New Station Dedicated to BBC programs 24/7

W

Who Is That Then

Guest
In U.S. in the Wash. DC area there is now a new PBS digital station that is broadcasting all British shows all the time 24/7. It just started up about 2 weeks ago. They're showing LOSW every night at 8 pm and then they repeat it at 3:30 am which is good if the 8 pm show pixilates as you're recording it. LOSW is on Sunday thru Thurs. night. Unfortunately they're not showing the older British spy/detective type shows I like from the '60's. But it's a nice addition.
 
Yes, I have discovered this as well- it is called WETA-UK. I am not sure what WETA stands for (I think the W stands for Washington). Now there are actually three stations that carry Summer Wine in the DC Suburbs (at least on the Maryland side) The main one is Maryland Public Television and then two obscure cable channels are Maryland Public Television2 and now WETA-UK. The main one (MPT) is on series 7, MPT2 just finished with Compo's funeral, while WETA-UK is airing Blamire episodes.

Now here is my personal decision. I am one of those "one episode per day" folk. I feel if I start watching all of the Summer Wines in all eras at the same time, it would ruin the show a bit.

Truly is my favorite, and yes I could just go to the 2000-01 series on MPT2 now and enjoy but I am sticking with the main channel and series 7 only. Like I commented in previous posts, I am also one of those that likes focusing on one era at a time, so it will eventually be great to see Seymour, then it will be great to eventually see Foggy return. Needless to say that when the time comes, Truly will definitely be a sight for sore eyes. So I will discipline myself and refrain from the current airing of the Truly years so that when the later episodes return to the main channel I will genuinely appreciate it.

By the way, "Who is that Then", we might be neighbors. I live in central Prince George's County. Later, I will compile a list of shows airing on WETA-UK and share that with our Brit Brethren here to see if these other shows are good. WETA-UK definitely appears to be better than BBC-America. Two shows, Waiting for God and Ballykissangel are great!
 
Codfanglers, we probably live about 1/2 hour apart. To answer a question, this is a digital over the air station, good thing, because I quit cable about 5 years ago. The only thing I miss is Encore Westerns, the rest of cable stopped showing the programming I like years ago. But that's another subject.

I watch LOSW one to 2 times a week. I watch from beg. to end, I recently started over with the series and am now in the 2nd season (series) with Blamire. You know when I first saw the Blamire episodes I didn't like them, I found the group hard to understand and Blamire wasn't that funny. But now I'm watching them I understand 99% of what they say (guess, years now of watching British shows has acclimated me to the accents) and I also find Blamire very well played and a funny guy in his own right. I enjoy these early shows now. I remember first time I saw these I could barely make out anything they said, esp. Compo he was just one big mumble jumble. Now even Compo is understood (most of the time).
 
Who Is That Then said:
Codfanglers, we probably live about 1/2 hour apart. To answer a question, this is a digital over the air station, good thing, because I quit cable about 5 years ago. The only thing I miss is Encore Westerns, the rest of cable stopped showing the programming I like years ago. But that's another subject.

I watch LOSW one to 2 times a week. I watch from beg. to end, I recently started over with the series and am now in the 2nd season (series) with Blamire. You know when I first saw the Blamire episodes I didn't like them, I found the group hard to understand and Blamire wasn't that funny. But now I'm watching them I understand 99% of what they say (guess, years now of watching British shows has acclimated me to the accents) and I also find Blamire very well played and a funny guy in his own right. I enjoy these early shows now. I remember first time I saw these I could barely make out anything they said, esp. Compo he was just one big mumble jumble. Now even Compo is understood (most of the time).
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About the early years, the Blamire episodes takes some getting used to for Yanks. The dialogue was very Britain-specific, and then there was the slower pace to the show, the grittier environment, etc. In comic duos, trios, and quartets, there is often a "straight guy" that compliment the more wild guys. Blamire definitely serves more as a straight guy than your Foggy, Seymour, or Truly. I recently watched the Blamire episodes for the third or fourth time. There are some gems in that era and some episodes that still don't do it for me. Recently, discussion in this forum caused me to have a great appreciation for the first two Series as the storyline was the trio being unemployed. Clegg was a lino salesman and the material became extinct, Blamire waiting for military retirement, and Compo an expert at benefiting from the "welfare system". This background gave me a new perspective on those years. When the show first started, it was probably like a lot of British shows, with the intentions of only last a coupe of Series.
 
OK Hopefully Brit members are also reading this thread because I wanted to get their input on some of the shows aired on WETA-UK.

I know some really good ones are Waiting For God, Chef, Vicar of Dibley, and Ballykissangel. If you haven't seen Waiting For God, try to see it, because you will like it if you like Summer wine. They also show East Enders, Doc Martin, and To A Manor Born.

Here is a list of other shows I want to get feedback on. I am too busy with my kids to sit there and check each one out. So please folks, help me out. Which of the following are worth watching?

My Hero
Good Neighbors
Outnumbered
Coupling
Black Books
Monarch of the Glen
Hustle
All Creatures Great and Small
 
Codfangers
As it really boils down to personal likes/dislikes etc,i would only recommend All creatures great and small and class the rest as just the sort of stuff that does nothing for me whatsoever.(being polite here ;D).

Hector
 
Chuffer Enwright said:
Black Books is marvellous. Very good indeed.
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Hector said:
Codfangers
As it really boils down to personal likes/dislikes etc,i would only recommend All creatures great and small and class the rest as just the sort of stuff that does nothing for me whatsoever.(being polite here ;D).

Hector
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Thanks guys! I caught just a glimpse of "My Hero" and it doesn't look all that good. I heard of All Creatures Great and Small and thanks to Chuffer as well, I will also keep an eye out for Black Books.

True, Hector, everyone has there own tastes, but I do believe I can take a good bit of stock in the tastes of anyone devoted to a Summer Wine fansite!
 
Good neighbours ( The Good Life over here), Monarch of the Glen, and I love Outnumbered as it is so different to other shows. The children run the show pretty much and are given very little in the way of scrips. They are, as I understand it, given an idea and left to chat about it under their own terms. I love it, my husband hates it.
 
Who Is That Then said:
In U.S. in the Wash. DC area there is now a new PBS digital station that is broadcasting all British shows all the time 24/7. It just started up about 2 weeks ago. They're showing LOSW every night at 8 pm and then they repeat it at 3:30 am which is good if the 8 pm show pixilates as you're recording it. LOSW is on Sunday thru Thurs. night. Unfortunately they're not showing the older British spy/detective type shows I like from the '60's. But it's a nice addition.
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I like quite a few of British Spy/detective etc. You can find them all...

The Avengers

The Prisoner

Danger man

The saint..The Sweeny

Lord peter Wimsey

 
codfanglers said:
OK Hopefully Brit members are also reading this thread because I wanted to get their input on some of the shows aired on WETA-UK.

I know some really good ones are Waiting For God, Chef, Vicar of Dibley, and Ballykissangel. If you haven't seen Waiting For God, try to see it, because you will like it if you like Summer wine. They also show East Enders, Doc Martin, and To A Manor Born.

Here is a list of other shows I want to get feedback on. I am too busy with my kids to sit there and check each one out. So please folks, help me out. Which of the following are worth watching?

My Hero
Good Neighbors
Outnumbered
Coupling
Black Books
Monarch of the Glen
Hustle
All Creatures Great and Small
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Has a Brit, I recommend Outnumbered and All Creatures, you ll like that one if you like the scenery in LOSW you love this and Monarch of the Glen too.
 
Susan said:
codfanglers said:
Has a Brit, I recommend Outnumbered and All Creatures, you ll like that one if you like the scenery in LOSW you love this and Monarch of the Glen too.
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Being that I have my hands fully with a 4 and a 1 year old now, I might appreciate Outnumbers. I will look to catch All Creatures and at least Monarch of the Glen has an intriguing name.

Thanks to all those those shared your opinion. As I said before, I believe I can take value in the tastes of Summer Wine enthusiasts!
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Compo, those are some of the shows I was thinking about and they are not on the WETA UK channel. Yes, they are on DVD and this is how I have been watching them. Some other shows I like and am only able to watch them on DVD are "Public Eye" (my personal favorite), The Baron, The Persuaders, Man In A Suitcase & The Protectors. All of these are NOT on WETA UK, hence my appropriate comment. By the way, a couple shows I bought from Amazon UK, based on the positive reviews, it turned out, after watching them, that I was disappointed in them, specifically The Champions & Gideon's Way. Both of these I just didn't like. Gideon seemed to have a sickeningly inflated view of himself as if everyone around him was inferior and Champions too far fetched and the stories too boring, probably would have been much better as a 1/2 hour series. I found both of these series to be a chore to get through without wishing it was over. They both had positive reviews though, so once again, to each his own. Public Eye more than lived up to it's good reviews though. I only wish the early years of Public Eye were available. Haven't seen Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, though it looks interesting. Is this one worth buying?
 
Randall and Hopkirk was a good 60s show, I like it, but has been said each to his/her own. :)
 
Who Is That Then said:
Compo, those are some of the shows I was thinking about and they are not on the WETA UK channel. Yes, they are on DVD and this is how I have been watching them. Some other shows I like and am only able to watch them on DVD are "Public Eye" (my personal favorite), The Baron, The Persuaders, Man In A Suitcase & The Protectors. All of these are NOT on WETA UK, hence my appropriate comment. By the way, a couple shows I bought from Amazon UK, based on the positive reviews, it turned out, after watching them, that I was disappointed in them, specifically The Champions & Gideon's Way. Both of these I just didn't like. Gideon seemed to have a sickeningly inflated view of himself as if everyone around him was inferior and Champions too far fetched and the stories too boring, probably would have been much better as a 1/2 hour series. I found both of these series to be a chore to get through without wishing it was over. They both had positive reviews though, so once again, to each his own. Public Eye more than lived up to it's good reviews though. I only wish the early years of Public Eye were available. Haven't seen Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, though it looks interesting. Is this one worth buying?
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I have said this many times to the members. If you got to "The Box" you can download all the shows you want but have to be carefull not to mess up your ratio..
 
I don't know anything about downloading programs. I have downloaded radio shows, but not TV or movies. I like to be able to hold my programs/movies in my hand and know that I'll have them for years to come. ;D But having to rely on the internet for shows you want, you never know if that website might go down the next day and then you're left hanging all by yourself from a tree (like Compo) and all your shows are gone. :(
 
Just for the record- I had to do research, WETA stands for Washington Educational Telecommunications Association
 
It would be nice to get something similar to this where I live in New Jersey. The closest thing I get is the BBC America channel, and they always show reruns of Top Gear, The Graham Norton Show, Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen NIghtmares and Doctor Who. That was OK initially, but it got quite boring after a while. The closest thing they've shown to a sitcom is Doc Martin and Absolutely Fabulous, but no LOTSW sadly.
 
When we lived in Toronto we use to watch masterpiece Theatre where they showed many brit shows including LOTSW. Does that station still exist. I know they did many fund raising to collect the money they needed. But I remember viewers complaining that when the station gave them the shows they wanted they put them on late at night.
 
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