BBC Suggestions

[JackFavell]

It looked like a good film.

[JackFavell]

I'm done with the Lord Peter Wimsey series, sadly, since it was absolutely top hole, first class, eh what? I'm going to miss Ian Carmichael. I wish he had done every book Dorothy Sayers ever wrote.

Five Red Herrings is probably the least well done, since the show lost it's producer for that one, but it's really not noticeable. Still a fine show. The story is killing, taking place in an artist's community in Scotland, and still has top knotch acting and some very amusing characters. Bunter plays an important part in this one, and even gets to do a little flirting!

Murder Must Advertise is probably the most entertaining of the series, since Peter must go incognito as a silly ass in an advertising agency, finding all kinds of doings amongst the personnel, and drug trafficking amongst Britain's bright young things. This is the gem of the series.

The Nine Tailors is a wonderful story with incredibly inventive writing by Sayers. This one covers a lot of time... it deals with stolen emeralds at a country estate at the beginning of WWI, where Lord Peter happens to be staying at the time. He's on leave from his company and ends up witnessing the theft, without being able to identify the perp. We get to see the beginnings of his and Bunter's relationship during the Great War, and how they came to be master and servant. It's charming. We even get a glimpse of the flu epidemic that decimated so many after the war (so there, Downton Abbey!). The majority of the plot though, takes place 20 years later, on New Year's Eve. Wimsey and Bunter become stranded in the same town that the theft occurred in, just in time for Lord Peter to replace one of the bellringers at the church who is sick. They are ringing the New Year (1938) in, with a Kent treble bob major (in other words, nine hours of ringing those blasted bells in varying changes). The entire story revolves around what happened to the jewels, and those huge bells in the church tower, including a VERY inventive code. Highly recommended.

Now I have started on Elizabeth R, starring Glenda Jackson. Everything you've heard about it is true, and more. Jackson is BRILLIANT, but the show is brilliant as well, she is not the whole thing. It's as good if not better than any other series the BBC ever produced. Each episode is densely packed with thoughtful insights, fascinating character studies, and absolutely incredible writing. It never once makes you stop and think, "Would someone from the 1500's really say or do that?" The makeup and hair and sets are perfect. But the real wonder is how they made a show about Elizabeth the Virgin Queen seem to relate to how we deal with life and love nowadays.

It's absolutely stunning.

[movieman1957]

I've been thinking about watching "Elizabeth R." I'm not familiar with "Lord Peter Wimsey" but I went to Netflix and for the first one in the series the second disc is available but not the first. D'oh.

[JackFavell]

With the Wimsey series, it really doesn't matter which one you start with, except for the length and your attention span.

Clouds of Witness is a bit long, and introduces Wimsey's family, who can be tiresome - though they are supposed to be. It also has a different Bunter, who is not nearly as good as Glyn Houston. Houston is just a marvel as Bunter, I adore him. No one could have stepped into his shoes and looked good.

All that being said, it might still be a good introduction, but I would recommend The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club first. I think it is the second disc anyway.

I would stay away from the later series starring Edward Petherbridge. I really like the actor, but I didn't think that series was nearly as good. I may go back and watch some of them, but Ian Carmichael is truly great at the role and I'd hate for you to watch Petherbridge first for some reason.

I had never seen Elizabeth R before. It's probably the only one of the major BBC programs from that time that I missed. Wow! It's riveting. There are plenty of actors you will recognize, like Robert Hardy (All Creatures Great and Small) Rachel Kempson, John Shrapnel, Vivian Pickles, Robin Ellis (Poldark), Angela Thorne, and many others you might know the faces but not the names. I have watched three episodes, one a day, because each episode needs time to think about and absorb afterwards. It's brilliant! Did I say that already? Powerful.

[feaito]

I finished watching "Middlemarch" (1994) with my wife yesterday. It captured us slowly and is one of the most engrossing miniseries I've seen. It's like life itself, perhaps sadder in a way than other BBC adaptations, because at the end some of the lead characters do not meet the fate they deserved (IMO); no concessions here. The characters are multilayered and multidimensional; no villains or plain heroes here. Some things are not "explained" and the actors' work is commendable. Colin Firth's younger brother (then 27, now 45) plays one of the leading characters: Fred Vincy. I liked very much Juliet Aubry's nuanced performance as Dorothea aka Dodo. Absolutely recommended.

[JackFavell]

I may watch that one later on this summer when it's lovely outside, Fer. I need to be at my best to watch George Eliot, I can't bear it unless I'm in a super good mood.

[feaito]

I may watch that one later on this summer when it's lovely outside, Fer. I need to be at my best to watch George Eliot, I can't bear it unless I'm in a super good mood.

I understand Wendy. It's pretty melancholic and downbeat.

[moirafinnie]

I'm done with the Lord Peter Wimsey series, sadly, since it was absolutely top hole, first class, eh what? I'm going to miss Ian Carmichael.

Do you like Ian Carmichael in other things as well as his peak as Wimsey?

[JackFavell]

I do! It's taken me a while to get used to him in movies like I'm Alright, Jack and Heaven's Above, just because I saw him first as Wimsey, and I know how really fine an actor he is. It's frustrating after seeing how he can change over from silly ass to remarkable depth, on a dime no less, in the LPW series, then to go back and see him play simple, light as the frosting on a cake in many of his films. But that doesn't mean I don't completely enjoy him - there is something so hilarious about his timing, he's superb at giving an ironic spin to his lines even as he's totally earnest in I'm Alright, Jack.

I just got a copy of School for Scoundrels, but I haven't watched it yet. Are there any others you would recommend? Right now I'm looking at a film called Hide and Seek which looks interesting. I haven't checked yet to see if its available anywhere.

[stuart.uk]

Here's a clip of Ian Charmichael in one of, if not his last role in the tv medical series The Royal, set in the 60s with Susan Hampshire and Servant star Wendy Craig

http://youtu.be/hNxWLDbwzBM

[JackFavell]

Thanks Stuart! I'm quite curious to see if I can find his Bertie Wooster series.

[moirafinnie]

I think that you will enjoy parts of School For Scoundrels (1960) very much, JF--with Alistair Sim in the movie and Carmichael, it has some very funny moments. Based on a clip I've seen when Carmichael tries to report in sick one day "when I woke up this morning feeling a little frag-isle" I would love to see Private's Progress (1956).

Stuart, thanks for that clip of Ian Carmichael--he was a beautiful old man, with that same naughty sweetness he had as a younger man showing through a little.
Have you ever heard the BBC programme about the life of a crime writer called "The Small Intricate Life of Gerald C. Potter:? I heard one of the episodes once and Carmichael was great, though it doesn't seem to be currently available on the international channels that the BBC maintains.

Have you ever seen The Wind in the Willows (1983) from the brilliant animators at Cosgrove Hall? Ian is the voice of Rat (and the animators gave Rat a small permanent smile like Ian had), Richard Pearson is Mole, David Jason is Toad and Michael Hordern is Badger. I like the way it captures that quiet, slow-moving enchantment that is there in Kenneth Grahame's book too. It begins below:


Here is the film adaptation of Kingsley Amis' funny and pointed novel about the life of an academic, Lucky Jim (1957). I'm not sure that I pictured Carmichael in the lead, but it might be fun:


Below is another movie pairing Carmichael and Sim, Left Right and Centre (1959). It looks like fun:



I am tempted to find a way to purchase the 2011 biography of this endearing actor from the UK by Robert Fairclough , This Charming Man: The Life of Ian Carmichael. There are laudatory reviews by readers on the site. Do any of our UK members know if this is worthwhile?

[stuart.uk]

It's been said that America is to do it's own version of the sit com Only Fools And Horses. While it's regarded by many in the UK to be our best ever SC, star David Jason reckons it won't travel well. See what you think

http://youtu.be/Tdwho_2yDaY

[feaito]

Last WE I watched with my wife the miniseries in two parts of "Lorna Doone" (2000), starring Amelia Warner, Peter Vaughan (magnificent), Martin Clunes, Barbara Flynn (she also appeared in "Cranford" & "Wives and Daughters") and Joanne Froggatt (Anna of "Downton Abbey"). I enjoyed it very much, partly because the story has been a favorite of mine ever since as a kid I saw the 1950's film starring Barbara Hale.

[JackFavell]

I've only seen part of Lorna Doone, but I thought it was really good...I always wanted to go back and watch the whole thing. That was so far back now, when they used to actually run arts and entertainment on the Arts and Entertainment channel.