GOOD TV

[Stanley]

Not TV, R4. Yesterday at 10:30 Jack Dee examined 'The Bricklayer's Lament'. Well worth having a listen. (LINK)

[Wendyf]

I was enjoying that as I drove over to Leeds yesterday. I was surprised that Hoffnung was only in his early thirties when the recording was made...his voice sounds much older!

[Stanley]

He died young Wendy. My mate John Pudney ran the London office of Putnams at the time and they published Hoffnung so John knew him quite well. He loved the bloke but said he was totally idiosyncratic. Some stories about him direct from John:
John's secretary reported one day that Mr Hoffnung had requested a ream of blotting paper. He got it but as John said, God knows what he wanted it for.
Message from the printer one day that if Mr Pudney didn't keep Mr Hoffnung out of his works he would stop working for Putnams.
Message from the Albert Hall one day that Mr Hoffnung had hired the Hall for three days and could Putnams guarantee payment. They were almost bankrupt at the time so John agreed to do it. The result was Hoffnungs famous concert for vacuum cleaners and other assorted bits of plumbing. It was a sell-out and saved Putnams.
John went to visit Gerard at his home one day but found the streets near his home were gridlocked. He parked and walked down to the house where he found the reason for the stoppage was a bin wagon parked in the middle of the road. When he went in the house he found Gerard sat on the stairs with a cello explaining the finer points of the Elgar Cello Concerto to the dustmen who were sat below him on the stairs.
The man was a genius and loved by all who knew him. I often think that Peter Ustinov came out of the same mould.

[Stanley]

'Who do you think you are?' is on again, new series. Fascinating watching the search and how the subject reacts.

[Wendyf]

I enjoyed watching "Who Do You Think You Are", but got a bit frustrated by some of the clues that were shown on the screen but never mentioned. When the camera was showing Samantha's gt. grandfather's service record down in Portsmouth, underneath the entries about his desertion and arrest there was an entry stating "granted the benefit of King's Pardon". A quick search on the internet has shown that deserters were offered a free pardon in 1910 if they returned to their units. His story wouldn't have been quite so dramatic if this had been the case, I wonder if it was deliberately edited out?

[Stanley]

I noticed that as well, it was written in red. They made a bit too much of the felony bit, prisoners were released from gaol early if they joined up.

[Nolic]

Excellent programme on BBC2 last night "Best of Men" about Ludwig Guttmans revolutionary treatment of spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville hospital which led to the establishment of the para -olympic games.
Eddie Marsen - a very under rated actor and an excellent Rob Bryden took the leads in an enlightening and enjoyable programme. If you missed it well worth a catch up on iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... st_of_Men/Nolic

[PanBiker]

I watched that as well Nolic, a very good insight into one man's tenacity and conviction that spinal injuries do not necessarily render an individual a "basket case" as was accepted by the mainstream medics at the time. Inspiring program and agree totally about the actors, good stuff.

[Nolic]

Just read in the paper that Blake Morrison has a play on ITV at 9.00pm tonight. Nolic

[Tripps]

I tried it, but didn't get on with it too well. I didn't like Abigail's Party either. I've got a book of his on my awaiting reading shelf - from a remainders book sale. I think I'll push it a bit further back.
Watched Ken Hom's Chinese food journey. Mainly from Yunnan province. Truly amazing TV. Down in the South of China near Burmese border - I think that's near where member chinatyke is living. The development of cities I've never even heard of is staggering. Cross between Las Vegas and Disneyland! Building and development of airport etc .Made me think that we must be a total irrelevance to the local people there.

[Nolic]

It was a little different and I struggled with the bits to camera obviously from the future. I'll watch the next episode and make a decision after that.
Tripps, what's the connection with Abigail's Party ? Nolic

[Tripps]

I haven't seen much of either programme - just a quick impression that both had elements of snobbishness and pretentiousness. I liked Nuts in May though, by Mike Leigh, which also had a much younger Alison Steadman in it. We still say she's a bit "Candice Marie" in our family.

[PanBiker]

I watched the first episode of Blakes offering and am intrigued enough to go for the second. A little different from the "normal" dramas that we see on TV. The adds for the Autumn and Winter seasons from both BBC and ITV look to have some promising stuff in them. I noticed one was themed around events at Bletchley Park which I will certainly have a look at. It has Nicola Walker who played Ruth Evershed (Harry's confident) in Spooks which is a good sign and will be worth a watch in my book.

[Stanley]

I'm afraid I equate writing by Blake Morrison with Ruth Rendell. On the whole I prefer being uplifted to being depressed and I'm afraid they both have the latter effect on me. I'm also influenced by the conversations I had with Kim, his mother, after the publication of the book on his father Arthur which started his career. I'll pass thank you.

[Tripps]

I've noticed over the last few days that without any sort of notice or announcement, Sky news has vanished from Freeview. (Ch 82). It was never on Freesat so I don't get it at all now, since I refuse to pay for TV services. That's a shame - I liked it. Rupert's revenge?

[PanBiker]

Quite possibly Tripps. Channels available on Freeview are totally at the behest of the broadcast license holders. He may well be a tad miffed.

[Whyperion]

I'll take a look and see if they have changed MUX , it might be only Barnoldswick that has lost it , try re-tuning as the olympic extra channels may have muddled things up. One would have thought that Sky propaganda RM would want in as many places as possible.

[Tripps]

I'm nearer Cambridge than Barnoldswick, and I've tried retuning, rebooting etc. I now see the channel is no longer listed on the Freeview website. I think it's terminal - I'll just have to get over it.

[Whyperion]

If you have an old Sky Box , you can get your freesat cable feed and get the channels that are free on sky without a subscription ( until the software in the boxes runs out ).

[Stanley]

David, same thing happened to Five after Desmond took over. Funny thing is that in the Radio Times they still list Five + 1 on Freesat but it isn't there.
Watched the excellent programme on Jets last night on BBC4. The programme dealt with the military jets, there is another to come on the commercial planes. A lot of very early footage.

[Wendyf]

We can get Sky News on Freeview channel 82 Tripps, I checked this evening.

[Whyperion]

Could be the box , particularity after the DSO back in November . Or you are ahead of the curve : http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broa ... 62.article

[Tripps]

Well that's a puzzle isn't it Wf. Not available here, and I can't find any reference to it anywhere. There used to be a phone number to ring "Freeview". I think I phoned them once, but it's not there now. I don't think the box is faulty as I have two separate boxes, and vanished from both at the same time. Actually I think I'm over it now - watched the news from Beijing today instead. Did you know they have two million dairy cows in Inner Mongolia. I didn't think Chinese people did dairy. They'll be exporting it here next!

[Wendyf]

Perhaps you've used up your Sky News watching time allocation

[Tripps]

Good TV. - I watched the Rugby League cup final this afternoon. So much better than Rugby union I thought. Fast flowing all action game. No prima donna referee giving prep school lectures to the players, no scrums or lineouts with the usual cheating therein, no penalties, great ball handling skills and formidable fitness. Only problem - I couldn't get used to the new(?) team colours. I had the teams wrong way round for about ten minutes.

Wf - I have been in touch via teletype with Sky complaints dep't. They confirm that their news has been taken off Freeview. Not sure why you still have it. As Wp says - I'll have to get a sky box. Not sure if I'll bother though. Thanks for your comments.