Only Fools and Horses.

[Dave54]

You can understand the commercial side of the business doing it as cheaply as they can, but I wonder what excuse the BBC have for producing the stuff that they do for the license fee.
I reckon it's beginning to look more than a bit on the expensive side to support just them.

 

[longdogs]

I reckon James Martin must have bought the BBC as he seems to be on every five minutes.

It's difficult to find anything well directed on either the bbc or commercial channels these days and adverts after only 10 minutes is a killer.

 

[Dave54]

I reckon James Martin must have bought the BBC as he seems to be on every five minutes.

It's difficult to find anything well directed on either the bbc or commercial channels these days and adverts after only 10 minutes is a killer.

Agreed. Particularly about the proliferation of adverts on commercial tv.
The BBC needs to worry more about making quality proper programs, and losing some of the PC nonsense. BBC 1 seems to be all sport of one kind or another, or that dancing thing. Doctor Who has become a nonsensical mish-mash.

 

[JBR]

The BBC needs to worry more about making quality proper programs, and losing some of the PC nonsense. BBC 1 seems to be all sport of one kind or another, or that dancing thing. Doctor Who has become a nonsensical mish-mash.

You're right about Doctor Who. It used to be a science fiction progamme but now much of the content appears to be 'human interest'. The sets and props used to be cheap and obvious but now, thanks to technological progress, it looks a lot more professional. However, in my opinion, far more important than that is the quality of the script and story concepts.
I used to watch the more recent Doctor Who programmes on BBC1, but got fed up after a very short time. I still record and watch the old ones on the Horror channel, though, and these are the ones I remember from my younger days. Tom Baker was my favourite, along with Leela and Romana (these 'assistants' were far sexier than the current loud mouthed feminists!).

 

[Dave54]

When "The Doctor" first came back with David Eccleston, I thought it was pretty good. More "non-human interest" than human interest.
However as time as gone on, it has got sillier and sillier, with seemingly more and more political "agenda". I stopped watching it the first time around after Sylvester McCoy took over and it became too silly for me. I'm afraid the same has finally happened this time around.

OTOH I like the Jekyll and Hyde thing on ITV. IMO it has what Doctor Who has come to lack. Some sort of sense of danger and adventure.

 

[PBC_1966]

I gave up watching any newly produced shows on both BBC & ITV years ago, especially the so-called comedies. Even trying to watch re-runs of older shows and movies has become tricky, as apart from the aforementioned editing for "political correctness" nonsense in some older shows, the broadcasters now also frequently hack out whole scenes from films to squeeze them down and make more room for commercials. That goes for television both in Britain and even more so here in the U.S., of course. Then there's the more frequent breaks, the annoying on-screen logos, the squeezing of the closing of a show down to a corner of the screen so they can push three or four other shows, and the related annoying habits that they have now (scrolling announcements across the bottom of the screen plugging what's coming up next a good 5 minutes before the end of the show - Come on!).

My wife & I have no broadcast TV whatsoever here at the moment, instead preferring to build up our DVD collection and view those for the couple of hours an evening we watch. We did talk about throwing up an antenna sometime just to get a couple of the local stations for news, but even for that we're really not in any hurry - We moved into this house at the end of May and it's not something we've bothered to do yet.

 

[ladylola]

Yes Only fools and horses was funny but I don't seem to find the repeats quite as funny second time around. On the other hand things like Dads army , Fawlty towers and Blackadder don't seem to have lost any of their sparkle even if I can literally mime to them. Decent current comedies are rarer though I have enjoyed the Dectorists .
We have some DVD's , including a Dads army box set , but find that because I could watch one at anytime I want I end up not watching any of them and just doing something else instead.

 

[PBC_1966]

I bought the Dad's Army box set last year and introduced my wife to it, and she's been chuckling along to every episode (we're up to the end of series 3 so far). Although she's been an Anglo-phile for years, I am having to explain a few British references and jokes to her admittedly, so from her point of view it's also educational about wartime Britain.

 

[JBR]

editing for "political correctness" nonsense

the squeezing of the closing of a show down to a corner of the screen so they can push three or four other shows, and the related annoying habits that they have now (scrolling announcements across the bottom of the screen plugging what's coming up next a good 5 minutes before the end of the show

Deleting parts of programmes for PC reasons is, for me, one of the most annoying aspects of television today. Also, the frequent interpositions of scrolling adverts and the even more annoying announcements as the credits are rolling and these, like adverts, are always much louder than the TV programmes themselves, whatever they may claim.

Just out of interest, do you have to pay for a TV licence in the Land of the Free?

 

[nauseous]

When "The Doctor" first came back with David Eccleston, I thought it was pretty good. More "non-human interest" than human interest.
However as time as gone on, it has got sillier and sillier, with seemingly more and more political "agenda". I stopped watching it the first time around after Sylvester McCoy took over and it became too silly for me. I'm afraid the same has finally happened this time around.

OTOH I like the Jekyll and Hyde thing on ITV. IMO it has what Doctor Who has come to lack. Some sort of sense of danger and adventure.

Same here. What were they thinking casting SM. Killed it stone dead.

 

[PBC_1966]

Deleting parts of programmes for PC reasons is, for me, one of the most annoying aspects of television today.

Definitely. And what I don't get is the double standards the BBC (and others) apply nowadays: Late-night TV has been allowed to become a cesspit of excessive violence, gore and foul language, yet they edit 30- to 40-year-old shows like Only Fools & Horses and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em for stupid little things which their brainwashed "politically correct" minds believe people should find offensive? That's not to mention shows which will probably never see the light of day on regular broadcast TV again because by the time they'd applied their "political correctness" in the editing suite the whole point of the story would be lost: Love Thy Neighbour, anyone?

Also, the frequent interpositions of scrolling adverts and the even more annoying announcements as the credits are rolling

I remember the time when voiceovers from the continuity announcer on the closing credits were brief and limited to something regarding the show itself: "Next week's episode can be seen at the earlier time of 8:25" or something like that. Now they seem to wait about a millisecond from the last line of dialogue in the closing scene before they shrink the picture down to a corner (very annoying if you wanted to see the credits, say for somebody you recognized but couldn't name) and talk over it non-stop through to the end, sometimes while playing out dialogue from other shows as well!

Just out of interest, do you have to pay for a TV licence in the Land of the Free?

No such thing as a TV receiving license here. And most people are absolutely dumbfounded at the idea when explained to them. I sort of miss the regular 5- or 6-weekly threatogram from TVL in Bristol that I used to get during my last years in England.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Deleting parts of programmes for PC reasons is, for me, one of the most annoying aspects of television today.

Definitely. And what I don't get is the double standards the BBC (and others) apply nowadays: Late-night TV has been allowed to become a cesspit of excessive violence, gore and foul language, yet they edit 30- to 40-year-old shows like Only Fools & Horses and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em for stupid little things which their brainwashed "politically correct" minds believe people should find offensive? That's not to mention shows which will probably never see the light of day on regular broadcast TV again because by the time they'd applied their "political correctness" in the editing suite the whole point of the story would be lost: Love Thy Neighbour, anyone?

I totally agree.
My (well, one of many) pet hate is the difference between radio and television regarding foul language.
The same people can be on a late night television show and also on radio - yet when they are on the radio and someone lets slip a very mild swear word that same presenter becomes a simpering apoplectic wreck and instantly cringes and apologises for the language.

I don't know if you are aware but we've just had a series about programmes in the seventies - such as the one you mentioned - with modern 'celebrities' showing absolute horror at what we used to see - as if they'd never heard such in real life.

No such thing as a TV receiving license here. And most people are absolutely dumbfounded at the idea when explained to them. I sort of miss the regular 5- or 6-weekly threatogram from TVL in Bristol that I used to get during my last years in England.

You have to pay one way or the other although I do agree about the Licence Gestapo. I often wonder how people get to be like that because of their job - or is it only people already like that who would do it?

I do remember a long time ago, when only two channels, that it was said that the free ITV did actually cost us a lot more than the BBC because of the advertising cost.

 

[PBC_1966]

I don't know if you are aware but we've just had a series about programmes in the seventies - such as the one you mentioned - with modern 'celebrities' showing absolute horror at what we used to see

No, but I had the misfortune to see a few clips of similar shows a few years ago. Seemed like the only reason those "celebrities" (never even heard of most of them) were there was to try and poke fun out of the older shows.

You have to pay one way or the other although I do agree about the Licence Gestapo. I often wonder how people get to be like that because of their job - or is it only people already like that who would do it?

Chicken or egg? Or perhaps they're already slightly predisposed to the idea of throwing their weight around and then when they feel they've been given a little authority (not that legally they really have any authority) they let it go to their heads and it bolsters that. I suspect it may be a combination of the two in many cases.

I do remember a long time ago, when only two channels, that it was said that the free ITV did actually cost us a lot more than the BBC because of the advertising cost.

Could be, if one looks at how much the various advertisers pay for their commercial spots and how that would affect the price one pays for their goods and services. But of course, at least nominally one is perfectly free to refuse to buy from those advertisers if one wishes.

The way the TV license works, one is forced to pay the BBC even if one wishes to watch only ITV or other non-BBC stations. That would be a bit like being forced to buy a "groceries license" with the fee going all to Tesco in order to be allowed to buy a pint of milk or a loaf of bread from the corner shop.

 

[JBR]

I do agree that the TV licence is unfair; just another stealth tax, in effect.
On the other hand, I've heard that they claim it is used to pay for the transmission infrastructure which, of course, is used by all of the TV companies.

I do believe that the BBC needs a complete re-structure. It is very clearly left-wing, which is unacceptable for a national broadcaster that should be politically unbiased.

Then there's also the matter of the plethora of 'digital' channels (ie, those apart from the old four or five channels). Most of these are trash: endless repeat programmes, advertising/sales channels and even channels devoted exclusively to sexually explicit programmes (not that I have ever watched those). And BBC News - never an hour passes without a report about football, when I immediately turn over to Sky News and see the inevitable adverts.

 

[longdogs]

I honestly don't know if it's just me getting old but I find almost all the new dramas on tv, totally boring. Too much humour, no direction and inappropriate background music. I recently had another try at watching Sherlock after all the hype but lost interest after about 10 minutes.

Dickensian must have cost a huge amount of money to produce but it's as though someone forgot to add the story. That combined with the fact that whilst watching these programmes, the sound of rain hitting the pavement is louder than the character's voices just makes it a turn off for me.