Let's have a TV shows thread.

[Izzy]

9 hours ago, pSinatra said:

I'm struggling with Chernobyl.  It is absolutely harrowing.  It's must see tv but it's ruining me watching it.  So utterly depressing.

 

I've got the 4th episode to watch, but I'm not sure I'm emotionally stable enough to face it.

I know what you mean but I reckon 90% of the sideline people stories are made up - they must be.

 

The wife of the fireman, the young soldier (ep 4) etc. are maybe representative of what happened, but I do wonder if they've been embellished to make the point.

 

Either way, you're right. It is harrowing and it is depressing but it's a story that needs to be told and understood so something like this never happens again. 

[ithuriel]

Would not be surprised if they were to do a three mile island or Fukushima series at some point in the future with Chernobyl being such a huge hit for HBO.

 

[pSinatra]

59 minutes ago, Izzy said:

I know what you mean but I reckon 90% of the sideline people stories are made up - they must be.

 

The wife of the fireman, the young soldier (ep 4) etc. are maybe representative of what happened, but I do wonder if they've been embellished to make the point.

 

Either way, you're right. It is harrowing and it is depressing but it's a story that needs to be told and understood so something like this never happens again. 

 

Yeah.  The people stories must be made up.  I know the real USSR was probably a whole lot worse than it is being portrayed, but I feel I'm getting an interesting insight into Russian culture......my usual source of Russian culture being bad driving, drunks fighting & accident in the workplace videos on Youtube

[Heathrow fox]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

I know what you mean but I reckon 90% of the sideline people stories are made up - they must be.

 

The wife of the fireman, the young soldier (ep 4) etc. are maybe representative of what happened, but I do wonder if they've been embellished to make the point.

 

Either way, you're right. It is harrowing and it is depressing but it's a story that needs to be told and understood so something like this never happens again. 

I thought the dog shooting scenes were handled quite sensitively.The fireman’s wife is actually based on a real person.She wrote a book about it so I’m told.The roof scene got me the most though.Im sure they were the first images the West were allowed to see of the disaster.The men scrambling about with shovels,wearing their lead protection.It looked hopeless.

 

I think the series has reminded a lot of people and even educated a new generation,of the horrors of radiation.I saw the back end of the Cold War and as kids it was our biggest fear.I don’t know if you can remember the BBC docudrama called threads.My sister couldn’t sleep for weeks after watching it.It looks quite dated now but that adds to its eerieness.

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, pSinatra said:

 

Yeah.  The people stories must be made up.  I know the real USSR was probably a whole lot worse than it is being portrayed, but I feel I'm getting an interesting insight into Russian culture......my usual source of Russian culture being bad driving, drunks fighting & accident in the workplace videos on Youtube

I haven't watched it but I will.

 

Are they looking at Russians or Ukrainians?

[Izzy]

28 minutes ago, pSinatra said:

 

Yeah.  The people stories must be made up.  I know the real USSR was probably a whole lot worse than it is being portrayed, but I feel I'm getting an interesting insight into Russian culture......my usual source of Russian culture being bad driving, drunks fighting & accident in the workplace videos on Youtube

Yeah that's the bit I find fascinating. I reckon the whole KGB/secrecy/propaganda thing is pretty spot on.

 

What a grim place to live back then but what a great job Gorbachev did when he was leader with perestroika and glasnost. 

[Heathrow fox]

In the event of all out war i think the Soviets were probably better prepared then we were.They had contingency plans in place,with different people allocated different jobs.All we were told was to hide under the stairs.Failing that put a door up against the wall at a 45 degree angle with your tins of beans,and hope for the best.

[pSinatra]

5 minutes ago, FIF said:

I haven't watched it but I will.

 

Are they looking at Russians or Ukrainians?

Not sure what you mean but there's characters from Russia, Belarus, & the Ukraine

[The Bear]

Adaptation of the Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett novel Good Omens came out today on Amazon Prime. I like the book but haven't read it in years so re-read it last weekend. Watched the first 3 so far and it's decent. I wish there were more Pratchett stuff made into films/TV. 

Edited 31 May 2019 by The Bear

[leicsmac]

3 hours ago, The Bear said:

Adaptation of the Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett novel Good Omens came out today on Amazon Prime. I like the book but haven't read it in years so re-read it last weekend. Watched the first 3 so far and it's decent. I wish there were more Pratchett stuff made into films/TV. 

 

Was coming on here to write about this.

 

It's great!

[leicsmac]

As for Chernobyl, it's a tough but true watch.

 

My only misgivings is that folks will use the (really nasty) events depicted here as a stick to beat the nuclear power industry with when the circumstances surrounding what happened there were unique, won't ever be repeated, and quite frankly we need Gen Iv fission and fusion power for the future if we're going to come off coal, oil and gas power (which is a necessity).

[Mike Oxlong]

8 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

In the event of all out war i think the Soviets were probably better prepared then we were.They had contingency plans in place,with different people allocated different jobs.All we were told was to hide under the stairs.Failing that put a door up against the wall at a 45 degree angle with your tins of beans,and hope for the best.

Great source of nutrients and heat in a dire situation but better hope you’ve put a clothes peg in your emergency pack if sharing your shelter with others 

[Suzie the Fox]

5 hours ago, leicsmac said:

As for Chernobyl, it's a tough but true watch.

 

My only misgivings is that folks will use the (really nasty) events depicted here as a stick to beat the nuclear power industry with when the circumstances surrounding what happened there were unique, won't ever be repeated, and quite frankly we need Gen Iv fission and fusion power for the future if we're going to come off coal, oil and gas power (which is a necessity).

I love reading your posts on this subject and you are truly knowledgeable on the topic of fuel and climate change. I certainly agree something has to be done but nuclear energy is something that just doesnt sit right for me. Chernobyl was a one off but look at the disaster it caused world wide at the time and will for many many years to come. The devastation of something going wrong at a Nuclear power station is horrific and although they no longer use these types of reactors & elmiminating future threats you have to also consider Fukushima which was not down to bad machinery or human cock-ups but caused by a force of nature.

 

 

[leicsmac]

56 minutes ago, Suzie the Fox said:

I love reading your posts on this subject and you are truly knowledgeable on the topic of fuel and climate change. I certainly agree something has to be done but nuclear energy is something that just doesnt sit right for me. Chernobyl was a one off but look at the disaster it caused world wide at the time and will for many many years to come. The devastation of something going wrong at a Nuclear power station is horrific and although they no longer use these types of reactors & elmiminating future threats you have to also consider Fukushima which was not down to bad machinery or human cock-ups but caused by a force of nature.

 

 

I can certainly understand the sentiment and thanks a lot for the compliment.

 

Nuclear energy doesn't sit right with a lot of people - there's something about it that makes people nervous. Perhaps it's the idea of something unseen being so devastating so rapidly when things do go wrong - not being able to see an object of fear often increases the fear itself.

 

WRT Fukushima, I'm going to sound unconvincing here but that was, once again, a freak situation involving a powerful earthquake in just the wrong place and an older plant model that wouldn't be implemented today. If we could make it so that all the older models around the world were decommissioned and replaced with newer models designed to resist both Chernobyl and Fukushima-style incidents, I wonder if that would alleviate some of the concerns?

 

To be honest, if I had my way we wouldn't be using fission plants at all (fusion is another matter, much better and much safer but sadly we haven't fully cracked implementing it yet), but at the same time I can't see a realistic plan that involves getting rid of oil, gas and coal power (something responsible for so much more death and suffering around the world) and retaining our current level of energy generation (and thus standard of living) without using it. So, it's a dilemma.

[BKLFox]

A gripping watch and really happy that they decided to run it in just in English and not dodgy Russian accents or subtitles.

In some programs using the native language and subtitles adds something but I feel there is too much going on emotionally as well as the educational understanding of it all which would be missed if we had to read the dialog.

[ithuriel]

Is Breaking Bad a show worth watching, remember Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle where he was pretty good.

[Countryfox]

9 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

Is Breaking Bad a show worth watching, remember Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle where he was pretty good.

 

The best.

[ithuriel]

Just now, Countryfox said:

 

The best.

Gonna watch it then, have not much of an idea other than its about drugs.

[Unabomber]

8 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

Gonna watch it then, have not much of an idea other than its about drugs.

Lol you’re in for a treat 

[Stadt]

Wish I could watch it again from the beginning, the goat for me 

[The Horse's Mouth]

Just finished the deadwood movie, was class tbf, didn't expect a lot but it delivered wrapped up everything quite nicely

[foxfanazer]

7 hours ago, ithuriel said:

Is Breaking Bad a show worth watching, remember Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle where he was pretty good.

Top class series. Not as good as the Sopranos imo but a must watch nonetheless 

[ozleicester]

9 hours ago, ithuriel said:

Is Breaking Bad a show worth watching, remember Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle where he was pretty good.

Single best tv show of all time

[Babylon]

2 hours ago, ozleicester said:

Single best tv show of all time

 

[ozleicester]

2 hours ago, Babylon said: