What is the name of the purple Teletubby?
Ah, TELETUBBIES. Love it or hate it, you probably have an opinion. The series was definitely designed for preschoolers, with its bright colors, repetition and gentle nature, and so many adults found it grating. And that was a shame if you had a toddler hooked on the cutely surreal world of these multi-colored creatures with television screens implanted in their abdomens.
Continue readingIf you tuned into this week’s MIDSOMER MURDERS then you caught DCI Barnaby investigating a bizarre drowning in Echoes of the Dead. A few guest stars popped up worth mentioning as well. Let see how many you spotted.
Sarah Smart played the victim’s roommate Jo Starling. Smart was Anne-Britt Hoglund in Wallander and Catherine Linton on a late-90s adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Ron Cook was the victim’s landlord, Bernard Flack, and Melanie Kilburn, his wife. Watchers of the Les Miserables on Masterpiece may recognize Cook as “hair and teeth dealer” (ew!) but he also played Mr. Crabb on Mr. Selfridge, Durdles on The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Hermann Van Daan on The Diary of Anne Frank, Chivery on Little Dorrit and Mr. Bozzle on He Knew He Was Right. For her part, Melanie Kilburn played Mrs. Johnstone on Breathless.
Continue readingWhat’s happening, what’s on and what’s interesting this week …
It might be famous for being the backdrop to the world’s most successful costume drama but Highclere Castle has a history all its own. Get the full story of the one of England’s most spectacular country houses on THE SECRETS OF HIGHCLERE CASTLE – Tuesday night at 10 on the Explorer Channel.
Sir Derek Jacobi (Last Tango In Halifax) and Stephen Fry (Jeeves And Wooster) will star in the world premiere of an online play. What A Carve Up!, based on Jonathan Coe‘s critically acclaimed satirical novel, will be available internationally from October 31 to November 29.
Continue readingA while back I mentioned a bundle oversized photos that we’d used in past on-air fundraisers. These extra large pictures were up for grabs before they were scrapped or surplussed (“surplussed” essentially means being placed in storage somewhere in a state facility to be utilized in the future, if needed, or ultimately scrapped when someone in the year 2077 says, “Why’s there a huge picture of Alistair Cooke back there?”).
The above is a shot of a much younger James Taylor, most likely from the 1980s or 1990s when we air aired some excellent JT music specials during pledge (anyone besides me still have Live At The Beacon Theatre on VHS?). The guy beside him appears to be some soda jerk and I have a vague recollection of showing a program during Festival on the 1950s so perhaps that explains that. Having a harder time making out the woman seen behind the ice cream showoff. Maybe someone from another music show (we tend to broadcast a bunch of those during fundraisers, don’t we?). If you recognize her, please drop me a line!
“Speaking with my parliamentary hat on, I don’t think it would be a very good idea; on the other hand, with my Cabinet hat on, I think perhaps it would be a good idea. But there again, with my Party hat on, I can see there could be arguments on both sides.” – James Hacker (Paul Eddington), YES, MINISTER
What was the name of the pub in which Tristan Farnon spent a good deal of time enjoying a few pints on ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL?
Veterinarian Alf Wight wrote a series of books based on his life under the pseudonym James Herriot. The ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL novels were adapted into movies and then the beloved BBC series which ran for seven seasons comprised of 90 episodes. Christopher Timothy starred as newly qualified vet James Herriot who acquires a job in the Yorkshire Dales working for and with the cantankerous yet good-hearted Siegfried Farnon (played to perfection by the late Robert Hardy). Siegfried’s younger brother Tristan was played by Peter Davison.
Continue readingIf you’re a MASTERPIECE fan you’ve probably already seen the first two episodes of VAN DER VALK, the newest entry into the MASTERPIECE MYSTERY pantheon. Set in Amsterdam, the new crime drama is a remake of an ITV program than began in 1972 and ran for 32 episodes over five series (spaced out over 20 years). Both are based on the novels on Nicolas Freeling. Barry Foster played the title role in the original series and Marc Warren stars in the 2020 version. Both have appeared in other fare you may have viewed on our airwaves, as have member of the current supporting cast. Let’s see who’s been where.
Barry Foster was the original Commissaris Piet Van Der Valk. He’s not been a major presence on public broadcasting (and may be best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 film Frenzy) but he did appear as Sir Alexander Reece in The Last Enemy on Inspector Morse and as Dr. Maxim Howarth in Death of An Expert Witness, part of the Inspector Dalgliesh series.
Marc Warren now stars as Commissaris Piet Van Der Valk in the current three-episode series. Earlier this year, Warren was Samuel Parker on Beecham House on Masterpiece. Going back about a quarter century, he played Cpt. Rymer in Sharpe’s Company and DC Andy Dyson in Prime Suspect: The Scent Of Darkness. A few years later, he portrayed Monks on Oliver Twist. And in 2006, he played the titular count in a Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He also had a very cool guest role on Doctor Who as the ELO-loving Elton Pope in the 2006 “Love & Monsters” episode.
Continue readingWhat’s happening, what’s on and what’s interesting this week …
FRONTLINE investigates the lives and characters of Joe Biden and Donald Trump as they compete for the nation’s highest office. Don’t miss an election year tradition since 1988, THE CHOICE – Tuesday night at 9 on UNC-TV.
Please don’t call Dame Judi Dench (As Time Goes By) a national treasure. The celebrated actress explained why she hates the phrase while chatting with David Tennant (Doctor Who) on his podcast recently.
Follow the evolution of the written word, from millennia-old carvings in an Egyptian turquoise mine to our modern-day alphabets, as NOVA covers A TO Z: THE FIRST ALPHABET – Wednesday at 9pm on UNC-TV.
Continue readingIt may look like a scene from an old heist film but what you actually have here are several gentlemen examining the floor plan of one of our old studios.
Sadly, I don’t have the names of anyone pictured (way before my time) but I believe the layout seen above in the plan was to our old Raleigh studios. Way back when we started, there was only one studio and it was located on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. That was when there was only one channel, WUNC Channel 4 (we are now a statewide network, offering four distinct on-air services). Eventually, a studio opened in Raleigh on Western Boulevard, next to the campus of North Carolina State University. Thirty years back, our facilities in Research Triangle Park opened and the Raleigh and Chapel Hill studios were consolidated into a more central location.
“Must all your movements be towards lower standards?” – Mr. Chipping (Martin Clunes), speaking to the school’s new headmaster, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS on MASTERPIECE THEATRE
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