Australian TV - the best and the worst?

[Toots]

27 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

Nearly signed up for Binge on the strength of that programme but pulled in the purse strings before I did. No doubt it'll appear on ABC or a streaming network at some time or other just as Dr Foster did.

I'm on the 2nd series of "The Bay" on Stan atm as I love to see the scenes of Morecambe where I used to fish almost every weekend when I lived in Garstang.

In my teen years I had friends who lived in the Garstang/Pilling/Fleetwood area.  We were all working in the Lake District and at that time there was a dance club at Morecambe pier where we spent many a Saturday night.  We knew a lad who had a Ford Zephyr and we used to all pile in that and head off to Morecambe for a bit of fun.  

Edited October 31, 2021 by Toots

[Johndoe]

2 hours ago, Toots said:

In my teen years I had friends who lived in the Garstang/Pilling/Fleetwood area.  We were all working in the Lake District and at that time there was a dance club at Morecambe pier where we spent many a Saturday night.  We knew a lad who had a Ford Zephyr and we used to all pile in that and head off to Morecambe for a bit of fun.  

Strangely enough, I was driving a Ford Zephyr at that time also. They were renown for losing their bonnet (mine flew up on the motorway!) and you often saw them with luggage straps through the bonnet to the radiator grill or bumper. I used to spend a lot of time in the Pilling/Cockerham/Glasson Dock area area either fishing or bird spotting. Lovely area.

 

[ToowoombaBlue]

I must admit I’ve enjoyed watching Frayed. Some really good cameos to look out for!

[Toots]

Watched Ben Fogle's Sacred Isles of Scotland on SBS.  If I wasn't here I could easily live on one of those Hebridean Islands. 

[Tulip1]

3 hours ago, Toots said:

Watched Ben Fogle's Sacred Isles of Scotland on SBS.  If I wasn't here I could easily live on one of those Hebridean Islands. 

I was out with a friend over the weekend.  She is due to retire next year and is desperately trying to get her husband to move there.   They’ve had many holidays in Sky and many Scottish islands and she has had the dream of retiring up there for a long time.   Her hubby’s not as keen though so I wonder who will win. 

[Marisawright]

5 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

I was out with a friend over the weekend.  She is due to retire next year and is desperately trying to get her husband to move there.   They’ve had many holidays in Sky and many Scottish islands and she has had the dream of retiring up there for a long time.   Her hubby’s not as keen though so I wonder who will win. 

It's such an extreme choice, I hope she doesn't nag her husband into it.   I love the scenery up there to visit, but living there would drive me absolutely bonkers.   

[Tulip1]

30 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

It's such an extreme choice, I hope she doesn't nag her husband into it.   I love the scenery up there to visit, but living there would drive me absolutely bonkers.   

It would me too.  She said it’s hours to get to the shops!  There are supermarkets on the islands of course but still very remote. I’d love to go there on holiday but couldn’t  live there.  I don’t think she’d nag him too hard,  she’s too nice a person to do that. 

[Marisawright]

58 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

It would me too.  She said it’s hours to get to the shops!  There are supermarkets on the islands of course but still very remote. I’d love to go there on holiday but couldn’t  live there.  I don’t think she’d nag him too hard,  she’s too nice a person to do that. 

I remember holidaying on the West Coast of Scotland when I was little.  Arisaig, Skye, too young to remember the names of the other places.  I remember long walks to get to the shops, and sometimes it was just one shop that sold everything.  In one place, Mum wanted potatoes and we had to stand there and wait while the shopkeeper went out the back to dig them up. 

I also remember how much it rained.  Often very soft rain, sort of halfway between a drizzle and a mist.  

Edited November 24, 2021 by Marisawright

[Blue Flu]

8 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

I was out with a friend over the weekend.  She is due to retire next year and is desperately trying to get her husband to move there.   They’ve had many holidays in Sky and many Scottish islands and she has had the dream of retiring up there for a long time.   Her hubby’s not as keen though so I wonder who will win. 

I've heard it can be hellish over summer with the invasion of tourists. 

Besides any number visit in summer, fall in love with one of the islands and last only one winter. I guess the summers are short and winters long. Best to ensure one is made off the sort of stuff that can endure the climatic conditions. 

Back to TV and on subject though. We have been watching Ring Of Bright Water , set in remote Scotland , my third tome over the decades , my partners first. Besides a good film on nature with the focus on an otter, it reveals the remoteness of such a location. I'd imagine pretty much common up there. Obviously a place like Sky would differ in being a major tourist place , but the remoteness remains both good and bad, I assume.  

Edited November 24, 2021 by Blue Flu
add

[Toots]

1 hour ago, Blue Flu said:

I've heard it can be hellish over summer with the invasion of tourists. 

Besides any number visit in summer, fall in love with one of the islands and last only one winter. I guess the summers are short and winters long. Best to ensure one is made off the sort of stuff that can endure the climatic conditions. 

Back to TV and on subject though. We have been watching Ring Of Bright Water , set in remote Scotland , my third tome over the decades , my partners first. Besides a good film on nature with the focus on an otter, it reveals the remoteness of such a location. I'd imagine pretty much common up there. Obviously a place like Sky would differ in being a major tourist place , but the remoteness remains both good and bad, I assume.  

Ring Of Bright Water both the book and film. 

Skye would probably be a bit too touristy these days but further out on the six islands of Uist it wouldn't be as bad.  We used to go to Oronsay and Colonsay.  Wonderful!  Even my city boy OH loved it there.  Don't think he could live there though.  I could.

I was brought up on a fairly remote hill farm and loved everything about it.  My siblings both turned out to be city lovers unlike me.  i still love remoteness.

 

[Blue Flu]

7 hours ago, Toots said:

Ring Of Bright Water both the book and film. 

Skye would probably be a bit too touristy these days but further out on the six islands of Uist it wouldn't be as bad.  We used to go to Oronsay and Colonsay.  Wonderful!  Even my city boy OH loved it there.  Don't think he could live there though.  I could.

I was brought up on a fairly remote hill farm and loved everything about it.  My siblings both turned out to be city lovers unlike me.  i still love remoteness.

 

Apart from a medical emergency I increasingly find attractive remote locations. Perhaps I'm a bit extreme. Either the hurly burly of a real city or remote place. Visited The Falkland Islands in 2017 and rather liked it. Not yet been so far north in Scotland but hope to do so. 

[Bulya]

1 hour ago, Blue Flu said:

Apart from a medical emergency I increasingly find attractive remote locations. Perhaps I'm a bit extreme. Either the hurly burly of a real city or remote place. Visited The Falkland Islands in 2017 and rather liked it. Not yet been so far north in Scotland but hope to do so. 

I don’t have to travel anymore.  I just watch ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ and he does it for me..

[Blue Flu]

12 hours ago, Bulya said:

I don’t have to travel anymore.  I just watch ‘Bald and Bankrupt’ and he does it for me..

That Baldr bloke is  an acquired taste. A bit too much into the poverty porn in attempting to be different. But your right. he's enough to make one add their back pack for sale in the next garage sale. 

[Bulya]

51 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

That Baldr bloke is  an acquired taste. A bit too much into the poverty porn in attempting to be different. But your right. he's enough to make one add their back pack for sale in the next garage sale. 

Having been to India it’s spot in.  Russian stuff also hits the mark 

[Blue Flu]

On 26/11/2021 at 07:54, Bulya said:

Having been to India it’s spot in.  Russian stuff also hits the mark 

I've been to India as well and traveled in it. One of course focus on the poverty, but it is a land so much more than that. . This is unlikely to be so in countries sadly diminished and defined by their poverty, for example Haiti. India  has long  captivated western minds and senses  and changed lives in ways never expected by people prior to going. Such an assortment of different personalities encountered have never encountered elsewhere. 

[Paul1Perth]

On 24/11/2021 at 19:09, Toots said:

Watched Ben Fogle's Sacred Isles of Scotland on SBS.  If I wasn't here I could easily live on one of those Hebridean Islands. 

Way too cold for me. Good program though.

[Paul1Perth]

6 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

I've been to India as well and traveled in it. One of course focus on the poverty, but it is a land so much more than that. . This is unlikely to be so in countries sadly diminished and defined by their poverty, for example Haiti. India  has long  captivated western minds and senses  and changed lives in ways never expected by people prior to going. Such an assortment of different personalities encountered have never encountered elsewhere. 

Try and get the book inhaling the Mahatma. Won a few awards when it came out. Written by an English Foreign Correspondent in India who fell in love with the place. Great book. 

Didn't change my view that I'd ever want to go but interesting.

[Parley]

On 26/11/2021 at 10:54, Bulya said:

Having been to India it’s spot in.  Russian stuff also hits the mark 

Did you see McMafia? That was quite good I thought. English but about Russian underworld figures.

[Tulip1]

1 hour ago, Parley said:

Did you see McMafia? That was quite good I thought. English but about Russian underworld figures.

I watched that, very good. 

[Robert Dyson]

9 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

I've been to India as well and traveled in it. One of course focus on the poverty, but it is a land so much more than that. . This is unlikely to be so in countries sadly diminished and defined by their poverty, for example Haiti. India  has long  captivated western minds and senses  and changed lives in ways never expected by people prior to going. Such an assortment of different personalities encountered have never encountered elsewhere. 

India is a different world, there's nowhere else like it.  Following the first visit,  we never again booked a traditional "english style" holiday to the usual European beach places..I mean why would you?  Ended up doing India multiple times, then reached out all over the Asia Pacific and eventually we just decided to move to Australia after seeing a job advert...it was a 30 second conversation and we never looked back.   

 

[Bulya]

4 hours ago, Parley said:

Did you see McMafia? That was quite good I thought. English but about Russian underworld figures.

No.  I was commenting on Bald’s Russian stuff.  

[MARYROSE02]

Free to air TV is just that; free but you have to put up with the ads. No TV licence though.  A part of me would like to go back to just the "normal" TV. I have Fetch, Foxtel, Netflix and now Stan for the Euro footy. Plus my phone which I also watch the footy on.  If I hadn't had Stan I would not have discovered Billions which helped get me thru the lockdown.  I know it's all dear but still less than what I spend on beer and I don't have a car, mortgage or any loans.

[Ken]

On 03/12/2021 at 01:28, MARYROSE02 said:

Free to air TV is just that; free but you have to put up with the ads. No TV licence though.  A part of me would like to go back to just the "normal" TV. I have Fetch, Foxtel, Netflix and now Stan for the Euro footy. Plus my phone which I also watch the footy on.  If I hadn't had Stan I would not have discovered Billions which helped get me thru the lockdown.  I know it's all dear but still less than what I spend on beer and I don't have a car, mortgage or any loans.

The ABC is free to air and doesn't show any more ads than the BBC. No TV licence because the government funding has always come from general taxation rather than a specific tax.

Of the subscription channels I'm finding Disney+ to be the best value. Obviously we got it because my son wanted it but there's loads more than just kids programs on it.

[Dusty Plains]

4 hours ago, Ken said:

The ABC is free to air and doesn't show any more ads than the BBC. No TV licence because the government funding has always come from general taxation rather than a specific tax.

The ABC has never been free-to-air ever since its first transmission in 1956 or perhaps '57 when it was working out of an old church hall in Darlinghurst in Sydney.  The commercial channels, as bad as they are, still represent the only free-to-air transmissions in Australia. 

The ABC lays claim to being "independent" media. Clearly however, the ABC has always been wholly dependent upon funding from all Australian taxpayers, most of whom rarely watch it. That means that all Australian taxpayers including private citizens, businesses and industry, must contribute to the ABC even if they do not have a television or radio. That means that the ABC, for instance, is more dependent than the BBC. 

Would that make the ABC one of the most dependent media services world wide? It would seem so.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Dusty Plains

[Ken]

17 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

The ABC has never been free-to-air ever since its first transmission in 1956 or perhaps '57 when it was working out of an old church hall in Darlinghurst in Sydney.  The commercial channels, as bad as they are, still represent the only free-to-air transmissions in Australia. 

The ABC lays claim to being "independent" media. Clearly however, the ABC has always been wholly dependent upon funding from all Australian taxpayers, most of whom rarely watch it. That means that all Australian taxpayers including private citizens, businesses and industry, must contribute to the ABC even if they do not have a television or radio. That means that the ABC, for instance, is more dependent than the BBC. 

Would that make the ABC one of the most dependent media services world wide? It would seem so.

Not free-to-air because it's paid for by taxation? You might as well say the commercial channels aren't free-to-air because they're paid for by advertising!