hoverfly

Since I am admining a documentary forum I guess it doesn't take that much figuring out what I tend to watch.

That being said, I am interested largely in conservation, hence my voluteer work for the Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) where I live. Anything with living creatures in it and about their adapting environments is therefore right up my street you might say.

Other science based programmes are of general interest, always good to at least have heard about what research is going on and where it stands. For this I would unhesetatingly recommend the BBC programme 'Horizon'. Always on the forefront of science since 1964.

Being, what you might call a 'child of Apollo', the moon rocket that is, I became an avid stargazer over the years. One great benefits of being involved with the EWT is that I get to see all the really secluded and therefor dark spots, which are increasingly difficult to find for amateur astronomers. A win-win situation. This is then my other great fascination with TV. Like watching 'The Sky at Night' with Sir Patrick Moore, another series that has been running for, was it 50 or 60 years now, I forget.

If there is anything on the BBC, Russia Today or the English language Al Jazeera reporting from Africa I will usually tune it. Both RT and AJ are much underrated TV broadcasters that tend to be far less prejudiced then is generally asumed. AJ certainly is not the inofficial Taliban channel some would have us believe but rather an relatively objective station with sometimes different views on world affairs, quite apart from them not solely reporting on major famines and desasters in Africa, which does make a change for the usual. Again I strongly suggest at least giving them the benefit of the doubt. AJ has an excellent series looking at the ongoing development across Africa, something the west be well advised to keep an eye on or chances are that we are leaving the economical fields purely to the Chinese and we'll regret that bigtime one of these days.

I love a good laugh. So, when there is the occassional decent witty comedy on TV, I am at least inclined to have a bash at it. Here's the giveaway clue to my age I guess, when I say that I love Sid James, one of the great British comedy actors. Some of his appearances in the 'Carry on...' series of movies are simply spectacular.

For some unknown reason I always find it hard to get my head around US comedies. Yes, the Marx Brother of course, Mel Brooks, brilliant but after that I am seriously struggling to recall much fascination with US TV or movies, though there are probably a few that will come to mind at some point or other.

As far as Brit comedy is concerned, not everything, I don't find some of those stand-up comedians funny at all. Johnny Vegas was brilliant in 'Sex Lives of the Potato Men', now here's one that you too might enjoy, especially if you find silly, sexually abusive jokes, etc. funny. Certainly tickled my fancy enough to make me go out and buy the DVD, which is quite rare.

Love the 'Two Ronnies' for those who know about them. Ronnie Barker (RIP) and Ronnie Corbett, two of the most gifted comedians ever if you asked me. Ronnie Corbetts Blackberry skit is still an all time favourite of mine.

TV series are not my thing at all, with the exeption of two. Red Dwarf and Doctor Who. Red Dwarf is currently recording a new season to be aired in October in the UK channel Dave. Definitively looking forward to that. There too seems to be a faction out there that preferst the first 6 seasons, regarding the later ones with Chloe Anett as Kochinsky (did I spell that right?) as rubbish. Naw, just because the writer team of Doug Naylor and who was the other chap split up and went seperate ways didn't discourage me at all. Still think they are funny as anything. This is the another one that I would recommend highly if you can get a laugh out of a computer exclaiming such wonderful things as: 'The only thing that keeps me from going space crazy is the friendship I have with my singing potatoes' or when in the episode called 'Queeg' he strides into battle against the spaceships backup comuter, aptly named Queeg 500. All this to the sound of some John Wayne movies soundtrack. Go for it, I never regretted it for a second.

Why on earth there will be no Doctor Who episodes until September this year beats me but that is my all time favourite. I have every episode ever from 1963 onwards. Even the Loose Cannon reconstructions of those early episodes that fell victim to the BBCs tape erasing machine.

Doctor Who is of course quitessentially British, especially the early years which were never much intended for viewing outside the UK. This obviously changed over the years when the BBC discovered that more money could be made if adapted to suit a wider audience. Now, some people claim that only the old Doctor Who is the true Doctor Who, something I've been at loggerheads with for years. Admitted, the style of the programmes has changed over the years but it is still the Doctor, no deniying. Was a bit annoyed that whatshisame, the one before David Tennant only did one season, I liked him better then Tennant. Still, not really complaining too loudly.

Anything else? Yes and no. Being German originally I have a great liking for German satire programmes, which unfortunately are not available in any English version. A great loss really, especially with some of the finest political satirists being German. Wilfried Schmickler, Bruno Jonas, though I believe he may actually be Austrian, Volker Pispers and of course morbidly obese Otti Fischer, a brilliant actor and satirist are just a few of my favourites. Thank goodness for internet TV, at least that way I can watch some of that on the odd occassion.

Oh, SciFi movies I like, so long as they do consist of a little more then just exploding something-or-others. A little bit of a plausible storyline goes a long way.

That being said, 'Paul' with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, does have a bit of a weird story but it still is brilliantly funny I think. You easily see that the two of them are very close personal friend, having shared a flat together in London for years. Both fine actors and writers.

Right then, that pretty much sums me up I guess. Sounds a lot but isn't at the end of the day. I tend to not watch telly at all during the summer month, much rather be on the beach or in my very own private jungle out the back of the house.

Right, before this turns into a full-blown novel I best call it a day for now.

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MarkBld

You're fortunate, Hoverfly, to have ready access to a host of British programs. "TV," per se, I've been done with for over four years. However, I do buy DVD's of my favorite shows/movies/etc - expensive, but time saving in that I get to watch what I want, when I want, and, best of all, without commercials. I'm what you might call a purist in that every part of a show or movie, from first to last, deserves to be seen - even the credits at the end. After all, without all these people no one's ever heard of, there would be no show. Yet (at least in the US) every single show gets the credits rolled over by some stupid commercial - usually for the show that's coming up next.

Looking over my library of DVD's, by far and away the largest share are British. In addition to the Nature documentaries and the Classics, and of course Dr Who and the show sadly cut short, The Sarah Jane Adventures, I absolutely adore Red Dwarf. I haven't tried any other British sit-coms because most American sit-coms totally turn me off - but since I love sci-fi, I decided to give Red Dwarf a try: best decision I ever made.

And my all time favorite movie is, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not the best movie ever made, but I love it.

hoverfly

I highly value and respect your comment about watching something until the end. The programme is NOT over until the credits have rolled. Bless you for being so considerate. My wife and I got really annoyed with some people at a cinema when they decided to want to walk past us while the credits were still rolling. As you so rightly pointed out, had it not been for those people, there wouldn't have been a movie in the first place. So show some respect.

Well, if I think of any other UK shows that might be worth a peek, I'll let you know.

Oh, not that I have seen it myself but I hear 'The Office' is supposed to be quite good but as I said that's purely hearsay.

There is also the Johnny Vegas movie Sex lives of the Potato Men and the series Ideal which you might like. Check them out on IMDB.

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MarkBld

You mentioned Johnny Vegas in your original post. Is he someone well known in Britain right now? I've never heard of him. Currently, the only British shows I get any exposure to are the ones advertised as trailers/previews at the beginning of the Dr Who/Sarah Jane DVDs. "Sherlock" looks interesting. A couple years back they were promoting "Robin Hood," which also looked interesting.

I have to confess, after self-promoting myself as something of a lover of fine art (which I am), that my real passion is Zombie Movies. As in other genres, British zombies rule!

drake7k

Lets see here. I love Doctor Who, True Blood, RuPaul's Drag Race (Which I'm watching while typing this), Eureka, Torchwood, Merlin, Being Human (BBC America version, syfy version sucks ass), Avengers Mightiest, Young Justice, Ultimate Spider-man, Ben 10 (all of them), the new Thunder Cats, Bones, Big Bang Theory, Celebrity Apprentice, all of the DIY Crasher shows and Holmes on Homes, Chuck (though it has ended), Sanctuary, all of the Stargate's, Warehouse 13, Supernatural, Alphas, anything with Gordon Ramsey's, and The Fades. So you can see a trend, I also like Absolutely Fabulous, I love BBC science fiction and fantasy, and a lot of shows of that nature.

hoverfly

Blimey, that must be the short story version of my novel post. LOL

Most of those shows I must admit I've never even heard off but as I said, it is primarily docs for me anyway, with said exeption.

Oh dear, Gordon Ramsey... Sorry to say, that guy just gives me the creeping horrors. He is a shite cook and about as foul-mouthed as any pleb I've ever heard.

I may have missed this and there is no mention in your profile but where do you hail from? USA maybe? I understand that Americans find it easier to laugh at stuff like that. Only hearsay.

Most series' I would enjoy much more, if they didn't drift into a pattern latest by episode 3. My wife loves CSI (yuk) and I am often forced to sit through it while we are having dinner (another yuk, bit of a lesson in 'How to ruin a perfectly good meal' LOL) and if they tell me one more time what Luminol is used for I'd swear blind, I'm going to throw the bloody thing out the window.

Now, Absolutely Fabulous, I've seen a couple of those and I thought it was quite funny but I never followed it.

What you might like though is Black Books with Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran. Check it out on IMDB. Bill Bailey is a hugely talented comedian, a good musician and generally a good laugh. Dylan Moran on the other hand is a much darker character, especially in a really weird movie he starred in called 'A Film with me in it'.

If you like dark Brit humour, that one might really be right up your street.

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hoverfly

He is indeed and has been for years now. He is good at times and when he is, he is very good but he also entertains people in the holiday resorts on the Spanish Balearic Islands and that I always disliked very much. It is basically catering to the needs of pissed Britons on holiday. Most of his jokes are about sex and getting tanked-up but hey, that's what they go there for.

He's done some quite brilliant stuff in his time. Check out his profile on IMDB (Johnny Vegas), that'll give you a good overview.

My all time favourites must be 'Sex Lives of the Potato Men'. He plays this Brummie (someone from Birmingham) thickhead workind at a potato delivery company.

I hope this search link works but check out some of the clips on youtube, there is quite a collection there. No idea why people voted it down so much on IMDB. I found the characters incredibly well portayed and the reminded me so much of people I used to work with back in the early 80s here in the East of England.

Sex Lives of the Potato Men on YouTube.

If the link does not bring up the desired results, there may be session information in it, just search for the title there.

Sherlock, now which one might that be referring to? The BBC series' 'Sherlock' with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman or the ITV series' 'Sherlock Holmes' of movies with with Jeremy Brett?

If you were referring to the BBC Sherlock, I can provide you with Rapidshare links for the first seaon. All HDTV rips as Matroska files but beware, unless you have a premium acct. with them, the size of the download will require almost forever and a day to grab them (each episode 2.2 GB in size). Just let me know and I can pm you the links.

Zombie movies, well, are you aware of a forum called surrealmoviez by any chance? The forum was founded in 2007 by a Polish friend of mine at Warsaw University. The original idea was to provide a platform for sharing movies that hardly got any kind of exposure ever. By mid 2008 it had become THE site for students in the arts section, especially those specialising in anything film related. It is a fantastic site, though due to the lack of truly suffcient 'surreal' material it has become a bit of a dumping ground for other stuff as well these days but it is still full of thousands of truly surreal material, amongst that a huge host of Brit. zombie stuff. Just checked, there are 342 movies that respond to the search for 'Zombie', that should keep you busy for a while.

Surrealmoviez can't be accessed unless you are a member and membership is by invitation only but I have enough credit there to provide you with an invitation.

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MarkBld

Hoverfly, thank you for your response. I don't know which "Sherlock" it is because BBC trailers never tell you who the stars are. Your notes on surrealmoviez (I don't know if I spelled it as you did: I hate the way you can't see what you're replying to here so as to edit as you go). I do love anything surreal - especially where it clearly doesn't belong. I've seen a couple zombie movies that had what I would consider surreal aspects to them.

Also I love anything dark, brooding and foreboding. I consider "Torchwood" to be one of the premier shows in that vein, as well as another sci-fi called "Starhunter." I agree with your assessment that Christopher Eccleston from "Series One" of Dr Who was better than David Tennant. I like both - and absolutely adore Matt Smith; but of the three I think Eccleston is best as Dr Who.

And, of course, this being 2012, I'm always on the lookout for material related to the whole Nostradamus/Mayan Prophecy/End of World syndrome. I'm not a doomsayer; but neither do I watch these oddball things merely to scoff at them. I find them intriguing - but their debunkers almost too condescending to bear. Are these types of things at all popular in the UK? Or are they pretty much American grown?

drake7k

Yeah, there are several more that I watch and follow when they are in season. You will find that quite a few gays (not grouping an entire people, just a few) like the bitchy, foul mouthedness of people like Gordon Ramsey's. I don't like them in person, but I like what he does in Kitchen Nightmares, plus I also watch him because I like stealing some of his recipes. And they have been helpful in cooking for my husband and me, sometimes cooking for friends and family who love my cooking. I have no aspirations to be a chief, but I love to cook, and I also think that what he does to help those failing restaurants is a really good thing. I know that he is a pompous jackass, but I think that is cool for him. Though if someone ever talked to me like that, there would have been no restraint on my part, I would knock them out. I started watching Absolutely Fabulous from my husband, he is a huge fan of that show. I live in Indiana USA. Though I always said that if I had the money for it, I would move to England. There are several shows that I didn't mention, and I didn't add movies.

hoverfly

OK, since you are referring to a BBC trailer, you are obviously talking about the Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman series. Currently, there are 6 episodes available, three from each season.

Have a look here, the link will (hopefully) take you to the BBC Sherlock site. Just note, that unless you have a UK IP address, it is unlikely that any of the videos will actually work. The BBC operates a quite elaborate IP filtering system to protect its content. Shame really but it can't be helped (even using a UK based proxy will not help much unfortunately). But again, should you need some download links... just ask and I'll PM you.

Not sure if I get what you mean by saying '...I hate the way you can't see what you're replying to here so as to edit as you go'. Please explain.

If you promiss to behave yourself, LOL, let me know if you would like an invitation code. I'd could send it by PM.

As I said, I never got into Torchwood much but hey, live and let live. Starhunter, never heard of it, I'll have a look on IMDB and see if it might appeal to me. Thanks for pointing this one out.

Yes, it was a shame the Chris Ecclestone decided to move on after his first and only season. Apparently, he didn't want to become too associated with the role, which can happen over time, just think of Tom Baker, for the all time quintessential Doctor Who.

Not really my world to be honest with you. When the whole Maya thing went balistic on the web and in books I did look into the science behind it and usually found it somewhat flawed. Especially, the Mayan Calendar, which doesn't actually prophesy the end of the world but rather the end of a calendar cycle but you can't make money from that, can you. If you want your book to sell, you better come up with something more 'dark and sinister' (with maybe a handful of zombies thrown in for good meassure). LOL

Again, if you are interested, in my forum, you'll find the URL in my profile or under the things to do when you click on my username, you will find plenty of posts relating to these issues.

As far as scoffing at things immediately is concerned, neither do I right from the start, though I am always 'a bit wary'.

As for their popularity, no I don't think this is a US homegrown issue, apart from that oddball church that last year proclaimed the end of the World, leading to people giving away their stuff and regetting it the day after. Personally, that one had me in stitches I am sorry to say. Apparently, a miscalculation of the date but lucky for us, the guys next doomsday bypassed us without a hitch too.

I am not much of a believer in anything, apart from that you should treat everybody with due respect, at least try and be friendly, though that can be a bit of a challenge in this day and age (especially when it comes to call centers in India or Pakistan trying to flog you double glazing again and again and again) and that I have no business in determining what sexual orientation is right or wrong, basically, live and let live, so long as things are done by mutual consent and it doesn't involve minors but that's about it really.

Had Buddhism not been so commercialised and turned from Gautama's own learnings into teachings that you must obey, now that could possibly have become something that I could live with but as with everything else used to stop people from having independent thoughts... Well, let's not go down that road or you might find yourself in for yet another novel. LOL

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