h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I was going to post this on the whinge thread but it is more of a rant.

Bloody BBC putting on an episode of 'Waking the Dead' from the last series instead of the current one last night and tonight. I was looking forward to watching a new one and couldn't be bothered to watch a repeat.

I suspect I know the reason why they did it - but does that mean I can ring them up and ask them to change the schedules if something tragic happens in my life?

Why? Who's died this time? We've still got a full count of Royals, haven't we

Excellent thread.
I am dismantling my old kitchen with the help of my brother-in-law and was taking wallboard and old tiles off the walls last night when they put on the brand new series of Farscape at 6.45pm with no advertizing.

To say I was apoplexic with rage when I found out at 9pm is putting it mildly.



I'm sorry about your episode of "Waking the Dead", I watched it and it was new to me as I never saw the first series.



Was the murderer the mother? {Annette Crosby} I'll be watching part two tonight anyway.
Unless the BBC are really kind and repeat last night's Farscape just for me.

I still want to know whose death is important enough for the Beeb to go pissin' about with the schedules. Not that that *need* an excuse normally...

I assume (though as I don't watch the programme, I'm kinda guessing) that it involved the bodies of small children.

In which case, a certain amount of circumspection at this time is to be expected.

Simpost!
KerrAvon, I think it was because Milly Dowler's body has just been found.

There must have been a similar plotline.

What? Ohhh, IC. Well, in that case, given the number of small children being wiped out all the time in Third World Countries, I guess the episode will never be shown, will it? As a mark of respect and all that.

Time was, only the death of a majoy Royal was important enough to warrant things like that. Sorry, personal bug bear of mine. There I was, already to tape The Amageddon Factor, last installament in the Key to Time series, one sunday morning off UK Gold. And what happened? The Androids of Tara instead, because one seedy ex-royal had managed to employ a crap driver.....

<grr<grr.This is one of my constant rants against the BBC.They treat SF/fantasy fans very poorly.Monday around 7pmish on BBC2 is the only slot for SF/Fantasy fans that the BBC has and they treat us badly.They either NEVER tell us a new series is starting OR they postpone it in favour of a sporting occasion that usually will be on ALL week(and all day)such as snooker,golf or the national indoor bungee jumping finals.

Incog who just in time checked the TV guide last night.By the way I also watched Witchblade on the SCI FI channel thinking it was the start of a new series only to find I appeared to have missed an episode.Can anyone shed any light on this.The Dead Zone looked good though.

I think it probably was because of Milly Dowler being found. While this is tragic news for the family, does it really warrant switching the schedules around for the rest of the nation?

If it does, then why couldn't they put a different new episode on rather than an old one - or is it that it is ok to find dead bodies on the tv if we have seen them found before?

"I think it probably was because of Milly Dowler being found. While this is tragic news for the family, does it really warrant switching the schedules around for the rest of the nation? "

Does anything warrant plotlines like that in the name of entertainment?
Sick sh*t happens all the time without people making it up so other people can watch it over their dinner. To complain that a weird program about emotionally unstable (I'm guessing) people digging around in plastic corpses and following sick plotlines has been suspended *because that stuff actually happened* is one of the strangest things I ever read on H2G2.

"I'm sorry your daughter's dead and all that, but I was going to watch some entertainment about murdered children and now I can't "

Weird.

"Does anything warrant plotlines like that in the name of entertainment?"

Frogbit, I presume you don't watch any form of TV drama then? Or is it all 'sick plotlines' to you? Waking the dead is your standard detective drama but focuses on how modern forensic developments can be used in old cases. Silent Witness (due to start on saturday - we shall see) is about the same thing but applied to current cases.

Should the BBC have pulled the episode of Casualty that had an old lady dying of old age because it happened the same week that my nan died? That stuff actually happens all the time.

Thank you for the implication that I am sick, but I dont think it really applies - sick would be to have a ghoulish interest in the details of these tragic cases, rather than a desire to watch dramatic fiction that we pay to have made with our licence fees.

Well said Kelli

All drama is based on dramatic situations Frogbit, hence the name. Who wants to watch something about a bunch of people all living happily together and never facing any problems to overcome? Oh look, the Waltons. Great.

Incog, I wish you had texted me that Farscape was on!



Oh well, it'll be repeated on the sci-fi channel.

Eventually.

I meant to watch The Dead Zone, but didn't finish demolishing my kitchen in time, so I watch The Terminator on the sci-fi channel instead.
I've seen Termintor 2 loads of times, but I think that's only the second time I've seen the original. I was surprised they showed Arnie in all his glory, and don't remember that from first time around.

I must have been sweet and innocent then.

At least ITV stop during the middle of Corrie so you can watch EAstenders!

BTW Galaxy Babe, I'm not telling you whodunnit! Don't want to be responsible for a spoiler...

The BBC can't really win. There would bound to be many complaints of bad timing and taste if they showed a programme vaguely resembling circumstances of Millie Dowler case so close after discovery. Far better for them to err on the side of not offending people and showing respect. Some viewers may be a bit put out for a few days by delaying a new episode but can't really claim to be hurt by it.

I don't understand why they couldn't have shown a new episode though. The one they did show still had a body being found etc etc etc.

Who are the people that would have been offended though?

Does every bereaved family have the right not to be upset by any program on the BBC? Of course the news is awful for the Dowler family, my heart goes out to them, but why does this sad case affect the BBC schedules? Will we see the new much-hyped return of Silent Witness be pulled on Saturday?

Many deaths are reported in the news but we don't see a change of programming. Perhaps I am failing to see something that is different and especially important about the murder of Milly Dowler that doesn't apply to other tragedies?

I am trying not to sound hard-hearted here, although I probably do. I am just trying to understand the position of the BBC with regards to current affairs and how that impacts on entertainment programming. Is this to become more regular? Should we check the front pages rather than the TV guide to work out what is going to be on tonight?

k probably sounding like more of a cow than usual.

"Frogbit, I presume you don't watch any form of TV drama then? Or is it all 'sick plotlines' to you? Waking the dead is your standard detective drama but focuses on how modern forensic developments can be used in old cases. Silent Witness (due to start on saturday - we shall see) is about the same thing but applied to current cases."

I don't actually. The adverts for them are disturbing enough. And just because I object to this form of 'entertainment' doesn't mean I approve of the Waltons - far from it. There are plenty of storylines to explore other than who-dunnits, cop dramas and hospital dramas. If you're worried about getting value from your license fee, then I'm not sure how you intend to defend this drivel.

"Waking the dead is your *standard detective drama* but focuses on how modern forensic developments can be used in old cases."

Don't you find it dull that there is such a thing as a *standard detective drama*?

"but focuses on how modern forensic developments can be used in old cases"

My brother works in television (Casualty amongst others). Don't think you're getting the latest scientific stuff - they just make it all up if it doesn't fit. And if you'd heard the contempt in which they hold the average viewer, you'd probably stop watching on that point alone. It's a cynical business, and they'll do anything to get viewers. Of the couple of episodes of Casualty I have actually sat through, one involved a rape and beating, after which one of the actors freaked out in the hospital and bloodily began to rip IV's out of his arm while his rape victim (in the next bed of course) was screaming rape at the top of her lungs. The other was on last weekend or so and featured a helicopter crashing into a school fete and causing mayhem. Rotor blades piercing people's limbs, stuck in the memory. This is, of course, pre-watershed. But because it is a 'drama' they can show anything they like.
If you call that entertaining, well, I'm sorry if you felt I called you sick. But what would call it>?

Apologies - I'm not calling anyone of you sick - I just find it so disturbing that we've become so secure and pampered that we can glean enjoyment from other people's fictional tragedy and distress. And yes, I know books and plays have been doing it for centuries, but they usually have a point attached.

You all seem to have a good grasp of english - why don't you collaborate and flog it to the BBC?

I assume the pulling of the last 2 episodes of series 2 of The League Of Gentlemen late on Sunday night was for the same topical reason, presumably due to the 'buried in the flowerbed' scene, but somehow I can't see people in mourning, and/or of an emotional disposition watching it in the first place.