And now I have a question. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I can’t tell which one to put it in.
In this double episode, we see that a civil rights group from Alabama has come to Grantchester to speak at the village on the issue of race relations in 1950s America. This group seems based on the family and associates of Martin Luther King.
To get to the speaking venue, the group has to walk a gauntlet of English bigots holding up signs of hatred and intolerance.
My question: was this a thing in England? I know very well the crap that MLK and company had to face here in America, but did England have this kind of organized bigotry?
Unlikely that such a public show of it would be launched in such a relatively iconic village so near Cambridge - it would have been thought bad manners, at the least, and making a public exhibition of oneself. And whatever people’s private opinions on racial matters in this country, they didn’t think much of your average Alabama police chiefs and their behaviour either.
There were overt displays of bigotry in less posh parts of bigger UK cities, leading to vile violence in some places in the late 50s, but the perpetrators wouldn’t have been interested in political demonstrations of their bigotry against Americans - they were focussed on their (largely West Indian neighbours). The likes of the League of Empire Loyalists (middle-class and still Tories in those days) were more interested in colonial policy which (however much some of them might have dreamt otherwise) didn’t include the US. Out and out neo-fascist racists were still a small lunatic fringe and didn’t start gaining any visibility until the late 60s/early 70s.
At a wild guess, I’d imagine this is a case of the producers becoming aware of an American audience and introducing somewhat more “Americanised” dramatic elements.
[spoiler]I adore Sidney, but the drinking and whining were starting to get me down. Who is he, Penny from The Big Bang Theory? The new guy seems fine, and already has a bit of chemistry going with Geordie.
I loved the Violet Todd character. She got in Sidney’s face and told him to shape up, which was needed. Plus, her clothes are adorable and spot-on for the 1950s.[/spoiler]
That’s another minor irritation about so many period-set shows. The visuals (clothes, hairdos, cars, furniture) tend to look thoroughly researched, but all too often there are glaring anachronisms in the actual dialogue, which somehow jar more when the period concerned is within living memory (well, mine anyway): it really wouldn’t have taken much thought to spot the kind of slang that’s only come in in the last few decades.
I think that was deliberate, [SPOILER]to explain why he had to leave. I think they showed him drinking a lot more in this season than previous ones.
By the way, I assume that the vicar is leaving because the actor wants to move on to movie roles, but I’d like to see a follow-on series in which he and Violet Todd try to live as a married mixed-race couple in 1950s Alabama.[/SPOILER]
By the way, in case it’s not obvious, that first episode that aired on Sunday July 14 on PBS in the US was actually the first two episodes of the fourth series. For whatever reason, PBS chose to combine them and run them in one two-hour slot.
I loved this series, but I pretty much hated this first double-episode of season 4. I haven’t forgiven Sidney for dumping Amanda and the baby and “choosing God.” Really dumb. And now he’s basically doing it anyway?? And yeah, his drinking was getting to be a drag on the series.
Didn’t care for Violet and I saw NO chemistry between her and Sidney. But what bugged me the most was the really BAD Southern accents! Heck, most Americans who aren’t from the South can’t even do a Southern accent. So why should the Brits be able to do it, eh? Except Kenneth Branagh–he probably could.
I’ll keep watching, 'cause I like the setting. And I LOVE Leonard–the character has grown so much since he first joined the series. I also love Geordie. If y’all have never seen Robson Green in Wire in the Blood– holy crap! Wonderful, creepy, brilliant series. Based on novels by Val McDermid. It took me weeks to get that series out from under my skin.
Robson Green has always been the reason Mrs. C and I watch the series, with Mrs. Chapman and Leonard also being well-written and acted, but we’ve always found the Sidney character too hard to take seriously.
I read an interview last week where James Norton explained his reasons for asking to be written out of the story - He wanted to move on to new parts, and he felt that the ending of the previous season had effectively finished Sidney’s story. Apparently a lot of us agree with him.
James Norton had a continuing role in seasons 1 & 2 of the terrific British cop series, Happy Valley that takes place in a setting that is anything but happy.
While watching it, I kept thinking, “Gee, that guy looks so familiar…” but I couldn’t place him. Finally I looked him up on the IMDB, and it was Sidney, unrecognizable without that gorgeous head of red hair. Not sure this spoiler warning is necessary, but He turns out to be a charming, vicious serial killer! Our Sidney! Say it isn’t so!
I subscribe to AcornTV on its own. I subscribed before Amazon offered it. Fantastic British shows. I think the cost is a bargain. I subscribe to BritBox through Amazon also. Love the programs.
The second episode was much better. There was actually a case to solve. Geordie looked fabulous in his new suit, as Cathy did in that dynamite dress. So the guy wasn’t gay, just a lecherous jerk with good taste in clothes. I’m liking Leonard more and more, but he and the BF should have cooled it in the vicarage kitchen. Zoe Telford gets more beautiful as the years go by. I first saw her in a Lewis episode, “Old Unhappy Far Off Things.” Maybe I won’t miss Sidney all that much.
Shows that feature the first computers–the ones that filled a whole room–give you an interesting perspective. Especially considering that many of us were sentient beings when those computers first appeared. That a computer [del]as big as[/del] bigger than my first apartment should morph in 50-ish years into something a zillion times more powerful that fits in my pocket–mind-bending.
I liked the second episode better, too. How will Mrs. C. and Leonard reconcile?
I couldn’t quite make out if Mrs. Keating told Geordie about the assault. I suppose not, or Geordie would have been kicking the guy’s teeth in pretty promptly.
I thought surely that the computer lab assistant was going to be involved in the triangle. He was gorgeous enough to be “Ganymede”, so it seemed reasonable.
I hope they do quickly. Mrs. C spent the whole first season not liking Sidney, and that was such a drag. I don’t know how she will get past this. It’s big-- a sin AND a crime?? That will be tough.
I’m pretty sure she didn’t. For various reasons (shame, etc.), but mostly because Geordie doesn’t want her working anyway. She’s probably afraid he will insist she quit, citing hazards of the workplace. AND he will go kick the guy’s teeth in.
There certainly has been a proliferation of gay themes, not just here. In the Father Brown bell-ringing episode, turns out there are two women in love.
I loved it when Geordie walked into the gay club and the host complimented him on the suit. He did look fabulous and modern.
Geordie and Leonard together were hilarious, particularly on the visit to the Ganymede Club. I’d like to see them together doing more sleuthing; forget the new guy. (And remind me; Geordie does know that Leonard is gay and that he and Daniel are seeing each other, right?) The gay Cambridge mathematician/computer pioneer was obviously meant to suggest Alan Turing. And at the very end did we see the “lab assistant” back in the classroom? Was the suggestion that he was let go, perhaps because of the importance of the work?
I don’t think it was ever expressly stated, but Geordie and Sidney do seem to know. They’re both men of the world and can put two and two together. Mrs. C, however, is a sheltered village woman and didn’t suspect a thing.
Last night’s episode 4 was brutal. Not just the murder, which was creepy enough (didn’t see THAT perp coming!), but Cathy’s woes at work, and Mrs. C’s treatment of Leonard. Will seemed oblivious to her departure. Only two more episodes left in this season.
How is Mrs. C, a strict-constructionist to the max, going to reconcile to Leonard’s orientation, which in her eyes is not only a sin, but was a crime in England at that time? Of course, Jesus hung out with sinners, too, and didn’t judge them (although in her Book, he had every right to). Or is it more than righteous judgment on her part but outright disgust?
Still not warming up to Will, but I don’t dislike him either… not sure what my problem is.
The lecture Cathy’s boss gave her is just what I would expect in that era, and frankly, is probably what people still think today. “You’ve led a sheltered life, and this is just the way things are for women in The Big Wide World. It happens. Get over it. Now Let’s just drop the whole thing before you ruin a good man’s reputation.”
I may just have to hop on Passport and watch the final two episodes.