfridge2.jpg) |
Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg) |
Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Finally finished watching Happy Valley (I think we talked about it here). Its got that woman in it who was in Last Tango in Halifax (which I disliked, but no matter!) Anyway, its not bad at all. Very watcheable. It gave me a kick that she was referred to as "granny" pretty often and went around beating her way thru doors and putting the boot in (and getting beaten up herself)....first tough granny in the movies I've seen...... very refreshing!! I get tired of seeing women portrayed as wimpy brainless screamers. In this movie the men mostly were the brainless ones for a change......
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Saw the first episode of Breathless last night and like a bad nightmare it is still with me - I never did watch the current American series of Men something or something Men that is about the 1950s including a woman's role in the 1950s - I know how it made me feel then and it still is like a nightmare - I woke up today as tense as I used to be those many years ago - no wonder I had such bad migraines and of course the meds were narcotics and I even wanted my babies rather than being out dancing - how easy guys felt it was OK to pick up a married lady - never understood at the time thinking just wearing a ring should have sent signals and I was not even working out of the house.
This head doctor, what ever his name to me is oily - just hate this show - trying to decide if I will watch it to see if it improves tonight for episode two. I've several DVDs that I can pop in because I look forward to TV on Sunday night. I wonder if I should write to PBS - but I bet they saw the popularity of whatever that Man thing is on regular TV and decided this should work. Talk about a scary crime show this is like a scary horror show probably only because it is reliving the un-named feelings at the time with magazine articles telling us to be sexy with our husbands and simply treating them as naughty boys for leaving their clothes on the floor for us to pick up and and and. Remember the deal where we were supposed to wrap ourselves in saran wrap naked and meet them at the door when they came home from work? Gads.
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Barbara, I think PBS bought this show at this time because it was offered by BBC and it was cheap. Cheap because it did not go over well in Great Britain, either, and was NOT picked up for a second season.
I will watch tonight, and I already know what will happen because I Googled it. Once a show has been shown for a season in Great Britain, it is in Wikipedia with each episode described in detail. I like a lot of the actors, but I do dislike the story itself, and also shudder at remembering how it was back in those days. Makes me madder than a hornet that the younger generations do not appreciate how hard we fought to get them to where they are, sigh! If they knew, they would up the ante big time and fight to get the ERA passed, among other things. They are just clueless!
Oh, I adored every episode of Last Tango In Halifax, and will gladly watch it again. Especially that last episode! I am still hugging myself with glee remembering Sir Derek Jacoby's vaudeville turn! He was about the funniest thing I have EVER seen! Who knew?
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Oh, MaryPage, I agree about Derek Jacoby's dance in Last Tango. I loved it and still laugh whenever I think of it.
As for "Breathless", we didn't have it on more than 10 minutes, and we were looking to see what else was on or on our DVR list. Horrible show and so fragmented! Who wrote that??
Tonight, we are DVRing "The Secrets of British Secret Service" .
And we are watching NASCAR'S SPRINT CUP RACE IN
ATLANTA(Hampton,GA). We were at one race or two plus a Country Music Concert all in one day at that track!! The best thing that happened that day was Paul Newman was there watching his car race and when he left he walked right by us. And I was taller than he was. Also, we left for part of the race to get out in the sun where it was warmer.
And we passed, Joanne Woodard. She was sitting in the sun, too, calmly knitting just outside the door of their RV. You know she helped sponsor our playhouse theatre in Marietta, GA. She was born in Marietta.
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What fun! I swooned over Paul Newman and his blue bedroom eyes.
Watched television for most of the evening and long into the night yesterday, something I rarely ever do. Started with the ABC six o'clock news and then caught the NBC six-thirty news, followed by the CBS 60 Minutes, which was all repeat, but good. Had an hour off until Breathless came on at nine. Enjoyed that (for the acting, which really was worthwhile) until ten thirty, and then had half an hour to brush my teeth and get my nightie on, and at eleven caught Scott & Bailey. MPT (Maryland Public Television) has started to do repeats of the three seasons previously shown of that show, as the 4th season will be coming to us in the spring. Even though it is now a repeat, the excellence of the writing and the outstanding acting make it a real jewel, and I suppose it is the realistic portrayal of the harshness of real life that keeps this show from being a runaway popular hit. As a matter of fact, I believe a lot of folks get turned off by stories that feature gritty problems and folks with poor judgment regarding handling of the same, which this show most certainly does. Still and all, Scott & Bailey becomes addictive for the acting, which is truly the very best.
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I watched about 2/3 of the second episode of Breathless and then the foreboding got too much for me. I didn't want to see what was going to happen each of the main characters. I do think that the acting is excellent. I may try again in the future.
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Last night I made myself finish watching American Hustle, which I made the huge mistake of buying because it has Jennifer Lawrence in it and was nominated in a number of Academy Award categories. Have had it in my DVD player like forever now, and have piles of other stuff I would love to get to, but for self-discipline and that old waste not want not rule I was raised under, I told myself I HAD to finish that movie. Had already turned it on three times on three different nights, only to watch for a while and turn it off in dismay. So this fourth time I was determined would be the last, and I watched it to the crazy end. Find myself deeply concerned that there are cultures of peoples right here in America that I do not understand at all and cannot relate to other than with a shudder of disbelief. I swear, I think I would fit in better in a lot of foreign countries than I would in New Jersey! Oh, by the way, Jennifer Lawrence was spectacular as a complete airhead.
THEN I indulged myself! Watched a complete episode of Mapp & Lucia and had a ball laughing my head off. Owned the videos for years, and finally threw them out and bought the DVDs. One disappointment is that there are still no closed captions or subtitles, but I get around that problem these days with a new gadget made by Sennheiser: wireless earplugs that allow me to hear every word loud and clear, with absolutely no sound in the room whatsoever! Heaven!
So Life is Good once more, and I am going to have to do a bit more research from now on before I buy a popular favorite. Shudder!
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MaryPage do not know if the DVD is broken into the original series of programs but if you remember that was the video tapes - I have never found the music they used to start each program - is there anything on the DVD that includes the music or is the theme music listed on any inclosed literature - that music often pops into my head for no reason and I would love to know the name of the tune and composer.
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OK, looking for the music here:
10 episodes on 4 discs. Music by Jim Parker. All of the music and the shows are owned exclusively by RLJ Entertainment. Wow, this goes back to 1985/1986, but has been renewed.
That is all I can get from the cover, etc. Next episode I watch, I will look in the credits for any info about the music. I agree that it is attractive and addictive.
It is on here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662353/ that he did the music for absolutely TONS of shows; I am amazed, and Mapp & Lucia is on the list, but no further information.
Well, apparently you can buy the sheet music: http://www.justsheetmusic.com/sheet-music/jim-parker-mapp-and-lucia/
Oh! Oh! Oh! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlBv8ytrVYA
Go ahead and Google Mapp & Lucia music; you will get loads of sites!
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thanks you so much MaryPage - lots to look at - this is great!
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Love that music. Remember seeing some of the Mapp & Lucia episodes a few years back. Will have to check Netflix for the series.
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MaryPage wrote
I told myself I HAD to finish that movie. Had already turned it on three times on three different nights, only to watch for a while and turn it off in dismay. So this fourth time I was determined would be the last, and I watched it to the crazy end.
I have to agree with you on American Hustle. I loved Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook and was expecting another really good movie. Both movies were a bit on the offbeat side but I found Hustle the hard one to sit through. I was expecting so much more. Maybe that is the reason. With all the buzz around the Oscars show and all the other publicity, I just had higher expectations. I did enjoy it but felt it took some staying power to get through it. I loved the outfits and hairstyles though!! :D
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Have to say, Becki, that I just flat out could not, try as I did, relate to ANYone in that movie. Not a soul! It was like they were all from a different planet with different mores and ways of looking at things and behaving. Even THINKing! And it was New Jersey, for crying out loud. Well, my friends tell me I would feel the same way if I ever watched any reality shows. Flinch at the mere thought! Cannot abide the noisy, cattle herd quality behavior on almost any show that has an audience: game shows, etc. Guess my soul was born in the 18th century or something, because loud voices, shouting, rude words: these things almost shatter me as though I were made of fragile glass. All the SCREAMING! Shudder!!!!
Can't attend or watch sports events for the same reason. Now tennis or golf, THOSE I could do crowd behavior wise, but I shrink from crowds, period.
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I agree with you about crowds Mary Page. At least in person -- I've started avoiding them like the plague. But for some reason, I don't mind the crowd noise at sporting events on TV, maybe because I can always turn the volume down, or switch it off. I think it's the loss of control in crowd situations that bothers me as much as the noise.
the noise of the commercials bothers me much more. They are often louder and more strident than the shows. I always turn the sound off for them.
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Was anyone else left as confused as I was by the ending of Breathless??? Very unsatisfying!!
Sally
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I think they pulled a modern switcheroo - back then no women would attempt to blackmail a guy because of her reputation and for her to have it over him because he killed the boyfriend - shoot the idea of a women then going on her own to an attorney or even the police and expect to be taken seriously - pipe dream by someone born since -
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I watched PBS all evening last night. First one hour of Scott & Bailey (that show just gets better and better) and then Great Performances two hour live STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR from Baltimore. Yesterday was the day, two hundred years ago. that Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner. And it was a Great Show! The Tall Ships, over 30 of them, were in Baltimore. The Blue Angels flew yesterday and will do so again today. The Vice President spoke. Kenny Rogers sang. President Obama was there on Friday. Colin Powell was there. Oh, it has been a fantastic time here on the Chesapeake Bay this weekend! Six thousand and six hundred children were bussed in from all around and they formed a living flag down at Fort McHenry. THAT was a wonderful thing in itself!
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Did anybody watch The Roosevelts? I thought it was very well put together. There was not much new info for me since i've read a lot about all three of them, but they did admit that TR had a true bloodlust for animals AND for war.
Jean
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Did not know the background of the losses that Theodore experienced nor how Elenore was related to FDR although, I knew they were cousins and the relationship of his mother makes sense - she really was not the shrew that some historians have suggested - she was simply a very involved mother that depended on him as her only intimacy after the death of her husband. Not healthy, difficult for Elenore who may not have understood and given her background was probably hoping to feel the love from Franklin that was missing in her life so of course she would feel overwhelmed by her mother-in-law's attention to her husband - but then no more unhealthy then Teddy's lust for war that I bet came from the bottled up rage never expressed with the deaths of both parents and his first wife, all three were his closest intimates. There is no shutting down one particular feeling - a shut down effects them all and if there is a way to cover over certain feelings, the need for that stimulant becomes greater with time.
Interesting how every issue today is a mirror of the same issues at the end of the nineteenth century. Corruption in the police, money running Congress with no desire to change it, corporations needing watchdog rules, nations and leaders desiring to make a name for themselves through war - does it ever change - makes you think we are getting upset about today for no reason - if a leader comes along to change it - so be it but the people do not seem to be able to make the change and Congress does not police itself and the 'good' war is always part of the mix that includes battle field atrocities. I've been here of late watching fewer and fewer news and political re-caps or discussions - I have one vote and hearing the rest is simply getting me upset - I'm better off using my time to do something that will affect those I touch and this Ken Burns program is showing me how futile is my being upset over what I have no power to change.
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Ken Burns has done it again! I thought that the first part of the Roosevelt's was very well done.
Sally
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I think the first 2 hours of the 14 we have to view were truly well done. One thing I never hear anymore, and wonder if my memory is totally faulty: back in the thirties, when I was young, I was told that the two distinct branches of the family, of which Theodore and Eleanor were one and Franklin another, pronounced the name differently. One branch called it "ruse-avelt," while the other said "rose-avelt." The Teddy branch were the ruses and the Franklin the roses. Well, you never hear that anymore.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary and will be watching all week. Ken Burns and his associates do great work.
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Part 2 of the 7 part series of The Roosevelts was just as good as the first. Most Excellent! They are sure doing a very good job of showing how Teddy R. was both a great president in some areas and a terrible one in others. It was amazing how energetic he was, and how much he managed to get done. Domestically, he was an almost, not quite but almost, perfect president. Foreign policy wise, he was a disaster, and I feel very ashamed for us. He made SOME right moves there, of course, as well as some poor ones domestically. I was ashamed at the promises he made our Blacks, and then broke. I was stunned at his prediction of a future war that Japan would start. My daddy told me in 1933 that we would have a war with Japan, and I thought later that HE was amazing, but shoot, he was career Army and learned that at West Point. Roosevelt was the first to predict it, and a quarter of a century earlier than that!
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Sure hope they plan on repeating this series at another time - Every night is a first that I can remember and my schedule just does not work with an every-night of the week schedule so I had to miss last night and will have to miss tonight as well. They are doing them back to back showing it twice a night but that only works if you are back by 9:
Thanks for the short review - it helps because it sounds like you hit the high points.
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Both nights I was interrupted and managed to watch only part of the Roosevelts. But I really liked what I saw. All three are fascinating people with many contradictions. Teddy has always intrigued me. As you say, so right in so many ways and so wrong in others. The one thing you can say is that he never did things half way.
Where I left it they were talking about Eleanor's early married life. So passive then, and such a force later. I really look forward to the rest.
Two of the three have featured in detective fiction. There was a series of mysteries with Teddy as the detective, based on his time as police commissioner of NYC (I forget the author). And Eleanor's son Eliot wrote a series of mysteries with Eleanor as the detective. Both of them are lots of fun. I think the family was mad at Eliot for some of the things he "told" in his book.
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I love, love, love my dvr (in spite of me protesting that I didn't want it; but my daughter insisting). I can tape all the programs that are worth watching (somtimes more than once!), and watch them at a time that is convenient for me. There are so few programs worth watching and invariably what I wanted to watch conflicted with my time--especially those programs that ran several nights in a row. Now I just set my dvr and they are there for me to watch later.
Sally
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JoanK - i loved Elliot's mysteries. I just kept thinking "how close is his description to the real person?" I first thought that in his early book about when Churchill came to stay at the White House. Notice that he is named for ER's father?
Yes, i agree, they are all both wonderful and flawed, but they could have been so much worse and wouldn't we all have been in very bad shape if they were, because they had so much power and were willing to use it, even Eleanor. Thank goodness they had some sense of the need to do good. They are all truly Shakespearian in this drama, and bigger then life.
I understand Barb, as much as i like reading and studying history, it can be very depressing at times to see how human beings are always just that, human. And although some progress gets made and we creep forward in many areas of life, so much seems to just keep repeating over and over. But i always taught the Roosevelts as amazing survivors, coming out of those horrible childhoods. The students enjoyed the psychology of it all and the possible psychological explanations of their decisions and behaviors.
I think it would have been horrible to have had Sara Delano for a mother-in-law. I understand her love for FDR, but she had no compassion, only condescension, for ER and just had to run everything!
Jean
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I honestly believe she looked upon Eleanor as the necessary wife her beloved son HAD to acquire from among the crop of suitable debutantes to be the mother of HER GRANDCHILDREN! She owned those children, Sara did! She took over and ruled the roost! No wonder Eleanor only found herself outside of the home! She was not a person at home, but only the means to achieve Sara's legacy: the children!
I thoroughly enjoyed the third installment last night. I was surprised they were so open about the Lucy Mercer affair. Did you know Lucy, who was now Lucy Mercer Rutherford, was with FDR when he died in Warm Springs in April 1945? Yes, she was there. And Eleanor was in Washington. Right there, upon news of his sudden death, Eleanor learned he had not kept his promise to her. How devastating!
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And didn't the Roosevelt daughter arrange for Lucy to come to Warm Springs? But I'm getting ahead. Much to come in the next few nights!
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I kind of sort of doubt Anna went THAT far; but who am I to possibly know? What I DO remember, in this old leaky head of mine, is that she had been complicit for years, along with a number of other friends and family members, in keeping all knowledge of the ongoing romantic liaison from her mother. And it was Anna, finally, who had to tell Eleanor, before she found out in some other manner, that Lucy had been with FDR in Georgia that week and at the fateful hour. The press was very quiet about it at the time, but hey, this was back during a war time in which the entire media was careful what they said so as not to hurt public morale. Her name WAS listed as part of the group present down there, but nothing more was said about her AT THAT TIME. We had no televisions in those days: only radio, newspapers, and news magazines. The news was not so instant all over.
I will always remember I was cleaning shrimp in our home in Bunkie, Louisiana. They were grey and slimy, and I was taking the hulls off and knifing the guts out; preparing them for shrimp gumbo with rice for supper. Um, um good! Don't remember another thing about that day, just these moments: for the front screen door slammed, and I could hear footsteps coming through the living room and dining room of our bungalow. Poo-doo Goux, (his real name was Gladford), the 15 year old boy from next door came into the kitchen, stopping in the living room to turn the radio on. President Roosevelt is dead, he announced. I bout died, and that is all I remember. Fade out. Close the curtain. For all of eternity I will be cleaning shrimp when I hear mention of the death of FDR.
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An eyewitness account of the death of FDR - http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/fdrdeath.htm
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I believe it was in Doris Kerns Goodman's book No Ordinary Times - altho i could be wrong because that covers the WWII timeframe, but in some book of the FDR's- i read that both ER and FDR had a really bad time on their 3 month European honeymoon. The implication was that both were very uneasy with having sex, Eleanor simply because she knew nothing about it and was a very Victorian lady and FDR having psychological issues related to his relationship with his mother. He got hives, had anxiety attacks (not called that then), both had stomach problems,etc. Of course, Burns ignored that, as he probably should have in this series.
I'm rereading Fall of Giants for a f2f book group, so the WWI parts were interesting to review last night.
I think it was inevitable that at some time F would have an affair. His psychological need for being adored was huge. He was very handsome, powerful, charming - 3 powerful aphrodisiacs for a young woman. I would assume he created a very good story about an unemotional, very busy E, which a young woman would sympathize with.
They are just such fascinating people.
Jean
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Tully had been his secretary for only 17 years, and the affair with Lucy Mercer, later Lucy Mercer Rutherford, had been going on much longer than that. Therefore I am forced to believe Tully had to have been party to the secret, and was continuing, for love of her boss, in not mentioning Lucy by name.
From everything I have ever heard, I believe it to have been a case of true love. True Love. I believe he really had a deep family blood love and friendship for Eleanor, and respected her and wanted rather desperately not to hurt her. But his own children knew!
I think if FDR were here with us today for a minute, he would say he loved Eleanor but was IN LOVE with Lucy. I mean, ALL THOSE YEARS!
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They overlook and undervalue women without so much as a flicker of guilt; it is all par for the course on a daily basis, century after century after century.
You take this latest great Ken Burns series: The Roosevelts:
Do you know, that blankety-blank Burns is just as bad as the rest of 'em!
It burns me up that he chose to go on and on and on about Teddy Roosevelt urging all 4 of his sons to get into the war; and they did. And he details how they came out of it and the heroism of Quentin, who did not. We are even treated to a photograph of the dead pilot lying on the ground. Strong flashes of patriotism and grief pour through us.
But Theodore had another child. Yes, a child born of his marriage, a sibling to these 4 boys. And that child got to France in World War I ahead of all the rest of them, and worked tirelessly in a WAR HOSPITAL there as a nurse for the duration. Helped save many an American life, did SHE!
Google Ethel Roosevelt Derby's biography, and be amazed!
But oh, shoot! She was just a GIRL, and her service does not deserve even a passing mention. Girls don't matter. Girls don't count.
I despair.
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MARY PAGE: I had no idea. Thank you for sharing that!
I remember a friend of mine toured Hyde Park. Franklin had a huge bedroom, next to his mother's huge bedroom. Eleanor had her own bedroom, a tiny windowless room that had been a closet. She had to go through her mother-in-law's room to get to franklin's!!!!
In spite of all this, they managed to have all those children. Then it stopped. Pure speculation: E didn't know enough to use contraception (and maybe he didn't care enough?) and she started refusing him. So he went elsewhere. He was spoiled and used to the world bending to him.
In any case, it was the start of her becoming her own person.
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John was born in March 1917, so would have been a toddler when Eleanor found out about Lucy Mercer. I think that was what ended their having children.
Jean
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I've been enjoying The Roosevelts series too and I'm looking forward to the start of Season VII of Miss Marple tomorrow night.
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I watched the two Miss Marples last night and was surprised in the first one to see Ian Fleming and one James Bond in the cast of characters. Off I went on one of my researches. A Caribbean Mystery was published in 1964. Ian Fleming died the same year, so I expect that was her memorial tribute to him.
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Well, Agatha Christie did not write the screenplays, and each version of A Caribbean Mystery has been different from the other by quite a bit. I have no memory of ever having seen that bit before, so I assumed it was added for fun in this new script. I must confess, though, that I just do not know.
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You are probably right MaryPage. Off I went to IMDB. No Ian Fleming or James Bond in the 1989 production. According to this article, Charlie Higson wrote the script. He also played the part of the ornithologist James Bond in this version. http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/407780/Miss-Marple-returns-to-our-screens-to-solve-a-Carribean-case
There was a real James Bond, an American ornithologist, known to Ian Fleming, who was a avid birder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_%28ornithologist%29 I did not know this.
Here's the Telegraph article which indicates that the Ian Fleming/James Bond bit was added by Higson. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10121866/Agatha-Christies-Marple-A-Caribbean-Mystery-ITV-review.html Interesting to note that Higson writes/wrote a series of children's books about a young James Bond. Some subtle self-advertising going on there methinks.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
(http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/mystery_2013/paradise2.jpg)
This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings. THE PARADISE, Season 2 (September 28- November 16) Time has not stood still since last season’s wedding disaster. Moray, Denise, and Katherine reunite under a new regime. INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own?
ALREADY DISCUSSED
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
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Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
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I enjoyed the two mysteries last evening. I too was wondering if the James Bond bit was an "addition." I thought most of the actors were excellent. I couldn't recall where I'd seen Fiona Shaw in Greenshaw's Folly. She was the muggle Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies.
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I enjoyed both the Miss Marple mysteries last night. Joan Hickson is my favorite Miss Marple but I enjoyed Julia McKenzie also. That was an interesting little insert about Ian Flemming and James Bond.
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I didn't think he was supposed to represent the real James Bond but that he just happened to have the same name - whatever it was a bit that I could not see how it helped the story along - I found myself being confused with too many plots but then it could have been the setting that I was not as prepared to see Miss Marple -
The second one the police chief or whatever he was is a new actor to me - he seemed so demanding and gruff so that I thought his being patient when Miss Marple sums up what happened was out of character - I thought he would only give her a few seconds to get to the point but she seemed to take much more time. I thought all the actors for each character in the second one were spot on.
Golly Domestic abuse is getting highlighted all over the place - I am sure this was in the can as they say for quite some time and yet there we are reminded again of the plight of the victims of Domestic Abuse.
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Barb, I think the bat guano that the ornithologist said something about how valuable bat guano was as fertilizer. Apparently that little tidbit was a clue to who the murderer was. There must have been a comment in there somewhere about bat guano being in abundance on resort property, but I missed the reference if there was.
Ian Fleming lived in Jamaica and knew of the real James Bond. It was his name that gave Fleming the name for his leading character in the spy thrillers. Dr. No was set in Jamaica. It was not his first novel, although it was the first Bond movie.
Well, that's a little off topic. Back to Miss Marple. Of the two shown last night, I liked Greenshaw's Folly better. I thought that Martin Compston looked very familiar, but it turns out I've seen nothing (that I remember) of his. Bobby Smalldridge was adorable as Archie. Judy Parfitt was just marvelous as the befuddled Cicely. You'll be seeing here in upcoming Call the Midwife episodes (IMDB says 2015).
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We aren't getting the Miss Marple mysteries on any of the 3 PBS stations we can get. I hope they come on one of them later.
Jean
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I'm don't think the bit about selling the land for guano was in the book, And I'm not sure the spousal abuse in "The Folly" was either. I bet she was a widow in the original I didn't remember the plot until it got to the "pile of carp."
The "Caribbean" was ok, but they left out my favorite part: Miss Marple as nemesis. I'll never forget, Helen Hayes creeping between buildings being nemesis in tennis shoes.
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I enjoyed BOTH Miss Marples last night, but I, too, liked the 2nd one better. It was both Fiona Shaw and Judy Parfitt who made it very special for me; I could just eat either of them with a spoon!
No, she is not my favorite Miss Marple, and I have been watching them all since Margaret Rutherford. Rutherford did NOT fit the description one iota, but Oh Lordy, she was FUN! I could watch those over and over, but Joan Hickson WAS Miss Marple. She embodied the Miss Marple I read about in the books. Perfect casting.
But I will be a fan of any and all Miss Marples forevermore. Bring 'em on!
Murder in the Caribbean was never a favorite, however. Keep 'er in the villages, say I!
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I did watch both Miss Marple episodes last night, too. The weekend had been busy, and I was tired so meant to turn off the second, the Folly, but then got interested as I tried to remember the story it was based on and how it would end. I did enjoy the characters more in that one.
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I do not know if everyone's fall line up on PBS is the same but what an unusual way they have altered programs by week this fall - the Paradise is coming back - another about Department stores where the guy was betrothed to the girl whose father funded the store and now it looks like the father and his group have purchased all the surrounding property and here he decided not to go through with the marriage declaring in that last episode his love for the featured young girl who has so many good ideas and is a salesgirl - from the costume it appears to be taking place earlier in time than Selfridge -
Well they are showing the new series of 7 on alternate weekends with Masterpiece mysteries, mostly Inspector Lewis and Miss Marple. And so instead of seeing Paradise week after week for 7 weeks it will be spread out over I think it is 12 weeks with the last two back to back - interesting.
I do hope in time they repeat the Roosevelt series - that was awful - night after night for a solid week - who has every night of the week free to watch TV?
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our PBS is showing Paradise at 8pm and Mystery at 9pm. I enjoy the mysteries but not a fan of Paradise. PBS.com reran the Roosevelt series and I looked at the last one on my iPad. I actually enjoy looking at videos and movies on my iPad. It is smaller than TV but the details are much clearer for my aging eyes.
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Tonight here on PBS David Suchet will talk about the Agatha Christie nobody knew, it looks wonderful, and begins at 10:30. PM, would have to set a recorder for that one!
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Yes, Jean, our PBS station is also showing the last MISS MARPLE of the season and the first PARADISE of the season 2 series, tonight.
Thanks, Ginny, for mentioning the David Suchet program. I checked and our PBS station will also show it tonight. "David Suchet profiles Agatha Christie (1890-1976), whose murder-mysteries are among the most popular books in the world. Included: the landscapes that inspired her; insights from people who knew her; and the links between her life and her books."
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something tells me Moray will end up not marrying Denise - Kathryn's husband is a piece isn't he - could not figure out what the deal was when he was moaning in the secret room behind the bookcase - his back was cut but could not tell if they were fresh cuts or scars.
And Miss Marple was the craziest thing - nothing like the village happenings or the goings on in a great house - what is this her visiting Europe - no quiet lady knitting and observing but then, to have her figure out what was going on with no backup either police or friends - scary or not it was just too out of character so that I really did not enjoy it at all.
The program with David Suchet was interesting and more to my satisfaction of a lovely way to end a Sunday evening.
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There were a lot of characters acting distastefully in THE PARADISE. Since the program will not be renewed after this season, I would think that Moray would marry Denise and we'd have a happy ending.
Yes, Miss Marple was filled with weird characters too, Barbara. I too didn't think it was in keeping with the usual Miss Marple mysteries.
I hope to watch the David Suchet program "on demand" this week.
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Sigh, I watched a few minutes of the Miss Marple, didn't like it, didn't even see Miss Marple.
Didn't notice if there was a David Suchet program about Miss Marple scheduled on my station. Will have to keep an eye out.
Not a Paradise watcher.
Instead, I watched the first and a few minutes of the second program on Smithsonian Channel about Ankor Watt.
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I watched THE PARADISE and enjoyed it thoroughly. The Miss Marple was so far over the top that my disappointment was palpable; however, that did not stop me from watching it all the way to the unlikely ending. I suppose I kept thinking it would get better. Then I watched the first episode of season one of Line of Duty, which has had 2 highly successful seasons in Great Britain and been much acclaimed. They are contracted for both a 3rd and a 4th season. Anyway, it is most excellent, but a real downer insofar as portraying police corruption is concerned. The acting is superb. I think I will gather my courage and watch it every week.
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I saw the last 15 minutes of Miss Marple waiting for the Suchet to start. I agree with Barbara that the Suchet was a lovely way to end a Sunday, even tho I only saw, again, about 15 minutes of it , also, as I taped it, it was lovely. Beautiful filming. I have always wanted to go to is it Greenway, Christie's home, I understand they really do the experience well there. I have never been in Devon, so haven't gone.
Lovely scene in the garden there where the ? docent ? pointed to a leaf which yielded cyanide (was it?) and explained about cyanide and how Christie, who worked as a pharmacist? Or in a pharmacy? Was most pleased to get a letter from some pharmacological association praising her accurate portrayal of how the crystals fell in a glass or something, then they showed a scene from Poirot of this same effect. Really nice. Lovely piece. I taped it for later viewing.
I kind of liked the new actress as Miss Marple, it's the first time I have seen her, she's a good actress, and since I really didn't SEE the whole thing, I can't say about the episode, tho I also thought it was frightening and she really seemed alone. I think a little out of character for Miss Marple, as this actress is a lot younger than Joan Hickson (or seems so) when Hickson did the series. I am not sure I can imagine Joan Hickson running thru the woods, tho I am sure she was capable, even at 86, was it, when she filmed the series? That part was simultaneously well done and frightening and out of character. I had just injured my knee a while back and the one thing that has frightened me more than anything else is I can't (at present) run, so could not run away from anything or anybody, though, reality check: truth, be told, who really CAN out run a 30 year old man? So that's been on my mind, so this thing was especially scary.
Somehow the knitter using her brain for activity seems more in character. That said, I did like the new actress and hope to see her in the episode you all liked last week so much. I think, like the character Scrooge, there is room for several Miss Marples, tho in my opinion there really will only be one definitive one, Joan Hickson. And I think Suchet has forever closed the door for any more Poirots.
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I was so disappointed in last night's Miss Marple. I like the actress but the story was too out of character for the usual Agatha Christie story, I didn't watch the whole thing. I forgot about David Suchet's special but will look at it, hopefully, on PBS.com this week.
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The actress in Miss Marple last night is the same girl in Paradise - Denise, Moray's little Champion and love interest.
And did you notice the maid or whatever her title the gal who made the bed in the Miss Marple, Greenshaw's Folly was one of the leads, Dorcus Lane in Lark Rise to Candleford.
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No I missed that.
Julia Mackensie who is the new Miss Marple, was born in 1941.
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I missed that also, Barbara. I did think the actors were good but agree with the comments that the story didn't seem a "Miss Marple" mystery.
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I wish my memory was better. The Folly is a Christie story, and I know I've read it because I knew from the beginning who the murderer was and the back story. But I don't think Christie told it from the same point of view.
I wonder if originally, it was a Poirot story. Does anyone else know?
The David Suchet was interesting. I knew a lot of it from reading, but loved seeing the pictures and seeing her. I especially loved the film of her running into the ocean so happily!
I notice that they left out all the speculation that she disappeared because she was planning to murder her husband's mistress! I was surprised at how lonely the place where she left her car was. I thought it was near an inn or pub.
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Try this site. Scroll way down to find Greenshaw's Folly. Apparently it WAS a Christie short story, but quite different? Mebbe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Christmas_Pudding
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"Endless Night" the third of the new Miss Marble shown last Sunday on PBS was one of Christie's stand alone mysteries. Miss Marble was added to it. She was not in the book. A lot of people didn't like it because it wasn't like all the Miss Marble stories. That's because it wasn't a Marble story. Why they decided to make it one, I have no idea.
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Thanks for solving THAT mystery, as it were. I could not remember it at all, and that, of course, is because it was NOT a Miss Marple. No wonder inserting her into the story made it seem so unlike one of hers: she had no DCI to interact with and advise, she appeared all by herself over and over in situations Miss Marple would NEVER have been part of! Nope, it was extremely lame as far as Miss Marple's part in it was concerned! Scheesch! They should KNOW better! They are reaching too far!
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Well, that is interesting jeriron. I didn't get far enough into the show to see Miss Marple appear. I just didn't care for it or the people at all.
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ah - so that is why it seemed so out of character for a Miss Marple - between that creation and last season's crazy Sherlock Holmes creation you have to wonder why not simply do something fresh without dragging these tried and true characters into another galaxy.
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between that creation and last season's crazy Sherlock Holmes creation you have to wonder why not simply do something fresh without dragging these tried and true characters into another galaxy.
So true, Barbara. The way you phrased that (dragging the characters into another galaxy) made me laugh out loud. :-)
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I watched, and thoroughly enjoyed, the David Suchet about Agatha Christie. I haven't watched Miss Marple yet; but have in on my dvr. I thought The Paradise was rather boring. Too bad.
Sally
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I thought this Season 2 we are just entering with The Paradise would also be the last, and that therefore a lot of final (read "happily ever after") things would be taking place. So, eager to know what is ahead, I Googled Season Two, only to find a Season 3 is in the works. Shoot! Well, now I know what happens in this season, as I read all the episode plots. Don't worry; I do not plan to spoil anything for you, except to say that all WILL NOT be resolved at the end of this season. Bummer!
I am finding more and more I like to come to the End of a story. Guess it is my age?
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I find that with books. I think it's because I just want to move on to the next book. I'm finding I like short stories.
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I am still not enamoured of short stories. My complaint is rather with book SERIES that never end, and even more so, television series that never end. I think my favorites are those (shows) that go for one season of six to thirteen episodes and give us a final end without having to go into another year.
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I enjoy short stories, especially at times like now when I have a lot of reading to do for my volunteer projects and need something short and light.
I missed the 3rd Miss Marple. Last night there was a repeat of a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, "Murder Most Scandalous." So I skipped that (it would have been the 3rd time for that episode), but the beginning of the 3rd season of Death in Paradise followed, and I did enjoy that program. It's light and intriguing. I think I enjoyed it also because of the warm and sunny setting, while we had snow yesterday morning and cold winds.
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S-N-O-W !!!! IN October!!! Where are you nlhome?
Oh my - had the leaves turned - are they still on the trees or have they already blown off with bare trees? And here I am annoyed because I wanted to go swimming today and it is only in the low 70s but Snow - and in EARLY October - that is a long winter.
Do you have plants on your windowsill - I can see lots of time for reading and other indoor activities but I bet you are not out of doors as much as when you were a young women - I can see why you would have to join many groups rather than being alone at home but it is blowing me away to really hear what the weather map says but is easy to ignore thinking of it like a colorful cartoon - Snow in early October - wow.
How do you keep the winter blues away? I am really curious - really - do you heat with a fire in the fireplace or steam or forced air? And do you have lots of plants and bulbs in your house or do you love winter and love seeing everything covered in snow? Do you cook lots of soups and stews as comfort food? Please share...where are you, and how you manage heating and eating with a long winter and how you feel about long winters and are plants in the house important?
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Such a lot of questions, Barb - I live in southern Wisconsin. The snow didn't stay around long, but it was on the ground when I got up. Actually, my husband got up with the dog about 5 am yesterday and brought a snowball back in with him. by the time we were up and out to the farmers' market, the snow was gone, but it was windy and cold. We had a fairly hard frost this morning, so tender plants are now gone.
Most of the trees in our town are just starting to turn color, although some of the maples are bright orange and we do have a pile of leaves in our yard. I expect with the frost now that we will have more color. We'll take a drive this afternoon along the Wisconsin River and see how the color is up that way. It should be beautiful because today we have sunshine.
I can't have many plants or flowers because I have a cat that loves to chew and dig them out. I've found snake plants survive, but they aren't that pretty. We do have a grow light set up in the basement, though, and for some reason, possibly the wire racks the plants are on, the cat leaves plants down there alone, so I have plants down there. One winter I grew lettuce, and that was fun, so I think I'll do that again this year. I also have some herbs in a window box above the kitchen sink.
We have a puppy, so need to go out a lot, and we make it a point to try to walk every day - down for coffee. Our library, TV and books keep us busy, but we both have meetings and groups that we belong to so we must go out. We live in a small town, so it's not far to stores or the library or meetings, and on good days we jump in the car and head out to someplace else.
But winter is long and as you say, as I get older it's harder to bear. The snow is beautiful, but as time goes on it gets dirty and grubby, until the next snowfall. I love the first snowfall that sticks. After that, no thanks. Driving in it is no fun. This year we'll take at least one short trip to Georgia.
My husband is the cook - we do eat stews and roast in the winter, and a lot of chili. I tend to bake more in winter.
Sunshine is important - we have a big southern exposure, and we really appreciate that in winter.
I'm trying to think of some good books set in winter that would give you some atmosphere.
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MaryPage, I can't find info on a third season of THE PARADISE ... not that I want to "see" ahead :-)
The few articles I've read say that it wasn't renewed. See the wiki article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradise_%28TV_series%29#Series_2
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nlhome you make it sound quite lovely - thanks for giving a profile of your life - it is really a nice way to picture you when I see your name here as a contributor -
Fun, a snowball in the morning - I was thinking as here, when every few years we do get snow NO ONE, who wants to keep their car in one piece and their body in working order drives - we have no clue how and those who have moved here more recently do not understand there are a few from Austin that attempt to take to the roads with awful consequences - anyhow the thought of you taking a drive after a snow to see the colors of autumn helps me see you as part of the scene, cold weather and all -
Ah yes, soups, stews and chilli good eating and filling. In that area I am grateful for our mild climate that makes eating lots of salads and fish a natural and funny we have very few trees that ever turn and when they do it is late November and early December.
Because of the recent rain, the lakes are still only 35% full, everything is in bloom all over town - the Lantana is especially vivid this year and so where you have leaf color we have autumn colored flowers. Not mums that are available in the grocery but lots of Sage, Copper Canyon Daisy, Oxblood Lilies, Esperanza and of course the Lantana that comes in a variety of colors.
Here is Lantana
(http://roundrockgarden.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/texas-lantana1.jpg?w=450&h=337) and here is Oxblood Lily (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLeUvxCKw4A/Un_jPvzDxbI/AAAAAAAACaU/E04Y4tEcl3c/s1600/IMG_5649.jpg)
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Oh thanks marcie for that link - it is so easy for me to confuse this series with Selfredge - the main characters in both I have in my head it is the secondary characters and their stories that I get mixed.
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I grew lantana in pots this year - our new puppy took a piece off every time she went down the steps on the deck - no blossoms left. I hear it can be kept over winter in the house - maybe I'll try a pot.
Thanks for the pictures.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
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This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings. THE PARADISE, Season 2 (September 28- November 16) Time has not stood still since last season’s wedding disaster. Moray, Denise, and Katherine reunite under a new regime. INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own? DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY (October 26; November 2), Six years after the end of Jane Austen's timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy plan a ball...with fatal consequences. Watch a star-studded adaptation of crime-writer P.D. James' bestselling whodunit. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, South Riding) as quick-witted Elizabeth Darcy, Matthew Rhys (The Americans) as the principled Mr. Darcy, Matthew Goode (The Good Wife) as the roguish Wickham, and Jenna Coleman as coquettish minx Lydia (Doctor Who). The Worricker Trilogy, parts 2 and 3 (November 9; 16). Page Eight, Turks & Caicos, and Salting the Battlefield form The Worricker Trilogy—three gripping films that follow the exploits of the intensely private and scrupulous Worricker—from MI5 headquarters in London to exile on a Caribbean island to life on the run with his former lover and fellow agent. Featuring Bill Nighy, the all-star cast also includes Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), and Oscar nominees Winona Ryder (Little Women, The Age of Innocence), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, The Wings of the Dove), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler’s List), and Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives, A Passage to India). Also starring are Rupert Graves (Sherlock), Saskia Reeves (Wallander), and Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down).
ALREADY DISCUSSED
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
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Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)
Greetings -
I live 2 hours north east of nlhome, and thankfully we didn't get the snow. I was watching that weather develop though because I had friends who had their annual camping weekend scheduled south west of her and cancelled after hearing the snow forecast. We don't usually have snow this early but 49 years ago when I went into the hospital to have my daughter (in Milwaukee) on the 19th of October is was a beautiful summer day and when I came out 5 days later I had to wear snow boots & a winter coat. Winter in all its glory was here to stay. Our rule of thumb in Wisconsin is - if you don't like the weather today, just wait until tomorrow - it'll change.
Mary
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Let's hope we have some of "October's bright blue weather" for the rest of the month.
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Barbara, yes, they are so similar that I've gotten THE PARADISE and SELFRIDGE confused too. It seems odd that there would be two "BBC" programs produced at the same time that are so alike.
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When I googled to read spoilers of Season 2 of The Paradise, I found references to Season 3 and what might happen that gave me reason to believe there was to BE a Season 3, and that Season 2 had been ended in such a way as to allow for that.
I go back and find that was dated December 2013.
Then, in February 2014, The Daily Mail announced that The Paradise Season 3 had been cancelled.
Bummer! Not because I WANT a Season 3; I really don't care one way or the other, and would prefer all my shows have one season and give me an ending. BUT, now I am upset because the writers, expecting a Season 3, did not, apparently, give us an ending. Dang.
So we are to watch a Season 2 that will, when all is said and done, leave us slowly twisting in the zephyrs, as it were.
Oh, well.
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Watched Inspector Lewis last night. Enjoyed it.
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I too enjoyed it - been trying to put my finger on the role of each - the story sort of unraveled with each actor playing an important part rather than Hathaway uncovering who done it. Not much personality or personal feelings shown from Hathaway and so I wonder where they are going with this - they needed Lewis back in the story to give it some life.
MaryPage looks like we will all be imagining our own ending - as a kid I used to feel that way about so many of the classic stories till sure enough a book came out about what happened then- forgot the name of the book but I had it in my collection for years - probably loaned it to some little one and we both forgot. But to the Paradise, I wonder if they will pull and alter the last episode although I think the entire season was shown already in Britain. The writer or writers who developed Kathrine sure gave us a power house - whew she has them all on a string except not sure if she has complete control of Moray. This story is not like watching a game of checkers it is more like a game of chess.
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Thanks, MaryPage, for that info about The Paradise.
Barbara, yes Katherine and Tom Weston seem matched in terms of jealousy and revenge and the desire to dominate.
In the new season of Inspector Lewis, it must have been strange for the actors to play a sort of reversal of their roles, with DI Hathaway in the lead. I'm looking forward to next week to see how the relationship between Hathaway and Lewis evolves.
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Marcie, I think the last scene showing Hathaway and Lewis walking off together gives a hint that things will be good between them, but I don't think Laura is too happy with the situation.
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I enjoyed last night's episode of The Paradise and of the new Lewis. But did you catch the new documentaries PBS is showing called GREAT ESTATES SCOTLAND? Oh, oh, oh! I saw the first one last night after Lewis. Inveraray Castle, home to The Campbells, owned and run by that clan chieftain, the Duke of Argyll. They are going to do many others (Dumfries, Kincardine, Rosslyn), and I will be glued to my telly when they come on. Beyond fascinating.
I've also been taking in the brand new series on the Royal Family, and the one titled ROYAL PAINTBOX, narrated by Prince Charles, takes us through the palace treasures we could never see otherwise of artwork from Mary Queen of Scots through George III and Queen Victoria down to Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Apparently the greatest of them all was Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the then owner of Inveraray Castle and head of Clan Campbell. Yes, she was the Duchess of Argyll, and the sculptress of that famous statue of Queen Victoria in Kensington Gardens. Wow! Who knew!
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Jean, yes Laura is not happy with Lewis going back to work part time, especially since he didn't consult with her about it. It just "happened" that his former boss asked him to help with the murder that had just occured so Lewis didn't plan it. It's probably good that he can work part time, in more of a "back seat" capacity to Hathaway's lead, as a way to ease into retirement.
I think that Hathaway has a good partner in DS Lizzie Maddox.
MaryPage, those programs sound wonderful. I'll look for them on my PBS station.
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Again enjoyed The Paradise last night. Had forgotten completely what an improvised show of talent was like back in the day, but they did a wonderful job of recreating that. Totally believable. Well, okay, I don't go back quite THAT far, but you know what I mean!
The Lewis murder mystery was great.
Have been watching Line of Duty, but think I'll quit and just let the next episodes go by. It is one of the very best acted shows EVER; honestly, it is. Top notch. But oh so depressing. It is all about corruption in the police department, and I am very much afraid it is typical of what is to be found in many places. Having been raised to believe the local policeman was my Friend and someone I could completely put my trust in, these cops fill me with the sick of betrayal of the public trust. I Googled the show and read that it is now in Season Three in the UK. We have just had the first 3 episodes of Season One. I read the synopsis of all of the episodes for both Season One and Season Two, and nope, it is not for me. Pity, because, as I said, the acting is of the very highest quality.
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Yes we were brought up to believe lots of people were trustworthy - did not prepare us well for the real world did it...we only think of it as betrayal because we were taught to trust rather than question.
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Goodness the discussions are quiet - everyone must be getting in some time in the out-of-doors before the cold makes the challenge so great it takes all our will to muster opening the front door. Yes, you guessed it, Winter in NOT my favorite time of year even here where compared to most there is not much winter.
This concept of Inspector Lewis still active although supposed to be retired is sure pushing the envelope on reality isn't it - not many jobs allow that sort of thing unless you are self-employed. This last show was a good one - crisp and everyone seemed on target without Hathaway doing as much woolgathering as if solving the clues among the stacks in his mind.
MaryPage what I liked about the employees show in Paradise was how it reminded me that we used to entertain ourselves before TV or the challenge of travel in order to take in a movie - the radio was not on all the time so that playing music and reading or gardening or walking and playing games and all sorts of hobbies were a joy to look forward to. We swapped hints, recipes. We do not even see guys bent over the hood of a vehicle any longer. That feeling of pride when we made something or played a new song and the confidence we could fix almost anything and make our own fun was all wrapped up for me in seeing that production on Paradise.
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I don't have a problem with Inspector Lewis coming back. It's not unusual for professionals to end up back working in a part-time or contracted situation around here - I'm not sure about England, but here it's a way to get expertise without having to pay benefits and for the semi-retired person to pick and choose. Anyway, I enjoyed the segment this week and look forward to the next one. More thinking and less shooting in these shows than in so many of the detective shows we have here.
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I enjoyed the Inspector Lewis also. All of the characters seemed to have a turn as potential suspect. It was fun.
The Paradise was good too. Tom and Katherine are both so manipulative and seemingly insecure.
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I feel so sorry for that little girl, Flora, I could cry. Her father is such a sick, sick man (imagine doing that to your little child's doll!), and her doting stepmother is dangerously resentful and compulsive. That scenario puts Flora in grave danger, IMHO. At least the folks staffing The Paradise are genuinely fond of her. I think of her as almost a female version of little Arthur, who has been with them since he was a baby.
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I enjoyed the Inspector Lewis also. The professor whose husband murdered---- I thought Hathaway seemed interested in her. If they are are going to keep the series going, they will probably introduce a female interest for him.
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The Masterpiece newsletter says tonight's episodes are going to be exciting:
"Moray hatches a desperate plan in The Paradise, Episode 4, while Lewis finds his reputation at risk after an old case resurfaces in the season finale of Inspector Lewis."
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And after the Paradise episode and the new Lewis murder is solved, our local PBS channel is offering the second in the Scottish Castle series. Last week's was SO great that I am looking forward to this even more than the fiction!
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Thanks for that reminder, MaryPage!
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The Paradise is leaving me feeling like the bottom is about to drop out on Denise since Moray is not telling her how deceptive is his plan with Kathryn - ouch ouch
The best Lewis so far and Hathaway is really a part of things - its like the writer finally found a voice for Hathaway. there was one brief shot of Lewis silhouetted sitting in a chair that captured him looking like a young Lewis when he was Morse's sidekick.
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Well it didn't look like they were ending Lewis again so maybe it'll be back next year. Unless I missed it they never said if Lewis and the Doc were married.
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Yes, they are married - took place either the last round or the round before that...
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I thought this Inspector Lewis episode was one of the best also. I think that the last scenes were a great way to end the series, if this is really the last. Season 7 was supposed to be the end but then they were commissioned for this season 8, after a year off.
In the last scenes Hathaway finally says that Lewis should buy him a pint. Before that Lewis talks about learning something from Morse which parallels Hathaway learning from Lewis (I can't recall the exact words; I"ll have to watch it again).
The Paradise does have an aura of foreboding. I don't like that feeling!
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Good grief just read in an older article that one of the Inspector Lewis episodes was based on Lewis Carrol's Hunting the Snark - tracking down more I find that all the Inspector Lewis episodes are a parody of what in Britain would be a well known piece of literature. So that Lewis and Hathaway are not about developing the team work of a pair of detectives but are metaphors for the literary piece of the week.
Last night there was a brief mention of Nietzsche for good reason - the whole episode was related to Nietzsche's second book and the title of last night's Episode - Beyond Good And Evil - The book can be downloaded free http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4363/4363-h/4363-h.htm
Essentially in the book Nietzsche lays out his entire philosophy - Here is a quote that says it better than I could - "Nietzsche accuses past philosophers of lacking critical sense and blindly accepting dogmatic premises in their consideration of morality. Specifically, he accuses them of founding grand metaphysical systems upon the faith that the good man is the opposite of the evil man, rather than just a different expression of the same basic impulses that find more direct expression in the evil man. The work moves into the realm "beyond good and evil" in the sense of leaving behind the traditional morality which Nietzsche subjects to a destructive critique in favour of what he regards as an affirmative approach that fearlessly confronts the perspectival nature of knowledge and the perilous condition of the modern individual."
Now it makes sense that Lewis was blindly accepting what to him was dogma- the premise of guilt - while Graham Lawrie reads everything and listens to classical music as Morse did so the mish mash of our trust when an educated cultured individual does not fit our picture of a murderer. In the episode last night I think Graham Lawrie played his part sinister enough so that Robbie's direct attack seemed appropriate and yet, it was Hathaway who went past blindly accepting the moral judgement of the past to even confront Robbie as not being "good" as in the opposite of "bad" since he missed an important document that would help to release Lawrie from prison.
This realization of what the writers are doing brings a whole new appreciation and understanding of the series - Now I want to go back and see what each episode in these past 6 or 7 series where an allegory to which I think will better explain what I see as awkward, the relationship between Lewis and Hathaway. Last night they finally appeared at the end to get it together as if they were a team. That is a first - there were times in the past when Lewis shows concerned for and appeared almost big brother like to Hathaway but then, during those episodes Hathaway was not equal in rank. It just seemed like a different approach to me when I remember how Morse treated Lewis.
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PBS is showing a series of American made documentaries titled MAKERS, and last night they ran episode number four (4) of the six (6) made for this series. It is called WOMEN IN WAR, and is history beyond fascinating. I cannot recommend it to you strongly enough. Outstanding. Every woman in this entire country should see it.
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Thanks, MaryPage, for that recommendation. Apparently MAKERS is an ongoing series, started in 2004. There are some full episodes and clips and more information at http://video.pbs.org/program/makers-women-who-make-america/
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I enjoyed The Paradise last night.
Of course, being one of those insane Jane Austen fanatics, I remained glued to Death Comes to Pemberley, despite having hated the book by P.D. James. I found I had just about completely forgotten the book, but as the film last night unfolded, I began to quibble over little details like: "didn't they have TWO little boys in the book?" Anyway, I enjoyed it in the same sense that I always enjoy watching different stories I have read being acted out with varying sensibilities of how it all should look and sound. The very variety entertains and thrills me immensely. That being said, I cannot say James's book on screen comes off any more convincingly than does the book. Bah humbug! Bring back Jane, pulleeze!
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Last night was the second night in a row I fell asleep on my recliner before a program I wanted to see came on. Of course I woke up just after it was over. Sigh! I'll have to try and catch Pemberly later in the week on the rerun.
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One of our local PBS channels is running it this very afternoon, so be sure to check your own program schedules!
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With the change of actor playing Darcy I kept getting confused because he did act in one of the Jane Austen stories - I think the one where he was older and called on whoever was the female about her gossiping - he was not nearly as dreamy looking a Darcy as Colin so that the small exchanges between him and his now wife did not make me feel any sense of a gentle loving passionate intimacy between them - even when Matthew Macfadyen played the part of Darcy you felt the earth shift a bit.
Paradise had my tummy going loopdy lou with both guys trying to get at each other by dangling their wives - and the watch - sheesh - I was waiting for it to be lost or snatched but this chess game they are all playing is not joyful to watch - too much like our current reality reminding us of politics rather than offering us a fantasy to escape all of that. And yet somehow I want to see a happily ever after but from the coming attractions it could be we will see Denise with the success bug taking over beyond any affection for Moray.
Both shows were fabulous period pieces but I was not enthralled with the story and the actor playing Darcy as I have been with other period pieces - I am glad we have another season of Downton to look forward to - and not a period piece but most satisfying that one something from Halifax - I think there is another season of that although Alan's dance at the end of the last season could have been an ending that beat all endings.
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My station showed half of :Death Comes to Pemberley" last night. IMO both Elizabeth and Darcy were miscast. Or perhaps it's the director. She is playing as if she is the same person she played in "The Bletchley Circle" (which doesn't work for Elizabeth Darcy) and he is overdoing Darcy's brusqueness to the point of sounding like a complete jerk. Makes you realize how good the actors in the Pride and Prejudice movie were.
But of course, I'm such an Austen nut, I'm very critical.
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I watched the third in the PBS series GREAT ESTATES SCOTLAND tonight. That is to say, the 3rd which I have seen, the first two being Inveraray and Kincardine. I had to miss Dumfries, as I was away from home that night, but I hope to catch it in repeats. Anyway, tonight they did ROSSLYN CHAPEL, on the estate of Rosslyn Castle. Dan Brown made this chapel famous in his book "The De Vinci Code." Before that book was published, this gorgeous 15th century chapel had about 3,000 visitors a YEAR, and now they have been able to completely restore it with the money from 30,000 sightseers per MONTH! People come from all over the world. If any place on earth can rival the Taj Mahal for pure beauty constructed by our species, this is IT. Hope you were able to catch it, too; or will soon.[/color]
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Oh, nuts. I forgot that was on last night, MaryPage. Darn, I wanted to see that.
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I have not watched very much TV on PBS but I have them on the dvr. I watch most of my TV taped as I can't stand then DAMM commercials.
I loved Mr Selfridge I need To watch it again. My TV dvr's 4 channels at once and you can watch a 5th. Of course I could never miss downton Abbey, so good.
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Oh, MaryPage, I hope you get to see the program on Dumfries. I was very impressed with what Prince Charles has done/is doing to help that area.
I have recorded Rosslyn Chapel. My tv guide says it is the "Series Finale".
So often, I forget to watch one of the PBS programs. I've learned that, when I scan through the on-screen tv guide, I can often find a rebroadcast in "the wee hours" of the same night and can set the dvr recording.
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I did not like Death Comes to Pemberley at all. Darcy and Elizabeth were really miscast. I was disappointed and gave up on it after the first 15 minutes. Pride and Prejudice is on Netflix in 5 or 6 episodes and it is quite good. Different actors would have made a world of difference IMO.
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I felt I could not yet judge whether Darcy was a good Darcy, or not. He may well turn out to be. He certainly showed himself to be the one in charge when it came to leading a group to find the missing men and in getting them back to Pemberley and in informing the local Law. Nope, it is, as yet, too early for me to pass judgment on this Darcy.
But I was left wondering during MOST of the episode where on earth was our feisty, energetic Elizabeth. She did come through once, when Darcy had addressed the servants and neglected to thank and reassure them. Elizabeth took the reins and did so, and quite beautifully, I thought. She said what needed saying, and in the spirited manner of our beloved heroine of Pride & Prejudice.
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I am so excited tonight because, in just a few minutes now, I am going to be able to catch the Scottish Castle episode I missed when it first ran: DUMFRIES. And I will have seen this entire wonderful series.
Last night I caught another episode of Scott & Bailey, and marveled all over again at the outstanding acting performances.
Sigh! I would be totally lost without PBS.[/color]
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Mary Page, I envy you. Our PBS does not carry all those interesting programs that the Maryland PBS carries, but they sure have a lot of programs for "raising money". We do get the Masterpiece Theater.
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(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)
See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).
NOW DISCUSSING
Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.
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Downton Abbey, Season IV
A reprise of Season IV will be broadcast on some local stations during December. Watch for the new season in January 2015!
ALREADY DISCUSSED
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This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives. MISS MARPLE, Season VII (September 21 -28): Get a double dose of Marple as season VII kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 21! A Caribbean Mystery at 8pm and Greenshaw's Folly at 9:30pm. Check local listings. THE PARADISE, Season 2 (September 28- November 16) Time has not stood still since last season’s wedding disaster. Moray, Denise, and Katherine reunite under a new regime. INSPECTOR LEWIS, Season VII (October 5 - 19): Will Inspector Lewis retire and leave DI Hathaway on his own? DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY (October 26; November 2), Six years after the end of Jane Austen's timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy plan a ball...with fatal consequences. Watch a star-studded adaptation of crime-writer P.D. James' bestselling whodunit. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, South Riding) as quick-witted Elizabeth Darcy, Matthew Rhys (The Americans) as the principled Mr. Darcy, Matthew Goode (The Good Wife) as the roguish Wickham, and Jenna Coleman as coquettish minx Lydia (Doctor Who). The Worricker Trilogy, parts 2 and 3 (November 9; 16). Page Eight, Turks & Caicos, and Salting the Battlefield form The Worricker Trilogy—three gripping films that follow the exploits of the intensely private and scrupulous Worricker—from MI5 headquarters in London to exile on a Caribbean island to life on the run with his former lover and fellow agent. Featuring Bill Nighy, the all-star cast also includes Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), and Oscar nominees Winona Ryder (Little Women, The Age of Innocence), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, The Wings of the Dove), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler’s List), and Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives, A Passage to India). Also starring are Rupert Graves (Sherlock), Saskia Reeves (Wallander), and Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down).
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Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.
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Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes3/sherlockiii.jpg) Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.
Discussion Leaders: marcie (marciei@aol.com)
We haven't had Scott & Bailey for quite awhile. I hope we do this winter, as I enjoy that program too.
We do have Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, though, and those are fun.
nlhome
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I really find The Paradise is getting too sick for me. I kind of ignored it last night, although I did have it on. It seemed that each situation just became darker and more impossible, and it was not pleasurable.
I DID enjoy the second and last installment of Death Comes to Pemberley. They tweaked the book a bit here and there, but it pretty much turned out as expected. It was lovely to see the outside of Chatsworth, which I visited way back in 1971, As a tourist, that is; I do not mean as a guest of the family. The last of the Mitfords, the dowager Duchess, died there this year. I had such an interest in the Mitfords that I bought every book published about them. This last one, Deborah Cavendish, wrote quite a few herself, mostly about Chatsworth. Ah well, end of an era; and I am feeling I have witnessed so very many of those!
Finally, I started to watch an episode of Scott & Bailey, which I had already seen, so I switched over from the Baltimore to the Washington, D.C. PBS channel and watched a marvelous film about the two royal brothers, David & Albert, both kings of England, though only the second had a coronation. Great stuff!
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Downton Abby has been renewed
Midwives has been renewed
The Paradise is ending on Nov 16 so I guess that's it because it hasn't been renewed
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That's great about the renewals, jeriron. Mr. Selfridge was renewed instead of The Paradise.
This Sunday, part 2 of the Worricker Trilogy (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/worricker-s1/) will begin. (Part 1 - Page Eight - was shown last season). In part 2, Turks & Caicos, we'll learn why Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) returns to work after his escape to Turks & Caicos. Winona Ryder, Christopher Walken, Helena Bonham Carter and Rupert Graves also star.
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And I can hardly wait, because I am flat out nuts about Bill Nighy. Not a romantic crush, such as I have felt in the past for Leslie Howard and Paul Newman, among others, but a strong admiration for his abilities as an actor. Bill Nighy is Top Notch!
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I really like Bill Nighy as an actor too, MaryPage. And the other actors in this episode too!
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We can watch the first part of the Worricker Trilogy, Page Eight, online through November 30 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/full-episodes/worricker-s1-page-eight/?elq=51719fcc2bfe42678776a569c32082f5&elqCampaignId=1086
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I re-watched Page 8 yesterday and enjoyed it even more than I did the first time. Am looking forward to seeing tonight's episode. I agree Bill Nighy is an excellent actor.
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The first part of the Worricker Trilogy is on my PBS station tonight. Thanks for the "heads-up".
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OH my word, what a cast!! Thank you for that link to the Page 8, Marcie, Netflix has Page 8 also. All I can get on the IPad is the previews and I've watched them all, it looks wonderful!!
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Ginny, I went to the PBS app that I have on my iPad and watched the first Page 8. They will have it on their site for viewing until Nov. 30th.
Tonight I watched the first of the trilogy and really enjoyed it. What a great cast of characters!
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Well, I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's show, and adored Bill Nighy and Christopher Walken. That being said, I must admit I really thought they were speaking a bunch of cliches and gas filled rubbish most of the show, and I hadn't a clue as to what was going on.
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I thought it was quite clear.
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MaryPage, I just thought it was me. Didn't have a clue. I missed the first 10 minutes and kept trying to doze off on the rest of the first hour, so I thought I was just fuzzy brained enough not to be able to follow. I didn't finish watching. I'll try again on the rerun.
Observations I did make were that the filmography seemed exceptionally clear, Bill Nighy spent in inordinate amount of filler time walking about, and that Christopher Walken seemed a bit stiff, like he was afraid his face would crack if he turned his head to look at Nighy when he was talking to him. Oh, when Stirling Rogers (Rupert Graves) told Margot (Helena Bonham Carter) to ask if she required a separate room, I thought her reaction was perfect. Subtle, not overstated.
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Yes, the acting was of the very highest quality, the filming was superb. It was the PLOT and most especially the DIALOGUE that was and remains a mystery to me. I mean, I could follow the words and understand what they were; I just could not pick up on what the hey they were talking about!
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It started with Page 8 and the fact that during the Irag War the Prime Minister was running a rogue intelligence service and knowing about the CIA building the "camps" in various countries for torture and MI6 and the British Not Being Told. The job was left to Johnny by his dear friend to discredit the Prime Minister. Last night continued that theme with the Jersey crooks coming for a "rich men's" meeting. Now the CIA realizes that those Jersey crooks charged way too much and want to get some of their their money back. After the CIA drags in Johnny, he realizes he can use this to get the Prime Minister. The rich British gentleman is skimming off money in deals with the British gov. for a special fund for the Prime Minister so he can work helping to make more money and solve problems wherever in the world for him (Sterling) when he (the Prime Minister) is out of office. Johnny sees his chance in bringing the Prime Minister's duplicity out in public. Remember when Johnny mailed that package. No doubt that was going to his newspaper friend. I think we find the plot a little clearer next week. I believe the whole series is about the Iraq War in a very British nuanced way. AT LEAST THat IS SOME OF WHAT I GOT OUT OF IT. :D
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Thanks for the help with the interpretation of the plot, FlaJean. I too thought that the actors were wonderful. I didn't recognize Winona Ryder at first. I thought she was excellent in the role.
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I got the impression it was not just about past history with the profiteering during and after the Iraq war but was an exposè of what is still going on and by bringing in the fictitious Island it was bringing in the problems of Haiti torn by politicians and big money wanting a tourist trade and Bermuda where jobs for everyday people are still not being created.
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'Cept for one thing, Barbara Dear: the islands are NOT fictitious!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_and_Caicos_Islands
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Ah so another Island that is a tug of war between the haves and have nots.
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FlaJean, I live too far out for a strong connection, apparently. It wouldn't load at all on the IPad, then to watch it on the computer satellite and it (Page Eight) started well, but then it just stopped and the whirling dervish tried to load the next part. For a long long time. (Just like the old days, some of us are still living in them, apparently. :)) Kind of spoils the ...ambiance, however.
But I did tape last night's Turks and Caicos and was smitten by the first 20 minutes. I got up thinking how strange Christopher Walken is, I think the other actors said you never know what he's going to do. I thought (this is as far as I got) the scene where Nighy calls for assistance? And the phone rings in the room with only another phone to answer it was striking and kind of exciting since I don't know what's going on yet. Something is obviously up tho with the Nighy character.
Thank you for that great synopsis, FlaJean!
I agree with Frybabe the photography is crystal clear, a pleasure to watch. Can't wait to really get into it to see what all you are talking about.
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No one has mentioned how they liked the end of the trilogy of Worricker. I was a little disappointed with the storyline.
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Could not understand anyone arguing in the middle of the street - could not figure out what the Prime Minister's skimming money had to do with his next job with I think it was the EU or something like that - Worricker ends up loosing his girl - lost his wife someplace along the line and severely impaired his relationship with his daughter for what - not sure the message was for country after he turned out to be a friend to the very leader who was taking the country for what he could - seemed like a useless life.
I thought they wrapped up Paradise nicely - if that was not intended as the end, it sure would have been bringing life back to a dead story if they originally intended to keep it going - there were a lot of side stories left without being tied up so maybe that would have been the way to revive what was going on.
Been enjoying DCI Banks - like that they have a love interest going...
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I also was a little disappointed with the Worricker episode. What was the building that he was standing in front of at the very end?
I enjoyed the actors in The Paradise. Katherine and Tom Westin getting together as a family with his daughter and a new baby on the way seemed somewhat of a stretch :-)
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I enjoyed the ending of The Paradise, albeit it did seem a bit toooooo contrived.
I really cannot say that I enjoyed the Worricker, except for the wonderful acting, and especially the great and one and only Bill Nighy. I hated the story line, all the wickedness and cynicism and hateful spitefulness and stealth. Scheesch! I would not, COULD not, live in a world like that!
Yes, I love the realness and the everydayness of the DCI BANKS series. And I was lucky enough to catch a Scott & Bailey after that!
Oh, I am pretty sure it was the door to the building that holds MI6 (or MI5, whichever one it is that does the Foreign spying thing) that Johnny Worricker was entering. At the end of the episode.
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I wondered also at the huge imposing building with the very large cobbled courtyard that it appears along the side were the gates to the inner back door - sure not anything like Downing street or the headquarters for MI5 or MI6 since we have seen the actual buildings for them on TV so what was it and what was it supposed to represent - Did not look like any of the museums in London that I can remember - and so two things what was the building and what was it supposed to represent.
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Like you, MaryPage, I think he's going to walk into the MI5 headquarters. I was sort of hoping there was some other meaning to the ending but I think that Johnny accepts the offer to return to MI5 in return for Julianne and Margot's safety and Maverley's reinstatement.
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And to set up for a future Worricker series, perhaps?
When he is not busy filming with Judi Dench in India, that is.
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I really didn't enjoy the Worricker series to much. I think it's because I'm not crazy about spy shows. Somewhere during the show it loses me and I realize I don't know what's going on. ???
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NOTHING on PBS here tonight! No Masterpiece Theatre! No nothing that I want to watch.
I will be forced over to the 8:00 o'clock movie on the Hallmark Channel. The Christmas Shepherd, who, it turns out, is a German Shepherd dog. No, no, no! Not in the Nativity scene! In this brand new movie set in our time.
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Just saw Worricker: Turks &Caicos on my PBS station. Interesting.
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Last night we had the very last Poirot - shocking ending - he does not go in a whimper - has anyone seen it?
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Curtain? I saw that last week. I know I read the book but I still didn't remember the plot line.
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Wow so out of character to end that way - he never played judge, jury and enforcer about any character no matter how despicable - and frankly where, I forgot his name but, where he appeared oily without the back story that we only get from Poirot we would never know since he did not come across as being that base and maybe that is it - the message is to realize the dangerious folks can appear as if they are not causing damage, that manipulation is sublet.
Strange group of people, the wife (who is in the Halifax thing we all love) was really a shrew and then Poirot scolding and being more than insensitive but cruel to the inspector - I guess they were showing how the best of us can become impatient with those we love in old age when we are not feeling as we had or are really sick. All and all I do not like the feeling that ending left with me. blah humbug
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I am going to be lucky enough to watch the last episode of Last Tango In Halifax once more this evening on PBS BBC (our channel 265), and I am going to do so just to hug the Joy of seeing Derek Jacobi do that song and dance routine. Giving myself a Christmas present, I am!
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I did. I did watch that last episode again, and found that I loved it even more the second time around. Wonderful.
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That's great, MaryPage, that you had the opportunity to see that episode again. I agree that the song and dance routine was a wonderful surprise/bonus at the end.
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Through my Christmas break I actually rented all 4 seasons of Downton Abbey and am now caught up and ready for season 5 to begin! I was so sad when Matthew got killed off, he was my favorite.
Ginny, Thank you for your post about others being so upset about Matthew, and how he decided not to return. I still have not gotten over him being gone. I will have to check out his new venture. I am so glad they left his mother in, she does ground the rest of the characters.
Marcie, thank you for the link! I am a newly, overexcited viewer of Downton Abbey. Can't wait for it to begin in just 7 days!!
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Let's continue to talk about Downton Abbey and other PBS programs in our new 2015 discussion at http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=4555.msg242349#msg242349
Season V starts on January 4!