MetaFilter posts tagged with bbc and tv

whole lotta cat!

madamjujujive — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:55:55 -0800

Kitten Kong pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 - The Goodies, Montreux 1972 Edition. Previously on Mefi: Goodie goodie yum yum! (via coisas do arco da velha - some images nsfw)

Goodbye Gastronaut

Elmore — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:25:05 -0800

Keith Floyd , the original Celebrity chef and the most flamboyant of gastronauts, has passed away from a heart attack at the age of 65. Floyd was known not just for enjoying a drink while he cooked, but also for making TV real. Slow cooked beef in red wine How to cook mussels Pheasant in Mead sauce Toulouse Cassolet Beef with Oysters and Guinness Fish stew Keith Meets Keith, which aired last night, for those who have access to Channel 4's 4oD (strong language). Keith's blog also has instructions on how to roast a turkey.

Giants and Spiders and Frogs, Oh My!

Hardcore Poser — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:08:28 -0800

As many as 40 new species may have been discovered near the crater of a volcano in New Guinea. Not to alarm anyone but Fearless Giant Rats, Caterpillars that look like Snakes and Fanged Frogs have been spotted and are said to be at large. BBC producer Steve Greenwood took a small crew from the BBC Natural History Unit in to Mount Bosavi crater. The extinct giant volcano is in the southern highlands of Papua, New Guinea. Partnering with a team from the London Zoo and Oxford University led by George McGavin, the crew recorded some of the team's fascinating discoveries. There were other dangers, besides the Rodents Of Unusual Size:

The area is so remote and inaccessible that no people live in the crater. Even villagers in the few scattered settlements surrounding the volcano rarely ventured in, due to the difficulty of climbing the slopes leading to a 2,800m summit. "'If you fall when climbing in,' one village elder said, 'no one will ever find your body,'" recounts Greenwood.

The series, titled 'The Lost Land of the Volcano' will air on BBC One on Tuesday September 8th, at 2100 BST. The Invertebrate Diary blog has a preview. _{First post, be gentle honest.}

You'd never guess you're an actor, Brian.

permafrost — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:39:59 -0800

Brian Blessed presents Have I Got News For You. In other Blessed news, Brian will apparently be appearing in Kenneth Brannagh's upcoming adaptation of Marvel's Thor. Loki? All valkyries! DIIIIIIIIIIVE! Bonus Blessed: Brian commentates the snooker.

Stringer and McNulty are coming home!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:15:53 -0800

Blatantly jumping on the opportunity to create yet another thread on The Wire, I'd like to remind you that starting tonight, BBC 2 will air the entire series start to finish, an episode every weekday. First episode starts in a moment, at 11:20 PM UK time. Watch! I've you've never heard of the show before, here's a good write-up by Charlie Brooker, who also made a nice TV special on the show. We've discussed the series quite a bit around here and on the Green. [SPOILERS] The final season wrapped up last year in the States, and while it never reached very large TV audiences it gained a rabidly evangelic cult following. Moreover, it seems to have been almost universally liked by the Metafilter contingent, which is definitely a rarity. In any case, this should be a brilliant opportunity for those in the British Isles and elsewhere in Europe to catch up, so good luck and have fun.

Trouble at' Mill

chuckdarwin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:44:39 -0800

A Matter of Loaf and Death is the new BBC Christmas short from Nick Park and Aardman. In the mock murder mystery, Wallace and Gromit start a new bakery business, Top Bun. The short, Park's first since 1995, will introduce a new love interest for Wallace, Piella Bakewell, a bread enthusiast.

Not suitable for children, or those of you who may have a nervous disposition

fearfulsymmetry — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:30:48 -0800

The Kneale Tapes (1, 2, 3, 4) documentary about British science fiction screenwriter Nigel Kneale. Interview The Quatermass Experiment comic The Quatermass Xperiment film version (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Quatermass 2 film version (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Quatermass II - television Quatermass And The Pit film version (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) The Stone Tape (1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) The Year Of The Sex Olympics (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15) Previously - 1984

David Tennant Calls Time On Dr Who

Effigy2000 — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:19:49 -0800

The Doctor is set to regenerate once again as David Tennant calls time on Doctor Who. "When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me" Tennant, widely acknowledged as one of the most popular actors ever to play the Doctor, said. "Now don’t make me cry. The 2009 shows will be my last playing the doctor.” Speculation now turns to who will play the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. With the 2008 Christmas special named 'The Next Doctor', it is possible that we may not have long to wait until we get some clues. Check out the trailer for 'The Next Doctor' here.

The Who we never knew

Artw — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:39:46 -0800

The Russell T. Davis papers – As he prepares to leave the role of Doctor Who show runner (previously) he’s releasing a book of email exchanges with Doctor Who Magazine writer Benjamin Cook about his time on the longstanding British SF series, revealing the younger face of Who he’s like to see, and plans for a Doctor Who/Harry Potter crossover which never materialized.

The Man Who Invented Stereo

rongorongo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:10:27 -0800

In a single 1931 document, electrical engineer Alan Blumlein patented stereo records, stereo movie sountracks and surround sound. His equipment was used to make some of the first stereo recordings at EMI's Abbey Road studios - several decades before the technology came into popular use. Blumlein went on to pioneer 405 line TV (the first wholly electronic format which won out over John Logie Baird's rival system) and to produce the equipment that made the first outside TV broadcast possible. At the outbreak of World War 2 he was a key architect of the secret H2S radar project. Unfortunately he was killed in a plane crash while testing the technology and the whole incident was kept secret. Hence he remains an obscure figure despite his achievements. A recent BBC Radio 4 program contains a lot of the archive stereo footage and tells his story.

That's entertainment

miss lynnster — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:53:16 -0800

The Black and White Minstrel Show was a (very cheesy) British variety series that ran Saturday nights on the BBC for twenty years. Hard to believe that it was still on the air as late as 1978. A live show, "Memories of the Minstrels ," toured the UK to packed houses in 2004 and 2005. The show was performed white-faced and featured the stars, medley's and costumes from the original TV series. Previ ously. Older episode seen here.

Congratulations! You've Become an Exploitative Television Scumbag!

tiny crocodile — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:16:56 -0800

People think working in television is glamorous, but is it really? Is it, really? Is it? Really? Charlie Brooker on making TV (Youtube, NSFW). Selected bite-sized chunks: filming, watching your ideas take shape, being the talent. Also: on UK imports to the US, on US TV and on editing reality TV. Prev ious ly.

"If people do not accept our position on creationism, they do not have to watch."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:42:04 -0800

Guess who's censoring references to evolution out of David Attenborough documentaries? That's right, the Dutch. See the differences; here's a detailed write-up by a Dutch biologist and documentary enthusiast comparing the two versions side-by-side (in Dutch).

BBC's new positioning guidelines for end credits

feelinglistless — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:45:19 -0800

The BBC have published online new guidelines for programme makers as to how the end credits to television shows should be formatted in future. The instructions are geekily idiosyncratic and the diagrams offer a preview of at least BBC One's on-screen graphics in the future. Spy drama Spooks famously dumped its credits online. Are we now seeing the first stage of a process in which the same will happen for all programmes? Does it matter?

Question Time

Aloysius Bear — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:58:26 -0800

Question Time Iraq Special (Skip to 04:45 to begin). Question Time is a British TV institution, where five prominent politicians debate current affairs while being questioned by a studio audience. The Iraq edition, available online, features the British Secretary of State for Defence, a popular, anti-war former party leader, the aristocratic old socialist leading the Stop-the-War coalition, the first female leader of a Muslim state … and John Bolton.

Pathetic little fat man, noones bloody laughing

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:07:45 -0800

"See his pug-nose face." David Bowie, from Extras second season, which premieres tomorrow in USA. Stephen Merchant (from today's RADAR) and Ricky Gervais have been mentioned here before, but I think the David Bowie clip is worth it.

Toob to Beeb

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 13:38:40 -0800

"I feel guilty because I have friends that are working really hard to get into television or acting and I'm just sitting here having not done anything more than enjoy playing with gadgets."

Susi Weaser (24) makes little one-minute gadget reviews and posts them on YouTube . The BBC must have liked them - because they hired her.

Heaven knows it's Manchester now

funambulist — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:17:42 -0800

Remember the announcement for the BBC's Manchester Passion? The full list of songs and lineup were recently announced, rehearsals are over, tonight the procession through the city will be broadcast live on BBC Three - for now you can watch trailers and interviews with the cast (only for UK viewers/proxy users).

BBC Open News Archive

feelinglistless — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 04:41:30 -0800

BBC Open News Archive Eighty iconic news reports available in a variety of formats. Here is the full directory. For another example of the cool things Auntie as been offering lately, see the downloadable mp3 commentary for the Christmas episode of Doctor Who.

BBC on broadband

funambulist — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 03:44:56 -0800

The BBC announces plans to make its TV channels available on the internet. As you already know, you can already listen to all BBC radio channels live and view news clips and some news programmes. Now the BBC has ambitions to expand its internet offer even further. Starting next year, on demand radio and tv content will be available through MyBBCPlayer, with the past seven days of programmes, along with live streaming of BBC tv channels (apparently to be restricted to UK viewers only) and access to the archives. Plans also include the ability to purchase music downloads.

BBC Weather

Mwongozi — Tue, 17 May 2005 16:04:41 -0800

The BBC TV weather forecasts haven't changed much over the years - until now. (RealVideo) But some people aren't too happy with the changes.

The new Doctor Who reviews

tgrundke — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 10:06:44 -0800

The new Doctor Who series has been airing on BBC Television for three weeks now. And it is "good TV" Most all of the reviews are startlingly positive, far more than I've seen for a television series in a long, long time. What is most striking is that many of the commentaries about the "New Who" state that it is just plain ole' good television that combines something intelligent, something scary, something mysterious and something balls-out fun. In our world of reality television, what other series would you classify as being "good tv"? What makes for "good TV"? (Link goes to a fan site that has re-printed and linked to numerous reviews)

We owe our human condition here to the intervention of insects?

nthdegx — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 08:55:23 -0800

Behind the Dark Door [Google cached copy] might prove a valuable resource to science fiction aficionados, or interesting to fans of quality television drama. It provides insight into the mind of Nigel Kneale, writer of The Quatermass Experiment. Last Saturday's gripping and technically impressive update was based largely on his original scripts, and was the BBC's first live TV drama in more than twenty years. Another chance the pimp David Tennant, The Quatermass Experiment 2005 was much more satisfying than the BBC's other science fiction drama with which Tennant has been linked.

I am doing EXCELLENT posting.

mimi — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 07:04:39 -0800

Peep Show. Ah, now that's lurid-sounding. What it is, however, is a comedy from BBC that's way, way funnier than The Office. Reviewers chatter about the Herman's Head-like gimmick -- you hear the characters' thoughts -- but the better gimmick? Excellent writing.

Protect and Survive

metaxa — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 03:16:44 -0800

Twenty Years Ago, The BBC produced a topical drama called Threads - little did they know the furore it would go on to create. [more inside]