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Post by nicolaa on Dec 28, 2022 14:57:45 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series.
Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Dec 28, 2022 15:03:08 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series. Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee. I think it's generally an amusing sitcom with a unique concept but if you are referring to the Christmas special I have to agree. Mrs Brown's Boys was similarly unfunny. Loved the final Doc Martin though, will really miss that. At least they haven't killed him off so a future revival could still happen.
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Post by crowblack on Dec 28, 2022 16:25:07 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series. Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee. I think it's generally an amusing sitcom with a unique concept but if you are referring to the Christmas special I have to agree. Mrs Brown's Boys was similarly unfunny. Loved the final Doc Martin though, will really miss that. At least they haven't killed him off so a future revival could still happen. The first two series were good, but we haven't got to the end of the third yet - it's amiable enough to pass the time but not essential viewing.
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Post by Latecomer on Dec 28, 2022 21:18:37 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series. Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee. The thing with Ghosts is that you need to know the characters to become fonder of them…..it doesn’t work if you don’t know all the ins and outs. Then you become proper fond of them and start rooting for them…..and it becomes magic.
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Post by crowblack on Dec 28, 2022 21:45:03 GMT
We've just caught up with the Motherland and Inside Number 9 Christmas specials and recommend them!
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 28, 2022 22:49:59 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series. Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee. The thing with Ghosts is that you need to know the characters to become fonder of them…..it doesn’t work if you don’t know all the ins and outs. Then you become proper fond of them and start rooting for them…..and it becomes magic. Great call. It’s wonderful television
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 28, 2022 22:51:25 GMT
We've just caught up with the Motherland and Inside Number 9 Christmas specials and recommend them! There’s a queue Philip Schofield!
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Post by sweets7 on Dec 28, 2022 23:10:08 GMT
TV really is rubbish this year. Watched about five minutes of Mayflies before deciding I couldn’t get through the topic without emotional trauma. Looked worthy though. Started watching Escape to the Chateau.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 28, 2022 23:33:40 GMT
TV really is rubbish this year. Watched about five minutes of Mayflies before deciding I couldn’t get through the topic without emotional trauma. Looked worthy though. Started watching Escape to the Chateau. Thought it was great this year. One gem a night. Christmas Eve Paul and Bob Gone Fishing. Christmas Day ghosts and Boxing Day Detectorists. Great television. All I have really watched this Christmas. All I had on the must see list
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Post by londonmzfitz on Dec 29, 2022 22:54:14 GMT
Was forced to watch my first ever episode of Ghosts - the most unamusing 29 minutes I've ever spent. Panto acting and a mirth free script, baffled that this has lasted for a couple of series. Just reinforced why I've never paid the licence fee. My lad introduced me to the US version of Ghosts this week and it's great! Somehow I found myself watching one UK episode and the US version far superior.
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Post by Jon on Dec 29, 2022 23:20:11 GMT
I've only seen clips of the US Ghosts but it's interesting how they managed to adapt the show so well considering how British the original is.
In terms of other remakes, the American Shameless has the edge of the original but only because the original went downhill after they expanded the episode count.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 29, 2022 23:22:25 GMT
UK Ghosts for me
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Post by alessia on Dec 30, 2022 16:08:19 GMT
I like Ghosts (only seen the UK one and in general I don't watch remakes) and the special made me tear up. Also Detectorists special, I don't think this one episode was great but I love it anyway because it was so nice to see them all again and listen to the old tune- I'd watch Mackenzie Crook in anything and I had forgotten that the chap playing the club president is the pub landlord in Jerusalem.
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Post by fossil on Dec 30, 2022 16:41:59 GMT
Because my other half wanted to watch it I reluctantly settled down to watch Channel 5's The Canterville Ghost on their My5 catch-up service. This turned out to be a very well made thoroughly entertaining production from BBC Studios. Probably not to everybody's taste but if you want over three hours of harmless family entertainment I would recommend this.
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Post by n1david on Dec 30, 2022 17:04:03 GMT
My highlight of Festive TV has been SMILEY on Netflix. It's a charming and witty series set in Barcelona following the ups and downs of two gay men thrown together by a wrong number. 8 episodes of about 40 minutes each, set over the Christmas period so definitely counts as Festive Telly. The two lead characters are appealing and complex, and there's a hefty mix of supporting characters trying to sort out their own lives, like the lesbian couple trying to deal with changes in their relationship, and the middle-aged couple trying to reconstruct their pre-kids relationship. But it's all great fun and utterly charming, and moves at a speedy pace.
I've watched very little terrestrial TV, apart from the Christmas University Challenges (where institutions appear to be wising up and putting in academic graduates rather than celebrity graduates). Saving Mayflies for when I feel a bit stronger.
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Post by alece10 on Dec 30, 2022 18:26:09 GMT
My highlight of Festive TV has been SMILEY on Netflix. It's a charming and witty series set in Barcelona following the ups and downs of two gay men thrown together by a wrong number. 8 episodes of about 40 minutes each, set over the Christmas period so definitely counts as Festive Telly. The two lead characters are appealing and complex, and there's a hefty mix of supporting characters trying to sort out their own lives, like the lesbian couple trying to deal with changes in their relationship, and the middle-aged couple trying to reconstruct their pre-kids relationship. But it's all great fun and utterly charming, and moves at a speedy pace. I've watched very little terrestrial TV, apart from the Christmas University Challenges (where institutions appear to be wising up and putting in academic graduates rather than celebrity graduates). Saving Mayflies for when I feel a bit stronger. I watched Smiley a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I wasn't aware that you could watch it in Spanish rather than the default dubbed version in English, so now I know, I will rewatch it again as there was some dodgy translation and will be nice to hear the actors actual voices.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 30, 2022 18:45:51 GMT
University Challenge tonight had James Graham as part of the team from Hull. They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. One of the questions in the semi final is “what theatre is Kwame Kwei-Armah artistic director of!”
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Post by Jon on Dec 30, 2022 18:53:15 GMT
University Challenge tonight had James Graham as part of the team from Hull. They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. One of the questions in the semi final is “what theatre is Kwame Kwei-Armah artistic director of!” Slight spoiler for tonight but James Graham is not in the final as it clashed with when Tammy Faye at the Almeida.
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Post by jek on Dec 30, 2022 19:14:20 GMT
I second fossil's endorsement of The Canterville Ghost as an easy festive watch. Added bonus of Hadyn Gwynne having a very good time. I also enjoyed A Storm For Christmas, the Norwegian drama about people stuck in Oslo airport over the Christmas period.
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Post by n1david on Dec 30, 2022 19:50:09 GMT
They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. Please don't spoil it for those of us who are a few episodes behind!
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Post by n1david on Dec 30, 2022 19:54:39 GMT
I watched Smiley a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I wasn't aware that you could watch it in Spanish rather than the default dubbed version in English, so now I know, I will rewatch it again as there was some dodgy translation and will be nice to hear the actors actual voices. Interestingly, most of the characters speak in Spanish, but the straight couple speak in Catalan in private but Spanish in professional situations. Given that it's set in Barcelona, I'd have expected all the characters to speak Catalan as a first language, but given that Netflix funded the series, I'm sure they had an eye to the large Spanish-speaking population of the world... (Sorry, just realised that fact only counts as "interesting" if you're a language nerd like me)
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Post by lynette on Dec 30, 2022 22:43:25 GMT
Slow Horses ( on Apple TV) has been glorious over the last few weeks, finishing today. You can’t binge it cos they drop an episode a week so back to old fashioned tv watching. They trailed a third series so all good. I really recommend. On ITVX A Spy Among Friends def one of the best of the year, acting amazing and again nicely timed differently so you can binge it over the holiday. and The Detectorists - a very clever piece of writing referencing the Xmas season, so well acted.
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Post by Latecomer on Dec 31, 2022 0:33:48 GMT
Slow Horses ( on Apple TV) has been glorious over the last few weeks, finishing today. You can’t binge it cos they drop an episode a week so back to old fashioned tv watching. They trailed a third series so all good. I really recommend. On ITVX A Spy Among Friends def one of the best of the year, acting amazing and again nicely timed differently so you can binge it over the holiday. and The Detectorists - a very clever piece of writing referencing the Xmas season, so well acted. Really enjoying Slow Horses Series 1!
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 31, 2022 8:27:18 GMT
They made it to the final, which is tonight 8.30. Please don't spoil it for those of us who are a few episodes behind! Got me thinking this post. This is a thread where the board is discussing Christmas telly. The odd spoiler is bound to come out. Should the onus be on you to avoid the thread if you have some episodes to catch up? Can you let everyone know when you have caught up and the episode can be discussed? 🤔😉
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Post by n1david on Dec 31, 2022 9:17:49 GMT
In these days of catch-up and streaming I thought it was generally accepted that not everyone watches everything at exactly the same time, and so allowing a period for people to catch up seems reasonable to me. After all, it's why we have Spoiler tags on the board, so that people who have seen a TV show/film/play/musical can discuss plot points without ruining it for someone who has yet to see it. So please go ahead and discuss, but I'd ask you to use spoiler tags, in the same way I would if I was discussing the denouement of Glass Onion. I wrote about Mayflies above because I'd read the book. I didn't reveal the ending of that, even though I could have said "the book's been out for ages, anyone who wanted to should have read it by now."
If you're unable or unwilling to use Spoiler tags when asked, well there's really nothing I can do to stop you.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Dec 31, 2022 11:23:31 GMT
It honestly just never occurred to me that game shows might be considered “spoilers” the way a movie would be. I mean, high profile game show finals are promoted on TV and online, it doesn’t feel realistic to say “no one mention who’s in the final because that’s a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen the early heats”.
Asking people not to say “can’t believe so and so is the killer in Glass Onion” is very different from asking people not to say “fyi for fans, so and so is on TV tomorrow.”
However I will be more aware of spoilers in future - normally I do spoiler tag everything, so I apologise - it genuinely didn’t occur to me that saying they’re in the final would be a spoiler.
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Post by crabtree on Dec 31, 2022 11:41:33 GMT
Ghosts in my humble opinion is a truly beautiful and wonderfully plotted series, with warm, detailed characters, and wonderfully observed. They are all great company. Yep, it works for me - I still miss Mary though, and her exit was shocking and brave.
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Post by Jon on Dec 31, 2022 11:59:06 GMT
Watched Jason Manford's Recent Nostalgia and it was a good laugh especially the final bit at the end.
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Post by lou105 on Dec 31, 2022 13:08:52 GMT
Side note but there's a new musical based on Mayflies being premiered in York in April/May. Written by Gus Gowland, who also wrote Pieces of String which was streamed in lockdown. That's interesting. Music plays a big part in the book, I wonder if they will try to use some of the original tracks in addition to new material. The book draws on memories related to those tracks, which the reader is likely to be able to put in social context, which might be difficult to convey with new material. Then again, I think it's coincidentally the same title as the material seems rather different!
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Post by intoanewlife on Dec 31, 2022 20:13:55 GMT
My highlight of Festive TV has been SMILEY on Netflix. It's a charming and witty series set in Barcelona following the ups and downs of two gay men thrown together by a wrong number. 8 episodes of about 40 minutes each, set over the Christmas period so definitely counts as Festive Telly. The two lead characters are appealing and complex, and there's a hefty mix of supporting characters trying to sort out their own lives, like the lesbian couple trying to deal with changes in their relationship, and the middle-aged couple trying to reconstruct their pre-kids relationship. But it's all great fun and utterly charming, and moves at a speedy pace. I've watched very little terrestrial TV, apart from the Christmas University Challenges (where institutions appear to be wising up and putting in academic graduates rather than celebrity graduates). Saving Mayflies for when I feel a bit stronger. Absolutely agree re SMILEY, what an absolute delight it was! It was everything the dour, poorly acted and written Bros wished it could be. Believable, likable characters and not a single hint of virtue signaling or ridiculous politics in sight. The leads were also quite delicious of course in very different ways! Based on my love of SMILEY I also finally weakened and illegally downloaded (why the hell has this STILL not been shown here!!!) the phenomenal Veneno which I watched twice in 2 days. One of, if not THE best piece of gay tv/film I have ever seen. Brilliantly original, fantastic acting and writing and imaginative direction. I cannot remember the last time I have openly wept at something just because it was SOOOO good! I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who hasn't seen it! I also dropped in on the latest series of American Horror Story, which has been utterly unwatchable for the the last 5 seasons. However with Ryan Murphy off making some of the most terrible content ever produced for Netflix, the new team of queer writers and directors (and even David Lynch's daughter) bring AHS NYC back to the greatness of its earlier seasons. Set during the the start of the AIDS crisis in NYC, it features a tonne of 80's nostalgia with most of the gay legends, artists and art of the time being represented in some form another. It could literally be a sequel to William Friedkin's Cruising, with Russell Tovey taking on the role of Al Pacino's self loathing gay cop, Patti Lupone as the Bette Midler style bathhouse owner/performer and Sarah Bernhardt as, well Sarah Bernhardt, as they try to track down a serial killer (or 2...?) who is taking out gay men in the city. While it lags a little in the middle, the final 2 eps (one A Christmas Carol homage and the other a memorial to those we lost during that terrible time) are both extremely well done and very moving. Of course the violence and sex scenes may turn you off, but I thought it was actually a very good series, especially when compared to the muck Murphy has been churning out the last few years. Lastly, I finally caught up on I Hate Susie (and Too)...what an absolute riot and the best piece of British tele since I May Destroy You!
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