Britain From Above

[Bob The Skutter]

Has anyone else been watching it? I've just got round to watching the first 2 episodes, and I think it's a fascinating show. It was interesting to see how and why London has(n't) really changed over the years. I'm just sorry I missed them on BBC HD.

Here's the website, I don't think the clips will be viewable outside the UK though.

 

[WillsBabe]

I watched the first one when it was re-shown on Sunday. I wanted to be fascinated and amazed and awe-inspired. But I didn't care much for Andrew marr's narration or the tone of the narration. To me it was all a bit doom-laden and critical. I throught the insight into London's nooks and crannies was really interesting, though. Other than that I won't be watching again because it was all a bit negative for me.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

huh... I didn't get that sense at all. What exactly did you feel he was being critical about?

 

[kitkat]

Here's the website, I don't think the clips will be viewable outside the UK though.

It's not. I tried anyway though, just to torture myself I guess.

Looks pretty neat in any event.

 

[WillsBabe]

huh... I didn't get that sense at all. What exactly did you feel he was being critical about?

I was thinking it seemed negative in the way it was describing loads of lorries on the roads and the overworked public transport system, the over crowded skies and the mass of humanity on the move relentlessly. To me it seemed like the country, the systems and everything was struggling to cope and there was something intrinsictly wrong with it all (in that typically British we're-so-crap vibe the BBC are so good at, I feel). I was hoping the tone would have been more upbeat and optimistic and amazed by how all this happens everyday and how amazing our systems are to cope and how remarkable all this is rather than a kind of mysoginistic inevability to it all. It could be that I associate Andrew Marr with critical interrogation and so when I hear his voice that's what I associate his voice with. Anyway, whether it's my perception or not I won't be watching again. Depressed the hell out of me, when I wanted the opposite.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

huh... I didn't get that sense at all. What exactly did you feel he was being critical about?

I was thinking it seemed negative in the way it was describing loads of lorries on the roads and the overworked public transport system, the over crowded skies and the mass of humanity on the move relentlessly. To me it seemed like the country, the systems and everything was struggling to cope and there was something intrinsictly wrong with it all (in that typically British we're-so-crap vibe the BBC are so good at, I feel). I was hoping the tone would have been more upbeat and optimistic and amazed by how all this happens everyday and how amazing our systems are to cope and how remarkable all this is rather than a kind of mysoginistic inevability to it all. It could be that I associate Andrew Marr with critical interrogation and so when I hear his voice that's what I associate his voice with. Anyway, whether it's my perception or not I won't be watching again. Depressed the hell out of me, when I wanted the opposite.

To be honest, I felt he was describing exactly why it was rubbish, rather than condemning it for being so. Such as the railway tracks being hemmed in by city growth, the historical narrow streets, and city plans that grow through necessity rather than strict planning etc.

I'm kinda wondering what you mean by the part I bolded though...

 

[Jim Steele]

Where did misogyny come into it?

I've only seen the London episode. Fascinating stuff.

 

[Deckerd]

That's misogyny.

Thank you.

I think he meant something else, myself.

 

[Jim Steele]

Fixed.

It's far too early in the fucking morning to expect me to spell masoguny, exostenshal or antidisestablishmentarianusm properly.

 

[Deckerd]

Ah dry yer eyes and have another coffee.

 

[Jim Steele]

<----- **WIRED**
(o) (O)
ee
/-----\

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Why do they block people from outside the UK?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Why do they block people from outside the UK?

Why don't American networks allow people to watch their content outside the US?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

They don't?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

They don't?

Nope, well sometimes you get to see trailers or whatever, but that's about it.

Here's some of the footage that was on the news.

And here's some more.

 

[ITL]

Why do they block people from outside the UK?

Maybe it's a bandwidth thing - I should imagine that the BBC website has a lot of visitors, so limiting streamed video could be a way of preventing server problems.

Or something.

On-topic:
I liked it. Pretty cool stuff. And yes, it was downbeat at times. Typical BBC indeed.

 

[Jim Steele]

Why do they block people from outside the UK?

The short answer is because we pay the license fee, and thus fund the service.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

They don't?

Nope, well sometimes you get to see trailers or whatever, but that's about it.

I wonder why they do that in either case. It's probably some stupid syndication deal or something. Can't have access online, because then no one will sit and watch it on BBC America or Sky One, right?

Not that it's worth it for most of the network sites in the States. I missed the opening ceremony for the Olympics, so when they said you could go to NBC.com to view them, I went to have a look. The only way to watch them was to actually download and install their media player.

Fuck that.

They don't?

Here's some of the footage that was on the news.

And here's some more.

Thanks, I'll have a look.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Why do they block people from outside the UK?

Maybe it's a bandwidth thing - I should imagine that the BBC website has a lot of visitors, so limiting streamed video could be a way of preventing server problems.

Or something.

On-topic:
I liked it. Pretty cool stuff. And yes, it was downbeat at times. Typical BBC indeed.

I always thought it was a copyright thing. How can you hope to sell rights if everyone can access it anyway?

 

[Deckerd]

On-topic:
I liked it. Pretty cool stuff. And yes, it was downbeat at times. Typical BBC indeed.

Andrew Marr is unlikely to have the Cheggers approach, is he?