Secret Britain

B

B Dawgg

New member
Looking forward to this on Sunday not least as I admit to having a little crush on Julia Bradbury. After watching repeats of Coast To Coast and Railway Walks I have come to the conclusion that Julia Bradbury seams to be such a warm person, love that grin she does when talking to people aswell.

So come on all you Julia Bradbury fans lets show some appreciation. :D
 
Dont mind these sort of progs but the beeb seems to be making a lot of them about looking round the countryside showing some nice scenery. Bit dull for some i bet. Just to show off peoples hi def tellies methinks.
 
I'd say I've seen enough of Julia Bradbury to last a lifetime. What with her constant presence on the "new" Countryfile, her "Walks" programme and now this?

It's always the same with the BBC, they flog a concept to death.
 
Sick to bloody death of Bradbury. Why do the BBC think she has to be on every single country/walky type programme they make? Let's have some variety for once.
 
I don't mind her in the least and enjoy watching the programmes she appears in. There are far more irritating presenters around than Julia Bradbury.
 
Whilst it was quite an enjoyable hour in itself, it suffered from the same problem as a number of other similar programmes such as Seven Ages of Britain and Stephen Fry in America in that it felt like a snapshot whirlwind tour, when you feel that actually there is the potential for a much greater depth and number of programmes / series.

At least with Coast, someone had the foresight to see that you could make many hours of television about our coastline rather than wrapping it up in 3 shows or whatever. But then again Coast is on BBC 2 where the Beeb still (just about) trusts its audience to have an attention span of more than 10 minutes, perhaps they think that BBC 1 documentaries have to 'move things along' every few minutes. It's a shame because in the same manner as Coast you could have a Secret Britain featuring say, Devon and Cornwall one week, then maybe Lancashire the next and so on.
 
Interesting observation, that. I think a lot of it has to do with selling the programmes overseas (i.e. to america) or making them in partnership with a foreign tv channel. Those ones - even the likes of Horizon on BBC2 are just as you describe. Maybe the ones that have no prospect of being sold aren't subject to "disneyfication" to the same extent.
Still, it was nice to have some programming in a sensible timeslot that didn't involve reality/celebrities/soaps/emergency-services or sport.
 
I was quite looking forward to this show-but what a disappointment. It had no depth to it and was frankly very boring. I, for one, will not be tuning in again!
 
As someone who is just getting into walking I enjoy these sort of programs as well. I agree that this wasn't as indepth as it could have been, still watchable though.
 
I agree with some of the comments, especially regarRAB to the fleeting visits to each of the locations. But the main problem for me is that the locations they went to weren't really "secret" were they?! I mean..people were there and obviously very many had been there before...Also the canoe trip was a bit of an anticlimax really and a bit pointless.... they went through a small gap between rocks ( the filming of which desperately tried to make it seem more exciting and dangerous than white rapid rafting!), the two guys made a rather pathetic cross on a beach that had no access (well not really secret, just a pain in the bum to get to, so no thank you...) and they looked at a cave that really was like any other cave that has easier access, it was just hardly worth the effort. I mean it didn't make me want to get in a canoe and go see a hole in a cliff....

I think a better title might have been "off the beaten track Britain"...but ...its just doesn't have that same enticing, mysterfying beckoning ring to it as Secret Britain does it?
 
A fair enough point, and I'm not sure if the programme was really researched thoroughly enough. Funnily enough, I was actually walking on Bodmin Moor yesterday not that far from Dozmary Pool (the lake where Arthur is supposed to have thrown Excalibur) mainly to have a look at an intriguing and rarely visited location called King Arthur's Hall which really is a well-kept secret, and would have been more interesting to feature than DP which is actually quite well known.
 
I can't wait to save up and have a short break in Cornwall, me and my boyfriend want to do one soon. We love walking and I love exploring beautiful natural places especially where there's a bit of history involved! So it's a hard decision between the lakes and cornwall hmmmm.
 
The scenery is much nicer in the Lakes, not to mention that it's much more natural rather than the endless (and dull) farmland fielRAB and hedges of Devon and Cornwall. But Cornwall is (generally) warmer, rains less and has beaches and the sea! I'd say... visit both :)
 
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