Be Excellent To Each Other

I really enjoyed it. Did you enjoy it live? When was it filmed, was it this year?

I did, though the distance from stage was a thing. I'm not sure, but think it was January this year, at the Ally Pally - bit of a work in progress, restoring the theatre, and the acoustics aren't quite there, so I remember hearing bits wasn't great. I still enjoyed it, but I'm sure it will look completely different on screen - there will be subtleties I missed.

6th of Jan 2022!

He was useless at the Gamecube questions, so I’m not sure he’s a good fit.

Just watched the whole series of Traitors. It needed more drunk ghosts and loud whispering.

5 points on a round 1 question on tonight's Only Connect! Yay!

We watched 'The Rig' on Amazon Prime, it's new for 2023.

There's lots of Scottish accents, so I'm gonna put it as UK TV.

Anyway, the trailer for The Rig made it look a bit supernatural and suspenseful. I was hoping for a 'creeping dread' sort of feeling watching it, but I didn't really get that. I had the feeling that the show wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be, so it just sort of chucked everything into the slow cooker pot.

It was very slowly paced too, not as bad as Outer Ranges but still, too slow. The character-drama aspect, the supernatural component, and the 'corporate secrecy and shenanigans' didn't seem to complement each other very well and I felt like each element was simultaneously given too much screen time, but also due to how slow it was, they were not expanded on enough. Maybe it was a little unfocussed, and some better editing may have made it better. The acting was quite good though, but there were some instances of characters making some miraculous development in understanding or knowledge just to move the plot along.

The reveal was a touch disappointing and not much got resolved, and then it seems likely there will be another series to wrap things up (or, as i feel is more likely, just add more mysteries). All in all not a bad watch but a touch disappointing.

Yeah, I watched The Rig and can pretty much sum it up by shrugging and saying "meh". It wasn't offensively bad, but it was still below average.

Yep, I thought it had an interesting premise that started well, and then didn't really do much

I did enjoy all the Scottish accents though. I really thought it was going to be a bit like The Mist or The Fog, but no.

Yeah, I saw it through to the end, but it did feel lacking something.

When I first saw that Martin Compston was in it, I was expecting it to be something like Vigil, but on an Oil Rig, then as I watched a couple of episodes I was expecting something more like The Thing, but in the end I just kept thinking, it's okay, a bit cheap, but okay, it really needs to get going in the next episode, but it never really did. It managed to do enough for me to keep watching, but that's it.

It's also been about the third Amazon Prime Series, where I didn't realise that the final episode was indeed the last one (the other two that spring to mind recently are the Lord of the Rings prequel and The Peripheral). Although maybe that says more about me than it does those programs

Bit of trivia. Most of the main characters are named after oil rigs or oilfields.

It was a Dr Who story with swearing.

That feels like a pretty good summary, to me.

Casualty! https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m ... ranslation Staring Mrs Squirt in the Award Winning role of "Onlooker with pushchair" at about 16:50!

Was the child supplied by the BBC?

Yeah, the BBC purchases orphan babies for exactly this sort of thing.

Gritty reboot of Call the Midwife.

Currently on Iplayer is John Betjeman's Metroland, his poetical 1973 TV loveletter to the suburbs. A nostalgic view of a time long gone back in its day, now a period piece of its own.

Well worth a look.

Watch out for some bad improv between a sentry and a proto-sloane, a bit of height-shaming from Betjeman, and a twitching Craster in Neasden.

Oh, I was about to ask if I’m this is the one with the Neasden segment. I’m from Neasden so this is a must-watch for me.

Rewatched this. Loved it even more this time.

The posh cafe at the start is now an ornate Wetherspoons.

I watched Cunk on Earth on Netflix.

It was very, very funny. I really enjoyed the short Cunk sections in things like Newswipe and Screenwipe but initially had doubts how well it would work in a full episode format - that doubt was very quickly dispelled. I really enjoy that mix of smart-dumb humour with a touch of the absurd. I think I'll go back and watch again soon.

I didn't realise that there had been previous Cunk series, so I'll track them down too.

'Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone' on iPlayer- What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of (7) films by Adam Curtis.

"Showing everyone from reindeer herders to scientists wrapping themselves in sticky tape to head into Chernobyl, this fine series traces the latterday Russian revolution that brought in a kleptocracy and paved the way for Putin." - The Guardian.


Weird, scary, fascinating. Each episode consists of a multitude of clips from a multitude of film makers, with no narration. Working its way through the collapse of communism, with its ridiculous bureaucracy, the chaos of attempting a 'big bang' adoption of capitalism that was bound to fail, the criminal chancers who became oligarchs and the lack of stable leadership. But there is much, much more to this series. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

The most recent episode of Taskmaster (C4; S15 E2) had a moment that left me in stitches.



Actually left me banging my armchair in joy.

BBC2: Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland

An oral history of what we call "The Troubles". Slowly revealing the identities of some of the interviewees was a clever editorial decision that showed how they affected everyone. It's uncompromising in its use of archive film, but I think I would have liked more indications of time/location.

Watching the footage reminded me of something I read a while back about how if it were happening anywhere else we would have considered the UK a failed state.

Channel 4: Ben Elton: The Great Railway Disaster

Ben Elton discovers that the railways are a bit crap.

Enjoyable extended rant with some great train shots.

Got a five-pointer on round 2 of Only Connect last night! This means it's going to be a good week.



Am reserving judgement on the new University Challenge until Amol Rajan's had a few episodes to settle in.

I like Rajan’s relationship to to the students more than I did Paxman’s. He puts his personality forwards but seems to look down on them far less. He could do with slowing down a little for my ears/processing speed, but maybe I’m just getting old. His fiddling with the pen and his rings in the first episode was annoying me, but I noticed it less in the second.

I got that one, and the one before that too I think.

the one that started:



although I went with the answer

Idly turned on the TV this afternoon to see that BBC2 were showing the All-Ireland Gaelic Football final. Only caught the second half but really enjoyed it - fast and tense.

I've only seen the sport once before, when I wandered into a pub after a hike in County Clare about a decade ago and the whole village had turned out to watch a game on TV. Hopefully the Beeb will show hurling sometime.

Because they're not professionals, I have an unbelievable three employees who play for their various county teams

That's remarkable! Presumably your holiday rotas etc are all highly dependant on County Championship Cup draws?

Training and games are mostly weekends, so rarely an issue

Hijack with Irdis Elba was some fucking nonsense but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Properly laughable, starting with his character. Instead of the usual special forces/cop in the wrong place at the wrong time sort of deal they went with something a little different. Yeah, this guy is nails and equipped to deal with a hijacking because he has BUSINESS SUPERPOWERS, he conducts negotiations for corporate mergers.

The list of things that made no sense at all is endless but it was somehow still good fun and Kevin Eldon was in it too. So a solid 7/10.

Totally with you. So many "but why?" moments, but he still carried it. I imagine the number of business types willingly forgetting they're actually Ellis in Die Hard and thinking, yeah, I'm totally a closer of deals like that Idris will be significant.

Mediterranean with Simon Reeve. A four part series released in 2018, but just shown again on the Beeb and still available on iPlayer.

I didn't watch this when it was first broadcast and, as it was pre-pandemic, some things around the Med will have changed, but probably not for the better.

Some of the Med is very nice. A lot of it is not very nice at all. Each episode covers four or five areas in or around the Med and I was surprised at just how horrible/polluted/corrupt some of it is. Simon talks to locals, officials, economic migrants, smugglers, environmentalists, local guides, etc. showing the reality of what's going on everywhere from the excesses of Monaco to the poverty of Morocco.

Gave up on sex education series four after one episodes as it's a joyless husk of a horse being flogged.

We’ve watched four now, and it’s not very good.

Talking of SexEd…

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140547953?

BBC2: Union with David Olusoga

In recent years I've found David Olusoga's work, both on screen and in print, to be some of the most eye-opening histories that really make me rethink my understanding of the world and highlight stuff that usually gets swept under the carpet. I watched the first episode of his new series on the United Kingdom last night and from the start was just as impressed as I have been with his earlier work.

The first episode covers the whole of the 17th Century. As such it excludes a lot but the items he does cover are given sufficient depth. Unlike most books or accounts of the time, Olusoga ensures that the Welsh, Scottish, and Irish perspectives are also included rather than just concentrating on England.

I quite like the regular inserts of "normal" people talking about what the Union means to them.

Will definitely watch the rest of the series. Recommended.

I saw this on the planner yesterday, I was too tired to watch it then, but it's downloaded and ready to watch. I am looking forward to it.

Top Boy continued to be superb viewing, love the pace of it all. Just want more though now, big space to fill, that.

Innit.

Having forgotten about the new series (I was holiday!) I'm now up to date with Taskmaster.

I had never heard of Sam Campbell before. I have no idea what's going on in his head but I am here for it!

Also, whilst I've always loved the set dressing on this show, the art deco theming is absolutely gorgeous.

I'd seen Sam on a couple of things and really wasn't keen on him, however, I do quite like him on this, and I think he is my second favourite behind Julian Clary

I've watched the whole series this week and it's excellent. I think the key take-away for me was how the workers have been shafted by the aristos and upper classes for aeons and that's continuing to this day.

NuFrasier has moments of excellence that are quickly whisked away by another joke that wouldn't be out of place on Married... With Children.

In the episode I just watched he didn't know who the Celtics were. In Cheers he loved sports and even played American Football in one episode.

Marrrrrster Chef has become borderline unwatchable to me by the continuing pantomime behaviour of G Wallace. His "larrrvly" voice. His laughing while talking when he's eaten something he likes. Similarly when he's chewing, leans back, and gives a thumbs up. The way he describes food as "slippery" as if that's something you want outside of jelly. His gurning when someone's struggling at a task. And he's like the plague spreading to other things on the Beeb. Nowhere near the avalanche of shite as T*m All*n on that point.

He plays on the buttery biscuit base too.

Very unprofessional, I won’t do that when I get his job.