Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Downton Abbey & Other PBS programs (Read 118128 times)

marcie · « **Reply #400 on:** July 17, 2014, 11:12:24 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

marcie · « **Reply #401 on:** July 17, 2014, 11:12:42 PM »

I had to look these up since I have trouble remembering the actors names:

Nicola Walker plays Gillian in Last Tango. She was in a Scott & Bailey that was filmed in 2013.

Anne Reid plays Celia. Barbara, she did play Mrs Thackeray, the cook, in the BBC's revival of Upstairs Downstairs.

Sarah Lancashire plays Caroline. She was Miss Audrey in the recent BBC series, THE PARADISE.

CallieOK · « **Reply #402 on:** July 17, 2014, 11:31:28 PM »

Edit: Oops - sorry. If you saw my prior message, I had given a link that describes the characters, not the actors. Try this one:

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/last_tango_in_halifax/details/

marcie · « **Reply #403 on:** July 18, 2014, 12:19:02 AM »

Thanks, Callie.

MaryPage · « **Reply #404 on:** July 18, 2014, 08:33:02 AM »

Whoops! I am so sorry! My bad! I was THINKING Gillian and slipped, just the way my mouth does these days, and said Celia. Nicola plays GILLIAN, of course! And yes, the actress who plays Celia played a cook in another series. Here is what Nicola has been in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Walker

mrssherlock · « **Reply #405 on:** July 18, 2014, 12:00:22 PM »

Doc Martin fans would be surprised at Carolyn Catz' portrayal of a cold pragmatic DI in DCI Banks. Such a difference from Louisa I almost didn't recognize her.

MaryPage · « **Reply #406 on:** July 18, 2014, 01:19:53 PM »

Oh, I agree, I agree! And I love her in BOTH parts! Caroline Catz. I have owned all of Peter Robinson's DCI Banks books and read about half of them and passed the half I have read on to a favorite granddaughter, who loves all of the same stuff I love. He is still writing them, and I believe there have been 21 in the series thus far. The BBC television series is a bit changed from the books, but still most excellent. Oh, the acting! They had a manipulating, murdering female on there that was one of the best actors I have EVER seen, bar none! Her name is Monica Dolan

mrssherlock · « **Reply #407 on:** July 19, 2014, 01:45:50 PM »

Warning! My Wild Affair sounds like a charming story. Baby elephant rescued and raised by animal lovers with other orphans. So I thought when I turned it on. BUT The ending is not happy and one of the images haunts me, I'm working very hard to get it out of my short term memory.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #408 on:** July 19, 2014, 02:49:15 PM »

I am so sorry - we are flooded with images right now of folks, children, bodies, animals in distress - the horror - the lone photo for me that summed up much of this horror was of a young Indian boy chained to a bus stop and left there for days till someone rescued him. God what is going on - OK I cannot feel guilty because of my life - I am doing no one any good if I go down hill emotionally and become less than full of hope, cheer having faith that we can and will tap into our courage and noble spirit - listing my gratitude's has worked for me in the past - so instead of saying a rosary I think I need 5 decades of gratitude's spoken/prayed aloud for today.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #409 on:** July 19, 2014, 04:30:37 PM »

Well this should get us out of our sober mood - the trailer for this weeks Tango in Halifax - I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all - should be a good episode tomorrow night.
http://www.klru.org/schedule/episode/256156/

MaryPage · « **Reply #410 on:** July 19, 2014, 05:16:07 PM »

Barbara, you express a lot of what I am feeling, as well. I know where you are coming from.

ginny · « **Reply #411 on:** July 20, 2014, 02:02:15 PM »

There's a lovely article in today's New York Times titled Adieu to That Dapper Detective, which is about David Suchet and what he's been trying to do with the character Poirot all these years.

It's a nice article with some personal vignettes in it concerning Christie's family, and it pertains to the August 3 debut that's next Sunday of the first of two new Poirot films. I was very surprised to learn that two would be on PBS but three others would be shown by Acorn. On Acorn TV. Acorn is the distribution group that have a lot of the Masterpiece Theatre PBS stuff first before anybody else does.

I didn't know they had a television station and I hope it's not a streaming issue, because I won't be able to see the series, if so.

Here's the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/arts/television/david-suchet-reflects-on-25-years-as-poirot.html

Frybabe · « **Reply #412 on:** July 20, 2014, 03:50:33 PM »

I knew David Suchet wanted to do all of Poirot; I didn't realize (never counted all the shows) these are the last. Cheers to him for such perseverance. Roku offers Acorn TV with a 30 day free Trial. The Roku website didn't say how much the charge is after that.

I don't know if you noticed, but at the bottom of the NYT article on Suchet there is a link to James Garner's obituary. Sad to say, if you haven't heard, he passed away Saturday.

ginny · « **Reply #413 on:** July 20, 2014, 04:33:32 PM »

Oh no! I did not know! I am so sorry to hear that.. The one day I didn't start the day with the CNN news app!

Frybabe · « **Reply #414 on:** July 20, 2014, 10:30:57 PM »

I can't believe they left such a cliffhanger for Morse. My jaw is still dropped, eyes wide. It will be a long wait for next season.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #415 on:** July 20, 2014, 11:09:36 PM »

Yes did not see that coming

MaryPage · « **Reply #416 on:** July 21, 2014, 07:29:50 AM »

Ensanguining the skies
How heavily it dies
Into the west away;
Past touch and sight and sound
Not further to be found,
How hopeless under ground
Falls the remorseful day.

A.E. Housman
From poem XVI

When the young Morse quotes this bit to Thursday, it is a reprise of his quoting it in the very last episode of MORSE, the one in which he dies. I mean, a reprise for us according to the order in which we viewed these episodes. We were backwards in time, of course.

MaryPage · « **Reply #417 on:** July 21, 2014, 07:38:17 AM »

I loved it!

Trivia: There were 64 episodes of MORSE. Of course, as you well know, they are still doing Endeavor. I like Endeavor best.

The constable in the last bit of last night's episode? That was Chief Constable Strange, the fat old man who mourns Morse's loss in HIS last episode! Check it out! Not the same actor, of course, but the same character. I swear!

Because I had to go and look up to see what was going to happen, and there was that, and many other, tidbits of interest.

Last Tango in Halifax never ceases to surprise and amaze me. I loved last night's episode, but must admit it never goes where I expect it to!

And Scott & Bailey was superb. According to the critics, the next episode, which will also be the last for Season Three (they are filming Season Four) has some of the best acting EVER!

FlaJean · « **Reply #418 on:** July 21, 2014, 11:34:50 AM »

By the time PBS gets the next Endeavor, they'll have to rebroadcast this one to jog memories. I was sorry to see it end that way, but it was a good one. I'm looking forward to Poirot. I really enjoy Suchet's portrayal.

marcie · « **Reply #419 on:** July 22, 2014, 08:40:30 PM »

You're right Jean, that we're going to need a refresher next season. I was a little confused about some of the many characters...trying to keep them straight. But I loved the episode. I figured from the start that the supposed senior police officer "ally" was bad. But I didn't realize what was going to happen at the end. Morse and Thursday are so good together.

Frybabe · « **Reply #420 on:** July 23, 2014, 06:40:57 AM »

I suspected Deare, at least didn't trust him, but wondered about Chief Superintendent Bright too. I still think something untoward is up with him. We'll have to wait til next season to find out. When Thursday told Morse that he would probably die a copper, I figured it was an omen. However, I was still surprised when he got shot.

Oh GROAN! I just saw that IMDB lists Season 3 for 1016. We must wait TWO YEARS?

?

MaryPage · « **Reply #421 on:** July 23, 2014, 07:11:02 AM »

Well, we all know that Morse dies in the saddle, as it were: a much older man, close to retirement, and still a detective, on an Oxford quadrangle, of a massive heart attack. We were THERE! All of us.
So we have to add two and two and know that Endeavor will recover from his wound and get out of jail, exonerated from whatever charges. However long it takes, I now have something great to look forward to. I love Endeavor!

marcie · « **Reply #422 on:** July 23, 2014, 11:15:55 AM »

Frybabe, yes, there seemed to be a few foreshadowings of Thursday being shot. And Bright has always seemed suspicious. I'm thinking that he's probably a red herring but you never know.

MaryPage, it is great that it seems like there will be a season 3. I hope that Masterpiece will confirm that soon (and maybe hurry it up!)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #423 on:** July 23, 2014, 11:45:29 AM »

You have to wonder if it is actors with a full schedule in other jobs or if they are calculating some years to show on Morse - I notice this season he did not look quite as wet behind the ears as last season.

Frybabe · « **Reply #424 on:** July 23, 2014, 11:59:16 AM »

I was doing some snooping. Since Shaun is an Evans, I was interested to see if he may come from a Welsh background. He is from Ireland, but grew up in Liverpool. The Evanses are ubiquitous (My mom was an Evans).

Roger Allam (Thursday) was the narrator, death, in The Book Thief. Both he and Anton Lesser (Chief Super. Bright) were in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Anton Lesser is playing the part of Thomas More in Wolf Hall, which I understand is already in production.

Barb, the answer is yes. I looked at the IMDB listings and all three seem to be involved in other things as well as Endeavor. I am guessing that that is why we won't be seeing any more Endeavor until 2016 or that Masterpiece has other things already planned.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #425 on:** July 23, 2014, 12:03:31 PM »

aha - busy actors - thanks for the tidbits about what other productions we have seen them act.

marcie · « **Reply #426 on:** July 24, 2014, 01:00:09 AM »

thanks, Frybabe.

Steph · « **Reply #427 on:** July 24, 2014, 08:54:00 AM »

Saw a bit of promos for January and Downton,, oh for it to start.

MaryPage · « **Reply #428 on:** July 24, 2014, 12:48:43 PM »

JANUARY 4th HERE.

JoanK · « **Reply #429 on:** July 27, 2014, 03:35:00 PM »

AHA MOMENT! I finally understand why it's sometimes so difficult to hear what people are saying in British TV shows. In American shows, the actors go through their lines once, then come back, and say them again over the completed piece with engineers adjusting the sound so they can be heard. British shows rarely do this.

How they coordinate the new voices with the lip movements of the actors, I don't understand!

ginny · « **Reply #430 on:** July 27, 2014, 04:09:57 PM »

I didn't know that!

So tonight is the premiere of the first of the new Poirot's!

I checked with the local programming and we have it on both NC and SC PBS so I'm spoiled for choice, at 9 pm Eastern. An hour and a half. It will be exciting to see Suchet again as Poirot, I'm really looking forward to it.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #431 on:** July 27, 2014, 04:37:44 PM »

Hate to see him go but he gave us a good run - wonder what he will do next.

Frybabe · « **Reply #432 on:** July 27, 2014, 05:16:47 PM »

He just completed something called Effie Gray which is about John Ruskin and his teenaged bride Euphemia Gray. The movie is schedule to release in the UK in September. Dakota Fanning plays Effie, Suchet plays John James Ruskin, and Emma Thompson, who wrote the script, plays Lady Eastlake. Oh, what an all star cast: Robbie Coltrane, Claudia Cardinale, Derek Jacobi, and James Fox, among others who I don't recognize off hand. Greg Wise plays John Ruskin. I am sure I've seen him but I don't recognize him. I don't see anything else listed on IMDB.

Ah, Hah! He is now on world tour doing a play called The Last Confession which is about the very short rein of Pope John Paul I. Suchet just finished a run in Los Angeles. I haven't found a schedule of where he goes next.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #433 on:** July 27, 2014, 08:55:46 PM »

What a surprise! I'm watching my first ever episode of Last Tango in Halifax! It's great. I'm sure you all have talked about it at some point, but i never heard of it before. So true to life of family relationships. Has it been on for long? My "info" says 2nd season, but i don't remember seeing anything about it before.

Of course, i'm making this analysis, of it being good, in about 40 minutes of watching.........i could be totally wrong.

marcie · « **Reply #434 on:** July 27, 2014, 10:45:10 PM »

mabel, we've talked a bit about LAST TANGO and most of us have enjoyed it though it gets crazy at times. The cast is great. The situations they get into are a bit much, in my opinion, taken all together. I'm about to watch tonight's episode.

marcie · « **Reply #435 on:** July 27, 2014, 11:02:20 PM »

Frybabe, thanks for the info about Effie Gray. It sounds exciting. I remember Greg Wise from Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility. He played Willoughby.

I found out that he and Emma Thompson are married.

CallieOK · « **Reply #436 on:** July 27, 2014, 11:33:37 PM »

Mabel, this is the second season for "Last Tango..." and I think there may be just a couple of episodes left before the season ends.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #437 on:** July 27, 2014, 11:56:54 PM »

Well after tonight I do not know what to make of Jillian - and is it really off with Caroline and Kate -

Frybabe · « **Reply #438 on:** July 28, 2014, 07:10:44 AM »

I thought Poirot last night was a little odd; it felt a bit "off". Definitely not one of my favorites.

ginny · « **Reply #439 on:** July 28, 2014, 07:36:09 AM »

Oh! I liked the beginning or what I was able to see of it in fits and starts, his writing everybody? I thought that was a nice touch. Unfortunately one of those huge storms came up and came across our area, and I wasn't able to see the rest! Darn! I did think solving the murder immediately was quite interesting with the chess pieces, but I just wasn't able to see enough of it -- so I wondered what everybody thought. All is well here, thank goodness, tho I heard there were some tornadoes before it got here, in TN.

Hope everybody is OK.

News:

Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece 2014 Cont. - Downton Abbey & Other PBS programs (Read 118128 times)