Little Dorritt v Horizon Special

Dear Don,

I am surprised! You watch television? Surely you are far too bright to waste your time such a pathetic spectacle. Radio Four has more value than all UK TV, and then you have the time to read the paper as well as listen to music on Radio Three.

Yes, I am surprised to find you worried by the pathetic priorities of the British TV.

Best wishes from George

Fredrik

Be prepared to be really surprised and shocked.

In a typical recent week I normally watch :

University Challenge
Panorama-What Time is it?
New Tricks
Little Dorritt
Question Time
A Question of Sport
Have I Got News
Against All Odds
and (wait for it!)
Merlin

Yes, I know, its all rather frivorlus (?) and a complete waste of time, but I do manage to read in parallel (or log on here) which is something I can't do when listening to music.

bad habit........

cheers

Don

frivolous

cheers

Don

Dear Don,

I could list the Radio Four broadcasts that exceed in quality in one day anything you mention from your TV viewing [apparently for a week], but that would only demonstrate that I am a radio listener, and ex-TV viewer.

I think that if Karl Marx were alive today, he might have commented that TV, and not Religion, "was the drug for the masses!"

I am still shocked that someone as seemingly bright as yourself should worry about it given the alternatives ...

George

PS: May I suggest that you ditch the TV and use the BBC iPlayer [if you have broadband and a computer] to catch up on the perhaps two or three hours a week of worthy TV broadcasting?

for catching up i have a Panasonic VHS/DVD/HDD/Recorder so I will record Sunday's episode and watch at leisure.....until the HD Blu-ray dvd comes out, by which time I might have bought a blu-ray player...........but that might shock you even more!!!

Enjoy the wireless George, reception here is poor so I sold my NAT101 about 20 years ago - but still have the galaxy G17

cheers

Don

Dear Don,

I have come across the NAT 01 in CB and Olive versions., and yet I hanker after the NAT 101!

I like simpler things, and as the music was just as fine on the 101, that would be my ideal!

I know someone who will not part with it! Damn!

ATB from George

PS: Just about to iPlay [is that an offical verb?] WW2, Behind Closed Doors, broadcast last Monday on BBC2 TV!

Dobranoc.

So time travel is possible after all. George where have you parked the machine you used to travel from 1930 to 2008?

quote:

Originally posted by Don Atkinson:
Little Dorritt v Horizon Special

BBC dropped tonight's episode of Little Dorrit in order to screen an Horizon Special about Shannon Mathews. Their advice was to watch the "repeat" that is nornally screened on a Sunday evening!!

When I tried to ring their Complaints line at 8:00 pm, the lines were full, so I sent an e-mail complaint instead.

Perhaps its only just me (and Mrs D) who were disappointed, and simply a co-incidence that the BT system went down at the same time.

So how many people here were delighted to have a topical and emotionally charged documentary screened instead of the literary delights of Dickens?

Cheers

Don

I hadn't realised it had been dropped

I'm usually about a week behind so I wouldn't have actually realised what had happened
until I came to watch the next episode.

Thanks for letting me know

Cheers
Steve

You guys are lucky.

I have to sit in the same room as X-factor of a Saturday night ('cos others want to watch it) or get pointed at for being unsociable if I go and sit in the study instead (which also has sofa/TV/DVD/2nd HiFi/desktop and all my CDs and records for just such occasions...)

I'm not allowed to go out.

TV if used with the technology that is available - eg a PVR (Sky +, Freview recording device) can become a very useful device.
You scan the listings to see what might be of interest and program them into the recording device and then dip into the device to watch the program as and when you want to. TV becomes your servant not your master and becomes another source of reference - just like a library

This approach gives the opportunity to ditch programs that do not live up to their write up without leaving you to watch the program for the sake of watching it (cos that is all you have)


The best way of improving your TV viewing is to use the OFF button.

quote:

I am surprised! You watch television? Surely you are far too bright to waste your time such a pathetic spectacle. Radio Four has more value than all UK TV, and then you have the time to read the paper as well as listen to music on Radio Three.

Yes, I am surprised to find you worried by the pathetic priorities of the British TV.

tut, tut, George...being provocative again.

Actually there is some damn good stuff on here and there.
1) I had the pleasure of a performance of Mahler 2 on BBC4 in stereo FM
2)Then there is a very interesting program called 'After Rome, Holy War and Conquest' which all should see to understand the historic reasons for Muslem hatred, the Crusades and so on.
3) I also recently enjoyed the Horizon program on Time by Dr Brian Cox.

Still leaves planty of time for the Naim system.

Regards
Geoff

Don,

Absolutely right sir! I was incensed last night that Little Dorritt was swept aside for a story which is very well discussed in the news already!

I use a TiVo and am usually more than 1 week behind. As it happens I was lucky because I'm not behind on Little Dorritt because it's brilliant. So I have told tiVo to record the omnibus. The thing is, the BBC didn't even change the programming in time for the TiVo to realise the programme had changed so if I'd left it longer, I'd have missed the episode.

The BBC keeps screwing up the time schedules. It starts a serial on one day but then continues it on another day during the week. It almost never starts nor finishes any episode on time which puts more pressure on those using PVRs since then they have to ensure they have a +/- time schedule and at the same time ensure there are no clashes with other programmes to be recorded. Bloody shambles.

Right - 2 complaints in...

Hi Frank

No doubt you received a similar response to the one below? which I find patronisingly unacceptable and shall therefore be complaining about the reply!

Thank you for your e-mail.

We note your disappointment at the changes to the BBC One schedule on 04 December. We raised this issue with BBC One Scheduling, who have responded with:

"Little Dorrit billed on 04 December was replaced in order to show Shannon: The Mother of All Lies: A Panorama Special, following the conclusion of the trial of Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan today at Leeds Crown Court.

The conviction of Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan is to be of huge public interest and we were keen to reflect this by broadcasting this programme.

We're fully aware that making late changes to the schedules can cause disruption and annoyance and we don't take these decisions lightly.

BBC One listings information was updated online and on the electronic listings guides from lunchtime on 04 December as soon as the decision to move the programme was made. There was also an on air announcement alerting viewers to the change in programme billings.

The episode of 'Little Dorrit' can be seen on the Sunday night omnibus at 18.15hrs.

We would like to apologise to those people who were expecting to watch 'Little Dorrit'".

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

BBC Complaints

quote:

...The conviction of Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan is to be of huge public interest and we were keen to reflect this by broadcasting this programme...

I am convinced that, if they could have their way, the BBC would run continuous news progamming on all tv and radio channels. I think the quotation should have read:
"The conviction of Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan is of huge interest to the media and we were keen to reflect this by broadcasting this programme..."

The programming for Little Dorrit has been all over the place and we lost it early on. Why couldn't they just have an hour each Sunday night rather than mucking about with 30 minutes here and there. Will have to wait for the dvd.

In regards Karen Matthews programme, some things are clearly more important in the world than costume dramas IMO.

quote:

some things are clearly more important in the world than costume dramas IMO.

Agreed, but that would suggest we never watch interesting, relaxing, programmes and are simply offered news/documentaries/Open-University/distress&Disasters programmes.

Having to wait till Sunday to record then Monday to watch one episode of Little Dorritt isn't the end of the world - we've all read the book anyway - its the unjustified decision (IMHO) to change the nature of my scheduled and limited lesiure time that I object to. And given that the telephone complaint line was suffering from overload, I don't think it was just me.

But as I say, not the end of the world

Cheers

Don

quote:

The programming for Little Dorrit has been all over the place and we lost it early on.

true, along with many other programmes, but it did seem to have settled down to circa 8:00pm Weds and Thurs plus a combined re-run on Sundays.

Probably better to wait for the (Blu-ray) DVD

Cheers

Don

Hi Don,

I too was irked by the cancellation of the LD episode. The Shannon Matthews case is of course tragic/important/remarkable, but as you've said, we all knew the basics from news reports.

The Panorama special prog could have been scheduled for later in the evening, in place of some of the regular tripe, instead of a very popular serial.

Even better; it should have been scheduled for a regular Horizon/Panorama slot next week.

John.

quote:

we've all read the book anyway

By Dickens I haven't

Yes Don, I got the same insulting response from the BBC. Firstly I do not believe that the Karen Matthews case is of such importance, and I believe this would be borne out in the viewing figures for the special, which I would like to see. 2ndly, I believe the case was covered sufficiently well in the News broadcasts, and had no interest of seeing more of the despicable woman who seems to fill the stereotype of the benefit scrounger perfectly well. 3rdly, we complain of the country losing its culture and the BBC treats Dickens worse than its soaps...

I put in a second complaint at the time regarding the fact that their programming is almost never on time.

The fact is that for those who use PVRs (as Derek espoused earlier), it is simply not good enough to give 6 hours notice and an announcement. The announcement will be missed (because we're not watching the program at the time) and 6 hours notice is not enough when PVRs update their schedules daily.

Don,

I've put in my second complaint regarding their pithy response - incidentally, I had not realised that they'd moved TWO programmes for the special!!

I would really like to know if the viewing figures bear out the BBC's belief in the huge interest in the Karen Matthews case.
According to the FAQ, one can also complain to Ofcom when one believes that the BBC is not responding appropriately. I am seriously considering this too...

The Matthews Panoroma is another form of voyeurism to pander to and enrage the Dail Mail crowd.

It helps to reassure the not quite so "down and out" that other people are even worse off in behaviour and circumstance

quote:

would really like to know if the viewing figures bear out the BBC's belief in the huge interest in the Karen Matthews case.
According to the FAQ, one can also complain to Ofcom when one believes that the BBC is not responding appropriately. I am seriously considering this too...

Frank...Not a defence of the action by the BBC just what has been quoted.

The BBC claim 5.6 million watched the Panorama special vs a typical viewing audience for Little Dorrit that runs around 2.5 million.

I love Little Dorrit - I want to run away with her!

Anyone watched that Survivors thing? What a load of shit. The BBC is going from bad to worse.

EW

quote:

I want to run away with her!

It's up to you EW, but I suggest caution - you could end up on the sex offenders register.

You love Little Dorritt, but you think the BBC is shit?