bedelia1984

Ah, thanks Carol, I do remember this one (the couple with the schauzers!) but I will re-watch for the subplot I must have forgotten.

I must confess, I cannot find the dog show episode- I went looking as I thought I might not have seen it. Its there any chance you mean the episode hot ticket where they want the ticket for the hot play but won't be seen in the cancellation queue? Or if not any extra clues to which one this episode is?

I don't know if you've seen the movie 'Can you Ever Forgive Me'- about Lee Israel putting a typewriter to lucrative, if legally dubious, purposes. The neuroses just improve it! They have one or two nice mystery episodes too- like Retirement is Murder where Marty looks over a cold case, with some bungling assistance from Frasier. It would have been nice to see him as a detective.

I had a real typewriter as a child- there is something about that sound of the keys that is so hard to beat. There is a shop near me selling vintage models, though they may be more for display. I remember falling afoul of tippex related spills more than once also. I think there is some celebrity that does all his correspondence by typewriter- possibly Tom Hanks or Steve Martin. So at leat you would be in good company! My own personal TV covid low was rewatching the entire series of Frasier and getting the Cafe Nervosa ceramic coffee cups, so I could drink from them whilst watching. I still think its a great show, but I think the main reason that I watched it was that it reminded me of a simpler, safer-feeling time, and gave that sense of pleasant company that you don't have to pay too much attention to if you don't want.

Love this linked piece, thanks Carol. So many good lines like the 22 murders she solves a year. JB Fletcher is a longtime hero of mine, I still kind of want to be her.

Thanks besleybean, lovely to read what Martin had to say. It's cool that Una was respected for her art as well as her acting. That cast were so magical together, it must have been a fun time on set.

Thanks J.P., cool to see her drawings too.

Besleybean I'm very sorry to hear about your friend also. I hope she can get the best treatment possible and make a good recovery. It's good that you are looking after your sister too.

Sky news Really sorry to hear this. She was a wonderful lady and talent and brought so much to the show. Her Mrs. Hudson was a gem!

It actually would fit with the times because it was during 'The troubles' when there were bombings in London etc, and terrible violence in Northern Ireland, kneecappings bombings, people disappearing... a lot of violence connected with extremists. It's understandable in that way.

I also visited Paris in school, from Ireland, and I was advised by my French teacher to let people know I was from Ireland if I wanted better treatment! It's technically possible, as I know people who had to come home for Christmas and couldn't get a flight from London to Dublin, and they did a ferry and then train. However, it takes just under 14 hours to do so, and costs a lot too, (that ferry would only run twice a day, sometimes trains get delayed too) whereas a cheap flight London to Dublin would be less expensive and get you there in under an hour... Perhaps the Gilmore Girls were gluttons for punishment! Even though there have been several wars between France and England they were all very long ago, however the habit of despising does seem to die hard for some people. My mum (from Ireland) worked in London in the 70s and there were signs in many workplaces advising 'No Dogs and no Irish' need apply... which quite recent, and yet the open animosity seems less strong here than between France and England- maybe because our history is just too close and in the case of Northern Ireland too current for people to allow themselves that sort of casual spite.

I have heard people in Great Britain use the term 'British Isles' but it's not a phrase any Irish person would use, I guess because of not identifying as British. It's a tricky one. I guess the acceptability depends on whose point of view you consider. I know British papers will routinely describe people like Saoirse Ronan or Sinead O'Connor as British and there is usually an uproar about it here in the republic. I also find it confusing because Ireland is officially 'Ireland' legally, not the republic of, and then we have Northern Ireland, as a separate entity. As an aside, I always love Moriarty drinking from that UK/ Ireland teacup precisely because of the complicated relationship between the two places and the prevalence of hidden enemies, informants and back-stabbings throughout the history of it. No bother at all, I just thought I should say. American television is appalling at this, I still haven't gotten over the Gilmore Girls and the train they took from London to Dublin.

Sorry to nitpick, but Saoirse Ronan is Irish and we aren't part of of the UK, not the republic of Ireland where Ronan is from anyway. I did think there were issues with the casting in Gerwig's Little Women. I think Ronan is very good in the role of Jo, actually, but I found Pugh didn't embody Amy as well. I liked their Beth, (Scanlen), but I don't know if Watson was the right casting for Meg, or if they cut a lot of her scenes, but I thought it was hard to really find her character in it, it seemed she was barely there. I got the impression the director was very taken with Pugh and Ronan and the film centred a lot on them, with the other two as afterthoughts. I remember the 1994 Meg having more impact, I think that was Trini Alvarado, she was charming with a quiet strength, like Meg in the book. I would guess almost all the actresses are too old for the parts, but willing to let it slide as it's a movie and they all age up anyway. I also thought Chalamet was not the ideal Teddy, but their Dr. Bhaer was much better cast than when in 1994 they brought in Gabriel Byrne. I actually enjoyed the movie a lot overall, the tone and the scenery and the dialogue worked for me, and it was a different enough take than 1994, which I loved, to be worth making. I'm reading a book I love right now. 'The Art of the English Murder' by Lucy Worsley. It goes into the golden age of British crime writing, how it evolved, styles, how it reached an audience. It has references to Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dickens and lots of others and a section of photos of old newspapers etc in the middle.

Great to see you and the forum still going strong Carol! Hope you are keeping well these days. Really miss Sherlock this year, it would have been amazing to see a a new special, even. I don't know why my phone recommended this piece to me- the mention of Sherlock I suppose, but more fool me for reading it! As you say, it starts with an obvious agenda and is written to prove a point, skewing everything to fit that. Added to which, I just don't see how they could equate Benedict Cumberbatch's layered performance as portraying such a one-note quality as I understand toxic masculinity- in fact there are times when the script might sit on the page as sexist but he plays things with far more complexity. Misguided as some of the show's efforts towards feminism are, also, surely they should get some credit for at least trying. I also dislike using Conan Doyle's line about holding cold reason above all else (I think that's from the original, anyway) as some proof the Original Holmes was the somehow a toxic masculine type- there are women who favour reason too. It's annoying when a piece supposed to challenge stereotypes is so chock full of them. Anyway, clearly I am bereft of more high quality content. Interesting the author discusses the Asperger's theory in a more balanced way, but I guess that isn't the idea being sold in the article.

I find a lot to disagree with in this article, on our Sherlock, anyway, I haven't seen 'Elementary'. Sherlock and Toxic Masculinity I find 'toxic' to be one of those contemporary buzzwords that is often over-used, and though at times I have found the show's overall writing in terms of its depiction of women iffy, I don't think Sherlock is a good example of toxic masculinity at all over all. I would be curious what others think if anyone reads it.