Egypt4u

Well SS-GB was listed as a big budget production. Pity they don't engage actors who can project their voice instead of low pitch mumbling. We had headphones AND subtitles but could still not follow all the dialogue.
We were not alone because it has been sleighted on social media with many saying they gave up after ten minutes.
This is becoming unacceptable with most dramas these days being unintelligible. I wish the BBC and ITV would stop squandering license payers and advertisers money on crap production of good stories.

I agree Grandad, stopped watching myself after about 10 minutes

Horus wrote:I agree Grandad, stopped watching myself after about 10 minutes

BBC are going to rework the soundtrack following a flood of complaints.
I love the old films of the forties and fifties. The diction might have been stilted but you could understand every word.

Just watched episode 2 of 'The Real Marigold Hotel'. This time amongst many various experiences for the group, Bill Oddie sought help with his 'impotence' from an alternative medicine specialist. He didn't say if the potion worked.

But this is such a colourful series and India is a Must Visit country in my book. We have had the good fortune to visit 3 times and loved it.

I just wish that Lionel Blair would realise that his fat belly is because he eats to much and nothing to do with his prostate

Horus wrote:I just wish that Lionel Blair would realise that his fat belly is because he eats to much and nothing to do with his prostate

I'm not too sure about that H. He has always been a slim fit ex dancer and his stomach is more like a bloated shape than an overweight belly. And I can speak from first hand experience

Well he looked fat to me and he had man boobs to go with it

He had radiotherapy and hormone injections for prostate cancer, according to an interview with the Express.
The only noticeable effect from Lionel’s illness is the size of his stomach. He explains: “My belly is big because of the radiotherapy which kind of frazzled my insides, so I have got a bit of a distended tummy which you will see on The Real Marigold Hotel. “Now I tell men over 50, or even younger, to get themselves checked out. The sooner you do it, the better your chances.”

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/hea ... cer-health

I think at 88yrs old, it would be impossible to keep slim and trim. His stage persona has always irritated me, but I don't care much what people look like - with a few exceptions like Mr Trump whose face fascinated me because it didn't seem to articulate properly. Now I've worked out that his bottom false teeth are the problem, his Kissing Gourami pout doesn't bother me.

Well I have a mate who has had the same treatment and he has not got a big belly, I reckon he is just making up an excuse, I have no problem with him being tubby, I am no Twiggy myself, but did you hear him telling that Dr what he liked eating? that's his real problem.

If he is happy to blame his treatment for his pot belly, that's fine. I have not had prostate cancer but I DO have middle age (or should that be old age) spread. If I get to 88 and have a belly like his I will not complain, just pity the paul bearers.

BUT, I never knew that much about Lionel Blair and always assumed he was Gay, how wrong can you be

Most amusing to me was Bill Oddie seeking advice about his impotence and that he has a beautiful wife, the inference being that he could no longer satisfy her needs.......my mind was boggling frantically, would he also have his binoculars around his neck?

The dark and sometimes very violent 'Taboo' concluded last evening. I enjoyed the story but my wife didn't watch it. She found it difficult to hear the dialogue and to follow the story.
Some clever writing with a subtle twist at the end that could leave it open for a sequel.

I have been catching up on a series called 'Homeland' which is basically about anti terrorism in the USA, its quite good so far.

I've become pretty bored with drama on the whole though there are a few I like. So I started to turn to old programmes on the Gold Channel.

I had forgotten just how funny without being coarse or offensive some old comedy programmes are - I'm currently enjoying One Foot in the Grave and Last of the Summer Wine. I missed most of them while I was working in Egypt so it's nice to see them now.

Comedy has certainly changed over the years. Those that you mention MD along with many others like Porridge, The two Ronnies, Open all hours (Ronnie Barker classics), Dinner ladies, Only Fools and Horses, and so many more, are all now classics of British comedy.
I really don't get or have patience with contemporary comedy series like. Not going out, Peter Kays Car Share, and Miranda Hart.
Stand Up comedians often have good observations of lifes events but have to resort to totally unnecessary foul language. Mary Whitehouse must constantly turn in her grave.

I, too, have turned to the past over the last week, watching a TV series which aired in 1980! I saw it at the time but it was so good that I became enthralled with it all over again, and watched thirteen hour long episodes over the course of a couple of days. The series was 'To Serve Them All My Days' and starred a very young John Duttine. Did anyone else see it back in the far distant past? I found it by chance on YouTube and I do bless the forward thinking of the person that uploaded it! Originally a book by Ronnie Delderfield - which I've also read - it tells the story of a young man from a Welsh mining community, who came back after being injured in the trenches in WW1, and started his climb through the teaching hierarchy in a public school, to eventually become headmaster.

Grandad wrote:

Horus wrote:I agree Grandad, stopped watching myself after about 10 minutes

BBC are going to rework the soundtrack following a flood of complaints.

Just watched episode 2 and the sound quality was much improved. Why doesn't someone listen to these programs before they go to air. Obviously it is possible to improve the sound quality

RS, the series you mention does ring bells and we probably saw it at the time. I don't remember for sure but I bet you could hear every word and there is no annoying background music.

What is this preoccupation with having music everywhere? It isn't always appropriate and mostly intrusive. I especially hate it when people are talking and there is music playing at the same time, one or the other is obviously redundant.

There is though an attention grabbing advertisement for cars which is silent! I look up at the screen every time it comes on.

The other thing is the propensity for picking far to many regional accents. Now I’m all for a bit of diversity, but when we get a Scot with a Glaswegian accent, a Brummie, a Scouser and a Cockney all blathering away I find it hard to follow, then add on the whispered conversations with accompanying background music and I give up.