Dara O` Briain Meets Stephen Hawking BBC1

Dub2 · 17/06/15 - 02:14

Surprised to see no thread on this wonderful little documentary. Most surprised to learn that it takes Stephen Hawking a minute to type out a single word.

Communication must be excruciating for him.

Glawster2002 · 17/06/15 - 10:01

Dub2 wrote: »

Surprised to see no thread on this wonderful little documentary. Most surprised to learn that it takes Stephen Hawking a minute to type out a single word.

Communication must be excruciating for him.

I watched it and thought it was brilliant. A truly remarkable man.

Looking at some of the names in the Queen's Birthday Honours List I do find it puzzling he has never received a knighthood, though.

LostFool · 17/06/15 - 10:10

Glawster2002 wrote: »

I watched it and thought it was brilliant. A truly remarkable man.

Looking at some of the names in the Queen's Birthday Honours List I do find it puzzeling he has never received a knighthood, though.

He has been offered a Knighthood in the past but has turned it down. He is however a Companion of Honour which is much rarer than a Knighthoods as it is limited in number.

Straker · 17/06/15 - 10:19

The photon joke was funny, as was Dara's ickle hat. A man with a head that size should get them made bespoke!

Glawster2002 · 17/06/15 - 10:21

LostFool wrote: »

He has been offered a Knighthood in the past but has turned it down. He is however a Companion of Honour which is much rarer than a Knighthoods as it is limited in number.

I presumed that must be the case but wasn't sure. ;-)

Goodwin · 17/06/15 - 10:25

Professor Hawking was sounded out about a knighthood in the late 1990s, but refused as a protest over the (then) Government's funding of Science. Apparently.

grimtales1 · 17/06/15 - 10:44

Straker wrote: »

The photon joke was funny, as was Dara's ickle hat. A man with a head that size should get them made bespoke!

That made me laugh too

As did the part when his son admitted they used to type swearwords into his machine

What I got from this show was just how remarkable Stephen is, and he was so honest and candid in his answers.

ClarkF1 · 17/06/15 - 14:23

Great documentary.

Loved the black hole joke.

Apparently in the past he's pretended the ventilator's failed and freaked people out.

Wicked sense of humour.

Heston Veston · 17/06/15 - 14:24

Dub2 wrote: »

Surprised to see no thread on this wonderful little documentary. Most surprised to learn that it takes Stephen Hawking a minute to type out a single word.

Sounds like me when I'm texting.

degsyhufc · 17/06/15 - 20:47

Apart from the interviews with his kids I didn't get anything new out of it from other docs and interviews i've seen with/about him.

Just this time it was a popular BBC celeb getting to do the interview.

Totally setup arkward first scene. Like he doesn't know that Hawking has to type each letter/word at a time so can't have a real time conversation.

allafix · 17/06/15 - 23:07

degsyhufc wrote: »

Apart from the interviews with his kids I didn't get anything new out of it from other docs and interviews i've seen with/about him.

Just this time it was a popular BBC celeb getting to do the interview.

Totally setup arkward first scene. Like he doesn't know that Hawking has to type each letter/word at a time so can't have a real time conversation.

Well I enjoyed it and got a lot new out of it. It's not as if there have been a lot of documentaries featuring him. He's talked about a lot. If there has been a recent interview then I sadly missed it.

Two things.

1. Dara certainly is a popular BBC celeb, but he's also a science nerd, so entirely appropriate for the task.

2. I don't agree that the opening scene was set up. If it was a setup then it was excellent acting, because it looked genuine to me. I certainly didn't know it might take him up to a minute per word to put an answer together. I'm sure Dara was briefed about the practical problems but it's quite possible he was thrown by being in awe of the great man.

grimtales1 · 18/06/15 - 00:58

Dara said he'd prepared his questions in advance I think?

Glawster2002 · 18/06/15 - 12:50

allafix wrote: »

Well I enjoyed it and got a lot new out of it. It's not as if there have been a lot of documentaries featuring him. He's talked about a lot. If there has been a recent interview then I sadly missed it.

Two things.

1. Dara certainly is a popular BBC celeb, but he's also a science nerd, so entirely appropriate for the task.

2. I don't agree that the opening scene was set up. If it was a setup then it was excellent acting, because it looked genuine to me. I certainly didn't know it might take him up to a minute per word to put an answer together. I'm sure Dara was briefed about the practical problems but it's quite possible he was thrown by being in awe of the great man.

He went to University College Dublin and studied mathematics and theoretical physics so I agree, he was very appropriate for the task.

I agree about point two as well.

But then as Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler once said... "If Mozart was to come back from the dead and give the greatest concert the world had ever seen, the critics would say "well that was sh*t.""

gomezz · 18/06/15 - 12:52

According to the RT article it wasn't a set up but they wanted to leave a taste of that in to indicate the issues people have when they first try to engage with the great man.

allafix · 18/06/15 - 13:58

grimtales1 wrote: »

Dara said he'd prepared his questions in advance I think?

For the second interview certainly. But the delay they showed wasn't part of the interview. It was after he greeted Hawking.

LostFool · 18/06/15 - 21:01

Just finished watching this on iPlayer. Fantastic programme and Dara was the perfect host for it.

degsyhufc · 20/06/15 - 21:27

gomezz wrote: »

According to the RT article it wasn't a set up but they wanted to leave a taste of that in to indicate the issues people have when they first try to engage with the great man.

Sounds like they did it on purpose for effect.

allafix · 20/06/15 - 23:01

degsyhufc wrote: »

Sounds like they did it on purpose for effect.

They left the delay in once to make the point. It isn't obvious that normal conversation isn't possible.

Janet43 · 21/06/15 - 09:51

Just watched it. Brilliant brain. Brilliant out look on life. Wicked sense of humour. And it's great that at the moment he can still smile.

I was surprised that, having mentioned the things he's done, there was mention of him being in The Simpsons, but not in The Big Bang Theory.

degsyhufc · 21/06/15 - 21:09

allafix wrote: »

They left the delay in once to make the point. It isn't obvious that normal conversation isn't possible.

I have no problem with them pointing it out for viewers who may not have known. It's that is was disingenuous that they made it seem like Dara didn't know this in advance. If he's such a fan he would have known and if not he would have been told. All they had to do is tell the viewers and not have a setup scene for it.

Not a major issue but just something I picked up on straight away.

gomezz · 21/06/15 - 21:16

It is one thing to know it but completely different to experience it for themselves. And it was very relevant to some of the questions he asked.

abigail1234 · 22/06/15 - 14:46

gomezz wrote: »

It is one thing to know it but completely different to experience it for themselves. And it was very relevant to some of the questions he asked.

I agree. He was embarrassed but it was allowed to be left in for good reasons.

I adored this - seeing the man himself (Hawking) and getting such a personal and honest interview was a real privilege. I loved his comments about Eddie Redmaye and the family's views of Theory of Everything (one of my favourite films).

Perfect documentary

albion-mad-nick · 22/06/15 - 19:24

What a fantastic man Stephen Hawking is. A national treasure.

Hey there!

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Dara O` Briain Meets Stephen Hawking BBC1

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