If I See The Houses Of Parliament Once More....

[poliphilo]

Bloody Palace of Westminster!

Not content with featuring as the backdrop to every story about British politics in every news programme ever filmed- it managed - last night- to bag itself a starring role in a documentary about Henry VII, even though it wasn't built until nearly 400 years after his reign.

God, but I'm sick of the sight of it!

Comments

houses of parliament

[(Anonymous)]

I agree that it was rather in your face! Also misleading as it hadn't been built. The photographer was off on an arty voyage without sticking to the script a lot of the time, I thought.
The programme was enlightening about Henry Tudor, I thought, and I enjoyed some of the photography too, for its own sake.
Jenny x

Re: houses of parliament

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The content was OK, but I thought it was very badly made- full of cliches and anachronisms.

Get well soon :)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Ha! I had the same reaction.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I thought the whole thing was dreadful. I'd been looking forward to it, but then the presenter manfully invaded Milford Haven- standing in the prow of a rubber dingy- and my heart sank.

manfully stood

[(Anonymous)]

yes, I thought it a bit too self important - but actually the presenter was a bit underwhelming in his welly boots. At least he should have got wet to the thighs as Henry, or at least his henchmen, probably did...
Jenny x

Re: manfully stood

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Some presenters can get away with silly stunts, but this chap didn't have the necessary twinkle.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

Presenters DOING things are really irritiating. They should just be voiceovers, or simply standing next to the thing they are talking about. They should not be walking, sipping coffee or in a boat.

They should also not be younger than me, either.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Andrew Graham Dixon- who I usually like- did a show about Dutch art a month or two back and spent half the running time bicycling through tulip fields and sitting in coffee-shops and just generally strolling around. I'd have preferred to see more paintings.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Before donning a wig, standing on a mountain or scaling a rampart, presenters should ask themselves, "Would Jacob Bronowski have done this?" If the answer is No, best to refrain.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Some presenters can get away with high jinks. Terry Jones is one. Lucy Worsley is another. It's all a matter of personality, I suppose.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Also pretty much compulsory to have the presenters walking over London Bridge, to make the point that there are Lots of People and They All Look Like Tudors / Vikings / Beaker People etc. etc.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Westminster Abbey is another building that gets far too much airtime. Film makers fixate on the west towers, presumably under the impression that they're medieval- which they're not.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Did you know that Henry VII was bombed by the Nazis during World War II? No, really! When they bombed Westminster Abbey, the place caught fire and Henry's effigy, stuffed with straw, was soaked as they sought to put the fire out. The straw got very moldy and nasty so the entire body of the effigy had to be discarded, leaving only the death mask, which is certainly a beaut and was almost certainly featured in the documentary.

What was the documentary's name, by the way, and is it new and was it on the BBC? I may fire up Expat Shield and watch it if it's online.

EDIT: Never mind. I see it's something called The Winter King and I can stream it if I go incognito.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that. If the presenter had been on his toes he'd have told us. It's a good story.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I heard it at the Abbey. And yes, they used the effigy repeatedly in the documentary (which I just watched on YouTube, thankyouverymuch). I think, although I'm not entirely sure, that they've used seeds from the hay (not straw, sorry) in other effigies to reconstruct the flora of your average English meadow of the xxxth century.

I enjoyed the documentary despite the presenter hijinks and the repeated use of marginally inappropriate visuals. (I actually didn't mind the Kraken dinghy stand-in for an invading army.) I do know that these guys are on a budget and have a limited amount to spend on permissions to use images, which is why we see the same.damned.portrait of H8 so often etc.

What I really want to know, though, is the location of that de la Pole genealogy. I'd like to see if it's been digitized or, failing that, if there's a microfilm or other photographic simulacrum.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I got very frustrated by their use of the effigy- always the same shot- moving upwards- never showing us the whole thing.

And that arty image of the blade with blood running down it; I got tired of seeing it every time there was a battle.

That's fascinating about the hay....