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Scheduled & Proposed Book Discussions => PBS Programs => Topic started by: BooksAdmin on December 30, 2014, 11:45:55 PM

Title: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BooksAdmin on December 30, 2014, 11:45:55 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015-2016 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

COMING IN JANUARY
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Sherlock - The Abominable Bride (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/episode/sherlock-the-abominable-bride/)
January 1; repeated on January 10, 2016

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the acclaimed modern retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic stories. But now, our heroes find themselves in 1890s London.

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Downton Abbey Season 6 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey)
January 3- March 6, 2016

Rejoin this Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning drama for a sixth and final season.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

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Indian Summers (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/indian-summers/)
September 27- November 22, 2015

Set in a subtropical paradise during the twilight era of the British Empire, Indian Summers explores the collision of the ruling class English with their Indian subjects, and the intricate game of power, politics, and passion that ensues. Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Oscar® nominee for Billy Elliot and Educating Rita) stars as Cynthia Coffin, the glamorous doyenne of an English social club, and is joined by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jemima West, Nikesh Patel, Roshan Seth, and Lillete Dubey.

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Home Fires (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/home-fires-s1/)
October 4 - November 8, 2015

At the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour. Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Cranford) head an ensemble cast in the moving wartime drama, Home Fires, based on Jambusters, Julie Summers’ history of Britain’s Women’s Institute.

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Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).

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Arthur & George (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/arthur-and-george/)
September 6- 20, 2015

Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) stars as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a three-part MASTERPIECE adaptation of a novel by Julian Barnes based on real events. Outraged by injustice to an Anglo-Indian solicitor, the famed author uses the methods of his own fictional detective to get at the truth. Co-starring are Arsher Ali (The Missing) as George Edalji; and Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey) as Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur’s real-life “Dr. Watson.”

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Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).


June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

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Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

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Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 31, 2014, 12:16:31 AM
Season V of Downton Abbey starts this Sunday. We're going to have lots to talk about!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on December 31, 2014, 04:33:18 AM
I am really looking forward to Downton Abbey.  I watched Call the Midwife Christmas special & found it delightful as usual.  The new season of Midwife starts in March.
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: nlhome on December 31, 2014, 02:13:10 PM
I see that the Call the Midwife Christmas special is on one of our local PBS stations tonight so will watch that instead of the New Year's shows.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 31, 2014, 02:31:53 PM
Just in - need groceries - Gershwin from Lincoln Square or whatever the official name is on tonight and tomorrow is the Vienna New Year Concert - tra la -
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on December 31, 2014, 04:09:24 PM
Really forward to this new season of Downton Abbey.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on December 31, 2014, 04:35:29 PM
I, too, look forward to the new season of Downton Abbey.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on December 31, 2014, 05:43:28 PM
Marking!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 02, 2015, 08:29:23 AM
No Call the Midwife here.. darn it all. but I am sure that Sunday we will have Downton and can hardly wait.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: bellamarie on January 03, 2015, 12:02:10 PM
I am so excited for Season V to begin.  I rented Seasons 1 - 1V a couple of weeks ago and got caught up and just fell in love with this show.  I wish I could magically make Matthew return.  Oh how perfect he and Mary were, and to give birth to the new heir of Downton. 

Here is a link to tickle our interest a bit before tomorrow night..... Enjoy!

http://www.thirteen.org/downton-abbey/web-exclusive-video/downton-abbey-season-5-holiday-preview/

I have never seen Call the Midwife, but a friend suggested I get the dvds and watch it.  I did set my dvr to tape the Christmas special, so I will see how I like it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on January 03, 2015, 01:55:44 PM
I enjoyed the retrospective that our two PBS stations did over the last month. There were bits and pieces of episodes that i had missed and i started looking at the backgrounds of scenes rather than focusing on the characters and dialogues only. Holy smokes those are some huge rooms!!! And other then the episode where Thomas hid the dog, i hadn't paid much attention to the dog. While watching recently i noticed that he frequently ambles into room, or sits by the fireplace when the scenes are at Downton Abbey. A friend said she thinks that is the dog of the owner if DA.

I very much enjoy looking at the change of fashion and hairstyles thru the series. Of course, the dowager hasn't kept up with the changes very much. >:(

Jean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 04, 2015, 09:36:35 AM
I love the show and love Elizabeth McGovern, who is prettier than any of her daughters.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on January 04, 2015, 12:17:08 PM
 The wait is over! Get a double dose of Downton Abbey today, Jan. 4, 2015, starting at 9pm ET with the Season 5 premiere. Then, stay tuned for an all-new documentary, The Manners of Downton Abbey, featuring series historical advisor Alastair Bruce. The one-hour documentary features revealing interviews with leading cast members, including Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Sophie McShera and others. Discover the secrets of how the aristocratic set dined and dressed, how they married and made money, how they interacted with the servants, and above all why they behaved as they did. Illustrated with memorable moments from Downton Abbey, the program is a treat for fans and anyone fascinated with the customs of early 1900s Britain.

See a preview of "Manners" at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/episode/manners-downton-abbey/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 04, 2015, 02:27:37 PM
I wonder if one of the reasons we are in awe and glued to Downton because so many of us are tired of what happened to us with big box stores and the global economy - found this and it hit me there is nothing disposable as a matter of course during the Downton years...
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Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: bellamarie on January 04, 2015, 02:49:32 PM
Barb, We have seemed to turn into a throw away society.  I look at this present generation and I fear tradition, religion, family and even passed down heirlooms, mean so little to them.  I see so many divorces, split homes, shared custody, that the children today live in a whirlwind of whose house do I go to after school, on the weekend, for the holiday, etc., along with the activities they are involved in.  Everything seems so disposable, they can eliminate a family member or friend by the click of a button on their cell phone or Facebook. 

I have come to enjoy Downton Abbey because it brings back the generational family, the traditions, the struggles to keep these things important and in tact.  Plus, I just love the era, clothes, regalness and the interaction with the working staff.  Watching Downton Abbey for me is like reading a Jane Austen novel!  Oh how I loved Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, Mary and Matthew so reminded me of them.  Still sad Matthew is no longer in the show.

Thank you Marcie, for the heads up to follow after the show tonight.  I will set my dvr so I won't miss it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 05, 2015, 08:53:30 AM
Locally we had a feast. Two hours of the last show of season 4, then season 5, then the show on how and whys.. Whew.. Edith is beginning to puzzle me. Her generation had nannies.. She seems to be reacting as a villager would act about her daughter. I would guess the child is a substitute for the man she loved, but why she is so very different from her two sisters interests me.. I also got sort of a feeling about her Aunt and her reactions to Ediths statement, that she had no idea what it was like, because she never had a child.. Hmm.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on January 05, 2015, 11:22:34 AM
Steph, that's an interesting insight about Edith. I thought last night's episode had a lot of intrigues.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 05, 2015, 12:03:38 PM
I thought the second show about the manners of this time in history said volumns about how little intimacy and compassion could possibly get past the lifetime of streight and narrow with even the clothing supporting that straight and narrow self contained viewpoint of life - today we hear of folks trying to make up of family trauma and shame by being perfect - mostly it is a reaction by girls and women - it appears this whole society was bent on perfection - was the trauma of the French Revolution that great or did it come on the heals of the revolution in America therefore it was a double whammy that unsettled the aristocrats - perfection was certainly allready in place by the time the Brits experienced the wealth drain so that those like Robert Crawley married American heiresses.

The elite from other nations wore clothing that was as restrictive however, and where manners were restrictive not nearly as the Brits. that would be an interesting bit of research wouldn't it to why the Brits became as they did as compared to the French, Russians, Austrians and the Americans of wealth. Wasn't the royalty of Russia, France, Austria all related to the royals of England or was that later after Victoria died in the last half of the nineteenth century - I did not get the impression this was a new viewpoint on life just during the Edwardian era which is after Victoria.

And yes, Steph it does seem strange that Edith is emotionally attached to her little girls especially when you see the two little ones being brought in for the daily visit before dinner in the big house - but then maybe this visit with her little girl is no different only taking a few minutes since she is still wearing her coat at the table. My gut tells me somehow he was either caught up in or captured for some secret part he played with either the White Russians trying to escape or they never said but he could be Jewish and as a Jew in Germany during the early days before WWII something could have happened or he may be wanting to keep hidden to do his work helping. Britain did not see the danger yet, but as a newspaper man he could see waht was happening.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on January 05, 2015, 01:16:43 PM
I made a comment about Lady Mary and Edith but then thought it might be telling too much about the last night's plot so deleted it.   I wonder how many people saw Downton Abbey last night and how many dvr'd it to watch later.  Sometimes I'm not sure how to comment for fear it will spoil it for someone.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on January 05, 2015, 03:10:14 PM
Is Edith the middle child? Do you remember in the 70s someone wrote a book about the issues of "middle children?" Maybe Fellowes was of an age to remember that.

I found it interesting when they talked about the rigid behaviors of the aristocracy that Lady Crawley, being raised in America by Shirley McClain (smile) would not have been more of a rebel. She's such a mouse, especially in the earlier seasons and Fellowes had her falling right into all mores of the British aristocracy, didn't he? It might have been more fun to have her be more gutsy and progressive.

Jean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 05, 2015, 03:44:42 PM
FlaJean, I thought we were all free to discuss an episode once it has been shown on American television, which it in fact WAS last night.  So please speak up with your opinion.
Mabel/Jean, yes, Edith was the middle daughter of three, Sybil, the youngest,  now being dead.  There are only 2 daughters left:  Mary and Edith.  Rose is a NIECE, and is living with them so she could come out in the debut season, which she did last season, and find a husband in England, her parents having moved to Australia in Foreign Service or some such.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 06, 2015, 09:15:11 AM
I think that Cora fell in love and when she married him, she wanted to fit in and has worked very hard to do so. But do remember how upset she got when Sybel  died and she blamed Robert.. So she does fight back. I think she is the type of woman, who gets her way by gentleness. He actually does a lot of what she wants if you pay attention.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on January 06, 2015, 10:10:31 AM
Notice during the fire he made sure they got the dog out safely. Every time I see the dog it makes me smile. He sure has had a long life.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on January 06, 2015, 11:44:23 AM
The character of Lady Mary has evolved over these series.  She has gone from being snobbish when first meeting Matthew to showing wisdom in handling Rose's attachment to the black singer and in helping Anna.  She has handled Lord Grantham wisely in the affairs of land management.  But is she making a good decision regarding a tryst with Lord Gillingham.  She has a lot at stake in this matter.  What if she decides he isn't the right one.  Will Lord Gillingham use it against her.  I didn't care for Lady Mary at first, but as she matures she is becoming much more likable IMO.

I agree with Steph that Cora handles Robert with gentleness and more times than not gets her way.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 06, 2015, 12:29:21 PM
Yes, gentleness - I think she knows how much he loves her making him so vulnerable and she would not hurt him unless very necessary as with the choice of birth for her youngest daughter that resulted in her death. That was a blow that is hard to live with - to trust what you know and then have death on your hands - oh dear - they were both in pain. He is so caught - to continue putting faith in the old traditions keeps the Abby and Estate's value and yet, the old ways is making him as well as his ideas irrelevant in this new world of estate profitability to pay the taxes.

Just dawned on me - most of us live a suburban lifestyle where we were never responsible for the house and land we live on to pay its way. Home owners maintain a building and land as a place of protection and pride but not as a source of income to pay the taxes on the property. Hmm I wonder what that would look like with that kind of thinking.   

Something strange about Lord Gillingham - there appears to me to be more than not having a valet after the sudden death of - forgot his name - Mary never told him why she wanted him to fire the valet but there seems to be something I picked up last night - is he down in his finances and wants to use Mary's wealth to shore himself up - there is just something wrong - do not see Mary 'in love' and she did say that she wanted that - we shall see and maybe even learn what ever happened to Edith's Michael.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: bellamarie on January 07, 2015, 09:17:31 AM
I agree, I feel there is something very off about Lord Gillingham as well.  He does seem to be insistent on his pursuit of Mary, although he was all set to marry another.  I like how they are showing how Mary is maturing and accepting not only responsibility with her knowledge of turning profits for the estate, but also in speaking up to her father with just the right assertion, without disregarding his feelings.  She knows he is having a difficult time with changes, he wants so badly for his life at Abby to remain as it always has.  Lady Grantham is soft speaking to him, but she appreciates the fact he represents all of the decades of tradition.

I think Thomas is really struggling with wanting to remain loyal to the family, and yet the school teacher is arousing the rebel in him.  How horribly thoughtless and rude of her to sit at their dinner table, a celebration of their anniversary and insult them the way she did.  I really do not like her.  I get a sense they may be preparing us for Thomas to leave to go to America.

It seems the house is becoming a place of ex cons, thieves, and manipulators.  How does one live among such untrustworthy people who must serve them, be in the closest quarters of their bedrooms, and living areas?  I truly loved how Mr. Carson insisted the board give Lord Grantham the patron spot, or he refused to be on the board.  He is such a loyal and caring servant to the family.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 07, 2015, 09:29:03 AM
Yes Carson is one of the wisest people in the place.. I don't like this suiter of Mary's... No idea why, just don't.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on January 07, 2015, 10:53:03 AM
I also sort of got caught up with the replays of the Downton series tho I have missed I think an entire year's worth (I missed the rape) and only saw a few but it was enough to catch me up, except I don't know what's going on with Edith. Where is her...boyfriend? I see the child and her visiting but where is the  clandestine boyfriend?

That actress is very pretty in real life, it's amazing what  a crimped (what is that called, it has a name) hairstyle will do for you.

I find Lady Mary a cold fish and the least sympathetic of all the characters. I am sure this is only good acting.  Compare her to the Brideshead folks, full of passion. Of course I don't know any of the rich and titled but I do remember Upstairs Downstairs and I don't really recall a character like hers.  ...she's just STIFF....I can't relate to her at all.   Maggie Smith is not stiff and she's the Dowager, so they aren't all stiff mannequins.

Hugh Bonneville is good as Lord Grantham, a bit young for the part, tho he carries it off,  he's just turned 42. And the thing has been on for...what....5 years? But he's good.  I feel sorry for him, he's "not wanted," I'm not sure why?   He means well. He can't be that ineffectual,  surely.

Oh yes Carson's got all the sense and dignity. Just like Hudson. Two splendid actors. I think Hudson did the  worship of the upper class better, but they  are both good.

Lots of passion downstairs.  Are these Edwardians?  This stiff laced era was not at all stiff laced, it's a myth we like to perpetuate, in reality  it was something else.

 Dan Stevens, (formerly Matthew) is an absolute HOOT as Lancelot in the new Night at the Museum 3.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on January 07, 2015, 11:31:10 AM
Tom has never been 100% comfortable with his elevation to the "gentleman" class because of his marriage to Sybil; the teacher offers him an opportunity to return to his "rebel roots".  Is he being tempted to do so?  
 Lord Gillingham has apparently lost his fortune and perhaps stands to lose his classification as a "gentleman".  How will this affect the social standing to which he is accustomed and his economic future - particularly as a "suitable" husband?  
Interesting contrast for future story line?

Bless Carson.  He's so caught between Tradition and the New Order.   I love the way Mrs. Hughes gently guides him into changing his mind about The Way Things Are Done.

Loved the way Lady Violet set up the luncheon for Isobel and the eligible single men.  She's the most fun character of all!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 07, 2015, 02:09:01 PM
Oh I did not know - this episode makes me think Mary does not know either that Lord Gillingham has apparently lost his fortune and perhaps stands to lose his classification as a "gentleman". She will not marry to put a drain on her first love the estate - wow - this is what I think some of us were suspecting with his saying he did not replace his valet after his sudden death - The valet was the guy who raped Anna Bates and who the Housekeeper, who shared her concern with Mary, suspect it was Mr. Bates who pushed him under the bus since it turns out he was in York the day of the accidental ?? death.

I am trying to remember but I think Michael and Edith had a secret marriage but if not official he did leave his worldly goods to her and she would visit him in his home in London - forgot the problem why they could not tell the family of their love for each other - and then he had to go to Europe and no one has heard from him since. Edith had sent private investigators and had gone herself after the Baby was born - the only one who knows is Lady Rosamund and I think they way they acted the Dowager Countess of Grantham figured it out although, I do not think she knows the child is on the estate as a long lost friend's daughter to the Tenant Farmer Tim Drewe.

From this past episode it appears we may be loosing Jimmy Kent - I do not think his ego will allow him to blame his unlikely partner.

As to Bates - we have known all along he was a "man of many talents" blamed for the death of his first wife that Anna was finally able to extract the truth from those who lied to support the set up for the death of his first wife - he was a quiet but capable prisoner who could threaten the worst of them and when Anna turned to help from the army she learned he was not discharged with honor - He has shown nothing but a loyal and caring man as a member of this household and only got the job because he was an orderly to Lord Grantham when they both served during WWI - he received a horrible leg wound in the war protecting the life of Lord Grantham that Thomas and even Carson thought he should not have the job because of the leg - there was an episode of him wearing some sort of brace that caused so much damage and it was the housekeeper who insisted she learn what was going on and had him remove the brace.

And so a mixed bag with Bates which is a great way of making his good and evil side so out there that we can more easily see that we are all a mix of good and bad - Even sweet Anna has her side where she is scared thinking her husband actually did cause the death of the valet. Carson we learned in an episode was earlier in life a rather unsavory Song and Dance man with a partner who was anything but respectable. The only one we do not have a dark side is the Housekeeper and the Cook. Daisy carries the guilt of marrying not loving the young man. His Dad is helping her see the good and value of her marriage to his son. They all have something.

I do not think Bates pushed the valet under the bus - who did the pushing observed by those on the street that day will be interesting to learn. I am glad to learn that Lord Gillingham lost his fortune because I do think Mary will be smart enough to find out. From the 'get go' I did not like him, running after Mary after being officially engaged to another. And yes, I too think Tom will leave for American - he is a fish out of water in the social structure that he finds himself in - will Thomas ever get his comeuppance I wonder - he does just enough hero stuff to save himself over and over but wow, he is a piece of cake isn't he. And if Michael never comes back than there is his estate - isn't it 7 years when someone is declared dead - if he does come back how in the world does Edith explain herself to her daughter or will the little girl grow up thinking her home is always with the Tenant Farmer and his wife?  
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on January 07, 2015, 06:28:50 PM
Edith couldn't marry her lover because he had a wife that was institutionalized (mental??) and could not divorce.  Am I correct in this?
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 07, 2015, 06:56:23 PM
ah yes, now I remember - thanks Sally.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on January 07, 2015, 07:12:43 PM
He went ti Germany where he could get a divorce.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on January 07, 2015, 08:43:48 PM
...or so he said!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 07, 2015, 09:51:32 PM
I think Edith's lover was totally sincere, and that he really loves her.  SOMEthing has gone wrong, and I do not know what the writers will come up with.  But I am sure as all get out that he loves her sincerely.

Yes, Lady Violet, the Countess, guessed Edith's secret in the last season.  I suspect it was she who arranged the farming out of the child.  However disapproving she is of Edith's misadventure, she would look upon that child as HER great granddaughter, and would arrange well for her AND for Edith.  Remember, she found out about Mary and the Turk who died in her bed back when she was, supposedly, a virgin.

I cannot believe the young lord who is courting Lady Mary and who has proposed an affair to prove their compatibility could have lost all of his money and Lady Mary would not know that.  I mean, you cannot, according to all the books and magazines and newspapers, etc., keep a secret like that in those aristocratic circles of England.  If the writer attempts to imply otherwise, I feel he is missing the boat on that one.  Julian Fellowes?  Is that his name?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 08, 2015, 08:40:41 AM
I just like Mary's other suiter much much more.. I don't quite understand Mary's decision about bed.. So unlike her normal self, but she does talk of how compatible she and Matthew were and how much she loved him. I suspect she is trying to get that sort of relationship again and is going about it the wrong way.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: JoanK on January 09, 2015, 02:57:53 PM
Marking
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 10, 2015, 08:58:41 AM
mark
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: pedln on January 11, 2015, 07:16:10 PM
I'm missing a few things here.  ROSE -- what is her relationship to Lord Grantham, Cora, Mary, etc?  She calls him Cousin Robert.  And Lady Rosamond, in London is her aunt?  Are Rosamond and Robert siblings?

Somehow, I had it in my head that Pigman Drew's wife had died.  I guess not because they have quite a family there.  How did I get that idea?  (Maybe I should blame it on the captions)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 11, 2015, 10:47:32 PM
Rose is NOT A CRAWLEY.  She is from Violet's side of the family.  Rose is Violet's great niece.  She calls Violet Aunt and, naturally, Robert Cousin.

Yes, Rosamund is Violet's daughter and Robert's sister.

Julian Fellowes had always planned on THREE daughters, but then when Jessica Brown Findlay had to quit due to a prior commitment (she had not considered that Downton might go on and on), he had to kill her off and then invent a way to come up with a third and younger daughter figure.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 12, 2015, 01:33:48 AM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

NOW DISCUSSING

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg)
Downton Abbey, Season V

Watch the new season January 4 - February 22, 2015.


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


Fairly early in the series Rose's family lost their fortune and the father was taking a post in I think either India or Australia - Rose and her mother were at odds with each other so it was suggested by Cora I believe that Rose live with them - the house that Rose grew up in was one of those many destroyed when the owners could not pay the taxes that were levied and the owners did not handle their wealth so that they were in debt.

Rose is still lively however, much calmer than the earlier episodes where she had not control over her impulses like any spoiled teen.

Do you get the feeling it is Thomas who is trying to set up Mr. Bates by arranging to find a witness that we still do not really know if Mr. Bates was even at the site where the Butler was pushed to his death. However, I am suspecting that Mr. Bates is who fenced the jewels that Baxter stole when she was a lady's maid earlier in her life.  
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 12, 2015, 08:50:47 AM
Mary is being a fool.. I always thought of her as cool, but this certainly is not.. And sending her maid to get what she needed is not the least bit fair or right. Tom can do a whole lot better than the schoolteacher, who is not to my taste. I know he was a rebel , but I honestly thought he had settled in as a land manager. Cora has a suiter?? He was really really admiring of  her. Could Bates have known Baxter?? I did not know they had known each other.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 12, 2015, 09:15:52 AM
I can't find anything in past episodes that indicates that Bates ever knew Baxter.  No, I don't think there is any link there.  I think there is some type of family relationship between Thomas and Baxter, and that whatever the deeper (deeper than the theft itself, but the "what became of the stolen items" bit) hidden information is, Baxter cannot betray Thomas re the matter because it would hurt someone Baxter loves.  A child, a brother or sister, a parent.  SOMEone.

It seems fairly obvious that Baxter has a very strong desire to "go straight" and have a decent life.  But say what happened to the jewels, that she will not.  No, she is protecting someone here; and that someone is not herself.

I don't like the schoolteacher either, Steph.  I agree with a lot of her political views, but she is one of those strident, bully types I abhor.  Obviously, she has some good attributes, but she is poison to Tom.  I want Tom and Sibby to stay at Downton Abbey.  I guess basically because he loved Sybil so much and because that is her little girl.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on January 12, 2015, 12:06:00 PM
I keep hoping Lady Mary comes to her senses regarding Lord Gillingham.

If the farmer would confide in his wife regarding Edith, she would be more understanding about the child.  When Anna found the photo of the little girl in Edith's bed, I'm sure mrs. Hughes got the connection between the farmer and Edith.  Mrs. Hughes was giving him some suspicious looks when Edith was talking to him after the fire.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 12, 2015, 12:38:05 PM
Since she kept her affair so secret the only thing that Mrs. Hughes could imagine is she had the child with the Tenant Farmer - and no there is nothing that says or suggests that Baxter knew Bates - it was just a supposition on my part since we keep finding Bates has more and more underground skills and she won't report on him to Thomas.

Thomas has had it in for Bates ever since he arrived and when Thomas became the personal valet for Robert Crawley when the Earl was in New York he did not like going back to his job at the house and missed the status of the higher position. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 13, 2015, 09:08:30 AM
I guess I am baffled as to why Cora and the Duke both listen to Thomas tattletailing.. Why..They know he is not that trustworthy and I remember the Duke did not like him as a valet.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on January 13, 2015, 10:49:21 AM
Well every time they seem to see him for what he is he does something that makes him look good. Like the fake saving of the dog a long while back and now the fire which really was heroic.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on January 13, 2015, 11:22:55 AM
I think that Cora did say that she wasn't going to listen to Thomas and I think she would have let him go if he hadn't been heroic in the fire.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 13, 2015, 12:51:01 PM
I think he is an Earl rather than a Duke - and the folks upstairs are not privy to all we know because we have a window into downstairs that upstairs does not share therefore, they really only see how he performs his duties and Robert did take him as his valet to New York so there would be a bond created because Thomas did his job well while they were in America.

Thomas may also be under the impression that Baxter did not really share her story in the way that called the kind of guilt and shame he wants her to feel so she is beholden to him.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on January 13, 2015, 02:39:38 PM
I watched my recording of Sunday's DA episode last night.  In the opening scene,  whose bed are Anna and Mrs Hughes making - and what was the picture that Anna found under the pillow? 

(tongue in cheek here)  Oooh....did we see just a wee bit of remorse from Thomas when he "admitted" to Anna that he wasn't liked? 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 13, 2015, 03:46:39 PM
Callie it appeared to be Edith's bed with the photo of the little girls that is her secret child being cared for by the Tenant Farmer.

We forget how meaningful it was to have something under your pillow - we do not do that anymore - but I am remembering any bit of sentiment even pieces of special cake or flowers were tucked under the pillow and children tucked under their pillow favorite toys and letters to Fairies, God, Santa you name it - some powerful being that was going to bring them their most precious dream.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 13, 2015, 04:55:11 PM
You are correct, Robert IS a mere Earl, and not a Duke.  Dukes way outrank Earls.  Cora is a Countess, not a Duchess, and Violet is the Dowager Countess.  The only thing that outranks a Duke, other than the Monarch, is a Royal Duke.  A Royal Duke is also a Prince.

Yes, that was Edith's room they were tidying up after the fire.  And she had been looking at a very small photo of her little girl just before she sobbed herself off to sleep before the fire took hold and nearly killed her.  She would definitely have been carried from the room without it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on January 13, 2015, 05:02:49 PM
Thank you for the clarification.  I should have thought of it being Edith's room, particularly since everything was so dark and dingy and Anna was wearing gloves.  I rewound/replayed and stopped the recording just as it showed Anna picking up the picture but I couldn't catch who it was.
 
In the "fire episode",  that scene went by so quickly that I suspect I didn't catch all the details of it, either and I hadn't recorded that episode so couldn't review.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 14, 2015, 08:51:48 AM
Sorry about the Duke thing. Senior moments happen more often in the morning.. As I remember when they came back from NY, Robert had not liked him, but longed for Bates.
Daisy sort of baffles me. She only seems to like men who would not even consider her. She could be the treasured daughter in law of her late husbands Dad, who really really likes her and she acts like it is an imposition. The cook adores her.. Oh well.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 14, 2015, 08:57:15 AM
Well apparently the letter Edith threw into her fire caught fire and then fell out onto the rug on the hearth in front of the fireplace and the rug and the room caught on fire.  Supposedly the smoke overcame the sleeping Edith, and Thomas, who was keeping a watch on the comings and goings of the family and their visitors in order to keep his friend and fellow footman from being caught making out with a visiting lady, rescued Edith and called out the alarm for all to get out.  When Edith was carried from her burning room, she was unconscious, and thus could not take the photo with her.  I am doubting the bit about there being no firescreen, as I think they would have been very careful about those things.  But who am I to mess up a good storyline?
Steph, I have the same memory you do about Robert not liking Thomas as a valet and yearning for Bates.  And yes, Daisy is just the most contrary young woman.  She does not seem to have told anyone at Downton that Mr. Mason, her father in law, intends to leave the farm and everything to her.  That is the REAL reason she has put her mind to learning accounting, and not the idea that she would take another job.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on January 14, 2015, 01:29:39 PM
I had thought that Daisy wanted to learn accounting to qualify for a better job.  But now I can see that knowing how to keep thee books, will also bnefit her.

Favorite two male characters from our show are Carson, and Bates.  Can anyone tell me the names of the actors who portray them?  I am hoping that Carson and Mrs.Hughes  are about to become romantically involved.  As for favorite female characters, The Dowager, and Anna, get my vote.

Sheila
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 14, 2015, 02:19:04 PM
Ask and ye shall receive!  Actually, all you have to do is go to Google and type in "list cast Downton Abbey" and LO!  There you are:

https://www.google.com/#q=list+cast+of+Downton+Abbey

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on January 14, 2015, 10:13:58 PM
Aha!    Finally found out why I didn't know about Edith and the fire.   Discovered I had, indeed, recorded the first episode of the new season - so fast-forwarded through it until I came to the scene where she is reading in bed (is it the book Mrs. Hughes had found and given to her?), sees the picture and tosses the book away as she falls weeping onto her pillow.  The next thing shown is the book blazing on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

I must have dozed off while I was actually watching the episode because I do not remember seeing that particular segment.

I'll be better soon.   ;D
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 15, 2015, 09:13:50 AM
Yes the fire screen with fireplaces in each room would have been a definite thing.. Otherwise, they would have burned many mansions for sure.. But they needed to make Thomas a hero again.. I guess they just want to keep him on the show.
Edith.. She is going to cause problems for the husband of the family keeping her daughter.The wife is very very suspicious.l
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on January 16, 2015, 01:33:29 PM
Thanks, again, Mary.  Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about using my computer,   ???

Sheila
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 17, 2015, 09:15:23 AM
There was a truly funny Christmas thing of Downton Abbey. I saw it on facebook and just howled.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on January 18, 2015, 08:32:13 PM
Is anyone watching Galavant? It's on ABC Sun at 8:00. Lots of music, not always very good, lots of cameos, one of whom is the actress who plays Daisey on DA, other both English and American actors you will know. It's not great, but its fun.

I thought it might have been by a British studio, but Wili says it's American.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galavant
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 19, 2015, 03:30:51 AM
Whee lots and lots of irons in the fire on Downton - do not think we have seen as many characters at one time with cliff hanging issues. It was lovely to see Cora having a lovely time with a lovely man - they looked more of a match then she and Robert although, she is not only loyal to Robert she sincerely loves him.

We had the first episode of Grantchester - pretty good - not riveting but good - the first I have seen of Robson Green as a mature male - he was always the heart-thrub - "Reckless" is how I remember him best.

and also another new one tonight - whew we have a bonanza going on - we've now the Doctor Blake mysteries - looks promising - darker than Grantchester - the start up indicates is was an Australian production. The accent on the actors does sound a bit different but I am not able to detect where the various English accents originate.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 19, 2015, 07:35:41 AM
I always look forward with almost a hunger and thirst, certainly avid with interest, to every new PBS offering from Great Britain.  And I wind up fair astonished at what I like and want more of, and what I find useless to my sensibilities.
Thus I found Father Brown and Doctor Blake both failed to pull me in.  I found the first beyond silly and the second incoherent.
But last night, I loved Grantchester!  Loved it!  So, having tried and failed to like Father Brown or Doctor Blake twice each, I will not tune them in again, but Shetland and Grantchester will have my full and ardent attention, along with George Gently and DCI Banks.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 19, 2015, 08:58:09 AM
Turned on TV in afternoon yesterday. Wow.. up popped Call the Midwife, which I adore, but alas it was a rerun.. Our PBS station just does not have that many English shows. Our PBS is owned by UCF,, so college things predominate.
Mary is being even more of a fool.. She just needs to spit it out.. She liked the fun, but doesn't want to marry him...
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on January 20, 2015, 03:00:03 PM
Steph, I heard, or read somewhere, that "Midwives" will return in March.

Sheila
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 21, 2015, 08:43:18 AM
Oh Sheila, I hope so, I did love the show.. The bikes break me up.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 22, 2015, 07:36:06 AM
My favorite is Chummy;  Oh, I do so love Chummy.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on January 22, 2015, 09:39:28 AM
Did you know that Miranda Hart (Chummy) is actually a comedian? I have streaming and she had a show called Miranda. It was awful. Really not funny. It was all about her appearance. Tall clumsy and never being able to get a man. She spent the whole show falling over things.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 23, 2015, 08:27:50 AM
Its the little teeny one that I like. Forget her name, but she is so very bright and determined.. A character trait that I admire.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 23, 2015, 09:58:20 AM
You mean Cynthia?  Played by Bryony Hannah.  Did you see what she becomes in the very last episode?  I don't want to spoil it for you if you have not seen the latest season yet.  I love her, too.  Always so quiet and yet fiesty.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 24, 2015, 01:29:15 PM
yes, Cynthia.. As far as I can determine, I have only seen one year of this, so I have ordered the first year on Netflix..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 27, 2015, 08:00:03 AM
You have a treat in store, as I have thoroughly enjoyed every episode of every season.
I am still finding Scott & Bailey to be one of the best acted series I have ever seen out of Great Britain.  And the new Grantchester is ever so sweet.  The murder mysteries in and of themselves are not all that fascinating, but the young rector (downright heartbreaker, he is!) and his policeman friend (also one of the greats when it comes to acting!) and the housekeeper and the childhood sweetheart who is to marry someone else, well, these all grabbed my heart and ran with it and I find myself addicted to life as it is lived in Grantchester.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 27, 2015, 08:39:13 AM

Downton gets more and more complicated with the persistant policeman, now after Anna?? who was not even in London at the time of death.. or was she somehow?? She was running an errand for Mary as always. Mary is about to discover how bad life can get, since I think that Tony has no intention of allowing her to get away from him.
Edith drives me nuts. Tell your Mother, she will welcome the little girl and your Dad will probably as well after an initial roar.. She seems determined to be sad.. How awful.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 27, 2015, 08:53:31 AM
Different times.  Different times.

The whole family would have been disgraced and scorned by all "god-fearing, church going society" had the word slipped out that the Lady Edith had a child out of wedlock.  She cannot carry it on her back to smear the family name and ruin her parents standing in "proper society."  And indeed, even the loving parents might not be able to cope with such news.  She might be sent to Canada or some such, forever and ever.  Or an unwanted marriage be arranged.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on January 27, 2015, 01:05:23 PM
I think too many incidents were covered in Sunday's episode and nothing covered well.  I agree that Mary has made a mistake with Lord Gillingham.  He is going to make her rue her brief romance, if you can call it that.  However, she is better to break it off before she gets any deeper.
What about Barrow.  Is it possible he has sugar diabetes?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on January 27, 2015, 02:27:26 PM
I bet I bet I bet Mr. Barrow is taking the meds to change his homosexuality much as the Brits demanded of the scientist - forget his name - that a current movie is featuring his life as the first to break the German code and in the process established the basis for the computer today.

And Miss Bunting does go too far - she really geodes Lord Grantham - unnecessary - even if Tom leaves he could do far better than Miss Bunting. Talk about wearing your prejudice on your sleeve.

Edith is like the runt of the litter - can anything more fall on her shoulders - I still think her Michael was imprisoned while in Germany - we shall see what we shall see. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 27, 2015, 07:03:53 PM
Sounded more to me like Michael was going to have been killed by the early Nazis.  Whatever, if he is finally declared dead, I'll bet he has left Edith in charge of his empire.  He as much as told her that before he left for Germany to pursue citizenship and obtain a divorce so that he could come back to England and marry her.

Good guess about Barrow.  Don't know whether it is so or not, but fits in alright.

I get sick and tired of all the bad things threatening Bates and Anna.  I think the only reason she walked the note all the way to Gillingham's home was so that she could see where Green was killed FOR THE FIRST TIME.  I think it had nothing whatsoever to do with her ever having been there previously or having killed Green herself.  She is still scared Bates may have done it, and wanted to see the WHERE of it.

I cannot stand that Miss Bunting.  No matter her politics, she was being rude to a man IN HIS OWN HOME.  I was brought up that that is totally unacceptable and ill bred.  Besides, you should never discuss politics or religion in someone elses home.  When someones guest, you should never, EVER be rude to them.  And while enjoying their food served to you! Scheesch. My family would all be twirling in their graves if I ever behaved like that!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 28, 2015, 09:01:40 AM
Yes, Toms new friend is truly obnoxious.. Tom could do so much better..  I guess is the times were different. I think if Ediths friend is dead, she should take the little girl and go to Canada if her father will give her an allowance of some type.
Barrow.. I guess I am assuming he is addicted.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 28, 2015, 12:15:51 PM
Woo hoo!  The 5th season set of DVDs just arrived in my mail from Barnes and Noble.  Now I can binge to my hearts content and get all the answers.  Wonder what this seasons cliffhanger ending will be?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on January 28, 2015, 03:25:34 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)  
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).  

NOW DISCUSSING

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg)
Downton Abbey, Season V (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/downton-experience.html)

Watch the current season January 4 - February 22, 2015.


(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiece_2015/Grantchester.jpg)
Grantchester, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/grantchester-s1/)

Set in the English countryside’s most idyllic village, Grantchester follows two unlikely allies as they solve a series of cases that reveal the dark side of early 1950s England. Grantchester is based on the acclaimed novel Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, which was called “the coziest of cozy murder mysteries” by the New York Times Book Review.
Watch the new series (showing right after Downton Abbey in many areas) through February.


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


I think Barb is on to something about Barrow.  I hadn't thought of that.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: nlhome on January 28, 2015, 06:46:13 PM
Has anyone read the book that "Grantchester" is based on? Our library system does not have any of the books, and Amazon has the first one on back order. I was just wondering if the book was good. I am enjoying the TV program.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 29, 2015, 06:32:41 AM
http://www.grantchestermysteries.com/background.aspx

Have not read any of the Grantchester series by James Runcie, but intend to when I get the chance.  Grantchester is a real place and Runcie is well placed to write of the life of a clergyman, as he is the son of an Archbishop of Canterbury.  Love the PBS series!

Thriftbooks is all out of the series at this time, but they have some of his other books.  Amazon.co.uk has them, and so does Barnes & Noble.

Stayed up late last night and binged on Downton Abbey.  Do not know how Julian Fellowes does it, but this series remains top notch and am now dying to see Season Six!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 29, 2015, 08:57:59 AM
Net flix came through with Call the Midwife, first season.. So I saw the very first episode.. They all look different, so much younger and I note that Chummy has not arrived yet , the doctors wife is a nun just now and the strange nun is still very very strange.  I loved it..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 29, 2015, 10:36:19 AM
I loved every single season.  And Chummy is still my favorite. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 30, 2015, 08:24:23 AM
Now for the time to see some more. But I have company coming today for the weekend..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on January 30, 2015, 01:51:13 PM
I another Chummy fan.  I love the Brits for portraying people of all shapes, and sizes!  Not everyone is a size 2.

Sheila

 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 30, 2015, 01:59:14 PM
I get the biggest kick out of the way she talks to her baby.  "Small Sir!"

And I laugh and laugh and laugh when she is leading her Boy Scouts troop.  Chummy is often startled by events, but never unable to rise to the occasion.  She is like a large sized Spirit of England!  She will carry on and put forth her very best effort NO MATTER WHAT!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on January 31, 2015, 08:57:57 AM
I like her, but find her somewhat overwhelming.. A bit too much cheer for me.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on January 31, 2015, 09:12:38 AM
When her life story is dribbled out, you will discover it is all that stiff upper lip self disciplined cheer, and you will admire her immensely.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 01, 2015, 11:54:35 AM
Yes, this last year in Call the Midwife, her Mother became ill and died and it was enlightening.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 01, 2015, 12:43:59 PM
She was never loved.  Grew up upper class with all the privileges, but was never loved.  Never given any approval, either.  Heart breaking.  You will get the full story in earlier episodes.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 02, 2015, 08:37:18 AM
Last night was a missed episode. Started sneezing and whooping, went to bed early, still do not feel that great. Don't need this stuff.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 02, 2015, 10:51:22 AM
Oh Steph Hope you can nip this before you are really ill.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on February 02, 2015, 11:11:51 AM
Steph,  I hope you feel better soon. Last night's episode of Downton progressed a little slower than some others. They only put in a couple of big events.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 02, 2015, 12:35:27 PM
Last nights Downton was strange - it was as if they wanted to extend the program - everything was a set up with nothing concluded except Mrs. Patmore's decision to buy a small cottage with her money.

Edith with the missing Michael, who is still missing and now the threat of the loss of her daughter and her grandmother and aunt wanting to take over and get the daughter even further away while Edith appears to be taking matters in her own hand with a phone call that we are up in the air not knowing to whom or what is the plan.

Then Robert angry and not believing his wife is innocent or something - but definitely noted by his mother.

Rose possibly embarking on a relationship that may have the family disapproving

Mary still caught not wanting to marry Gillingham and I bet the ex fiancée gets back to Lord Gillingham and lets him know that Mary was out to dinner and was openly saying she did not want to marry him - I still have a suspicion the man who Green was saying 'What are you doing here" was to Lord Gillingham and now Mary is caught up in the investigation to the death of Green having to make Bates believe she knows nothing about his being a suspect.

Anna is beside herself with the questions from the authorities and slights from Thomas while she is still not sure if her husband had anything to do with the death of Green.

Thomas looking like the wrath of God but being as pissy as ever and under it all, his hatred for Bates

I do not think Tom will go after Miss Bunting but it tickles our fancy as to what he will do caught in the middle as he is between two worlds.

Than what will Isobel do - the lord seems more likeable everytime we see him.

Will Moseley wear down Baxter

Baxter has a kind heart and yet, what does she know about Bates and how far will she go to help Thomas.

Will Daisy's loyalty and admiration for Miss Bunting make her less loyal to her job in the kitchen.

He seems to be setting up the downstairs folks for even a further reduction in staff that we know has to be coming.

While upstairs we have a slow building roar for everyone in the family - is this symbolic of the '29 crash that is to come
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: JoanK on February 02, 2015, 04:36:36 PM
Oh, I forgot about the 29 crash. What year are we in, now?

Thomas is treating himself with some crackpot "cure" (did I hear electric shocks?) that is supposed to make him stop being homosexual, and like woman. I'll bet this is based on real "medical" practice. How awful!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 02, 2015, 07:24:05 PM
We are celebrating Christmas 1924 in the last episode of Season Five.  I have watched it all now on my DVDs, and I LOVED it!  I honest and truly believe it to be the BEST SEASON YET, and I simply do not know how Julian Fellowes continues to do it.  I will say no more, but urge you not to miss a bit of it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 03, 2015, 09:04:28 AM
Seems to be my sinus again, and not a cold.. But still not fun.. But I did watch the second Call the Midwife.. Chummy tries so hard to fit in and the other nurses work hard to help her. Loved seeing that and the breach birth was amazing. You truly felt you were there and holding your breath for her. Loved it..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on February 03, 2015, 10:25:49 PM
I hope you can get some relief, Steph. I enjoyed Midwife too.

I'm really liking Grantchester. The actors are really good. You can learn more at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/grantchester-s1/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 04, 2015, 08:47:10 AM
Watched the third show last night. Amazing.. that was the darkest black for the baby, I have ever seen.. Good show, but sad..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ALF43 on February 06, 2015, 04:30:23 PM
Joan K- Yes that was a radical treatment for "homosexuality" in the early years.  I witnessed ECT (electro convulsive therapy) back in 1961 as a student nurse training in Psych in Rochester state hospital.
It is by far the most barbaric treatment I have ever witnessed.  The profound confusion of the mind is supposed to erase the unwanted and unwarranted "memories and urges."
I hated that part of psych nursing. 
It was the treatment of choice in the earlier years for women who were suffering from menopause and depression. Frankly, I would have fought like a tiger and much preferred the other RX- Laudlam.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 07, 2015, 03:37:25 PM
Andrea.. have not see a post from you in a long long time. Glad to know you are still around.. My mother was a nurse and she felt like you did. The treatment was barbaric, but common. The Kennedys tried with their daughter and suffered the consequences of having to hospitalize her the rest of her life.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Poppaea on February 10, 2015, 05:43:18 PM
I am worried about Isis in this most recent episode. Poor darling doggie seems to be sick. I think Edith has made a huge mistake in claiming the child, although legally she is within her rights. The child looked quite miserable when Edith took her to the hotel room.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ALF43 on February 10, 2015, 07:38:55 PM
During pre season they mentioned new romances abound and the dog will ail.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 11, 2015, 08:55:23 AM
Two of the stars of Downton Abbey are to delight us in a new film next month.

Such GREAT fun we have in store!  And so lovely to look forward to something delicious!

Disney has made a new Cinderella.  This one is not an animated cartoon (which we all loved), but filmed in costume of, it looks to me like, pre World War One 20th century.  Or maybe it's just pure Disney imagination. Anyway, we have from Downton Abbey, Ta Da:  the Lady Rose (Lily James) as Cinderella and Daisy in the kitchen (Sophie McShera) as one of the two wicked stepsisters! We have Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother and Derek Jacobi (recently of The Last Tango in Halifax) as the King.  I am agog with excitement!

We have a whole month of anticipation.  The movie will be released March 13th.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on February 11, 2015, 08:30:42 PM
And Best Exotic Marigold Hotel II on March 6.   :)

I really enjoyed Dan Stevens (formerly Matthew on Downton) in the new Night at the Museum.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 12, 2015, 08:50:54 AM
I loved the new Night at the Museum and enjoyed.. Matthew very much. With all of the company., I have not seen two weeks of Downton and at my wits end on this.. This keeps up, I will get a small tv for my bedroom..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 15, 2015, 10:40:35 PM
I simply cannot BELIEVE tonight's Grantchester!  It has been so sweet and bucolic, and all of a sudden it is very dark.  And full of great and famous actors.  I can only wonder what it is all meant to be about.  What are we meant to think?  To feel?  Any ideas?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: pedln on February 15, 2015, 10:58:03 PM
I cannot believe we're going to have Downton Abbey and Academy Awards on the same night.  There aren't that many more episodes of this season's Downton.  You'd think the AA's could have waited.  They're earlier than usual anyway.

Looking forward to the upcoming Cinderella. It wil be fun to see how different or similar Daisy will be.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 16, 2015, 08:40:48 AM
Last night was wonderful in so many ways.. Edith finally realized that possibly she can have more than she thought. her sister Mary is possibly the coldest human on earth.. She simply does not care about anyone in the world except herself. How sad.. But Ediths Momma cares as does her Grandmother and her Aunt.. and
Tom, I think suspects and tries to be comforting.. Isis.. I do wonder why they are doing this. I assume it will advance the plot one way or another.. But he does adore the dog and it seems hard. Plus of course I lost two dogs last summer and still hurt at the memory.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on February 16, 2015, 10:45:10 AM
I posted awhile back that they've had that dog a long time. How old can it be?? Guess the writers realized this and had to do something about it.  Sad but so true with the animals you love.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 16, 2015, 11:27:53 AM
Well, we began Downton Abbey with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, remember?  And the Earl already had Isis, who appears to be a purebred yellow Labrador Retriever.  We are now at 1924, so Isis is at least 13 or 14 years old;  old for a lab.  Yes, I think that dog has to die.

But, having seen the whole series on my DVDs, I will say again that I think this was the very best season EVER!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 17, 2015, 09:26:28 AM
I agree that Isis had to be old, but as I said,, not in the mood for another dog to die.. I love the show, but Mary sometimes baffles me. Does she care about anything except herself...How sad..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ANNIE on February 17, 2015, 09:38:15 AM
I found this last show of DA a bit too pat.  Edith didn't seem to have any problem introducing Marigold as a child she has chosen to care for since the pigman and his wife were going to give her up anyway.  Didn't seem to bother Robert too much.  He was more concerned about Isis's impending death.  Wonder what he will say later about this arrangement?  Will Edith have to adopt her own daughter for him to be more comfortable with the little girl's living in his home?

About Barrows, there is another way of looking at him. In today's world, he would be called a transgendered person.  He must feel that he is supposed to be a girl.  They now treat these poor souls with hormones for growing breasts?  Bizarre! And as Andrea says, it was even more bizarre back in earlier times.  There are now Transgender groups that meet in many of our high schools.

 And, Obama referred to the transgenders in his state of the union speech.  I read that the soldier who gave all those US secrets to Wikileaks last year and who is serving a 35 year sentence as a traitor, is now asking for the hormone treatment that he/she needs for her physical and mental health.  He/she now has a feminine name and the US government is paying for his/her treatment.  Sex change is the next thing she might ask for. This was a court case.   They won't let her grow her hair long though.  Like that's going to change anything.  What I wondered?  Will they put her in the women's prison? This is bizarre!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 19, 2015, 07:58:12 AM
I must confess that I am bewildered by the soldier and the sex change. Don't really understand why the government would cover it..But then I feel since he is in prison, he should be treated as a prisoner, not a soldier.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ANNIE on February 19, 2015, 12:25:05 PM
From what I read, I guess prisoners have constitutional rights just like we do?  Bizarre!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 19, 2015, 12:26:40 PM
Our local PBS station is experiencing some sort of failure - for two days we had no programs except they could get the cooking shows etc. and they ran them all day and night - then they were able to get programs directly from something or other that is the source and so we had lots of programs but on eastern standard time and no Newshour - at least at 10: last night not the usual 11: we had Charlie Rose - almost missed it but thinking they had nothing yet I turned on the local news at 10: that is over at 10:30 and by chance flipped channels and lo and behold there was the Charlie Rose show - I sure hope they are able to fix all this by the weekend so we can see at our usual times Masterpiece Theater. However if it is an hour earlier that will work at least now I feel certain it will be on the air.

I wonder where they are going with Barrows - everytime in the past when he was nice it was to gain support when he really messed up. Do you think he feels that guilty having implicated Baxter so that she had to feel threats from the police that he has to be nice to her - now I worry and wonder about what he told the police although her record probably is why they pushed on her.

I found this last week's episode a lot more satisfying having wrapped up a couple of loose ends where as the week before left me so unsettled with one crisis after the other and no conclusion to any of them. I realize like life there are times when everything appears black or at least grey however, I need hope to live, to see the good things around me and when a show I watch that brings another layer into my life as most of the Masterpiece Theater shows and it is all dark I am not only disappointed but annoyed because it makes it so much harder, with me doing all the work, for me to create joyous hopeful days in my life till the next episode.

I realize that is why I am no longer faithfully watching the news like I once did - there is one catastrophe after the other and really horrendous happenings that is beyond even my capacity to wrap my head around the personal implications families must be feeling - I know I came here to Senior Learn to feel that folks are able to pull out of books and TV shows and movies what is good and hopeful about life and the stories do show us how things do work out and how in our posts we share our reasonable concern for characters experiencing pain and struggle - with our positive views on life and what we see and read that alone makes this a place to feel safe from the pain that is all around and even within - I am so grateful - thanks everyone.    
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 20, 2015, 09:40:01 AM
Oh Barb, I feel so much like you do. Our nearest city ( Orlando) has become a city of shootings, drive bys, road rage,,etc. On and on and On. We raised our two sons here much of their younger lives and it was a quiet sort of gentle place.. no more. I live in a small town about half an hour away and it is calmer here.. I would not be a good person if I mentioned what a lot of the problems are, but if I use the words ethnic gangs, possibly you will see the problem. Makes me ambivalent about immigration.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ANNIE on February 20, 2015, 11:55:40 AM
I do see what you two are saying about the news.  We just watch the weather and switch to a channel that shows nothing but old sit-coms so we go to bed with good laughs in our minds.

Back to Barrows, I do feel that he is showing a softer side of himself; apologizing for tell the police about ??????(lady who helped him get to a doctor).  Maybe  her acceptance of his problem caused him to act more like a human being.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ANNIE on February 20, 2015, 04:10:47 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)  
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).  

NOW DISCUSSING

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2012/featured_season3_darevisited.jpg)
Downton Abbey, Season V (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/downton-experience.html)

Watch the current season January 4 - March 1, 2015.


(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiece_2015/Grantchester.jpg)
Grantchester, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/grantchester-s1/)

Set in the English countryside’s most idyllic village, Grantchester follows two unlikely allies as they solve a series of cases that reveal the dark side of early 1950s England. Grantchester is based on the acclaimed novel Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, which was called “the coziest of cozy murder mysteries” by the New York Times Book Review.
Watch the new series (showing right after Downton Abbey in many areas) through February.


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


Barb, we had an old Doc Martin from Feb 2013.  The show about his and Louisa's wedding.  Does PBS have problems here also; EST.  We will see what comes on tonight.  

Whoops!  My sister, Mary, just called from NC and due to the winter weather warning of snow and sleet, her flight has been changed to arrive at 7:30 tonight instead of 1:30 tomorrow.  Good grief!  I must hi-tail it to the grocery!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on February 20, 2015, 10:18:41 PM
I'm watching Jim Carter (aka Carson) on 2 Midsomer Murders!!! He was a handsome man with his curly hair.

One of our PBS stations shows Rosemary and Thyme and Midsomer Murders every Fri night.

Jean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 21, 2015, 08:55:47 AM
I watch the weather and also do it on line. It is sort of funny, the differences of opinion in the weather forecasts..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 23, 2015, 01:54:42 AM
Well we could see that coming with Anna - and Bates - it sounds like Bates is going to attempt to be a fall guy - whatever happened hope it clears it up with some believable truth -

Looks like we have Edith's secret whispering through  - and my word, Rose's mother whew - talk about an angry women but to take it out on her daughter - sheesh - thank goodness Rose is the kind who does not need to know 'who' - I cannot imagine the goodness that is Rose being knocked that low because, the betrayal of a parent really lays you low.

And Thomas, my goodness two weeks in a row and we have Thomas as a hero - was it really all this time all about his secret sexual preference needing a straight man to say to him, it's OK, he is what he is?

And this Grantchester - interesting - certainly the quaint village scenery does not match the interior life of some of the villagers and especially this vicar.  I do not remember we learned earlier that he is from Scotland - what a horror to have to live with - he had no other choice with no medics unless you are heartless and let him bleed out in all that pain but oh dear - I was crying.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 23, 2015, 08:43:51 AM
This detective who arrested Anna for nothing other than a total stranger to us all saying she was there is weird. I assume this is setting up yet another Bates taking blame for others, but darn it all, this has been done several times. Give it a rest.. Rose's mother is a horror and I think Rose knows this.. Mary is sentimental for Sybels husband, but not her own sister. She is another one I simply do not grip.. Yes, I am not surprised that Robert guessed the secret and even seems to want to have another grandchild to love.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Poppaea on February 23, 2015, 11:32:11 AM
This episode of Downton Abbey was very dramatic. So much was put in the way of Rose and Atticus getting married and I was on the edge of my seat over the ceremony in the Registrar's office. Any moment it seemed someone would spoil it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 23, 2015, 03:48:40 PM
Yep, hepeskin I was with you on that except the grooms mother is a force to behold - all this time we gave that to the Dowager Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley but my word this is some strong woman with the same ability to quip her way through put downs as she did when at dinner in front of everyone as Rose's Mother was giving her a dig she said they had not trouble getting 'stuff' since they pay well they are Jewish - wow

That was really the end of an era when Mary says to the detective that she was Lady Grantham and he usurped her putting her down with a rude remark about not caring if she were lady of the Nile - wow but it was a great devise in story telling to establish the end of what had been for a 1000 years.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 24, 2015, 08:52:43 AM
Yes, Mary does not grip that the power she assumes is really an illusion.. But the detective bothers me.. He just does not have anything but an eyewitness of a crime that was committed several years ago, who did not come forward right away..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on February 24, 2015, 09:27:31 AM
 I had not seen this program for some time, I missed at least a year, possibly two, but there's a traveling exhibit of the series's costumes at Biltmore House so I thought I'd look in last Sunday.

I was quite taken by the way the program  is presented. I am not sure if this is new or if this is something that's always been, I can't recall. But you have an intense vignette, usually something ending  with suspense, Thomas for instance,  going to save the day and rescue the footman, and this lasts about 3 minutes if that, just long enough to create the situation and the  suspense,  and then you jump to the next segment for 3 minutes if that,  and then you jump to the next group for a short time and then you jump on. It's hard to stop watching because you want to know what happened to Thomas (or whoever)  but you want to give everybody a turn. As the spoof of Downton said, juggling all the balls. There seem more of them lately for Fellowes to juggle.

I don't recall it being like this in the past, am I wrong?

It's an effective technique, very much like the old cliffhanger movies with Poor Pauline in crisis as the movie ends, except in this one the movie crisis ends every three minutes.

I found it difficult to follow the plot lines but I have been out for a long time.

I did find the romance of the Maggie Smith character implausible.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on February 24, 2015, 11:49:09 AM
I find the reappearance of Maggie Smith's old love interest touching.  I am 80 years old   and would welcolme an old flame back.  :D

Sheila
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on February 24, 2015, 01:32:40 PM
Yes, having admitted the loneliness she will feel when Isobel marries, and she is even encouraging her to marry in spite of the spiteful sons, it would be nice to imagine Violet having a loving companion however, something tells me it won't happen. Her sense of decorum and values that exclude divorce will prevent her from a relationship with the Count as long as there is a hint of a wife still alive.

Ginny I think the technique used to tell the story is more apparent now since there are so many loose ends he is tying up - and as to Thomas, that is an ongoing issue that it is difficult to predict where he is going with the Thomas character since the last two weeks Thomas has been acting so out of character. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on February 24, 2015, 02:34:31 PM
Ginny, you are mistaken!

I was 74 when I married the 80 year old LOVE OF MY LIFE.  We were extremely happy together.  Love is not implausible, even in those in their nineties and more.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on February 24, 2015, 02:58:00 PM
 No I don't think I am wrong, with all due respect.  I am not talking about everybody in the world, I am talking about her, and I think for HER it's implausible.

 I'm not saying people don't marry in old age, everybody has seen that, tho I am not sure 74 is old,  I'm saying I can't see her doing it.   And that's OK to say, because SHE is fictional. Heaven only knows what he'll have her doing next.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on February 25, 2015, 09:01:40 AM
I think the Violet is too aware of the outside world, but I also think she is sorely tempted. I love Rose's new mother in law. I hope we see more of her. Now there is a woman to reckon with. Thomas... where the heck is this going.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on March 01, 2015, 01:47:58 PM
We'll see what and who comes together in the season finale of Downton Abbey tonight (March 1)!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 01, 2015, 05:20:03 PM
You're going to LOVE it!  Every bit of it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on March 02, 2015, 08:48:34 AM
Alas , a local problem, no tv,, will have to watch next week, since they rerun generally.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on March 02, 2015, 09:55:22 AM
Good finale to "Downtown Abbey".   No surprises for me.

I think things were left in such a way that a Season 6 could happen...or not. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on March 02, 2015, 10:59:56 AM
That was a good finale.  Really enjoyed it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 02, 2015, 11:09:02 AM
looks like we will not only loose Tom but also Rose as they are off to America - I thought their attempt to let us say goodby to Tom was a bit lacking- something did not ring just right and the return of Bates was lovely - a good job I thought in his dress looking like he had only returned from Ireland.

The young man - forget his name Turpin or Turling or something who Mary accompanied during the shooting - he looked an awful lot like one of Richard Grey, Lord Merton's son - since Lord Merton is Mary's Godfather I would think she would know his sons and so who is he in the scheme of things with his snappy vehicle.

And they pulled out all the stops with Alun Armstrong as the Butler Stowe - he was Thénardier in Les Mis on the London Stage - here is a youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwHPzd2s_vg
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: JoanK on March 02, 2015, 07:12:26 PM
Good catch BARB. I didn't recognize him.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on March 02, 2015, 07:46:21 PM
What a satisfying ending!  It left me fulfilled and ready to see what the next season will bring.
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on March 02, 2015, 09:17:43 PM
I too thought that the end of this season was pretty satisfying overall. There were a few things that were sort of unexpected.

Thomas struck out pretty cruely at Rose's father-in-law.

The romantic relationships of Violet and Isobel seem to be over. I expected that for Violet but wasn't sure about Isobel.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 03, 2015, 08:57:04 AM
I think Isobel will wind up marrying Lord Merton after nursing him back to health from near death in an illness.  I think Tom will come home to Downton with Sibbie for the dowager countess's funeral:  they cannot let her live forever.  And I think he will find he is needed and stay.  Sibbie will be a handful, having been Americanized.  I think Anna and Bates will now encounter no murders and settle down to live happily ever after in the estate cottage.  Perhaps a baby?  I think much focus will turn downstairs on what Daisy is going to do with her life.

Or maybe Cora will have to go home to HER mother's funeral, and will visit Tom and Sibbie and convince Tom he is needed at home.

Just swinging possible scenarios around in my head.  I just loved this last season, and especially Christmas celebrated at Downton.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on March 03, 2015, 09:15:01 AM
I am envious, but will live..and Maggie Smith seems to be intent on letting us know that next year is her last.. Am excited another of the Marigold Hotel movies is out Friday.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Poppaea on March 03, 2015, 12:26:48 PM
I have a feeling that the smart, aristocratic chap who likes fancy cars is going to play a greater role in the next season - my guess is that he and Lady Mary will get married. She needs someone who will know how to put her in her place.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 03, 2015, 01:48:36 PM
Oh goodness I cannot imagine having anyone put Lady Mary 'in her place' as we imagine in her place ought to look like - I think she is the key to the whole show as she depicts what is typical of this time in the history of British Aristocracy - plus she is a hoot - she is probably not too much different than Lady Violet was as a young women - they both have strong opinions and can arrange the mechanics of everyone keeping in their place based on how it was - Lady Violet has a swift quip and Lady Mary just stands tall and dismisses anyone who does not measure up to the 'titled' standards - better a Lady Mary than a simpering Cora or even a depressive Edith who has always been in a box called 'try' - where as Lady Mary calls it as she sees it with no second guessing or feeling she has to be approved and she will be the one who must see to the future enactments to maintain Downton.

My guess on Daisy, now being shown as quite the artistic and accomplished cook and as staff is further reduced so that every nook and cranny of the Abby has to show a profit, my guess she will be in charge of not only the kitchen but a tea room serving to the many guests that will be flocking in to see Downton as a tourist attraction as so many of the great houses have become. But then that would be after WWII wouldn't it and so it will be interesting to see how the crash of '29 and the mixed attitudes of the lead up to WWII is handled. To think that all these little ones in the nursery will be of age to fight in WWII.

I wonder if we ever get to learn who pushed Green - even if Bates and Anna have their cottage life together to me it will not feel settled until that mystery is cleared up - and yes, it sure looks like we will see more of the blade in the fancy car - and somehow I bet there is a showdown with Lord Merton's sons and he and Isobel do marry - I can see how Lady Violet had her last Hurrah with the attentions from the Prince and to only be a character with a quick quip is not enough - Maggie Smith's leaving appears to be nicely timed.

Lady Mary getting married does seem like it should be in her future and I think this 3rd cousin or whatever he is that is the agent they invited to the shooting party that paired up with Edith will marry Edith. Will she ever tell him the truth or how will she tell him about her daughter. Oh and I do like the idea of Tom being coxed back - that will be interesting to see because whatever his venture in America, it and he will be hit by the crash of '29. Coming back, he is young enough that he could be among the older recruits for some service job after Chamberlain's mis-calculation.  

Well we can spin all sorts of possibilities can't we and that was the brilliance of this series - but to have to wait just shy a whole year - oh oh oh - because I sure do not care enough about the other series except maybe the Halifax one - with Alan and Celia and their daughter's messy lives.  
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on March 03, 2015, 02:43:44 PM
When Lord G had his potential heart problems, i was wondering to whom the estate goes if he died? Can Tom inherit? Can Mary inherit? Is this distant cousin going to hop in as Mary's husband did? Of course, in the States we would assume it would go to Cora, but is she capable, and is she eligible under estate law at the time? And won't Mary throw a fit?

Jean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 03, 2015, 05:07:35 PM
Mary being Matthew's widow may put her in top position now.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Poppaea on March 03, 2015, 05:26:04 PM
I think Mary and Matthew's son is the heir and while he is growing up still probably Mary will act for him.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 03, 2015, 10:03:56 PM
Jean, one of the major story lines from season one episode one on has been the fact that Downton Abbey is one of those many aristocratic British estates that is entailed.  No daughter can inherit.  Ever.  Remember, the heir, a male cousin of this earl's, went down on the  Titanic?  Then they discovered the next closest candidate to the title and the estate was an even more distant male cousin, Matthew Crowley?  Well, yes , Matthew's little son is the future Earl Grantham.  And only because Lady Mary married Matthew will this earl's grandson happen to inherit the estate.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on March 04, 2015, 08:37:44 AM
Yes Marys time as queen of the estate is limited to George, When he reaches majority, she is gone.. but I suspect that has never occurred to her.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 04, 2015, 01:07:45 PM
Probably no more gone than Lady Violet, Robert's mother.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on March 04, 2015, 05:36:49 PM
I understood that part of the story, but i'm not sure if those laws had/have changed? I assumed they hadn't changed at the time of the story, have they changed now? Surely not. Does anybody know?

Jean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on March 04, 2015, 08:06:02 PM
I found this article about "Why Matthew Inherited Downton Abbey".   http://pintsofhistory.com/2013/02/28/the-entail-primogeniture-and-why-matthew-or-his-son-inherits-downton-abbey/ (http://pintsofhistory.com/2013/02/28/the-entail-primogeniture-and-why-matthew-or-his-son-inherits-downton-abbey/)

In case you don't want to read the whole thing,  toward the end it says that England changed the law regarding inheriting real estate in 1925. 

This season ended in 1924.    Hmmmmmmm.   ???
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 04, 2015, 08:22:21 PM
well that much we can say for Julian Fellows he is current in his depiction of history - I guess the episodes dealing with WWI should have given us that clue... ;)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 04, 2015, 08:31:27 PM
There are still, as I understand it from what I have read on the subject, very few titles which can be passed to women.

The Prince of Wales, and one assumes the future King Charles, had a favorite cousin, Lord Mountbatten, who fiercely favored leaving titles to daughters.  He had no sons (albeit his nephew, Prince Philip of Greece and now the Duke of Edinburgh and father of said Prince Charles was like a son to him) and managed to get a law passed so that he could leave his title of Baron Mountbatten to the elder of those two daughters.  So it is that we have:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Knatchbull,_2nd_Countess_Mountbatten_of_Burma
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on March 05, 2015, 08:55:17 AM
Lord Mountbatten, loved by all of the royal family and murdered by Irish.. Interesting man, he set up Philip for Elizabeth..Some of the Dukedoms can only be inherited by males,, but the money can go to whever they want.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on March 28, 2015, 11:48:12 AM
Yea!  Call the Midwife will be on tomorrow.  About time...I am really tired of PBS pledge drives.  It seems like they have more & more of them and they last for a month.  I contribute to PBS; but I think they have too many pledge drives!
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 28, 2015, 12:41:59 PM
Maybe why some of the series are 7 weeks long so they can have one repeat and after every two months a month of pledge drive programs because they do seem to have them 4 times a year.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on March 28, 2015, 09:47:07 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)  
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).  

NOW DISCUSSING

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)

Watch the current season March 29 - May 17, 2015.

All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


I got an email from PBS that Series 6 of Downton Abbey will be the last.  It will start showing in the U.S. in Jan. 2016.
FlaJean
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 29, 2015, 12:20:38 AM
Yes, I have been hearing that - it comes on the heals of Maggie Smith saying this was going to be her last year - that may have been a factor but I think the new age, preparing for WWII would not allow as much of the love dynamics between Mary and whom ever and the house would be going through the major changes that the '29 crash brought on that included taxing these great houses and that would be a whole other story wouldn't it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on March 29, 2015, 10:13:24 AM
Julian Fellowes (writer of Downton Abbey) is reportedly moving to New York to write a new series for NBC called The Gilded Age about the late 19th century period (the Vanderbilts, etc.)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on March 29, 2015, 01:54:57 PM
Sounds like he is moving into Edith Wharton territory - her book was a lush move - "The Age of Innocence"
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 29, 2015, 10:50:20 PM
Have you realized yet that the Judy Parfitt who plays Mildred Layton, Sarah's and Susan's mother in The Jewel In The Crown, is the same actress who plays the going senile sister in Call The Midwives?  Oh, what a difference the years make of all of us!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on March 30, 2015, 09:13:48 AM
Oh me, another nurse, this one clumsy and at the beginning I was somewhat lost. Why did Chummy leave this time?? I knew Jenny lee was leaving, but what happened to the teeny nurse, Did they really say, she was at the mother house to become a nun??
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on March 31, 2015, 11:28:17 AM
I started to watch the new season of Mr. Selfridge on Sunday evening but I had to turn it off after awhile. Most of the main characters seemed to be facing personal/professional "danger" in a way that made me dread watching the show. What do you think?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on March 31, 2015, 11:53:45 AM
Marcie, I felt EXACTLY the same way!  I loved, at first, seeing everyone again, with the war ended and all.  I felt sorry for those who had lost their loved ones.  But it soon, very soon, stopped being fun, and I began to feel as though I were on The Titanic.  I opted to turn off my TV and go brush my teeth and prepare for bed and then settle down quietly with my book for a while.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 01, 2015, 08:50:38 AM
Goodness I need to check out Mr. Selfridge.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on April 01, 2015, 10:20:42 PM
I just finished watching  "Mr. Selfridge" and thought it was typical of season openers that race through various plot lines being set up.

I think it will be an interesting season.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 02, 2015, 08:47:45 AM
Maybe I will look at Netflix and see what they have to catch up on the show.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 02, 2015, 11:52:11 AM
Callie, maybe I'll try Selfridge again but that first episode made me very anxious; "dread" is really the right word. :-(
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on April 02, 2015, 03:15:51 PM
Marcie, what was there about the first episode that gave you a feeling of "dread"?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 02, 2015, 03:25:54 PM
Mr Selfridge in real life had a high stakes life and the series is doing their best to bring that emotion to the viewer so that those of us who live a calmer, more nurturing life feel the anxiety that is so normal that without it, a person living life as Mr. Selfridge or anyone who, like him, does not have a dependable non-creative life cannot function. They feel as if something is wrong if they found themselves without the kind of risk adrenaline that we see as tummy churning.

Selfridge was the one of the first department stores and set the standard more than BonMarche in Paris which was the first - every department, every day of the year was prepared, both staff and decor like putting on Christmas morning to excite and bring wonder to the eyes of adults, not children and to assemble a staff that would do that and another level of staff to oversee staff to assure those ends. With Selfridge, like so many men who have a knack for achieving great things by combining the energies of others are often sexually permissive and he had that high risk game in his life as well even though he truly loves his wife and children. This man is an adrenaline machine walking.

And now this season's series he is accumulating groups of so far 12 small department stores in Ireland and Scotland that he expects to make profitable with the same magic he created in London. And so to get the story across every small detail must be filled with tight rope walking, unexpected danger for us to feel the high stakes that this man's life is all about.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on April 02, 2015, 06:01:28 PM
That's what I think, too, Barb.   I also see plot lines developing about the experiences of WWI veterans returning home long before there was any notice taken of the issues they may have brought with them.

I've forgotten.  Did Lord Coxley's wife, with whom Mr. S. had a fling, "disappear" at the end of last season?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 03, 2015, 08:15:56 AM
Call the Midwife is back, thank heaven,and I am keeping track of what is happening. But I do miss the small midwife"Cynthia"??
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 03, 2015, 11:51:51 AM
Callie, re the reasons for the dread I felt watching the first episode of Mr. Selfridge this season are mostly that Selfridge seems to be spiraling downward. Here are some specifics (SPOILER ALERT):
-- That awful Lord Loxley is back and out to "take from Selfridge" what he blames on Selfridge taking from him. He blames his wife's leaving him on Selfridge, although Loxley was mentally and physically abusive to her.
-- Selfridge is not listening to anyone about the financial risks he is taking and his not paying attention to his investments in his main store or other stores he has since developed. I know in "real life" that he suffered financial ruin. I had thought that maybe the series would end before that happened.
-- Selfrige's oldest daughter marries a man who is using her to get Selfridge to invest in an airplane is wants to design (a man who flirts with other women during their wedding reception and who meets with Loxley--as a potential investor -- when he is supposed to be waiting for his wife to have breakfast with her the night after their wedding).
-- The groom's mother thought that she would move in with her son and new bride but Selfridge (thankfully) is trying to keep better watch on the groom and his daughter by inviting them to live with him for awhile. The grooms mother (who it now appears to the audience to have no money) books into an expensive hotel and tells them to charge it to Selfridge's account.
-- Victor comes home from the war "shell-shocked." He doesn't tell Agnes about it and the awful hallucinations he is experiencing. They get married but I don't think that things bode well for them.

The way that all of these events take place created -- for me -- an awful feeling of doom for everyone. I may just have been in a weird mood to have the episode affect me that way. Barbara, you may be right about Selfridge's high stakes life. The previous seasons seemed to show that -- even the way he hurt his wife with his affairs -- without making everything seem hopeless to me.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 03, 2015, 11:57:04 AM
MASTERPIECE on PBS will air a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies.  Wolf Hall will be airing on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm ET on PBS. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/

We have just heard from the Masterpiece people at PBS that they have ONE set of the Hilary Mantel books available. Are any of you interested in receiving those books? You could read them while watching the series. Since the series is based on both large books, I'm sure that the television producers had to make lots of changes in their adaptation. Post a message here if you are interested in the books. Since there is only one set, the first person to post a request will receive them.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 03, 2015, 12:29:32 PM
Oh my I would like the set but feel funny with there being only one set - I understand the 'tomes' are thick with pages so that it would probably take longer to read both than the 6 weeks but it would be a treat to see how closely the series keeps to the books.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 03, 2015, 12:39:59 PM
Barbara, the books are YOURS! I'm glad that you are interested in the books and the series.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on April 03, 2015, 02:42:33 PM
Marcie,  I think we looked at those situations in different ways.  I saw each of them as a separate plot line to be developed as the series progresses.  I suspect some of them will end sadly - but I'm looking forward to seeing how each one is resolved.

Did you notice any similarities to some of the story lines of "Downton Abbey"?   I certainly did!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 03, 2015, 04:25:41 PM
Felt as Marcie does, and found Selfridge quite a downer and plan to watch it no more.

Have preordered the Wolf Hall DVD from Barnes & Noble, so I may or may not watch it on PBS, depending upon what the TV schedule is on the days it is to be shown.  B&N will mail out the DVDs on May 12th.  I often preorder from them to make sure I get something I want as soon as it is available;  thus I am expecting Big Eyes in DVD to be sent out on April 14th and The Plantagenets in DVD on May 19th and Harper Lee's new book will be sent out on July 14th.  A wonderful system.  Right now I am watching Seasons 1 through 4 of VERA with Brenda Blethyn (do you recall the younger Blethyn in Saving Grace?), and I have The Imitation Game, which came 2 days or more ago, waiting to be watched.  I have a humongous DVD collection, but I only buy what I really want and it is lovely to have them on hand to watch whenever it pleases me and to loan out to family.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on April 03, 2015, 06:18:31 PM
MaryPage,  don't you think the young woman who brought him the plans for the housing development (which reminded him of one his wife had designed in the USA) just might catch his attention by the end of the season?   I know the Board voted him down for funding - but my bet is that, because he wants to build it as a memorial to his wife, his competitive spirit will return ere long - and she will help him with that.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 03, 2015, 11:39:33 PM
Callie, yes, I think they are separate plot lines. Somehow they got to be too much for me in that first episode. And yes, I got confused for a minute about the "prince" that Selfridge's daughter marries. Rosie in Downton Abbey marries a prince too!

MaryPage, it sounds like you have a wonderful DVD collection. Do you have places to organize them all or do you have to resort to boxing some?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 04, 2015, 12:02:51 AM
Wow Oh my thank you - wow -  :-*  8)  :)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 04, 2015, 07:55:14 AM
Marcie, I have one sizable bookcase just for DVDs, and every now and again I give a bunch away.  Just two weeks ago I made up a large shopping bag full of children's and travel ones and took over to the Shore for the use of 3 of my great grandchildren (and if they wish, their parents) and their collection.  I came to realize I will probably not watch Eloise at the Plaza or Matilda (etc.) yet again, and I want pass on the pleasure.  Also, the collection of The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and Zion and on and on will teach them.  I am told that Will, age six, loved seeing the Grand Canyon, but was confused by watching a "movie" that did not talk all the time.  He was complaining that he could not hear the words until they explained that there actually are long gaps of silence as the camera pans over the wonders!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 04, 2015, 08:49:21 AM
Ah I felt that way in Yellowstone when I first saw the mud pots and the gorgeous colors.No words at all.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 04, 2015, 11:33:00 AM
Thanks for the information, MaryPage. That's a cute story about your grandson wondering about the lack of soundtrack. I'm sure that your family will receive lots of pleasure and knowledge from the dvds you gave them.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 05, 2015, 09:04:56 AM
I don't keep many DVD's. but mostly do Netflix..The ones I do buy I donate to our library, since the county commissioners who are way weird have decreed that our libraries may not spend any money on DVD's.. So our Friends buy some and we all donate any that we have bought ourselves. Our commissioners are beyond strange.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 06, 2015, 07:33:26 AM
Loved Call The  Midwive  and Wolf Hall last night!  Oh, such a rich evening of television!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 06, 2015, 08:41:09 AM
Loved Call the Midwife, but simply could not stay up long enough for Wolf Hall. Will have to Netflix it or ask for it for my birthday or some such. My sons love buying me books and dvd's..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: JoanP on April 06, 2015, 09:43:02 AM
Steph - do you think the entire Wolf Hall series will be broadcast at such a late hour?  Here in the DC area, it will be shown again at  5pm this evening -   That's more like it!  I can see what I snoozed through.

I came in to thank the PBS education people for directing our attention to Hilary Mantel's books and making them available to our readers here.  I'm always interested in comparing authors' works with  PBS adaptations.  Mary Page, have you read Wolf Hall?  I hope those who have read it will post your thoughts!

There was an interesting article on Mantel's fiction in yesterday's Washington Post.  Here's an excerpt that may be of interest to those who are uncomfortable with historical fiction...an excerpt, followed by a link to the entire article..

 From an interview with Hilary Mantel published in Washington Post this past weekend:

Q: Your depiction goes against the prevalent image of Cromwell as a ruthless despot. Is he your fictional character or a reinterpretation of history?
A: Well, it's not simply my reinterpretation. There is a divide between academic history and popular history. Cromwell's role was explored intensively by academic historians, but people's imaginations are not shaped by scholars; they're shaped by popular historians and fiction writers. And of course, Thomas Cromwell had really fallen victim to Robert Bolt and "A Man for All Seasons," and we see him emerge in a very bad light. Even though I would say there can be other ways of thinking, my interpretations are valid; they're not plucked out of the air. It's not that I was looking for a hero. I was looking to explore a very complex man who was flawed and equivocal and ambiguous, and I'm not big on judging my characters. I want to understand them.

Read more at http://www.arcamax.com/entertainment/bookreviews/s-1635829#tGJVpXK7R7t02Bf7.99
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on April 06, 2015, 12:51:08 PM
Joan P., I just learned yesterday that I will soon be moving to D.C. my daughter  in law , got  a promotion, but move to D.C. and they will take me with them.  I plan tolive inan assisted living facility.  Do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks, Sheila
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 06, 2015, 03:29:45 PM
If you have any family military connections, KNOLLWOOD down in Rock Creek Park is most excellent.  Pardon me for responding, Joan, but since I live in the area as well and all, I just could not resist.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 06, 2015, 03:49:29 PM
The history we "hear" and the history we are taught often come from tradition, which can be horribly skewed, and or the propaganda stories as told by those in power.  Over and over and over again throughout the history of mankind the stories told around the fireplaces and later written down, after writing was invented, were the versions of the storytellers themselves, and none to be the wiser.  It is, however, well known that The Tudors did not tolerate anyone publishing anything not favorable to their version of the facts, and they really had to cover up an awful lot of illegal wheeling and dealing, not to mention slandering, thieving and murdering!  So it could well be publish AND perish, back in the day!  And tyrants love nothing so much as a scapegoat!  Off with his head, and whoops, forget HIM!
For example, suppose those who fervently believe some of the total lies told in blatant disregard of the facts in our times came to be in charge of our main textbook publishers. There would be whole chapters on how a Muslim born in Kenya cheated and stole his way, from infancy mind, into the presidency, including the conspiracy to publish his birth in local Hawaiian newpapers at the time!  Wow!  What a conspiracy to be a part of for more than half a century until you get that baby taking the oath of office!  But the thing is, approximately 33% of our citizens BELIEVE this.  So you can still sell just one whole heck of a lot of snake oil!
Our historians have much more accurate methods through records people actually kept in their homes, businesses, estates, libraries, attics, trunks, government and business archives, etc., to get to the truthful nitty gritty of it all.  Thus so called revisionist history is quite frequently much closer to what the reality was.
Remember this about Thomas Cromwell:  they were very swift to CUT HIS HEAD OFF.  No feedback from HIM!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 07, 2015, 08:48:36 AM
So far the local station is only showing it on Sunday at 10pm.. But sometimes they rebroadcast stuff and when I move to North Carolina next month, they have two available PBS and maybe one of them will do this better.
I loved this weeks Call the Midwife, but I have to say, that this weeks pregnant lady was the largest I have ever seen. Twins or not. That was a huge lump they gave her.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on April 07, 2015, 09:34:37 AM
The production of Wolf Hall is really wonderful, isn't it? It's so well filmed and so well acted that you almost don't care about the viewpoint. I found Mantel's quote there quite something, thank you for putting that in, Joan P: "Even though I would say there can be other ways of thinking, my interpretations are valid.."   hahaha

For some reason DISH network decided to change satellites and replace all our receivers and in so doing they added the famous DVR which we had not had and HD, and so it no longer matters when a program is on, we can see it any time. Further, it seeks out and records all new episodes of whatever it is so  you don't have to ever miss one. Amazing.

I sat down out of curiosity yesterday for about 10 minutes and was pretty much blown away by the acting, the sets, and the production values of Wolf Hall. Mark Rylance, a BIG deal in England apparently because in the year of the Olympics in Britain he had sold out the Globe in London for the Richard III performance which he had produced and directed, I think, and starred in and I got one of the few remaining seats and found out what all the fuss was about.

The end,  particularly, I've never seen anything like it.

Now here he is in this film with Jonathan Pryce!!! I knew the minute I heard that voice who that was, what a cast! And when the emissaries came from the King to Wolsey (is that his closet, it looks too big, the one at Hampton Court seemed more cramped [it could be just me, and maybe it's been altered by time],  but are they filming it there?) and the butcher's son and dog were dismissed out of hand...I actually gasped because one of them, if I heard his name right,  will be Bishop Gardiner.  What an end HE had, right after Latimer and Ridley's pitiful deaths.

At any rate, despite what liberties Mantel has or hasn't taken with history, the film production...at least the first 15 minutes of it I saw, (thankfully not beginning as the book Wolf Hall did) was mesmerizing.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: serenesheila on April 07, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Thanks, Mary Page.  My late husband was career Air Force.  So. I will look into your suggestion.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 07, 2015, 02:32:41 PM
Oh, Sheila, DO look into it!  I have had 3 relatives there in the past, back when it was called the Army Distaff Hall, and they loved it: my stepmother and 2 aunts.  Lots of their friends were there, too.  It is a lovely place in a Gorgeous setting not too far from Chevy Chase Circle.  They changed the name when they started taking men.
I believe both the Air Force and the Navy have retirement halls with assisted living and transportation to Walter Reed, etc., in Virginia just outside D.C.  Knollwood is just barely inside D.C. On the Maryland side.
Anyway, check it out.  And do let us know where you wind up.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 07, 2015, 04:50:18 PM
Agree Ginny - Masterpiece keeps outdoing itself - I did not realize that Cromwell lost his wife and two daughters when the daughter's were so young - that would be enough to turn any man into a major focus on his work with the need to bury himself among those he could serve while gaining more power for himself.

I often wonder and have never read how these very smart men during this time in history were educated - I know those a part of the church had a monastery where education is the feature but someone like Cromwell - he is a lawyer - how does that happen?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 07, 2015, 11:17:26 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)  
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).  

NOW DISCUSSING

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)

Watch the current season March 29 - May 17, 2015.

All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


I watched the first episode of WOLF HALL again tonight on ON DEMAND.  It was a pleasure, because I picked up so many little things not noticed the first time through.  Remember Mark, the young musician who left Cardinal Wolsey's service and Cromwell notices him in York House in the service of Anne Boleyn?  I am pretty sure that will turn out to be Mark Smeaton who dies accused of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 08, 2015, 08:58:23 AM
Barb, now that's interesting. I too wonder how did you become a lawyer..The church seemed to have a lock on education at that time and private tutors for the rich.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 08, 2015, 09:21:29 AM
Remember, Oxford had been around for nearly FOUR HUNDRED YEARS and Cambridge for over three hundred when the 8th Henry reigned as an absolute despot.

And most of you will have read the series of books featuring Matthew Shardlake in the time of the Tudors.  These are by C.J. Sansom and take place mainly in London, where Matthew is a LAWYER.

I suggest you scroll down to HISTORY at this website to get the answers to your questions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%27s_Inn

Most lawyers during the time of this Henry would have gone to university, then become law clerks and then lawyers.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 08, 2015, 12:22:03 PM
Ok this is what I found about Cromwell - little formal eduction at all... :o

"Thomas received little formal education. About 1504 he traveled to Flanders and Italy, where he served as a mercenary soldier. While abroad he had an opportunity to learn French and Italian and to observe something of the diplomatic maneuvers of the European powers. When he returned to England about 1513, he married Elizabeth Wykes, whose father was also a shearer. Their only son, Gregory, proved dull and despite an elaborate education never achieved prominence.

In 1514 Cromwell entered the service of Thomas Wolsey, the great cardinal who dominated both Church and state. Cromwell's administrative abilities were soon recognized, and he became involved in all of Wolsey's business, especially the suppression of certain small monasteries and the application of their revenues to new colleges founded in Ipswich and Oxford. During this period Cromwell evidently studied law; in 1524 he was admitted to Gray's Inn, one of the Inns of Court. He also entered Parliament and in 1523 may have delivered a famous speech denouncing Henry VIII's war in France and its accompanying taxation.

When Wolsey fell from power, Cromwell attached himself directly to the court."

Thanks MaryPage for brining up Oxford - set me on my path to learn this about how you studied Law in this period - evidently there were big changes to the system with Elizabeth - This is what I found about studying at Gray's Inn versus attending Oxford or Cambridge where after 3 years of study you practiced law. Did not find any history that says Cromwell attended either Oxford or Cambridge - It appears Cromwell must have been a quick learner and learned enough in a shorter time than the traditional 12 to 14 years to keep him in Parliament and to successfully use the law to benefit Henry.

"Central to Gray's was the system shared across the Inns of Court of progress towards a call to the Bar, which lasted approximately 12 to 14 years. A student would first study at either Oxford or Cambridge University, or at one of the Inns of Chancery, which were dedicated legal training institutions. If he studied at Oxford or Cambridge he would spend three years working towards a degree, and be admitted to one of the Inns of Court after graduation. If he studied at one of the Inns of Chancery he would do so for one year before seeking admission to the Inn of Court to which his Inn of Chancery was tied—in the case of Gray's Inn, the attached Inns of Chancery were Staple Inn and Barnard's Inn.

The student was then considered an "inner barrister", and would study in private, take part in the moots and listen to the readings and other lectures. After serving from six to nine years as an "inner barrister," the student was called to the Bar, assuming he had fulfilled the requirements of having argued twice at moots in one of the Inns of Chancery, twice in the Hall of his Inn of Court and twice in the Inn Library.

 The new "utter barrister" was then expected to supervise bolts ("arguments" over a single point of law between students and barristers) and moots at his Inn of Court, attend lectures at the Inns of Court and Chancery and teach students. After five years as an "utter" barrister he was allowed to practice in court—after 10 years he was made an Ancient."
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 08, 2015, 04:21:08 PM
I find it interesting that C.J. Sansom seems to look upon Thomas Cromwell somewhat favorably, as well, and he has a PhD. in history!  AND he is English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Sansom
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 09, 2015, 08:41:18 AM
I still have Cromwell problems. But then I am an Anne supporter..Its funny, last year when we were in the tower chapel, the talk was given as always by one of the residents. He took questions at the end. A very full chapel and most of the questions was about Anne , her brother, etc. The party line is that they are not sure were Anne was buried, although it was definitely in the tower area.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 09, 2015, 11:31:26 AM
I feel negative towards Anne herself as a personality, but I also feel a huge pity towards her, as I am sure as sure can be that she was railroaded to her swift death, as were the innocent men (well, at least innocent of adultery with this queen!) who died, as well.

And that was so wrong and wicked.

I also tip my hat to her for the speech she made on site just before they cut off her head.  I agree with the historians that it sure sounds as though she truly expected Henry to send word to spare her right up until the very last moment.  They also say that speech saved her daughter.

The absolute wickedness of that king seems to stretch the acceptance of facts we all possess beyond our ability to process those facts, and said acceptance quickly snaps back to not thinking about it.

But DO think about it for a moment.  Everything was done according to what would please this monarch and fulfill his demands upon his retainers as to what he craved on such and such a day.  So the fate of SIX queens was Two Divorced, Two beheaded, One died and one finally outlived him.  Wow!  Any normal human being with such a record would be reviled as a devil! And people wrote whole books in praise of him and blamed everything on CROMWELL?  I do have trouble with that.  I think Cromwell was the Great Enabler, and I despise him for that;  yet it would appear that whomever took that job could not have stayed in it unless they fulfilled the king's whims and appeased his every craving.  Given you had a choice between filling his demands or having your head chopped off;  well!

And I do get a strong sense that all during his service to the king Cromwell was very conscientiously attempting to do the best and wisest things for the country on the one hand, while keeping his job by satisfying the king on the other.  I think Cromwell felt the executed young women were sacrifices to the benefits he was bringing about to better the lives of all English peoples.  In short, I think Cromwell chose to live in a perilous position in order to do a greater service to his country because he feared no other man he knew of would take on attempting to do that while juggling with the daily demands of keeping the king happy.  He always knew there would be enemies who would poison the king against him at some point in time, but I doubt very much he believed they would dare murder him so swiftly and without a trial.  He probably thought he had time to muster up a very strong defense against whatever accusations they concocted, and it is extremely likely he had written documentation that would save him.  That is why they surprised him and whisked him off to the Tower and his death without time to fetch anything or see anyone.  And a year later or so the king said he was sorry and he wished he had him back!  But death is a very final thing, and too late for reconsideration of the right or wrong snap decision.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 10, 2015, 08:31:14 AM
The only good thing about Henry VIII was his daughter., Elizabeth and she had so many emotional problems, it was sad. If only she had given in and had a child, I think the child could have been glorious as well..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 10, 2015, 10:34:44 AM
Personally, I think she was spooked by the chancey thing giving birth was in those days.  Didn't matter, queen or scullery maid, women died like flies.  She herself experienced Jane Seymour's death, and all Henry did to try to save her.  I think Elizabeth I wanted to stay Queen and, while fretting about the succession, worried even more about dying and leaving an infant in charge to be manipulated by who knows whom.  Also, she was wily and experienced enough to never really fully trust any of the men who courted her.

Well, that's my take.  But when all is said, and said, and said, I was not THERE.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 11, 2015, 08:54:25 AM
Neither was I, but way way back, I read an alternative history ( cannot remember the name), it postulated that
Elizabeth refused to marry or tell the father, but that she had a daughter,, who lived to reign.. It was an interesting twist.s
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 11, 2015, 12:25:43 PM
I remember rather vaguely reading a book about an actual legitimate heir with a name beginning with A;  a female who was a ward of Bess of Hardwick and a daughter of or niece of or some such to James VI of Scotland, I think that was the thing.  And a Prostestant.  But apparently Elizabeth I favored her a little bit for a while and then dropped her from all consideration.  Wish I could remember more about that.

Ah, I just googled it, and ARBELLA was her name.  I do not recall whether that was the  name of the book or not, but she IS listed as one of the chief possible heirs to the throne when you search for "heirs to Elizabeth I!"
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on April 11, 2015, 07:56:02 PM
I don't think Hilary Mantel was there either.  :)

I've just finished watching the entire first episode of Wolf Hall and enjoyed it tremendously, I am very impressed with the film production itself. I loved the introductory music, which repeats again about 3/4ths through the film.  It was actually driving me crazy until I remembered the title: I  first thought was by Henry VIII himself, and looked up the  title which I finally remembered (it's very repetitive) and it's actually  by William Cornysh instead, called Ah Robin, Gentle Robin. You can see it sung here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6YMmIEOqao

Wonder why they didn't use one of Henry's, he wrote quite a few, perhaps in coming episodes. Or maybe he's going to be the villain in the piece.

They have it on on one of  the CD's they sell at Hampton Court.

I always thought Norfolk was the epitome of evil. It will be interesting to see Mantel's "perceptions," or at least how the film makers develop them.

Really good television production, I thought.  One thing it's done so far is made me more interested in Wolsey, I must look up something more about him.

And Sir Thomas More!  How interesting to see how they are treating his character! That was a surprise to me, too.

Not sure what's wrong with Anne Boleyn's speech, is she affecting French or mockery or a lisp or what? Seems to come and go. It really makes me want to dig out the old Henry VIII and his Six Wives, with Keith Michell, remember that? I've got it here somewhere, it was really good. I thought the actor who played Cranmer was outstanding. I'd like to compare them.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 12, 2015, 09:29:01 AM
Anne loved the French, so the speech may be affected, but I also read somewhere that she had a lisp.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 13, 2015, 02:28:47 AM
Well Hilary Mantel certainly made Cromwell not only likable but sexy and lovable rather than the stiff diplomatic who knows how to obtain and use power which was my historical view of the man and also Wolsey is comes across human as an old man rather than the ruthless church leader and out of favor advisor to the court that history shows him to be. And my oh my Ann plays her cards well behind the guise of a victim.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 13, 2015, 07:35:39 AM
What stuns me is how likable they are showing Henry VIII, whom I despise so thoroughly.  Ick.

I am admiring Cromwell's agility in dodging the pitfalls of that terrible age, but do not care for his liason with his deceased wife's married sister.  Was that in the books?  Must have been.

The actor playing Cromwell wins my full admiration.  He is superb.  Beyond superb.  Amazing.  His own dead sister's boy, the one named Richard who has been his ward and is now his assistant in his household and who came to him and asked to take the surname Cromwell, is to become the great grandfather of OLIVER Cromwell!  Pity Thomas allowed him the name.

In Call The Midwife, I have a hard time believing the woman's shelter was so dreadful as short a time ago as NINETEEN SIXTY!  Well, they must know what they are passing to us as history, but it sure was, as they described it, Dickensonian.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 13, 2015, 08:42:50 AM
Yes, the 1960 date amazed me. I had my first child in 1961 and cannot believe what they were showing. But the thing that broke my heart was the couple.. gay is gay.. and he was going to try, but you know how that sort of thing works.. Actually in 1954 where I grew up, the police raised what they thought was a brothel and it was, but for men only and they got some high flying locals.. Wow.. was that hushed up in a hurry. Since we had an air base, there was also a full col. and several other high ranks.. Amazing. But no one went to jail or even to court.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 13, 2015, 11:11:52 AM
I had not looked to see who it is and even if I had looked I doubt I would know anything about the camera people or who ever it is that sets up the scene to shoot with lighting - did you notice in Wolf Hall the various shots in the dark look like paintings by artists during the fifteenth century - the candle light and the moving lanterns and candles light as they walk - the glow on the faces and how the light picks up all the peaks and valleys in a face - amazing work.

Looks like Midwife is picking up the issue that Alan Turing experienced that we learned of in the recent movie where he kills himself because of the treatment. as I recall it took Britain a long time - over 10 years to recover after WWII and like even today the poor areas are always the last to see substantial change.

Strange to see our own early history or if not our own for sure our parents that we heard so much about growing up now being the grits for historical fiction - Selfridge's is depicting the stories we read written by Virginia Woolf, who we thought of as a modern writer compared to the likes of Edith Wharton - looks like veterans after every war are not treated with the same support we had for them when they entered the war. That many coming back to enter the work force is still not worked out - but again, the costume and lighting is so seamless it takes a minute away from the story to appreciate the treat to our eyes.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 13, 2015, 01:29:35 PM
Barbara, I agree that the filming of Wolf Hall is gorgeous in every frame.

And it turns out that the "Mark" IS Mark Smeaton;  Cromwell said so in this episode.

Have you SEEN the movie The Imitation Game?  Breaks my heart to realize that the intense secrecy the British government (and ours and no doubt many others) insisted should extend in full for FIFTY YEARS after the war brought about the death of one of the greatest geniuses this world has ever known.  If only the King could have recognized his contribution with a ceremony soon after that war, how different his life might have been.  Instead, the present Queen gave him an award long after his death.  Surely if the whole world knew Turing had invented the computer, he would never have been prosecuted for homosexuality!

I do hope the attitude of this current generation, that is to say, that the vast majority of them could care less whether someone is Gay or not, will prevail for the remainder of our species existence.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 13, 2015, 01:31:57 PM
Mary Page from what I understand it had nothing to do with the secrecy but everything to do with his homosexuality the the drugs that by law were administered.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 13, 2015, 06:35:36 PM
You are correct, Barbara, but you miss my point, which is that had he been honored with the fame he deserved, they would never have dared arrest him and force upon him the choice of taking women's hormones (horrors!) or going to jail!  They did it to an unknown college professor, but I just can't see them doing it to a world famous brain such as his or Albert Einstein's.  Can you, really?  And my point is precisely that it WAS the taking of hormones that caused him to take his own life, and if he had NOT been made to take them, he would have lived, and heaven only knows what more wonders he might have come up with.  He may well have made the difference in our winning that war!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 13, 2015, 07:15:06 PM
Could be MaryPage - I just look at the McCarthy era and saw no one was immune in the US and I have a feeling that attitude of intemperance was the thinking of the time so that I have to wonder if being better known would have protected him or more than ever being in the British national spotlight they would have wanted him to meet their idea of purity. We will never know will we... all sorts of horrors in history that we can look back on and say for the grace of god I was born... and not only know better but see the world accepting a changed attitude.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 14, 2015, 08:55:42 AM
The oddest thing of all.. I grew up outside of a small town. In our school ( all 12 grades in two buildings), the school bookkeeper and one of the secretaries in the office were a known couple, invited to parties as a couple, played bridge, etc etc. female, one was known however as Jack , her whole life. Noone even blinked.. I would guess it was the small town, they are our friends, not a stranger?? Who knows.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 14, 2015, 03:43:51 PM
Steph, I do think small town has a lot to do with it.  I grew up in a very small town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  There were two boys, and strangely enough from a coincidence point of view they were first cousins, but then again, this was a town where you did not DARE to say a bad word about anyone, because sure to certain the ear into which you breathed that bad word would be closely related kin to the person you were badmouthing, well, these two boys were very effeminate from birth, I swear.  By the time they were playing with others, say sandbox days in our time, we all knew it by just osmosis.  I mean, four year olds did not know from homosexual.  And back in the day, we had not even HEARD the word sex.  But if you had asked me way back then if ------ was like the other boys, I probably would have piped up that no, he was more like us girls.  One of these boys was my age exactly;  in my class in grade school and I STILL KNOW AND LOVE HIM!  The other was two years younger.  And I swear, we all knew and never said.  When much older, probably teenage, one of my uncles asked me if ------ wasn't a "fairy," and I said yes, of course he was and always had been.  The younger one was very musical, and wound up going to NYC after High School.  He died of AIDS some years back, and I think of him often and with affection.  The one my age never married, went into and retired from one of the armed services, and took great umbrage in later years when some folks in town got into religious fervours of a type we did not grow up with and began to spurn him.  Sad to say, but we all went to Sunday School and church together, and no preacher we ever had ever said a word about homosexuality, or even spoke of it sideways.  Honestly, we never knew it was considered anything bad or wrong, and so we accepted it as something different that showed up in a few folks.  I love this man like a brother, and hate that he has to suffer this.  Most folk are dead now that we have reached 86;  there are only a handful of us left, and we all love him.  One of his younger cousins, the little sister of one of my best friends in this life and another classmate, tried to convert him a few years back, and now he won't attend any gathering that includes her.  But this fellow has always been the nicest, politest, most considerate person you could ever imagine.  He never dated, but in High School he would show up at the proms with as many as 5 dates.  Yep, he would pick up and give a corsage to every girl who had no date!  I swear!  And they had the jolliest and best evening of all of us!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 15, 2015, 08:56:38 AM
Yes, I actually learned how to put on makeup from a male friend, Philip was not a manly man as they used to say. He graduated three years before I did, but we were family friends and since my mother never believed in makeup, Phil decided I should learn at 17 and he taught me. He went off to NYC, became a private secretary for a big theatrical producer and lived his life as he wanted.. Alas aids swept him away, but I still smile when I decide to put on even blush and think of the instruction.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on April 16, 2015, 11:46:11 AM
I have not seen the second episode yet of Wolf Hall but I have a wonderful book which is probably free, it's long out of print, called A Short History of Hampton Court: With Numerous Illus. by Ernest Philip Alphonse Law dated 1906. It's 421 pages short and filled with rave reviews of the time.

What a wonderful book this is. The illustrations are all done by him, apparently, and they are the type like those by  AA Milne, but much bigger and more detailed. I wonder if people were taught to draw like this in the past, they are just breathtaking. He begins in Chapter I with the story of the building of the palace, and  Wolsey's career and life along with it and Chapter II is concerned with the "Splendid Decoration of Wolsey's Rooms," and the furniture, tapestries, etc. The illustrations, of Wolsey's closet, etc., are to die for.

It's a wonderful book and probably free online and it's just choc full of history.  

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 16, 2015, 12:46:40 PM
I notice here on our local PBS we are having a weekday evening run on the history of Henry the VIII that goes on into Elizabeth's reign- I am thinking to be sure folks realize Wolf Hall is a novel based on History - I've been watching but Cromwell is not near as cute as in Wolf Hall and in fact rather sinister looking. This is really proving the point that a person's looks can adjust your perception of the same behavior as much as in the telling.   
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 16, 2015, 01:22:58 PM
AND the not insignificant matter of in whom's pay the authors of the histories are.

When second husband David & I did our month long tour of England and Scotland in 1971, I asked one of the guides, but cannot now remember what I was told:  i.e. I seriously disliked the layout of Hampton Court and many of the other lavish palaces.  You had to go through room after room after room just to see a particular room you wished to see.  Instead of corridors or hallways linking the rooms, they just ran into one another.  I really, really disliked that, and wish I could remember why they did it that way.  I mean, it is not as though they did not know from hallways or corridors.  I specifically remember at Hampton one corridor where the guide told us Queen Kathryn Howard ran up and down screaming and trying to get away from the guards who were there to take her away to her eventual beheading.  That sort of kind of stuck with me, albeit the reason for the layout of the rooms did not.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 16, 2015, 02:04:22 PM
MaryPage more than likely the arrangement of rooms grew with new realizations of how to live more comfortably -

The early castles and large houses had one huge communal room - often with a screen just inside the entry to block the draft - a large open fire in the center of the room and along the side walls at first were platforms often covered in furs and later individual poster beds with tapestry and full curtains that were pulled for privacy - everyone entertained on their bed and still later, an area at the far end had a larger platform built where the lord and lady ate privately -

At about the time when the lord and lady had a dais with a private table for dining and before the separate dining room, next to the entry and on either side so that an entry passage way was formed that a couple of hundred years later was widened to be the entry hall or vestibule, built on either side of the passage was one room where the cooking took place and the other where game and vegetables were brought, cleaned and stored -

The line of beds soon became separated and small rooms were opened off this main communal room that allowed more privacy and then levels were added - at first the height three story or more building was to accommodate the smoke from the pit fire in the center of the room and then later came chimneys - on and on -

Just as today if you remember back after WWII was the first family room that for inexpensive houses replaced a formal dining room and if a master had a bath at all it was at first a half bath, then a small bath with a shower and now we have master baths that are spacious, always with two sinks and often a separate shower and according to price range a Jacuzzi bath - some are so big you could serve an intimate formal dinner in them - all that in less than 70 years that in the 8th to the 17th century took a century to build new ideas - also those large country houses and castles were not built every couple of years - so it took awhile to incorporate these new designs.  

If you notice some of the great houses are one room entering to another and other country houses, as they like to call them, have a corridor running next to the window wall and all the rooms are open completely to the corridor, like three wall rooms with the forth wall this open corridor -

The early communal great halls that have been preserved were often a timber and wattle wing that later construction was added that is in stone or brick.

It is nice to see preserved the history but like you I prefer my larger master bath just as the families in Britain wanted more privacy and more privacy till they finally had the typical very late eighteenth century houses built with bedroom doors opening to hallways and corridors and the cooking in its own level with the sounds, steam and smells no longer assailing you or your visitors at the front door or in the living and sleeping areas.

Haha with the newer open designed living space we have almost gotten back to the concept of the communal hall - certainly the lofts we see in magazines put the communal hall back in the limelight with only the central pit fire missing.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 17, 2015, 08:07:09 AM
Hmm, Older farmhouses where I grew up had a bedroom that could only be entered from the master bedroom.. Originally a nursery, but often used as unmarried daughters rooms. I had a dear friend who lived in one of those houses and I always remember trooping through her parents room to go to bed.. At least they had added a door.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on April 17, 2015, 06:00:02 PM
I think the thing I carried away from the first Wolf Hall production in addition to what I've said already was the striking vignette of Mark Rylance going back because his wife in the show wanted him to, after her death and the death of his daughters, to see his father. And when he did what he saw when the old man turned around was himself being beaten (and kicked?) by his father as a younger man. I thought that was quite striking and memorable.

 I am not sure what that will portend for his character later, but it's bound to have some meaning  besides the obvious or they wouldn't have put it in the film.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 18, 2015, 08:48:39 AM
Mark
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 18, 2015, 04:32:59 PM
Ginny, yes those flashbacks of Cromwell as a young child, being horribly beaten by his father, were awful. His father continued to taunt him even as an adult. He showed no pride at all in his son. It looked like Cromwell was going to hit his father with that tool he took up but then he just layed it down. I think he learn something of his character from those actions.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 19, 2015, 09:40:35 AM
I suspect that in that era, it was considered toughening up your son.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 20, 2015, 02:55:55 PM
There WAS that, yes;  but this man was beating up that boy like he intended to KILL him!  It was a wonder he had a brain left in his head or an unbroken bone left in his body.  Seriously!  At least, that is the way they portrayed it.  I doubt very much that anyone can cite this as undeniable fact.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 21, 2015, 08:50:37 AM
A really good reason for me not to watch. I simply cannot deal with violence any more.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on April 21, 2015, 09:21:51 AM
You can fast forward it or lacking that, turn your head, it was quite brief.  I would not let anything deliberately keep me from watching what is truly the event of the year on TV.

So far it's excellent,  really excellent. I've seen two of them now. Very high quality television of the kind you don't get much, much better than Downton Abbey, really a good show.  Have not really seen this quality since the original Brideshead Revisited with Jeremy Irons.

That said, there may be more violence to come.

I've seen two episodes so far and started the third last night. This DVR thing is the way to go! Watch it when you want.

Mark Rylance is carrying it with his soulful eyes and expression. The real Thomas Cromwell was not quite so appealing if his portraits serve nor was what he did something that the viewer would enjoy watching, that's skimmed over. The real Thomas Cromwell was fat, and had a very evil glint in his eye which even the portraitists of the day caught... which he'd have to have,  to do what he did. One pulls for Rylance, as Cromwell.  One would probably have shrunk in horror from the real one. Poor Thomas More, no love lost there between them.  One hardly recognizes him.

Henry seems quite weak here. I don't think that was the case. I don't think many people know that Henry VIII remained a Catholic till the day he died and attended Mass constantly.  There is more to history  that meets the eye in this production.   Norfolk is perfectly played as the embodiment of evil he was: unattractive  and nasty. Perhaps they all were. That actor, whoever he is, is good in that part.

One thing they might have done is to get the glint out of Rylance's eye by better lighting. The lights are so bright he's having to face that apparently  they are reflected in his eyes, and whatever glint was intended or that he manages to demonstrate  actually only shows what kind of lights he's having to look into.

But honestly as a Rylance festival, he makes it come alive and that soulful expression and his weak little tentative voice draw the viewer's sympathies.  Oscar, Oscar! As they said in the Downton parody. Oscar! :)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 21, 2015, 10:49:57 AM
I have become a smitten fan of Rylance, as well and all!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on April 22, 2015, 08:48:12 AM
Interesting that Henry hung on to the end, but I think he was his version of a catholic, not the popes.. He also always reminded me of a spoiled child.. He wanted what he wanted and no swaying him..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on April 22, 2015, 12:13:29 PM
Haha yes, not the Pope's which is the political aspect of the church rather than the Theology and traditional practices practiced among whatever group was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire where, at the time the Kings were in power by virtue of the Pope crowning them and they, the kings and the Pope, were partners in governing most of Europe, where as the Christian parts of Asia broke off from Rome in the 12th and 13th century. Today, and more because of the French Revolution than the Protestant Revolt, so many folks do not see the dual role and nature of the Catholic Church because they see their government taking on that role and therefore, assume the Church is simply a prayerful belief system. Even Luther, after his marriage failed that was only to snub his nose at Rome, he then came back and practiced the traditions of Mass and the sacraments etc in his elder years.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 22, 2015, 06:12:50 PM
I think it is very much part of each of us to return to our roots;  to that which we were raised with and which most calms the deepest part of our being.

True story, and I still recall it and laugh any time there is a mention of someone returning to their most basic religious habits.  The fellow involved is most likely dead now, as most of my peers are, but he would laugh and admit to the truth of this happening:

We were on a plane back in the late fifties, a very pleasant place to be in those days.  We were both involved heavily in a political campaign at the time, so we were well acquainted fellow workers, but not intimate friends.  However, I knew him well enough to know he was an avowed atheist who was born and bred a Roman Catholic.  All was well, when suddenly the plane lost altitude and there was extremely heavy turbulance.  This guy cried out:  "Jesus, Mary & Joseph!"  And crossed himself.

The bad minutes past quickly, and all was well again.  I, of course, burst out laughing, and he joined in.  
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock
Post by: Steph on April 23, 2015, 07:49:13 AM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg)  
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html).  

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

COMING
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/poldark.jpg)
Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)
June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes/sherlock_blindbanker.jpg)
Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).


ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)



Ah. I have seem that behavior before. But it is more of a reflex than a faith decision.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 23, 2015, 09:12:07 AM
Oh, absolutely, I could not agree with you more.  Nevertheless, I still feel our native religion, i.e. the one we are reared on, is like a comfort food in certain situations.

Hoping you have a terrific Irish holiday, Steph!  My principal desire re Ireland is to go to Dublin and do the James Joyce Bloomsday tour.  It would be SO much fun to see all the places!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 24, 2015, 08:13:20 PM
Barnes & Noble just sent me an email telling me they shipped out my WOLF HALL DVD today!  Hurrah!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on April 24, 2015, 08:44:18 PM
That's great, MaryPage. I know you'll enjoy viewing it again.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on April 29, 2015, 09:50:12 AM
The DVD set of WOLF HALL arrived in my mail yesterday.  Have had no time to get at it yet, but am so happy to have it.

Has anyone seen the follow up history documentary about the court of Henry VIII?  It is brand new and quite, quite outstandingly good.  Our PBS channels have been running it recently.  Catch it if you possibly can.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on May 09, 2015, 08:19:01 AM
Home and think I would love the Henry VIII series.. Our guide spent a lot of trouble setting up Irelands history starting in about 580 ad. whew..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on May 16, 2015, 08:07:37 PM
Welcome home, Steph.

 I just finished watching the last of Wolf Hall, I'm surprised more people aren't watching it. It sure looks to me like a sequel would be in order, I wonder if one is planned.

I am not sure I agree with a review I read of it in the New Yorker, (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/04/queens-boulevard}, tho I do agree that " along with some of the more memorable hats in TV history," is accurate. They were somewhat subdued on Mark Rlance's incredible performance, although praising it,   but in great praise of the actress playing Anne Boleyn.  Having now seen the end, I do agree that the actress playing Ann Boleyn (Claire Foy?)  was outstanding.  And so was the  actor playing Henry VIII,  too, Damien Lewis. He really came into his own, very powerful acting. I thought the two of them really stole the show in the 6th episode, while Cromwell, I thought, was somewhat subdued.  I'm not sure why. Perhaps he's afraid.  He seemed to take on another persona there for a minute, too. It was fascinating to watch.

Revenge seemed to be his dominating feeling at the end. I don't know if that's true in real life.  And of course Norfolk was perfect to the end, also commended by the review: a really strong ensemble cast, I thought.

I'd like to see it continue, just for the performances, really.

I'm glad it's  on DVR so I can watch it again from the beginning.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on May 16, 2015, 08:21:14 PM
Oh look! They  ARE wanting to do a sequel, they are just waiting for Hilary Mantel to finish her third book on it:  http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Stars-Wolf-Hall-eager-sequel-filmed-soon-author/story-26002083-detail/story.html

And she, in turn, apparently loves the production:

Quote
The double Mann Booker prize winner said: “My expectations were high and have been exceeded: in the concision and coherence of the storytelling, in the originality of the interpretations, in the break from the romantic clichés of the genre, in the wit and style and heart.”





Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on May 17, 2015, 09:08:11 AM
I am still in love with Call The Midwife, missed two episodes while traveling and little Cynthia has come back as a novice num.. But still smart and so very gentle.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 18, 2015, 08:55:00 AM
I haven't missed a single moment of Call The Midwife, and am astonished at how well they have held to their high standards.  I love that show!

And who knew that I would watch about the billionth recreation of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and come under the spell of Thomas Cromwell!!!  But I DID!  I DID!  I just burble up with nothing but superlatives to describe that actor.

Yes, it was a great series, and I am over the moon at the expectation of more to come.

Over and over and over again I am struck by the strange vagaries of history.  Since a year of English History in 8th grade served with  the perseverance of Miss Lewis, I have wondered how it happened that Elizabeth survived to become Queen. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on May 18, 2015, 02:34:32 PM
Ahhh we get the new episodes of that Halifax thing the first weekend in June - tra la -

Yes, Cromwell not only the actor but the portrayal was fabulous - to have to arrange the awful death of someone he obviously had a crush on and then be congratulated for doing it - sure the men he saw as enemies of his dear friend and mentor Wolsey but Anne was a friend. Painful -   
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 19, 2015, 08:39:34 AM
I don't know about the crush, though some seem to see it that way.  Remember, the Boleyn's were responsible for bringing down Wolsey, and Cromwell seems to have been devoted to Wolsey.
Whatever was going on in his mind, one thing is certain: the king charged him with getting rid of Anne, and in those times it was carry out the king's wishes or suddenly find yourself in the Tower with your execution at hand.  Which of course we all know was Henry's whim re Cromwell after two more wives, a whim which apparently he later regretted.

I am THRILLED to hear we will have another season of The Last Tango In Halifax!  I had thought they had said it definitely ended with the second season.  I still think, after viewing it several times, that last episode of Season Two had one of the greatest bits I have ever seen!  I refer to Sir Derek Jacobi's wedding "speech!"  As a hint to any of you who've not yet known the joy of seeing that act, it was NOT a speech, albeit it was supposed to have been.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on May 20, 2015, 08:43:51 AM
Alas, I don't seem to get the Halifax thing, although maybe up in the mountains, I will.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 20, 2015, 09:31:41 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Tango_in_Halifax

http://www.pbs.org/last-tango-in-halifax/home/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on May 21, 2015, 10:38:47 AM
Alas, this Call the Midwife was the end of the year for them.. Darn.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on May 28, 2015, 02:20:09 AM
One last thought about Wolf Hall. I went to Hampton Court last week because every time I'm in London I try to go-- I really like Hampton Court.   And I was particularly interested this time to see Wolsey's Closet,  where in the film Mark Rylance had his office .  I don't remember it to be as large as I said earlier,  as they showed it in the series. I did find it, and it's quite small. The audio says that somebody, could have been named Knox, for William of William and Mary, I think, had changed all those areas and transformed them into other uses. So Wolsey's Closet in reality still consists of that beautiful paneling,  that fireplace, a nice leaded small  window,  and the the beautiful paintings, and I actually paced it --off I'm sure people thought I was out of my mind. Or would have if anybody else had come in it.    I'd say it's 10 by 10. if it's that,  more like 9 x 9...very small .  Nothing like it appears in the series.  

 And then there's another tiny little room off it barely enough room to stretch out your arms both sides with the paneling in another lighted window and that's it ..

So obviously the moviemakers decided to restore it. And Wolf Hall the book is for sale everywhere here in the palace which is having a big anniversary, lots of re-creations, re-enactors, films, really well done.  

 It's really a nice day out .   And you can take the boat back to London and pretend to be Henry VIII.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 28, 2015, 05:22:35 PM
What a great treat for you, Ginny;  I'm so glad you were able to do that.
I was at Hampton Court way back in 1971.  I was thrilled and delighted to have finally seen it, but it was not one of my favorite places.  I especially disliked the arrangement of the rooms, but also did not find the place pretty or even attractive.  The maze was a fun diversion, though.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on May 29, 2015, 02:49:19 AM
You've got to be kidding. Really?  REALLY?

Not "attractive?"   The mind boggles.

The only reason I put that here was not to enter in a beauty contest of historic palaces,  but so that people might know that the actual Wolsey's Closet or Cromwell's office where he is shown so much in the film, is not as it's portrayed in the film. 

I actually go every year. I think it's drop-dead gorgeous. And some day  I'm going to stay because you can actually rent one of the former grace and favor apartments in Hampton Court and stay there. And that's on my bucket list. 


Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 29, 2015, 11:19:13 AM
Well, we all have our favorite things.  We both liked Chatsworth and Blenheim and any number of other great homes better.  We saw quite a long list of cathedrals, which were big on our list, and stately homes.  Nope, Hampton, with all of its history, fascinated but did not charm.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on May 29, 2015, 06:50:42 PM
I never could wrap my head around Chatsworth however my favorites were Hardwick Hall where some of the embroidery stitched by Queen Elizabeth I is on display - the embroidery at Hardwick Hall http://tinyurl.com/qjz94vj (http://tinyurl.com/qjz94vj)

The other, more for the current owner, is Parnham House in Dorset. http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/08/parnham-house-a-family-home-again/ (http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/08/parnham-house-a-family-home-again/)

The current owner is John Makepiece who designs and makes the most incredible furniture imaginable

Here is a page of his furniture - http://tinyurl.com/nk8hcdy

This bed is just beautiful  - (http://www.johnmakepeacefurniture.com/john-makepeace-furniture-designer-maker/furniture-design-gallery-page-images/bow-bed-260-wide.jpg) the bend in the wooden bedposts is not a trick of photography.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on May 31, 2015, 09:01:27 AM
hmm,depends on whether you are talking inside or the gardens.. Some of the gardens are favorites of mine, others not so much.. The Castle I wanted to see, but it is not open to the public is the old Queen Mothers family home, way up in Scotland. I have heard so many things about it, but alas it is private.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 31, 2015, 09:38:20 AM
They had a really great series about Royal Homes and Prince Charles narrated when they filmed the Queen Mother's home;  apparently he has the use of it now she is gone.  Clearly, he loves it and loved her.
Or perhaps I am wrong, perhaps it was a segment in that series about Scottish Castles that is quite recent.  Honestly, since I try to catch them all, they then get mixed up like a tossed salad in my head.  Anyway, I DID see the place you speak of in one of those shows.
I think we are talking about Birkhall, but again, I am not sure.  There are a lot of places in Scotland associated with the Queen Mother, but this is one she left to Charles.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on May 31, 2015, 02:08:38 PM
Coming next to Masterpiece (starting June 21) is a new adaptation of POLDARK. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s. The series is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga.

That will be followed on many PBS stations, starting in mid August, with repeat broadcasts of Seasons 2 and 3 of SHERLOCK. We'll have to wait until 2017 for Season 4 but it looks like there will be a new SPECIAL episode (not part of the regular series) that is rumored to be broadcast this December, in the UK at least. See the short article at http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/16/sherlock-special-victorian-
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on May 31, 2015, 02:59:01 PM
Many decades backward in time, I read every book Winston Graham wrote and adored him.  Wonder if I would like him today?  This past year I have been rewatching the Poldark series on WETA-UK, a special channel one of our local public television PBS groups has set up for pretty much watching miniseries around the clock.
Curious about the actors I came to adore, I just read up on them.  The one who played Ross Poldark is now in his seventies and living with his American wife in France.  Our darling Demelza died in 2012;  oh, but she was a fascinating little actress.  I shall watch with great interest to see how these new Poldarks do, and especially to see if I can spot our old Ross, as a news squib tells me he will have a cameo part in this new filming.  Fun!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 01, 2015, 08:24:51 AM
The castle that the queen mother was born belongs to her family and not to her. It is very remote. That is the one, if only I could remember the name. I did see the one that Charles inherited the rights to.. on tv, not person.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 01, 2015, 11:52:03 AM
You must be speaking of Glamis Castle.  I think that is the name.  The Queen Mother was not born there, but she spent most of her childhood there.  I think I read she was born in London, but I am not sure of this.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 02, 2015, 08:06:30 AM
Yes, Glamis. It is her family home in Scotland and very inaccessible.. I have seen pictures of the outside and it always reminds me of King Arthur..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 06, 2015, 04:27:30 PM
I expect when Miranda Hart, who was already a very big star in Great Britain, signed up to do Chummy in Call The Midwife, she probably had it written into her contract that she would have to leave the series from time to time in order to fulfill other contracts for her talents that she had already signed up with.  And so she has done.

To my great surprise, she has just made an American film with Melissa McCarthy called SPY.  It is supposed to be sort of a feminine spoof on the James Bond series, with an entirely different twist.  Now I expect those avid American moviegoers who do not watch the BBC offerings on PBS will come to adore her, as well.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 07, 2015, 10:38:06 AM
Yes,Chummy tends to comeand go way too much.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 07, 2015, 10:46:00 AM
Oh well, when we have her it is a great joy.  And when we do not, Call The Midwife is still a most excellent entertainment.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 08, 2015, 08:50:19 AM
I love Call the Midwife and wish I could get my hands on the original book. Not sure how much of it now is scripted and not from the book.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Mr. Selfridge, Wolf Hall and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 08, 2015, 11:25:45 AM
I think all of it is not from the book now.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock; Other PBS Programs
Post by: Dana on June 08, 2015, 08:05:20 PM
I used to live about 20 miles from Glamis Castle....place called Blairgowrie....not that remote,about 50 mls from Edinburgh (tho I did think it was the back of beyond as a child)...but I was wrong. Have lived in more isolated places, certainly culturally anyway.....
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 10, 2015, 08:50:00 AM
I think the problem for tourists is that Glamis is privately owned by the family and not open to the public
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on June 17, 2015, 01:37:04 PM
I am well into Bring up the Bodies now and I am really enjoying it. I did find an explanation for Anne Boleyn's slurred use of the name Cromwell, which we noticed in the film, in the book itself, and thought I'd mention it here for interest.

Anne  Boleyn  says on page 92 in the paperback: "So look. Do you,  Cremuel, go and see her without warning. Then tell me if she is feigning, yes or no."

Then the author explains this use. "She maintains, as an affectation, a skittish slur in her speech, the odd French intonation, her inability to say his name..."

This is repeated in anybody who speaks French from then on. Chapuys calls him  Cremuel.

So this is what we heard initially. What an odd thing for an author to do, she doesn't do it when the Spanish speak to him or Katherine.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on June 17, 2015, 03:13:19 PM
Do you think it is a way of introducing that Anne spent most of her formative years in the French Court - the indictments of her sexual encounters that historians are questioning since the dates do not match where she was compared to where the indictments are saying she was - anyhow the rational for her enticing these 6 men to her were her 'French Kisses' -  I was surprised to learn that she was in the French Court during the time Henry's sister Mary was married to Louis XII -

I thought this site was informative - only reading it did I truly realize her importance in history - it was because of her we had the Reformation and she was the mother of Elizabeth one of the most powerful Queens of England. I always saw Anne Boleyn as simply one of Henry's six wives.

http://www.historytoday.com/retha-warnicke/anne-boleyn-queen-england
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on June 17, 2015, 07:05:41 PM
It's certainly possible.

She MAY have taken this up, too, in the first book,  Wolf Hall,  which I have not read yet.

I saw something the other day that seemed to indicate Anne Boelyn DID do this in reality but I wasn't paying attention and so I can't say. For me that's what's wrong with "historical fiction," you never know what's fact based or fiction. Thank you for that link. I've always wanted to get to Hever, but never have, always something else I wanted to see more.

It's a good read. I have really enjoyed the experience and am almost through it and it's a good sized book, really escapist fare but now, since I saw the PBS show,  I see Mark Rylance and the guy who played Henry VIII, I thought he did a super job. And the actress playing Anne Boleyn did too.

I'm really enjoying it, which surprises me no end.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 18, 2015, 08:19:12 AM
Anne always interested me.. She was smart and got initially what she wanted. Nature decreed a female baby and that was it for Henry.. Now he strikes me as way way angry at the world.. and he really thought he was changing his kingdom and did in some important ways.. But without Anne, there would have been no Elizabeth. She was her mothers child in a great many ways.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on June 21, 2015, 09:41:37 AM
Good Grief we are getting TWO new ones tonight - both appear to be blockbusters - Poldark AND Crimson Field, a WWI Medic story. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on June 21, 2015, 10:07:13 AM
Uh oh, I better get in this last thought on Bring Up the  Bodies then! hahaha Before the conversation turns.

 I just did something on it in the Library but here I would like to say that I was quite surprised at the mentions of one of Henry VIII's musical compositions repeated in the book: Pastime With Good Company:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YcDFOu6qWw

As you can see it's quite different from Poor Robin which the PBS film plays in the background. It's as if the movie producers thought it might be a bit too jolly for the production. Yet Henry VIII wrote it.

I don't think as someone said earlier that Henry VIII was doing his religious observations for show or out of habit.  The book kind of makes plain that he was truly concerned almost to obsession with the state of his own soul as it were. Hard as it may be to believe.

There is also an excellent and interesting  documentary, Hampton Court Secrets of Henry VIIIs Palace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgQ_JGFbufM

So farewell, Henry and Hampton.  It's been quite interesting. I am so glad this discussion is here, it's truly worthwhile TV.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on June 21, 2015, 12:29:05 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

DISCUSSING NOW
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/poldark.jpg)
Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).


June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

COMING
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes/sherlock_blindbanker.jpg)
Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).


ALREADY DISCUSSED
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)



Found it - the series Jeremy Poldark, was written in 1950.
Barbara
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Coming next: Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 22, 2015, 08:54:22 AM
The series is not called Jeremy Poldark;  that was just ONE of Ross Poldark's children.  The series is called just plain POLDARK.  Ross Poldark is the principal figure from the git go.

I loved it last night.  Completely, totally different from the first series, which made it delightful.  Oh, it sticks to the basic outline of the book, as does the first one, but chooses slightly different ways of telling the story and presenting the situations.  Fascinating and fun!

I like the new Ross just fine, and like the new Elizabeth MUCH better than the original one.  I never did like the actress who played the part originally.  I do find myself yearning for the first Demelza, but think I will wind up liking this one alright.  She does radiate some spunk, just not quite as much.  Yep, I think she'll grow on me.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Steph on June 25, 2015, 08:48:27 AM
My provider does not seem to carry any PBS that has either of the shows..
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 25, 2015, 01:23:15 PM
Bummer!

Most PBS channels across the country are offering the new POLDARK on Sunday nights at nine as their new Masterpiece Theatre presentation this summer.  They all started last Sunday.

So sorry you cannot enjoy it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on June 25, 2015, 01:40:33 PM



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Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on June 28, 2015, 05:25:20 PM
New season of Last Tango In Halifax starts tonight - Caroline and pregnant Kate set a date for their wedding among other upheavals.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on June 28, 2015, 09:34:12 PM
And it was great.  I had wondered how on earth they could possibly keep up the momentum, but they really have, and beautifully.  I hate seeing Sir Derek Jacobi aging so, though.

Poldark was most excellent, as well.  So far:

I liked the first Ross somewhat better, but this one is good.
I adored the first Demelza, and this one does not meet the first ones high mark.
This Catherine is far, far superior to the first one.
The two Verities are of equal value, both first rate.



Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on June 28, 2015, 11:23:10 PM
What do you think MaryPage is the 'son' for real or someone who saw something in the newspaper and decided to do a shake down.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on June 29, 2015, 02:52:17 PM
OK it looks like they are beginning now, to do a backup, and will start on the upgrade about 5:15  Eastern time. I don't think I'd post anything now until this is over, if you want to see it again.

Fingers crossed!!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 01, 2015, 08:35:52 AM
Actually, what I think is that it is a way to introduce RUPERT GRAVES into this show.  He is an extremely popular hunk and has attracted slews of new followers to their tellys to watch.  Color me a cynic!

I inadvertently ran across a piece about the show recently and learned more than I really wanted to know.  We are in for a roller coaster ride, so hang on to your seats and pay attention now!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 01, 2015, 12:54:41 PM
I've seen Rupert Graves in many a movie and TV show - the one that is most memorable for me is Death at a Funeral I laughed and laughed so hard during that movie - sent it to my grandboys in NC and they too thought it was hilarious - I ended up buying a copy and about once every 7 or 8 months when I need something light and silly to lighten my mood or just relax I re-watch and still find it very funny although I do not explode out-loud in laughter as I did.  Except that his face is a bit fuller Rupert Graves  has not lost his boyish good looks as other actors -

I am thinking of Robson Green who played Owen Springer in Reckless that was a romantic comedy with him falling in love with his Boss' (the chief surgeon), wife and another romantic story Me & Mrs Jones. Robson, although a year younger than Rupert Graves is showing his age as he plays Geordie Keating in Grantchester
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 01, 2015, 12:59:38 PM
Interesting - hitting font size 10 is showing up on my computer no different than hitting font size 12 - the above is using font size 10 -

OK I am going to try these other two buttons the one with the A and curved arrow to a smaller version of an upper case A

All good children go to bed at eight - hmm nothing

OK now the blue arrow surrounded by red parenthesis

All good children go to bed at eight  - hmm double hmm - nothing

One more the button with the capitol T and the lower case t

All good children go to bed at eight --- OK something we shall see when I post this what the something is...
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 01, 2015, 01:01:37 PM
OK on my computer hitting the T t button makes the sentence have more space between each letter so the sentence is spread out - oh yes and it changed the font - the shape of the letters are a bit different.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 03, 2015, 04:37:52 PM
Has anyone else been watching The Crimson Field?  It comes on here on Sunday nights right after Last Tango In Halifax and Poldark.  I don't like it hugely, but sort of leave it on to see if it will get better.  Just found out Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter is in it.  Oona Chaplin is her name.  Named for her grandmother, who was Eugene O'Neill's daughter.  She plays Kitty, the one whose mother says she is dead to her.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 06, 2015, 07:40:24 AM
Anyone besides me watching PBS?  Last night was great.  First Last Tango In Halifax, which just keeps getting better.  If you say nothing else about Gillian, she has to be one of this world's hardest workers.  Phew!  I could never do one tenth of what that woman does!

Then came Poldark, and I am warming up to the new Demelza.  Next The Crimson Field, which is also getting better.  I am thrilled to find Suranne Jones, who plays Rachel Bailey in Scott & Bailey, and who is one of the very best actresses I have EVER had the privilege of enjoying, playing the part of a nurse named Joan.  She is just so refreshingly expert at what she does.

So, anyone else watching?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 06, 2015, 09:14:54 AM
Yep, Poldark is so black hat white hat it is like an old western in the English countryside. I am waiting to see who dies first in that mine and of course above ground, if the Uncle does die we have a Simon Legree in his son to fill his shoes - and then what does our hero do - will he be loyal to Demelza - we shall see what we shall see. 

And the last bit on Last Tango ouch ouch ouch - Carolyne's ex is something else again - he is like emotional train wreck sending bits flying where ever he lands. Ha ha and Gillian and Robby are a pair hahaha - her boy is growing up before our eyes - no more chubby pimply face boy. I still think there is something fishy about the new found son - maybe because it all seems too good to be true.

All the backbiting among the nurses gets to me - hate it hate it - I couple of times I just did not want to see what was going to happen next so like a kid at the movie hiding my face in my mother only I would switch channels for a bit and then when a minute or so passed I would go back. Still cannot figure out what is the matter with that one goody two shoes nurse who could not give the soldier a bath - is she so afraid and turned off by seeing a naked man - is that what it is all about?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 06, 2015, 09:32:59 AM
I, of course, know precisely what is going to happen in POLDARK, as I read every one of Winston Graham's excellent books and saw the first miniseries twice all the way through.  Nevertheless, it is most interesting to me to see how different actors and actresses play the parts, and to pick out the small ways in which the new scriptwriters have changed the events and how they have chosen different things from the book to portray and/or emphasize.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on July 06, 2015, 09:38:45 AM
I can't stand Celia at all. And anything that goes on she makes a mountain out of a mole hill. But to not go to her daughters wedding because of something her husband did 30 years ago which had nothing to do with her.thats unforgivable. Plus she let her Grandson sit there with her instead of telling him he needed to go. I'm at a point of not bothering to watch it anymore.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 06, 2015, 04:24:07 PM
It appears to me that Celia and Caroline are equally ugly and fallible.  When Celia allowed history to repeat itself, and her pique with another family member to poison her attitude and keep her from Caroline's wedding, just as a similar situation had caused her to refuse to attend Caroline's graduation, Caroline also quite deliberately utilized precisely the same dreadfully hurtful comment to Alan at her wedding that she had used to her own father at her graduation, even though she had just argued with her mother to the extent of saying she had always regretted how very much she had hurt her now deceased dad.  I hated seeing Alan's pain.  Well, like mother, like daughter, as the saying goes.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: jeriron on July 06, 2015, 04:28:52 PM
True the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 13, 2015, 09:25:57 AM
Three great programs last night:
Last Tango In Halifax continues to be outstanding;  I don't know how they do it.  Wonderful playwright Sally Wainwright (with the profession right there in her surname!).  I enjoy every morsel and find it one of the all time best.  Very, very real and believable.  I have come to cherish every character.

Poldark continues to be excellent, and more and more I like the new actors as well as or better than the previous ones, while the new script is also more pleasing in many ways.

The Crimson Field grows on me as the characterizations deepen.  I dislike medically centered programs, being of an intensely squeamish disposition, but history pulls me in.  Suranne Jones and Oona Chaplin are terrific.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 13, 2015, 01:47:21 PM
Ditto on all three MaryPage - fabulous night of TV plus along with that lineup we are getting a new series of DI Banks - the evening starts at 7: and does not finish up till 11:30 since DI Banks is an hour and a half show.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on July 16, 2015, 11:13:46 AM
I too am loving the new Poldark. I don't recall if I ever saw the first version. I have some exciting news related to the series!

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 16, 2015, 05:05:39 PM
What a lovely gift - I know the way of business but still - nice

I just loved this past week's episode - we learn that he has learned to really love her - the Christmas gathering was riveting. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: nlhome on July 16, 2015, 10:20:11 PM
I have not had the time or energy to watch TV these past 6 weeks, but I see I am missing some good programs, especially Last Tango in Halifax and Poldark. I wasn't interested in Poldark, but yesterday I took our granddaughter (age 7) on a tour through a historical mining exhibit and Cornish-built houses, and the guide referenced Poldark in her discussion of Cornwall, where many of the miners and their families came from. Now I see I should have been watching.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on July 16, 2015, 10:29:12 PM
Well did you see the Emmy  nominations? It looks like Wolf Hall  had one for best miniseries,  one for Mark Rylance as Cromwell,  and one for Damian  Lewis as Henry VIII, and I think  they both deserve it and I hope they win.   Strangely enough the actress that played and Boelyn (SIRI makes a fool of me every time!) did not get a nomination.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 17, 2015, 09:42:21 AM
Well, I thought she was rather wooden, as a matter of fact, so I am not personally affronted by that, and I expect the ones who were nominated perhaps deserved it more.  I really fell hard for Mark Rylance;  for me he lit up the small screen.

For those unfamiliar with Winston Graham, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you look for his Poldark series of books.  They are so outdated that I very much doubt your libraries will still carry them, but I know for a fact you may buy them on the cheap from Thriftbooks (used), and Barnes & Noble has them brand new, as well.  They have never gone out of print in Great Britain, and you see them much featured when and if you visit Cornwall.  They are historical fiction, and Graham took a great deal of trouble to be accurate.  I found him a delicious read, too;  enjoyed every morsel and wish I had it all to do over again.

http://www.loc.gov/nls/bibliographies/minibibs/poldark.html

Also, you can buy the DVD set of the first miniseries that was made.  The scriptwriters took quite different approaches to the same story, and I find that in itself fascinating.  I loved the books so much that I could probably watch ten different takes on it played out on film and still have a wonderful time.

 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Poppaea on July 17, 2015, 09:43:06 PM
I can't wait for Sunday night's treat of Poldark, then I watch it again on Monday night. I purchased the first volume in hardcopy then four subsequent Poldark novels on Kindle. I have family in Cornwall and go there to visit - I know Gweek, Falmouth, Penzance, Truro and other towns, beautiful and fearsome cliffs and sea, some famous Cornish gardens and lush farmland. I am busy on the first novel now. I think Aiden Turner in the Masterpiece series is absolutely heart-throbbingly is gorgeous.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on July 19, 2015, 10:46:52 AM
hepeskin, welcome to the discussion. I too think that Aiden Turner is very handsome and is a wonderful fit for the part. All of the actors are very good and don't seem like they are "acting." That's exciting that you have family in Cornwall and have been there. I'm sure it makes the series, and books, even more alive for you.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on July 22, 2015, 07:25:20 PM
Who is watching Last Tango?  I would like your opinion on Sunday's episode.  It seemed to me like they skipped an episode.  I am watching Poldark and Demelza is growing on me.  I also watched Foyle's War.  All these programs are excellent.  Programming like this convinces me to support PBs!
sALLY
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 22, 2015, 09:25:07 PM
On  Last Tango I just feel we have not heard all there is to hear or the whole thing was a mistake about this son - Gillian's lost brother - something is just not sitting right on that one. I keep thinking as a successful business man he is looking for some way to get his hands on Gillian's land but I do not remember it came to her from her Dad although there are ways she would help her Dad if there was a legal threat. Looks like we have a perky new character in the new nanny to liven up the last few episodes.

Quite a powerful Foley's War - amazing how all this WWII stuff keeps bubbling up and always with a side we were not privileged to at wars end or maybe we wanted to get on with life and only see the heroic. Even Crimson Fields is showing a German soldier as someone to root for. Amazing 100 years ago this week the Second Battle of the Isonzo was being fought - hardly a ripple about WWI here in the states - maybe in Europe do you think?   
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on July 23, 2015, 07:41:11 AM
I wanted to say to MaryPage way back there about the Emmys that I didn't see her (the actress who played Ann Boelyn) as particularly better than Rylance or Lewis, either. But the New Yorker was it, really played her up instead of the two of them. Maybe they submitted her name in the wrong category and there were too many others ahead of her for her to make that particular list.

  The guy who played Norfolk was wonderful, I'm sorry he did not get a nod, not a big part, but so well done,  but Damian Lewis, who is not mentioned much as Henry,  really almost stole the show...of course Rylance is out of this world.  I hope he and Rylance are not against each other, I failed to notice that. A split vote for each might knock them both out.

  Damian Lewis has won a lot of awards. He was on stage  in London when I was there but it was an old Mahmet play, with John Goodman whom I also like but I chose Jonathan Pryce (Cardinal  Wolsey) instead at the Globe.  Spoiled for choice. I know they would have also been outstanding.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 23, 2015, 08:48:25 AM
Ginny, I read that review as well, and felt the writer should have had his head examined.  Maybe she appealed to him;  who knows.  I still found her wooden.

Am still head over heels in love with Last Tango In Halifax.  As for the newly discovered brother, played so well by Rupert Graves, have an inkling he is here to stay.  Why?  Well, because Sally Wainwright seems to be making every attempt to take on all of the issues we have been putting in the public spotlight regarding our personal and family lives in this 21st century of ours: same sex marriage, babies born in such situations, adultery, divorce, teen age pregnancy, women in top jobs, and children who try to find their natural parents.  In introducing Gary, she was lucky to get the wonderful Rupert Graves;  even more reason to believe he will be around for at least this season, and we can cross our fingers for more.

I think the land is Gillian's from her first husband, but I may be mistaken;  it may be her father's.

Speaking of first husbands, my first had a secretary who was single, got pregnant by a married naval officer (impossible situation), and gave the baby up for adoption.  She strongly desired a private adoption (this was back in 1960), and we arranged through a lawyer that a couple who were our best friends and childless could adopt her.  This was called the grey market for babies back then.  They adored the child, never had another, and are dead and gone now.  A few years back, the woman who was the baby contacted me for a clue as to her parentage.  I gave her her mother's name and address, clear across our continent, and both parties had the joy of discovery.  Her mother had never had another child.  This turned out to be an amazing discovery for me, as well and all, as I learned mind blowing things about how we are more ruled by our inherited genes than we ever tend to give credit.  Actually, we do not own as much "Free Will" as we credit ourselves with!  Since that experience, I have asked a lot of other adults who were adopted as infants and later searched for their roots to tell me of their experiences, and found that these human beings who never, ever had any sort of contact, had the most incredible details of their personas in common.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 23, 2015, 08:59:54 AM
Sally, Sally Wainwright often skips quite a bit of time between episodes of Last Tango.  I don't think we missed anything.

If you love Last Tango, you might enjoy Scott & Bailey, as well.  It is a police procedure series, and not at all like Tango, but the writing is Sally Wainwright and the acting top notch.  Bailey is played by Suranne Jones, who plays the nurse named Joan in The Crimson Field.  She is one of the most outstanding actresses I have ever had the privilege of enjoying.

Sarah Lancashire, who plays Caroline in Tango, played Miss Audrey in The Paradise.  She was also the voice of the narrator in Lark Rise To Candleford.  She is GOOD, and a great favorite in Great Britain.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 23, 2015, 10:26:45 AM
Oh I did not know she was the narrator in Lark Rise To Candleford - now I need to find an old episode to watch.

On adoptions - did you see how last week a policeman found a Baby in a trash dumpster and it turned out it was his unknown child - Wow - wonder what he does - wonder if he was married and this was something on the side or if he was and is single - what mixed feelings he must have.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 23, 2015, 11:31:02 AM
I did NOT see that.  Where did it happen?

Here is a similar story, but it was not the policeman's baby.

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/04/27/police-officer-finds-abandoned-baby-in-dumpster-26-years-later-he-meets-the-man-he-saved/

By the way, I do not endorse or condone the advertising on that website.  I am avidly Pro-Choice, but of course in full agreement that every baby born must be given a chance to live.  To kill a newly born is murder.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 23, 2015, 02:40:45 PM
Mary Page I do not remember where - I thought I saw it on Huffington but when I looked I did find your story of the reuniting after 26 years but could not find this story - I have several sites that are current news so I may have seen it on another of those sites - if I find it again I will post it.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 27, 2015, 10:51:07 AM
Next week we will have the season finale of Last Tango In Halifax, and I see that they are contracted to do a Season Four.  Hooray!  Also read that it has the largest number of viewers in Great Britain at this time.
Last night we had the season finale of The Crimson Field, and thought it quite good, actually, and clearly needing another season to tidy up some of the bits:  especially that evil noncom.  Looks like the nurse who appeared to be his ally is going to control him, for a while, at least.  Anyone know if there will be another season in the works?
Poldark continues to be excellent, while I continue to be fascinated by the subtle ways in which the new screenwriters have chosen to tell basically the same story in different ways.  Practically know the old miniseries by heart, have watched it so many times, so these things are quite apparent to me.  Am getting quite comfortable with the new set of actors, however, and that is something of a relief, as at first found myself resentful and balking at them being who they are portraying.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on July 27, 2015, 12:42:51 PM
I read on the Internet that BBC "axed" Crimson Field after the first series due to low TV viewing in Great Britain.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on July 27, 2015, 01:18:58 PM
I wondered if the idea of a historical mini- series based on WWI would work - so much loss for most of Europe and not a lot of noble behavior at the time certainly does not make those watching feel a victor as after the courage shown in Britain during WWII and so it is difficult to hear the truths spread out in glorious color on TV. The upper class is not given a passing grade in the series which is probably rather accurate reading history and today, any young writer only has written history and a few old speckled and jerky films - they are all gone - that war created so much damage with British upper class arrogance deciding what was best in the Middle East, northern Africa and Versailles. 

And Foyle's War is really hitting hard the problem of the Brits arranging matters in Palestine and having as much influence in the Arab Sinai issue because of the Brits occupation of Egypt. And the Israeli's are not being glorified with only their small-band-of-couragious-survivor personality depicted - they are attempting to show all sides, both the good and admirable along with some of the negative - not sure what it is all about but it is a different look at history than we have seen.

Looks like Gary is turning out to have an agenda - not sure yet what is at the bottom of it but the hens are coming home to roost. Sad sack John is really a good actor isn't he to keep this up episode after episode - Have you noticed Celia is looking more and more attractive - looks like she lost a bit of weight but there is more - she looks refreshed and has a glow.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur & George, Indian Summers & More
Post by: MaryPage on July 27, 2015, 02:23:12 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

DISCUSSING NOW
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/indiansummers.jpg)
Indian Summers (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/indian-summers/)
September 27- November 22, 2015

Set in a subtropical paradise during the twilight era of the British Empire, Indian Summers explores the collision of the ruling class English with their Indian subjects, and the intricate game of power, politics, and passion that ensues. Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Oscar® nominee for Billy Elliot and Educating Rita) stars as Cynthia Coffin, the glamorous doyenne of an English social club, and is joined by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jemima West, Nikesh Patel, Roshan Seth, and Lillete Dubey.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/homefires.jpg)
Home Fires (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/home-fires-s1/)
October 4 - November 8, 2015

At the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour. Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Cranford) head an ensemble cast in the moving wartime drama, Home Fires, based on Jambusters, Julie Summers’ history of Britain’s Women’s Institute.



ALREADY DISCUSSED

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes/sherlock_blindbanker.jpg)
Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/arthur_george.jpg)
Arthur & George (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/arthur-and-george/)
September 6- 20, 2015

Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) stars as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a three-part MASTERPIECE adaptation of a novel by Julian Barnes based on real events. Outraged by injustice to an Anglo-Indian solicitor, the famed author uses the methods of his own fictional detective to get at the truth. Co-starring are Arsher Ali (The Missing) as George Edalji; and Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey) as Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur’s real-life “Dr. Watson.”

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/poldark.jpg)
Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).


June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


I think Gary is rather neurotic, but then again, aren't they all.  I do get a glow in my own heart when I see how close they all really are, though.  Caroline did not want a baby, but she treasures Flora because she is Kate's baby, and now both boys are on board with the baby sister thing.  The view of the four generations all eating lunch together in the farm house was great, too.  They may get fit to be tied with one another from time to time, but the deep bonds are there, and I relish seeing that.  Gillian would appear to be an addict of both drink and sex, but is trying her level headed best to overcome both, and at times I find her the most grounded of the lot despite her very traumatic life.  Alan has given her unconditional love always, and she knows how to give it in return.  And that boy of hers, despite the teenage pregnancy and subsequent marriage, seems quite top drawer in character.  Yes, I have come to love them all.  And I do think every one of them is a GREAT actor;  we are seeing Britain's best at work.  Too bad about The Crimson Field, but I did not much enjoy the show itself, just the outstanding acting there, too.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on July 28, 2015, 12:10:25 AM
I too love the actors in Poldark and Last Tango. I was very apprehensive during Poldark last evening. He looked like he was following the same path as his cousin Francis.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 28, 2015, 08:53:38 AM
Ah, then you must not have read the books or seen the first miniseries.  It was done even more dramatically in the first miniseries.  And I liked Demelza's ballgown better in the first.  But this was quite satisfactory.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on July 28, 2015, 11:11:57 AM
I have not read the books and I don't recall seeing the first Poldark. I've just placed a hold on the first season of the first series at my library. 20 people ahead of me :-)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 28, 2015, 11:28:13 AM
Well Marcie, you can still get the FIRST miniseries.  Try for it!  It is called the 1975 Poldark.  And I highly recommend all of the books.  Winston Graham was the author, and you can get them used on the cheap from Thriftbooks and others websites.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on July 28, 2015, 04:58:52 PM
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-poldark-the-complete-collection/23055142?ean=0054961860296
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on July 29, 2015, 11:00:41 AM
Thanks, MaryPage. I'll look at my library copy when I get it and see if I want to purchase the whole FIRST series.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on July 29, 2015, 03:57:50 PM
Oh wow, I was wrong about the Emmys for Wolf Hall, they had 8 nominations!!


AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Limited Series Or A Movie - 2015

    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    "Part 2: Entirely Beloved"
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
    David Blackmore, as Editor

Outstanding Limited Series - 2015


    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or A Movie - 2015

    Nominee
    Mark Rylance, as Thomas Cromwell
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience

Outstanding Directing For A Limited Series, Movie Or A Dramatic Special - 2015

    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
    Peter Kosminsky, as Directed by

Outstanding Costumes For A Period | Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie - 2015

    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    "Part 3: Anna Regina"
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
    Joanna Eatwell, as Costume Designer
    Ken Lang, as Costume Supervisor
    Clare Vyse, as Assistant Costume Designer

Outstanding Casting For A Limited Series, Movie Or A Special - 2015


    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
    Nina Gold, as Casting Director
    Robert Sterne, as Casting Director

Outstanding Writing For A Limited Series, Movie Or A Dramatic Special - 2015

    Nominee
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
    Peter Straughan, as Written by

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or A Movie - 2015


    Nominee
    Damian Lewis, as Henry VIII
    Wolf Hall
    PBS
    A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience

News & Features
- See more at: http://m.emmys.com/shows/wolf-hall#sthash.V7NhTXPg.dpuf
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marjifay on August 02, 2015, 04:26:50 PM
When does the Poldark program broadcast.  I've never seen it, but then I hardly ever watch that channel.

Marj
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on August 02, 2015, 08:19:49 PM
It's on at 9pm on Sundays on the PBS in San Francisco.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on August 03, 2015, 09:07:44 AM
Well they sure did a good job of leaving Poldark hanging in the breeze - looks like we wait till next year for the series to continue - read that they are finishing up Downton with lots of goodbyes and the writeup indicated some of the goodbyes in the show are upbeat but there are a few that have no place to go - Mary is too busy to pay that much attention to Edith but does get in a few jabs as Edith evidently has a new beau and is an attractive addition to London society.

Not sure if we have not seen the end of the Last Tango... but then they did enough it could end - Cilia looks better and more vibrant with each episode where as Jacobi is really showing his age - do not remember what Caroline's trip to New York was all about but it appears she has turned the corner and it appears John will never get on with his life and then Gillian - golly what can be said...

We've been seeing Foley's War and it appears to be at its end - the last show was very dramatic and a more involved story line than all the episodes I can remember.

Not sure what the Fall will bring but so many of the shows we have been watching are coming to their end even if we have to wait till Winter after the holidays to see the ending episodes of Downton. I think there are still a couple of episodes left to DI Banks - oh yes, what was that one with the young reverend and detective played by an older Robson Green.

According to the PBS Masterpiece line up for the fall that is online we are in for a whole slew of Sherlock including a new one with Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) - we shall see what we shall see on that one...   
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on August 03, 2015, 11:48:06 AM
I watch the network news religiously on ABC, my absolute favorite, and NBC, but other than that just about the only channels I ever watch are our three public television channels(Maryland MPT, Virginia WETA and Washington, DC WHUT) and HBO and MSNBC.  There are just no shows, night or day, that interest me on network channels.

I contribute to PBS annually, both MPT & WETA, out of a deep sense of guilt and appreciation  I have enjoyed so many thousands of hours of public television's wonderful shows, most of them from BBC.  Gosh, I've been watching Masterpiece Theatre since before it was called that even!  I think the very first offering was the Forsyte Saga, clear back in 1969 or thereabouts.

In the first season of POLDARK they cover the first two books by Winston Graham, ROSS POLDARK and DEMELZA.  In the second season they will cover books three and four: JEREMY POLDARK and WARLEGGAN.  I don't believe they have ever filmed all twelve (12) books, but I wish they would!  Wouldn't it be loverly!

So POLDARK is not made up by screenwriters, but they simply create the scripts according to what happens in the books.  I read that Last Tango In Halifax will definitely have a Season Four, which delights my soul, as I find this a top notch piece of excellence.  I think Caroline has finally said goodbye to Kate's ghost;  I do not believe we will see her again.  Isn't the baby adorable! 

Barbara, you are talking about GRANTCHESTER, a superb series about a Church of England priest who plays detective with his policeman pal.  These are also adapted from a series of books, this time THE GRANTCHESTER MYSTERIES by James Runcie.  Runcie is the son of a famous Archbishop of Canterbury!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on August 03, 2015, 04:53:30 PM
MaryPage,  thank you for the information on the Poldark books.  I had not realized there were so many.  Following last night's episode, there was a station "blurb" on the next season being "in production" (and then, of course, a plea for donations!).

I'm still trying to decide what I think about the season finale of "Last Tango....".   Gillian's wiffle-waffling was just plain annoying and the "back stories" explaining why were TMI, IMO.  :)
I can tolerate it - but I do wonder why the dialogue is written so the characters speak so hesitantly. Almost seems as if they're stuttering.
I suspect the actress who has played Kate had a contract through the end of the season so had to be written into episodes after her "death".   Interesting that so many main characters are going out of the country.  More contract changes, perhaps?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: MaryPage on August 03, 2015, 08:29:58 PM
Caroline is just paying a promised visit to Kate's mom in New York City.  Remember their meeting at Kate's funeral, and Caroline made her that promise?  Alan & Celia are just taking a tour of foreign places, they are not emigrating.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on August 03, 2015, 09:38:20 PM
Oh yes, how quickly it went over my head that yes, Caroline is visiting Kate's mom.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on August 03, 2015, 09:44:04 PM
Oh, I realize no one is moving away.  Gillian and Robbie are going to Majorca for their honeymoon.

I have  noticed in some shows, that having a character leave for some reason is sometimes a device for a plot change when the actor is going  to  take a leave of absence.  Instead of just disappearing, he or she doesn't come home for a while.
If the actor is leaving the show, something dire happens and the others can react in all sorts of ways, precipitating dramatic plot developments. :)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: nlhome on August 03, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
I was disappointed that I missed all the PBS programs this summer. Tonight was the first time I watched TV since the end of May, and that was to catch 15 minutes of the local news. Too much going on, plus we take every opportunity to be outside this summer, including sitting out on the deck watching the fireflies. I can see by this discussion that I missed a lot.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Poldark and Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on August 09, 2015, 01:15:53 PM
nlhome, You missed some good ones. Some of the Poldark episodes are available to view online for a limited time at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/

Some interesting programs are coming soon. See the heading at the top of this page for links to Arthur & George--based on real events in the life of Arthur Conan Doyle and Indian Summers, set during the twilight era of the British Empire.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 03, 2015, 10:21:08 AM
OH I can't wait for Arthur and George. AND there is a new Doc Martin which filmed this spring in Port Isaac, Cornwall, to look forward to, also.

This DVR is the thing, it really is.  Not only do you not miss any show, nor do you have to stay up late,  you can then rewatch it as many times as you like.

I have become a Wolf Hall convert, I bet I have watched it 20 times.

I just found this online which I love and which helps a great deal, it's who's who in the Wolf Hall production. It shows the photos of the actor in costume as he appears and then it says who he is and what his position was. Bereton!  I knew who he was in the book, but I  went the whole 6 episodes without a clue as to who he was  in the film or who that actor was portraying in Henry's inner circle.  It's priceless as a brief  Guide to the Masterpiece Wolf Hall:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02g3n38/p02g3cb5

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 03, 2015, 10:53:44 AM
Thanks, Ginny, for that site with all of the Wolf Hall background. DVR is great, isn't it. You can record one episode or a whole season!

THis Sunday will begin the 3-episode series of the new "Arthur and George" about an incident in Arthur Conan Doyle's life. It should be very good with Martin Clunes who starred in Doc Martin.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 03, 2015, 12:26:01 PM
Marvelous website for Wolf Hall - thanks Ginny - the modern day photo of Mark Rylance shows him to be a nice looking man  without all the velvets and furs of the Tudor Court.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 03, 2015, 12:39:40 PM
:)

Apparently he's a bit of a free spirit, dresses eccentrically, hates interviews, and is very clever. He'd have to be, to memorize all those lines, he's in almost every frame. Emmy, Emmy Emmy!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 04, 2015, 07:50:02 AM
Marcie, thanks. Yes, having discovered the DVR I don't know how I managed without it, it's wonderful. With a click of a button you can be sure you don't miss any episode coming up and you can then watch them at any time.

 Arthur Conan Doyle was SUCH an interesting man and now we've got Martin Clunes playing the part, it should be a wow. I had read he was really tired of Sherlock Holmes and he deliberately killed him off at Reichenbach  (sp) Falls but his mother importuned him to bring him back and that's why he did.

He wrote lots of other books, on other subjects,  too. I did not know that till a professor once mentioned it was a hobby of his to collect Doyle's  other works. I did not realize there were so many.

Whose film portrayal of Sherlock do you all like the best? I am not sure which Sherlock I like better. I always liked Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and have all their films. I liked them on the radio too in the WWII years, wonderful programs,  and they are still available on CD. Love the old commercials and Buy War  Bonds.

I never really cared for Jerremy Brett initially (who, by the way was a cousin of Martin Clunes and who offered to pay to have his ears pinned back for him but he declined). But now for some reason I am beginning to like Jeremy  Brett too.

Of course Ian McKellen, in his latest one was just wonderful.

Strangely enough I really liked  Robert Downey, Jr's take on Sherlock, with Jude Law. They played it for fun and I really enjoyed those films. I wish they'd make another one.

Who do you all like the best for Sherlock?  What about Dr. Watson? Do you like him more serious like the modern ones or more funny like the older film portrayals?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 04, 2015, 08:00:52 AM
I did like Jeremy Britt - it was this last interpretation by Benedict Cumberbatch that I absolutely did not like - I've seen him in other things that I thought he was quite wonderful but this, it was more the change up of the stories that I just did not like - I was under the impression this was a take off on the Sherlock stories that Martin Clunes was doing rather than the actual stories. To me his face is too broad for my picture of Sherlock - in that Benedict has the better look and that is probably why I liked Jeremy Britt and I bet goes back to Basil and Nigel, both long narrow faced men. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 04, 2015, 08:21:30 AM
Oh I've not seen him. I've heard about him but to me he looks a bit young for the part. I could be wrong. I liked Rathbone's detached sort of elegant  aura he had about Sherlock. In real life Rathbone  was from South Africa originally I believe and was apparently one of the nicest men in show business, I read his biography once.

Yes, I think Arthur and George are about  Arthur Conan Doyle, the author, Martin Clunes plays Conan Doyle, I think, you're right,  not Sherlock. Won't that  be fascinating?

Basil Rathbone to me is the quintessential Sherlock in every way. I mean once you see HIM  and hear him, it's hard to get him out of your head. If you had never seen him (and I imagine in 2015 there are a lot of people who haven't), I wonder who you would prefer.

I've got a big book with all the Sherlock stories  in it. It's an old book but once you start reading THEM you can't stop, it's very addictive till you finish them all.

But Nigel Bruce was roundly criticized for his sort of humorous take on Watson,  and I liked him. :)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on September 04, 2015, 11:29:09 AM
I have one of those big books with all the Sherlock stories.  The only Sherlock I really did not like was Cumberbatch.  He talked so fast and I had trouble understanding his accent.  He is a wonderful actor but definitely not my idea of Sherlock.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 07, 2015, 09:06:25 AM
Yes I saw him last night for a bit, too, after the  Arthur and George which I was interrupted in so will have to watch the tape. From what little I saw I did like Martin Clunes in the part. Accent was good.  Not sure I understood the plot, but again I didn't get to see much of it.

I was totally beguiled by the British Bake Off thing, I love Mary Berry and had a friend not written she was on I would have missed the whole thing. Love that show. Her recipes are good, too, once you figure out caster sugar and muscovado sugar and the baking temps and measurements.  She had a new cook book out recently, something about fool proof recipes I really wanted but again the difference, but I noticed her online site has the US equivalents, which is fabulous.

But the Cumberbatch! I was totally put off by it, couldn't even figure out what was going on (in my defense I missed quite a bit of the beginning) all flash and people punching each other and...was that an IPad? I wasn't ready for it or the constant rat a tat tat of repartee, everything in overdrive, flashing. Couldn't figure out what they were doing.

And then I noticed Mycroft is the actor I admired in Wolf Hall, he played Stephen Gardiner, I like him, tho I liked Stephen Fry's Mycroft better, his is very good too. And then they went down in the subway and that caught me.  I taped the last part to watch because it was too much at that time of night hahahaa  (and to be honest I did have nightmares all night but again that's what a DVR is for, right?)  but I think I do see where they are going.  So I'm going to give it another chance (or at least the end of it). Not sure if I'm ready for that Sherlock, but it's a clever approach.

Cumberbatch himself, I'm not so sure of. Personally,  Paul, the male judge in the British  Bake Off is  more appealing to me...he'd be a good Sherlock. (Assuming he can act).   But I'll give Cumberbatch  a chance. Especially since i can now rewind and figure out what they are saying, seemed to be some very clever repartee.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 07, 2015, 05:14:55 PM
Actually Ginny the Cumberbatch Sherlock you saw last night makes more sense after you see the earlier one that this was answering - this I think was the last of that series - I think PBS has that series on their web site so that you can see it all.

And I only saw Arthur and George in bits and pieces - seemed OK but I am up to my ears in Sherlock and wish they had started the fall season with another venue -
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 08, 2015, 01:27:48 PM
Oh I see. That explains a lot.

I finished it last night and I have to say I like it. I think they are playing it for laughs, like Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law did and it IS very clever. Of course you have to get used to the idea of what they are doing, it's not a period piece, which I  normally want to see, not serious, and one has to be able to hear them. Love that DVD, you can play it over and over. And LOUD!

I liked it. I've ordered the first series from Netflix to see if I like the beginning. I mean if one is expecting Basil Rathbone one will be seriously disappointed, but I think Cumberbatch who looks 11 years old has a certain charm of his own.

Can't wait to see this Moriarty, I think I see him in one of the roof flashbacks?  The brothers look more like oddballs in this one than they did in the Rathbone (to just pick an older one).  I like it.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 11, 2015, 09:37:52 PM
I too have enjoyed the Cumberbatch/Freeman Holmes and Watson series so far. It does take getting used to the computer projections from Holmes mind.

I'm interested in the Arthur and George program so far (the first episode). I like Martin Clunes in the role of Arthur Conan Doyle. He's very different from "Doc Martin." I'll have to watch the episode again to see if I can describe the style of the program. It's as if they allude to some action happening and then it's over. They skip stuff. When I first started watching, it seemed to me like I had fast forwarded over some parts. I wonder if they actually deleted little bits here and there because it was too long or that's just the director's/editor's style.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 18, 2015, 07:30:45 PM
 I need to watch Arthur too from the  beginning on the DVR but I've not had time. I liked what snatches I saw Sunday, tho, maybe the series will come into its own.

Like the Sherlock, I finally in the last two weeks had time to see the ones Neftlix sent, the first disk of the first season, I really like it a lot. It's not as jarring as the one was on TV this season, (is it 3) and you are right Barbara, if you see it from the beginning it not only makes sense it's good.

I really like it. I am not sure what the flashing scenes are supposed to convey, however, you think they are computer projections, Marcie? I couldn't figure it out,  like when he was on the metro and he "forsaw"? the fire? Is he...clairvoyant or has ESP or does he figure it out at the speed of light in sort of a computer...his mind is sort of a computer?

He's a strange looking young man, kind of looks 11 years old.

I really like Watson. He is REALLY good.

Right now I am hooked on the Great British Bake Off and Mary Berry. And Paul, is his last name really Hollywood?

Love that show.

Is THIS the Sunday for the Emmys? I don't want to miss it because I want to see Wolf Hall get their share of awards. hahahah

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 19, 2015, 01:42:01 AM
Ginny, yes, I think as you said that Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes has a mind that is computer-like.

The Emmy's ARE this Sunday!! http://www.emmys.com/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 19, 2015, 07:54:13 AM
Looks like nobody is projecting  any kind of awards for Wolf Hall to be won.   Let's see what happens.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 19, 2015, 12:12:21 PM
Masterpiece has quite a few Emmy nominations: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/news/2015-masterpiece-primetime-emmy-nominations/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 19, 2015, 12:34:46 PM
8 I think but the scuttlebutt of those who make predictions are leaving them ALL out.

I hope they are wrong, that's the only reason I'm watching it. Damien Lewis (Henry VIII) is sometimes mentioned way down the list and sometimes Mark Rylance.  Wouldn't it be fabulous if they took the thing!!?? But this or that actor was overlooked last year and so it's thought to make up for that Bill Murray among others will get the awards this time. I like Bill Murray, too. It appears this will be quite a contest this year.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 21, 2015, 08:42:22 AM
Such a disappointment. :)

It appears the prognosticators were right, and it was an Olive Kitteridge Night.

I am not sure why they are lumping a 4 hour movie in  with the mini series, but I think that is what accounted for Olive Kitteridge winning them all. That and Bill Murray perhaps being unfairly passed over in the past. It was certainly powerful but I don't think the acting was  comparable. Oh well.

I thought the Emmys were quite strange,  actually, but again I am not in the industry.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 21, 2015, 10:49:55 AM
I watched also and most of it was boring (for me). I didn't see that version of Olive Kitteridge.  I haven't seen most of the "winners." I do think that the voting must be for "popular" people or, as you say Ginny, for some people who have been overlooked in the past.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 21, 2015, 04:23:02 PM
 Yes and now they are saying it was a tremendous hit and great show and I'm thinking, huh? hahahaa The jokes seemed to ME to fall flat about 80 percent of the time. (I took that from the silence in the audience).  But I turned it off after 10 or so.

Perhaps they are tired of giving British actors American awards as happens so often...and maybe it's a backlash.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 21, 2015, 04:54:15 PM
Yes, that could be. Quite a few British actors have won "our" awards in the past.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 21, 2015, 04:54:46 PM
Sounds crass but have you ever noticed the awards seem to gravitate toward those who are considered representative of the current beleaguered groups in society. I think the top 5 are all interchangeable - there is no bad apple in the group and like a collage entrance interview those who they think will bring to the school more dollars after graduating are admitted along with those who show a challenging life to even be considered - so look at the future profit margin for the winners in addition to the ones who can be examples of the current social challenges. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on September 22, 2015, 10:26:34 AM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

DISCUSSING NOW
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/indiansummers.jpg)
Indian Summers (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/indian-summers/)
September 27- November 22, 2015

Set in a subtropical paradise during the twilight era of the British Empire, Indian Summers explores the collision of the ruling class English with their Indian subjects, and the intricate game of power, politics, and passion that ensues. Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Oscar® nominee for Billy Elliot and Educating Rita) stars as Cynthia Coffin, the glamorous doyenne of an English social club, and is joined by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jemima West, Nikesh Patel, Roshan Seth, and Lillete Dubey.




ALREADY DISCUSSED

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/homefires.jpg)
Home Fires (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/home-fires-s1/)
October 4 - November 8, 2015

At the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour. Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Cranford) head an ensemble cast in the moving wartime drama, Home Fires, based on Jambusters, Julie Summers’ history of Britain’s Women’s Institute.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes/sherlock_blindbanker.jpg)
Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/arthur_george.jpg)
Arthur & George (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/arthur-and-george/)
September 6- 20, 2015

Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) stars as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a three-part MASTERPIECE adaptation of a novel by Julian Barnes based on real events. Outraged by injustice to an Anglo-Indian solicitor, the famed author uses the methods of his own fictional detective to get at the truth. Co-starring are Arsher Ali (The Missing) as George Edalji; and Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey) as Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur’s real-life “Dr. Watson.”

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/poldark.jpg)
Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).


June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)


I enjoyed the Arthur and George short series and especially liked the ending.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 22, 2015, 10:49:55 AM
I need to see it again because I forgot who told him he should not be seen walking arm and arm with Jean and in fact I forgot the whole bit till the end of the program last night - need to see it all the separate showings as one continuous story and I bet it is available on the PBS web site.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 24, 2015, 07:00:07 PM
Jean, I enjoyed the Arthur & George episodes too. I figured out the culprit but not until part way through the last episode.

Barbarba, the three episodes are available for viewing online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/ until early to mid October (different dates for each of the three episodes). I think it was his brother-in-law who cautioned him against being seen with, as the brother-in-law termed it, his "mistress."
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Sherlock, Arthur and George and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 24, 2015, 11:49:56 PM
thanks marcie
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 27, 2015, 12:43:43 PM
We've got two new PBS series. One, INDIAN SUMMERS (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/indian-summers/), starts tonight and the other, HOME FIRES, (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/home-fires-s1/) joins the lineup next week.  They both seem very interesting and feature some actors we've seen before.

From September 27- November 22, set in a subtropical paradise during the twilight era of the British Empire, INDIAN SUMMERS explores the collision of the ruling class English with their Indian subjects. And from October 4 - November 8, at the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour in HOME FIRES, based on Jambusters, Julie Summers’ history of Britain’s Women’s Institute.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 27, 2015, 01:29:01 PM
Yes and next week we are getting another new one in addition to Home Fires called Widower - the caption says...When Claire confronts her husband, Malcolm Webster, over his wild spending, he tries to control her with sedatives. Afraid he'll soon be caught, he silences her forever. Three years on, he has a new bride...and history appears to be repeating itself.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: JoanK on September 27, 2015, 09:31:15 PM
SHIP AHOY!

The Lusitania is sailing again on Thursday! Come and board early, even if you haven't gotten your book yet. Meet the irascible captain who couldn't save her (should he have?), the men and women who took their life problems (and priceless manuscripts) aboard, the happiest submarine captain and crew (was he too ruthless? too kind?), the love struck President, and the British naval officer who lured the submarine to its position, and didn't tell the Lusitania (was it on purpose?)

And share your experiences with ships (sunken and floating), submarines, naval warfare, and the decade before the roaring twenties.

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=4811.0
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 28, 2015, 02:38:35 PM
Not sure about this latest Masterpiece - the Indian thing - the story line is making me uncomfortable - too many secret responses to life that was evidently normal during that time in history - just intrigue I can handle but this is more - it includes the subjugation of people and the in crowd are so grasping and grabbing. We shall see...
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 28, 2015, 04:00:00 PM
 And for my part I am still watching the older Sherlock Holmes movies with Benedict Cumberbatch, I've just seen where he does refer to his brain as a computer. I now understand  a lot more things. I guess I wasn't ready for  the concept of a Sherlock and a computer in the same breath. hahahahaa

Love the series.

But OH I'm ready to discuss the Great British Bake Off any time anybody is. I didn't see the new program last night, darn.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 28, 2015, 04:10:12 PM
the Bake off was shown here last Spring and this time around it is on at like 2: in the morning.  :'(
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on September 28, 2015, 04:16:48 PM
Oh wow. It's running here at 7 pm right before the Sunday Masterpiece line up.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on September 29, 2015, 07:47:12 PM
Barb, I live in Llano and think we get the same KLru.  The Baking show comes on here at 6p.m.
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on September 29, 2015, 09:26:38 PM
aha - thanks Sally - about 2 hours before I turn on my TV so that is probably why I miss it - Did see the series last Spring - they bake out of doors - some of their creations were quite creative and saw that it was being repeated but did not pay too much attention - thought it would have been better scheduled for the KLRU creative channel or even Saturday night but Sunday evening I am just getting home.

Did you see the Masterpiece new series in India - what did you think - like it or not there is nothing else on Sunday night although this coming Sunday night the Cowboys play the Saints - and then there are two new shows, one before and another after Masterpiece - already planned on watching the Home Fires when it repeats at midnight. Do want to see this Widower thing and that comes on at 9: - the game will not be over and so a dilemma.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on September 30, 2015, 11:19:19 AM
I watched most of the first Indian Summers (I missed the first 10 minutes) and I'm not sure what to think about it yet. It hasn't "grabbed" me like most of the Masterpiece series do from the beginning.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on October 01, 2015, 07:53:31 AM
Barb, that is the very reason that I love my dvr.  I can program what I want to watch and then watch later at my convenience.  I can also zip thru commercials on the commercial programming. 
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 04, 2015, 06:41:47 PM
The  DVR has revolutionized my life, too, Sally! And in 1/2 hour the Great British Bake Off comes on here.  It's their second season now on PBS and I think their 7th season just started in the UK, I love love love that show!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on October 04, 2015, 10:41:34 PM
I'm about to turn on Home Fires, about a group of women in a small village in England during WWII.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: mabel1015j on October 06, 2015, 08:28:30 PM
I am really enjoying Last Tango in Halifax.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 07, 2015, 09:29:55 AM
I'm hearing a lot about a new show o PBS on Monday nights called I'll Have What Phil's Having. People love it. They say it's good hearted travel/ eating and fun. Have any of you seen it?

I am obsessed with the Great British Bake Off and wish I could get DVD's of it. I heard next year it will move to another channel,  not PBS here.  It's so fun and light and innocent. Just the thing. They just started their 7th session and we are getting the 2nd.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on October 07, 2015, 10:13:27 AM
Saw it this week - kinda liked his Dalek - looks like he was the only one from last season - thought the clock tower that won was a horror - why in the world do people want to make food into something other than the loveliness of the food as close to its original as possible. To me a plate of various biscuits, short breads and cookies in their round, square, rectangle shapes is so much more attractive - sorry I just thought this artificial tinker toy playing with food was silly and could not imagine bringing one of these constructs to the table. Ok could I be any more negative - oh dear  ::)  :( maybe I should  :-X
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on October 07, 2015, 05:40:47 PM
I am watching Indian Summers, but am finding it a bit confusing.  Is anyone else having that problem?
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on October 07, 2015, 06:27:34 PM
Makes me feel so squishy squashy - not really enjoying the story although the scenery and color is wonderful. And yes, the storyline is not clear - it is as if these little vignettes are all tied together.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: CallieOK on October 07, 2015, 08:34:29 PM
Re: Indian Summers.  The story lines are slowly coming together for me - but I can't seem to figure out who fits into each one.  For instance, the young female characters look and act so much alike that I'm having trouble keeping them straight.  I can now recognize the one who came with her baby - but still haven't gotten the others "put in their places".

Is anyone watching "Blood and Oil"?   Pretty much a "Dallas" set in the "wilds" of the Dakotas instead of a metropolis.   Not too sure I'll stick with it - but probably will because, even if I can figure out the conclusion to a story line, I usually like to see how the story gets there.

I am glad the Sunday night shows are back!








Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 07, 2015, 08:45:04 PM
- thought the clock tower that won was a horror - why in the world do people want to make food into something other than the loveliness of the food as close to its original as possible.

Barbara, I LOVED that! Golly  the creativity and apparently it tasted better than any of the others.  When they make one of Mary Berry's directions they say bake without saying how long and what temp, I think it's one of the most fascinating things I have seen.

Sent me looking for a Millionaire shortbread bar recipe from just looking at them. I haven't had one of those in  years.

I guess what I like is the competition. They are all so earnest, and they try SO hard. I can relate to that, having entered jelly and jam competitions at two state fairs for years, I can totally relate.... There appears to be no prize other than ...Best Baker? It's so quintessentially British I can't stand it and great fun.

That's the first time that contestant who seems older than the rest has done anything like that and it really got their attention. I do admire people who can bake.

Long live the Brits! :)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 07, 2015, 08:50:35 PM
AND there's a season I've never seen on PBS showing it says season 2 but it's not the one showing now in the US,  and one can watch it as easily as  a youtube show: here it is:

http://www.pbs.org/food/features/great-british-baking-show-episode-1-cake/

I am going to have a wonderful time with this. One of these women has been baking 60 years. Love it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 12, 2015, 11:58:44 AM
:) I can't help it. Last night was really dramatic, who will win, who will lose in the bake off. IS it slanted?

One lovely thing about it, is they want to win SO badly some of them, men included, are in tears but they help each other, too. They ask each other advice and physically help each other.

It's a lovely positive thing, the likes of which I have never seen, quite interesting to compare The Great British Bake Off to Chopped in the US.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Frybabe on October 24, 2015, 02:53:34 PM
I just caught the news that  "Masterpiece"  will broadcast a 90-minute "Sherlock" special episode of Sherlock on Jan. 1. They will start filming Season 4 in the spring. I hope PBS will be picking that up too.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on October 25, 2015, 10:24:10 PM
That sounds great, Frybabe. We have something to look forward to.

Ginny, I caught part of one of the episodes of The Great British Bake Off and it does seem like fun and serious too in a very British combination. I liked what I saw.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 26, 2015, 04:37:15 PM
I love it. I can't miss it. She's going to come here, Mary Berry is, and try a similar show here. They tried it once before and it failed, so I don't know what will happen.

It's the most highly watched show in Britain, 13.5 million viewers. I can't believe how well they can bake. :)

I had read PBS is not going to have it in future, I hope they change their minds.

And the Sherlock is going to be broadcast at the same time for the first time in Britain on January 1, that's exciting!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: salan on October 26, 2015, 06:25:04 PM
I also enjoy the British baking show and Home Fires.  Indian Summers, not so much.
Sally
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on October 26, 2015, 10:05:40 PM
Ginny, I hope that the Baking show will happen here.

Salan, I too am watching Home Fires. The theme song --the tune, words and singing, for Home Fires caught me the very first time I heard it. It made me want to watch the show. That and the great photography and wonderful actors. To hear the theme song, scroll down and click on the yellow poster with Rosie the Riveter at http://lifeofwylie.com/2015/05/01/home-fires-interviews/

 I couldn't get into Indian Summers and I usually watch all the Masterpiece series.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on October 28, 2015, 05:38:55 PM
 Doc Martin 7, the new series, is coming out on DVD on  December 8!! You can preorder it at Acorn or Amazon, it's only 26.00 at Amazon, and it's going to stream live from Acorn. I don't know what that would cost. I guess now that we have wifi I can stream? I have never understood the "streaming" thing.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on October 29, 2015, 10:13:07 PM
That's great news about Doc Martin, Ginny. It must be broadcast in the U.S. in 2016.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on November 01, 2015, 02:42:13 PM
We've got more episodes of HOME FIRES and INDIAN SUMMERS tonight.

There is a trailer out for the special SHERLOCK HOLMES that will premier next January. It's at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/previews/sherlock-abominable-bride-trailer-2/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on November 08, 2015, 10:03:31 PM
The last episode of Home Fires airs tonight.

There is an interview with the composer of the wonderful theme music for the series at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/interview/home-fires-s1-composer/
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on November 15, 2015, 08:39:07 PM
Here's what's on my PBS station tonight.

There is a repeat 2-part program called: David Suchet in the Footsteps of St. Peter. There is a trailer for the program at https://www.visionvideo.com/dvd/501580D/david-suchet-in-the-footsteps-of-st-peter

That's followed by another episode of Indian Summers.

At 10 pm there's a 90-minute murder mystery, called "Murder on the Home Front." It's about a pathologist who uses groundbreaking forensics to solve murders during the London Blitz, during WWII. It's loosely based on the memoirs of Molly Lefebure, who was secretary during World War II to the Home Office Pathologist and pioneer of modern forensics, Keith Simpson.

See http://www.pbs.org/program/murder-home-front/ 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on November 16, 2015, 01:05:54 PM
That sounds really interesting and I missed it.  I'll check with PBS on my Apple TV and see if it is there.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on November 16, 2015, 02:37:26 PM
Sometime back I know I saw the episode last night of Murder on the Home Front however, I am remembering it being part of a 3 episode series and this was the final story in that series but I do not recall the series being called Murder on the Home Front - the part underground reminded me also of the Bletchley Girls find a victim and later get there just in time to save another.

Between the Murder on the Home Front and Indian Summers Sunday night PBS has become uncomfortable to watch - I wonder why we see the servants in Downton as noble and admirable where as the Brits took that same system with them to India with the seeable difference, the servants are not coming up through the ranks starting many of them as poor country folks. Where as, in India it is Indians who carry out the same job and we, observing their work in film, as the Indians at the time, look down upon and do not consider the Indian servants as maintaining similar noble and admirable qualities as we do those who served in Britian. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on November 17, 2015, 02:18:21 PM
I am so in withdrawal  over the loss of the Best British  Bake Off I'm watching the former episodes again.


 I just love it. It's humanity in a nutshell.  And it really is a nice contrast to what else is on the news.  I can see why it's the highest rated program  in the UK or so they say.

I've now watched the entire Sherlock Holmes series with Benedict Cumberbach from the beginning, boy is it good. I love Martin Freeman (Watson). I just found out that the writer and producer is  Mark Gatiss, who played Gardiner in Wolf Hall.  What an imagination he has. What twists and turns. Oscar! Oscar!

That is a wonderful series.  Can't wait for the one in January. I really thought Sherlock was gone on the Falls one, how clever they were.

They asked me on the PBS site for comments. I asked them to please show the two newest shows on the Baking Show on PBS...I can only go back as far as 5 from the 2013 series on their site and I have those.  I have never understood why we get the British shows so much later. It must have something to do with monetary rights and costs. Hopefully BBC America will take it over.

Funny thing. I read where Mary Beard has been hearing people confuse her with Mary Berry (who is in her 80's) saying that awful Mary Berry going on and on about the Romans.  What a hoot.

But this has been a very good year for PBS!

I can't cook but I do know how it feels to compete in jelly and preserves and I love it. Actually that's funny, Ruby on the show said the same thing. She said she can't cook but she can bake.

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Winchesterlady on November 18, 2015, 12:19:11 PM
Ginny -- I just saw on TV yesterday that ABC will be airing The Great Holiday Baking Show starting on Nov. 30, with Mary Berry as one of the judges. It's based on The Great British Bake Off, so this might help with your withdrawal symptoms. Here is a link with some info:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Scoop-THE-GREAT-HOLIDAY-BAKING-SHOW-on-ABC-Monday-November-30-2015-20151117# (http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Scoop-THE-GREAT-HOLIDAY-BAKING-SHOW-on-ABC-Monday-November-30-2015-20151117#)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on November 18, 2015, 03:57:39 PM
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/masterpiececlassic.jpg) 
See the 2015-2016 MASTERPIECE schedule (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/schedule/index.html)

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

COMING IN JANUARY
(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2016/sherlock.jpg)
Sherlock - The Abominable Bride (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/episode/sherlock-the-abominable-bride/)
January 1; repeated on January 10, 2016

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the acclaimed modern retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic stories. But now, our heroes find themselves in 1890s London.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2016/downton6.jpg)
Downton Abbey Season 6 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey)
January 3- March 6, 2016

Rejoin this Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning drama for a sixth and final season.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/indiansummers.jpg)
Indian Summers (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/indian-summers/)
September 27- November 22, 2015

Set in a subtropical paradise during the twilight era of the British Empire, Indian Summers explores the collision of the ruling class English with their Indian subjects, and the intricate game of power, politics, and passion that ensues. Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Oscar® nominee for Billy Elliot and Educating Rita) stars as Cynthia Coffin, the glamorous doyenne of an English social club, and is joined by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jemima West, Nikesh Patel, Roshan Seth, and Lillete Dubey.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/homefires.jpg)
Home Fires (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/home-fires-s1/)
October 4 - November 8, 2015

At the heart of a rural English village on the verge of the Second World War, a diverse group of women with personal struggles, conflicting views and a shared mission forge a community that will inspire their finest hour. Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Cranford) head an ensemble cast in the moving wartime drama, Home Fires, based on Jambusters, Julie Summers’ history of Britain’s Women’s Institute.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/sherlockholmes/sherlock_blindbanker.jpg)
Sherlock, Seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/)
August 16 - September 20, 2015

While we wait for Season 4 of Sherlock (said to be broadcast in 2017), we can watch encore presentations of the exploits of the world's only consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his long-suffering faithful friend, Dr. John Watson in Seasons 2 and 3. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness; The Imitation Game) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy).

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/arthur_george.jpg)
Arthur & George (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/arthur-and-george/)
September 6- 20, 2015

Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) stars as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a three-part MASTERPIECE adaptation of a novel by Julian Barnes based on real events. Outraged by injustice to an Anglo-Indian solicitor, the famed author uses the methods of his own fictional detective to get at the truth. Co-starring are Arsher Ali (The Missing) as George Edalji; and Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey) as Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur’s real-life “Dr. Watson.”

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/poldark.jpg)
Poldark, Season 1 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/poldark-s1/)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Thanks to our Masterpiece friends at the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, SeniorLearn is in possession of two DVD sets of Season 1 of the current Poldark to give away. Winners of these DVDs will be selected at random from people who post in the PBS Masterpiece discussion from June 21 through August 7. You may post as many messages as you like but only one post will count as your entry. Winners will be notified by email (to the email address associated with your username on SeniorLearn) during the second week of August when we'll request their postal address in order to send the DVD. To be eligible to receive the DVD you must live in the contiguous United States (for postage considerations).


June 21 - August 2, 2015
Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name. It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another. Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/selfridge_3.jpg)
Mr. Selfridge, Season 3 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/mr-selfridge-s3/)
March 29 - May 17, 2015
All sales are final as Harry Selfridge gambles his store, his fortune, and his personal happiness on an audacious retail strategy in Mr. Selfridge, Season 3.

(http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/masterpiece/classic_2015/wolfhall.jpg)
Wolf Hall (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/)

Wolf Hall, a six-hour miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, airs on Sundays, April 5 to May 10, 2015 at 10pm. Wolf Hall stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and shines a spotlight on Thomas Cromwell's involvement in King Henry VIII's marriage to and divorce from Anne Boleyn. See http://www.pbs.org/wolfhall and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/


Discussion Leaders:  JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net) and marcie (marciei@aol.com)

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on November 18, 2015, 04:12:28 PM
SHRIEK!!

THANK you  Winchester Lady!! I would never have known! I will set  the DVR set for the entire thing, have a BIG post it  on the computer,  what FUN!

They tried it here once before and it did not go. I hope they have made the adjustments needed so Americans will enjoy it, I will, anyway. MANY thanks.

They had 13,000 people apply for the last Bake Off which just finished in the UK. 13,000.

I have high hopes for this!

:) Early Christmas present! All thanks to YOU!

Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Indian Summers, Home Fires and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Winchesterlady on November 18, 2015, 08:37:34 PM
You are most welcome Ginny. I just recently started watching this program and really enjoyed it. Am looking forward to this short version on ABC also.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on November 24, 2015, 06:26:29 PM
:)  And here's another treat for fans of The  Best British Bake  Off:  they've made a super hour long show on what happened to the contestants  after the show was over and it's here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9hZDLCvZNU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9hZDLCvZNU)

It's an upper and fun to watch. Very enjoyable.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: rosemarykaye on December 04, 2015, 09:06:47 AM
Not sure if this is the right page, but I just wanted to recommend a programme that Madeleine and I are currently watching, and which might find its way to you.

It's called Capital and it's a drama based on a street in Tooting (SW London - used to be quite shabby, but like everywhere else around there, on the up and up) and the people who live there, from the long-time residents who are now sitting on multi-million pound properties that their children can't wait to sell, but who have little disposable income, to the new influx of bankers and other financial types, to the Pakistanis running the local corner shop.

Toby Jones, who is a fantastic actor, plays a banker who lives in a very smartened up house with his avaricious wife, two small children and nanny. He is so gutted when he is told that his annual bonus (which of course his wife has already spent) amounts to only £30,000, when he was anticipating several million (quote 'you have no idea how little you can get for 1 million these days') that he actually throws up in the board room lavatory.

Meanwhile all of the residents of the street start receiving anonymous cards saying 'We want what you have', followed by DVDs showing that they have all been secretly filmed. A police officer starts to investigate.

There are many other characters, including Polish builders making a mint out of the endless renovations, an old lady's (Gemma Jones, also brilliant) grandson, who leads a mysterious double life, and the mother of the Pakistani shop keeper who flies over to sort her family out. One of the sons has an acquaintance who is a radicalised Muslim (whereas the son is laid back to the point of horizontal and very Westernised). It's all very topical.

There are three episodes and we've seen two so far; the plot is engrossing, as is the all too well known social phenomenon that underlies it. It is based on a novel by John Lanchester, who says he wanted to write about Londoners' total obsession with property prices. He lives there, and says that is almost literally all people ever talk about at social events.


Anyway, the acting is excellent so I thought you might want to look out for it. It's on BBC One.

Rosemary
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 04, 2015, 11:07:00 AM
Thanks for that good information about the program, Rosemary. I couldn't find the show playing on BBC America but I'll watch for it in the future.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 04, 2015, 01:36:36 PM
Rosemary here we will see this scenario - or rather the social cause - played out in the new movie 99 Homes - how those wanting more and more completely discard the value of "Home" to a family which is hitting hard at the middle class values which have been so eroded by the chess board risks banking and corporations have been playing the past 20 or more years. 

We are having fund drive time and where our station said they were going to maintain the normal programming with simply a request after each they found after a week it was not working - two reasons - few were renewing their commitments and the programing available was only repeats with nothing new - ends up that fund raising programing are better than repeats. The fund raising programing has built in the fund raising so they cannot adjust that without an override and if so then what do they put on the air to override the 10 or 15 minutes of canned fund raising banter.

I guess it is better than the constant interruptions with ads on regular TV - hmmm Haha finally figured out why the English call what we consider Private schools they call Public schools - that's it - we call PBS Public TV because it is financed by public support - we sure do not call the rest of the TV stations private but since they are funded mostly by corporations that buy ads I bet programing has to satisfy their taste and values - hmmm now you have to wonder if the slant of the news is also affected.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 04, 2015, 06:18:17 PM
I heard about that book when it came out and nearly bought it (Capital). It has rave reviews and it reminds me I haven't read it so I ordered it. Thank you, Rosemary, for mentioning it!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 06, 2015, 05:05:28 PM
Interesting on our other PBS channel - we now have four from our local KLRU - the usual - a cooking, craft, house building, travel station - a Spanish programming from PBS - and then another with programming that cannot be squeezed into the normal schedule, a few repeats and always the later repeat of the Newshour - well tonight opposite all the fund raising hooha about Downton on the main channel there will be an opportunity to see on the alternate channel -

HOW TO GET AHEAD, about three  courts in European history to discover what it took for a courtier to survive and prosper. The Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, the program investigates incidents ranging from bribery to blackmail, sycophancy to sporting prowess, and partying to praying. Along the way, the series showcases the great paintings, sculptures and bejeweled treasures that unlock the secrets to life at court.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 07, 2015, 01:50:05 PM
News!   SCETV is showing the first episode of Doc Martin, season 7, on Saturday, December 12th at 9pm!~
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Winchesterlady on December 08, 2015, 09:55:27 AM
Ginny ... What is SCETV?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 08, 2015, 10:52:16 AM
Ginny, you're lucky. I can't find a schedule for Doc Martin 7 on my local PBS station yet.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 08, 2015, 05:49:14 PM
 South Carolina ETV.  :)

Meanwhile Doc Martin series 7 appeared on my doorstep today from Amazon. Can't wait to see it but I do like to see it on PBS, the screen is bigger.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 12, 2015, 01:47:44 PM
I just couldn't stand it. I'm watching Doc Martin 7 on DVD and it is soooo good. I won't spill any details but they have not lost their touch at all. A real treat.

Also there's a nice article about Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) about why Downton Abbey seems to appeal and how he's gathering material to work on a new series about American rich in today's Wall Street Journal.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 12, 2015, 03:47:38 PM
An American Downton Abbey. LOL. It takes the British to put on a good show for America :-)
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 13, 2015, 10:02:17 AM
And haven't they done a good job? This past year has been one wonderful event after another.

I think Fellowes will have a rich field to pick from in America, because we had our own  Downton Abbeys right here in the Vanderbilts  and others. The origin of the money was different (but then look at Cora, whose money saved Downton and it was American).  It's fascinating. Too bad Dominick  Dunne didn't think of that--thinking of the Two Mrs. Grenvilles actually. Fellowes  could go on for a long time with the "American Aristocracy." :)

 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: FlaJean on December 13, 2015, 10:44:57 AM
The "Gilded Age" in America.  That should be interesting.  Several years ago we visited The Breakers in Newport, RI.  The children's playhouse was almost the size of a regular house.  I haven't seen The Biltmore in Asheville which is even more imposing from what I've read.  According to the tour guide at The Breakers, the third floor of the mansion is off limits and is a residence for Vanderilt family members when they visit.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 13, 2015, 10:49:49 AM
I thought it interesting during the special for our fund raising Julian Fellows was on at one point - have no idea what he was talking about since for me it was background noise - they really used up Downton in this particular fund drive so I was half paying attention and all of a sudden I realized he was talking at length about something and there was a tension in his voice - just ever so slight and I wondered what he was talking about -

I was in the next room so in I went and surprise to me he was talking about how the story changed and what they did to deal with the death of Matthew Crawley - nothing said outright except a distinct change in his voice and I realized he has never gotten past Dan Stevens leaving -

Then I thought - you know I have not heard of Stevens in other productions - I thought that was the deal - he did not want to be type caste and was tired of playing the part of Matthew. Looked up his name and evidently he moved to New York and will soon be in Beauty and the Beast opposite Emma Watson.

I know this does sound sinister but I wonder how long an arm Julian Fellows has and the only opening for Stevens was out of Britain.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 13, 2015, 11:14:09 AM
Stevens has played in several productions. The last one I saw was  Night at the Museum III or whatever the title  was and he was excellent as Lancelot. Just a hoot! I watched it twice just to see him.

He's done 10 films since Downton  (IMDb won't let me copy them here) and has three in either post production or coming in 2016 and 2017.

I imagine his loss was a bigger one than we thought, tho, I think you're right.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 14, 2015, 07:25:21 AM
Hooray,  the Golden Globe nominations are out.   Wolf Hall is up for three that  I can see so far. Best actor, Mark  Rylance, best series Wolf Hall, and best supporting actor,  Damien Lewis.

 Mark Rylance is also up for Bridge of Spies.

 I hope this time they'll  get something.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 18, 2015, 10:49:12 AM
If I read it correctly, yesterday's BBC on the IPad said that 7 of the 10 top rated  shows on BBC One last year were episodes of  the Great British Bake Off, and it is #1 in viewers. I do hope that PBS will show more of them here.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 18, 2015, 01:14:07 PM
Ginny tell us - what is it that you like about these shows? It sounds like they appeal to you more than most of the shows currently on PBS - what is it about this show that you are enjoying?
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 18, 2015, 05:17:34 PM
:) Am I going on and on again? hahaha No they really don't appeal to me more. My favorite show on PBS last year was Wolf Hall, followed closely by Doc Martin, and  Sherlock. I stopped watching Downton a couple of years ago.

I do like The Great British Bake Off but I like a lot of shows from different countries, used to be fascinated by Amadeo on Italian TV, that quiz show, I've forgotten the name of it,  was a classic. Berlusconi did not like him, so he's just now back on. Italian TV has changed a LOT in the intervening years but he was fascinating in those old shows,  he really was.   I have an entire set of the old Dad's Army, I have strange taste. I even like the British  show that people complain about, the one with the two people (I especially like the fussy little man in the sporty little car, going around to antique shops and then selling the things at auction to compete with each other. Nicely).

The Great British Bake Off seems to consist of civil people who look and act normal. It seems you could meet any of them on the street. They are nice to each other and supportive while trying their best to win. No snarky remarks.  They help each other and seem to feel genuinely sorry when things go wrong for the others. What's not to like? Compare that to things like our Cutthroat Kitchen, Kitchen/ Supermarket  Wars, etc.,  and some of the Presenters on the Food Network Show, two  of whom appear to have stuck their fingers in a light socket.

The Bake Off folks appear to be real people who are nice and who seem to have an awful lot of talent which I don't have. The four Presenters are all good, nice yin and yang there between them.  I have learned a lot about baking,  which I rarely do,  from watching it, those little strips of parchment paper that Ruby put under her tarts, and how she avoided the problems a lot of them had getting them out of the pans. I like the little segment at the end where they explain the history of the particular dessert they made.

I bought one of Mary Berry's cookbooks and was astounded at how simple the ingredients are and what she can make of them.

I guess for me  it's a guilty pleasure:  a happy, even comforting  hour of watching nice people do amazing things, a little pleasant competition, and having fun. Sort of akin to settling down with a good book, a fire, and something I really shouldn't eat.


Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: rosemarykaye on December 19, 2015, 09:25:41 AM
Ginny, we have recently also had 'The Great Pottery Throwdown' which, whilst maybe not as universally popular as the Bake Off, was well worth watching in our opinion. As in GBBO, the competitors were all lovely people who helped one another and rushed to each other's aid when something fell to bits or was about to topple over. The judges - especially the man - were something else! He was a master potter and he literally cried with joy whenever he was touched by the efforts of one of the contestants. He also gave demos and his skill was amazing. It took place in the Potteries (Stoke on Trent) so there were some interesting historical bits as well.

I think we must be well ahead of you in the GBBO series, as the most recent one here was not the Ruby one - but its contestants were equally interesting and the eventual winner was wonderful.

Mary Berry is such a great cook and I love her books - especially the older ones before she was famous - as they are so simple and straightforward. We used to have a video of her demonstrating how to make cakes, and she was so 'human', saying things like 'books always tell you you have to get cakes into the oven the moment they are mixed, but if you need to leave the raw mixture for half an hour to collect children from school, it will be absolutely fine'. I have two ancient paperbacks of hers, 'Fast Cakes' and 'More Fast Cakes' and they are both falling apart with use - every recipe I have tried works, and few require ingredients you don't already have. Brilliant.

Rosemary
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: BarbStAubrey on December 19, 2015, 10:02:25 AM
Yes, far different is the British Cake competition then the greatest race of whatever it is called  where they get clues in different locations and have to beat other groups of two to another destination or that one where they live on an island with nothing and have to create life on what they can take from the earth - both seem to bring out less than kind attitudes towards their fellow contestants as compared to those participating in the bake show. Yes, it is a nice way to spend some time on a Sunday evening so I can see now what it is that is so attractive about this show.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 21, 2015, 09:20:07 PM
:) It's pretty addictive.

Rosemary, there's another program  which sounds wonderful.  We don't get it here. Is that produced by the same people who do the Bake Off? Are they called Love or something  productions?  How clever they are.  It's unusual to me to see something like  that on TV, so it's marvelously interesting.

Fast Cakes is still available! Thank you so much for mentioning it. I must have one.

I have to say that's one thing I really love about the UK. The books! For instance the books on growing roses, they tackle some pretty esoteric and quite advanced  stuff cheerfully while assuming the reader is up to their level and by gum when the reader is through he really might be close.  I love that approach, the assumption that the reader or viewer is an equal and perfectly capable of knowing these facts  but they tell you anyway,  just as an aside, as a fellow enthusiast,  to "refresh" your memory, and that technique includes rather than intimidates the viewer/ reader, and lifts him to another level. I don't know what you call that approach but they do it on the Bake Off and it works, it really does.

And I will now shut up about the Bake Off (I promise.) hahahaa
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: rosemarykaye on December 22, 2015, 03:45:00 AM
Ginny, here is a link to the BBC page re the pottery programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nwm7b (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nwm7b)

It is indeed also made by Love Productions.

I hope you like the Mary Berry Fast Cakes book - be warned, it's basic and there are no pictures, but it's been my 'cake Bible' for more years than I care to remember.

Rosemary
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: ginny on December 28, 2015, 04:45:13 PM
Thank you  Rosemary. It won't let us watch it here in the US, but Youtube has some short bits of it and I've watched them all, another wonderful show.  I love creative people.

Very creative show, love it. Maybe next year here.

Oh I've alredy told my DIL about the Fast Cakes, and she's really interested, too. Do you have a favorite to try the first time from the book?

Guess what just came in the mail? It was mailed December 9 from the UK. It is a jar of Merchant Gourmet Dulce de Leche. hahahaa Yes it is!

 Now all I have to do is get that type of flour that you use there, apparently it affects the rise, I think here in the US King  Arthur's makes it, and a gram scale and I have no excuse, do I, for not making Millionaire's bars?

Oh man, such fun!

I hope everybody has their DVR's set for Sherlock on January 1, it's to be broadcast at the same time in the UK, an idea whose time surely has come. I really like that Mark Gatiss.(Mycroft in Sherlock/ Gardiner in Wolf Hall),writer and producer of Sherlock. 
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: Zulema on December 31, 2015, 12:12:55 AM
Dulce de Leche from the UK, that is a hoot, Ginnie.  I make my own and it's very good, but I haven't in a long time.  And I still love Downton and have never missed any of them.  But then I watched Brideshead Revisited eleven times.  I am finding the forever Downtons and commentaries a bit much though.  By the way, I have read the Grantchester books and they are so much better than the TV episodes.

Happy New Year, people, and I'll try not to forget to come here a bit more often.
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 31, 2015, 11:56:11 AM
Zulema, it's great to see you here. Yes, the last season of Downton Abbey starts this Sunday! There is an 11 minute audio "podcast" about the new season at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/podcast/get-ready-downton-abbey-final-season/

And, before that, as Ginny has reminded us, "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride," a 90-minute special, will premiere tomorrow, Friday, January 1, 2016, on MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS at 9:00pm ET, and simultaneously online at pbs.org/masterpiece. The special will have an encore broadcast on Sunday, January 10, at 10:00pm ET. This is the first time that Sherlock has premiered in the US and the UK on the same day. There is a new trailer for the program at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/previews/sherlock-abominable-bride-trailer-2/

Watching this Sherlock special seems a good way to start the new year. Happy new year everyone!
Title: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2015 ~ Downton Abbey and Other PBS Programs
Post by: marcie on December 31, 2015, 12:12:00 PM
Let's move to a new PBS discussion for 2016. It's here.....

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=4871.msg272698#msg272698