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Television

Ghosts of Christmas Past

“The most Christmassy feeling in the world, is when you give somebody a gift you know they will always remember.” Robin – Ghosts 2023 Christmas Special

Ghosts have gone, we knew the end was coming, but how was it going to end?

Well, spolier free, they went out in the best possible way. Completely in the spirit of the show, and perfectly. No questions left hanging, and no regrets. And what a call, to go out with the Christmas Special!

The leading quote from Robin is almost the last dialog from the episode, and yes they have managed to give us a gift that we will never forget. It is almost as good as the last scene of Blackadder Goes Forth from 1989. Everyone that has sees that still gets the chills, and never forgets.

Kangaroo Island Tourism Ad

The new Kangaroo Island television ad has a very catchy tune – but what is it? Well a little on and off Googling turns up the answer – Eddie Vedder’s Rise from the Into the Wild album. Looks like something to go on to my wish list.

South Australia - Kangaroo Island TV Ad

Misery Bear

This poor little bear has been sent out on to the streets of London all in the name of comedy. To add to the adventure the soundtrack is Brick by Ben Folds Five [^] – “I’ve never felt so alone … ”. Call be sick for enjoying comedy coming out of misery, but it works!

via: Londonist [^]

Terry Pratchett – Who

It easy having disparate interests; like science fiction and fantasy. We all manage it, and cope with it. But, what could be better than an unanticipated overlap? For me Sir Terry Pratchett talking about Dr Who [^] can only be described as pure bliss.

matt-smith-dr-who

Sir Terry’s story isn’t one of unquestioning adoration, and that makes it better. He acknowledges the flaws, and they upset him as a storyteller. Terry’s relationship with Dr Who has waxed and waned as his life has changed. But he keeps coming back and like the rest of us he accepts it with the flaws and even with the shaky sets of the old Dr Who.

It seems that everyone who had ever watched Dr Who has had a watching through their fingers, or hiding behind the sofa moment. And the Weeping Angels have managed to send a tingle down my spine.

Now how do we get a Dr Who / Discworld cross-over?

Animal Privacy

A lecturer in film studies from the University of East Anglia believes that animals have a right to privacy [^].  The lecturer, Brett Mills, was stirred into action by the BBC documentary “Nature’s Great Events”.

"The key thing in most wildlife documentaries is filming those very private moments of mating or giving birth. Many of these activities, in the human realm, are considered deeply private, but with other species we don’t recognise that…”

Mr Mills has said that acts that animals retreat from the public eye to perform should stay private. He is also concerned about whether animals are capable of giving consent to having their privacy breached. It seems as  though Mr Mills is anthropomorphising, assigning human characteristics or feelings to these animals. It must be remembered that the producers of these programs attempt to limit their impact on the creatures involved in order to obtain as natural a representation as possible.

animal privacy

Seeing animals in their natural environment, and trying to engage the general public in their plight is all part of a growing awareness of environmental issues. Without ground-breaking programs like Life on Earth and Nature’s Great Events the world would be in a much worse state than it is.

Besides there isn’t very much that hasn’t been covered on mainstream television in the human arena, between normal documentaries and Big Brother type “reality” television. And there is scope for debate about informed consent, and how the participants are portrayed with creative editing. This would be a much better focus for ethics in film making.

In the quest for privacy perhaps we should recognise the human right properly first in the modern surveillance state with mobile phone tracking and the profusion of CCTV.