Nightsleeper (BBC iPlayer) - 6 episodes of shite

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

Usually, when Mr.Aardvark says he doesn't like something I'm pretty sure that I will like it.

However, in this instance I read various online reviews and it seems that many other folk also regard the series as a load of spherical objects. So that'll save me 6 hours of iPlayer time. 

RHM.Photo said

This rant made me enjoy it even more than I already had. And no, I hadn’t worked out who the baddy was until the last episode.

Even BRINO & Covid were almost easier to battle with than this drama at times! 🤣 😜 

Although (not sure a minister on the train wasn't based on her??) Liz Truss may have waisted a massive chunk of her Premiership if she'd been stuck on the train? 

GDSandy Photography said

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

That’s more or less what the BBC is now anyway. The BBC mostly commissions drama rather than making it. Even the radio drama is produced by independent production companies.

I would say that it is working well enough. 

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

That’s more or less what the BBC is now anyway. The BBC mostly commissions drama rather than making it. Even the radio drama is produced by independent production companies.

I would say that it is working well enough. 

I think that the commissioning editors or whatever they are called are the ones at fault then.

GDSandy Photography said

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

That’s more or less what the BBC is now anyway. The BBC mostly commissions drama rather than making it. Even the radio drama is produced by independent production companies.

I would say that it is working well enough. 

I think that the commissioning editors or whatever they are called are the ones at fault then.

Or maybe they aren't really at fault at all, considering how many globally successful products they have created, and jobs they've created for one of our most important export industries!

TV is difficult. ITV has improved immeasurably but the output quality does not match the BBC. Channel 4 is great but still the right wing in this country want it sold off even though it doesn't cost the state anything to own it. Channel 5, well... it's halfway to a US TV distribution system at this point.

Spinning off the BBC's entertainment department would 1) break one of the three Reithian principles around which it was chartered and 2) lead to a bidding war that would leave what was the BBC in the hands of Disney, Fox or a Saudi venture capital firm. This won't be better for UK drama or entertainment. 

Some fat can always be trimmed off or spun off -- the BBC creates commercial subsidiaries all the time. But basically, holding onto the BBC, as it is, is one of the most important imperatives for this country. 

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

That’s more or less what the BBC is now anyway. The BBC mostly commissions drama rather than making it. Even the radio drama is produced by independent production companies.

I would say that it is working well enough. 

I think that the commissioning editors or whatever they are called are the ones at fault then.

Or maybe they aren't really at fault at all, considering how many globally successful products they have created, and jobs they've created for one of our most important export industries!

TV is difficult. ITV has improved immeasurably but the output quality does not match the BBC. Channel 4 is great but still the right wing in this country want it sold off even though it doesn't cost the state anything to own it. Channel 5, well... it's halfway to a US TV distribution system at this point.

Spinning off the BBC's entertainment department would 1) break one of the three Reithian principles around which it was chartered and 2) lead to a bidding war that would leave what was the BBC in the hands of Disney, Fox or a Saudi venture capital firm. This won't be better for UK drama or entertainment. 

Some fat can always be trimmed off or spun off -- the BBC creates commercial subsidiaries all the time. But basically, holding onto the BBC, as it is, is one of the most important imperatives for this country. 

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

I used to think this but honestly, the News and Current Affairs programmes are not a patch on their former selves.  Entertainment is patch y and has become a tool for promoting certain ideologies (The BBC is not alone in succumbing to this tokenism).  As for Sport, it doesn't have the money to compete even for mediocre tournaments any more.

Unpopular opinion but I really like it, as does my husband. 🤷‍♀️

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Unfocussed Mike said

GDSandy Photography said

Bergman Greenstreet said

A simple 'It wasn't my cup of tea' or something of that ilk would have sufficed rather than the OPs tirade of invectives.

I liked the rant.  Probably more entertaining than the programme.  I am in the main a fan of the BBC.  It suffers a little more than most broadcasters from the "trend bingo" scripts and casting but does produce some absolute corkers too.  These alas are getting fewer and fewer.  Is it perhaps time to split the national broadcaster and ceate a truly independent news organisation and leave the enetertainment to some other more commercially minded creatives?

That’s more or less what the BBC is now anyway. The BBC mostly commissions drama rather than making it. Even the radio drama is produced by independent production companies.

I would say that it is working well enough. 

I think that the commissioning editors or whatever they are called are the ones at fault then.

Or maybe they aren't really at fault at all, considering how many globally successful products they have created, and jobs they've created for one of our most important export industries!

TV is difficult. ITV has improved immeasurably but the output quality does not match the BBC. Channel 4 is great but still the right wing in this country want it sold off even though it doesn't cost the state anything to own it. Channel 5, well... it's halfway to a US TV distribution system at this point.

Spinning off the BBC's entertainment department would 1) break one of the three Reithian principles around which it was chartered and 2) lead to a bidding war that would leave what was the BBC in the hands of Disney, Fox or a Saudi venture capital firm. This won't be better for UK drama or entertainment. 

Some fat can always be trimmed off or spun off -- the BBC creates commercial subsidiaries all the time. But basically, holding onto the BBC, as it is, is one of the most important imperatives for this country. 

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

I always used to think like that, at least up until the last few years.

I worked at BBC TVC for 5 years (appreciating both the great, mediocre... and lots of the truly bizzare and nonsense - glimpses into what the future held - rarely in a good way, I must add! (1989-1994)

Now I'm not so sure.

I am very very fond of the good things they have done, sometimes still do.

Take Question Time ... utterly devalued nonsense these days. Boring.

I always used to find it interesting. You had stronger hosts that managed more of the impossible mix of:

i) Allowing people on the panel to say what they wanted (just enough) ... and yet PROPERLY shutting them off and 'moving on' at other times.

ii) Better self awareness of knowing when to hold their ground (or not)

iii) Seriousness ... and some cutting humour at times

iv) Overseeing a genuinely mixed audience and well balanced (if sometimes very focussed) one. Less smugly seeming artificially more in control of some panel guests, 'armoured' and emboldened by a very 'fixed' and pre planted audience makeup 🤣😭

-

I could have offered up numerous things that have deteriorated in quality, disappeared from our screens ... or maybe much worse - transformed into something really horrible and almost unbearable and unrecognisable to what had existed at some previous point in time.

When you start struggling to tick off all the good output vs awful output ... surely the modus operandi and ethos off the BBC is broken? 

"Inform, educate, entertain"

I would add ... Bravely (and without filtering everything or ESPECIALLY dishing up what the 'masses' must need / want / demand).

The BBC is full to the brim of 'so called' entertainment shows that I cannot stand (that somehow, to make things worse, get more and more lauded or hyped and get spin offs / else go on for decades!!) 🤣😂😂 😞

Yet the rarity of sublime content is not only thin on the ground ... but if it's sufficiently niche, expensive to then just 'churn out' every week or is not a hit with the 'masses' in terms of ratings - it would seem to disappear/ be even rarer to reappear 🫣 

The BBC is best when it serves up content that ISN'T everywhere else. Not impossible for Channel 4 to score in the same way from time to time too. Sadly BBC Sport seems to be losing this apsect too 😞

Edited by Aardvark🎯VonEssfolk

Each to their own!

I enjoyed it.

My mum watched it all the way through and thought it was complete rubbish.  She told me she watched Points of View and the general consensus was it was rubbish.  They had a statement from the producer or writer on it, apparently it was supposed to be a comedy!

I had to chuckle at the ineffective Trussalike too 😂

I gave up halfway through the first episode as I couldn't cope with the technodrivel. Can't anyone write a script that makes technical sense?

Did anybody else recognise the Raspberry Pi with MMDVM hot-spot board? ;-)

Edited by Gothic Image

Watched the whole thing out of curiosity after seeing this thread. 
I’d say definitely not a highly quality offering. All rather implausible & nonsensical - & often feeling like it was a vehicle/platform (HeHe 😜) for current BBC cultural obsessions.

Think ‘Silver Streak’ meets the writers’ room of recent Dr. Who series. The final scene is an oddly familiar combination of the final scenes of ‘The Railway Children’ & ‘DieHard’. LOL😉