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zahra

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Come, come, people. There is UK telly beyond the Doctor. What other UK stuff are we all watching and enjoying? Is this going to be a very short thread?

I love 'The Thick of It' - absolutely hysterical political satire. The acting, the writing, the feeling that it's telling the truth - brilliant. I did want to see 'Truth Dare Kiss', by the lady who wrote 'Cutting It', but I'm always working, so I'm missing loads of telly. Who's into that new Max Beesley thing about the swordsman DJ? How's 'Rome' doing this series?
 

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I only get to watch the older programs on PBS. Like 'Are you being served?', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'My Hero', and 'Red Dwarf'. Oh, and various mysteries like 'Foyle's War' on Sunday nights.

Not a lot of new programs, as of yet. Maybe this fall PBS will get some new shows.
 

Britchik

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Come, come, people. There is UK telly beyond the Doctor.
There is???

In all seriousness, I've enjoyed the musical competitions they've had over the last year. I watched the Maria one and Grease is the Word and loved both. I tried to watch Joseph, but got bored with it after two live shows.
 

zahra

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There is???

In all seriousness, I've enjoyed the musical competitions they've had over the last year. I watched the Maria one and Grease is the Word and loved both. I tried to watch Joseph, but got bored with it after two live shows.
What about the dramas?

Yes, I heard Jekyll was good. I did see an episode of 'The Time of Your Life', about the woman who comes out of a coma, but only one. Stupid night job!

The BBC is doing a series of stand-alone horrors, which I'm looking forward to.
 

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Isn't that Robin Hood series part of the BBC stable? A friend of mine may write an episode - she's a good friend of Richard Armitage. They co-wrote a movie the BBC is planning to air.
 

zahra

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Isn't that Robin Hood series part of the BBC stable? A friend of mine may write an episode - she's a good friend of Richard Armitage. They co-wrote a movie the BBC is planning to air.
Yeah, I think R.Hood is a Tiger Aspect prod. What's the movie?
 

BenPanced

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Umm...I can't stop watching Footballers Wives.

I'm slowly drifting away from EastEnders. I've read the updates on the BBC website for so long, I know what's going to happen on the episodes that are currently running on PBS here (the whole "Kat's Zoe's Mum" is going down), and I've given up on the more current stuff.

I liked most of Smack the Pony when it played here in the US, particularly the music video parodies at the end of each episode.

Jennifer Saunders really needs to leave Absolutely Fabulous alone. That last series she did was so completely hit-and-mostly-miss, it was sad.

I'm still waiting for Catherine Tate to be funny, even though BBC America hasn't shown her stuff for about two months now and I saw three episodes.

I can't believe I sat through the entire run of Spoons when BBC America showed it.

And I missed Spaced, only because we upgraded our cable package in time for me to see the final three episodes.
 

Britchik

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What about the dramas?
Some of the dramas caught my interest for the thirty second advert, but not enough for me to watch an hour long episode. I have to admit I've been watching EastEnders purely to see when the storyline with Stacey, Max, and Bradley is all going to fall to pieces.

My lack of interest probably isn't helped by having young children in the house. Nine times out of ten, if the telly is on, it's got either Disney or Nickelodeon running! :tongue
 

dpaterso

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zahra, you don't have a VCR or Sky+? :)

I only get to watch TV in quiet early morning moments -- the stuff I've taped from the previous night, that is. My other half (diehard TV addict) hogs the remote controls and the best seat all evening. Viewing starts at 6:30 with Hollyoaks (glossy young things) followed by Emmerdale (often riotously funny), Corrie (funny sometimes), EastEnders (never funny), then into whatever drama happens comes after.

The Thick Of It - sorry, I've missed this so far.

Truth Dare Kiss - full of dislikeable characters saying and doing totally unrealistic things to each other, pretty much par for the course for Brit TV drama these days.

Talk To Me (Max Beasley's radio jock) - amazing that they could stretch a 5-minute idea into such a long boring drama. Thank goodness it's over.

Rome - 2nd series, Brutus and Cassius are marching home with their army expecting to meet and crush Octavian. Meanwhile, Octavian visits an old friend up north. :) Good scripts, charismatic performances, sometimes gritty to the point of nausea.

Jekyll & Hyde - a surprisingly fresh take on the old idea. Just a little bit silly in places what with the tech-corp shennanigans, but otherwise tries hard to entertain.

Foyle's War - still shows up occasionally on quiet nights, an always watchable clever quirky whodunnit, sometimes gives the impression of being slow-paced but that's because the old cars never seem to drive above 10mph.

Casualty - long-running BBC medical soap pretending to be drama, totally bereft of interesting ideas and realistic characters. Warning, some supposedly dramatic situations may result in unexpected gut-busting laughter.

Holby City - Casualty's big hospital cousin, just as awful.

Holby Blue - BBC cop show set in the same city as above, containing some of the most seriously flawed writing I've seen this year, and with the usual crop of unrealistic characters. First series just ended, despite poor ratings a second series is being mounted.

Blue Murder - farcical and superficial attempt at cop drama.

The Bill - long-running cop soap, comes up with good storylines now and again tho' they tend to arc over weeks or even months, but it's always there if nothing else is on. Shamelessly recycles dialogue from The Sweeney, e.g. You're nicked, you slag! You're going daaaaarn!

The Commander returns tonight for a 2-partner, I must say the trailer ad makes supercool Amanda Burton look rather frizzy around the edges.

Major moan alert, Doctor Who fans stop reading now:

Doctor Who - just ended last weekend, as with the 2 previous series the kiddie-level writing with its too-easy and often absurd solutions that just don't hold up to close inspection disappointed the hell out of me. I acknowledge some charismatic performances both from the leads and the guests, my problem lies with the writing -- often lazy, clichéd and expositional in equal measures. If the storylines were as clever as the CGI then I wouldn't have any complaints.

Did someone mention Robin Hood? Words fail me (well, nearly). Acting wasn't bad in places but overall, the series just wasn't good enough -- weak storylines, slow pacing, poor action scenes. I believe I threw the cat at the TV to register my disapproval. Most Robin of Sherwood episodes from the early '80s still beat the pants off this version (yes of course I mean Michael Praed episodes, not Jason Connery, are you insane?).

Please direct hate mail to the usual address.

-Derek
 
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Evaine

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I agree with dpaterso - Robin Hood is appallingly bad! When it first came out, the makers said something about how authentic it was. I'm a historical re-enactor. I saw the first episode with a bunch of re-enactors. The costumes are terrible. Robin is using a re-curve bow! (It should be a longbow, which is a completely different shape).
I never watched another episode, but I did see the discussion about it on the living history forums, and it didn't improve.
Come back Richard Greene, all is forgiven! (He was the 1950s Robin)

Rome, on the other hand, is brilliant, and now the Doctor is gone until Christmas, it's my must see series.

I also enjoy New Tricks, which is three retired coppers - Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam, and a woman superintendant, re-opening and solving old cases. It can be very funny.
 

Sophia

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This topic got me quite riled up when I started thinking about it. Current British TV that I watch tots up to one whole programme, that being the documentary Coast, partly due to Neil Oliver and his locks blowing about. :) Blimey, there really hasn't been anything non-American in my viewing for several years now! A few comedy series have stood out; Black Books, Spaced and That Mitchell and Webb Look are the most recent, but aside from Rome, no drama. I'll probably watch the second series of Torchwood, albeit through gritted teeth.

The only guaranteed-to-be-excellent UK drama I can think of is A Touch of Frost, so I'll just hold on to the small hope that they do a few more episodes of that.

Sophia, depressed now
 

dpaterso

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Come back Richard Greene, all is forgiven! (He was the 1950s Robin)
Oh I say! That's a bit much! I caught this series in my youth and remember Robin gathering his merry men and saying, when things got really tough, "I have a plan!" (I think he said that in every episode). I'm sure Richard Curtis stole this for Baldrick's "I have a cunning plan."

I also enjoy New Tricks, which is three retired coppers - Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam, and a woman superintendant, re-opening and solving old cases. It can be very funny.
:e2smack: I should have remembered this one too. Amanda Redman. They make a good team, the seasoned veterans obviously get on well together.

-Derek
 

AmyBA

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Well, the only UK tv I get is whatever BBC America decides to broadcast, but I loved Coupling, The Office (the only Office, as far as I'm concerned), and Manchild. Spoons was another good one, and I liked the Catherine Tate Show. I used to be a huge fan of Changing Rooms, but I haven't seen that one in ages.

Now the only things I catch regularly are Hex and the Graham Norton Show.
 

jvc

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Rome - 2nd series, Brutus and Cassius are marching home with their army expecting to meet and crush Octavian. Meanwhile, Octavian visits an old friend up north. :) Good scripts, charismatic performances, sometimes gritty to the point of nausea.
Yep, forgot that Rome was a BBC production. Love the show, a lot of good acting and drama going on.

Did someone mention Robin Hood? Words fail me (well, nearly). Acting wasn't bad in places but overall, the series just wasn't good enough -- weak storylines, slow pacing, poor action scenes. I believe I threw the cat at the TV to register my disapproval. Most Robin of Sherwood episodes from the early '80s still beat the pants off this version (yes of course I mean Michael Praed episodes, not Jason Connery, are you insane?).

Please direct hate mail to the usual address.

-Derek
I felt the same about Robin Hood. With all the hype that went on during the lead up to that series I was really looking forward to it. And then I watched the first episode - what a let down. I thought it was badly written and badly directed, the music left something to be desired and the acting were just shallow and poor. I have to agree with Derek, the 80's series was much better than this debacle.
 

zahra

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DP, I do have a VCR (two, actually), but I have to be reasonably convinced something's worth taping.

I have to choose between what's on on Hallmark/Living/Discovery/more4 and the terrestrial stuff as all the good dramas are usually jammed up at 9 and 10 pm and my digital jobby can't change channels for Timer Record - and so often, Scrubs/Criminal Intent/House wins. I know I'm a crap patriot and should support British TV more, but when they get rid of dramas like North Square and Bodies, and put on Talk to Me....

I'll probably end up buying the good ones on DVD. Certainly intend to get 'Rome'.

The new Robin Hood sounded dire to me, too. I think everyone was piling in with 'hero' pieces in the wake of Dr Who, and that's why we got Hood and Primeval.

I wonder what the new David Morissey, 'Cape Wrath' will be like? It's written by two writers unknown to me - Joel Jenkins and Chris Denne. Apparently, it's already aired in the US under the name 'Meadowlands'.
 

zahra

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PS - Guys, PLEASE watch 'The Thick of it'. Unless you're averse to swearing. It's totally brilliant. Buried on BBC2, of course. 10pm Saturdays. I'm a thicko when it comes to political procedure etc, but I still love it, it's just so damn funny.
 

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Whenever I visit my parents, I watch BBC America. I loved Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. I loved A Touch of Frost when they used to run it on public television, but I haven't seen it in a while. I just got access to Torchwood, and the first ep was very good. The first two seasons of MI-5 (Spooks originally) were excellent, but I don't use Netflix anymore so I haven't seen any more seasons.

There was also a mystery show a while back. Female lead...I think she was a coroner?...who worked for or with the police solving murders. It was played on PBS, but as soon as I discovered it, they never played it again.


As far as older British TV goes, I'll throw in a vote for The Prisoner, Monty Python and Blackadder.
 

zahra

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There was also a mystery show a while back. Female lead...I think she was a coroner?...who worked for or with the police solving murders. It was played on PBS, but as soon as I discovered it, they never played it again.


.

That was 'Silent Witness'. I rather liked that, though people always took the piss out of Amanda Burton, the lead, for staring off into the distance in lieu of acting. Disagreed! She's a good actress.:)