GNC
King-Sized Canary
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2001
- Messages
- 33,634
Yes, I'd recommend that even if you're not a Zappa fan, he was a very interesting, though-provoking man. His opinions on censorship alone are worth watching it for.
Beguiling fantasy classic by Hope Mirrlees about a country bordered by the sinister but alluring Land of Faerie. Dramatised by Joy Wilkinson.
Lolly Willowes lives a quietly dull life with her over bearing brother Henry and his family, but when she decides to move to the countryside she discovers a darker calling: witchcraft.
Now that the dark winter nights are here, it's time for some M.R. James
Monday 8th November at 22:00 on BBC 4
A Warning to the Curious starring Peter Vaughan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011fcf
Did anyone listen to this? I did but it’s so long it took a few sittings. What did you think?Another interesting looking one on BBC sounds. I haven’t listened to it yet.
Diane Morgan Believes in Ghosts
Diane Morgan -famed for her investigative
powers as Philomena Cunk - trawls the BBC
archive for the best real-life tales of ghost
hunting, hauntings and unexplained phenomena,
which takes us across England, Ireland, Scotland
and Wales - as well as on a tour around the
bowels of BBC Broadcasting House.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09c0rr8
Did anyone listen to this? I did but it’s so long it took a few sittings. What did you think?
Archive Hour tonight on BBC Radio 4, 8 o'clock, all about the fake factoids that get shared endlessly on social media, where they came from and why loads of people believe them even though they're not true. An hour seems too short!
Did anyone listen to this? I did but it’s so long it took a few sittings. What did you think?
Author and naturalist Helen Macdonald embarks on a clockwise loop around the M25 to discover if there is a wild side to Britain's busiest road
Just watched it, a really fascinating programme.The Hidden World of the Motorway
Interesting programme about motorway edge zones. specifically the M25, liminal spaces between them & ‘useful’ land, & the wildlife found in them. Turns out they’re very wildlife diverse as they’re basically left alone.
Many items of interest - Waltham Abbey ex-Royal Ordnance facility, Epping Forest, & an area which was a rubbish dump until 4 years ago, now regrown & a wildlife habitat, J.G.Ballard, & much more
At Rothampsted Research, a field has been the subject of a continuous experiment since the 1800s when it was divided into segments & various different fertilisers used on each to find the most effective, originally for hay production. On one segment no fertiliser has been used since the start & has been found to be the most diverse in terms of species found in it. Other segments treated differently had ‘better' grass but less other plants.
Fungi growth shown to have interesting properties & amazing moss regeneration from seemingly dry & dead to sprouting. There’s an segment with model electric cars rotating on a track, programmed with either ’selfish’ or ‘co-operative’ modes when one car breaks down & stops, blocking the lane. As expected, the co-operative mode is much more efficient in keeping traffic moving.
The man who was in charge of planting for the northern part of the M25 is interviewed. A lot of planning went into it.
Also archive documents from late 40s with road planning, post-war reconstruction laid out. The M25 was basically planned then & pretty much follows the route they laid out.
Well worth a watch.
On BBC1 on Monday 22nd November at 9:00pm for viewers in Scotland The Hunt for Bible John.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011xrm
Thank you for the reminder. I was wrongly put off by the Philomena Cunk mention as I'm not a fan and mistakenly thought this programme would be in that vein.Another interesting looking one on BBC sounds. I haven’t listened to it yet.
Diane Morgan Believes in Ghosts
Diane Morgan -famed for her investigative
powers as Philomena Cunk - trawls the BBC
archive for the best real-life tales of ghost
hunting, hauntings and unexplained phenomena,
which takes us across England, Ireland, Scotland
and Wales - as well as on a tour around the
bowels of BBC Broadcasting House.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09c0rr8
It's just not my thing. YMMV.I like Diane Morgan. Her characterisation of 'Philomena Cunk' is deliberately portraying her as an inquisitive thicko.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012xmb1923. Edward Williams, gentleman and amateur golfer, lives an untroubled life as the curator of a small university museum. His speciality is the topography of the British Isles. So when an art dealer sends him details of an interesting engraving - a mezzotint - of an old country house, he’s intrigued.
When the picture arrives, however, it seems perfectly ordinary - until Williams notices a figure in the picture where there was none before. A cloaked figure, with a skull-like head and legs that are horribly thin. Soon, within the mezzotint, the figure seems to be on the move across the moonlit lawn towards the house with murderous intent.
Long-forgotten secrets rise to the surface as Williams and his friends summon all the rational forces at their command to confront the impossible.
While I'm looking forward to this, being a big James fan, it'll be the usual parade of harrumphing male academics.A Ghost Story for Christmas on BBC2 at 22.30 on Christmas Eve is The Mezzotint
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012xmb
While I'm looking forward to this, being a big James fan, it'll be the usual parade of harrumphing male academics.
Can't be helped as that was James' world; but if he was imaginative enough to conjure up the various ghosts and demons we love so much you'd think he'd be able to scrape together a woman who did more than serve tea and gossip.