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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2022 16:49:39 GMT
Also series has a nice diverse cast and gives good roles to quality older actresses. Judy Parfitt still a show regular in her mid 80's.
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Post by peggs on Jan 14, 2022 17:06:00 GMT
Yes that is true, the series has quality ongoing and episodic roles for older actresses doesn't it with decent plotlines and a mixed cast.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 15, 2022 2:27:10 GMT
Please can we stop with the Vanessa Redgrave bits now. They add nothing to show. They are increasingly incoherent.
No one would miss them.
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Post by peggs on Jan 15, 2022 13:37:44 GMT
Have to admit they are rather twee and vomit inducing so try and ignore them.
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 17, 2022 9:20:30 GMT
"This is a formal complaint. I've got my smart coat on." 😂 That could only be a Jonathan Harvey line, surely?
He should write some gags for Shelagh Turner. Her whispering worthiness is becoming wearisome.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2022 11:21:36 GMT
Shelagh is really getting annoying now, I keep feeling her scenes are just a waste of time. Same goes for Mrs Buckle (though I do like Fred and Reggie).
Also getting bored of the Trixie/rich man romance already, and hoping the trailer for next week's episode isn't pointing towards a desperately lazy storyline for Lucille but something else instead.
On the other hand though, Nurse Crane is still reliably brilliant, Sister Frances seems to be an entirely new confident person this series and Nurse Corrigan is now my favourite character, so I actually enjoyed last night's episode a lot. The Cusack acting dynasty continues, I thought Megan Cusack was fantastic this week.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2022 12:57:31 GMT
The show has had it's backbone cast for a long time, others have come and gone and new faces have been bought in. Georgie Glenn as Millicent has been a great addition in recent series. With Shelagh it always amuses me as Laura Main looks so different out of character with her hair down that I heard several people were surprised how glamourous she looked on the One Show.
Trixie I think would have been married by now in real life and they could have still kept her in the show quite easily.
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Post by peggs on Jan 17, 2022 21:16:54 GMT
I'm an episode behind but yes I'm surprised by how long the Trixie romance is stretching out for. Since it was signposted about 5 seconds after they met and yes didn't need to mean a show exist.
Council Buckle really gets on my nerves! All that bustle. Must be frustrating for the actress as she really only gets to have two options to play; the I'm a councillor and am going to open/announce things and telling Fred off/occasionally selling silk.
Love Nurse Crane, Sister Frances and yes nurse Corrigan coming on nicely. Sister Hilda amuses me. I can overlook Doctor Turner's general goodness in a way that annoys me in his wife.
And obviously Sister Monica Joan who is the Maggie Smith equivalent to Downton and tends to get the best lines.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2022 17:48:54 GMT
Yes the give the younger actresses the main storylines and can still give the likes of the great Judy Parfitt some lovely one liners whilst sat talking in the nuns house.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2022 22:31:23 GMT
Yes the give the younger actresses the main storylines and can still give the likes of the great Judy Parfitt some lovely one liners whilst sat talking in the nuns house. I wish we had more Sister Monica Joan though, although I suppose tonight was an example of why she is so good in small doses too! Floods of tears tonight. Poor Lucille! |
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 31, 2022 9:04:32 GMT
I had a feeling early on that Trixie would be off somewhere. Her godmother has come in handy over the years! Alongside the more serious storylines, it was fun seeing how Helen George's baby bump was disguised. My personal favourite was behind a teapot in the habadashers, complete with knitted cosy. I guess that wedding will just have to wait.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2022 19:55:05 GMT
Yes the give the younger actresses the main storylines and can still give the likes of the great Judy Parfitt some lovely one liners whilst sat talking in the nuns house. I wish we had more Sister Monica Joan though, although I suppose tonight was an example of why she is so good in small doses too! Floods of tears tonight. Poor Lucille! Judy Parfitt at 86 I doubt would want to have huge storylines giving her some quality lines each episode makes her role a perfect supporting one. Plus the show does have a large ensemble cast so no-one is the main stars as such. |
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Post by stevemar on Jan 31, 2022 23:38:05 GMT
I’ve loved this show since series 1. Yes, it’s sentimental and the Vanessa Redgrave prologue/epilogues are poor, but the tough storylines and ensemble acting make you care for the characters. That’s the best way I think to tell the story. And yes, I often cry whilst watching - this series hasn’t been too bad for that, but it got me again.
Whilst it has never really had the level of publicity of some BBC dramas, the continued high ratings and prime time Sunday/Christmas Day slots show how valued it is by the BBC.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 1, 2022 1:07:35 GMT
I was impressed by the decision to feature an under represented form of domestic violence in this week's episode. It is very rare for male victims of spousal abuse to be acknowledged in any media
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2022 15:23:17 GMT
The domestic violenvce and the child cruelty was a hard hitting one. Given children often had sadistic teachers in that era then I wonder if NSPCC would have been involved. Also the nuns talking so openly about sex education was a slight surprise.
I get the Vanessa Redgrave narrative when the character she represented was in the series but she has been left for several years now. Maybe as it is 1967 or so now in the story they should mention some of the causes Dame Vanessa was involved in back then in the storylines. I'm sure she'd like that or it would be a good in joke.
Possibly even have Judy Parfitt or Jenny Agutter watching their much younger selves on TV would be a thing to do.
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Post by ruthieh on Feb 13, 2022 22:22:16 GMT
Great episode tonight! It’s going to be a long week.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 13, 2022 23:18:52 GMT
At least it will be resolved next week rather than waiting for the Christmas special
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2022 23:33:06 GMT
Really good episode - unbearably tense as I knew what was coming at the end! I knew from the episode description for next week that Nancy ended up separated from the other two and actually guessed how it happened!
I wonder if all the raven nonsense has been too obvious and none of the main characters will actually die (the train driver presumably will, and maybe the tea trolley lady) but we have serious injuries instead - awful though that still sounds, I hope I'm right!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 13, 2022 23:57:20 GMT
It won't be too much of a cull as the Christmas episode will still be something heartwarming and uplifting.
You can't do that if you are burying half the cast
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 14, 2022 9:40:39 GMT
I'm afraid I spent the last 10 minutes wondering why the train's dead man's handle hadn't activated.
On a Sunday night I want television that is (mostly) nice and gentle.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 14, 2022 10:35:02 GMT
I watched first time in years and I won't be rushing back. Is it just me or are 50 ish % of the lines written to be like the end of scene in Acorn Antiques? You know that polite laughter when Mr O has forgotten the sweetener in the coffee.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2022 16:44:34 GMT
If Stetephen McGann or Jenny Agutter were going to leave I think we may have read about it. Interesting to do a two parter series finale too.
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Post by ruthieh on Feb 14, 2022 17:01:35 GMT
I did see on Twitter a comment that Jenny Agutter had previous with trains!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2022 21:16:35 GMT
If Stetephen McGann or Jenny Agutter were going to leave I think we may have read about it. Interesting to do a two parter series finale too. There have been rumours about Jenny Agutter wanting more time to do other things. And this show is usually quite good at keeping character deaths under wraps! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2022 21:31:36 GMT
It would be a shame if Jenny left as she has been a constant presence in the series and I think it only has a couple more years to run. We are up to 1967 now in the series and didn't these Nun lead units close around 1970 so there could be say 2 or a max of 3 more series.
But Jenny along with Stephen has been on the show for over a decade so they may fancy a change or have other things they want to explore. Jenny also turns 70 this year so if she fancied taking on a major stage role again may want to be free to do so now rather than a few years down the line when going back on stage could be a bigger ask.
Hopefully none of the major characters die but we'll have to wait an see.
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