Why only at Christmas?

[faginsgirl]

Hope this is the right forum for this. It is a question about films.

Why is it that we only usually see a string of great British films on tv at Christmas? I`m not just talking about the classics, the Italian job etc, but other Brit films? I suppose its a case of leaving the best to last (end of the year!), but it does seem that we are overloaded with crap apart from the odd good film or drama series throughout the year.
Can anyone remember when Saturday night was good entertainment with a great film later on?

Whats wrong with a friday night ghost story film or series,? Saying that the hammer horror series has just been shown which I am pretty suprised at. Good move!Also uk Gold isnt too bad. But mainstream??????OMG! thats atroshious!

Maybe its me but I just understand the appeal of todays tv anymore!

Is it a generation thing, just personal taste, or are programmes really bad these days overall?

xx

[Edward G]

Originally Posted by faginsgirl Hope this is the right forum for this. It is a question about films. Why is it that we only usually see a string of great British films on tv at Christmas? I`m not just talking about the classics, the Italian job etc, but other Brit films? I suppose its a case of leaving the best to last (end of the year!), but it does seem that we are overloaded with crap apart from the odd good film or drama series throughout the year. Can anyone remember when Saturday night was good entertainment with a great film later on? Whats wrong with a friday night ghost story film or series,? Saying that the hammer horror series has just been shown which I am pretty suprised at. Good move!Also uk Gold isnt too bad. But mainstream??????OMG! thats atroshious! Maybe its me but I just understand the appeal of todays tv anymore! Is it a generation thing, just personal taste, or are programmes really bad these days overall? xx

Howdy Faginsgirl,
I agree wholeheartedly.
Most TV output these days is formulaic drivel. It's not a generational thing but, having said that, a young audience of today will not have witnessed the slide quality-wise over the years.
Even in the 7 years since I bought Sky, I notice sadly that the quality of programmimg on the documentary channels like Discovery, Civilisations and History Channels has gone bargain basement. If you tune into the Biography channel, instead of Michelangelo you now get Jade Goody or some other z-list non-entity.
I would love to see more mystery, thrillers and ghost stories on the TV - especially the vintage stuff. It sure beats endless repeats of Hi-De-Hi or Dads Army.....
The pollution of mainstream broadcasting with so-called "Reality TV " is one reason why I mostly watch DVD's - especially box sets of great drama series like "Sherlock Holmes" (Jeremy Brett) or comedy like "Bilko" or "Laurel and Hardy".
If it wasn't for the BBC there would be very little left to watch on TV in my humble opinion.
Don't touch that dial...
Edward G.

[Shaun]

I would say the crap factor is overly represented at Christmas too.


Shaun

[CaptainWaggett]

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion on this forum but I would say that on any given week there's just as much to watch as there ever was - I loved Lark Rise to Candleford, and the BBC4 Curse of Comedy season and I'm looking forward to the return of Doctor Who (the BBC1 Saturday night schedule looks pretty good to me!). There's Mad Men and Ashes to Ashes, The Apprentice, a fair sprinkling of documentaries - surely BBC4's current one on Sacred Music couldn't be classed as dumbing down. Coming up BBC4 have a Medieval Season in April and we have Merlin and Tess of the Durbervilles to look forward to

I'm sure if you picked a random week in 1973 you could find a fair amount of rubbish. It wasn't all The Ascent of Man and Upstairs Downstairs - do people really feel nostalgic about 90% of ITV sitcoms for example?

[Edward G]

Like I said, take the BBC out of the broadcasting spectrum and there's not much left.

[batman]

I have watched the Curse Of Comedy programmes and Mrs Bat loved Larkrise ... but apart from those two and Lewis there has been little to interest us. I haven't watched He Kills Coppers yet and am hopeful I will enjoy that as I enjoyed the book.

[Mark O]

In the days of three channels (in UK) and before Video recorders, whatever Movie was on TV on Christmay day afternoon was quite a big thing!

I recall 'The sound of music' was shown for the very first time on UK TV on Christmas day in 1978.........people don't know they're born these days, just click and pay (around) a fiver and almost whatever movie you want is on your doorstep in a few days!

[CaptainWaggett]

I suspect that many programmes in the past might have looked a little less enticing if we'd all had cupboards full of dvds, plus Amazon and dvd rental services plus the internet not to mention dozens (or even 100s) of different channels. There'd be a much smaller audience now for the sort of series that takes 3 episodes to explain the central premise before anything actually happens (yes, I'm looking at you, The Brothers!). Same with the blockbuster movies, as Mark says (I remember it being a huge deal when Gone with the Wind was first on telly - hard to imagine an equivalent excitement now).

[Mark O]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett (I remember it being a huge deal when Gone with the Wind was first on telly - hard to imagine an equivalent excitement now).

Can you shed any light on when 'GWTW' was first shown on TV?.........rings a little bell with me, but I can't recall when it actually was!

[CaptainWaggett]

In 1980 the BBC bid £3.6 million for the rights and in 1981 they won it (plus 55 other MGM films) for £4.4 million. So the others came pretty cheap. The first showing was 26th and 27th December 1981.

[NappieB]

Originally Posted by faginsgirl Hope this is the right forum for this. It is a question about films. Why is it that we only usually see a string of great British films on tv at Christmas? I`m not just talking about the classics, the Italian job etc, but other Brit films? I suppose its a case of leaving the best to last (end of the year!), but it does seem that we are overloaded with crap apart from the odd good film or drama series throughout the year. Is it a generation thing, just personal taste, or are programmes really bad these days overall? xx

Faginsgirl:

See the link below for my take on this subject( hope the link works!)

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/br...tml#post107275

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion on this forum but I would say that on any given week there's just as much to watch as there ever was - I loved Lark Rise to Candleford, and the BBC4 Curse of Comedy season and I'm looking forward to the return of Doctor Who (the BBC1 Saturday night schedule looks pretty good to me!). There's Mad Men and Ashes to Ashes, The Apprentice, a fair sprinkling of documentaries - surely BBC4's current one on Sacred Music couldn't be classed as dumbing down. Coming up BBC4 have a Medieval Season in April and we have Merlin and Tess of the Durbervilles to look forward to I'm sure if you picked a random week in 1973 you could find a fair amount of rubbish. It wasn't all The Ascent of Man and Upstairs Downstairs - do people really feel nostalgic about 90% of ITV sitcoms for example?

I think you're quite right Captain ,although we don't have exactly the same taste,there is more to watch in a nights viewing now than in 1973 you just have to search the freeview channels.
your point about ITV sitcoms is spot on , I had a 4 disc set "CLASSIC ITV CHRISTMAS COMEDY " bought for me over the festive period and when I sat down to watch some of it one night ,the thought "nostalgia ain't what it used to be "sprang to mind .

My wife and daughter watch Paul o grady and I am usually sat down with a cup of tea about the time it's on .I don't really watch it but the other night Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were on ,and a collection of clips were put together charting their careers from the early days to present day.It was really good ,I realised they had made quite a lot of stuff that was really funny. Dawn French was quite surprised at the production quality of some of the shows and said to Jennifer ,wow can you Imagine starting out today ,we would get nowhere near the budget we had then and couldn't have done half the stuff we did.

I think that sums up the current climate ,while we still get big production shows ,and costume dramas such as Cranford , is money tighter further down the scale ?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion on this forum but I would say that on any given week there's just as much to watch as there ever was - I loved Lark Rise to Candleford, and the BBC4 Curse of Comedy season and I'm looking forward to the return of Doctor Who (the BBC1 Saturday night schedule looks pretty good to me!). There's Mad Men and Ashes to Ashes, The Apprentice, a fair sprinkling of documentaries - surely BBC4's current one on Sacred Music couldn't be classed as dumbing down. Coming up BBC4 have a Medieval Season in April and we have Merlin and Tess of the Durbervilles to look forward to I'm sure if you picked a random week in 1973 you could find a fair amount of rubbish. It wasn't all The Ascent of Man and Upstairs Downstairs - do people really feel nostalgic about 90% of ITV sitcoms for example?

Of course there are a lot of good TV programmes available now. The trouble is that with the multiple channels we now have available there is also a lot more rubbish. So people have to learn to be selective.

If you just stick to a few favourite channels it probably will look like there's more rubbish on them. There probably is because even the main channels now broadcast for a lot longer than they used to in the 1970s or whenever you take as a comparison.

Any channel is capable of putting out a very good programme. I often find that there's more on than I have time to watch, and I'm very selective in my viewing.

And you're quite correct when you say that not every programme was great in the old days. What often happens is that when we remember years gone by we're not really thinking about a specific year but about all the years between then and now

Steve

[zandycap]

I find there are almost too many channels on Sky these days, even movie channels. Having to flip through them all to see whats on is a chore. Thank heavens for DigiGuide, where many channels can be seen at a glance.

Though as a specific channel i find ITV1 has reached a new low. Even ITV 2, 3, and 4 show better programmes half the time.

[AdrianTurner]

Years ago, my hands would tingle at the thought of buying the Christmas Radio Times, marking off all the films I wanted to see and, in later years, record onto VHS. Now I really don't even bother to scan RT that closely and maybe the reason is - the reason why we think Christmas is pretty rubbishy - because we ALREADY HAVE THE FILMS WE WANT TO SEE. On DVD. In far better condition, in the OAR, without ads and without some voice-over on the end titles etc. And because of that, Christmas TV has got worse or irrelevant.