Rise of international TV (1 Viewer)

[WaveCrest]

Thought I'd already read your reply Matt (I hadn't read it). Call the Midwife has been vey popular in the UK (gets high ratings for BBC One). A one-off special of it is airing on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, a feature-length episode of Downton Abbey is airing on ITV1 on Christmas Day. Had read recently in a TV listings magazine, a newspaper or on the web, that there will be a fourth series and another Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

A few DVD/Blu-ray things (source: Amazon UK):


- The first season of Continuum is being released on DVD in the UK on Monday 28th January (being released by Universal)
- The second volume of the fifth series of Merlin is being released on DVD in the UK on Monday 21st January, along with a DVD and Blu-ray release of the fifth series (being released by Fremantle Home Entertainment).

A couple of new dramas started recently on ITV1:

The Town (three-part story) - being released on DVD on Boxing Day (by 2entertain)
The Poison Tree (two-part story).

Airing on BBC Two on Boxing Day is The Girl, a drama about Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren. This sounds like it could be a highlight of the Christmas TV schedule. It's being released on DVD in the UK on Monday 7th January by Acorn Media.

Starting on BBC One on Sunday 30th December is a new eight-part drama called Ripper Street. This is being released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on Monday 18th February.

Finally, the first of two new Austrailian dramas starring Guy Pearce started tonight on FX (in the UK), called Jack Irish: Bad Debts, with the second story airing next Friday called Jack Irish: Black Tide. Both stories are being released on DVD by Arrow on Monday 28th January.

 

[mattCR]

Is anyone going to air the Performance for the Prince.. where Rowan Atkinson recreates blackadder? I've seen shaky camera shots of it, as BlackAdder is a modern banker after the banking crisis and found it damn funny.. I'm hoping that airs somewhere

 

[WaveCrest]

Have a vague memory of reading something about a new Blackadder short or special, with the same plot you mentioned in your post Matt. Don't know if it has been shown on a UK channel.

There was a three-part spooky drama series on BBC One a few weeks ago called The Secret of Crickley Hall, starring Suranne Jones (she's also starred on the detective series Scott & Bailey). It was released on DVD in the UK on Monday 3rd December (source: Amazon UK).

 

[AlexF]

Not shown on telly yet at all. Was only performed live at the gala show.
Edit: This refers, of course, to Blackadder.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Airing on BBC Two on Boxing Day is The Girl, a drama about Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren. This sounds like it could be a highlight of the Christmas TV schedule. It's being released on DVD in the UK on Monday 7th January by Acorn Media.

This aired stateside on HBO a couple of months ago.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by AlexF /t/280499/rise-of-international-tv/60#post_4017042
Not shown on telly yet at all. Was only performed live at the gala show.

Blarg. I noticed they moved the Merlin season finale to Christmas eve, but I can't get my Slingbox to adjust to it yet.. so I've got to figure that out or I'm going to end up with a butchered copy, and since this week ended up on a fair size cliff hanger, I really don't want to miss that

 

[AlexF]

But... Rowan Atkinson tweeted this evening...
Blackadder returns. February 1st. 7:30pm on BBC with all of the original cast.
"The #BlackadderReturn will be a modern version. It will be odd, yes. You'll love it!"

 

[mattCR]

AlexF: That news has made my Christmas, thank you

 

[mattCR]

Was that Merlin the series finale I assume?

 

[mattCR]

What Sado Masochist is writing the damn Downton Abbey Christmas Specials?!?! Find me ONE person that wants that kind of ending for a Christmas special.. what the heck

 

[Steve Tannehill]

How do you see the Christmas special online?

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Steve Tannehill /t/280499/rise-of-international-tv/90#post_4017977
How do you see the Christmas special online?

Slingbox. I have a slingbox there and one in Australia for a handfull of shows where I have friends who still live.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

It's also available from Amazon.co.uk if you have region free playback.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Steve Tannehill /t/280499/rise-of-international-tv/90#post_4017991
It's also available from Amazon.co.uk if you have region free playback.

Oh that's sweet.

My other option used to be that I had a proxy I would pay $1.99/mo in the UK, and I would just pass through that and use BBC iPlayer and ITV Online. But the proxy I used to use stopped working last month and I'm looking for a new one.

 

[mattCR]

Whoever is writing "Plebs".. wow, I have no idea what to make of this show yet, but it's definitely... british.

 

[Hanson]

Could not make it past two episodes of Plebs. Near as I could tell, it was a parody of a bad comedy, where you laugh at how unfunny things are. Not really my cup of tea.

Wanted to chime into this months dormant thread to talk up Black Mirror, an anthology series from the UK. It's only 3 episodes a season and there are only 6 episodes overall, but it's tremendously good and worth hunting down.

All the episodes deal with the implications of technology in society. The standouts for me were episodes 1, 3, and 4.

 

[mattCR]

Before Americans embark on the new Downton Abbey.. this season was AWFUL. Maybe one of the biggest drops in script quality of any series I have ever watched. Just painfully bad...

 

[Hanson]

My friends know I've watched it (Christmas Special and all) and they ask me not to divulge any spoilers. I tell them I couldn't since that would violate my principles and also because I can barely remember any of it. A season of spinning wheels and uninteresting plot lines.

It's been re-christened in our house as "Downtown Flabby".

 

[Hanson]

RIP to two of my favorite UK shows, Misfits (which ended awesomely) and IT Crowd (although I was underwhelmed by the movie).

Welcome back Sherlock! It's lot more character driven, but still cracking good.

I finished up Atlantis, and that show is a mess. I'm not sure how or why I sat through all of those episodes. Can't decide if I'm going to give season 2 a whirl.

 

[mattCR]

Atlantis was a mess. I gave up early.

But Sherlock remains one of the best shows on the air; the premiere was excellent. I struggled with the wedding episode, because it was the first one of the show where I -knew- the answer before Sherlock did. And, I'm not that smart to have that happen
But I do love the characters and it was stil fun.