johdousha

This is probably the last comment I'll write from England, as I'm flying back home to America after a year here in a couple of days. Unfortunately, that also means I'll be flying away from Bergerac on the BBC. I discovered this marvelous old detective show a short time ago, and since then I've enjoyed every episode of the programme I've seen. John Nettles is so cool and calm in the title role, and the cast of regulars is fun to watch and full of life. The plots are interesting, though not overly contrived. As much as I enjoy reading Agatha Christie books (and watching BBC adaptations of them), I sometimes find her plots a little too twisty for their own good. Bergerac's plots don't suffer this [ever-so-slight] malady. The scenery on the island of Jersey is beautiful, though I don't know whether it was filmed there or not. One might suspect (and hope!) that the crime-rate is somewhat less than represented in the show, but since watching Bergerac, I seriously want to visit the island and find out for myself. Also, if I do manage to visit Jersey sometime down the road, I have reason to believe I'll be able to pick up the BBC signal and watch re-runs of Bergerac to my heart's content! I recommend this police detective show to anyone who enjoys British television drama or detective shows. One last thing: I really love the tune they play at the end of the show. Hope I can get a recording of that sometime!

I watched this film on late-night television, as has become my habit in my year-long sojourn here in England. At first, I thought it looked pretty stupid. Actually, at first it was stupid. But I kept watching for no real reason other than that I was too lazy to get up and cut off the telly, and then I discovered that this was really a moving, thought-provoking picture. Paul Corliss, who starts out as kind of an unlikable character (even when you know he's right about the aliens), gets progressively better as the film develops, which leads me to believe he was played by a damn fine actor. His wife, who starts out looking like a nagging, annoying (but pretty) nuisance develops into a strong and likable character. The general and Colonel Lerner, who both start out looking like typical, knee-jerk reacting, firepower-crazed officers develop in separate directions; the general gradually reveals himself for what he is--a thinking, caring authority (who nevertheless knows his job), and Lerner becomes the kind of villian it's easy to dislike--an un-thinking, un-caring, letter-of-the-law authority. Even the tight-lipped government agent near the end of the film (whose name is "not important") makes his potentially boring and/or unbelievable single-scene role a pleasure to watch. At the special effects end, this movie is visibly cheap. We viewers who have been conditioned by digital effects to believe only in realistic (though uncommonly smooth-looking) extra-terrestrial beings and vessels can only see these B-movie effects as...well...B-movie effects. However, if you can suspend disbelief as if you were in a theatre, this movie is immenently watchable, not the least because of its engaging and inspiring story. Without revealing too much about the end of the film (which I partially guessed beforehand), I can say that the viewer can come away from this film ready to try and make this world a better place to live in, and feel that we the human race are not doomed to kill each other off or pollute our planet beyond recognition. Long live Earth.