[Rob P]

The only things left worth watching on the BBC are foreign buy-ins like The Last Wave - James Delingpole

This BBC Four fantasy drama has pretty French girls, surfing, superpowers and hardly any political correctness

The review continues:

... with the French, it’s a case of bof — we cannot begin the action without some amuse-gueules: a typical French teenage girl being bolshie and riding off crossly on her moped; a typical French lefty masseur shagging his clients; a typical French beach bar where a man with old-fashioned, rural French facial hair is drinking something French, etc.

I love all this. It’s almost as good as being on holiday in France. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the lovely few days I spent somewhere similar a couple of years ago with the Goves, eating croissants, taking bracing dips in the choppy sea, remembering to say ‘Bonjour monsieur, madame’ on entering theboulangerie. French TV, I get the impression, does not yet suffer from the tragic affliction you find with British TV — the BBC especially — whereby to depict anything like the real England as it really still is, is considered somehow unprogressive and potentially racist.

Rob P

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the ... 7d4abab799

[Bill Haddow]

Hoy! No spoilers! I haven't got round to reading my Specky yet.

Bill h

[kanga]

The only things left worth watching on the BBC are foreign buy-ins like The Last Wave - James Delingpole

This BBC Four fantasy drama has ..
I love all this. It’s almost as good as being on holiday in France..., does not yet suffer from the tragic affliction you find with British TV — the BBC especially — whereby to depict anything like the real England as it really still is, is considered somehow unprogressive and potentially racist.

..

Good series, absurd review. Last aside is palpable nonsense. UK TV, including BBC, does not avoid any depictions of the various flavours of the 'real' England (apart from absurdities like the homicide rate in 'Midsomer' ). However, some viewers' (and reviewers') idea of what is 'the real' England may be a bit narrow, possibly reflecting their own wishful thinking or nostalgia.

Others' views obviously equally valid

[Dave W]

We've been watching that. Would recommend.

[Bill Haddow]

I've been enjoying the series also, tho' it does require a huge suspension of belief. A lighthouse goes from a couple of miles offshore to the middle of a wood and the place isn't the focus of international attention?

On the subject of the Beeb, about half of tonight's Beeb TV has been previously broadcast. Apart from what they call"sports" * coverage, the only new stuff being shown which is Beeb produced is Casualty and Total Wipeout (which will be repeated on Wednesday). Talk about cauld kale re-het !

* What they call sports are actually team games like football and cricket or pastimes like snooker and golf.

Bill H

[Iceman]

I must get a tele one of these days.

Iceman

[kanga]

I'm guessing that it has been impossible to record any multiactor productions since February, so I'm not surprised. The Archers embarked boldly into 2-person dialogue from merely monologue this week, but presumably even that was distanced and used sound editing to smooth the gaps; trickier with TV!

[lobstaboy]

The only things left worth watching on the BBC are foreign buy-ins like The Last Wave - James Delingpole

This BBC Four fantasy drama has ..
I love all this. It’s almost as good as being on holiday in France..., does not yet suffer from the tragic affliction you find with British TV — the BBC especially — whereby to depict anything like the real England as it really still is, is considered somehow unprogressive and potentially racist.

..

Good series, absurd review. Last aside is palpable nonsense. UK TV, including BBC, does not avoid any depictions of the various flavours of the 'real' England (apart from absurdities like the homicide rate in 'Midsomer' ). However, some viewers' (and reviewers') idea of what is 'the real' England may be a bit narrow, possibly reflecting their own wishful thinking or nostalgia.

Others' views obviously equally valid

Hang on!
You can't say a review is absurd and contains palpable nonsense in one breath, and in the next say that others' views are equally valid.
You could say, I suppose, that other views might be sincerely held but are wrong.
Either you believe something to be true, or you don't.
I haven't watched the programme so I personally don't have a view. Nor would I be seen dead reading The Spectator come to that

[Bill Haddow]

I'm guessing that it has been impossible to record any multiactor productions since February, so I'm not surprised.

For most TV dramas and documentaries, filming finishes months before broadcast, so Covid is a lame excuse for the tired old offerings. Looking at Sat 1 February listings, on BBC 2 the only "new" programme was Eps 1 & 2 of Snowfall series 3, a US import, BBC 4 was all repeats, BBC Scotland's broadcast, except for 2 news programmes, were repeats, so pre-Covid just as dire.

Bill H

[rf3flyer]

...so Covid is a lame excuse for the tired old offerings. Looking at Sat 1 February listings, on BBC 2 the only "new" programme was Eps 1 & 2 of Snowfall series 3, a US import, BBC 4 was all repeats, BBC Scotland's broadcast, except for 2 news programmes, were repeats, so pre-Covid just as dire.

Bill H

Absolutely. We don't have satellite or Netflix or whatever and each week our box is hardly ever on.
Maybe once a year there is a worthwhile series on freeview ... but maybe not. Dire trash!

[flybymike]

the only new stuff being shown which is Beeb produced is Casualty and Total Wipeout (which will be repeated on Wednesday).

Total Wipeout is just a repeat of the original series with a new commentary by messrs Flintoff and McGuinness.
Hammond was funnier, and he wasn’t all that funny anyway.

[Rob P]

The Repair Shop is a cracking bit of tele, though it's from last year I think, but I missed it then so I don't mind too much.

Meanwhile we didn't bother with Celebrity Masterchef this year, mostly as there were no celebrities and there was pointless Greg Wallace.

Rob P

[Boxkite]

I was just about to write that I hope it's not like The Returned. I watched that into the second series and it just got sillier and sillier with no end in sight and the characters making the most odd decisions along the way.
And then I looked at the review above and the first thing he mentions is The Returned.

[Sir Morley Steven]

I must get a tele one of these days.

Iceman

I have a teleportation device you could borrow.

[Rob P]

Well episode one was OK.

I'll give ep two a go later in the week

Rob P