In other news...

[vilakins]

Craving WW2 stuff after finishing Enemy at the Gate and reading Enigma, we've been watching a documentary about Bletchley Park, Station X. It's excellent, and I'm enjoying the interviews with people on both sides. After that, we'll see the Derek Jacobi play about Turing, Breaking the Code.

Last night however, we saw the first part of three of The Making of Blake's 7, the documentary series B7E (I think) stopped them adding to the DVDs as extras. It's amazingly good, made in 1999, I think: very informative, and interviewees include Terry Nation (some of these interviews must have been made a lot earlier), Gareth Thomas, Michael Keating, Jan Chappell, Jacqueline Pearce, Chris Boucher, Vere Lorimer, Matt Irvin, David Maloney, and several others. I don't think it was ever shown because there's a time counter running in the top left corner, but it's properly edited and, unusually, actually kept Greg watching, it's so interesting. It's well worth seeing. This part covered S1, and the next two S2 and S3. They never made one for S4, but that's no great loss. ;-) For those interested, it's on The Box, like the others.

What else? I went out to dinner (delicious Italian) on Saturday night, I've made Greg a very cool late birthday present scarf, and I'm reading Pompeii by Robert Harris, which is as good as I suspected it would be.

Comments

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Craving WW2 stuff

Secret Army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Army_%28TV_series%29)?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I do vaguely remember that! My mother must have watched it because I remember the opening credits with the canal or river. I'm going to miss Kluge though.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Ooh, let me know what you think of Breaking the Code.

Craving WW2 stuff

Time to re-watch The Great Escape?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We saw that not long ago. We own it. We do have a few other classic WW2 films we could watch though; good idea.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Good time you had - and good books. We also have R.Harris´ book Fatherland here in the library - equally good.
Ah, Making of B7... I wish I could see it...

[jacteest.livejournal.com]

Many Dutch authors wrote about the war. Have you read The Assault by Harry Mulisch?
And if you like biographies: In Pursuit of Life by Erik Hazelhoff (Roelfzema), who led a very adventurous life during WW2.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've read Fatherland recently; it was excellent!

I wish I could offer the B7 doco on-line, but everyone here has capped access and I just can't. :-(

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've read neither, but I've read and enjoyed several German ones by Hans Hellmut Kirst (great humour as well) and, when I was a bloodthirsty teenager, Sven Hassel. :-P

Thanks for the recs! I'll see if our library system has them.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Glad there have been some nice things to compensate for the ARGH which has been coming your way lately

I'm a big fan of Enemy at the Gate - perhaps you might like Defiance, which came out recently, about partisans in Belarus. Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig - both very good.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of that. Thanks!