The link for the Chimp is not readable

Edit: I read it on a different link. How sad and quite surreal

I think the vicar's motivation is he wants to split george and lizzie apart so he can move in on her.
Btw a julian fellowes' titanic reunion,thats four actors from that in this show

If you're going to buy a book about the true story of 'Our Zoo'. I recommend you buy the new book which is released on the 9th October. The ghost writer Pepsy Dening helped June (Geroge Mottershead's youngest daughter write the book) so it should be good:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Zoo-June.../dp/1472226356

Thanks for that, I am definitely going to download it. Reading the synopsis below, there is so much more to be told. I really hope there is a second series.


"The early years were not without their obstacles for the Mottersheads. They were shunned by the local community, bankruptcy threatened and then World War Two began. Nightly bombing raids turned the dream into a nightmare and finding food for the animals became a constant challenge. Yet George's resilience, resourcefulness and tenacity eventually paid off. Now over 80 years since June first set foot in the echoing house, Chester Zoo has achieved worldwide renown!"

Thank you .

And
you're welcome.

Still can't find a (sensibly priced) source for the 2008 book.

The ratings are lw because as many posters have pointed out that "The Zoo " is a family show and would have got many millions more viewers if the BBC hadn't cocked it up and put it on 9 pm midweek instead of early to mid evening on sundays

One good thing the BBC did was to assemble an almost perfect cast of actors

There are a number of Out Of Print book services that distribute lists of books available and also circulate lists of books that want. They are then put in contact with the bookshop.

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/

http://www.addall.com/

The ratings were up a bit this week to 4.5 million. It beat Scott and Bailey quite easily this time.

There is praise for the show (Radio Times for next week has a couple more letters on this and has plugged it every week as a family friendly show that should be on Sundays earlier than 9 pm).

This appears to be reflected in the AI (audience appreciation index) for the show - which measures how those who have been watching felt about it.

Doctor Who, for instance, gets around 82/83/84 out of 100. The highest any show has ever got is 95 and they can, of course, drop much lower than Doctor Who levels.

Thanks to figures from Bushmils over on the ratings thread we now know that Our Zoo has so far scored 88, two 89s and a 90. These will tell the BBC that this might not be a huge hit in terms of raw ratings but is highly regarded by those who do watch. A score of 90 is generally regarded as excellent.

I think that - plus the fact they will know by now it was mischeduled by them at 9 pm midweek given that the world and its cat have told them this - will be enough to earn it a second series.

Thanks for reposting that here. I had been wondering what it's AIs had been, and suspected they would be high. Getting a 90 is fantastic.

Wholeheartedly agree with your entire post.

If this had been done properly, it would have taken over the CTM slot. Yes, this would have meant it being "on the shelf" until the new year, but really think it would have had better ratings and that from following the monster that CTM is, may have given it the boost it needed.....

Really hope this does get a series 2, but I have a horrible feeling the beeb will drop it.

Edit...Thanks Jaycee for reposting the AI ratings, and thanks Bushmills for finding them as I wondered how this show did in them, and think the high 80's is excellent.

Quote:
Originally Posted by k9fan
Thank you .

And
you're welcome.

Still can't find a (sensibly priced) source for the 2008 book.


Thank you.
I tried the library with no success.

Thank you. I don't normally buy books as I get them from the library but this one I will be buying.

Lovely to have the AIs, thank you for asking for them (and thank you to Bushmils). It's lovely to hear it's been up to 90 and that it's grown over the series.

If you think about it, most dramas these days build their audiences, either by having a separate story every episode, like most crime and medical dramas, so you can start at any time and still understand the story (and I'd put CTM as one of those). Or it has one big story question, usually either a 'will they won't they' romance or a crime that must be solved. Our Zoo is making me sit on the edge of my seat over planning permission (!), but that's solely down to the skill of the writing and acting, because I know the zoo is going to happen. I think it's an illusion that it should be doing as well as CTM or one of the big crime dramas. I think it's quite a 'tough sell' as a story and could easily have been really cheesy and had no real tension. What lifts it completely, in my view, is the writing and the absolute spot-on acting of the entire cast. All the cast are brilliant. And I think it's how well it's been made, how much you come to care about everyone, that is reflected in those AIs. Far from seeing it as something that hasn't worked, and regardless of what slot it's in, I think its ratings are very respectable and I think the BBC should value something that has a rating that is as good as most of their much more established dramas and is so loved so quickly by the people who have watched it.

I really hope they will see the potential in the story of how the zoo got through the Second World War.

Sorry I didn't mean that to get so long!

Couldn't agree more.

I really hope 'Our Zoo' gets a second series. It would be interesting to see whether Granny Lucy will end up in the pay box! I read the real June Mottershead led the zoo's first two elephants from Chester Railway Station through Chester's city center to the zoo. They came from a circus which had closed.

I really hope 'Our Zoo' gets a second series and we can enjoy what happens when It first opens to the public. I wonder whether Granny Lucy will end up in the pay box! I read the real June Mottershead led the zoo's first two elephants from Chester Railway Station through Chester's city center to the zoo. They came from a circus which had closed.

This is a book that I would really like to find:

Zoo Without Bars: The Story of Chester Zoo and Its Founder George Saul Mottershead
by June Johns.

Unfortunately, this book is now out of print. it was written by the author and reporter June Johns who was able to interview George Mottershead to help her write the book.
Chester Zoo will probably have copies in their library.

I'm sure 'Our Zoo' written by June Mottershead with the help of ghost writer Pepsy Dening will have referred to this book when writing the latest book based on the story of Chester Zoo. June has said she had lots of letters, documents, photos and newspaper cuttings about the early days of the zoo stashed away to refer to so I'm sure the new book will be an interesting read. It's out on Thursday - can't wait.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Zoo-June...ywords=our+zoo

Thanks, yes, I had read that; I have asked my local library to look for it first. It will then be the 2008 published book Reared in Chester Zoo - The Story of June Mottershead (I like to read the older books first) http://www.janicemadden.com/servlet/...ge&pageID=1206
"Reared In Chester Zoo written by Janice Madden was also published In July 2008. It took Janice 2 years to research and write the story of a little girl growing up in Chester Zoo.
June Mottershead the last surviving member of the family who founded Chester Zoo met with Janice following her reading of Just A Girl From Crewe and asked if Janice would write about her life from 1930 until 1948.
Janice visited England on two occasions to work on the book and it was completed in June 2008."

Aswell as others factors the drama has to compete against European football on a Wednesday ..Sunday evening would be mainly free of that !

I coudnt concur more with the last comment !..the acting from little June to George is excellent ! ..I was watching an old Life on Mars episode with Lee Ingleby and Liz White in it .. and both were brilliant in that !

Have to agree with the majority of comments I have seen concerning Our Zoo, it is simply an absolute pleasure to watch. The cast, without exception, are fantastic (even Ralf Little who i am not usually a fan of) , the settings are wonderful and the whole programme is just an hour a week of escapist, joyous brilliance.

I am really going to miss it when it finishes and am hoping against hope for a second series.

To add to the 'timeslot' debate, we recorded Episode 1 for my 7 yr old and she also absolutely loves it, and outside of 'Why is the vicar nasty?' I've not had to field any questions from her in terms of plot, and definitely nothing that requires explanation due to age sensitive stories. So more fuel to the 'timeslot is all wrong' debate

The book has increased in price at Amazon as publication date approaches, knew I should have ordered last week!

Gutted it's the last one in the series of 'Our Zoo' tomorrow.

The book 'Our Zoo' is out on Thursday - looking forward to finding out more about Chester Zoo's early years and the Mottershead family.

It's good to know that today Chester Zoo, the zoo George Mottershead and his family founded in 1930, is today involved in conservation work and raising awareness.

Orang-utans, one of our closest relatives, are facing extinction. In just the last 30 years, 80% of their forest home has been destroyed. This has mainly been due to cutting down the rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia to plant palm oil plantations. Palm oil is found in many of the foods and toiletries we buy in supermarkets.

Here is a link to Chester Zoo's charity 'Act for Wildlife' which is helping raise funds to save the orang-utan and its forest this October by asking people to 'Go Orange 4 Orangutans':

http://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/go-...for-orangutans

Agree its sad its the last one..i hope it goes out with a taster for the 2nd series (hopefully)...shame about the Orang-utans they are very intelligent animals ..loved Clyde in the Clint Eastwood movies in the late 70s !