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I've been enjoying the various BBC archive uploads for awhile now. Man Alive and similar ITV titles. Maybe this can be a good place to mention and comment on some of the documentary programs?
There was a good biography of author Virginia Woolf, including some filmed interviews with her husband as well as then current ones with friends. I really didn't know much at all about her, nor had really read all that much of her writings. WWII in it's darkest hours weighed heavily upon her though she had problems before that. The whole Bloomsbury circle seems pretentious, but maybe imposed by others upon them later... people like to form groupings in their minds' filing systems, thus all '60s Liverpool groups reflect The Beatles to some degree, even Manchester groups. The Inklings or the Algonquin Roundtable seem more impressive though for who was 'in' their circles.
Still on a biography kick I watched good ones on Spike Milligan and Christopher Hitchens and learned a lot from both as well. I dipped into a Peter Sellers one as well but not great a fan though he had some amazing talents; very much an enigma no matter what. They show a painting by Virginia Woolf's sister or friend where her face is blank but seems more appropriate for Sellers to me. I definitely think even more of 'Spike' now however.
Hitchens... about the same; admirable in that he was so often right yet kept an air of apologies for mistakes he as often hadn't even made. I disagree most with him in the concept of total freedom of speech/publication/broadcast. Yes, ideally you could allow all to be liberally exposed to the craziest most negative garbage and conspiracy junk and nothing would come of it, but when has anything or the population in our midgaard or middle-earth been so ideal? We live in half-fouled up land... and as the internet has pumped all kinds of nonsense leading to real street-level violence even in the so-called first world, regulation of some kind seems necessary, or do we have to keep re-learning that shouting fire when there is not one into a packed room is almost always a very bad thing. No, Christopher (r.i.p.), fantasies about nazi dirigibles coming and going from an entrance into the hollow earth where there are only 'pure' whatever people allowed can and have been dangerous. The Weimar republic 'allowed' more newspapers and political magazines and everything else anyone had ever seen, quickly followed by there only being one newspaper (and one that was initially laughed over as absurd).
There was a nice program on people holidaying at Weston-super-Mare from the '70s. Another on an aspiring '70s popstar group named Punch. Stardom didn't pan out after one brass ring single they won the chance at... where they were very un-Punch like covering material the label forced on them! Some co-op housing revolving around keeping and upgrading rather than bulldozing the usual Corrie type terrace homes, and also people building houses for each included in a group two at a time until they had a full subdivision. Both schemes made home-owners of people who otherwise financially couldn't have made it, but they had to have skills as well as at least some money.
There sure were (and maye are) a lot of programs made about trains. I mostly haven't gone there, not sure why. I have watched a few on canals though. I think my favorite one wasn't so old and was presented by Matthew Corbett (sans Sooty). Also many of various accidents/tragedies... you watch one and more will flood your recommended feed. I guess a form of 'doomscrolling'? I try not to overdo these.
I also like any music biographies... lately I seem to have a bit of a dark turn in learning about Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and yet more on Nick Drake. Actually only Nick's story is truly dark, but the music by the groups is pretty heavy. I'm not usually that much of a metal-head but they were extremely high-quality and I grew up when Paranoid and Smoke On The Water among others were as ubiquitous as, well, whatever smash hits have come out of Taylor Swift etc. that I tend to completely tune out. 'A Skin To Few' on (Nick) Drake is as good as tv about musicians gets. Arena has had many music-centric installments; maybe the best I can remember was on the Everly Brothers, but also one on NYC's Chelsea Hotel which has had many musical connections, and at the time it was made was inhabited by Jobriath, Nico and the man who wrote Tubby The Tuba!
Run across an old program of quality made available again? Let me know, please!
There was a good biography of author Virginia Woolf, including some filmed interviews with her husband as well as then current ones with friends. I really didn't know much at all about her, nor had really read all that much of her writings. WWII in it's darkest hours weighed heavily upon her though she had problems before that. The whole Bloomsbury circle seems pretentious, but maybe imposed by others upon them later... people like to form groupings in their minds' filing systems, thus all '60s Liverpool groups reflect The Beatles to some degree, even Manchester groups. The Inklings or the Algonquin Roundtable seem more impressive though for who was 'in' their circles.
Still on a biography kick I watched good ones on Spike Milligan and Christopher Hitchens and learned a lot from both as well. I dipped into a Peter Sellers one as well but not great a fan though he had some amazing talents; very much an enigma no matter what. They show a painting by Virginia Woolf's sister or friend where her face is blank but seems more appropriate for Sellers to me. I definitely think even more of 'Spike' now however.
Hitchens... about the same; admirable in that he was so often right yet kept an air of apologies for mistakes he as often hadn't even made. I disagree most with him in the concept of total freedom of speech/publication/broadcast. Yes, ideally you could allow all to be liberally exposed to the craziest most negative garbage and conspiracy junk and nothing would come of it, but when has anything or the population in our midgaard or middle-earth been so ideal? We live in half-fouled up land... and as the internet has pumped all kinds of nonsense leading to real street-level violence even in the so-called first world, regulation of some kind seems necessary, or do we have to keep re-learning that shouting fire when there is not one into a packed room is almost always a very bad thing. No, Christopher (r.i.p.), fantasies about nazi dirigibles coming and going from an entrance into the hollow earth where there are only 'pure' whatever people allowed can and have been dangerous. The Weimar republic 'allowed' more newspapers and political magazines and everything else anyone had ever seen, quickly followed by there only being one newspaper (and one that was initially laughed over as absurd).
There was a nice program on people holidaying at Weston-super-Mare from the '70s. Another on an aspiring '70s popstar group named Punch. Stardom didn't pan out after one brass ring single they won the chance at... where they were very un-Punch like covering material the label forced on them! Some co-op housing revolving around keeping and upgrading rather than bulldozing the usual Corrie type terrace homes, and also people building houses for each included in a group two at a time until they had a full subdivision. Both schemes made home-owners of people who otherwise financially couldn't have made it, but they had to have skills as well as at least some money.
There sure were (and maye are) a lot of programs made about trains. I mostly haven't gone there, not sure why. I have watched a few on canals though. I think my favorite one wasn't so old and was presented by Matthew Corbett (sans Sooty). Also many of various accidents/tragedies... you watch one and more will flood your recommended feed. I guess a form of 'doomscrolling'? I try not to overdo these.
I also like any music biographies... lately I seem to have a bit of a dark turn in learning about Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and yet more on Nick Drake. Actually only Nick's story is truly dark, but the music by the groups is pretty heavy. I'm not usually that much of a metal-head but they were extremely high-quality and I grew up when Paranoid and Smoke On The Water among others were as ubiquitous as, well, whatever smash hits have come out of Taylor Swift etc. that I tend to completely tune out. 'A Skin To Few' on (Nick) Drake is as good as tv about musicians gets. Arena has had many music-centric installments; maybe the best I can remember was on the Everly Brothers, but also one on NYC's Chelsea Hotel which has had many musical connections, and at the time it was made was inhabited by Jobriath, Nico and the man who wrote Tubby The Tuba!
Run across an old program of quality made available again? Let me know, please!
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