Author Topic: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2016 - Poldark, The Durrells in Corfu and Other PBS Programs (Read 50386 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #120 on:** May 16, 2016, 06:26:08 PM »

See the 2015-2016 MASTERPIECE schedule.

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

UPCOMING

Endeavour Season 3
June 19 - July 10, 2016

Shaun Evans (The Take, The Last Weekend, Silk), charms audiences with his portrayal of the early career of cerebral and solitary Detective Constable Morse in Endeavour, written by Inspector Lewis creator and Inspector Morse writer Russell Lewis.

Lewis Season 8
August 7-21, 2016

Kevin Whately stars as Inspector Lewis, the former working-class foil to the erudite Detective Inspector Morse. Together with his cool, cerebral partner Detective Sergeant Hathaway (Laurence Fox), Lewis tackles murder and mayhem in the seemingly-perfect academic haven of Oxford.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

Wallander Season 4
May 8-22, 2016

Kenneth Branagh returns as Inspector Kurt Wallander in the Swedish sleuth’s farewell episodes, bringing the beloved, Emmy®-nominated series to a poignant end. Neither carnage, corruption, or terrifying lapses of memory can keep this brooding detective from cracking cases. In the final mysteries, Branagh gives a heartbreaking performance of a gritty cop starting to lose his grip. The series is based on the novels by Henning Mankell.

Grantchester Season 2
March 27 - May 1, 2016

“As a priest, isn’t everything our business?” asks Reverend Sidney Chambers as he  gets to the bottom of another baffling murder around the placid village of Grantchester. James Norton stars as the handsome, jazz-loving vicar, with Robson Green as his law-enforcement ally, Inspector Geordie Keating. The series is based on the acclaimed novels by James Runcie.

Downton Abbey Season 6
January 3- March 6, 2016

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

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.

Discussion Leaders: JoanP and marcie

I enjoyed the last episode which, although given a different name for the TV production, was taken from The Troubled Man. I am not sure that Alzheimer's was ever directly mentioned in the books, but I do remember him going through finding out and coming to grips with his diabetes in the later books. As for the TV production, the only really big thing I noticed is that they didn't have the dog set loose on the them which resulted in the dog being shot. Of course, I would not have expected them to put that in the TV production.

Frybabe · « **Reply #121 on:** May 16, 2016, 07:15:30 PM »

Just got my latest Masterpiece email. We are going to be treated with another season of Endeavor in mid-June.

Re Wallander: Okay, somehow I got something backward. I thought the credits said that the episode we just watched was called A Lesson in Love and was taken from The Troubled Man. I checked out IMDB and that is not so. The Troubled Man is the next episode. Now I am wondering which of the books A Lesson in Love came from because I know I read it.

marcie · « **Reply #122 on:** May 17, 2016, 11:10:50 AM »

Frybabe, a review of the episode, A LESSON IN LOVE, says that "It’s a prelude to the final episode of Wallander and includes some threads plucked from Mankell’s last Wallander novel, The Troubled Man." So you're right about that.

The review: http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2016/05/wallander-402-qa-lesson-in-loveq-episode-review

I enjoyed the return in this episode of Baiba Liepa, Wallander’s Latvian love interest from “The Dogs of Riga” in Series 3. It's surprising to me how many incidental mentions of Latvia there are in various tv shows. I'm always alert for that because my mom was born and grew up in Riga, Latvia. :-)

Yes, Endeavor is coming back next on PBS, followed by the final season of Inspector Lewis! I'm looking forward to them.

Frybabe · « **Reply #123 on:** May 17, 2016, 03:34:20 PM »

Marcie, Dogs of Riga is one of my favorites.

marcie · « **Reply #124 on:** May 18, 2016, 11:20:37 AM »

Yes, I read Dogs of Riga too, Frybabe. I agree, it's a good one.

FlaJean · « **Reply #125 on:** May 19, 2016, 06:01:41 PM »

I'm also looking forward to both of those series. A year or so ago Netflix carried a Swedish series of Wallander with English captions. I liked it much better than this English version. In the Swedish version, Wallander's character was not so full of personal problems but dealt more with the story. I really enjoyed it despite the captions.

marcie · « **Reply #126 on:** May 19, 2016, 09:17:33 PM »

The Swedish series sounds good, FlaJean. There is quite an interesting interview with the "Swedish Wallander" at http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/20/krister-henriksson-on-leaving-wallander

There is a trailer for season/series 1 of the Swedish version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM7NKgSGsx4

Frybabe · « **Reply #127 on:** May 20, 2016, 05:52:36 AM »

I think YouTube has or had the Swedish version posted. I saw one or two of them a couple of years ago. They were pretty good.

marcie · « **Reply #128 on:** May 20, 2016, 11:37:21 AM »

Good to know, Frybabe. I'll check later.

FlaJean · « **Reply #129 on:** May 20, 2016, 01:01:37 PM »

Marcie, that was an interesting interview with the Swedish Wallender. The author of the Wallender books, Henning Mankell, died last year of cancer---so sad.

marcie · « **Reply #130 on:** May 20, 2016, 06:42:04 PM »

That is sad that Mankell died of cancer at age 67.

THe following bio information is from wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henning_Mankell

In January 2014, Mankell announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and throat cancer. In May 2014, he reported that treatments had worked well and he was getting better.

He wrote a series of articles inspired by his wife Eva [fourth wife. Eva was the daughter of Ingmar Berman], describing his situation, how it felt to be diagnosed, how it felt to be supported, how it felt to wait, and after his first chemotherapy at Sahlgrenska University Hospital about the importance of cancer research. Three weeks before his death he wrote about what happens to people’s identity when they are stricken by a serious illness. His last post was published posthumously 6 October.

On 5 October 2015, Mankell died at the age of 67, almost three years after having been diagnosed

marcie · « **Reply #131 on:** May 23, 2016, 11:14:36 AM »

That was a sad Wallander finale but I think it was very well done. Good acting from everyone.

Frybabe · « **Reply #132 on:** May 23, 2016, 12:36:04 PM »

I agree Marcie. I thought it was excellent - a sad fairwell to an excellent series, both book and TV production.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #133 on:** May 23, 2016, 01:31:18 PM »

Yes, sad - it reminded me of how much of our lives are spent in doing what we think is a benefit to others and the affect of our work slips away just as Wallander's memory will slip away - it also gave us a hopeful message knowing that his daughter wants to take care of him and for some years while he is still functioning they will grow closer - he also gave her husband what every man wants to hear - approval from an earlier generation of men, especially a father figure - the man who drowned himself actually had an easier death compared to what Wallander faces, rather than lingering as Wallander will in this state of increasing mental isolation.

marcie · « **Reply #134 on:** May 23, 2016, 10:52:53 PM »

Frybabe, the final episode also seemed to me to be a farewell to Henning Mankell too. Instead of the cancer that Mankell had to deal with, Wallander is faced with Alzheimer's but both were diagnosed and given a limited timeframe.

Barb, yes, there is lots to ponder there. I agree about the hopeful message that Wallander's daughter provides.

Frybabe · « **Reply #135 on:** May 24, 2016, 06:50:23 AM »

I was just watching the online clips of Kenneth Branagh and Henning Mankell on PBS. They are worth a watch. Branagh is rather elequent, I think, and I liked what Mankell had to say about ending the series. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/shorts/wallander-s4-saying-goodbye/?elqTrackId=B202631CDEA71C0BCD4ACBA3C8B5FD7D&elq=71585eec57a4443d8367ffcc577a11b0&elqaid=3396&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=1702

There are a few others, so follow the links below this one.

marcie · « **Reply #136 on:** May 24, 2016, 11:34:10 AM »

Thanks for the links, Frybabe. I'll check them out.

FlaJean · « **Reply #137 on:** May 24, 2016, 09:03:33 PM »

Thanks for the links, Frybabe, they were interesting.

Frybabe · « **Reply #138 on:** June 19, 2016, 02:26:36 PM »

I hope I don't forget to watch Endeavour tonight.

marcie · « **Reply #139 on:** June 19, 2016, 09:22:43 PM »

Thanks for the reminder, Jean. Yes, the third season of Endeavour starts tonight!

Frybabe · « **Reply #140 on:** June 19, 2016, 10:50:52 PM »

And of course I had my head in a book and wasn't watching the time. Rats!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #141 on:** June 20, 2016, 03:16:15 AM »

thought the story of this new season was choppy - the chief says forget the past - evidently he did go to jail and they closed the case simply saying the one guy that shot Thursday and was shot by the woman, the grown daughter of I think it was the Doctor for the boys and then the other police come and blamed it on Morse - Thursday is back at his job and tells Morse it is about keeping the community safe not the politics inside the police force. The crime also has several killed that is sort of a shadow story to Morse's experience. Lots of great shots with lighting not usually seen in these stories however, to me the story was not smooth and I got lost a few times.

The Tunnel started tonight as well - interesting - the after bit that explained it was a take off on a European TV series between I think Norway and Sweden or maybe Sweden and Finland - do not remember but there was a slightly different slant to the original and explained was that all the shows were exploring a current political problem in Europe.

FlaJean · « **Reply #142 on:** June 20, 2016, 05:10:56 PM »

I was disappointed in Endeavor. I also thought the story was choppy and confusing. I looked at the following show "The Tunnel". Kind of gruesome but also some interesting characters. The conversation after the episode by actors and producer explained somewhat the idea behind the series and decided me to give it another look next week.

JeanneP · « **Reply #143 on:** June 20, 2016, 06:03:51 PM »

I was glad to see "Endeavour" come back on last night. Looks like a start of a new Season. I did not see the end of the last one and so had no idea why he went to prison.

According to our station it looks like the are going to have the last season of Inspector Lewis on next week. Wonder if the Laurence Fox will be back as his Sgt. I thought I once read he was leaving. Really like him

No I was wrong thinking Lewis next week. It doesn't start until August.. Look forward to it.

Just hope they don't have the Pledge running again at the same time. We have it on here at the moment but after 3 weeks they are not doing every show.. Spoils it for me when it is the Series shows. 5 min. on and five min. talking

mabel1015j · « **Reply #144 on:** June 21, 2016, 08:02:31 PM »

Some of you are on the "classics" site or just like PBS......They are doing a 3 part series on Greece. On our station it starts tonight at 9:00.

Jean

marcie · « **Reply #145 on:** June 22, 2016, 11:07:21 AM »

Yes, Endeavour was complicated. We were introduced to the main characters in the episode in a fragmented way. Lots of diversions to keep us guessing. I do like the Endeavour character and DI Thursday.

Frybabe · « **Reply #146 on:** June 22, 2016, 12:35:25 PM »

Thanks, Jean, but the reminder came a bit late. I knew it was starting last night. Unfortunately I, once again had my head in a book and didn't even think about the Greed series until I saw your post this morning. Now that is two to catch up on. Our station usually reruns the Masterpiece Theater shows on Saturday. I hope they rerun the 1st Greek program before the next one comes up, otherwise I will have to sit in my not very comfortable computer chair to watch it.

ginny · « **Reply #147 on:** June 24, 2016, 04:32:31 PM »

OH it's back, it's back, it's BAACK, the Great British Baking Show (as we call it here), the #1 show on British TV, is coming BACK on July 1, but not HERE where I live, we're always a week behind but it IS coming.

"The World's Most Polite Cooking Competition," and winner of every prize there is, is BACK!

See for yourself (if it's on your PBS station) what all the fuss is about. AND it's the most recent one!!

THANK you, PBS!! I can't wait. SUCH a day brightener.

But NOT on here! Maybe on that Sunday? I can't see that far ahead in my DVR schedule.

http://www.pbs.org/food

ginny · « **Reply #148 on:** June 25, 2016, 07:48:53 AM »

OH and there's more! PBS seems to have put in a new (to me) schedule and it shows the local PBS stations, and you can see it by the week, any week, 24 hours a day. I see that the program on the Greeks which they were talking about in the Classics Forum is repeating like mad and the nice thing about the DVR I have is if you can get ONE show you can get them all, it will do it itself, so Friday morning the Greeks is on at 2 am and now I will have them all, repeat or not.

ALSO I was shocked to see on Dish network that something called 27 from North Carolina which I get, is rerunning Wolf Hall!! So now I can get those, YAY!

AND the Baking Show is definitely running next Friday at 9 pm. Those of you who know how good it is, this is last year's show, so you're in for a treat.

Where is Rosemary Kaye? I would like to hear her opinion of the Extraordinary Collector, Brexit and a lot of other things.

Frybabe · « **Reply #149 on:** June 25, 2016, 09:33:43 AM »

Wahhhhhhh! My PBS station is not replaying last Sunday's Endeavour tonight. Instead, they are rerunning Grantchester. What is up with that? To make matters worse, I just tried to watch on my computer through the PBS site. It is not at all running smoothly. It looks, however, like I can watch The Greeds first episode on the computer without problems.

marcie · « **Reply #150 on:** June 25, 2016, 11:35:36 AM »

THose programs sound interesting, Ginny. I'm glad you're going to get them all. Frybabe, when I search my local PBS site for Endeavour, I see several repeats of the first episode. THere was one today on KQED Life: Sat, Jun 25, 2016 -- 2:00 AM

Frybabe · « **Reply #151 on:** June 25, 2016, 03:31:04 PM »

Yeayyyy! The the episode of Endeavour ran without much of a glitch this afternoon. I just finished watching it. Not the best, I thought the scenes were very dark, and yes, the story did seem a bit disjointed. Watched the first Greek episode this morning, and thought it only semi-interesting.

CallieOK · « **Reply #152 on:** June 25, 2016, 04:01:47 PM »

Frybabe, I also thought the first episode of "Greeks" was only semi-interesting. I would have enjoyed seeing more about the archaeological digs and fewer cartoon drawings. I have been to Santorini and to Crete- and have seen the Palace of Knossos so would have liked more detailed pictures of those areas.
However, it seems that most of these "historical" documentaries fill in time by showing repeats of scenery, people walking, workers repairing buildings (the Parthenon, for example), etc. "Atmosphere" is fine - but not repeated over and over and over and......zzzzzzz.

marcie · « **Reply #153 on:** June 25, 2016, 04:03:27 PM »

I'm glad you saw the first episode of Endeavour, Frybabe. I'm going to request the season 2 DVD from my library since I only vaguely remember the last episode during which Morse did something to get himself arrested by that Chief Superintendent Bright. He seems to have sort of apologized in this first of season 3 episode.

FlaJean · « **Reply #154 on:** June 27, 2016, 11:58:46 AM »

The second episode of Endeavor was better than the first IMO. I really like the Det. Thursday character, but Endeavor just doesn't seem like a young Morse, especially after watching again the original Morse series on Netflix. I think the writing and portrayal of young Morse is at fault and not the actor.

I'm looking forward to the final series of Inspector Lewis. I watched half of The Tunnel but have given up on it, although I find the French female character interesting and unusual.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #155 on:** June 27, 2016, 12:19:52 PM »

I'm like you FlaJean - cannot make heads or tails out of Tunnel - like the two main characters but what his homelife has to do with his job and what her private life has to do with her job except to help define their character - than there is the women and son whisked off to God only knows where - cannot figure out what crime they are solving - one minute I thought it was murder than it is drugs - it is like a string of vignettes tied together by the grayish coloring that is every scene.

I think on Endeavor last season he was young and as the saying goes wet behind the ears capable of emotion where as this season I think he is a bit older, 'seasoned' by his awareness how corrupt the force and how he was jailed to cover police corruption rather than accept the loss of reputation if the truth was made public. His emotions are dulled so that he sees how everything about him can be compromised by another for their benefit. This week was better wasn't it - it flowed a bit better without so many visual special affects - I get the impression this second season we begin to see how Moss became the older bachelor devoted to police work with, except for his music, very little private life and no love interest.

On Saturday night that does not repeat on Sunday we have the Detectorists - a delight - two of the most unlikely looking men, search partners in a small group who using their metal detectors to scour fields hoping to find ancient coins but mostly end up digging up old tin cans and sometimes a really old button.

Frybabe · « **Reply #156 on:** July 04, 2016, 05:32:38 PM »

I just watched the third Endeavour. It was a vast improvement over the other two. Very good program.

FlaJean · « **Reply #157 on:** July 04, 2016, 06:06:08 PM »

I also thought that was the best Endeavor. And I watched The Tunnel all the way through. The first two episodes I only watched halfway through and just gave up on it. But I wasn't ready to go to bed and I didn't have anything interesting to read so stuck with The Tunnel.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #158 on:** July 04, 2016, 07:06:22 PM »

Agree on Endeavor - been half watching The Tunnel - I still only get bits and pieces - at least now I know were certain people are located and who works with whom - sure does not grab me and if I go out to put on my plate the food I heated in the oven which takes me at least 5 minutes and then come back it is as if I never left.

Still get a kick out of the Detectorists and now the Dr. Blake mysteries from Australia are on a repeat cycle and we finished up with the entire repeat cycle of Doc Martin - looks like Father Brown still has a few new ones - like it for the characters and the scenery but I do not like this inspector compared to either of the other two.

Well Capitol Fourth is on tonight - I usually have it on as background - I do not know about how you perceived war but after Korea I thought that would be the end of it - then Viet Nam and I though surely this is the end of it - but no, it goes on and on and on and on...

ginny · « **Reply #159 on:** July 05, 2016, 10:07:53 AM »

We have a new (?) PBS station here, at least it's new to me, have you all got the EX one? It's called UNCEX, for North Carolina, I don't know why we're getting it, and the EX is Explorer and they have some incredible programming.

They are rerunning Wolf Hall which I am delighted about, as now I can see it on the big screen and Cromwell and Henry are huge, which does make a difference, and they are rerunning Downton Abbey on Thursdays (which I assume all of the PBS stations are) but they did one after Wolf Hall last night called How to Get Ahead and it was an hour on Cosimo Medici and Florence and it was out of this world, have any of you seen it?

It was like a Viking River Cruise commercial if you like those, but with an historical subject. Right now they are doing a documentary on sharks and explaining the new concepts of the food chain in the ocean, and advertising a Saturday program on Travel adventures, it's wonderfully bracing and exciting.

I started on it because of the new Best British Baking Show (which was so wonderful in the first episode I watched it twice) but this channel is something else, do you all get this EX? Is it new?

News:

Author Topic: Re: PBS Masterpiece 2016 - Poldark, The Durrells in Corfu and Other PBS Programs (Read 50386 times)