pensnest: clip of Mucha picture, caption A Very Nice Gel (Very Nice Gel)
[personal profile] pensnest
I'm a big fan of the Body Shop's Camomile face cleanser, and while I was in there recently to pick up a new tin, I also bought a pair of scrubby gloves to use in the shower. Used them for the first time today, and looked at the label. They are made of 70% NYLON, and 30% RECYCLED PET.

Disconcerting.

Every day, he comes in to ask us to find him something to watch, but if there is nothing on the telly, as is so frequently the case, he is very hard to please.

He generally prefers British shows to American ones. He likes period drama, but if it is violent he is instantly turned off. (I bought 'North and South' for him, and he didn't finish the first episode.) I have shown him my collection of Jane Austen adaptations more than once; he's watched Downton Abby and enjoyed it a lot; he got lost in Upstairs Downstairs, and didn't finish The Forsyte Saga, and I think got through The Pallisers but didn't enjoy it much. He watched Cranford but has no inclination to see it again.

He has been watching Monarch of the Glen this week; he watched Doc Martin and sneakily enjoys it although he always insists that it is rubbish. He watched Sharpe for a while, but says (with some justice) that it is always the same. Hmm. Would the 'Hornblower' series be full of blood and guts?

I'd love to find some films that he'd like, and it's even possible I might be able to pick some up from a charity shop, but again, it's a difficult balance. He liked the Pierce Brosnan 'Thomas Crown Affair', but cannot watch it every day. 'An Ideal Husband' went over well. Films that are grownup but not violent, and also pretty, if possible. But not too sentimental. Gah!

He doesn't care for Poirot, and in general finds it rather hard to follow detective stories. I suspect he'd find Death in Paradise too silly (it is, but I like it), and Lewis, which I have on DVD, is too complicated. He has tried Bones and rejected it (for visceral nastiness, I think), and condemned Castle as utter rubbish. (This irritates me, as he gives no consideration to the fact that we are offering him things we enjoyed enough to buy. I'd be sympathetic if he said "It's not for me", but "It's rubbish" makes me cross!)

He loves to watch the ballet, but it has to be the Russians, the Royal Ballet, or on occasion the French National (?) company. He has several, and I have a list of possibles, but they are expensive, and one ballet DVD is only one evening session of entertainment. He does re-watch them, but I'd hate to have him wear them out and be bored with them, since at present he loves them so much. Sky Arts sometimes has good stuff, but he recently rejected a Mozart opera as rubbish, so... well, it's difficult.

He has watched a lot of wildlife documentaries, but tends to sit and watch ninety-seven of the same programme and then go off it forever, so anything involving Attenborough or Life at the Zoo is probably out. We occasionally manage to persuade him onto something documentary-ish, and these are either received with "extraordinary!" or "utter rubbish".

Anyone got any recommendations?

Date: 2020-03-12 01:46 am (UTC)
topaz119: (happy endings)
From: [personal profile] topaz119
How about Poldark? There are a few seasons of the new reboot if he likes it. And there was a show back when I was a teenager called The Duchess of Duke Street (maybe?) My mom loved it. Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries isn’t terribly graphic, though someone (obvs) does die every episode. Merlin and The Tudors may be too trashy for him, but possibly worth a try. Maybe Call The Midwife or The Bletchley Circle?

Date: 2020-03-12 04:12 pm (UTC)
watervole: (Default)
From: [personal profile] watervole
I used to be sniffy about 'Call the Midwife' until a friend persuaded me to watch it. Wonderful show. I think he'd love the hisorical detail, quite apart from the stories. Merlin might be worth a try.

Date: 2020-03-12 04:10 am (UTC)
frausorge: my arm in a black opera glove (Default)
From: [personal profile] frausorge
As Time Goes By?

Date: 2020-03-12 06:41 am (UTC)
turps: (Default)
From: [personal profile] turps
Recycled PET. Yikes.

That is a challenging list for your FIL. I was going to suggest Poldark too. Or, documentaryish, we're enjoying the lastest Joanna Lumley series Hidden Caribbean, though not many animals are involved.

Date: 2020-03-12 02:35 pm (UTC)
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
From: [personal profile] twistedchick
Hamish Macbeth? It's one of those slice-of-life ones the BBC does so well, about the single police officer in a northern Scottish town, who does not want to be recognized for his work by the higher-ups because they'd promote him away from his home there. It's from the early 90s but it is still very good. Not gory, lots of local color, beautiful scenery, and people do grow and change over the course of the series -- it doesn't reset.
Edited Date: 2020-03-12 02:36 pm (UTC)

Date: 2020-03-12 07:30 pm (UTC)
cathexys: dark sphinx (default icon) (Default)
From: [personal profile] cathexys
I was gonna suggest that too. Also, there's Ballykissangel, a similar slice of life soapy series around a small Irish town from the late 90s/early 2000s. And then there's always All Creatures Great and Small. And A Year in Provence. (Yes, my husband adores these slice of life UK things)

Also, I think the new Miss Marple series is pretty good (and not too violent).

And what about court drama? I really liked Silk. My husband loved Kavanagh QC (also 90s) and Rumpole of the Bailey. (All of these shows are on the Brit-add-ons on Amazon or the basic Prime)

And then there are all the old comedies (yes, we watch a lot of tv and a lot of REALLY BAD AND/OR OLD British tv...) [ETA: I can recommend a lot of older comeies though I don't enjoy them. We usually only come together for the mystery stuff: ] right now we're doing Inspector Lynley, Dalziel and Pascoe, and Endeavour.

Oh, Endeavour and Inspector Morse???

And did you watch Home Fires? That's more the domestic historical thing but well done...
Edited Date: 2020-03-12 07:31 pm (UTC)

Date: 2020-03-12 09:13 pm (UTC)
turlough: elderly woman in straw hat knitting, Jane Hickson as Miss Marple ((agatha christie) knit on!)
From: [personal profile] turlough
What about Miss Marple? I love and adore the one with Joan Hickson. Dad's Army is one of my nostalgic favourites but I suspect he would think it rubbish.

What about garden documentaries like Around the World in 80 Gardens? And looking that up led me to Around the World in 80 Treasures which I'm seriously thinking of getting myself because it sounds fascinating.

Date: 2020-03-13 10:47 am (UTC)
brandywine28: (Default)
From: [personal profile] brandywine28
Recycled...pet? I want to know more -- and yet I don't.

I just finished Season Three of Anne with an E, and thought it was pretty great. It's extremely Canadian, so that might be a good compromise between British and American? :)

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