Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Downton Abbey & Other PBS programs (Read 118130 times)

mrssherlock · « **Reply #360 on:** July 01, 2014, 07:59:31 PM »

See the 2014 MASTERPIECE schedule.

NOW DISCUSSING

This summer (June 15 - September 7) we're talking about new and continuing series: THE ESCAPE ARTIST (June 15-22): David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) star in a gripping legal thriller; ENDEAVOUR, Season 2 (June 29 to July 20): Shaun Evans returns for a second season with four all-new mysteries as young Endeavour Morse, before his signature red Jaguar...but with his deductive powers already running in high gear; HERCULE POIROT, Season 12 (July 27 to August 3): David Suchet returns as the suave Belgian super-sleuth in two new mysteries; BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7): In this stylish and compelling new medical drama set in London in 1961, Jack Davenport (Smash, Pirates of the Caribbean) stars as a brilliant surgeon who believes he can make a difference in women’s lives.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

Watch Season 2 of SELFRIDGE March 30 through May 18.

Season 4 of Downton Abbey during January and February 2014.

Sherlock, Season 3, returned, starting January 19, following the 9pm broadcast of Downton Abbey. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Fifth Estate, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Office UK) returned as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in three new 90-minute episodes of the contemporary reinvention of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic, created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss. Watch episodes on TV or online after they air.

Discussion Leaders: JoanP and marcie

Watching Tango as I type and I see what you mean about screwy. Having been caught taking Midsomer Murders seriously, then learning it is satire I believe the Brits have done it again with Tango. Complications occur excessively IMHO. It's too much like a soap.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #361 on:** July 01, 2014, 08:13:38 PM »

Yes I think we were looking at worst for a comedy and at best a romantic love story and instead we are getting a farce.

marcie · « **Reply #362 on:** July 02, 2014, 01:12:14 AM »

Jackie, As the British say, I must be very "thick." I didn't realize that Midsomer Murders was satire, though I do see humor in it.

Barbara, you could be right. That would make more sense out of that episode of LAST TANGO!

MaryPage · « **Reply #363 on:** July 02, 2014, 09:57:29 AM »

I am thoroughly enjoying Last Tango for the superb acting. They are all just flat out THE BEST! That, in itself, is a treat. Throw in the Yorkshire vistas, and I squiggle with delight.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #364 on:** July 02, 2014, 12:08:36 PM »

Wat is the allure in Yorkshire? It's right up there with Cornwall on my bucket list. Maybe James Herriott romanticicized Yorkshire for me and millions of other viewers?

MaryPage · « **Reply #365 on:** July 02, 2014, 01:10:08 PM »

When I visited Yorkshire in 1971, it was principally to see York Minster. As an avid fan of English History since 8th grade, it was one of the places I listed for my husband as a MUST while he spent 9 months planning our month long private tour of Scotland and England. He taped a huge map of Great Britain to our Bridge table, set up for that whole 9 months, and meticulously planned every detail. David asked me in advance: "Which 3 places MUST you see?" I replied: Salisbury Cathedral, the Western Hebrides, and the City of York." He very carefully allotted time for each. We had planned 3 days in York, and totally unbeknowst to us, 1971 was the 1,900th anniversary of the founding of that city. So we took the train down from Edinburgh and a taxi to our hotel, The Chase. The cabdriver said, in that wonderful accent, "You ere to see tha Queen?" We nearly jumped out of our skins. She's here? She will be, tamarra. Look over there, see in that corral? Those are the horses of the Household Cavalry. They just brought em up ere from Lunndon.
And so they had! First time in over 350 years or something that they had left London. And the first time in that long or longer, I forget now, and a granddaughter now owns my journal from that trip, that the Queen had been welcomed in the City with trumpets and all. Wow! Well, we saw her. Twice. And were within 8' of her both times! What a great addition to our trip!
But basically, yes, Yorkshire is beautiful. And I had not yet read anything other than Wuthering Heights that made me yearn to see the moors. And yes, we DID visit the Bronte home. But those miles and miles and miles (we rented a car) of little green fields, no two shapes EVER precisely the same, surrounded by miles and miles and miles of grey stone walls and reaching right up to the sky, were lovely beyond words.

MaryPage · « **Reply #366 on:** July 02, 2014, 01:13:53 PM »

And yes, we spent 3 days in Cornwall. After driving all around it, we stayed in Fowey. We did not like Cornish pasties, but everything else was simply wonderful and Cornwall DESERVES to be on your bucket list!

JeanneP · « **Reply #367 on:** July 04, 2014, 05:10:53 PM »

I was lucky to have been raised where the Yorkshire Moors were our walking grounds. We could go 5 miles NE and into Yorkshire. and about 20 miles NW and over into Scotland.
Greatest places if only could count on having some Summer Weather. Could not always count on that. This past 2 years have been really bad.

Frybabe · « **Reply #368 on:** July 06, 2014, 10:39:38 PM »

Okay, I have a question. Does anyone have any inkling what the gloved hand with the ring at the end of Endeavor was all about?

CubFan · « **Reply #369 on:** July 06, 2014, 10:57:40 PM »

I wondered about that too. Also, last week's show ended with a gloved hand taking the missing notebook from the crime scene.

Mary

MaryPage · « **Reply #370 on:** July 07, 2014, 06:40:54 AM »

That makes three of us. I remember, and you probably do, too, the ring. The young guy with the portion of Indian blood who worked in the museum wore it. Apparently a ruby. And when Morse saw that portrait of an ancestor of that family wearing it, he immediately knew that guy was related, because he reasoned that that was the type of ring that went down from father to son, and so on through the generations.
I enjoyed the show immensely, especially the scenery and the young actresses. But COME ON! You know perfectly well that after a whole hundred years, those rooms up there in the attics would not have been left just as they were. At least, most certainly not in any house I have ever lived in.
The woman who ran the school was sure a red herring, wasn't she! I had her pegged, because from the git go she kept referring to eons ago when she had been a girl there.
I think that was Colin Dexter rushing into the building under an umbrella very near to the beginning of the tale.
But the fist in the black leather glove with the ring on, THAT was the greatest mystery. Morse himself, maybe? But then , how would HE have gotten hold of the ring?

MaryPage · « **Reply #371 on:** July 07, 2014, 06:50:38 AM »

I spent the night on PBS last night. First an hour of Last Tango, and oh, how I loved it. Such great acting and such high drama! Fun!
And then an hour and a half of Endeavor, followed by half an hour of Vicious (a bit over the top, I brush my teeth and get ready for bed while it is unfolding), followed by an hour of Scott & Bailey. I really, really adore Scott & Bailey. Last year it was on Monday nights at ten, and this year they have moved the new season to Sunday nights at eleven. Dunno why, as I hate watching stuff that late at night. However, this is one of the very best and best acted crime shows EVER, so I will NOT miss out on it!

Frybabe · « **Reply #372 on:** July 07, 2014, 08:32:25 AM »

MaryPage, I thought the umbrella guy might have been Colin Dexter too, but wasn't he the one that also went upstairs and was murdered? I watched about 10 minutes of Vicious, but it a bit over the top too and turned it off. I'll have to look into Scott and Bailey. I don't remember seeing it on the schedule, here, but I wasn't really looking that far ahead.

Good memory CubFan. I forgot about the gloved hand taking the notebook last week.

MaryPage · « **Reply #373 on:** July 07, 2014, 08:49:49 AM »

This is who we have to look for, and honestly, he is never on long enough to identify!

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&q=Colin+Dexter&gbv=2&oq=Colin+Dexter&gs_l=img.12..0l3j0i24l7.1156.3172.0.6203.7.4.0.3.3.0.63.204.4.4.0....0...1ac.1.34.img..0.7.204.eO0uI_8f2TA

And this is ALL about Endeavour, including the fact that Dexter is in every episode!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_(TV_series)

I cannot figure this one out to save my neck. There is, there really IS a website of wikipedia all about the TV show Endeavor. But when I copy the site and paste it in here, it WILL NOT come up! Why, oh why? I've tried it three times now, with exactly the same results. So do a search for Endeavor on your own, and you are bound to find it. I think.

Frybabe · « **Reply #374 on:** July 07, 2014, 09:55:40 AM »

MaryPage, somehow the last parenthesis is not picking up as part of the link. That is why yours isn't working.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_%28TV_series%29

I noticed that mine changes the parentheses to %28 and %29 when I paste it here, but it works.

Frybabe · « **Reply #375 on:** July 07, 2014, 10:14:28 AM »

BTW, John Thaw's daughter was in this one.

I've always liked the music for Morse and Endeavor, so I finally got around to looking up the composer, Barrington Pheloung. It turns out that he did two uncredited appearances in the Morse series as a choir master and as himself in one of them as well as as himself in a documentary called The Music of Morse. I'd like to see that documentary.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006224/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr8

mrssherlock · « **Reply #376 on:** July 08, 2014, 09:18:04 PM »

Latest Endeavor is one I'll have to watch again. Tango has taken an absurd turn, but I have to see the next episode no matter where the plot takes us. Vicious is a hoot and a half. Each character is perfectly cast. Is Scott and Bailey on the horizon? It's on my never miss list.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #377 on:** July 13, 2014, 04:30:55 PM »

for goodness sake I caught a dropped mouth gapper - our local PBS is repeating the Father Brown mysteries and last night was the one where the missing sister was found years later as another sister entered the secret hiding place under the house built to hide priests during the reformation - towards the end the inspector tells Father Brown he is going to London promoted to the London police and I forget if it was him or Father Brown who say something about their village of - get this - Candleford - and so Father Brown Mysteries takes place in Candleford some 100 years after Lark Rise to Candleford

MaryPage · « **Reply #378 on:** July 14, 2014, 07:36:37 AM »

Boy, did I ever have a marathon last night! A new Inspector Lewis followed by a new Last Tango In Halifax followed by a new Endeavour followed by a new Scott & Bailey!

Enjoyed every one of them. Had one hour after Lewis/before Last Tango and half an hour between Endeavor and Scott & Bailey, so I managed to eat some supper in the first break and brush my teeth in the last one. Started at six and wound up at midnight!

Loved them all, but most especially Last Tango. Oh my, I really like Gillian, and I wish she would stop letting her mouth run off without putting her head in gear first. As for Scott & Bailey, I really like BOTH of them, but while Bailey is fantastic at her job, she sure is a mess in her personal life. She needs a shrink and some medication, Big Time! Ai yi yi!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #379 on:** July 14, 2014, 11:07:40 AM »

Well I could hardly watch Last Tango last night - Cecilia is awful and he is not much better with their ugly gossip - Gillian tells another story from her Dad - I hate this kind of gossip and exaggerating the truth and Cecilia protestith too much about not manipulating - what is her game - or are they supposed to depict older folks with nothing left in their lives and so gossiping takes center stage. We can see Caroline manipulating and so what was her phone call to Gillian all about after hearing her mother lie about Gillian not liking Caroline. This show is making me uncomfortable - not sure if it will be on my playlist. They will end up having Gillian thrown in jail. And I bet the baby isn't theirs.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #380 on:** July 14, 2014, 12:51:33 PM »

Barb: Take a step back to put distance between yourself and Tango's rampant emotions. Personally I can't stop watching because I haven't a clue as to where the story is going next.

ANNIE · « **Reply #381 on:** July 14, 2014, 01:04:42 PM »

Here's a link to Colin Dexter's appearance on 7/13/2014.

http://www.veooz.com/photos/cH6r8vW.html

And another link to a site that's been collecting Dexter's appearances in the John Thaw's "Inspector Morse".

http://mjmcx2too.homestead.com/thawdexter.html

I had a great time searching for these! I love the internet; its my library!

JeanneP · « **Reply #382 on:** July 14, 2014, 03:41:39 PM »

I think that" The last Tango in Halifax" is so true to life. Reminds me so much about how it was up in some parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire when I was growing up. I am surprised though that some of the people in the US are understanding what some of the people are saying. Very North England accents.
I thought it said that a blood test was done on the baby and it is the boys. I just hope they don't show it being handed over to the one who is wanting to try and have a baby.

Celia reminds me of my Ex. Mother in Law.( God rest her soul). Things came out of her mouth without her giving a thought.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #383 on:** July 14, 2014, 05:00:58 PM »

Jeanne as I remember hearing they did not do a blood test because he did not want one done - wow for the girl to just up and leave the baby - oh my but it is the gossiping and building exaggerations filled with bipartisan views that makes me really uncomfortable watching and I am sure it is close to reality not only in northern Britain.

JeanneP · « **Reply #384 on:** July 14, 2014, 05:58:53 PM »

Oh! I thought I heard them say that they went and got a D and A test done soon as it was born..

JeanneP · « **Reply #385 on:** July 14, 2014, 06:03:29 PM »

I forgot to keep looking for Colin Dexter in the Morse shows. Will remember next week.

MaryPage · « **Reply #386 on:** July 15, 2014, 06:59:47 AM »

DNA, not D and A.

marcie · « **Reply #387 on:** July 15, 2014, 11:31:01 AM »

What did you all think of the latest Endeavour? I'm surprised at his new relationship with his neighbor :-)
It seemed to be a complex episode.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #388 on:** July 15, 2014, 11:59:32 AM »

The casting for Endeavor is outstanding, especially CI Bright. I hate it when one episode ends and can hardly wait for the next.

marcie · « **Reply #389 on:** July 15, 2014, 06:54:06 PM »

Me too. I wish it were daily and would go on forever :-)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #390 on:** July 15, 2014, 07:00:56 PM »

I thought him and his neighbor was sweat - of course we already know it never went anyplace - I am confused I thought last time the eldest daughter - Thursday's daughter was presented to the American couple as their granddaughter and that Thursday had married her mom knowing that she was either on the way or was already born - this week he continues to say he has two children giving no indication the daughter is anything but his - and so Thursday also has a lost love - we did not yet get to Moss's lost love that was the reason he never married or did we and I forgot?

mrssherlock · « **Reply #391 on:** July 16, 2014, 01:53:34 PM »

No Scott and Bailey on the Oregon Public Broadcasting schedule. Plus I've missed out entirely on Women of Achievement on Sunday which featured Coco Chanel. Downton Abbey has become ubiquitous, Vicious was about a tryout for the role of the fourth cook. LOL funny.

FlaJean · « **Reply #392 on:** July 16, 2014, 02:17:12 PM »

Celia said there was a paternity test and it was the boy's baby. I just hope the boy doesn't end up with as many problems as his mother.

Marcie, I feel the same about the Endeavor series. I really enjoy it.

MaryPage · « **Reply #393 on:** July 16, 2014, 05:20:48 PM »

Scott & Bailey is a one hour long crime show with two detective WOMEN as the leads. They are lower working class women, with their lives including all of the difficulties of today. Both are absolutely brilliant at their jobs, and the Chief of their working team of men and women is a woman (they call her Godzilla), and HER chief is a woman. Despite her enormous ability at her job, Rachel Bailey is one really messed up dame; not surprising when you consider her mother. I mean to say, it is amazing that she gets it together AT ALL, considering her mother. But you will be constantly appalled at the choices she makes. The acting is absolutely top notch, and it is that more than anything else about this series that will pull you in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_%26_Bailey

mrssherlock · « **Reply #394 on:** July 17, 2014, 12:11:46 AM »

In general, I have found, all levels of British actors are superior to the run-of-the-mill Americans who fill the minor roles in tv productions. Also there is little of the cult of personality I find so rampant in film and tv. I love to watc the Tony awards because there are so many outstanding actors who don;t have entourages and there is no 'red carpet' frenzy. And of course the entertainment reveals the paucity of the same on the Oscar show.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #395 on:** July 17, 2014, 02:02:40 AM »

Hm after reading your post Jackie it hit me - I bet it has to do with money - doesn't it always - but the money that can be made from a successful movie is probably 10 times what can be made from even a successful TV series - and that is a whole series - hours of filming or whatever it is called when they make a TV program - even the cost to make a movie is in the millions and so everything that can be a chance to market the product which would include awards is considered marketing and the marketing budgets for a million dollar project is going to be much higher as a typical percentage of the investment towards the profits.

And I can also see something happens to people, the nicest of them when they have big money surrounding them - a few I've known for years in Real Estate - a couple of Real Estate lawyers for instant who made nice money and came to a time in their lives a few years ago where they made good investments - well those investments have been paying off big time and I am embarrassed watching and listening to them - they quickly get this knack of sounding off hand about things that they had never experienced nor had most in the group experienced - sorta bragging by acting befuddled over what comes with high dollar living. And so these movie stars are probably feeling the 'egoness' of being a part of and they themselves receiving this kind of money that they never dreamed would be their life and then, after a few years they become so used to it that they play the game

kidsal · « **Reply #396 on:** July 17, 2014, 03:59:22 AM »

The English actors are so well trained -- looking at their bios most have attended acting schools and spent much time learning their craft.

CallieOK · « **Reply #397 on:** July 17, 2014, 02:00:07 PM »

I enjoy recognizing some of the British series actors in other shows.
Recently, the shy little nun who married the doctor on "Call The Midwife" was in an episode of "Father Brown" and Alvin from "Last of the Summer Wine" had a bit part on "Last Tango In Halifax".

Neither role was a really different type of character and I think that speaks well of the character actors who know their "type" and don't try to experiment.

MaryPage · « **Reply #398 on:** July 17, 2014, 08:25:39 PM »

I enjoy that also, Callie. I recently saw Nicola Walker, who plays Celia in Last Tango In Halifax, play a role in Scott & Bailey. Have also seen her in a few other parts. She always catches my attention, because she is so good.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #399 on:** July 17, 2014, 10:05:08 PM »

wasn't she the cook in something like Downton Abbey - cannot remember but it was a period piece

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Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Downton Abbey & Other PBS programs (Read 118130 times)