Best of BBC

The positive side of being a good grump

2010-02-15T13:40:00.012+11:00

One of the unexpected pleasures for old grumps is finding old plays of the past whose value we now appreciate ;( David Hare seems to have revived plenty of the Russian authors - why aren't they on our TV's? ---ABC2 and ABC3 ) The things that really worked and the rubbish ; the quickfizz colour and movement that goes nowhere and has no real choices ( modern Dr Who?); scenes like those at the end of PLENTY-lonely, shallow and empty.( forget the watering down woosiness scene in the paddock at the very end of FRED SCHEPSIS"s film)
When we were young , we thought we knew -. This is not new ; what's new and pathetic is all the woosy adults who can't bother to be grumpy old parents/GP for the sake of being consistent and concrete walls of reality to the next generation/s . Sure young people "don't listen" and " don't want to know" but should that mean we don't use some subtedly, rather than silence and rage if we really "want to make a difference and also them to make a difference to their world - "Lets get it right - even if we are boring old grumps for saying so
Grumpy old men and women is a welcome indulgence for us to share with each other at the end of the day ( we listen to each other - even if our kids don't listen to us ). Better though are those British films and plays that revive an honest review of both the TOUGH and weak choices of the past . we want to see more of them . even if they are just recorded on stage .( live theatre on TV)
I especially like the honesty David Hare brings to the few plays we in Australia never get to see of his . Being alone may be "the comfortable place" (Meryl Streeps famous words in PLENTY ") for all those stuck in the land of plenty, but seeing the end result of self centred and even reactionary choices make one want to find another way OUT of the liberation era that never was liberation .

Jimmy Grimble

2009-07-13T15:22:00.003+10:00

Definitely one of your best pictures of the year. Send me a catalogue . A soundly contructed story with lots of guts and enough touches of fanatsy to make it very funny. We wait at the throwout trays of video shops to find these gems that are so good for all the family .

More Station diversity - more better

2008-07-28T10:49:00.003+10:00

Scrapyard challenge. Great! Did you know that many Aussies aren't even aware of it . This great bit of reality Tv is only getting known because of ABC 2 and a timeslot to suit .
The new series of Foyles War is welcome in the way it deals with conflicts - always running though like midsummer murders, silent witness the danger that the heroes are capable of sainthood and superhuman abilities - what is it with modern Tv that exaggerates the capabilities of mere silent witnesses.

Will the determinists drag us back to a pedantic blow by blow script or will the fantasy merchants win back our hearts and imagination wih their presummption that there is more to raw power and influence than any smart lawyer could ever imagine .
My vote is for the later because its true .

The Best of British 2007

2008-01-16T23:01:00.000+11:00

THE BEST : LIFE ON MARS, THE MONARCHS, THE ABBEY
LIFE ON MARS What a welcome surprise from the BBC ( only ever seen tonights edition on the "it must be football related" scenario ). Someone over there in Wales and Kudos can still write sound drama without getting lost in the soup of personal ( The -new- Bill) and the drab of dissection and revision .

THE WORST the wedding of THE vicar , THE tired old BILL, THE librarians, reworking your own history junk .
That stupid ladies in finishing school review - -- never waste our time with the pedantic predictability of trying to make ladies story - --I mean whoever commissioned that stuff should not get another chance - its cuts nowhere and goes nowhere - let alone the sloppy plagerism in structural terms.

Lost in the wooses forest -

Doc martin While midly entertaining, we would prefer strong characters who weren't all navel gazing, belting out pseudophycology or trying to sqeeze some joy out of other peoples misery . If your hesitating we don't need to see what goes on at the office, or down in the sewer , after we have been there all day or happened to stumble on it while working .Eg Librarians

Around the world treasures

2007-04-09T20:22:00.000+10:00

Around The World In Eighty Treasures
Extremely well done, we hope the ABC repeat it.esp leninggrad, russia and home . A great way to review history and give it at least some context.

Period pieces in pieces

2005-12-12T12:22:00.000+11:00

well I guess some of it is Ok but the Bill is still a waste of Austraialsn time and some of your period pieces are just modern forms of sneer by the older generation .

The Bill - what a mess

2005-08-25T16:12:00.000+10:00

Souped up soap. Why does the couple need the blessing of the church . The writer is confused about what real life and real enemies are . I thought that church was irrelevant. What confused and irrational stageing of "the enemy" wass created around the gays so called marriage .> the bill is just not worth watching .

short term gain- long term pain

2005-02-05T08:57:00.000+11:00

We aussies are getting sick of overated colourful junk being slotted onto our screens by our own ABC but from the BBC .http:/abctv .blogspot.com

take the the Bill ratings as an example of how aussies are cutting their umbilical cord to the old country and some of its great traditions - bbyc.
Clean up your act or we will be exporting more drama than you will be !
- eg The Bill ( used to be the biggest thing here but is / will be increasingly trashed as navel gazing soap)
-eg half baked revisionist piece on queen elizabeth recently
Many Australians used to be BBC addicts
-eg smiling curly haired naturalist whose "wonder" talk is an incoherent mix of simplistic noisy science and pop philosophy.
This trash is sending us hunting for videos like never before.

Do you ,like us, pay public servants to serve up second rate reporting of the more difficult tensions and debates ?.
While there is still some excellent stuff ( ABC australia management are pulling some of the worst and its losing audiences ( as if we can't tell how they slot in junk inbetwen good stuff)

Contributions welcome http://worthwatching.blogspot.com