Re: PBS Masterpiece 2016 - Poldark, The Durrells in Corfu and Other PBS Programs

[BarbStAubrey]

 

See the 2015-2016 MASTERPIECE schedule. 

Let's talk about PBS programs that we enjoy.

DISCUSSING NOW

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.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

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 just knew that Thomas was going to end up as butler - and wow Lady Edith caught the brass ring - I was glad they brought back Rose and her husband - she did have a maturity about her that was probably as a result of her playing other important roles since her regular appearance on Downton last year.

The relationship between Mary and her husband never seemed as real as the dialogue suggested - somehow even though they will make lots and lots of money, having at first a dealership and then even if they make cars does not have the same panache as owning land - we really know very little about him except he is good looking - we do not know about his family or where he went to school or if he had other friends in addition to the friend who died in the crash - I wouldn't be surprised if Julian Fellows had to rush through his character in order to start the wrap up to series - that rush really was evident the last two episodes which included Mary's wedding.

Evidently there is one more being saved for next Christmas - everyone is wrapped up with most either hinting at a twosome or the twosome was included in the final episodes.  - Barb

[marcie]

Yes, Downton Abbey ended with almost everyone finding a mate. Anyway, I thought it was a satisfying end to the series.

You're right,  Barbara, we don't know much about Mary's new husband. I don't see much chemistry between them though, as you say, the dialog is there.

[Steph]

I saw the man who plays the new husband in something a while back. Very good looking man indeed, but they left his past a blank..

[marcie]

The actor, Matthew Goode, was in Tom Ford's film, The Single Man, with Colin Firth. See the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315981/  He also played the part of Charles Ryder in the 2008 version of Brideshead Revisited.

His films include Chasing Liberty (2004), Match Point (2005), Imagine Me and You (2006), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Watchmen (2009), A Single Man (2009), Leap Year (2010), Stoker (2013) and The Imitation Game (2014).

He is 37 and has 3 children with his girlfriend, Sophie Dymoke.

[Steph]

The Imitation Game,,, I knew I had seen him somewhere. and I dont watch that many movies.

[BarbStAubrey]

Wow - I really think we need to know this - The work that is done to make this the site we have grown to trust and love needs to be told - we should not take for granted the volunteer effort by those who protect us from behind the scenes.

Message this morning from Ginny, Administrator...

I came in, tho, to tell you what Marcie has done which has made such a HUGE difference to those who have to go after the spammers. She's incorporated a captcha thing which forces the bot trying to register to choose photos in response to a text question or something, it's brilliant.

Since the day she put it up there has not  been one more spammer@!!!!!!  NOT ONE! It's a miracle to come in here and not see on the top left hand of the page the numbers of "people" waiting to be hand checked. And if you would skip a day it would take forever to clear them. And on holidays it was a nightmare.

Getting rid of these scumbags is a tiring job. They sometimes sneaked in anyhow and Jane has been patiently winnowing them out. So great is the difference that the check for Spammers thing no longer comes up and I can't see how many we have manually removed but it was something like 248,000 or something. Jane or Marcie may know how to access that check screen, I don't, and quite frankly I hope I never see it again, but isn't that marvelous?

A lot safer for us, too, since the bots can't see the emails unless they are registered.

So hooray for Marcie for doing this and for Marcie and Jane ALL THESE YEARS manually getting rid of these people who need a job instead of trying to cheat us all. The last bit was from Russia I think?

Jane, Administrator

Incredible...but the number now is:   

266852 Spammers blocked up until today

[rosemarykaye]

Thank you Marcie and Jane, you are heroes!

Rosemary

[Frybabe]

Looks like I am going to have to find the first season of Grantchester and cat.ch up. It reminds me of Chesterton's  Father Brown series. Runcie is the son of the former Archbiship of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. I am sure that provided some interesting background for his stories.

[BarbStAubrey]

Very very different than Father Brown 

[rosemarykaye]

Oh yes, Father Brown & Grantchester are indeed different.  Daughter & I watch Father Brown for light relief, Grantchester less so - but we enjoy both.

The Grantchester episode we have just seen was quite unlike the others and really rather odd. Having been to two talks by James Runcie (who is an excellent speaker), I get the impression he decided the best and least painful thing was simply to hand the characters over to the TV people - he hasn't had a huge amount to do with the adaptation, although he likes it.

The thing I am finding a tad strange at the moment is that Happy Valley and Grantchester have both been running new series - I haven't seen Happy Valley, but (as is clear from the trailers, and also from the immense amount of publicity it's had - this is the second series and it's won just about every award there is) in it James Norton plays a psychopathic killer - a bit of a contrast to Sidney the priest!

Rosemary

[ginny]

I have to say I have "discovered" (probably the last person on earth to do so) Amazon Prime Streaming. They have been telling me gently as long as I've had Prime that do I realize  I can get free movies, too.  But I never had Wifi.   And now that I do have it, I only turn it on for my grandson and his games.

The other day I wondered what happened to the Fabulous Beekman Boys and looked them up. They are on the Cooking Channel now and I wondered how they were doing (a gay couple, a doctor and a writer, trying to make a go of it on a farm in New England).  Well anyway, it turns out there are 3 seasons but you can't get but the first one on DVD, and I have that.  But Amazon has them. So I watched one episode from season 2 and was hooked.

THEN I saw The Great British Bake Off!!!! as a choice!  I couldn't believe it. AND to make it even better, it's free. AND to make it even better once you start watching one on WiFi, apparently all of them download. So I can now watch ("Season 2") (the one that filmed in 2014) with Diana and Iain, anywhere with any service, it does not have to be WiFi, and it works everywhere with my own Verizon, or any  WiFi, which is absolutely marvelous.

That show is a guilty pleasure. I absolutely love it and it's up for another award soon, the BAFTA? I hope it wins.

AND if that weren't enough, it remembers where you were, and asks if you'd like to resume or which episode you'd like or  whatever. Grantchester's on there, too as are seasons 1-5 of Downton.

I feel as if I've discovered the wheel! I really am enjoying that show and Amazon Prime being free and all the streaming. I didn't know how to do it and it could not be easier. You just download the player, that's IT. From then on it gives you a wide  menu/ variety of things you might or might not want to see. At no cost. If you do pay for a movie it apparently is yours forever and stays in your "Library." I haven't done that yet.

That program makes me happy all day. hahahaa

[Frybabe]

Have fun with Prime, Ginny. I love it. Don't forget to check out the Amazon exclusive shows. Bosch and Mozart in the Park are very popular. I watch Alpha House which stars John Goodman among others. Wanda Sykes shows up now and again, and Penn Jillette and Bill Murray have done several cameos.

I watch Grantchester on Sunday night. It was okay, and I will probably continue watching it, but it didn't excite me.

[BarbStAubrey]

One of the funniest books I ever read was the "100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" well they made it into a move and it is on Amazon Prime - they did a great job - they cut just a few bits of all the famous people he met but it is a wonderful adaptation - a Swedish film Company made the movie but come to think of it the book was written by a Swedish author -

And best I can download some current movies and yes, pay to see them but only $3.95 or tops $5.95 and some are already free with Prime - I wanted to see Room and now I can from the comfort of my own home...it is like for years renting movies but we had to go to the video store - now it is right at our finger tips.

So many movies available free with Prime and another, that is laugh out loud and its free is an Irish movie that is a riot - the characters could easily be a bunch of Irish Leprechauns where as they are a small village of folks all about a winning lottery ticket (the pot of gold) - the movie is entitled Waking Ned Devine

[marcie]

Frybabe, this first episode of the season didn't grab me as much as the previous season. I am hoping it will get better.

I wonder what's wrong with his policeman friend?? He is not acting like himself. He let/encouraged his officer to force water down the young suspect's throat. Grrrrr...

[BarbStAubrey]

Yes, he seems to be finding the worst in people so that we now have a pair of opposites - in fact the difference as I see it is not with Sidney as much as the change in Inspector Geordie that made the program less enjoyable and flat as compared to when they together fought the good fight.

[Frybabe]

I haven't seen the previous season yet, though I think it is now up on Amazon Prime. Yes, I did make note of the water incident; it was unexpected. It reminded me of the waterboarding argument.

[ginny]

And for fans  of Wolf Hall it's up for  4 BAFTAS, for  best show, for best actor, (Mark Rylance), for best actress ( Claire Foy) and two supporting actors, the man who played Thomas More, and ...who was the fourth?   

I am glad to see Claire Foy get a nomination, she seemed to be overlooked in the first awards, there were so many stellar performances.  It's also on Amazon.   We probably should read it here that was suggested a long time ago maybe we should've done it, especially with Mantel's new book in the works.

[Steph]

I do love my Amazon Prime and I truly adore Mozart.. Also found a copy of the original book and it is coming to me.. Can hardly wait.. Hmm, British bakeoff,, will look for it.

[marcie]

Yes, it's the change in the inspector that is worrisome. The first scene with them swimming in the river was playful, then the "bad inspector" made an appearance :-(

[Steph]

Oh JOY.. Call the Midwife is back last night.. The date mentioned was 1961, but I was startled since I had my first baby in 1961 and it was nothing like what they seemed to do.. Still I do love it.. Trixie has long hair..whew.. and they have new uniforms and are exercising.. and the Mother Superior does not seem happy with their exercise outfits. Oh I do love this show.

[Flavia]

as for Granchester, Geordie, the policeman was shot and barely survived at the end of last season. It has changed him, as it should have. the waterboarding incident was awful. i hope he comes back, but I have no problem with characters changing according to circumstances. It is not a britcom after all. Father Brown is light and fun, a whole different ball of wax. I love it also. I am not so sure about the new copper, though.

[nlhome]

Yes, I was glad to see Call the Midwife and Grantchester also. I turned it off before Mr. Selfridge, though. I never did get into that program.

Our PBS station has been broadcasting Midsomer Murders this winter (it still feels like winter here in Wisconsin, by the way) and I have found those episodes interesting.

[Steph]

I am going to look in Amazon Prime for the Midsommer murders, our PBS never carried it.

[marcie]

Call the Midwife had a very interesting and emotional episode. The nurses are definitely embracing the 1960s!

Xine48, you're right that the shooting  has deeply affected the policeman and could explain the change in him, though now I'm wondering if he is ill also.
I thought that this episode was better than the last.

I've enjoyed Midsommer Murders in the past.

[BarbStAubrey]

I didn't know but the Granchester stories are books!!! There is a group here reading them as they watch the TV versions - after looking on Amazon evidently there are 5 books to the series and 4 of them can be downloaded on kindle but they are not cheap at $35.50 for the set of 4.

[marcie]

I found this info on wikipedia, Barbara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grantchester_Mysteries

"The books in the series include:

    Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012)
    Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (2013)
    Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil (2014)
    Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins (2015)

A total of six books are planned. The series was inspired by James Runcie's father, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.

In 2014, some of the The Grantchester Mysteries short stories were turned into an ITV drama titled Grantchester. Filmed on location in Grantchester, Cambridge, and London, the initial six-part series was shown in the UK in Autumn 2014. A second series was released in 2016."

I just checked and my public library has the four Runcie books. The first book is actually six short standalone mysteries.

[BarbStAubrey]

Thanks marcie - from the Amazon page it appears the next novel will be released in June and it is called "Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation"

[Steph]

Last nights Call the Midwife directly addressed unwed pregnancy and home abortions in 1961 last night. I cried watching the poor schoolteacher deprived of what she did and shunned. I dont remember anything that late in the US, but maybe it was..

[marcie]

I recorded Call the Midwife, Steph. I'll look at it this week. The Grantchester had the vicar and the policeman going head to head over the death penalty.

[rosemarykaye]

It was a very moving episode Steph.

 I think it would have happened in the early 60s, especially in a very traditional part of London (as the Docklands then were - of course they are now full of extremely wealthy bankers). Even in the suburbs, I clearly recall my mother telling me that if I ever got pregnant out of wedlock she would 'throw me out' - though I doubt she remembers that now, and she certainly wouldn't expect me to say it to my daughters.  I think there was a huge awareness of 'what other people thought' and the shame of it all. The film Vera Drake also shows what things were like for women then - that is of course set in 1950 but I don't think things changed much for some time. Also the excellent but harrowing film Oranges and Sunshine shows how babies and little children were being sent to Australia - often to horrific situations - right up until the 1970s, and largely because their mothers were not married. And The Magdalene Sisters is about how awful it was in Ireland too - and that is set in 1964 I think.

Of course many 'illegitimate' children were brought up by grannies, married sisters, etc of the mothers as if they were their own children - it is only now, when so many people are keen to research their family histories, that these stories are coming out.

I think it does show that, for all the harping on about how much better things were in the past, many things were in fact a whole lot worse. As I've mentioned somewhere, we are currently watching Mad Men, and goodness me, no woman would put up with that kind of behaviour now - but it was 'normal' then.

Rosemary

[Steph]

I would guess it bothers me so much because i had a friend who had an abortion at 17.. I went with her and that was a true nightmare to me.. Then she turned around and got pregnant again by the same boy.. but that time, she told her parents and they had arranged for her to go to a Florence Crittendon home, but the boy married her. Did not even last long enough for the child to be born, but at least the parents seemed happy. Then I was involved in the Delaware legislatures involvement in abortion. Several people I knew testified.

[nlhome]

I remember the stigma of an unmarried woman becoming pregnant in the 1960's in my community; girls were sent away. Some were married, way to young, and never finished high school. I'm sure there were abortions, just not talked about in my hearing. I remember several of my relatives counting the months after I got married in 1968, as that also was a shameful thing, to have a baby less than 9 months after marriage (13 years for me - I always wondered if they were relieved or disappointed.)  I remember girls in the dormitory in college who had to leave because they were pregnant. I remember in the early 1970's, though, a young cousin who had an abortion, paid for by her very Catholic parents.

I watched that Call the Midwives episode with great sadness. It seemed all too real.

[Steph]

The great thing about BBC is their honesty with this sort of series. In the US, there would have been a quick save and much love as boyfriend came to save her.. Instead there was the blunt honesty that she got to face it all alone..

[rosemarykaye]

Yes, it is all the wonderful legacy of films like Cathy Come Home - I remember my mother being hugely affected by it, and telling me that people only really became aware of homelessness and the effects it could have after that groundbreaking film.

[marcie]

I really enjoyed the Wallander last night. There was so much atmosphere added "on location" in South Africa. Branagh was excellent providing emotion and insight in the silences especially.

[BarbStAubrey]

Yes what struck me was the empty space shown in the landscape of South Africa that reminded me of the empty space shown in the snow covered landscape of Sweden.

[Frybabe]

I read the book. Wallander didn't have as big a role in the book as in the TV presentation. Right off the bat they changed the real estate agent to someone looking for textbooks or some such. The real estate agent was in Sweden and all or most of the assassin's training was done there as well. Wallander investigated that side of the story, eventually coordinating with the South African police when evidence poined in that direction. I do not remember that he ever went there. Much of the action was, however, in South Africa. The book is excellent. I just didn't care for the the major changes in the TV production. Never finished watching it. I may watch it another time when I get over my snit over the changes.

[ginny]

What a lovely thing this morning to look in and see that  Wolf Hall has won the 2016 BAFTA  British Award for Best Drama of the year. Mark Rylance has won Best Actor,  apparently he was the first one to get an award,  and the Great  British Bake -Off has won Best in its category!  I am one happy camper today.   

[marcie]

Frybabe, I understand the disappointment of seeing major changes in a tv/film version to a book you enjoyed. Sometimes I'm able to think of it as a similar story and not an adaptation.

What's happening with Wallander in this last episode. His father died of Alzheimer's disease and it seems that Wallander is afraid he's losing his memory. I guess we'll find out what's  happening in the next, final episode.

[marcie]

Ginny, isn't it wonderful when shows and actors we admire are recognized with awards.