Steven Broomfield Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Not sure if anyone esle has brought this up (apologies if so). I suspect we'll either love it or hate it, but Michael Palin is presenting a BBC Timewatch programme on Saturday next (1st November). Personally, I find him slightly irritating as a presenter, but you never know.... BBC trailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfazzani Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Thanks for highlighting this Steve - as you say it may well be worth watching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 I see from the BBC website that the historical consultant is Paul Reed of this parish, so I for one am expecting a very interesting programme. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 I believe that Paul has been working on this for many moons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 26 October , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Have to confess I hadn't seen Paul's name there: makes me feel a lot better. Am I being an old grump, but why do these programmes always have to have celebrities to present them? Are historians so infra dig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Am I being an old grump, Yes. Put a celeb upfront and you may increase viewing figures. A bit like having a well known historical consultant may increase viewing figures amongst Great War buffs. Innit John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 I am going to the inaugural showing of the programme on Monday 27th. I'll let you know my reactions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clay Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Yes. Put a celeb upfront and you may increase viewing figures. A bit like having a well known historical consultant may increase viewing figures amongst Great War buffs. Innit John Wot John said. I rather like Mr Palin as a presenter. Thanks for the tip off though, Mr B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 26 October , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Yes. John Don't beat about the bush.. Say what you mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hayes Fisher Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Don't beat about the bush.. Say what you mean. Don't beat about the bush.. Say what you mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hayes Fisher Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 OK guys Im the one to blame if you dont like the programme. Yes Paul was our historical consultant and a fine job he did too, not in least in discovering really NEW information on Private George Ellison who is generally regarded as the Last British Soldier to be killed in action in WW1. Yes Michael Palin was perhaps an unexpected choice to present the programme but I think he does a good job and he will bring new people to the subject and if they begin to think about the sacrifice so many made during WW1 then that has to be a good thing. The programme goes out next Saturday 1st November 2008 at 20.15 on BBC2 and is repeated at 22.00 on BBC4 rightly on 11th November 2008. Thanks very much to those who helped me with advice and contacts in making this programme. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Don't forget Michael Palin presented the programme on the work of the CWGC a few years ago - so he could well have a genuine interest in remembrance of the war. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Or a big mortgage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 why do these programmes always have to have celebrities to present them? Because the chosen celeb will be familiar to the majority of viewers. However, may I take this opportunity to beg that Esther Rantzen is never allowed near an ancestry-type programme ever again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hayes Fisher Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Or a big mortgage. Chris I joined the Great War Forum because I thought it was a serious forum and because I sought help in making our programme more informed. John Remembering both my grandfathers who served in the Great War Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 As did we all, John. (You might notice my Forum membership number. It's 1 because I started it). It is a very serious forum, dealing with a tremendous array of serious things, most often in a manner that would find acceptance among the most academic of historians. Doesn't mean we can't poke fun at things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 26 October , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2008 And, John, having seen the comments posted, I am actually minded to think I was wrong in my original supposition. As a rule, I don't like celeb presenters - I find them distracting from the body of the programme, and, quite frequently, I find their lack of knowledge of (and, dare I say, interest in) the subject seriously annoying. That said, I shall certainly watch the programme, and I feel I might be pleasantly surprised by it. I might add that the amount of coverage the 90th anniversary seems to be generating on the TV is impressive. I hope it doesn't all concentrate on the failures of the Somme, etc, but actually looks at the reasons for success, too. Good luck with it, and please don't for a minute believe that members of this Forum are ever anything less than serious in their search for knowledge of the Great War. yes, we might make jokes about it, but, then again, the blokes involved probably weren't averse to a somewhat wry laugh, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Amen to that. Suggestion for the programme makers: The WW1 connections of overpaid, vicious foul-mouthed prats (i.e. Messrs Ross and Brand) who earn millions from often extremely poor and usually respectable licence-payers, and donate their fees to the Royal British Legion and similar veterans' charities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest geoff501 Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 ...because I sought help in making our programme more informed. And I'm sure you found the help you sought. I'll look forward to the program. Geoff Reading 'The Wipers Times' as a book at bedtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salesie Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Chris I joined the Great War Forum because I thought it was a serious forum and because I sought help in making our programme more informed. John Remembering both my grandfathers who served in the Great War It seems, John, that you're falling into the same trap that most celebrities do i.e. taking yourself far too seriously! We understand why celebrities are used, but, come on, most (but not all) have no interest in the programme's subject matter outside of doing their job and presenting. There is nothing wrong with that per se, but please don't insult our intelligence by trying to say otherwise. I personally have no problem with Michael Palin, and will wait until seeing the programme before passing judgement, but given his background with Monty Python it's a bit rich of you to adopt an air of haughty seriousness. Cheers-salesie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfaulder Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 >><< why do these programmes always have to have celebrities to present them? Are historians so infra dig? We may not like it, but I think the use of historians (i.e. specialists) tend to imply that the subject is "specialist". A good "celeb" can ask the question that the average person wants asked and through showing that the subject is not inaccessible and specialist, give the public permission to be interested. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 There are certain technical aspects to producing a television show (which BTW I hope somehow makes its way over here) such as delivery of lines and hitting the mark that someone like Michael Palin has learned long ago...makes for a long day, I imagine, when there are 50 takes by the Cambridge Don who can't remember to stop where he should... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 What a great thread, JHF taking Mr Baker to task for bit of levity! As Chris says the scholarship is here but also accompanied by a sense of humour - but to be fair, it takes more than 30 posts to get to know this place - I wish JHF many more. As others have said, I will wait for the prog before passing judgement on Michael Palin. He will always be Arthur Putey or a cross-dressing lumberjack to many of us but I don't doubt that he can do a good job with a decent script about 11/11. That other satirist Ian Hislop has done good work on Great War subjects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 Don't be too quick to judge everyone the same. Isn't he the same man one forum member ran into at the Thiepval memorial for the Missing last summer? If I recall correctly it was not part of a film crew so it might appear he has some interest? Just keep an open mind. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfaulder Posted 26 October , 2008 Share Posted 26 October , 2008 >><<...makes for a long day, I imagine, when there are 50 takes by the Cambridge Don who can't remember to stop where he should... I think I recall a piece by Harry Enfield(?) of just such a don. Progressively he had one arm tied behind his back, then two, etc. until finally he was in a straight jacket to stop his gestures spoiling the shot! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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