DHDancer

Yeah, I balked at this change too. Also, much as I love John Nettles, I don't think he's showing as "old" enough to play the uncle. I hate to think that UK productions are going the way of US programs where everyone has to be "young and beautiful" sigh. One of the "charms" of UK TV is that they cast ordinary looking people.

First I heard of it was tonight after Indian Summers :) Yes, looking forward to it -- I remember reading Gerrard Durrell's books when I was but a young thing.

It's actually a very beautiful dress but Nina's styling was so wrong, not to mention wrong occasion and she's just too old for it. Hair needed to be up away from the dress at a minimum. I thought there were too many gals on the red carpet with dreadful loose hair that spoiled their looks. I'm not advocating we all return to the 50s and 60s where going out to a "grand do" involved an up-do but honestly, these stylists really need to take a step back and realize that dangling hair is not always "sexy" (oh how I hate that term -- who CARES about "sexy" just concentrate on looking your best and invariably the attraction comes along naturally)

I agree -- I thought her outfit was the only "finished" garment shown and I liked the color surprisingly. I could see myself wearing that provided the "skirt" was full enough to allow full leg movement vs hobbling along (aka I could run, climb stairs, you know, all those daily functional requirements!)

But ALL the garments were based on a muslin foundation -- none of the ones I saw could possibly have held together without a muslin structure. So if they were all using muslin, then it resets the baseline, right? Just judge the creativity of the the stuck on bits. On the re-watch, I really did think Roberi was shafted -- that lantern dress was wonderful (yeah, a bit short, but his model didn't have any exposed naughty parts, not like we've seen in the past). I did think Erin's outfit was well thought out and constructed but it was less creative overall than Roberi's look. The green plastic plate dress was also excellent I thought and deserved more than an honorable mention.

So nice to see Michel Roux (Jr) -- he was witty and relevant! Nancy may have another career as a TV personality as she held up her end too. Tom didn't do anything for me unfortunately. And I know Jo Brand is a bit polarizing based on the comments here but I like her a lot: she moves things along and has wry and dry wit. Val really is a hoot and so true to herself. What a sweetie. It was her time to go but I'm sure her energy and humor was missed in the tent.

I posted yesterday under Ashley's thread that when I looked at her website, all I could find under the "Shop" tab was several of her "crowns" (those floral horrors) selling for $195 or thereabouts. I think she still is working with JC Penneys. I totally agree with Tim's assessment of her clothes and you couldn't pay me enough to wear them, even if I was dead...

I call foul on the unconventional materials challenge. If all the contestants are doing is gluing stuff onto a muslin shell, they are all using fabric first and foremost and it's a cheat. Having said that, I thought Roberi (Roberti?) and his lantern dress and whoever made the toenail/green plate dress were the closest to the brief. Re the runup show, I almost switched off once I'd heard Nathali's intro: I immediately thought of the 70s bumper sticker to end all bumper stickers ("Go nuke a gay baby whale for Jesus"). Honestly how pretentious could she be. And I was waiting the whole time to hear how this season is now remodeled back to the original premise.... bait and switch methinks. Still, here I am, watching it again like a typical addict :)

Why is Road to Runway/Episode 1 locked?

I looked at her website today and all I see are her "crowns" under "Shop" tab.... IMO that says it all. As a plus-sized woman I would NEVER wear her clothes.

Their ovens are convection so technically the temp should be the same throughout but yeah, they are still somewhat small for baking the size batches being requested. And yep, I'm with you on the thinner "crepes" vs American fluffy type of pancake (I can eat more of the former!) Lemon and sugar as a simple topping is just delicious.

Interesting episode. Stuffing yorkshire puddings? Really? To me yorkshire puddings (USA folks, think popovers) are there for the express purpose of sopping up incredible gravy. Originally, the purpose was to eat before the main meat course to fill you up and not notice there wasn't very much meat. I've been known to make yorkshire puddings and gravy only -- who needs meat at all :) So when did choux pastry qualify as "batter"? To me, a stretch but fun anyway. I was pretty surprised they were given so much time to be honest as it's hardly a complex exercise, certainly compared to other showstoppers. I was convinced Tom was going to be aufed and sad. Still sad for Kate but glad Tom was safe!

Where? PBS is hardly known for consistency in its broadcasting schedule...

Barrington Pheloung! It took me a stupidly long time before I figured out the Morse theme was MORSE CODE! Sigh, how stupid can one be. I love the fact that TPTB have stayed consistent with the composer and the style of theme music... it really is the basis for the continuity I think.

Did anyone figure out what the initials Adam left behind were and what they meant? (AR? AK?) I found the conclusion satisfactory and glad they didn't have the 11th hour rescue of Adam and big reconciliation -- they did hint it wouldn't be like that I guess when Adam said he had never not loved his Dad so big fail Mr TT. Having said that I wasn't really sure until the end that Adam had died so the suspense worked for me. I do agree that it became very Karl-centric and looking back, I think I'll just suspend any plot holes: I enjoyed it and its differences from all the other guff being served up on TV.

Think this is a clear reference back to the first Lewis episode when he returns from Australia or South Africa or wherever he'd been for 2 years. He wore a "hawaiian" shirt then too (if I remember clearly, it could actually be the same shirt! I bet it was still in his wardrobe) Edit: sorry maladroit: didn't see your post before making my comment. SNAP on all the rest of your comment :)

Yeah, I'd read about the divorce. No idea about cause etc ("celebrity" marriages having such a poor track record, I don't really care that much) but I believe they were married for a reasonable period, with children. I do agree with you about the "all sorts of wrong" but then we don't really know these people, do we? Just what we're fed by media... In watching the current "last" series, I find myself wondering if "Hathaway" being somewhat intraspective and rather morose has its roots in Fox's personal life...

I was delighted (yet dismayed at the outcome of the character) to see Janet Henfrey (Mrs Bale from As Time Goes By) as Edwina Crane. What I love about re-watching these programs is seeing so many now "famous" actors as youngsters is always a treat... try watching the original Twilight Zone and "spot the star" -- truly surprising how many well known and long-employed actors appear in those episodes!

Way after the comments above but I came across an interesting 'reason' re the way people were saying pita in this episode. I have several Australian "Women's Weekly" recipe books and I was just reading one today; lo and behold I came across "pitta" bread! So if the UK spell it the same way (I can't remember -- I left the country long before pitas were commonplace) that would clearly explain why they said "pitta" and not "peeta". So simple really :)

The egg whites should not be stiff and dry and should fold in pretty easily (the first third is folded in to soften and lighten the "roux" (or pat) base), then the rest are folded in with the aim of not losing too much volume -- it's probably the hardest part of making a souffle. You really don't see the egg whites in cooked souffles as a general rule because the cooking melds everything together. And frankly it's not considered a crime if you do see some egg white :) I haven't personally made a chocolate souffle (not a chocolate person. I have made cheese ones) but I admit I scratched my head a bit when the technical challenge instructions said to make a meringue with the egg whites and sugar: that to me would have made the egg whites too stiff to really incorporate well. I guess I was right :) Normally the egg whites are just whipped by themselves with a little cream of tartar then incorporated. Any sugar would have been incorporated into the base roux/pat.

Using a metal spoon to fold egg whites into a batter is a classical technique. Normally souffles don't have to be thoroughly mixed but in the case of chocolate (or any dark mixture) it is an aesthetic thing. BTW, if you look closely Flora's winning souffle had white spots in it -- difference in the judging must have come down to the size of the white blobs. BTW, you can make the souffle mixture hours in advance, keep it in the fridge then bake right when you are ready to serve. Remember the fashion for lava cakes? Restaurants make them way ahead of time and just pull them out of the fridge as needed. Those are "one size fits all" square baking pans! Pretty neat eh? You just fill the part of the pan that matches your recipe.

I don't know why everyone thinks fruitcake is dry... why would you assume that? None of the cakes I saw on this program were dry (and none of the judges made that comment either). And yeah, the icing on top was just for novelty -- very typical for Victorians. My favorite fruitcake recipes btw are boiled fruit cakes where the fruit, sugar, spices, butter, water, and yep booze are heated together till everything is just to the boiling point, then cooled to room temp before adding the eggs and flour, then baking. A light dose of booze as the cake cools also helps :)

Because they can, lol, and in all seriousness it probably started life as something served at some particular religious celebration. France is neck and neck with Spain for # of religious "holidays".... I still think they look more like daleks than nuns....

I think we're moving back to single episodes now, according to other stuff I've read. Also, re the series renaming/renumbering, I think that's because CBS "bought" the rights to the first UK series 1-3. With the failure of their US version, they released the rights which allowed PBS to pick it up (yay!!!) So I extrapolate that could mean PBS will never air the original series because of the CBS thing... Anyone read anything that would shed light on my speculation?

I thought the "daylek" quipping was really fun :) And yes, the end results looked much more like Daleks than elderly nuns!!