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#4254123 - 04/29/16 04:13 AM BBC and other similar Miniseries  
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I'm sorry if this is not the right place for this but I don't know where else to put it and I think it would just get lost in the Community Hall.

I just wanted to express how much I enjoy many of these new or old miniseries that have come out over the past ten to fifteen years or so. I find it interesting that in many instances, these series far exceed other prime time TV shows and even blockbuster movies in terms of quality and production values.

Last year I bought and watched Wolf Hall. I'm the kind of guy who really enjoys slower, dramatic productions if they are done right and they have a good screenplay/writing. I absolutely loved this show. I ended up having to watch straight through every episode. Most actors I don't recognize as I don't watch a lot of TV shows but there are some that I do. I also really enjoy the political, religious and historical intrigue in these type programs. I come away watching a series like this and it proves what I have thought for a long time and that is that most regular TV shows nowadays are pure rubbish.

Over the past two years I have enjoyed BBC's The Musketeers. Its also one of those shows where from the first episode, all the actors have found their role and work well together and on screen.

Just recently I started Poldark an finished the first run of The White Queen. I have not finished Poldark but I did enjoy the White Queen which is a Starz production I think.

I watched last year also Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell . Also very interesting and well done. Some of it got a little too far into the actual practice of magic for my sensibilities but it was very entertaining. I didn't even make it through the first episode of BBC's Atlantis however. I'll try again to watch that one and see if it holds my interest a second time around. Though it started out slow even for me, I ended up also liking BBC's The Game, a sort of 70s era cold war British Mi5 series. It has a lot of double and triple crossing which is fun but hard for my mind to keep up with lol. I'm not sure this one will get a second season however.

Right now I'm watching Marco Polo which is a Weinstein Company show through Netflix I believe. I'm enjoying this one very much, the art style is beautiful and so is the opening theme. I just bought from Amazon but have not watched yet the miniseries BBC Edge of Darkness. This has something like five stars and very good reviews. Its supposed to be what the Mel Gibson movie of the same title is based off of and I think the show was based off a book. I really, really liked the Mel Gibson movie and knowing its subject matter and plot, I think I'm in store for another good watch.

There's so many more I have not seen bought would like to. Problem is I try to avoid gratuitous sex. Obviously I don't mind some(I like boobies) but some of these shows get out right pornographic. I don't want to see that especially when its over used and becomes distracting lol. For instance, the White Queen had substantial "sexuality" but was done tastefully if you know what I mean. So shows I want to see that I'm concerned about are things like Game of Thrones(I have never seen this show!), Rome, Spartacus and Black Flag to name a few. Outlander also looks very interesting because of its setting and use of time travel.

What are your all's thoughts on these types of shows? Which ones have you really enjoyed and would recommend as well as one's you hated for whatever reason? There's so many. I just remembered I also bought the entire series of The Borgias with Jeremy Irons.(I was told that has some raunch in it but we'll see)

Last edited by Coot; 04/29/16 04:16 AM.

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#4254400 - 04/29/16 10:55 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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My wife loved The White Queen, that is the kind of drama she likes. She has been watching Versailles which was recently broadcast on BBC and only just finished the first series here in Belgium.

Edge of Darkness, wow, that is one from the past - 1985, quite a gripping drama and well worth watching, Mel Gibson remade it as a film in 2010, it is a typical Mel Gibson film and I preferred the edginess of the original Beeb series, but man it has been a long time since I seen it.

Outlander has some sex scenes in it but nothing like the in your face of GOT or Rome. My wife loved Outlander and so did I, it is a well worth looking at drama with some nice twists along the way. Although there is one scene that really quite disturbed my wife and I with what was happening in it.

Atlantis I have started to watch, it is very tongue in cheek and requires no thought, it fills 45minutes or so, that's about all I will give it.

Poldark? Has there been a remake? ... quick search... oh they have remade it, I vaguely remember the 1975 series that my mother used to watch.


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4254782 - 05/01/16 03:26 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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You could try I Claudius. It's probably showing it's age but got lots of awards.

#4254858 - 05/01/16 07:48 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Vitesse]  
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Originally Posted By: Vitesse
You could try I Claudius. It's probably showing it's age but got lots of awards.
As long as he doesn't mix it up with Caligula eek2


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4254947 - 05/02/16 02:56 AM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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George RR Martin has been quoted saying that "I, Claudius" was a major inspiration for him when he started writing the Game of Thrones books.

As for "I, Claudius" itself, the cast is outstanding. What ages it a bit is the low budget appearance of some of the sets.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 05/02/16 11:18 AM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4254961 - 05/02/16 04:42 AM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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I'll take a look at those thanks. Allicat I'm not sure what you mean but if its a
Click to reveal..
rape scene
, I don'l like seeing that either. The one in Rob Roy really got under my skin. I could not wait for Liam Neeson to hack that POS antagonist to death.


John 10:1-30
Romans 10:1-13

#4254988 - 05/02/16 08:48 AM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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Originally Posted By: Coot
I'll take a look at those thanks. Allicat I'm not sure what you mean but if its a
Click to reveal..
rape scene
, I don'l like seeing that either. The one in Rob Roy really got under my skin. I could not wait for Liam Neeson to hack that POS antagonist to death.

Thinking on how to reply to that, Rob Roy was quite straight forward in comparison, Outlander has some deep psychological stuff going on, leading up to and after.
It was bad enough that my wife thought about not watching the rest of the series, but she is glad that she did and is eagerly awaiting the second series being released.

But that one piece is really a F*ck, No! stomach churner. The acting right through it is really believable and gets the tone of the scene just about right.

Now I, Claudius was really well done and is a very good drama with really good performances from the assembled actors, it has been a long time since I seen it, Derek Jacobi's performance as Claudius really was a defining role for him.
A few years ago (2012) he was in another drama series called Last Tango in Halifax which has been quite funny, we have just had the first series broadcast here and are eagerly awaiting the 2nd, 3rd 4th series of it.


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4255291 - 05/02/16 11:16 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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There was a British mini series back in 1979 (yes, I'm old) called 'Danger UXB'. It was about a British bomb
disposal unit, during the London bombing in the early day's of WW2. It starred a very young Anthony Andrews and Judy Geeson (pretty hot back then). It went into great detail about the constant effort of the British trying to figure out how to disarm the various unexploded German bombs and the Germans trying to kill the bomb disposal guys by booby trapping the fuses. Really kept you on the edge of your seat watching them try to diffuse them. Haven't seen it here in the States in a long time, but if you get the chance, it's one you don't want to miss.
Rated a 8.7 on the IMDB site, which is pretty damn high.

#4255520 - 05/03/16 05:26 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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Wow sounds great. I'll have to search for that. And keeping the WW2 theme you brought up Fitz, are there any miniseries productions out there that have the look and feel of 1978's Force 10 from Navarone? I LOVE that movie. Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford are an awesome duo lol. I just love the whole feel of the movie with its ragtag team of infiltrators with a little boobies and humor. I always want to load up Hidden and Dangerous 2 after watching that one.

Alicatt I'm not sure what to make of you response with regards to that Outlander scene you describe. Has me worried. Just so there's no misunderstanding was I close with my first suspicion? I just don't want to be caught off guard and know its coming as well as be careful of who's company I'm in when watching it or to be able to warn them if I pass the series on to them when I'm finished watching it.


John 10:1-30
Romans 10:1-13

#4255568 - 05/03/16 06:59 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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Very close, but it is in no way like Rob Roy and much more psychological in what is happening, I think that is what makes it disturbing and the fact that it is kind of related to history where as the likes of GoT is fantasy, difficult to say more as it is a big plot element about what happens after and ties up a few hints from earlier in the series. Just to be clear it is not the thing that happens in the first episode either.

We have wiped the episodes off the digibox now but it was the penultimate episode, and I see that season 2 has begun on Amazon, I'll have to let the wife know that.


Danger UXB was a must watch drama, they made some great programs back then and was driven by dialog rather than flashy graphics and sound.

Others from back then that I enjoyed are Wings about a young blacksmith that learns to fly and joins the RFC during WW1

Airline starring Roy Marsden about a WW2 pilot that buys a C47 Dakota and starts his own airline after WW2 the first episode is on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roR-Dy7wCWg

Piece of Cake: was another WW2 drama about a Spitfire squadron with some of the stunt flying done by Ray Hanna

Pathfinders: about a Lancaster squadron, some of the flying sequences are repetitive but still quite good for all that.

Sharpe: great tale of a rifle company in Spain during the war against Napoleon.

Hornblower: Starts off about Midshipman Horatio Hornblower and his career in the Royal Navy starring Ioan Gruffudd


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4255922 - 05/04/16 12:12 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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Lots of stuff I remember from that list.

Another high quality production was Secret Army about the Belgian WW2 resistance.

#4255937 - 05/04/16 12:51 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Vitesse]  
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Originally Posted By: Vitesse
Lots of stuff I remember from that list.

Another high quality production was Secret Army about the Belgian WW2 resistance.
Not to be confused with 'Allo 'Allo

biggrin


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4255946 - 05/04/16 01:10 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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I remember as a small child being exposed to several BBC shows that were shown on our PBS station (Public Broadcasting Corporation). Benny Hill, Dr. Who (Tom Baker era), Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, etc.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 05/04/16 01:10 PM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4256115 - 05/04/16 06:42 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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Quote:
Not to be confused with 'Allo 'Allo


... Ren! What are you doing with your arms around that girl? .... You stupid woman! Can you not see she's suffering from claustrophobia?

#4256220 - 05/04/16 09:19 PM Re: BBC and other similar Miniseries [Re: Coot]  
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I have Ren on a boxed set, got it for my Belgian wife, she loves a lot of UK made dramas, it was her that twisted my arm to get the Freesat dish up so she could see Downton Abbey as it was broadcast rather than waiting a year to see it locally here.
She has also enjoyed the likes of Band of Brothers and Pacific but she has not seen Secret Army, must look into that and see if she would like it.


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron

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