The War on Britain's Roads

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
thirdcrank
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by thirdcrank »

Simon L6 wrote:... TC......what on earth are you on about?


I merely noted that you hadn't already posed the question and and wondered why you thought you had.
chazza
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by chazza »

BeeKeeper wrote:There seems to a be a discussion going on here between intiates who have insider knoweldge
The story is base around reports by Peter Walker in the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/30/cycling-documentary-bbc1-road and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/dec/03/bbc-cycling-documentary-irresponsible-mp A company has made a film for the BBC based on cyclists' helmet camera view of crashes and near misses. The plan was to examine both sides of each story and follow through any legal process. Some of that was very good but they failed to follow up, or check on progress of some of the prosecutions.
The problem is the use of old video footage of cyclists deliberately going out to break the law, ride recklessly and illegally putting other road users in danger. The preview and trailers give the impression that many cyclists behave like this.
The most likely outcome will be that our ride home will be more risky after thousands of car drivers watch this and take away the message that all cyclists are lawbreaking lunatics and deserve whatever might hit them.
As Peter Walker puts it "they've made an unbalanced and hysterical documentary". Presenting professional cyclists racing dangerously as if they were everyday cyclists is "where the programme crosses the line from unbalanced to actively dishonest." The independent film company are loving the publicity while some hapless BBC wonk will carry the can, presumably the film makers didn't tell BBC the truth either.
mrjemm
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by mrjemm »

I reckon the whole thing was funded by the Tory party to further discredit the BBC, particularly with the weirdy lefty pedallists who may've been standing by the corp, so they can finish It came from Grantham's (ack ack, sorry, got something foul tasting in my mouth) crusade to sell everything off. :evil:
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Simon L6
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by Simon L6 »

chazza wrote:The independent film company are loving the publicity while some hapless BBC wonk will carry the can, presumably the film makers didn't tell BBC the truth either.
that's nonsense. The BBC's Commissioning Editor has signed it off. Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.
mrjemm
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by mrjemm »

Simon L6 wrote:Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.


You are joking, right?
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BeeKeeper
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by BeeKeeper »

Chazza, many thanks for the explanation. I must get out more.

But on reflection, perhaps I am happier staying ignorant.

Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.

Having been involved in a few small films I suspect this is an over-simplification. There is as has been said before, no such thing as bad publicity, although in the current climate of press-bashing this may, I accept, no longer apply.
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Simon L6
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by Simon L6 »

mrjemm wrote:
Simon L6 wrote:Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.


You are joking, right?
I'm just telling you how it is. What matters is whether the programme is a success. That's a mix of ratings (beginning and end) and reviews.
mrjemm
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by mrjemm »

Simon L6 wrote:
mrjemm wrote:
Simon L6 wrote:Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.


You are joking, right?
I'm just telling you how it is. What matters is whether the programme is a success. That's a mix of ratings (beginning and end) and reviews.


I think we can safely say ratings are in the bag (or is this showing when Masterchef finals are on?). As for reviews... What do the media 'creatives' and so on care as long as enough controversy is swirling about to draw in further attention and create a reputation?
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Simon L6
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by Simon L6 »

the BBC will have expectations of the slot, and those expectations will probably be boosted by the amount they've trailed and (as you point out) the competition it faces. The programme will meet that or not at the beginning, and that will be a test of the marketing and the concept. The killer will be how many people are watching at the end.

And, yes, you're entitled to be a little sceptical about the reviewers, but, to restate the basic fact again, this is telly. It's not cycling. It will be judged on its merits as telly, and in that respect, it may be that broadcasting a programme which is based on clips in the prime slot is a bit of a risk.
thirdcrank
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by thirdcrank »

The lurid trailer thing is right up my street - literally. Some years ago - in the days when Ch4 was positioned as being a bit racy - they trailed a programme about sex which was going to show the real thing for the first time on British telly. Shock horror. :shock: The star attraction lived up my street. Anyway, the controversy ran and eventually the inevitable happened and the live sex scene was pulled. (If the neighbours hadn't gossiped about the visit by a film crew, I'd have assumed the Ch 4 publicity was based on fiction, because they could have got the same cheap publicity without anybody having to take their clothes off.)

As for the killer in this case, I really hope there isn't one. I'd be concerned that if the programme itself is anything like the trailer, it might just legitimate more bad behaviour towards cyclists. I think the gleeful rubbing of hands I can hear is the delicious possiblity of making a sequel showing the casualties oi this "war." And why not? That's the way the media operate so it's all OK. eg Spend the the run-up to a big soccer match predicting violence and after the match you've got another story whichever way it turns out.
snibgo
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by snibgo »

I wanted to see what time the programme is on so I followed the OP link to Leopard Films, but that page is now gone, weirdly.

Anyhow, it's 9pm BBC1 tonight, if anyone cares.
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Simon L6
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by Simon L6 »

snibgo wrote:I wanted to see what time the programme is on so I followed the OP link to Leopard Films, but that page is now gone, weirdly.

Anyhow, it's 9pm BBC1 tonight, if anyone cares.
ahem...
http://argonon.com/news/the-war-on-brit ... n-bbc-one/
snibgo
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by snibgo »

Thanks. I dunno why the page (http://www.leopardfilms.com/news/leopar ... pm-bbc-one) linked in the OP is now gone.
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BeeKeeper
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

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chazza
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Re: The War on Britain's Roads

Post by chazza »

Simon L6 wrote:
chazza wrote:The independent film company are loving the publicity while some hapless BBC wonk will carry the can, presumably the film makers didn't tell BBC the truth either.
that's nonsense. The BBC's Commissioning Editor has signed it off. Leopard neither love the publicity or loathe it - they'll wait until the ratings and the reviews come in.
Did Argonon tell the BBC commissioner that the film included repeated and lengthy cuts from an illegally made film of deliberate law breaking; produced, directed, and filmed by an ex-convict?
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