Talking Pictures TV

[OceanBlue]

Hope it's fine to start a discussion thread specifically about a UK TV channel (in this case, Talking Pictures TV). Below is the website address link for Talking Pictures TV:

https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/

Missed the first episode, but I watched yesterday the second episode of The Footage Detectives. One of the features was about a 'lost' episode of a legal drama series called Boyd Q.C. (the episode was called "The Shropshire Lass").

Next Wednesday's edition includes a feature about a 'lost' episode of detective drama series No Hiding Place called "Car in Flames" (which is followed by the No Hiding Place episode).

[DTSBOY]

Yes it is a great channel. Channel 328 on Sky and 81 on Freeview. Considering how this is run by Noel Cronin and his daughter, not sure how many staff they have now, but they do an excellent job with obviously limited resources.

Glimpses, Look at Life and The Footage Detectives are great and the Cellar Club presented by Caroline Munro before the late night horror films. The range of films vary from meh to great.

One criticism is the dog, digital onscreen graphic. It is fairly unobtrusive but still irksome.


Oh and the I.W.M. segments are worth a look at also. Imperial War Museum.

[OceanBlue]

Following next Wednesday's new edition of The Footage Detectives is another previously 'lost' episode of The Hidden Truth.

[OceanBlue]

Looks like there were four editions in total of The Footage Detectives' first series. It was posted on Talking Pictures TV's Facebook page earlier this week that new editions will air in December.

[Foggy]

They’re launching their own streaming service:

https://vodzilla.co/blog/vod-news/tp...aming-service/

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Looks like there were four editions in total of The Footage Detectives' first series. It was posted on Talking Pictures TV's Facebook page earlier this week that new editions will air in December.

New series starts 12th of December at 16.00 where they chat about RMS Strathmore.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

New series starts 12th of December at 16.00 where they chat about RMS Strathmore.

And the new, second series sees the show get an hour-long timeslot (including ads). The first edition is followed by an episode of drama series Badger's Bend.

I think I'm going to prefer this schedule move from Wednesday afternoons to Sunday afternoons.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

One criticism is the dog, digital onscreen graphic. It is fairly unobtrusive but still irksome.

The worst one's I've seen are for the children's channels like CBBC. The things are huge and keep animating. Along with things popping up on-screen telling you what's on next, they're something that ultimately drives me away from watching TV nowadays. I find them infuriating. In the case of TPTV, they should at least make it semi-transparent and colour-less, considering that they show so much monochrome content, it does really stick out at times.
Challenge have recently changed their screening format,and instead of showing 4:3 programmes in 4:3, they now show them in pillarboxed 16:9, which has worked out quite well as the DOGS are now in the black bars instead, not on the actual image.
And elsewhere, ITV4 continue to show The Professionals, Sweeney and Minder cropped to Widescreen

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

One minor problem is the 'warning' that was shown before these programmes started about how some people may be offended by the attitudes from that time etc.

Gotta' love the woke brigade.

There's the maturity of the far right, or rather the lack of it :/
This type of thing is hardly new. the Walt Disney Treasures DVDs for example were doing this type of thing long before you lot were endlessly shouting 'woke' or 'snowflake' at everything and everybody.

I've been watching my way through a 70's kids TV show called You Must Be Joking on DVD, that I got in a Network sale, and that wouldn't even make it onto TPTV at night with a warning, considering some of the things in it. How things change.

[Martoto]

I've noticed that the type of people who complain about TV and streaming services announcing that vintage material might be offensive to some are the kind of people who like to go on Facebook and other social media to talk about vintage materials which, they love to remark up front, is likely to offend some people. Which is the same thing.

Or put another way. "This might get me in trouble with some people and I'm 'sorry' if it offends them when I say I'm absolutely sick of hearing or seeing warnings about things."

[OceanBlue]

No new edition of The Footage Detectives next Sunday afternoon, but it is on for the remaining three Sundays in January.

Thought the No Hiding Place: Jigsaw programme this past Sunday afternoon (following The Footage Detectives (which included an interview with the daughter of the actor who played Lockhart on No Hiding Place) was fascinating (the second incomplete episode had Johnny Briggs in it (I'm guessing before he was a regular on the show).

Going to check out Maigret this coming weekend (Talking Pictures TV from Saturday 8th January), before making a decision about whether I'm going to eventually get Network's standard edition Blu-ray boxset.

[cutback73]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

No new edition of The Footage Detectives next Sunday afternoon, but it is on for the remaining three Sundays in January.

Thought the No Hiding Place: Jigsaw programme this past Sunday afternoon (following The Footage Detectives (which included an interview with the daughter of the actor who played Lockhart on No Hiding Place) was fascinating (the second incomplete episode had Johnny Briggs in it (I'm guessing before he was a regular on the show).

Going to check out Maigret this coming weekend (Talking Pictures TV from Saturday 8th January), before making a decision about whether I'm going to eventually get Network's standard edition Blu-ray boxset.

I hope they are able to locate more of those missing No Hiding Place episode pieces.

What they do achieve between their limited resources (remember it's just THREE people in charge of programming, those weekly newsletters, correspondence with viewers and more, plus many others now who do work outside for the channel) is quite incredible really.

The programmes and films do vary wildly in quality.

But whatever your taste in viewing, one thing is clear, their contribution towards locating, and preserving, films and programmes either forgotten or thought long lost is immeasurable.

Also, i get the impression that they seem to have become well known as one of the "go-to" people for restoration by public and the industry alike. I noted before Christmas a run of newly restored "Four Star" programmes all preceded with their "Restored by" header and dated 2021.

Hopefully this is creating one of those "win win" scenarios wherein TPTV get access to libraries of content cheaper for broadcast, through their support of restoration. After all there must be a value to library owners in having additional content available.

I was impressed by the first episode of Maigret. Straight away, you get a feel for the setting, and Rupert Davies already seems at home in the role. I enjoyed the small details which showed care being taken (like the club owner pouring back unused drink into the bottle after Maigret left) and some notably well written dialogue for the man examining the body (a part often woefully underwritten). And instant chemistry between Maigret and his "number two".

I'm rather incredulous though, that this is a *BBC* production from 1960 which includes footage which is evidently filmed on location in Paris, which ended with a credit as a "BBC Promotion".

I'm not informed in this area, but the thought of BBC spending what must have been significant money on location shooting at that time sounds at odds with everything you think you know about the BBC...

Unfortunately the picture quality was poor. I expected this broadcast to be from the same elements as the blu ray release, unless this is incorrect.

However, as it is BBC, it is something of a miracle that it survives at all!

The other show I have been enjoying is The Main Chance, although season 3 dipped in quality as it seemed to lose focus and there was too much personal life squeezed in. Season 4 has improved again though with David Main's potential reckoning upping the stakes. Clearly, the main writer realised the errors made in season 3 and acted upon them.

And finally, do not adjust your mobile or PC. They now control the horizontal and the vertical with a rerun of the original Outer Limits on Friday nights. The first episode of which was impressive, although the ending felt a little contrived/preachy. Soundtrack by Dominic Frontiere, which means many echoes of his later work on The Invaders.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by cutback73

I hope they are able to locate more of those missing No Hiding Place episode pieces.

[Show spoiler]What they do achieve between their limited resources (remember it's just THREE people in charge of programming, those weekly newsletters, correspondence with viewers and more, plus many others now who do work outside for the channel) is quite incredible really.

The programmes and films do vary wildly in quality.

But whatever your taste in viewing, one thing is clear, their contribution towards locating, and preserving, films and programmes either forgotten or thought long lost is immeasurable.

Also, i get the impression that they seem to have become well known as one of the "go-to" people for restoration by public and the industry alike. I noted before Christmas a run of newly restored "Four Star" programmes all preceded with their "Restored by" header and dated 2021.

Hopefully this is creating one of those "win win" scenarios wherein TPTV get access to libraries of content cheaper for broadcast, through their support of restoration. After all there must be a value to library owners in having additional content available.

I was impressed by the first episode of Maigret. Straight away, you get a feel for the setting, and Rupert Davies already seems at home in the role. I enjoyed the small details which showed care being taken (like the club owner pouring back unused drink into the bottle after Maigret left) and some notably well written dialogue for the man examining the body (a part often woefully underwritten). And instant chemistry between Maigret and his "number two".

I'm rather incredulous though, that this is a *BBC* production from 1960 which includes footage which is evidently filmed on location in Paris, which ended with a credit as a "BBC Promotion".

I'm not informed in this area, but the thought of BBC spending what must have been significant money on location shooting at that time sounds at odds with everything you think you know about the BBC...

Unfortunately the picture quality was poor. I expected this broadcast to be from the same elements as the blu ray release, unless this is incorrect.

However, as it is BBC, it is something of a miracle that it survives at all!

The other show I have been enjoying is The Main Chance, although season 3 dipped in quality as it seemed to lose focus and there was too much personal life squeezed in. Season 4 has improved again though with David Main's potential reckoning upping the stakes. Clearly, the main writer realised the errors made in season 3 and acted upon them.

And finally, do not adjust your mobile or PC. They now control the horizontal and the vertical with a rerun of the original Outer Limits on Friday nights. The first episode of which was impressive, although the ending felt a little contrived/preachy. Soundtrack by Dominic Frontiere, which means many echoes of his later work on The Invaders.

I'm going to have to have another try at getting all the way through the first episode of the Rupert Davies-starring Maigret series. I started watching it last weekend and got as far as just over ten minutes before I gave up. The poor picture quality (which you mentioned) didn't help, and the music score made me think of 'Allo 'Allo and Bergerac. Think I was just in the wrong frame of mind (and was tired as well). I'm sure I read in the UK & Ireland thread for Network's Blu-ray release that the first episode had inferior picture quality, but it improved with the following episodes.

On one of the upcoming new editions of The Footage Detectives, they're showing clips from an episode of The Hidden Truth (which I've enjoyed watching as much as No Hiding Place). It's a pity that a lot of these series are now lost (unless collectors somewhere have complete episodes). I was going to check out another series, The Barnstormers, which was on an edition from late last year (Mike and Noel interviewed an actress from the show (the cast also included a young Dennis Waterman).

Something I've noticed, which I'm liking, is that there are only two ad breaks during The Footage Detectives (in the hour-long timeslot), something which in general on UK TV does not happen these days. I can remember when they changed from two ad breaks in an hour-long timeslot to three ad breaks (it was towards the end of the early noughties (why I remember when, is because it was when the character Dennis Merton was the sergeant at Ashfordly's police station in the drama series Heartbeat (also, Heartbeat was one of the first UK television series to film in widescreen, at the end of the nineties (along with Dalziel & Pascoe and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). It's refreshing not to have more and more adverts dictating things (along with the static camera shot with Mike and Noel presenting The Footage Detectives, and the end credits on the programmes I've watched on Talking Pictures TV not being squashed up and spoken over).

I may check out an episode or two of The Main Chance, before deciding whether to get Network's complete series DVD set.

I do enjoy the music score on The Invaders (currently towards the end of the second season on my re-watch). Again, like with Maigret and The Main Chance, I may check out one or two episodes of the original Outer Limits.

[DTSBOY]

Sunday 23rd episode of The Footage Detectives

Pre-WWII footage of Germany, a lost episode of a series teaching English abroad starring Hattie Jacques, + footage of Radio Essex.

The following weeks episode is about Wilson, Keppel and Betty. Haven't seen the sand dance that they were famous for for a long time.

The Badger's Bend episode repeats at 16.30 today.

[cutback73]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

I'm going to have to have another try at getting all the way through the first episode of the Rupert Davies-starring Maigret series. I started watching it last weekend and got as far as just over ten minutes before I gave up. The poor picture quality (which you mentioned) didn't help, and the music score made me think of 'Allo 'Allo and Bergerac. Think I was just in the wrong frame of mind (and was tired as well). I'm sure I read in the UK & Ireland thread for Network's Blu-ray release that the first episode had inferior picture quality, but it improved with the following episodes.

On one of the upcoming new editions of The Footage Detectives, they're showing clips from an episode of The Hidden Truth (which I've enjoyed watching as much as No Hiding Place). It's a pity that a lot of these series are now lost (unless collectors somewhere have complete episodes). I was going to check out another series, The Barnstormers, which was on an edition from late last year (Mike and Noel interviewed an actress from the show (the cast also included a young Dennis Waterman).

Something I've noticed, which I'm liking, is that there are only two ad breaks during The Footage Detectives (in the hour-long timeslot), something which in general on UK TV does not happen these days. I can remember when they changed from two ad breaks in an hour-long timeslot to three ad breaks (it was towards the end of the early noughties (why I remember when, is because it was when the character Dennis Merton was the sergeant at Ashfordly's police station in the drama series Heartbeat (also, Heartbeat was one of the first UK television series to film in widescreen, at the end of the nineties (along with Dalziel & Pascoe and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). It's refreshing not to have more and more adverts dictating things (along with the static camera shot with Mike and Noel presenting The Footage Detectives, and the end credits on the programmes I've watched on Talking Pictures TV not being squashed up and spoken over).

I may check out an episode or two of The Main Chance, before deciding whether to get Network's complete series DVD set.

I do enjoy the music score on The Invaders (currently towards the end of the second season on my re-watch). Again, like with Maigret and The Main Chance, I may check out one or two episodes of the original Outer Limits.

They make a point of not squashing the end credits and showing them in full without interruption. I think it's a case of "knowing your audience" a lot better in general than many channels do.

The picture quality for the second episode of Maigret was definitely better than for the first. Although the plot itself was rather unusual, I found myself struggling to get into it for some reason. But the end of the episode was worth the watch and, I would think, quite unusual for the day as it was very much not a happy ending (cant say much else without spoiling it).

The Outer Limits this Friday is the episode with Robert Culp which is probably the most well known and, supposedly, one of the best of the series.

[cutback73]

Who's post is this?
This post is mine.
I made this post.
He made this post... ��

Today's Footage Detectives was hugely entertaining and in my opinion the best one yet.

The first piece from pre war Germany was intriguing, and Mike Read clearly knows his ass from his Elbe, correctly guessing the river location. The final shots of pre war Dresden were a little sad, seeing how beautiful it looked before war intervened.

The English lesson with Hattie Jacques was absolutely hysterical. I got the impression that most of the cast knew how ludicrous it all was and were hamming it up rather deliberately. The husband's roving eye for the bather and the waitress - I pity his wife...

Noticeably Hattie was rather more professional. I have the impression that she would never do anything less than be professional.

And finally the footage of Radio Essex was good and showed how life really was on the pirate radio ships. A good idea to show this as it gave an opportunity for an interesting and informative talk from Mike Read. Rather shocking to hear how dangerous this all was at times.

And all their rows of tinned food!
Whose Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pudding is this?
This steak and kidney pudding is theirs.
It is their steak and kidney pudding...

[OceanBlue]

Agree Cutback about yesterday's new edition of The Footage Detectives. The highlight for me was that Hattie Jacques 'Speaking English' segment (unintentionally funny), but in hindsight it was a very good edition.

I noticed with yesterday's edition that they were using ad bumpers. I feared Talking Pictures TV had been forced into adding a third ad break into the hour. There were two ad breaks close together. But I'm glad that wasn't the case (it's rare these days for an hour-long programme to have two ad breaks).

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

I noticed with yesterday's edition that they were using ad bumpers. I feared Talking Pictures TV had been forced into adding a third ad break into the hour. There were two ad breaks close together. But I'm glad that wasn't the case (it's rare these days for an hour-long programme to have two ad breaks).

Yeah, but the total programme length is roughly 41 minutes with the chopping of the ads ( I use a Panasonic DVD recorder). Plus it always finishes 6 or 7 mins before the hour.

There was a programme on called The Human Factor, about 14.30 I think, which was all about Lonnie Donegan. I didn't realise this was a mini doc. Very good it was too.

And there's a recorded chat with Melvyn Hayes on today at 15.25 who's chatting with Frazer Hines at the Stockport Plaza in front of a live audience.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

Yeah, but the total programme length is roughly 41 minutes with the chopping of the ads ( I use a Panasonic DVD recorder). Plus it always finishes 6 or 7 mins before the hour.

There was a programme on called The Human Factor, about 14.30 I think, which was all about Lonnie Donegan. I didn't realise this was a mini doc. Very good it was too.

And there's a recorded chat with Melvyn Hayes on today at 15.25 who's chatting with Frazer Hines at the Stockport Plaza in front of a live audience.

Yes, I'm aware each edition of The Footage Detectives finishes a few minutes before the end of the hour. Still, it's refreshing not having three ad breaks in an hour-long programme.

[OceanBlue]

Watched last night, a repeat airing of a formerly 'lost' episode of sitcom The Dickie Henderson Show (called "The Maid"). Have to say this, if any more lost episodes are found, the more the merrier. Fast-paced (but not fast-paced for the sake of it) and most importantly, it made me laugh.

Checked the schedule section on Talking Pictures TV's website yesterday, and saw that in the new edition of The Footage Detectives being shown on Sunday 20th February, the programme description mentions

[Show spoiler]Larry the Lamb.

Also, on the previous day, the channel is showing an episode of detective drama series No Hiding Place which I haven't seen on the channel before (it could have been shown before by Talking Pictures TV and I missed it, or this is the first showing on the channel).

[Martoto]

Couldn't they have got someone better than Mike Read to host that footage detectives show? He's an embarrassment.