[Closed] PSA - Bomber Boys, BBC 1

I know its a jolly for Ewan Macgregor and his brother, but looks to be good...

"She's like a lady...

...treat her right and, you know, she goes"

😀

For got about this, cheers.

It's not really a documentary though is it? Just McGregor playing in aeroplanes. I started but switched it off.

Liked the old-timers though, brave men.

APF

alexpalacefan - Member
It's not really a documentary though is it? Just McGregor playing in aeroplanes. I started but switched it off.

Well, it's described on my freeview box as:

".....explore Bomber Command, a rarely told story from World War II. The film focuses primarily on the men who fought and died in the skies above occupied Europe."

But, yeah they do seem to be spending a lot of the time with the famous one's brother flying a plane.....

Back in the documentary mode now though....

Good book to read about Bomber Crews & Bomber Command is Tail End Charlies by John Nicol & Tony Rennell.

No ta.

I'm watching 'A history of Zooroastrianism with Roy 'Chubby' Brown' on the History Channel.

Seriously - pointless slebs in documentaries make me want to commit mass murder.
Apparantly we need them, because we're too thick and fickle to be arsed to tune in without them.

Yes I know his brother is a pilot - there are other pilots.

maybe. I'm enjoying it though, thanks 😉

Interesting to see how much he struggled to fly that DC3 - just getting it down the runway looked a bit manic!

And Ewan's navigation skills look slightly dodgy......it's quite an interesting insight to how they operated....and Ewan is navigating in daylight!

The bits with the old boys are good. The rest is boring. Will head off to bed soon.

My very first instructor was an ex-Lancaster pilot. He shared very little about his days, however what little he did say brought tears to my eye.

Old timers, very brave men, very few indeed like that today.

the old guys are just brilliant.

Plenty like that still - prepared to give their life in conflict zones.

Amazing how low the the fatality rate is in the city bombings !

"Sheets with your blanket" and your wings get you the birds. Classic. The old footage of the Lancs was beautiful. My Grandfather was a rear gunner in Lancasters and his stories were amazing.

F00k me these guys are nails.

An old girlfriend's grandad was a pilot. Never once would he talk about his experiences.

It is quite upsetting seeing how some of them are still driven to tears recalling their stories after all this time.

Its good what Ewan does for family/friends - look at Charlie now 😉

They can't help themselves bringing up Dresden can they ffs.

Only the bloody Brits can look back at what those guys did for us then cry shame.

Like the old boys said, they bloody started it, we finished it.

Quoting Bomber Harris, they sewed the wind, they're going to reap the whirlwind.

And everyone conveniently forgets whilst Dresden was going on V1 & V2 rockets were still hitting London.

I thought it was excellent. The fact that they didn't forget to also talk about the the human cost to the German people impressed me, programmes of that sort tend to avoid/ignore that issue. All in all an excellent reminder of the bravery, determination, and appalling human cost, which so many endured. I don't think we have yet reached a point where we can be reminded too often of that.

Amazing documentary and a story well told.

It's no surprise that some of you weighed down by the chip on your shoulder still find something negative to say about it. Ewan's brother has fought for the RAF in conflict and his insight was interesting.

Great TV, very moving.

nice to see one of these programmes and actually touch on the German side of things rather than just focusing on the stiff upper lip etc.......looked great in HD too

(and I think the McGregors did an ok job, It could have been Dale Winton or Michael Macintyre)

[IMG] [/IMG]

derekrides - Member
They can't help themselves bringing up Dresden can they ffs.

Only the bloody Brits can look back at what those guys did for us then cry shame.

Was this aimed at the pilots/aircrew or those that came up with the strategy?

Just saying, like.

"They can't help themselves bringing up Dresden can they ffs."

Yes, best we don't mention the unsavoury bits eh? Shall we get the history books changed as well so the innocent little kiddie winkles don't read about it at school either?

I agree with Ernie, good that the whole story was covered, but I don't think it left any doubt about the bravery of the men, or lessened their sacrifice. My Grandpa was an Engineer on a Lancaster, very moving programme.

Have we apologised yet for bombing them while we were at war?

Just saying like

🙄

Well i thought it was a brilliant bit of telly. The interview with the Hamburg survivors told the story from both sides, and the brothers were clearly moved by that.

As for Dresden.. The Russians asked for help and we gave it to them.

Humbling listening to the old lads.. Theres a bloke who lives in Belmont called Ron, we often chat to him after our Thursday night ride finishes in the pub.. he was parachuted into Arnham (sp). God has he got some stories!

bloodynora - Member

Have we apologised yet for bombing them while we were at war?

Just saying like

Thanks for pointing out what you're "saying". Did you see the programme ? What did you think of it ?

i thought it was an excellent idea to employ to ewan mcgregor to present a history.

next................louis spence narrates the importance of inland waterways to russian imperial expansion.

slimjim78 - Member

Amazing documentary and a story well told.

It's no surprise that some of you weighed down by the chip on your shoulder still find something negative to say about it. Ewan's brother has fought for the RAF in conflict and his insight was interesting.

Great TV, very moving.

I'd like a programme about history to be presented by a historian, instead of an actor.
Why does that mean I've got a chip on my shoulder?

Because it's TV viewing for a TV audience and not a history lecture for history students ?

I only caught the last 15 mins or so unfortunately, but what I did see was great TV - something of a rarity these days.

Because it's TV viewing for a TV audience and not a history lecture for history students ?

so history needs to be dumbded down so tv audiences can take it ?

what about natural history ? frozen planet with ant and dec maybe ?

so history needs to be dumbded down so tv audiences can take it ?

It wasn't billed as a 'history lesson'. According to the BBC :

[i]"The film focuses primarily on the men who fought and died in the skies above occupied Europe, with numerous examples of individual heroism and extraordinary collective spirit"[/i]

Since when do you expect history lessons to focus primarily on "individual heroism" ?

The BBC [i]does[/i] also produce history programmes, for those they often use highly qualified historians such as Simon Schama in [i]A History of Britain[/i].

If you wanted to watch only a history programme, then this was clearly not what you should have been watching.

I suspect though trailmonkey, you weren't much bothered what you were watching, just as long as you could have a good ol' whinge and moan afterwards about 'dumbing down'. And tell us how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you.

Bit patronising Ernie.

Are you saying that TV audiences are incabable of watching a documentary without a celebrity presenter?

Kenneth Clark's Civilization, Connections, The Ascent of Man, War Walks, A History of Britain etc etc were all presented and/or written by historians.
No one felt the need to have John Inman present The Nazis, a Warning from History.

Edit - crossed posts.

And tell us how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you.

Sorry Ernie, where did he say that?

And just to confirm, yes I did watch it, and felt the choice of presenter added nothing.

Bit patronising Ernie

Are you saying that TV audiences are incabable of watching a documentary without a celebrity presenter?

Me patronising ? 😀

I'm saying people are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves what they want to watch and what they enjoy, without advice from the likes of you and trailmonkey.

I enjoyed watching the BBC's Bomber Boys, I don't need you to tell me that it was "dumbed down" and therefore unacceptable.

Sorry Ernie, where did he say that?

Read my post properly - I wasn't talking to you.

Show me where I said it was dumbed down.
Then show me where I advised people what to watch.
And finally, show me where I told you it was unacceptable.

All I did was express an opinion that I don't like celebrities presenting documentaries.
Is that ok with you?
Would you like to discuss the topic, or just snipe at people?
Or is this another subject you object to people expressing an opinion on?

Read my post properly - I wasn't talking to you.

Read my post properly - the use of 'he' indicates that I'm aware you weren't addressing me.

So where did he say it?

Where did he say it?

[i]"so history needs to be dumbded down so tv audiences can take it ?"[[/i]

I took "dumbded down" as meaning dumbing down. Your powers of observation aren't huge are they Rusty Spanner ?

I consider trailmonkey to be a persistent whinger of "dumbing down". I also consider to make that accusation against the BBC particularly absurd - the BBC has a very impressive record of providing extremely high quality TV viewing throughout its history. And high quality TV viewing does not mean restricting everything down to its purely 'educational value'. There is a time and place for everything. However that isn't good enough for pretentious middle-class wallahs like trailmonkey. But that's kind of tough, because the BBC doesn't solely exist for him. It also has to provide a service to vulgar individuals such as me who didn't receive tertiary education and don't as a rule shop in Waitrose or enjoy the culinary delights of organic sundried tomatoes.

Your powers of observation aren't huge are they Rusty Spanner ?

Well, they're obviously better than yours tonight Ernie 🙂 :

I asked you to tell me where he told us ....'how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you'.

You still haven't answered that question.

Or addressed the points I raised in my previous post:

Show me where I said it was dumbed down.
Then show me where I advised people what to watch.
And finally, show me where I told you it was unacceptable.

Ernie, I asked you to tell me where he told us ....'how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you'.

One final attempt to show I wasn't talking to you :

[i]"I suspect though trailmonkey, you weren't much bothered what you were watching, just as long as you could have a good ol' whinge and moan afterwards about 'dumbing down'. And tell us how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you."[/i]

He's quite capable of challenging me himself if he is unhappy with my conclusion.

I have already addressed your point Rusty Spanner, concerning :

I'd like a programme about history to be presented by a historian, instead of an actor.

The BBC did not bill it as a history programme. Check for yourself :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01byv2g

I can't see the word history in any of that. Nor in the RAF website :

http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/bomber-boys-01022012

[u]You[/u] have decided that it should have been a history programme.

He's quite capable of challenging me himself if he is unhappy with my conclusion.

I know you weren't talking to me.
But this is a public forum Ernie, not a private conversation.
I asked you to tell me where he told us ....'how British TV audiences should only watch programmes which have been approved by you'.
So, for the third time, how about answering the question, eh?

And again for the third time, regarding the points raised against myself:

Show me where I said it was dumbed down.
Then show me where I advised people what to watch.
And finally, show me where I told you it was unacceptable.

One last chance to answer the accusations you've made against Trailmonkey and myself.
Or you could withdraw them and apologise of course 😀

It was an interesting documentary and will no doubt make lots of money for the BBC over the years.

Just a pity the actual flight in the Lanc came so late and they didn't linger a bit more on the sound and the sensations and experience.

McGregor is pretty good; I could see him moving on to become a serious presenter f he wanted his career to go that way. Unlike that oaf Charlie Boorman.

However that isn't good enough for pretentious middle-class wallahs like trailmonkey.

😆

ace, i learnt it all at prep school

Humbling listening to the old lads.. Theres a bloke who lives in Belmont called Ron, we often chat to him after our Thursday night ride finishes in the pub.. he was parachuted into Arnham (sp). God has he got some stories!

@lowrey - you in Bristol? - my mums Uncle was called Ron and he was at Arnham (Paras) - if so I can vouch for his stories! Top bloke - was still jumping out of planes on the anniversary until a few years ago.....well into his late 70s. Top bloke 🙂