There is symbolism in the type of statue chosen. The poses that various statues of Buddha have meaning. The one in his office is in the Dhyana Mudra style which symbolizes wisdom, balance, clarity and meditation. In a way, perhaps, it represents what DM does not have or has lost.
He is intelligent but often lacks wisdom-in non medical situations he acts before thinking and that is often not wise.
His life is defintely not in balance. His world (his life before the onset of the Hemophobia) has been totally shattered.
His life once was 'brilliant white' clear as a surgeon but now it is muddied-there is no clear path.
His manner with other people is that he shoots first and asks questions later-he doesn't think (meditate) on the subject first.
Seeing as it is not a reoccuring theme like the items I mentioned in my previous post but a 'one off' I sometimes think that they are pulling a Freud on us. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
Yes, I get that point, but the Buddha is almost always in at least one shot in the surgery -- sometimes in different places. And there are other Buddhas scattered around (I think Shop Girl has pointed this out). So I continue to think it has some meaning.
I have had the thought that it is somewhat ironic -- because as you mention (I think) , it seems to represent what DM is NOT.
Hello All - just started watching DM in the fall (2012) when it showed up on our local PBS station - along with Call the Midwife. By about 4 episodes I was clearly hooked and got all the DVDs. Then I found this forum and it makes rewatching so much more fun...I have gone back to many things I missed the first time.
I rewatched S3E3 today (among others)- what is called City Slickers but on the US DVDs is called Love thy Neighbor - and I agree with many that Mrs Averill is a great character. I laugh out load everytime I watch when DM asks if she has traveled abroad and she replies that she went to Delabole. If she is ninety then she is my role model for when I get there.
I look forward to future rehashing of all the nuances of the plot and characters and the infuriating habit of changes to the surgery and kitchen and other loctions with every season. Any one got a clue who has the fascination with sailboats? It is never mentioned and it so clearly is not ME.
Welcome to the forum, DMbesotted. Your name describes most of us here! ShopGirl has a whole set of flickr pages with pictures of the sets, if you are interested, and also of most of the shooting locations.
Cannot help you about the sailboats, except for the obvious -- voyage of life.
Or...perhaps DM and LG have been two ships sailing in the night continually passing each other, and are now, perhaps, finally going to be on board the same boat and sharing their journey.
Yes, I get that point, but the Buddha is almost always in at least one shot in the surgery -- sometimes in different places. And there are other Buddhas scattered around (I think Shop Girl has pointed this out). So I continue to think it has some meaning.
I have had the thought that it is somewhat ironic -- because as you mention (I think) , it seems to represent what DM is NOT.
Now, about those onions......
I decided to do a little research--
The title ‘Buddha’, which literally means ‘awakened’, is conferred on an individual who discovers the path to nirvana, the cessation of suffering, and propagates that discovery so that others may also achieve nirvana.
The Buddha's basic teachings are usually summarized using the device of the Four Noble Truths:
There is suffering.
There is the origination of suffering.
There is the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the cessation of suffering. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddha/
Whether the suffering is physical or psychological, either is closely connected to the doctor's realm of healing. And the Doc was a teacher as a surgeon, too, sharing his knowledge (think Adrian Pitts). It seems to me there are ways he is partially the embodiment of the Buddha working on the Four Noble Truths, while he also shows a very human side of sometimes failing in them. Just a thought.
By the way, you guys are burning up the boards with your recent great analyses and discussion. Thoroughly enjoying it, just too tired to think very coherently to join in right now.
Seeing as it is not a reoccuring theme like the items I mentioned in my previous post but a 'one off' I sometimes think that they are pulling a Freud on us. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
But it is a recurring theme. In the first episode in series 1 DM took the buddha out of the car(it had been strapped into the back seat with a seatbelt) which he obviously hadn't let the removalists move. Then we see them literally littering the set in every shot in the surgery for every series. (Thanks to shop girl's excellent sluthing. ) In series 4 when he's leaving he straps the buddha into the back seat again and it plays a pivotal part in the final scenes.
Then in series 5 it is back in the back seat taking pride of place next to LG.
If it has no more significance than the onions it is a pretty elaborate game by the props guys. Which I know is not beyond them. :):)
Hello All - just started watching DM in the fall (2012) when it showed up on our local PBS station - along with Call the Midwife. By about 4 episodes I was clearly hooked and got all the DVDs. Then I found this forum and it makes rewatching so much more fun...I have gone back to many things I missed the first time.
I rewatched S3E3 today (among others)- what is called City Slickers but on the US DVDs is called Love thy Neighbor - and I agree with many that Mrs Averill is a great character. I laugh out load everytime I watch when DM asks if she has traveled abroad and she replies that she went to Delabole. If she is ninety then she is my role model for when I get there.
I look forward to future rehashing of all the nuances of the plot and characters and the infuriating habit of changes to the surgery and kitchen and other loctions with every season. Any one got a clue who has the fascination with sailboats? It is never mentioned and it so clearly is not ME.
The darkest hour is the one just before dawn. I agree wholeheartedly that they need to get back to the humor and subtle suduction of past series. That being said there was not alot of humor in the whole situation-the lives of just about ever major character in the show was in some form of upheaval and all of those upheavals were resolved in one form or another by the end of series 5. If this were an American TV series which produces 20+ episodes a year everthing would have been resolved and the characters would have moved on. In what little I have been able to glean from statements made about season 6 it will be a comedy festival of errors and disasters in the fine DM tradition.
Note: In my posts I am using American spellings and terms. If readers prefer British ones I can change to that. Please advise.
I think such excellent writers could have managed to find a bit more humour and or seduction in the series if they had tried/wanted to. Maybe they got caught up in MC's idea that people (the public) like "dark". I think they went too far and I am not sure that they realised until it was too late to change. Or maybe MC thought that was what the viewers wanted. I think this is possible because MC has said he's told the writers he wanted DM grumpy, grumpy, grumpy even though the writers didn't agree with him.
Re the spellings - do whatever is natural for you.
I think such excellent writers could have managed to find a bit more humour and or seduction in the series if they had tried/wanted to. Maybe they got caught up in MC's idea that people (the public) like "dark". I think they went too far and I am not sure that they realised until it was too late to change. Or maybe MC thought that was what the viewers wanted. I think this is possible because MC has said he's told the writers he wanted DM grumpy, grumpy, grumpy even though the writers didn't agree with him.
Re the spellings - do whatever is natural for you.
I don't think we can take MC's comments about "dark" when he was referring to "The Town" (assuming you all watched that interview) and which he just filmed in 2012 and mix them up with DM S5 (written 2010-ish, filmed 2011). That seems a bit of a stretch.
S5 had the huge upheaval of trying to sort out DM's career situation, his personal life both with Louisa (being a partner, when marriage seemed the normal course and trying to sort out how to live together) and James Henry (all the feelings and duties of fatherhood, and the normal repercussions of having an infant in the house), another disappointing parent (LG's mum), death of AJ, and arrival of AR (it being the least trouble to him).
I just didn't see the series as particularly disappointing or dark, if you will, but just as the mostly fairly normal life issues, considering all the items I've listed above.
It has always struck me when Doc discovers PC Penhale's ex, Maggie's problem and he makes the disparaging remark about Joe "deliberately concealing a seriously ill woman from me for his own benefit" and then later to Louisa: "Well, forgive me if I think that taking advantage of a person's medical condition isn't the height of romance." that Doc seemed to be exercising restraint himself so as not to rush Louisa (being a new mum--medical condition) into anything she wasn't ready for.
Doc may not have been "Mr. Hearts and Flowers" but he did go a long way to showing his care and consideration for both LG and JH through his actions. Of course, the problem is that LG wanted Mr. Hearts and Flowers. I found myself getting frustrated with her, too.
And the realism of the situations in the characters' world seemed like a real normal progression for that time (few weeks) in Doc and Louisa's life. A more romantic and less troubled time wouldn't have seemed as true to the characters' lives as what was ultimately written, at least to me.
Welcome Adelie. (And I know where Aggieland is too. Quite a change from Fitzrovia it must be.)QUOTE]
It is a good change. London was starting to drive me bonkers. Now I have Bluebonnets, a sky full of stars at night, fresh air (and fresh Lemonade) on the deck and the only sounds I hear are the songs of the birds, wind in the grass and the occasional 'meow' of my pushy cat.
I love bluebonnets! And, I like your penguin. :cool::)
It's pretty expensive and I don't know anything about its reliability but it might be worth looking into. Maybe ask around and see if anyone uses it?
Looks a lot like the basic "Freeview" package we had in Oxford. I might be interested although I can't imagine being able to figure out how it works. do you think it's just on one TV? It sounds like it's basically "streaming" that goes through your laptop into an HDMI port into your TV, which is basically how we watch English programs now that we're serious about (e.g., The killng). I wonder how they bypass the licensing requirement?
Last night I watched "Goodbye, Mr. Chips." It was good, yet sad. And, I did not like to see MC age to an old man. I preferred to see him younger, when he first took off on his bike to catch up with Kathie. :D
Looks a lot like the basic "Freeview" package we had in Oxford. I might be interested although I can't imagine being able to figure out how it works. do you think it's just on one TV? It sounds like it's basically "streaming" that goes through your laptop into an HDMI port into your TV, which is basically how we watch English programs now that we're serious about (e.g., The killng). I wonder how they bypass the licensing requirement?
I didn't read all the blurb but I assume they pay a licensing fee out of your monthly subscription.
I love bluebonnets! And, I like your penguin. :cool::)
The penguin was drawn for me by my best friend, it is an Adelie penguin or Manchot d'Adelie in French:D. She had it made into printed fabric then made me a beautiful set of pillowcases, a pair of shorts that I love wearing just to see peoples reaction to them and a comfy pair of jammies out of it.
Speaking of penguins I was thinking about them, the cigar quote from Freud and Scott's First Rule of Engineering* at work last night and how they pertain to the previous posts on symbolism and set dressing.
I thought what would people try to read into my home if they were looking at it with the same 'eyes' as we are looking at the sets on DM? I asked myself if someone who saw all this and did not know me (or saw it as a set dressing as we are doing) what they would read into it and what would they assume about the owner? Would they see it as a collection of unconnected/semiconnected items gathered over a lifetime or if they would place symbolism onto the various items and try to place a 'theme' or meaning into it all? It was a slow, quiet night at work so I played that game for a couple hours after watching the Cotton Bowl. You can play, too, and see what you come up with if you wish. The following is a verbal 'picture' of my living room.
My living room is painted in a shade called Alexandrite and in various parts of the room I have Penguin, Loon and Dragon figurines. The furniture is all Oak Mission style (the chair usually inhabited by a big black and tan mackerel striped tabby named Catzequatal), the lamps are a Tiffany style called Maple Leaf (ye gods, I did not pay that much for them!). On top the entertainment center are a collection of small penguin figurines, my rock collection including a Migmatite, a couple of Vaseline glass pieces, a sword called Hadhafang on a display stand, a hand painted clay Loon whistle, a small snowglobe with the Titanic down by the bow and sinking in it, a cobalt glass heart, and a Solar Queen in a pink dress. Behind them are eight matching Lava Lamps in arranged in a 'rainbow' from dark red to violet. The walls have only a few items on them-two large hand colored black and white photos from the 1930's-one of a path through a pine forest and the other of Yellowstone falls. An enlarged photo of the Aurora Borealis. A copy of "Summer Moon at Miyajima" by Koitsu and over the mantlepiece a copy of "Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft Elves" poster obtained at the Bodleian. All are nicely matted and framed. The mantelpiece has small statues of a terracotta warrior, a statue of Bast, a red three candle lantern, a Galileo thermometer, a pair of silver cufflinks embossed with Bellerophon riding Pegasus on them and a pair of red patent leather/black suede stiletto heels.
If you play the game I am going to guess that most of your assumptions will be wrong and items you might place great import on are insignificant and the insignificant ones are the most important. I wonder if I have done the same in trying to read symbolism into the set dressings on DM.
*The more you overthink the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.
It's pretty expensive and I don't know anything about its reliability but it might be worth looking into. Maybe ask around and see if anyone uses it?
It is basically a Roku box type setup. In reading the website and the instruction manual I would say that if it does, as the the saying goes, what it says on the tin then it will be well worth it if you are a fan of UK TV. I like the fact that the box retains a weeks worth of programming so you can watch it at anytime within that week. The setup on the thing is dirt easy and quick, much better than the UK VPN I was looking at getting. The only concern I have is that it might get shut down due to digital rights laws-will have to do some research into that. I suppose if this service got so big that it appeared on various British broadcasting entities radar they may try to shut it down seeing as they are not being reimbursed for it. The cost of service seems to be too low to cover paying them their slice of the pie. I see in their twitter feed that Lord Sugar has 'endorsed' it.
I got a Roku box and ditched my cable TV a couple of years ago and now watch more TV than I did before. I found that I could not justify paying over $100/month for cable to find that 90% of the time there was nothing on it that I wanted to watch. The History Channel no longer does history, the Weather Channel no longer does weather and the only things you are going to Discover on the Discovery channel are alot of trashy reality shows, etc.
With the Roku box and Amazon prime/Netflix/Hulu+ I find tons of things I want to watch when I want to watch them, weather on demand and if I am looking for news I just go to the internet. The cost for those three services is $23/month. Add this box/subscription service into the mix and it would be $48/month-still money ahead compared to paying for cable and if it does what it says I will be one happy camper so I am going to order the box and get a subscription next week when I get paid. I am going to get the wifi dongle for it because that makes it so much easier.
But it is a recurring theme. In the first episode in series 1 DM took the buddha out of the car(it had been strapped into the back seat with a seatbelt) which he obviously hadn't let the removalists move. Then we see them literally littering the set in every shot in the surgery for every series. (Thanks to shop girl's excellent sluthing. ) In series 4 when he's leaving he straps the buddha into the back seat again and it plays a pivotal part in the final scenes.
Then in series 5 it is back in the back seat taking pride of place next to LG.
If it has no more significance than the onions it is a pretty elaborate game by the props guys. Which I know is not beyond them. :):)
I had totally forgotten that until you posted your post. I guess my memory was drawn to the 'bright, shiny object' of the golden one. I will have to rewatch the entire series on my days off to refresh my lumber room of a mind and to see where they are placed, what pose they are in, etc..
The full length shows were taken down but there is someone who managed to fly under the radar. They somehow 'filtered' the audio and video so that YT's scanning technology hasn't detected them. They also abbreviate the titles and show name so you can't find them if you search. You just have to know they are there...:rolleyes::cool:
It's weird to be quoting my own post but a reminder to some that I suspect there's at least one channel that will have S6 up. PM me if you want more info.
I went back to check it out and some of the vids are blocked because of a claim by Image Entertainment (which is linked to Acorn). However, many of them still can be watched.
Welcome to the forum, DMbesotted. Your name describes most of us here! ShopGirl has a whole set of flickr pages with pictures of the sets, if you are interested, and also of most of the shooting locations.
Maybe she will post the links again?
OH YES - have looked at all of those, checked out all the clips on YouTube - got the original DM movies, I really am besotted with both DM and MC!!!
Re the original DM movies - what a treat to see that MC smile - you know there is a bad boy lurking underneath.
I really worried for a while that I was "out there" by myself so it is so reassuring that I am not alone in this homage!!!
I had totally forgotten that until you posted your post. I guess my memory was drawn to the 'bright, shiny object' of the golden one. I will have to rewatch the entire series on my days off to refresh my lumber room of a mind and to see where they are placed, what pose they are in, etc..
Shop girl has gone through all the series and taken a still of all the different Buddhas whenever they appeared. So you only have to go through those.
Shop grip can you please post a link to your photos?
If you don't over think it and because neither Dominic Minghella or Jack Lothian know anything about the Buddhas I guess it is the props guys messing with us.
It is basically a Roku box type setup. In reading the website and the instruction manual I would say that if it does, as the the saying goes, what it says on the tin then it will be well worth it if you are a fan of UK TV. I like the fact that the box retains a weeks worth of programming so you can watch it at anytime within that week. The setup on the thing is dirt easy and quick, much better than the UK VPN I was looking at getting. The only concern I have is that it might get shut down due to digital rights laws-will have to do some research into that. I suppose if this service got so big that it appeared on various British broadcasting entities radar they may try to shut it down seeing as they are not being reimbursed for it. The cost of service seems to be too low to cover paying them their slice of the pie. I see in their twitter feed that Lord Sugar has 'endorsed' it.
I got a Roku box and ditched my cable TV a couple of years ago and now watch more TV than I did before. I found that I could not justify paying over $100/month for cable to find that 90% of the time there was nothing on it that I wanted to watch. The History Channel no longer does history, the Weather Channel no longer does weather and the only things you are going to Discover on the Discovery channel are alot of trashy reality shows, etc.
With the Roku box and Amazon prime/Netflix/Hulu+ I find tons of things I want to watch when I want to watch them, weather on demand and if I am looking for news I just go to the internet. The cost for those three services is $23/month. Add this box/subscription service into the mix and it would be $48/month-still money ahead compared to paying for cable and if it does what it says I will be one happy camper so I am going to order the box and get a subscription next week when I get paid. I am going to get the wifi dongle for it because that makes it so much easier.
We really liked British TV so I am tempted (although we could not fathom why Coronation Street and Emmerdale took up prime time, but that's just our lack of acculturation) -- does the Roku box or its equivalent replace Cable TV or just Cable on the TV set on which it is installed? And can the thing be easily connected and disconnected, so that the TV it's installed on can be turned back into an "American" TV?
We really liked British TV so I am tempted (although we could not fathom why Coronation Street and Emmerdale took up prime time, but that's just our lack of acculturation) -- does the Roku box or its equivalent replace Cable TV or just Cable on the TV set on which it is installed? And can the thing be easily connected and disconnected, so that the TV it's installed on can be turned back into an "American" TV?
It looks like the roku box is a streaming g device that delivers Netflix, Hulu and whatever other subscription you want to pay for all on one machine. Our equivalent here is a t-box.
Would you need another box for this UK subscription or would the one roku box do it?
Wouldn't streaming through ITV player for free be as good (if you had good Internet speeds)?
I don't watch much TV and cant use any of these "boxes" so might not give a balanced opinion but I'm interested to know how they work.
The penguin was drawn for me by my best friend, it is an Adelie penguin or Manchot d'Adelie in French:D. She had it made into printed fabric then made me a beautiful set of pillowcases, a pair of shorts that I love wearing just to see peoples reaction to them and a comfy pair of jammies out of it.
Speaking of penguins I was thinking about them, the cigar quote from Freud and Scott's First Rule of Engineering* at work last night and how they pertain to the previous posts on symbolism and set dressing.
I thought what would people try to read into my home if they were looking at it with the same 'eyes' as we are looking at the sets on DM? I asked myself if someone who saw all this and did not know me (or saw it as a set dressing as we are doing) what they would read into it and what would they assume about the owner? Would they see it as a collection of unconnected/semiconnected items gathered over a lifetime or if they would place symbolism onto the various items and try to place a 'theme' or meaning into it all? It was a slow, quiet night at work so I played that game for a couple hours after watching the Cotton Bowl. You can play, too, and see what you come up with if you wish. The following is a verbal 'picture' of my living room.
My living room is painted in a shade called Alexandrite and in various parts of the room I have Penguin, Loon and Dragon figurines. The furniture is all Oak Mission style (the chair usually inhabited by a big black and tan mackerel striped tabby named Catzequatal), the lamps are a Tiffany style called Maple Leaf (ye gods, I did not pay that much for them!). On top the entertainment center are a collection of small penguin figurines, my rock collection including a Migmatite, a couple of Vaseline glass pieces, a sword called Hadhafang on a display stand, a hand painted clay Loon whistle, a small snowglobe with the Titanic down by the bow and sinking in it, a cobalt glass heart, and a Solar Queen in a pink dress. Behind them are eight matching Lava Lamps in arranged in a 'rainbow' from dark red to violet. The walls have only a few items on them-two large hand colored black and white photos from the 1930's-one of a path through a pine forest and the other of Yellowstone falls. An enlarged photo of the Aurora Borealis. A copy of "Summer Moon at Miyajima" by Koitsu and over the mantlepiece a copy of "Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft Elves" poster obtained at the Bodleian. All are nicely matted and framed. The mantelpiece has small statues of a terracotta warrior, a statue of Bast, a red three candle lantern, a Galileo thermometer, a pair of silver cufflinks embossed with Bellerophon riding Pegasus on them and a pair of red patent leather/black suede stiletto heels.
If you play the game I am going to guess that most of your assumptions will be wrong and items you might place great import on are insignificant and the insignificant ones are the most important. I wonder if I have done the same in trying to read symbolism into the set dressings on DM.
*The more you overthink the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.
It comes down to one's intentions, doesn't it? Living rooms to some extent make a statement about how one wants to present oneself -- mine sort of says, we are eclectic kind of people, we are late 20th century academics, and we've inherited stuff that doesn't quite fit! But that's much less intentional -- I think -- than set designing, which intends to make definitional statements about the characters that inhabit them. I don't think the designers assemble items which individually look pleasing to them, and hope the assemblage makes some kind of statement (as I guess we did in our house) -- but each piece is meant to contribute to the definition of the character.
DM's surgery is clearly the heart of the cottage. The bedroom is utilitarian, the waiting room drab and unappealing, and the kitchen rather more cozy than one might expect. But some thought and some treasured possessions have clearly gone into the surgery. That being so, I think you were right in your first assessment that the objects in the surgery have some meaning. I miss the slick glass desk that was in Series 3 and 4 -- I guess we're to assume that it's in storage.
But all that being said, it is entirely possible that each item was chosen to enhance the characterization of DM -- but none of the individual items have any symbolic meanings in themselves. I do like your idea about the boxes, though, and I am still very curious about the Buddhas.
They do keep tweaking the settings -- someone from the production commented that was deliberate, for what reason other than keeping things "fresh" I don't know
Louisa's Rose Cottage bedroom, with its riot of color, has a similar role, as you point out. Can we imagine DM actually spending more than a night or two in such a room?
Comments
Yes, I get that point, but the Buddha is almost always in at least one shot in the surgery -- sometimes in different places. And there are other Buddhas scattered around (I think Shop Girl has pointed this out). So I continue to think it has some meaning.
I have had the thought that it is somewhat ironic -- because as you mention (I think) , it seems to represent what DM is NOT.
Now, about those onions......
I rewatched S3E3 today (among others)- what is called City Slickers but on the US DVDs is called Love thy Neighbor - and I agree with many that Mrs Averill is a great character. I laugh out load everytime I watch when DM asks if she has traveled abroad and she replies that she went to Delabole. If she is ninety then she is my role model for when I get there.
I look forward to future rehashing of all the nuances of the plot and characters and the infuriating habit of changes to the surgery and kitchen and other loctions with every season. Any one got a clue who has the fascination with sailboats? It is never mentioned and it so clearly is not ME.
Maybe she will post the links again?
Or...perhaps DM and LG have been two ships sailing in the night continually passing each other, and are now, perhaps, finally going to be on board the same boat and sharing their journey.
I decided to do a little research--
The title ‘Buddha’, which literally means ‘awakened’, is conferred on an individual who discovers the path to nirvana, the cessation of suffering, and propagates that discovery so that others may also achieve nirvana.
The Buddha's basic teachings are usually summarized using the device of the Four Noble Truths:
There is suffering.
There is the origination of suffering.
There is the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the cessation of suffering.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddha/
Whether the suffering is physical or psychological, either is closely connected to the doctor's realm of healing. And the Doc was a teacher as a surgeon, too, sharing his knowledge (think Adrian Pitts). It seems to me there are ways he is partially the embodiment of the Buddha working on the Four Noble Truths, while he also shows a very human side of sometimes failing in them. Just a thought.
By the way, you guys are burning up the boards with your recent great analyses and discussion. Thoroughly enjoying it, just too tired to think very coherently to join in right now.
But it is a recurring theme. In the first episode in series 1 DM took the buddha out of the car(it had been strapped into the back seat with a seatbelt) which he obviously hadn't let the removalists move. Then we see them literally littering the set in every shot in the surgery for every series. (Thanks to shop girl's excellent sluthing.
Then in series 5 it is back in the back seat taking pride of place next to LG.
If it has no more significance than the onions it is a pretty elaborate game by the props guys. Which I know is not beyond them.
Welcome to the forum dmbesotted.
I think such excellent writers could have managed to find a bit more humour and or seduction in the series if they had tried/wanted to. Maybe they got caught up in MC's idea that people (the public) like "dark". I think they went too far and I am not sure that they realised until it was too late to change. Or maybe MC thought that was what the viewers wanted. I think this is possible because MC has said he's told the writers he wanted DM grumpy, grumpy, grumpy even though the writers didn't agree with him.
Re the spellings - do whatever is natural for you.
I don't think we can take MC's comments about "dark" when he was referring to "The Town" (assuming you all watched that interview) and which he just filmed in 2012 and mix them up with DM S5 (written 2010-ish, filmed 2011). That seems a bit of a stretch.
S5 had the huge upheaval of trying to sort out DM's career situation, his personal life both with Louisa (being a partner, when marriage seemed the normal course and trying to sort out how to live together) and James Henry (all the feelings and duties of fatherhood, and the normal repercussions of having an infant in the house), another disappointing parent (LG's mum), death of AJ, and arrival of AR (it being the least trouble to him).
I just didn't see the series as particularly disappointing or dark, if you will, but just as the mostly fairly normal life issues, considering all the items I've listed above.
It has always struck me when Doc discovers PC Penhale's ex, Maggie's problem and he makes the disparaging remark about Joe "deliberately concealing a seriously ill woman from me for his own benefit" and then later to Louisa: "Well, forgive me if I think that taking advantage of a person's medical condition isn't the height of romance." that Doc seemed to be exercising restraint himself so as not to rush Louisa (being a new mum--medical condition) into anything she wasn't ready for.
Doc may not have been "Mr. Hearts and Flowers" but he did go a long way to showing his care and consideration for both LG and JH through his actions. Of course, the problem is that LG wanted Mr. Hearts and Flowers. I found myself getting frustrated with her, too.
And the realism of the situations in the characters' world seemed like a real normal progression for that time (few weeks) in Doc and Louisa's life. A more romantic and less troubled time wouldn't have seemed as true to the characters' lives as what was ultimately written, at least to me.
It's pretty expensive and I don't know anything about its reliability but it might be worth looking into. Maybe ask around and see if anyone uses it?
Looks a lot like the basic "Freeview" package we had in Oxford. I might be interested although I can't imagine being able to figure out how it works. do you think it's just on one TV? It sounds like it's basically "streaming" that goes through your laptop into an HDMI port into your TV, which is basically how we watch English programs now that we're serious about (e.g., The killng). I wonder how they bypass the licensing requirement?
I didn't read all the blurb but I assume they pay a licensing fee out of your monthly subscription.
It is basically a Roku box type setup. In reading the website and the instruction manual I would say that if it does, as the the saying goes, what it says on the tin then it will be well worth it if you are a fan of UK TV. I like the fact that the box retains a weeks worth of programming so you can watch it at anytime within that week. The setup on the thing is dirt easy and quick, much better than the UK VPN I was looking at getting. The only concern I have is that it might get shut down due to digital rights laws-will have to do some research into that. I suppose if this service got so big that it appeared on various British broadcasting entities radar they may try to shut it down seeing as they are not being reimbursed for it. The cost of service seems to be too low to cover paying them their slice of the pie. I see in their twitter feed that Lord Sugar has 'endorsed' it.
I got a Roku box and ditched my cable TV a couple of years ago and now watch more TV than I did before. I found that I could not justify paying over $100/month for cable to find that 90% of the time there was nothing on it that I wanted to watch. The History Channel no longer does history, the Weather Channel no longer does weather and the only things you are going to Discover on the Discovery channel are alot of trashy reality shows, etc.
With the Roku box and Amazon prime/Netflix/Hulu+ I find tons of things I want to watch when I want to watch them, weather on demand and if I am looking for news I just go to the internet. The cost for those three services is $23/month. Add this box/subscription service into the mix and it would be $48/month-still money ahead compared to paying for cable and if it does what it says I will be one happy camper so I am going to order the box and get a subscription next week when I get paid. I am going to get the wifi dongle for it because that makes it so much easier.
I had totally forgotten that until you posted your post. I guess my memory was drawn to the 'bright, shiny object' of the golden one. I will have to rewatch the entire series on my days off to refresh my lumber room of a mind and to see where they are placed, what pose they are in, etc..
It's weird to be quoting my own post but a reminder to some that I suspect there's at least one channel that will have S6 up. PM me if you want more info.
I went back to check it out and some of the vids are blocked because of a claim by Image Entertainment (which is linked to Acorn). However, many of them still can be watched.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_Entertainment
OH YES - have looked at all of those, checked out all the clips on YouTube - got the original DM movies, I really am besotted with both DM and MC!!!
Re the original DM movies - what a treat to see that MC smile - you know there is a bad boy lurking underneath.
I really worried for a while that I was "out there" by myself so it is so reassuring that I am not alone in this homage!!!
Shop girl has gone through all the series and taken a still of all the different Buddhas whenever they appeared. So you only have to go through those.
Shop grip can you please post a link to your photos?
If you don't over think it and because neither Dominic Minghella or Jack Lothian know anything about the Buddhas I guess it is the props guys messing with us.
We really liked British TV so I am tempted (although we could not fathom why Coronation Street and Emmerdale took up prime time, but that's just our lack of acculturation) -- does the Roku box or its equivalent replace Cable TV or just Cable on the TV set on which it is installed? And can the thing be easily connected and disconnected, so that the TV it's installed on can be turned back into an "American" TV?
It looks like the roku box is a streaming g device that delivers Netflix, Hulu and whatever other subscription you want to pay for all on one machine. Our equivalent here is a t-box.
Would you need another box for this UK subscription or would the one roku box do it?
Wouldn't streaming through ITV player for free be as good (if you had good Internet speeds)?
I don't watch much TV and cant use any of these "boxes" so might not give a balanced opinion but I'm interested to know how they work.