MetaFilter posts tagged with bbc

"Given the number of sins we've committed over the course of 20 centuries, reference to them must be rather summary"

empath — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:04:53 -0800

Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world? Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry debate the question with Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Anne Widdencombe. Parts 2, 3, 4, 5

Dawn French interviews Russell Brand

mhjb — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:48:43 -0800

Russell Brand talks to Dawn French about comedy, revealing a peculiar and compelling intelligence apparently gleaned from TV and substance abuse. Part 1, 2, 3, 4 [YT]

1989, revolution in Eastern Europe

Kattullus — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:49:20 -0800

The BBC World Service has put together a special report on the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe (they also have a simpler portal). There is a wealth of material, including TV reports on key events from the BBC archives, interviews, a map timeline, a report on Catholicism's role in the 1989 revolutions, a first-hand report of what it was like to gather news in East Germany during that time and much more.

John Humphrys on the move

nam3d — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:17:06 -0800

BBC Streams has rekindled my love of all things BBC Radio 4, now I can listen to The Today Programme on my iPhone whilst on my commute.

A story of a thousand tweets begins with a single twit

filthy light thief — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:35:44 -0800

One day ago, Neil Gaiman wrote the beginning of a story, which was retweeted by BBC Audiobooks America as the first of a thousand or so tweets that would compiled and edited to become an audiobook. People are still contributing, and BBCAA's blog has four scenes compiled (1, 2, 3, summary of scenes 1-3, and 4), for a total of 175 tweets. When 1,000 or so tweets are logged, they'll be edited into a script, and produced in a studio to make the final audiobook, which will be released for free on BBCAA's website. This isn't the first game of exquisite corpse played via twitter that made a piece to be refined and presented in some way. The first Twitter opera was one of a few recent "gimmicks" to garner attention for the Royal Opera House (twitter opera feed, ROH twitter feed, ROH blog). The result, Twitterdammerung, was given a decent review by opera critic Igor Toronyi-Lalic.

"Shouldn't have had that 12th coffee, I can't even blink anymore and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears!"

MaryDellamorte — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:49:43 -0800

Clips from each six episodes of BBC's Walk on the Wild Side, which involves the overdubbing of voices to natural history footage. 1 2 3 4 5 6

"I knew there was an element of danger, but the job had to be done."

Monsters — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:26:44 -0800

Inside Chernobyl Sarcophagus (1996). Deep inside the sarcophagus, a remarkable group of Soviet physicists is at work in levels of radiation that would be considered almost suicidal in the West. In 1991, a joint team from WGBH and the BBC went to Pripyat, Ukraine to interview the scientists working in the wreckage of Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A BBC team went back in 1996 to follow up with the scientists. This documentary is the result, updating the 1991 footage with ten minutes of new material. The film shows nuclear scientists Viktor Popov, Konstantin Checherov, Alexander Borovoi and Edvard Pazukhin in 1991 and 1996, as they attempt to manage the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident while battling fierce levels of radiation, 'Chernobyl heart,' and "an invincible bureaucracy." The 1991 footage seems to be the same footage that aired in the USA as "Suicide Mission to Chernobyl", for which PBS received an Emmy Award in 1992. Previously on Chernobylfilter: Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story Told in Pictures. Radioactive Fungi. Chernobyl, 20 years later. Surviving Chernobyl.

'The Human Animal,' by Desmond Morris

grillcover — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:44:48 -0800

The Human Animal - a brilliant BBC mini-series documentary by zoologist Desmond Morris that takes an extended look at the curious creatures known as Homo sapiens. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on Google videos. Beautiful and fascinating.

Cobra Mk 3

Artw — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:51:39 -0800

This month marks the 25th aniversary of Elite, the groundbreaking 3D space trading game. The making of Elite. More on the making of Elite from The Backroom Boys. Emulate the original BBC Micro version. The Dark Wheel.

Somalia's refugee camps

allkindsoftime — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:16:07 -0800

Inside Somalia. Mike Thomson of the BBC makes a rare visit to the refugee camps in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

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.

"Oh God, I could do better than that..."

Civil_Disobedient — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:22:52 -0800

Bored kid on a Friday night in 1974 in the States? The Midnight Special. Bored kid on a Friday night in the UK? The Old Grey Whistle Test! Wha… huh? On a shoestring budget of just £500 an episode, for 16 years the BBC2s OGWT played host to live performances* from some of the most influential musicians of the time at their artistic peaks. Like who? Well, there's…

…just to name a few. [Inspired by philip-random's great post] * - Incredibly good live performances.

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.}

Murdoch v. the BBC

Jakey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:00:54 -0800

"If you think you can get fucking angry, I can get fucking angry." James Murdoch, Chairman of News Corp, gave this year's MacTaggart Lecture (vid) (transcript) in which he delivered a broadside on the role of the BBC, accusing it of 'dumping' news on the commercial market. An alternative view was given by the BBC's Robert Peston, who asked "Should we be relaxed if 'can't pay' means 'can't know'?" Their after-dinner discussions led to a 'vigorous exchange of views.' There was a mixed reception to the speech in the UK media, and even The Wire's dominic West got in on the act. Previous MacTaggart speakers include Dennis Potter and Jeremy Paxman, amongst others.

Written by you, for you, for free, for money, for us.

not_on_display — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:06:42 -0800

Bigipedia--it's like listening to Wikipedia on the radio--is also available on the web (for those of you whose radios do not support multiple-voice broadcasts).

People Like Us -- the documentary series about people, like us.

not_on_display — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:55:23 -0800

In 1999 and 2000, and again from 1995 to 1997, the BBC's Roy Mallard travelled across Britain documenting the everyday lives of ordinary citizens--people like us--for a documentary series with the odd title People Like Us, to show that these everyday peoples' ordinary lives are indeed just like ours, or us, and we, like theirs, or them.
Sample episodes in the series: Actors 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 / a Vicar 1 • 2 • 3 / Freelance Photographer 1 • 2 • 3 / The Pilot Episode, which turned out to be the final episode 1 • 2 • 3 / [Wikipedia] Bonus footage: The Bank Lender / The Solicitor Unfortunately, Roy Mallard's subsequent real life turned out much more uncomfortable than his on(off)-screen persona.

Iran and the West

semmi — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:03:40 -0800

Three part BBC documentary analyzes and documents the revolution and the long struggle of Iran and the West to come together ever since the revolution. The documentary shows interviews with a wide range of world leaders who reveal the inner dealings of all governing adminstrations from the past thirty years, both from within Iran’s own adminstration and from the Western counterparts.

I'll huff and I'll puff and ...

bwg — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:02:37 -0800

Vortex Cannon : SLYT "Jem Stansfield builds a vortex cannon to pick up where the big bad wolf failed to blow over a house of brick." More details at the BBC.

BBC4 Documentary: Factory - Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays

Item — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:04:47 -0800

'This is the story of how Factory pioneered Briton's independent pop culture, imagined a new Manchester, and blew a shedload of money:

Factory - Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays'

Senese Challenge From the BBC

blue_beetle — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:06:26 -0800

Challenge Your Senses

Word is still out on whether or not he could create a corndog too big for him to eat.

grapefruitmoon — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:57:20 -0800

Could Jesus Walk on Custard?

Beeb Mac

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:43:06 -0800

"Working in art film or commercial cinema is like dancing through a mine field, and every broadcaster is now racing down market in a desperate attempt to survive. But what is happening at the BBC is the real scandal: it is bigger than all the rest combined, it is free from direct commercial pressure and its public service obligations carry cultural responsibilities. There are no excuses." Veteran producer Tony Garnett, has launched a blistering attack on the current process of drama commissioning at the BBC

What Musick is there that compar'd may be To well-tun'd Bells enchanting melody!

Helga-woo — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:14:55 -0800

A thousand echos: Bells on Sunday from BBC Radio 4. Campanology is a dying art, despite having loyal devotees. Evan Davis learns how it's done. Here's a modern introduction to bell ringing; here's something a bit older. Hint, it's a bit of maths (previously). The insomniacs' Sunday special from the BBC, see also.

Doctor Who and the Terrence Dicks Novelisation of the Earth!

Artw — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:34:17 -0800

On The Outside It Looked Like An Old- Fashioned Police Box - Mark Gatiss presents a Radio 4 documentary on the Target novelisations of Doctor Who stories. Free Doctor Who eBooks.

North Ustire, South Ustire, Rockall, Malin

itsjustanalias — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:09:41 -0800

Don't want to wait until bedtime (UK bedtime that is) to drift off to Sailing By (one of Jarvis Cocker's Desert Island Discs)? Well thanks to permanent bedtime you can listen to the BBC shipping forecast all day. Oh? What's that? It's no use because it's from months ago? Okay, here's the Met Office current data, and the listen again page on the beeb. Or test yourself: can you name all the weather areas?