TV Critic Badge

vecteezy.com

Well this was a nice badge to do! Any excuse to watch TV is good, and this pushed me to watch a few things that I wouldn't usually watch.

Sally Phillips talks about Christmas

I turned this on by accident, but as I like Sally Phillips and Richard Cole, who she was interviewing, I stayed tuned. This was a gentle interview about what Christmas meant to the Reverend Richard, and ranged in topic from his days in the Communards to his life as a Vicar, with anecdotes along the way ranging from the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s, communal Christmasses in New York, his conversion to Christianity and subsequent theological studies and training as a Vicar, his civil partnership, and the alcoholism and subsequent death of his life partner. The interview was gently and sympathetically done, with a good mix of pathos and humour. I am sadly, really rather jealous of the reverend's book collection and armchairs! I shall endeavour to watch the rest of the series.

Wednesday

There was a lot of hype surrounding this show, and I gave in and binge-watched the first three episodes; this is a dark, and apparently twisted tale based on the Addams Family TV show. It is perhaps aimed at people considerably younger than me, but is well put together and enjoyable. The plot is easy to follow, and fairly predictable but fun in a darkly comic way. I watched all 8 episodes and had predicted the villains by the end. 

While based on 'The Addams Family', the series also had overtones of Harry Potter with monsters, magic, and muggles. Not necessarily a bad thing though.

Barbaren

I needed to watch a film or TV show in German for my Linguist badge, so I trawled Netflix and found this series. It looked promising, so I gave it a go. Once I had sorted out English subtitles with German speech, I settled in and had an enjoyable hour watching a Roman legion get their comeuppance from a Germanic tribe and their good-looking inhabitants. This promised to be an exciting series, with historical settings, blood, sex, and betrayal. It was reasonably believable, insofar as I have minimal knowledge of European tribes from 2000 years ago, and my knowledge of the Roman Empire is sketchy at best. The story is closely based on historical events. I watched the entire series and can think of nothing to complain about! It was well acted, with excellent locations, costumes, make up and effects. Watching it in German with subtitles ensured that I watched it properly too, and didn't have it on as background noise.

Call the Midwife Christmas Special

This has to be watched as it is a Christmas tradition in our family; this year's edition held no surprises really. A nun was injured by an falling off her bike in the snow, there was a difficult birth in unsanitary conditions, an unmarried mother-to-be was kicked out of her lodgings and rescued by kindhearted spinsters, there was a community Christmas show, a communal Christmas at Nonatus House, and Matthew proposed to Trixie. Lovely!

Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family

Fascinating three part documentary about the wild dogs of the world. There are many more than I realised! There are wild dogs on every continent except Antarctica, covering the full range of land habitats. The family comprises of Wolves, Foxes, Jackals and Wild Dogs. The cutest were the Fennec Fox and the Bat Eared Fox, and my favourite was the South American Maned Wolf. 

Review of Wednesday

I read a review in the Guardian, which I wholeheartedly agreed with! Not much more I can say other than follow the link above.

Watch a show with a friend and discuss afterwards

I watched Kirsty’s Homemade Christmas with a fellow Rebel; it was rather twee but we agreed that there were some interesting ideas in there that we would probably never get around to trying.

‘Barbaren’ - Netflix Germany

I started watching this for the Linguist Badge and got hooked.

Most impactful characters:

• Thusnelda - female lead. Strong willed, doesn’t think much before she acts. Betrothed against her will to a chieftain, but marries someone else.

• Ari - male lead. Eldest son of Charusci chieftain but given to Romans to keep the peace as a child. Marries Thusnelda.

• Folkwin Wolfspeer - male lead. Strong willed and also doesn’t think much before he acts. Was going to marry Thusnelda.
• Varus - Roman general. Foster father of Ari.

What were their character arcs?:

• Thusnelda is the daughter of a Charusci nobleman, betrothed to the chieftain (Reik) of another tribe. In childhood, friends with Ari and Folkwin, who killed a wolf attacking Ari. With Folkwin and friends she steals the Golden Eagle of the Romans which causes lots of trouble; Folkwin is blamed and his family crucified when he goes on the run. Later marries Ari when he is made chief of Charusci tribe after his father dies.
• Ari is the eldest son of the Charusci chief, Segestes. Given to the Romans as a child as a peace pact, and raised as a Roman noble and soldier. Assumes he will always live the life of a Roman until his foster father says he should remain in Germania and rule the Cherusci so that they will uphold Roman law. Ari not happy about that and feels betrayed. Tries to unite the Germanic tribes to bring a force against Roman rule, and marries Thusnelda as a political act.
• Folkwin helps steal the Golden Eagle and gets all the blame. Sweetheart of Thusnelda. Loses his family in an act of Roman revenge. Goes on the run with and without Thusnelda. Gets very drunk after the wedding of Thusnelda and Ari, and gets captured by a Roman patrol who don’t know who he is and sold into slavery.
• Varus is in charge of the Romans in Germania and thinks Ari will do his bidding. Also thinks that the Germanic tribes will succumb to the Roman will. Doesn’t understand that Ari will betray him after he is sent back to his tribe.

Key messages of the show?

• Don’t mess with the locals!
• Romans are not to be trusted.
• Think before you act and think about long-term consequences of your actions.
• Do not anger the Gods!
• Similar tribes are not always going to be allies.