I think I’m living my life in English TV shows and books

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:43 yo white male professional and all I watch are British game shows and all I listen to are British podcasts. My lowest moments are watching YouTube videos abotu narrowboats. *shame*

I love QI and ‘Would I Lie to You’.

Then you watch Taskmaster. Then you listen to the taskmaster podcast. Then you listen to Off-Menu. Then you listen to Beef and Dairy Network. Then you listen to Three Bean Salad. Then you just listen to BBC Sounds.

Love Would I Lie to You. Honestly, British comedians make my life better.

Would I Lie to You is pure joy! We adore watching Mitchell and Mack crack each other up. And Bob Mortimer is a force of nature, the slipperiest storyteller ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's from all the great British literature read in childhood. CS Lewis and Tolkien helped some too. And then Agatha Christie grabbed hold and that was it. Anglophile all the way.

NP, and I agree! Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows and Beatrix Potter and Alice in Wonderland . . . from a very early age I was destined to be an Anglophile!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brit here. It’s lovely to hear so many nice comments. If anyone is interested “The Darling Buds of May” was a beautiful show. For a laugh try “My Family” with Robert Lindsay.

Re: "The Darling Buds of May," there is a 2021 version titled "The Larkins" and it's absolutely lovely, well cast, well written, and beautifully filmed. Check that out if you liked the original series or the book on which both are based. Ma and Pa Larkin are, as my young adult DC would put it, "relationship goals."

For those not familiar with the story, I'll just say, if anyone on this thread likes the current "All Creatures...." you will like "The Larkins." No vets involved but the tone and attitude are (delightfully) similar.

[Anonymous]

Going to add another show here: On YouTube you can find full episodes of the 1987 series "A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery: Lord Peter Wimsey." This is the version with Edward Petherbridge as Wimsey (there's a 1970s TV version out there too, I just greatly prefer this one). Don't be put off by the exaggerated mannerisms and poshness Wimsey exudes; much of it is intentional for reasons I won't spoil. And the great actress Harriet Walter as mystery novelist Harriet Vane is simply perfect. I read all the Wimsey novels in quick succession before realizing this show existed and I found it perfectly cast. Wimsey is almost a cartoon of a prissy m'lud -- except when he isn't....

[Anonymous]

And if you want to branch out, try “badehotellet” or Seaside hotel in Danish. It was on pbs and available on prime. Absolutely lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I feel better. I am older (61) and not a lawyer, but the only books I now enjoy reading are Victorian novels of the Trollope, Eliot and Brontë sisters sort. I am irritated that there is not more Jane Austen to re-read. I have ventured out here and there to more modern British authors: Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, Margaret Drabble and her sister A.S. Byatt but am running out of books that depict the quotidian details and domestic banter I crave. I am not sure why I need to read about the merits of certain frocks and bonnets, but I do. It is odd to stare blankly when someone asks if I’ve read the latest “it” novel, but other than Elena Ferrante I don’t like any of them.

I am now turning to streaming. I just watched Thackeray’s Vanity Fair mini-series (with Martin Clunes/Doc Martin) and am now enjoying Gentleman Jack. I loved Downton Abbey, the Crown, all the Austen iterations and will try Father Brown. I have never been to England and have no real desire to visit as I know it would be like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.

You mean...not like you expected/fantasized it to be? (It's been ages since I saw that movie, so....)

My DH is English and (until the pandemic) we went over there every year, plus I lived there for a year at one point. A PP earlier in the thread said something along the same lines as you did, about loving the shows and novels etc. but not wanting to visit in real life. May I suggest those of you who feel this way rethink things? If you plan enough, you can have a fantastic experience that will give you plenty of the old vibes you crave. Focus on getting out of London and basing yourself somewhere you can visit National Trust properties, villages, coastal towns, etc. I know the South and Southwest best (Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire) but Yorkshire can do the same for you and so can places in Scotland and Wales.

It's a matter of having the money, frankly, to stay in a good small hotel, B&B or best of all, a historic property--quite a few National Trust, Landmark Trust and English Heritage-run properties have accommodations you might not even realize are there! We have stayed maybe 15 times at a modern flat located inside a 12-century castle ruin with 16th-century additions in my in-laws' town.

You do best if you have a rental car and someone willing to drive, though; that's how to see the relatively unchanged villages and stop at little tea rooms and pubs on a whim. I know, I'm fortunate that DH was raised driving in the UK but we also do take buses between villages and of course trains.

Not to mention that visiting authors' houses (Jane Austen's country home is open and there is also an excellent Austen museum in the city of Bath) and filming sites for series you loved can be great.

I know, it's expensive but I just wanted to note that for those who are balking at ever traveling to the UK out of any concern it isn't like what you see and read--of course it's modern, but you can see many, many fantastically kept historic and literary sites, and wander all day long around villages that still have a bakery, a butcher, a sweet shop, a small local department store like we used to have here, etc.

NP- that's probably very good advice. I went to London many times in my 20s, then back last summer and I hated it. It was either very poor or rich to the point of being obnoxious and frankly condescending in a passive aggressive odd way. We encountered rude people everywhere. I don't recall it being that way at all when I was younger. The countryside might be a lot better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I feel better. I am older (61) and not a lawyer, but the only books I now enjoy reading are Victorian novels of the Trollope, Eliot and Brontë sisters sort. I am irritated that there is not more Jane Austen to re-read. I have ventured out here and there to more modern British authors: Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, Margaret Drabble and her sister A.S. Byatt but am running out of books that depict the quotidian details and domestic banter I crave. I am not sure why I need to read about the merits of certain frocks and bonnets, but I do. It is odd to stare blankly when someone asks if I’ve read the latest “it” novel, but other than Elena Ferrante I don’t like any of them.

I am now turning to streaming. I just watched Thackeray’s Vanity Fair mini-series (with Martin Clunes/Doc Martin) and am now enjoying Gentleman Jack. I loved Downton Abbey, the Crown, all the Austen iterations and will try Father Brown. I have never been to England and have no real desire to visit as I know it would be like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.

You mean...not like you expected/fantasized it to be? (It's been ages since I saw that movie, so....)

My DH is English and (until the pandemic) we went over there every year, plus I lived there for a year at one point. A PP earlier in the thread said something along the same lines as you did, about loving the shows and novels etc. but not wanting to visit in real life. May I suggest those of you who feel this way rethink things? If you plan enough, you can have a fantastic experience that will give you plenty of the old vibes you crave. Focus on getting out of London and basing yourself somewhere you can visit National Trust properties, villages, coastal towns, etc. I know the South and Southwest best (Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire) but Yorkshire can do the same for you and so can places in Scotland and Wales.

It's a matter of having the money, frankly, to stay in a good small hotel, B&B or best of all, a historic property--quite a few National Trust, Landmark Trust and English Heritage-run properties have accommodations you might not even realize are there! We have stayed maybe 15 times at a modern flat located inside a 12-century castle ruin with 16th-century additions in my in-laws' town.

You do best if you have a rental car and someone willing to drive, though; that's how to see the relatively unchanged villages and stop at little tea rooms and pubs on a whim. I know, I'm fortunate that DH was raised driving in the UK but we also do take buses between villages and of course trains.

Not to mention that visiting authors' houses (Jane Austen's country home is open and there is also an excellent Austen museum in the city of Bath) and filming sites for series you loved can be great.

I know, it's expensive but I just wanted to note that for those who are balking at ever traveling to the UK out of any concern it isn't like what you see and read--of course it's modern, but you can see many, many fantastically kept historic and literary sites, and wander all day long around villages that still have a bakery, a butcher, a sweet shop, a small local department store like we used to have here, etc.

NP- that's probably very good advice. I went to London many times in my 20s, then back last summer and I hated it. It was either very poor or rich to the point of being obnoxious and frankly condescending in a passive aggressive odd way. We encountered rude people everywhere. I don't recall it being that way at all when I was younger. The countryside might be a lot better.

I wrote the post to which you're responding and I completely get where you're coming from, PP. I was in London for a year in the mid-80s and have been back probably 30 times since then. I agree, it can be awful and overwhelming. But I'd suggest never going in summer or in the crush leading up to Christmas (both are just insanely busy with tourists in recent years). And the rudeness is, I think, a "big city mobbed by not very welcome tourists" thing as much as a specifically London thing, I think. I do agree, getting out of London is how to see the kind of sites, villages, towns and countryside folks are talking about loving in shows and books. And I say that as someone who loves London even when it's rude, dirty and overwhelming. Try villages, as well as cities like Durham, Exeter, Norwich, Gloucester, Bath, Bristol--but again, all in the off-season, as tourism in all of England is high, post-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's from all the great British literature read in childhood. CS Lewis and Tolkien helped some too. And then Agatha Christie grabbed hold and that was it. Anglophile all the way.

NP, and I agree! Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows and Beatrix Potter and Alice in Wonderland . . . from a very early age I was destined to be an Anglophile!

Don’t forget Nesbit, and the original Paddington Bear and Mary Poppins books are also so clever and delightful.

[Anonymous]

Did PBS buy eternal rights to Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By?

People in Britain haven't watched these for decades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did PBS buy eternal rights to Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By?

People in Britain haven't watched these for decades

Are there other series you would recommend, then? As opposed to criticizing just because some viewers here enjoy these older shows and PBS was smart enough to nab rights to show them here?

[Anonymous]

I recently lived in the UK for a few years. Your professional salary will be about half of what it is here, in a lot of places the infrastructure is pretty run down, and many people are like football hooligans. The sense of humor does contain a lot of biting sarcasm, which can feel like white men punching down. I witnessed a lot of overt racism, sexism, antisemitism and homophobia. I am a WASP woman, though, so I have a limited perspective on how that compares to a lot of places in the US. I might not entrust my old age to the NHS.

On the plus side, the excellent tv has even more offerings, with the BBC, Channel 4, and ITV putting many of their shows on streaming options to all with tv licenses. Many game shows are challenging and literate. You can jump on the excellent public transit to castles and stately homes. There are free museums, as well as reasonably priced theater and live music. A lot of people are very down to earth.

Villages are highly varied. Some are prosperous bedroom communities for nearby cities like Oxford or Birmingham. Some are just a pub and a church nursery school, since everyone shops at big box stores 10 miles away. Some are fading, as the transit and job situation are poor. All of these types have fields of sheep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently lived in the UK for a few years. Your professional salary will be about half of what it is here, in a lot of places the infrastructure is pretty run down, and many people are like football hooligans. The sense of humor does contain a lot of biting sarcasm, which can feel like white men punching down. I witnessed a lot of overt racism, sexism, antisemitism and homophobia. I am a WASP woman, though, so I have a limited perspective on how that compares to a lot of places in the US. I might not entrust my old age to the NHS.

On the plus side, the excellent tv has even more offerings, with the BBC, Channel 4, and ITV putting many of their shows on streaming options to all with tv licenses. Many game shows are challenging and literate. You can jump on the excellent public transit to castles and stately homes. There are free museums, as well as reasonably priced theater and live music. A lot of people are very down to earth.

Villages are highly varied. Some are prosperous bedroom communities for nearby cities like Oxford or Birmingham. Some are just a pub and a church nursery school, since everyone shops at big box stores 10 miles away. Some are fading, as the transit and job situation are poor. All of these types have fields of sheep.

what do you mean the infrastructure is run down—i've heard this referenced on English podcasts, but you're also describing excellent public transport...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I feel better. I am older (61) and not a lawyer, but the only books I now enjoy reading are Victorian novels of the Trollope, Eliot and Brontë sisters sort. I am irritated that there is not more Jane Austen to re-read. I have ventured out here and there to more modern British authors: Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, Margaret Drabble and her sister A.S. Byatt but am running out of books that depict the quotidian details and domestic banter I crave. I am not sure why I need to read about the merits of certain frocks and bonnets, but I do. It is odd to stare blankly when someone asks if I’ve read the latest “it” novel, but other than Elena Ferrante I don’t like any of them.

I am now turning to streaming. I just watched Thackeray’s Vanity Fair mini-series (with Martin Clunes/Doc Martin) and am now enjoying Gentleman Jack. I loved Downton Abbey, the Crown, all the Austen iterations and will try Father Brown. I have never been to England and have no real desire to visit as I know it would be like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.

You mean...not like you expected/fantasized it to be? (It's been ages since I saw that movie, so....)

My DH is English and (until the pandemic) we went over there every year, plus I lived there for a year at one point. A PP earlier in the thread said something along the same lines as you did, about loving the shows and novels etc. but not wanting to visit in real life. May I suggest those of you who feel this way rethink things? If you plan enough, you can have a fantastic experience that will give you plenty of the old vibes you crave. Focus on getting out of London and basing yourself somewhere you can visit National Trust properties, villages, coastal towns, etc. I know the South and Southwest best (Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire) but Yorkshire can do the same for you and so can places in Scotland and Wales.

It's a matter of having the money, frankly, to stay in a good small hotel, B&B or best of all, a historic property--quite a few National Trust, Landmark Trust and English Heritage-run properties have accommodations you might not even realize are there! We have stayed maybe 15 times at a modern flat located inside a 12-century castle ruin with 16th-century additions in my in-laws' town.

You do best if you have a rental car and someone willing to drive, though; that's how to see the relatively unchanged villages and stop at little tea rooms and pubs on a whim. I know, I'm fortunate that DH was raised driving in the UK but we also do take buses between villages and of course trains.

Not to mention that visiting authors' houses (Jane Austen's country home is open and there is also an excellent Austen museum in the city of Bath) and filming sites for series you loved can be great.

I know, it's expensive but I just wanted to note that for those who are balking at ever traveling to the UK out of any concern it isn't like what you see and read--of course it's modern, but you can see many, many fantastically kept historic and literary sites, and wander all day long around villages that still have a bakery, a butcher, a sweet shop, a small local department store like we used to have here, etc.

NP- that's probably very good advice. I went to London many times in my 20s, then back last summer and I hated it. It was either very poor or rich to the point of being obnoxious and frankly condescending in a passive aggressive odd way. We encountered rude people everywhere. I don't recall it being that way at all when I was younger. The countryside might be a lot better.

DP and I hear you. In my teens and 20s I visited London many times (relatives there), and it was my dream to live there. My parents got a board game involving London metro stops and when we got back to the US I made my friends play it with me. One summer my parents rented an apartment in London and let us roam the city by ourselves, because the city was that safe. It was heaven.

And then I went back 15 years ago to stay in Kensington (!) for 2 weeks--and my ATM card and pin were stolen (they withdrew $400 a day for 2 weeks until I figured it out) and we got pickpocketed twice, losing DD's camera in the process. No, it wasn't "immigrants," we figured out who was involved each time and it was whites. Property prices are through the roof, not to mention it cost $60 to get sandwiches and sodas for 4 people and buying fresh flowers for an aunt cost an arm and a leg. I have some very wealthy British relatives who live in Richmond and near Wimbledon who make it work. But for the rest of us, London seems out of reach unless you can afford a super-expensive apartment. Oh, for the real estate prices that existed back in the day when my grandmother subscribed to Country Life and we'd page through picking out our dream houses/mansions.

So yes, now the dream has moved to the countryside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did PBS buy eternal rights to Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By?

People in Britain haven't watched these for decades

As Time Goes By requires a Britbox subscription. It’s not on pbs passport, so I can’t imagine how they’d own it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently lived in the UK for a few years. Your professional salary will be about half of what it is here, in a lot of places the infrastructure is pretty run down, and many people are like football hooligans. The sense of humor does contain a lot of biting sarcasm, which can feel like white men punching down. I witnessed a lot of overt racism, sexism, antisemitism and homophobia. I am a WASP woman, though, so I have a limited perspective on how that compares to a lot of places in the US. I might not entrust my old age to the NHS.

On the plus side, the excellent tv has even more offerings, with the BBC, Channel 4, and ITV putting many of their shows on streaming options to all with tv licenses. Many game shows are challenging and literate. You can jump on the excellent public transit to castles and stately homes. There are free museums, as well as reasonably priced theater and live music. A lot of people are very down to earth.

Villages are highly varied. Some are prosperous bedroom communities for nearby cities like Oxford or Birmingham. Some are just a pub and a church nursery school, since everyone shops at big box stores 10 miles away. Some are fading, as the transit and job situation are poor. All of these types have fields of sheep.

Yes, there’s a lot of sarcasm. I’m surprised by your comment about it feeling like white men punching down. I have many mixed race British friends (mainly women) and we share this sense of humour. However, I’m Australian and we are much more culturally similar.

Many people are like football hooligans? Yes, there obviously are louts. Many? No more than in the US, possibly less. Nobody’s storming Westminster. I actually think there’s a lot less hooliganism than a couple of decades ago. We must be due a good riot.