Christmas 2024 Television
Just wondered what people thought of the Christmas offerings? Were some of the shows over hyped? Of them all I think I liked Wallace and Gromit the best! Out Numbered was quite interesting as all the kids are now grown up, but listen carefully and Karen's voice is still the similar to when she was younger. Wasn't sure about Gavin and Stacey, probably the most hyped of all. Didn't really watch it when it first came out and I think we have only seen the previous episode to this years offering. It didn't completely grab me. Do wonder if shows like Meet the Midwife have had their day? I think Channel 5 make a good effort with the reimagining of All Creatures Great and Small, good they they don't copy the original. Just in case you get the impression we have been glue to the telly we tend to record all our programmes so we can fit them in when its convenient to us.
David
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I only saw Wallace and Gromit and Outnumbered live and watched Gavin and Stacey, "The Final" on catch up last night. I have never seen Outnumbered before and really didn't rate it and I had not seen Gavin and Stacey at all until about a month ago when I started watching Series 1 on iPlayer followed by series 2 and 3 and the 2019 Christmas special during the run up to Christmas and "The Final." I enjoyed them all and of course the continuity was much better making it much easier to follow. The characters made it for me as well as the story lines. I agree Call the Midwife has had its day and I fell asleep in Back to Paradise and Return to Paradise has not been attention grabbing either. I tend to watch more programs from the streaming suppliers these days. Memorable watches recently have been, Exodus staring Paul Newman on Prime and the documentary about the search for Shackleton's ship the Endurance on Disney Plus.
peedee
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Absolutely loved the final episode of Gavin and Stacey, for me it was worth all the hype, it tied everything up beautifully, but then I’ve always been a fan. Neil ‘the baby’ singing was just lovely. Didn’t watch the soaps, always dramatic and miserable at Christmas, never get a laugh anymore. We did watch Outnumbered, very disappointing, just not funny now the children have grown and almost as miserable a storyline as the soaps, wish we hadn’t bothered. Didn’t watch Call the Midwife, it’s getting same old, same old with the storylines. In fact we didn’t watch much at all. Gone are the days of good entertainment and a laugh, Morecame and Wise, Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses etc. But obviously my opinion and each to their own.
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Wallace and Gromit was the number one for us. Totally enjoyed it from start to finish.
Outnumbered was very good too and a more 'grown up' version and I liked how Ben appeared to be the most 'normal' of all the three children now considering what he was like and I especially liked how he's giving H&S training!
The Michael McIntyre 25 year special was excellent as was the Kevin Bridges catch up.
The only one I found slightly disappointing was Would I lie to you, as I found some moments awkward having a 15 year on Lee's team.
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@peedee I suspect that Out Numbered wouldn't make a lot of sense had you not seen the prior episodes when they were young children. The Christmas episode was almost a role reversal of the original with the children becoming the adults and the parents no longer in charge, such is life🙂. I think you could find a lot of short clips of Karen as a child on YouTube if you didn't want to delve deeper.
David
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Forget to mention Death in Paradise with the new lead DI, an excellent choice there in that character.
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W&G was the only terrestrial offering we watched live as it was broadcast. Brilliant as far as we are concerned, just love W&G. It’s the nods to big movie moments from the past, the lovely friendship between the pair, the villians, the other characters, the daft Northern humour.
We haven’t watched anything else live at all. Work our way thru the Only Connect and Uni Challenge Xmas specials as we have a meal in front of fire. But we have been watching the Cyclocross racing from Belgium and The Netherlands. Have cast some good films from my iPad as well. Yesterday, OH didn’t feel like doing much (sniffling with a cold) so we watched a couple of Aggies from a few years ago.Apparently, the top watch on Netflix was a crackling log fire🤣🤣 Hilarious.
One other programme we did watch, that I had forgotten about…..the Roger Moore documentary. Very good, enjoyed this.
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@DavidKlyne Yes, spot on. The pleasure was in remembering what the three children were like especially Karen, who was five when series one started, and Ben who was eight. Some of their dialogue was fantastic.
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I am sure I read somewhere that Andy Hamilton, one of the writers, said it was unscripted in the conventional sense as the children were too young. I think they gave them the outline of the situation and let their imaginations do the rest. That may have changed as they got older?
David
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The older get, the less television we watch. We watched Wallace & Gromit almost live ( it was recording as it started too soon for farmers). It was wonderful - and it must have been as my husband never fell asleep (as he does most evenings). It's saved so we can watch it again and again when we need cheering up. And we watched the BBC2 quizes - and got some answers (even in University Challenge).
I'm rereading P D James' Dalgleish books and can quite easily switch the television off and live in a different world.
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We also watched Wallace & Grommit which was great but as said on other thread too many repeats old films that have been on so many times and have watched a few dvd's we have brought with us although OH prefers to look at items on his iPad, even watched a few old comedies on other channels and a few wildlife programmes not seen before.
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Although l very seldom watch television OH has watch many of the Christmas specials. Her favourite have been Wallace and Gromit, Gavin and Stacey, and All Creatures. She was not that impressed by Outnumbered and is at the moment appears to be enjoying Beyond Paradise. She is a fan of Midwives and is waiting for the series return in the New Year, and has also been watching the previous episodes of Strike before starting on the new series. Me, I have been listening to a variety of music, Mike Oldfield, Sky, Beth Hardy and Jez Lowe while on my Kindle.
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Went out for Lunch and then to our daughters father in laws. Saw no TV except the morning news and doubt we missed anything. Never watched the old Gavin and Stacey nor Wallace and Gromit, so they would have gone well over our heads. Think we had far better time with family, Christmas is one day we never watch TV.
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If anyone has Netflix the a good Christmas film is Red One with Dwayne Johnson (the Rock) and Chris evans (Captain America), Dwayne plays the bodyguard of Santa who is kidnapped. Now you might think, as I did, that it's not going to work or is meant only for children but I think it's excellent, give it a go.
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Red One is on Amazon Prime as well. It’s good fun 👍🏻🎅🏻
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And this afternoon BBC1 is showing……..The Sound of Music 😂😂😂
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Actually not sure about Netflix now.
Is this the first Christmas without the Great Escape?
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Mmm, could be but they showed Great Escape a few weeks ago so we wouldn’t get withdrawal symptoms. We've been 'treated' to Casablanca and Brief Encounter instead🤣
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@Goldie146 I like P DJames Dalgleish novels, particularly the early ones. Enjoyed the TV versions of the early ones as well with Roy Marsden (and wig) as Dalgleish. Martin Shaw was good as well, but I always thought Roy Marsden looked more like the book version. Wasn’t bothered about the Cordelia Grey novels.
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Found a good Christmas film tonight called From time to time. It's from 2010 and written by the chap who wrote Downton Abbey - Julian Fellows. It's quite good and has quite a few actors who would star in Downton, some in the top major roles. See how many you can spot.
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I think television is rubbish - it just gets worse at Christmas! Haven't watched a really good film since The Cruel Sea was last on🙄 We seem to spend more time looking at You Tube where we've found some real gems.
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@richardandros Snorkers, good oh!🤣 We watch little TV nowadays. We usually check out Talking Pictures TV for the odd rare gem being shown on there, and OH likes Caroline Munro and The Cellar Club🤣
I prefer a good film or older drama series. We both love sport, in fact the Ski Jumping season has commenced so that will keep us entertained during January. Road cycling kicks off next month as well, Tour Down Under. Seriously contemplating not renewing TV license to be honest, just need to remember not to click on any of Beeb services. We pay £6.99 a month for Discovery Sport, much better value for money.
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Yes I think that if you have a device that can receive, watch, and record, from any TV company that broadcasts in the UK, not just BBC, then you need a license. Simply saying you don't watch live TV or the BBC isn't enough as you have a device, like a TV set but can include a phone using a digital service, that can receive TV live broadcasts.
This explains it well enough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd7GQLjqKg0&t=262s&ab_channel=BlackBeltBarrister
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