S06.E02: Episode 2

[AllAboutMBTV]

Wandering a bit off-topic, the first in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, "Clouds of Witness," appeared on Masterpiece in 1973. It looks like you can get most of the series (except "Clouds") on DVD from Netflix (no streaming). I vaguely remember watching them at the time and thinking they were pretty fab. (That said, in 1978 there was a Masterpiece version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" with Geraldine McEwan that I remembered fondly. I found it recently on Acorn, and it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered. It was more Essence de Brodie than the actual story, although McEwan was good.) There was a second Lord Peter series on Masterpiece Mystery (with a different actor playing him) in 1987 under the omnibus title "Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries," and that's the one with Harriet Vane.

Topic: Per the previews, Sister Ursula is a bit wobbly on a bike. I hope she crashes into a flower stand. (Although I heart Harriet Walter in anything.)

[LuciaMia]

Youtube has the first one, Strong Poison. Make sure its the version with Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter.

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, Subrookie said:

I assumed it was flour or grain dust. A lot of common foods are explosive when they are in powder form. I recall the older man who died said he didn't have the lungs for this work anymore so dust in whatever form was something they were exposed to all the time. I could be wrong and it was chemicals, but explosions at sugar and flour plants/storage facilities are a constant hazard. 

You're right - it was some kind of food - a grain or rice or some such.

[Calvada]

6 hours ago, Al Lowe said:

STOP THE PRESSES. When did this Lord Peter series air and where and how can I watch it right now this minute today?!

I'm always an advocate for public libraries, so check there for the DVDs.  They did Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night.  But do not make the mistake of watching the ones from the early 70s, with Ian Carmichael as Peter Wimsey.  IMO - terrible! 

Back to CTM - do you think we'll ever get a story with Sister Winifred?  Do we know any of her history? 

[kwnyc]

Quote

 (Although I heart Harriet Walter in anything.)

She's one of the greats: from Sister Ursula to Henry IV (which I was lucky enough to see) to Prospero to the doctor who was kind to Chewie in The Force Awakens.

[OtterMommy]

9 hours ago, kwnyc said:

She's one of the greats: from Sister Ursula to Henry IV (which I was lucky enough to see) to Prospero to the doctor who was kind to Chewie in The Force Awakens.

I'm going to have to re-watch The Force Awakens because I don't remember her in it at all.  In fact, I only remember seeing her in very Sister Ursula-ish roles (most notably in Sense and Sensibility).  I'm sure that she is a lovely woman in real life but, dang, does she play that sort of role well!

[Al Lowe]

  On 4/12/2017 at 0:31 PM, Al Lowe said:

STOP THE PRESSES. When did this Lord Peter series air and where and how can I watch it right now this minute today?!

I'm always an advocate for public libraries, so check there for the DVDs.  They did Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night.  But do not make the mistake of watching the ones from the early 70s, with Ian Carmichael as Peter Wimsey.  IMO - terrible! 

Back to CTM - do you think we'll ever get a story with Sister Winifred?  Do we know any of her history? 

I've seen the Ian Carmichael ones. I did not love them.

I keep expecting some huge reveal about Sr. W, but thus far she is mere exposition device.

[LuciaMia]

Quote

I've seen the Ian Carmichael ones. I did not love them.

But I did prefer their Bunter character.

[Tosia]

On Monday, April 10, 2017 at 4:37 AM, Calvada said:

I agree, I think Phyllis knows what's what. 

Timothy hasn't been perfect; he's grumbled about some things expected of him.  But I think the death of his mother probably forced him to grow up, so he's a bit more mature than other 15 year olds.  As well, he's surrounded by people who are constantly thinking of others, doing for others, so it's not surprising some of that has rubbed off on him.

Didn't he try smoking a while back? 

[movingtargetgal]

Usually when teenagers are so "perfect" I think of them as Eddie Haskell (Leave it to Beaver) types.  I never feel that way about Timothy.  I think he is genuinely a kind caring soul who was raised by a kind caring man.  Father and son were alone for a long time before they asked Shelagh to marry them.  By their example, Patrick and Shelagh have taught him the importance of being kind and to care for others and each other. Timothy appreciates the family he has. 

[MissLucas]

Timothy lost his mother, then almost lost Shelagh with whom he had established a close relationship even before she left the order, nearly ended up in an iron lung for the rest of his life and saw his father struggle with a really bad bout of depression - that's the sort of stuff that can cause a teenager to grow up pretty fast (or derail them completely).

[Ceindreadh]

2 hours ago, Tosia said:

Didn't he try smoking a while back? 

IIRC, that was a ploy to get his parents to stop smoking. They realised it was a bit hypocritical to stop him smoking while they both were doing it. 

[Ohwell]

All I know is, Timothy will make a fine husband sometime in the future.

[Gulftastic]

Mark my words, once the 60's properly hit him, he'll go wild in a big way. I'm betting on a future story of him trying LSD or running off to join a hippie commune.

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, Gulftastic said:

Mark my words, once the 60's properly hit him, he'll go wild in a big way. I'm betting on a future story of him trying LSD or running off to join a hippie commune.

That's why I said "sometime in the future." : )

I don't know if he would go so far as LSD or a hippie commune, but I'd expect that he would do what most young people do during that era.  

[latetotheparty]

The more I think about this episode the more I just don't buy Sister Ursula as a character.  She doesn't seem like a nun or as if she could be a member of this order.  It has nothing to do with Harriet Walter's performance - she's playing the hell out of her - but rather the way she is written.  They have not shown her to have any kind of spiritual life at all and I just don't see her as someone who could have been nurtured by Mother Jesu Emanuel.  If they wanted to bring in a character who would threaten the existence of Nonnatus House they should have made her some higher-up from the NHS - she would make more sense.  The final straw for me was her treatment of Sister Monica Joan.  I used to go on retreats to a convent that was also a home for retired sisters.  They are revered and no one expects anything from them that would interfere with their spiritual lives.  In the first episode Sister Julienne says it's their privilege to care for her.  When Mother Jesu Emanuel defended her in court her love for Sister Monica Joan was unmistakable.  None of this squares with Sister Ursula.  We'll see what happens as the season progresses but right now, to me, she seems like the first serious misstep from the series creators.

On the other hand, PHYLLIS CRANE WILL YOU MARRY ME???  I wasn't sure about Nurse Crane at first but she has won my heart and turned into my favorite character.  I really want a whole series called Young Phyllis Crane detailing what I am sure is a fascinating life but it would only exist in an alternate universe so we could de-age Linda Bassett to play her because no one else will do.  She is the perfect counterpoint to the young midwives.

[AZChristian]

Let's visualize Timothy as a roadie for that new musical group, The Beatles.

[Popples]

5 hours ago, latetotheparty said:

On the other hand, PHYLLIS CRANE WILL YOU MARRY ME???  I wasn't sure about Nurse Crane at first but she has won my heart and turned into my favorite character.  I really want a whole series called Young Phyllis Crane detailing what I am sure is a fascinating life but it would only exist in an alternate universe so we could de-age Linda Bassett to play her because no one else will do.  She is the perfect counterpoint to the young midwives.

   

[Portia]

Since the show kept lampshading the blinded man's heightened sense of smell, I fully expected an end-of-episode reveal that he'd landed a job at a perfume factory!

[dcalley]

On 4/9/2017 at 9:17 PM, jschoolgirl said:

I watch with captioning to help understand the accents, and I love the captioning for the music! "[Soft inspiring orchestral music]" ... or "sad," "contemplative," "joyful," and others. I've never seen such descriptions on other shows.

I think I recall a "despondent" as well. There are typos in the text captions, but the music descriptions are great!

 

On 4/9/2017 at 10:08 PM, jschoolgirl said:

I am worried about Shelagh's pregnancy.

Wasn't she hacking something up into a handkerchief when the explosion happened?

I believe the man who was blinded mentioned sugar and coal at the beginning when his wife said she'd get flour all over him.

The babies in this episode were all so cute.

[Sarah 103]

On April 16, 2017 at 11:58 AM, Gulftastic said:

Mark my words, once the 60's properly hit him, he'll go wild in a big way. I'm betting on a future story of him trying LSD or running off to join a hippie commune.

I could see him trying LSD or some other type of drug but not becoming a heavy user and dropping out of society. I see him taking it to unwind after a hard day of studies, or possibly just at parties. 

On April 16, 2017 at 5:26 PM, AZChristian said:

Let's visualize Timothy as a roadie for that new musical group, The Beatles.

I would love to see him trying to get tickets to see The Beatles in order to impress a girl who's a fan. What is the music budget on this show? Will we ever hear music from the British Invasion? It's 1962 on the show and music is about to change significantly and the songs are going to be incredibly expensive to license. 

[JeanneH]

Re the discussion way upthread of women and children from Singapore being captured by the Japanese in WW2, does anyone remember the series "Tenko"? It was a British-Australian co-production from the early 80s (3 seasons +1 reunion special) about Dutch, British, and Australian women imprisoned in a Japanese camp, beginning with the attacks on Singapore and ending with their release at the end of the war. I thought it was very good (link is to Wikipedia page)

Edited April 29, 2017 by JeanneH

[purist]

3 hours ago, JeanneH said:

does anyone remember the series "Tenko"?

Yes! One of my favourite series ever.

[Constant Viewer]

I have never heard of Tenko, but sounds like something I would like. I liked Paradise Road and Elizabeth Norman's book We Band of Angels. Anyone know where I can find this series online?

[JeanneH]

On 4/29/2017 at 2:02 AM, purist said:

Yes! One of my favourite series ever.

I've done a quick check from time to time and have only caught 2 of those actresses in anything else - Stephanie Beacham (various shows on TV a long time ago) and Louise Jameson (Leela from Doctor Who even longer ago). And of course, the terrific Burt Kwouk from both movies and tv. Loved them all, and I guess I must be watching the wrong programs to not have seen them in anything else.

[Ina123]

Can someone tell me which Lorca poem Phylis quoted?

[MissLucas]

29 minutes ago, Ina123 said:

Can someone tell me which Lorca poem Phylis quoted?

It's True

[Ina123]

9 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

It's True

Thank you.

[Starchild]

On 4/30/2017 at 8:26 PM, Constant Viewer said:

I have never heard of Tenko, but sounds like something I would like. I liked Paradise Road and Elizabeth Norman's book We Band of Angels. Anyone know where I can find this series online?

I know this is very old, but I've just watched this series for the first time online and it is excellent. Full series here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/glynis54/videos 

[RedbirdNelly]

I always love moments with Timothy. 

It took me a while to figure out why I new the wife of the blind man (can't recall her name)--she is Anne on The Crown. Then I realized there were 3 actors from the Crown in the same episode (Churchill's wife and Camilla).