Time Flyers – BBC2 tonight

This sort of program always seems rushed – especially if the ‘presenter’ gushes at every opportunity. Quite surprised they didn’t give themselves just 24 hours to do the job… Or maybe they did?

Hope this doesn’t bring the history to the authorities eyes so that they suddenly decide to develope the site for local people who can afford £250,000+ houses… (That probably flood when it rains, but I digress!)

Nermal

But there’s always Anna Ryder-Richardson 🙂 😮 😎 :rolleyes: 😉 😀 🙂

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve nothing against beautiful women. 😀 I just get a bit fed up with them appearing on my TV pretending to be experts in subjects about which they clearly know nothing. Obviously, our Ashley proves that you can be both pretty and clever, but this seems to be the exception when it comes to TV presenters.

[i]Originally posted by RadarArchive
To me, the presenter is the person or persons who front the programme for the whole series. I admit there are exceptions, but generally these days they are mostly pretty thick (or is that pretty and thick 🙂 ) and just there to provide a nice face and some banal commentary. [/B]

Agree with this. But can we have have more Anna Ryder-Richardson please? 🙂

Moggy

I take your point, Moggy, but I didn’t class her as the presenter, in the same way that the German pilot and the chap who helped build the decoy weren’t the presenter either. They were individuals brought in for that specific programme (and no other) for their knowledge. The lady in question was, IIRC, an ex-photographic interpreter.

To me, the presenter is the person or persons who front the programme for the whole series. I admit there are exceptions, but generally these days they are mostly pretty thick (or is that pretty and thick 🙂 ) and just there to provide a nice face and some banal commentary.

I think that’s a bit unfair Radar.

The girlie on the Time Flyer’s programme seemed to know her stuff.

I enjoyed it greatly, even to the extent of thinking it could have been fleshed-out to a full hour and still retained my interest.

Moggy

I’m even worse, I paid full price for it myself!

[Grumpy old man mode: on]

The presenter of Time Flyers is very irritating, but then again most presenters these days are! Most are brainless bimbos (or the male equivalent) who would have no idea what to say if they didn’t memorise a script or read off a teleprompter. Bring back presenters like Raymond Baxter who actually were knowledgable in their subject. About the only one of that ilk left is David Attenborough.

[Grumpy old man mode: off]

“Fields of Deception… remaindered”

Typical, I had it bought for me as a present when it first came out.

The presenter was extremely irritating. There’s a lot of that about these days.

On the other hand, according to BBC2 on Friday, I’m in the age band to be a grumpy old man so that’s my excuse.

For anyone interested in the subject of bombing decoys, it might be worth getting ahold of an excellent book on the subject, Fields of Deception. This book, by Colin Dobinson, was published by Methuen on behalf of English Heritage. Although it has apparently been selling well, it was remaindered quite quickly and can now be picked up for a few quid. It has details of all the sites, drawings of what they looked like, etc.

Incidentally, there is a companion volume entitled AA Command, dealing with anti-aircraft defences and other books in the series covering most of the types of wartime defences in the UK are to come. The next is due to be about radar. Needless to say, I can’t wait!

Mark12,

The episode I’m thinking of is ‘Tales of old Dartmoor’, when for reasons too complicated to go into here, the gang sailed HMP Dartmoor across to France, leaving a cardboard replica in it’s place. Don’t recall one with a cardboard Kent though.

The ‘gushing’ presenter (he grates a bit on me too, but I put up with him to watch the programmes) was Mark Horton. He did appear on Time Team, but he certainly isn’t much liked by the bods on the Time Team Forum.

Geoff.

Geoff,

‘Tales of Old Detling’ – I have no idea of the name of the sketch. I am remembering this from the original 1950’s broadcast rather than a BBC record or tape!!

Flood,

I thought initially he was the Time Team specialist but if we are thinking of the same chap, Guy de la Bedoyere, not so. I agree with you, he was barely up to the job.

Mark

Amazing that no matter how much you really want to watch something the presence of a certain grinning and breathless presenter (don’t know his name, thought he was a Roman specialist a few years ago on Time Team?), who can’t believe his luck at getting a job in front of the camera, totally put me off. I got a phone call about halfway through, lost the thread and spent the rest of it hating that guy.
Hope it worked for everyone else though…

Flood.

It was a very interesting programme.

Locally there was a “Q” site to detract from the port of Brightlingsea on the Essex coast (then HMS Nemo, predominantly minesweepers, ASR launches and a couple of Walrus flying boats) built on mashland on Mersea Island just a few miles down the road from me. Apparently it was bombed a couple of times and so saved the town from damage. The control bunker was still there a couple of years ago when I was last there.

As an aside my father and a couple of chums who were all 15 year old sea scouts at the time got a 10 minute wiz around the Blackwater/Colne estauries in one of Nemos’s Walrus’s in 1942, under the excuse of an “air test”.
He was chuffed to bits but apparently (and not unaturally if you think about it ) my Grandmother went mad !

Is ‘Tales of old Detling’ the one you’re thinking of?

Geoff,

This programme reminded me of a fiendish Goon Show sketch to float a cardboard replica of Kent, made of cornflake packets, into the English Channel – to fool the Germans. 🙂

Mark