Sunday, May 31, 2015

Un Village Français





Un Village Français is a long running French WWII drama. To date it hasn't become available with English subtitles, but a nice person in Ontario took the time to translate the dialogue and create subtitles and then re-code the video....quite an undertaking!  A seventh, and final, series is due to air next year.
Un Village Français 

Friday, May 29, 2015

Mrs Thursday


Mrs Thursday is a 1966-1967 comedy starring Kathleen Harrison in the title role. This is not a sitcom. It doesn't have an audience laugh track and it's not an endless run of one-liners. Wiki calls it a comedy-drama, but there isn't much heavy drama in the well-scripted 45 minute episodes. It's more reminiscent of the many British comedy films of  the 1950's and 1960's. A third series of 12 episodes remains unavailable for unknown reasons. In 1966 it was the #1 show on British TV. It was more or less a swan song for Kathleen Harrison who was a film and stage legend at that point, appearing in films back to the early 1920's. She lived to be 103, but wasn't very active in the 1970's and lived out the last 25 years of her life away from acting. Many familiar faces turn up in these episodes. Some people popular at that time and others who became so in later decades.
Mrs Thursday                      Kathleen Harrison 

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

1992

New Italian political drama with hard-coded English subtitles.
1992

Prospects

Prospects is a 1986 comedy-drama starring Gary Olsen (2point4 Children, Health & Efficiency) and Brian Bovell (Gimme Gimme Gimme, Hollyoaks, The Bill, Maisie Raine, The Chief). This has seen "official" release, but these are recordings off the box.
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Give Us A Break

Give Us A Break is a 1983 comedy-drama starring Robert Lindsay (Get Some In!, Citizen Smith, Seconds Out, G.B.H., Nightingales, Jake's Progress, Hornblower, Jericho, My Family, Spy, Atlantis), Paul McGann (The Monocled Mutineer, The Hanging Gale, Our Mutual Friend, True Dare Kiss, Collision, Luther), David Daker (Z Cars, Dick Turpin, Moonfleet, Hallelujah!, Boon) and Shirin Taylor (Bust, Coronation Street). The reviewers on Ama.... offer more info than any website out there.
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Market In Honey Lane

For the past 30 years one of the most popular shows on British TV has been EastEnders and before there was EastEnders there was......Market In Honey Lane, a late 60's drama which ran for 91 episodes over a two year period. Only the first 13 episodes survive today. (I believe that's because they were transferred to film and sent to another country where they were archived and recovered.) After this first series the title was shortened to just Honey Lane. The show was created by Louis Marks, who had a long distinguished career in TV. 
"A 1960s forerunner to EastEnders, this highly engaging series captures all of the camaraderie and humour, rivalry and chicanery, graft and greed of a bustling Soho market where stalls may be inherited, bought, or "acquired". This set contains the complete first series from 1967 - all that remains of this well-remembered and high popular street life drama and its sequel Honey Lane.

Jimmy, a life-long stallholder in his sixties, sells little more than carrots, spuds and cabbages. Beside him is Billy, a hard-bitten gambler who's usually facing economic disaster on a major or minor scale. Vegetable seller Dave's after a spot for his brother, widow Polly runs a busy fruit stall, while her dim-witted son Danny does odd jobs to earn a bit of cash. Then there are the fly pitchers: boys who work out of a suitcase, drumming up a crowd to make a sale and swiftly moving on. Jacko is among them, and his one ambition is to get a stall - at any cost!

The market in Honey Lane may be a human jungle but its traders know how to bury their differences, weed out real rats and deal with interlopers like scheming, corrupt and ever-unpopular market inspector Mr. Tooke..."

Monday, May 25, 2015

Machair


Machair was a popular Scottish contemporary drama serial that ran for 151 episodes between 1993 and 1998. It was filmed, and takes place, around the island of Lewis (and in its largest town of Stornoway), at the northern end of the Outer Hebrides, about 35 miles off the west coast of northern Scotland. Most of the dialogue is in Scottish Gaelic with hard-coded English subtitles. 
At the time of its production only about 2% of the Scottish population were Gaelic-speakers, yet the show proved to be very popular in Scotland where it was viewed by about 30% of the TV viewers.
The original writing team of Peter May and Janice Hally left the show about two-thirds of the way through its run, and then its popularity began to dwindle a bit.
In recent months BBC Alba (housed in the same Stornoway studio that contained sets used on this show) has been re-airing the show on Friday evenings. 
Unfortunately, original broadcast information seems to have been lost to time.
  

Big Deal



Big Deal is a mid-80's drama-comedy about the highs and lows of a gambling addict and his family and associates. Starring Ray Brooks (Growing Pains, EastEnders), Sharon Duce (Growing Pains, The Tomorrow People), Pamela Cundell (Dad's Army), James Ottaway (The Gentle Touch), Lisa Geoghan (The Bill, Desmond's), Andy Mulligan (Andy Capp), Kenneth Waller (Bread, Are You Being Served?), Deirdre Costello (I Didn't Know You Cared), Frank Mills (Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, By The Sword Divided, Sam, Nanny, Flambards).
I posted Disc 1 here a few years ago. Now the rest is available, courtesy of someone's video tape collection.
The reviews on AmazonUK will tell you more about this than any other site I found.
reviews

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Dixon of Dock Green - Series 22

The final series of Dixon of Dock Green.

Vikings


Ah...the 9th and 10th centuries. Swinging times! Dashing young model/warriors with flawless skin, perfect bright teeth, impeccably groomed and hipster-styled hair and beards, cool tats...all marauding and plundering western Europe with beautiful women who had carefully plucked and styled eyebrows over made-up eyes, glossed lips and pricey manicures. If the Viking Age never happened where would fashion be today in the 21st century? Or am I getting the wrong impression of this drama filmed in Ireland by an Irish and Canadian co-production team? 

When We Go To War

When We Go To War is a new drama serial from New Zealand that takes place 100 years ago during the time of New Zealand's entry into WWI and the Gallipoli campaign.

Emmerdale 2015 - Disc 4


Saturday, May 23, 2015

Bob Servant Independent + W1A

Scottish comedy Bob Servant Independent
Bob Servant

The mockumentary spin-off of Twenty Twelve, W1A, has returned for a second series of four episodes (the first being a double-episode). Still starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, Monica Dolan with other familiar faces such as Jason Watkins, Joel Fry and Rufus Jones....who also appears in Bob Servant.
W1A

The Red Road

The Following

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

EastEnders 2015 - Disc 3


Coronation Street 2015 - Disc 3


Person Of Interest


The Blacklist - Disc 4

Family Guy - Disc 12

Family Guy has wrapped up its 13th season.

You, Me & Them

British sitcom You, Me & Them returned for a second series. Good cast. Hopefully it will stick around for awhile. Eve Myles, Anthony Head, Daisy Beaumont, Marcus Garvey, Nigel Betts, Susie Blake, Jeff Rawle. Lindsay Duncan did not appear in the second series, but Honor Blackman did.

The Enfield Haunting + Tatau

Two new spooky dramas.

The Enfield Haunting is based on true-yet-supernatural events that occurred in the late 70's.
Starring Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Matthew Macfayden, Rosie Cavaliero, 
The Enfield Haunting  

Tatau is a supernatural murder mystery set in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific.
Tatau

Inspector George Gently

Inspector George Gently has returned with another series of feature-length episodes. Still on the case at age 70 in 1969, rumor has it that he is still solving crimes around the English northeast today at age 116. 

Ballot Monkeys + Car Share + The Delivery Man

Some good new comedy out of the UK:

Ballot Monkeys is a political satire comedy from the excellent writing team of Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin and features a solid cast with Ben Miller, Trevor Cooper, Daisy Haggard, Jimmy Akingbola, Hugh Dennis...and so on.
Ballot Monkeys

Car Share.....what you'd expect from Peter Kay...a bit different, very clever and well done.
Car Share

The Delivery Man....good cast in Darren Boyd, Fay Ripley, Aisling Bea, Paddy McGuinness, Alex Macquuen, etc.
The Delivery Man

Critical

A year ago last (northern hemisphere) winter Sky inflicted The Smoke upon the television audience. It was so bad I wouldn't even mention it here. Now, refusing to learn from their mistakes, they've come back with Critical. I tried watching this "drama" but couldn't help but burst out laughing about every 30 seconds. So bad....you'd think it came from Hollywood. So bad...they even have Emma Fryer trying to play a dramatic role. I can't believe Claire Skinner let herself get involved with this, but she must have come to her senses as she disappears from the cast several weeks before it mercifully ends. Critical.....so bad it's almost funny. 

 

Bitten


Bitten is a Canadian horror/fantasy drama.

Two Broke Girls 4

US sitcom 2 Broke Girls has reached the end of its fourth season.

Modern Family - Disc 6

The 6th season of US sitcom Modern Family concludes this evening.

The Middle - Disc 6

US sitcom The Middle has finished its sixth season.

Wonderland

Australian romantic drama-comedy Wonderland returned for a third series.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Atlantis - Series 2

Atlantis returned for a second, and final, series.
Atlantis

12 Monkeys

Hollywood science fiction mystery drama 12 Monkeys will be returning for a second series.

6DEGREES

Northern Ireland drama 6DEGREES recently returned with a third series. 

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Inspector Montalbano - Disc 5

Mann's Best Friends + Room Service

Two vintage sitcoms by two famous writers:

Mann's Best Friends aired in 1985. Written by Roy Clarke (Open All Hours, Keeping Up Appearances, Rosie, Last of the Summer Wine, Magnificent Evans, Potter, Spark, The Sharp End, Ain't Misbehavin') and starring Fulton MacKay (Porridge), Barry Stanton, Bernard Bresslaw (The Army Game, Our House, Clochemerle, Carry On Laughing), Patricia Brake (The Ugliest Girl in Town, Going Straight, The Glums, Eldorado), Clive Merrison (Shine On Harvey Moon, The Labours of Erica, Reilly Ace of Spice, Kit Curran, Double First, How Do You Want Me?, Monday Monday), Liz Smith (I Didn't Know You Cared, One By One, Valentine Park, Cluedo, 2point4 Children, The Royle Family, The Vicar of Dibley, Lark Rise to Candleford). 
Mann's Best Friends

Room Service aired in 1979. Written by Jimmy Perry (Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi!, You Rang M'Lord?) and starring Bryan Pringle (The Dustbinmen, The Pallisers, Growing Pains of PC Penrose {Rosie Series 1}, The Good Companions, Auf Weidersehen Pet, Once Upon A Time In The North, A Prince Among Men), Matthew Kelly (Holding The Fort, Benidorm).......
Room Service

A Sharp Intake Of Breath


                                                                           OR

Last September the complete Lucky Feller became available and this past March the complete Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs did as well. Now the trilogy of early David Jason comedy is complete with a full set of A Sharp Intake Of Breath starring not only David Jason, but Richard Wilson, Jacqueline Clarke and Alun Armstrong with semi-regular and guest appearances by many familiar faces of 70's/80's/90's British comedy. Take your pick: 2 discs with 720 X 560 picture size and bitrates of 1900 to 2100 or a single disc with a smaller 640 by 480 picture size and lower quality bitrate of 800 to 950.