On the telly tonight.....

[Feltwell]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/08_august/05/manor.shtml

9pm tonight (Thursday) on BBC 1. As to if it's any good or not - well, only one way to find out really!

I am already noting a distinct absence of chickens in the press release though, which doesn't bode well.... :wink:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00m138c

 

[robgil]

I'd rather watch them do a 500 year old cottage to be honest.

 

[Feltwell]

I know what you mean. Victorian factories fascinate me, "ordinary" old houses interest me, stately homes leave me cold.

 

[robgil]

It's been done to death now FW, way too much ground to cover with a stately home so they cant get into it all in any great detail.
10 episodes on a cottage, episode one ''the roof'' , episode two ''doors and windows'' etc, just for the anoraks amongst us, like me for instance.

A 4x4 is born,
An M.G. is born,
A 500 year old thatched cottage is (re) born.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Hmmmm. Well, it wasn't bad, and it wasn't particularly good either. A different cast of slightly irritating characters, not having Beeny made it slightly less melodramatic, but all the artificial suspense was there in spades.
Could the BBC perhaps make a sensible documentary which examines the changing role of the Country House and changing attitudes to its presentation over the last 50 years? Visits to Plas Mawr, Kentwell, Nantclwyd y Dre, Gwydir, Denis Severs' House and the other currently celebrated examples, with a knowledgable presented free of over-enthusiasm and odd tics might have helped to explain what this project is aiming at.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I couldn't agree more - that's a perfect summary. The programme could have been so interesting but wasn't, as once again we were patronised by belittling, trendy tactics of faux drama and presenters who have no business on the programme as far as I can see.

I'd far rather see a lovely stately home than a factory or a cottage , but I'd much sooner read about it in a book and experience it with my own eyes, mind and knowledge than submit to the silly current tactics of the NT.

 

[tobydog]

Sorry but I have to admit that my stamina for the programme lasted all of 5 minutes. That was the point at which Lady Penelope's voice drove me nuts. Also (and maybe I was somewhat premature) I didn't think the house was in that bad condition to warrant a 'doing up' programme. It was also straight off the back of Mrs. Beeny which is too much for anyone.

 

[Feltwell]

Hmm - I posted it up with thoughts that it probably wasn't for me but may appeal to some of you.

Like Tobydog, I got bored very quickly and Penelope's voice grated instantly. I switched over after 5 minutes, came back during adverts on the other side but still didn't see anything to convince me to continue watching.

I'm not really an NT person anyway, at least not for stately homes. A few of their properties interest me but it tends to be the more modest ones or the land they own. I keep meaning to get around to booking to visit this one:-

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-birmingham_backtobacks/

For a day out with the kids, give me a ruined castle to explore any day. A stately home with ropes to keep you away from all the finery and a guided tour to keep pace with would bore them instantly. From the little I saw of the programme though, I do applaud their desire to get away from the "Don't touch and stand behind the rope" mentality. It's very hard but there must be better and more imaginative ways of managing the houses than a sterile one like this.

I'd far rather see a lovely stately home than a factory or a cottage

It's a good job we don't all like the same things - it would be a boring old world if we did.

 

[Flyfisher]

I didn't watch the programme but to be fair to the BBC I suspect PPUKers are not really their target audience for such things so disappointment is almost inevitable. Let's face it, most of us would probably settle down quite happily to watch an hour-long programme about lime plastering but our rave reviews would be unlikely to improve the BBC's audience share.

Still, with our newly-switched-over-98-digital-freeview-television-channels, it's a shame there's not some space in a dusty corner of the broadcasting spectrum for some seriously non-patronising programmes about historic properties and all their foibles.

 

[Moo]

And while we're about it, has anybody seen the latest offering from Kirsty Alsopp?

 

[tobydog]

One thing I did do last night was to make the mistake of channel hopping and landing on DIY SOS . They were renovating, sorry wrecking, a great old flint / brick / lime building. They took panelling off the walls and found that the flint wall behind was damp. What did they do? They covered the whole thing in cement. The Building Control Officer then insisted on a damp proof course. When Nick Knowles questionned this and the guy said it was because it was flint. Everyone then nodded their heads in mutual agreement. Or was it ignorance?

Anyway, there was clearly a crime in progress and I should have dialled 999!!!. I couldn't watch anymore.

 

[Penners]

I didn't watch the programme but to be fair to the BBC I suspect PPUKers are not really their target audience

That's certainly correct for this particular PPUKer. Even wafting "national treasure" Penelope Keith in front of the building didn't induce me to watch yet another tiresome renovation show - no matter how stately the home.

Instead, we watched our recording of the latest episode of "Frozen Planet". Utterly breathtaking photography, as always. Can anyone explain to me how they can get a stop-motion sequence of the Arctic ground and vegetation freezing over with the arrival of winter - a process that presumably takes several weeks - and achieve this (a) without the camera freezing up, and (b) while panning the camera?! :shock:

 

[Feltwell]

And while we're about it, has anybody seen the latest offering from Kirsty Alsopp?

I bet FamilyWiggs has!

Do you mean her "handmade in Britain" (or something like that!) series? It's a bit twee - I confess I only watched a snippet though to form that opinion, I switched over rapidly, she is one presenter I can only withstand in very short doses!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I bet FamilyWiggs has!

:lol: :lol: 8)