This Country series 2

[itsfredtitmus]

I ONLY DO BIG ONES

[Blue Jam]

There was an interview with the Cooper siblings in yesterday's Torygraph but I'm buggered if I can find a proper link, and it might be paywalled anyway. Here's a pic tweeted by Charlie:



I like the idea of Daisy May lounging about and dictating to Charlie "like Barbara Cartland". Also that bloke working in Charlie's local Tesco sounds like a real-life Len.

[Blue Jam]

A couple of synopses are out:

Series 2, Episode 1 - Random Acts

Kerry has turned over a new leaf and is trying to give back to her community. Meanwhile, Kerry's cousin Kurtan is coming to terms with his decision not to go to Swindon College - and is struggling to get back in to the swing of village life.

Series 2, Episode 2 - Threatening Letters

Kerry starts to receive some threatening letters that cause her to feel unsettled within the village. Thankfully, Kerry's neighbour, 'Big' Mandy Harris, is on hand to help and advise. Kurtan takes a labouring job with Kerry's father, Martin, and learns some invaluable life lessons.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/online/this_country/episodes/2/

[pigamus]

With the tomato bit, I love the fact that Kerry's mum just says 'Well...' and starts answering the question, as if she gets asked to list the components of a BLT all the time.

[Blue Jam]

...and a new episode of WTAF, with a new interview with Daisy May and Charlie! Yaaaaay:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/152312/645044

[Blue Jam]

Interesting to see that that Mr Perkins is real and is an actual woodwork teacher but is not dead. Whether or not he is a prick is not discussed.

CONFIRMED: Mr Perkins is a prick:

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2018/02/this-country-bbc-daisy-charlie-cooper-season-two-interview

Neither thrived at their local comprehensive, Cirencester Deer Park School, which Charlie calls "the most uninspiring place". They weren't popular with the teachers, and say that despite the success of the show, they haven't been invited back. "Not after the Mr Perkins scandal."

Ah, the Mr Perkins scandal. In the first series of This Country, Kerry and Kurtan hear that their old teacher, Mr Perkins, is dead. Shocked into silence, there's a long pause. Then we cut to them shaking up a bottle of Lambrini and chanting "He's dead!" around the town in celebration. Mr Perkins was the name of a real teacher at Deer Park – the school did not see the funny side. Um, he's not actually dead, is he? "No, he's not dead," Charlie says. "He is a twat."

"But yeah, they said the show was disrespectful to Mr Perkins." He pauses for a moment. "Which it was, but–" He and Daisy burst into giggles.

"It was!" Daisy laughs. "Massively! But fuck Mr Perkins."

"He's a prick," says Charlie.

This interview is really rather lovely. I laughed out loud this:

Daisy, too, has seen a ghost. Charlie reminds her of that with delight. "She did! She came back one night going, 'I've just seen a ghost.' I was like, 'Really? Well, what'd it look like?' She was like, 'Well, I saw it on the side of the motorway. It was a man... and it had a high-vis jacket on.'"

[Jockice]

CONFIRMED: Mr Perkins is a prick:

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2018/02/this-country-bbc-daisy-charlie-cooper-season-two-interview

This interview is really rather lovely. I laughed out loud this:

That's great. My home town is only very slightly bigger population-wise than Cirencester by the way. I curse my parents from moving away from there when I was seven, otherwise I could have written something like that.

[Blue Jam]

I can't believe I have only just seen these: Kerry'n'Kurtan's video diary:

https://m.facebook.com/bbcthree/video_grid/?playlist_id=123953981529128

I like the one where they're playing Scrabble and the words are ARGOS, TUPAC and TWAT. Also the appeal to Mark Zuckerberg to fund a tunnel between Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen's house and "town" so Cirencester's biggest local celebrity can go shopping without being harrassed.

Sorry, but I just can't get enough of these two loveable bumpkins... and sorry to veer off-topic again, but once again I've been watching something and wondering "How the fuck did Romesh Ranganathan get in there?" I just remember him being a bit crap in House Of Fools and the next minute he was everywhere. How did Romesh Ranganathan happen?

[itsfredtitmus]

i love the idea of a "lying phase"

[holyzombiejesus]

Any idea when this is back on? Do online channels have a running order or is everything just up there to choose from?

[olliebean]

The first episode is up since this morning. I think it went up at 9am. No running order, you just watch what you like when you like.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p05yd2bx/this-country-series-2-1-random-acts-of-kindness

[Utter Shit]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSS

[Blue Jam]

Just iPlayer this series? No post-Match of the Day slot on BBC1?

Trying to save this for tonight...

[olliebean]

I presume it'll turn up on BBC1 or 2 at a later date.

<edit> just looked it up - starts on BBC1 at 10:45pm on Tuesday 6th March.

[paruses]

Now, do I consume it piece by piece or wait and gorge on it?

What are other's preferences?

p.s In the opening post there's the pic with the caption of Kurten being on Tinder which I have been enjoying for a while - as someone once from a very small place and now back in a very small place I hope that people realize that the joke is not "Lol. What would that loser do on Tinder" and is the fact that Kurten is likely the only person on there for a considerable distance.

Fabswingers, however, is a different matter.

[itsfredtitmus]

just rewatched king of the nerds and i think i might have been kurten when i was 13

[itsfredtitmus]

i used to do that jump up and down off something and say parkour with my year 8 mates

i am kurten

[Blue Jam]

"I'll tell him about the cress then, yeah?"

Oh Kerry'n'Kurtan, I've missed you.

[Blue Jam]

Just had a second viewing:

Loved Kerry adding the pointless detail about the guy moving to Stroud to be closer to work. Also "it's a robot". And "checking for knives and shit".

"You look like Andy Fordham" was a bit harsh but I did laugh...

Slugs in fancy dress as Danny Zuko- fucking hell, he looked even more oddly-shaped than normal. Also "Bambi On Ice". Nice to see him and Kayleigh back.

Soph is a fucking nightmare- Kurtan, you're better off without her mate. I loved the bit with Kerry's "best man's speech" with Kurtan in the background looking like he wanted to die, and the detail of his massive white 90's trainers neatly arranged in front of the sofa.

[BritishHobo]

Unreasonable Kurtan is my favourite Kurtan. I love his relationship with the vicar and all. Genuinely broke my heart a little to hear him say he'd fucked off the college course. Hope he does end up going at the end of the year, strange as that sounds.

[holyzombiejesus]

I liked this but thought it was the worst one of the 7 we've seen so far. Thought the opening story about the pan-pipers living in that guy's loft was a bit LOLRANDOM, the line about Kerry's mum having to spoon the shit out of her knickers was unnecessarily vulgar and kept getting distracted by how obviously pregnant Daisy Cooper was. Still one of the funniest things on telly mind.

[Blue Jam]

Unreasonable Kurtan is my favourite Kurtan. I love his relationship with the vicar and all. Genuinely broke my heart a little to hear him say he'd fucked off the college course. Hope he does end up going at the end of the year, strange as that sounds.

Sacking off college to be with Soph only for her to dump him was pretty bleak, but he can't go to Swindon, that would be a Father Ted Going To America scenario- failure is the only option. Still, it was good to see he's as petulant as ever and that was a great flounce at the end. I'm also glad to see his obsessive streak is still intact.

I was also reminded that Daisy Cooper has a great face for comedy- the expressions she was coming out with while Kurtan and Soph argued in the kitchen cracked me up.

I liked this but thought it was the worst one of the 7 we've seen so far.

I enjoyed it a lot but it certainly did feel slower and less tight than the previous six episodes. I think one of the interviews with the Coopers mentioned something about series 2 featuring longer arcs going across episodes, rather than each episode being self-contained, but I liked that about the first series.

I vaguely remember something about how this series will feature a bottle episode of sorts, with Kerry and Kurtan just chatting over the course of a long walk and I hope I haven't misremembered that because it sounds good. Also, BIG MANDY EPISODE next week.

[Utter Shit]

This is increasingly turning into one of those shows that starts off as something of a grotesque piece, but gradually reveals itself to be sort of beautiful, in its own way - something I also found with People Just Do Nothing, which will have been (understandably) dismissed by a lot of people based purely on the trailer or the first episode, before it got a chance to grow and add depth to the characters.

[Blue Jam]

I like the look of this- trailer with a bit of Len:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05yf0k3

[Blue Jam]

[itsfredtitmus]

This is increasingly turning into one of those shows that starts off as something of a grotesque piece, but gradually reveals itself to be sort of beautiful, in its own way - something I also found with People Just Do Nothing, which will have been (understandably) dismissed by a lot of people based purely on the trailer or the first episode, before it got a chance to grow and add depth to the characters.

I'm just going through PJDN rn, I've heard the tone drastically changes halfway through (not that there was anything wrong with it)

[pancreas]

That was stunning. The self-justification for her utter humiliation of Sophie... turning it all round so that she was the victim. Cress as a plot device. I love it.

[phes]

Started ok but ran out of steam halfway through the episode when everyone becomes David Brent.

Not great. Not great at all.

[Blue Jam]

The self-justification for her utter humiliation of Sophie... turning it all round so that she was the victim.

You could practically see the cogs whirring as she came up with that: "manip- manipulative people do that"

Even when this show's not at its best I can still find a million things to love about it. The joy/desolation in this scene is another:



I'm finding the bump/fat suit a bit distracting too, but it still makes more sense than a Kerry pregnancy plot.

[shh]

There was a Guardian article the other day that put this in context of other rural programmes/books etc (Detectorists, Akenfield...)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/03/rural-retreat-dark-side-village-life-detectorists-this-country-lie-land-reservoir-13

Watched the first couple of episodes on the basis of this, will have to catch up with the rest before starting on the second series. Favourite little detail: Kurtan's preference for 'No Fear' t-shirts - used to deck myself in these too, you could normally pick them up for £4 from sportsworld.