TV shows that weren't quite what I expected [DotD 21.04.20]

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I have been watching a lot more TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) - both shows made for TV and films - in recent weeks. Some of them have not been quite what I expected.    What did YOU expect from shows available on your media at home?

West Side Story
The story of the building of the railway line from Euston, via Crewe, Preston and Carlisle to Scotland, up to and including the exciting "Race to the North" competing against the East Coast line.

Toy Story
From Bassett-Lowke and Märklin through Triang and Graham Farish to Hornby and Peco.

The Last Stand
A short exhibition training video for booth organisers. It extolls the need to check the booth out ahead of time so the team can arrive and set up efficiently and quickly, and it extolls the virtue of sticking the show out professionally to the end - even if everyone else has packed up around you.

The Deer Hunter
A cab recording from the Caledonian Sleeper as it runs from Central Glasgow along The Clyde, above Lock Long, past Loch Lomond through Crainlarich and up onto Rannoch Moor, then plummeting down alongside Lock Treig theough Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge to Fort William in the Great Glen

Taxi Driver
A Cabbie picks up a rail replacement fare at Shrewsbury for Abererch ... and in a takeoff of Peter Kaye's "car share" the journey changes the whole life outlook of both the cabbie and his passenger

Special Branch
From Scotland - railway lines to Balloch Pier, Dufftown, Banavie Pier and Heads of Ayr.

Some like it hot - a series
Episode 1: From Australia - the story of The Ghan - Adelaide to Alice Spring, with the former narrow gauge route replaced by the current standard gauge link, and the recent extension on to Darwin.
Episode 2: Early days of basic carriages through individual underseat heaters in First Class only through steam heaters and other stages to modern train air conditioning.
Episode 3: Elegant dressing for travelling by train - beautiful people on beautiful journeys

Rocky
Avalanche Shelters, deep tunnels and the unique rock fall warning system at Loch Awe

On the Waterfront
The story of the railway line from Exeter to Newton Abbot - from Brunel's Atmospeheric Railway through the single and double line steam era to Warships and Westerns, HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) and Voyagers.  Updated with a "Seawall Special" and IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)), and a look forward to class 803 Express Sleeper Trains and class 197  on the Devon Metro

Ghostbusters
The campaigners - the people who've got bums on seats on some of our least used lines and at our least used ststions. Dronfield, Manea, Gainsborough Central, Redditch and Stonehaven.  With a look forward to cases underway - Bromsgrove, Breich and Brigg.

Beauty and the Beast
Network Rail measurement trains - from the HST class 125 Yellow Banana though the top an' tail class 37 and Mk3 train and the class 950 though to Caroline, with a look at leaf fall, alignment and ride devices fitted on service trains.

Avatar
Liveries and Branding - colour schemes and logos. Why are trains painterd in different colours and with differenr decoratins?  Advertising versus practicallity;  consistency of brand versus making it interesting for the people around.  Who pays and who gets paid for the look of trains?

From Ghostbusters:

[Lee]

The Titfield Thunderbolt
oh wait...

[johnneyw]

Pointless:  Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman take us on a tour of single track railways that have no passing loops, branches or sidings.  This series is brought to you by the producers of "The Weakest Link", Ann Robinson's look the world of faulty fishplates and railway carriage couplers.

[patch38]

You forgot Woody Allen's Sleeper.

Although I think that was just a supporting feature.

[PhilWakely]

Not exactly a TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) show, but there is always the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical documentary about the Riviera Sleeper - Starlight Express

[grahame]

Not exactly a TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) show, but there is always the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical documentary about the Riviera Sleeper - Starlight Express

I remember going to see that at the theatre just across the way from Victoria Station.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Not exactly a TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) show, but there is always the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical documentary about the Riviera Sleeper - Starlight Express

Are you sure? We've seen it twice and I think it's neither a documentary nor about the Riviera Express.  It's about a nice little steam engine called Rusty.

[grahame]

Ghostbusters
The campaigners - the people who've got bums on seats on some of our least used lines and at our least used ststions. Dronfield, Manea, Gainsborough Central, Redditch and Stonehaven.  With a look forward to cases underway - Bromsgrove, Breich and Brigg.

From the Fenland Citizen

It would appear that Manea is victim of Cross Country's decision to cease calling at stations where it has limited passenger numbers.    For Brockenhurst and Winchester, alternative SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) services allow passengers to continue to travel, all be it with a change of trains if they're part of what I suspect is a minority of passengers joining at those stations headed north of Basingstoke. 

Looks like the news wasn't terribly well publicised (or consulted ...) in Manea ...

Village train travellers are facing major disruption after a rail operator announced it was cutting the service until early September.

The move by CrossCountry Trains was initially flagged up by a concerned Manea resident who reported a drop in the number of trains stopping at the village station.

Posting on the village Facebook page he said trains had failed to stop at their usual times on Wednesday (.

Edit with further research ... it would appear that services are halved at Manea, with Peterborough - Ipswich services running about every 2 hours.  Direct services to Cambridge (which is probably the most popular destination are (?)all gone - so that's going to be a major disruption for passengers toad from that city having to change at Ely and finding that they have to start an hour earlier / be home an hour later in many/most cases.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I've just realised, 2 posts above, that I completely missed the point of this thread, and as I got 4 likes so did at least 4 others.  Must remember to read previous posts in a thread more carefully in future, and my apologies to PhilWakely.

[grahame]

I've just realised, 2 posts above, that I completely missed the point of this thread, and as I got 4 likes so did at least 4 others.  Must remember to read previous posts in a thread more carefully in future, and my apologies to PhilWakely.

The point of the thread was a bit o' fun ... and I think it's been on point.  I have been watching 4 other series which haven't turned out to be quite what I expected.

Location, location, location

A program in which old pictures of railway lines are identified by an expert panel based on the signalling and other equipment shown

First Dates

Melinda Messenger, Ulrika Johnson and Josh Ritchie visit heritage line re-opening days after their Coronavirus closures

Game of Thrones

A series filmed at Wabtec in Doncaster as they struggle to install accessible toilets that don't discharge onto the track in old carriages

Saturday Night Live

Reallity show, what happened on board?  Episode 1, the 20:21 from Weymouth to Bristol. Episode 2 - the 23:15 bus from Bath to Devizes via Melksham. Episode 3 - the 22:15 Fishguard Harbour to Swansea. Episode 4 - the 23:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Frome. Episode 5 - the 19:34 Chathill to Newcastle

[Bmblbzzz]

Location, location, location

A program in which old pictures of railway lines are identified by an expert panel based on the signalling and other equipment shown

Now in its 99th season on Coffeeshop TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context)!

[JayMac]

Location, location, location

A program in which old pictures of railway lines are identified by an expert panel based on the signalling and other equipment shown

Where pictures of Melksham and Taunton feature every week and are easily guessed by the expert panel. Except when Chris from Nailsea sees a Taunton picture.

[Phil]

Then there was that BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) documentary about the Flying Scotstrandsgender which was aired recently....

[chuffed]

Antiques railshow.....where grahame and his merrymaker band of masked moderators try to get to some fancy destination that is not served by rail. The general public queuing up, socially distanced, with grandfather's GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) cap badge are subjected to irritating announcements of see it, say it, sorted.  This is followed  by an announcement that if you want a valuation, please phone BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) on 6806.....

The hospitality buffet car, usually reserved for a very discerning gentleman who prefers fillet steak and port, has been scrapped and replaced by a 1962  BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) curling cheese sandwich, cut diagonally, believed to be the first made with Mothers Pride.

The highest valuation of the day goes to a rock cake, believed to emanate from Carnforth station buffet during the filming of Brief Encounter. The cake will need to have  spectrograph analysis to see if the teeth marks match with Celia Johnsons dental records.

[Red Squirrel]

If we can extend this to radio programmes:

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
A panel of experts explain how the world will recover from the climate emergency, worldwide economic meltdown and vacuous politics, all without reverse shunting at Colliers Wood.