The BBC's Prisoner

[mrlipring]

I'm 23 so unfortunately i've got many more years of work in me yet (until i get famous or shot).

It just bored me senseless, and seemed to be unnecessarily hard to follow.

I don't watch tv or films because of their social and political commentary, i watch them to be entertained. If there are undertones, subtle or not, i can and will appreciate them, as i'd prefer something more engaging and cerebral, but if it's not entertaining, i don't see the point.

The sets and the style of it all is great, i love the look, but it just doesn't do anything for me.

I'll stick to Oz and Lost for now, i reckon. Hope you're all watching (taping?) Oz right now.

[Apollo]

Aha! Maybe the old personal preference bug explains it, since I can't really see any point in taking up airspace with Oz I'll admit I've never managed to see an ep, but channel zapping always seeems to pass through 'how to fill and hour with mindless violence'. But then I can't see any point in 'Sex and the City' either

Returning to serious, one depressing note I've made after following up studies published on the web in the light of showings in secondary shools (US/UK) of serious dramas made during the time of the Cold War (and banned from broadcast by the Government of the time) was that the message of the programs was beyond many the young people viewing them. Sadly, they made more comments about the poor special effects than the depiction of millions of deaths and the elimination of life as we know it without water, electricity, homes or social structure.

Looking at the effects of the recent quake and subsequent tsunamis (which really weren't that big) shows these dramas were probably not as far off the mark as has been suggested by some who said that their depiction of the effects of a global nuclear war were "overstated", for the sake of emphasis.

That hardware is still out there. Want to bet there aren't planners working out the effects of a shaped nuclear blast, either submerged or placed just under the seabed?

[mrlipring]

Oz is about far more than violence. The story arc and the characterisation (and the sheer number of characters) is impressive.

If you try it and still don't like it, fair enough, but when Lost airs here, it will rule the world. It's literally the best tv show ever. It'l stopped for christmas, and i'm having severe withdrawal symptoms.

[Apollo]

Ooh.. story arcs, memories of Babylon 5's early days

Got a web site for Lost? It's not the best word on the web to carry out a search for.

[duncan]

the mag comes in 70 (seventy?) parts at £6 a time.

don't these sort of magazines usually fold after the first few issues, leaving you with a bundle of junk?

[scotia47]

Sometimes. Or they go on and on and on and on and on...

[A "wibble" emoticon would be useful at this point]

[Apollo]

See the pevious post. Seems they do a first limited launch to gauge response. Based on that, they'll relaunch fully later, and see the thing to completion.

Guess it limits their exposure in the first instance, tough for the folk that think it's a good deal first time round though if it doesn't sell well. But, maybe they deserve it for buying into such a terrible deal.

[JayKay]

the world of partworks is a very secretive part of the world of journalism. They sell generally on subscription, and usually shops dont stock 'em after the first few issues, but they continue to sell to those who bought the first three parts of HMS bounty (or whatever) and now want to complete it in just 1,000 weeks.

The number of people who buy them is not generally known as they don't have to make their circulation figures public as they don't have any advertising. this partialy explains why they're so damn expensive.

It also seems that those who subscribe don't generally let their mates know about their partwork affliction.

Incidentally, they tend to be launched in January (this year the prisoner, gods of ancient egypt, christ knows what else all hit the market) to coincide with people's plan to do something worthwhile and make something of themselves. In easy to consume weekly parts.

The market for partworks is, strangely, almost entirely sewn up by Italian based companies.

Now...when do they plan to launch the Taggart partwork....

[mrlipring]

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/Sh ... wid-24313/

Link for lost. If anyone gets the chance to see it, they should. It was on in the US last night, but i've got to wait until saturday to see it, because it's the only time both my girlfriend and flatmate will be about, and it's against the rules to watch it without them. It's unmissable TV, and i'm excited already, because it's been a good few weeks since i saw it last.

My mate Calum had it good though, i gave him the first 10 eps at the one time, he just watched them back to back, but then the cravings start...

[Apollo]

Thanks for the link, curiosity satisfied. Pedigree looks good with the writers behind it.

I speak in jest, but I think it's popular because it looks like a scripted cross between Big Brother and Survivor type progs

[mrlipring]

hehe, yeah, i was in two minds until i saw it. It could've been so bad, but the people behind it are geniuses, so my fears were unjustified.

Harold Perrineau Jr is in it too, and he's great. I want to be him. The walking version, though.

[Apollo]

I was going to post this anyway, but DeAgostini featured on Watchdog tonight, for exactly the reason I was about to post.

If you've seen their most recent adverts, they're for a Radio Controlled Spitfire in weekly parts.

If you're not an RC modeller, you won't have suffered the injuries I did when I fell of my seat. This style of model aircraft, and the Spitfire in particular, are amongst the most difficult to fly, and should only be tackled after mastering high wing trainers. Otherwise, you'll have a pile of parts to be dug out the ground, if you're lucky, and someobody injured if not. Not for a beginner, and definitely not for the target market for this mag.

Apparently they've added a warning in response to the programme.

And the rest of the item was basically to let folk know "Tough" if they need spares or break their model car, unless of course, you've had BBC's Watchdog intervene on your behalf. They supplied spares and eventually paid over £200 to one mother who'd had to buy a replacement car for her kid when the magazine one was a non-runner.

What a con! Just go buy the thing, and you'll have it now, not after 2 years collecting when it will be out of date too.

[Apollo]

I'm not usually impressed by anything I find on YouTube and the like, finding something worthwhile is akin to finding a speck of gold if you've ever gone panning in Scotland. 10 seconds of overcompressed video and I'm usually off for something else, however...

This managed to hold me for 9:52, and having once been mad enough to try modelling scenes in the original DOOM, I can only congratulate this guy's 600 hours to produce 'The Village' for 'Soldier of Fortune II'. I've no idea how good/bad the map editors are now, but knowing Portmerion well, all I can say is I was impressed.

If you're a fan, enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7UbrQDmbo

[cheesylion]

A wee bit of news on Prisoner guys.

Granada, Sky and an American network are grouping up to produce a remake of the original series to be shot in South Africa in late summer.

I know this as fact as my agent phoned me today to let me know he's booked me an audition next week.

[Josef]

A wee bit of news on Prisoner guys.

Granada, Sky and an American network are grouping up to produce a remake of the original series to be shot in South Africa in late summer.

I know this as fact as my agent phoned me today to let me know he's booked me an audition next week.

What number are you auditioning for?