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March 29, 2024, 08:32:03 AM

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John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme - Series 9

Started by mothman, May 08, 2021, 02:02:24 AM

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Pranet

Quote from: Slingback Synapse on May 20, 2021, 08:30:20 PM
I think tonight's (episode 3) is the most enjoyable so far. I'm not sure if this is because it's actually higher quality, because I went into it knowing what to expect, or because the characters have gained depth and believability as we've encountered them over the weeks.


Probably a bit of everything.

I had a tear in my eye at one point this week.

idunnosomename

Is there anywhere easy to download stuff like this these days? I suppose I ought to rip it myself. I cant cast it to my speaker because refuse to download Sounds (and I cant on my tablet because its so old lol) and it's like the first thing I want to listen to since they enforced it as the only app.

I've heard bits and pieces (most of tonight's) and if anything it's engaging and well-recorded. I hope Finnemore moves on to more, he's a great writer and has managed outlive the Cumberbatch mania, which is quite an achievement

MojoJojo

Quote from: idunnosomename on May 27, 2021, 08:08:59 PM
Is there anywhere easy to download stuff like this these days? I suppose I ought to rip it myself. I cant cast it to my speaker because refuse to download Sounds (and I cant on my tablet because its so old lol) and it's like the first thing I want to listen to since they enforced it as the only app.

Can I ask why you're against sounds? It was annoying when it changed but it seems basically fine.

That said this is the first R4 thing I've wanted to listen to since lockdown and how horribly desolate most of their stuff was without an audience. And I keep forgetting it exists!

Pranet

I use get_iplayer. It isn't that easy to use but I am a bit of a dunce and managed to figure it out somehow.

I expect it will turn up on fourble, the previous series are there.


mothman

One of the U.K.-focussed torrent sites usually does a whole-season compilation once it's complete. I'll snatch it for my library when it's available. Could tip you off or send you a copy?

Consignia

Only up to the 3rd one, but with the first two being a bit clunky the third I really liked. I think there's part of it that Simon Kane brings a Brian Blessed hamminess to the performance that just accentuates the humour and rises it above the tricky otherwise emptiness of the recording.

mothman

It really beds in from the third episode. Layer by layer, the history and backstory of this eclectic family are being revealed. There was possibly a suggestion I thought  in ep. 4 that
Spoiler alert
Jerry might actually be Newt's sister Gally's child, who Susanna pretended to be the mother of; failing that, given in the latest one there's a implication Newt had a crush on Susanna, maybe he's the father and Susannah is the mother... How this ties in with the fact that Gally and Susanna are obviously a couple
[close]
, we'll hopefully find out next week.

gilbertharding

I'm not saying that a sketch show which ideally requires the listener to pay rapt attention, preferably with a notepad to hand couldn't possibly work, but I doubt anyone other than John Finnemore would even have been allowed to try it.

Unfortunately, I haven't as yet been able to devote sufficient attention to it, although like a lot of other posters, I think I'm getting used to it.

Pranet

#38
Right, I enjoyed that and at some point I'm going to relisten to  it.

I am thick though, so I will have missed a lot, so I'm going to need this to make sense of it.

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/a-final-timeline-for-john-finnemores-souvenir-programme-series-9/

It mentions that last year he did this:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/10/literary-puzzle-solved-for-just-third-time-in-almost-100-years-cains-jawbone

Which makes sense if he was writing this series at the same time.

olliebean

Quote from: Pranet on June 12, 2021, 11:23:36 AMIt mentions that last year he did this:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/10/literary-puzzle-solved-for-just-third-time-in-almost-100-years-cains-jawbone

"Literary puzzle solved for just third time in almost 100 years" - but Finnemore is the fourth person mentioned as having solved it in the article. Also, if the 100 pages can be put in any order, there are a hell of a lot more than the 32 million combinations they claim. Just 11 pages would get you to 39 million. I guess maths isn't the Guardian's strong point.

Pranet

I've been reading around the subject and a lot of people make the same points.

I can't really answer the second. Perhaps some pages can only be together in certain combinations?- but as for the first, it turns out that Patrick Wildgust didn't "solve" it, as the article claims later, but actually found out what the solution is through some connection to the author. So the first paragraph is right, the fifth paragraph is wrong. The last three paragraphs also hint at him finding the solution. So a bit of a mess.

Another article about it mentions that Finnemore sets crosswords for the Times which I didn't know.

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: Pranet on June 12, 2021, 01:45:04 PM
Another article about it mentions that Finnemore sets crosswords for the Times which I didn't know.

I don't think he's one of their regular of regular cryptic setters, but he has set at least two of their notoriously tough Listener puzzles.

To give you an idea of their sophistication, the outcome of the first one: SPOILERS!
QuoteEach clue contains an extra letter. Characters from Kind Heart and Coronets are crossed out in the grid, forming a gibbet in the style of the game of Hangman.

And the second:
QuoteMisprints in some clues give "ziggurat from west". The grid gives an aerial view of a ziggurat, the west face of which shows "endless realms of day", a phrase from the poem The Eagle by E. E. Cummings. Extra words in clues give "letters reprinted on every visible face of blocks". The view from the NE corner shows EE CUMMINGS THE EAGLE, with letters repeated on the corner blocks because they have two faces visible.

Obviously you have to solve every clue before any of that dawns on you.

Dave Gorman sets cryptic crosswords for The Independent and the Telegraph, and Steve Pemberton has set at least one for The Guardian.

Pranet

tbh I don't even understand those explanations.

olliebean

I don't really like cryptic crosswords; the clues seem to have an air of smugness about them, you can almost imagine the compiler congratulating themself on how clever they're being. Also having the clues explained to me gives me 3-2-1 flashbacks.

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: Pranet on June 12, 2021, 04:04:50 PM
tbh I don't even understand those explanations.

This animation of Finnemore's ('Emu') first puzzle gives you an idea of the hidden Kind Hearts and Coronet characters forming a 'Hangman' in the grid (the protagonist in the film is a murderer in prison awaiting execution by hanging): https://listenwithothers.com/2016/03/18/listener-no-4387-one-man-band-by-emu/

I've only ever completed one Listener puzzle. If there's a preamble to the puzzle that tells you e.g. to remove a letter from each clue, or each answer, I can tell it'll probably be beyond me.

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: olliebean on June 12, 2021, 04:17:35 PM
I don't really like cryptic crosswords; the clues seem to have an air of smugness about them, you can almost imagine the compiler congratulating themself on how clever they're being. Also having the clues explained to me gives me 3-2-1 flashbacks.

I used to think that, but the ones in national newspapers are usually fair and logical once you get used to the devices setters use. The setter (and the crossword editor) needs the solver to win. I don't think that was the case with Ted Rogers' gibberish.

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: Pranet on June 12, 2021, 11:23:36 AM
Right, I enjoyed that and at some point I'm going to relisten to  it.

I am thick though, so I will have missed a lot, so I'm going to need this to make sense of it.

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/a-final-timeline-for-john-finnemores-souvenir-programme-series-9/

Oh, nice, thanks. I'm going to need to listen to the series again too because I couldn't really keep up with the jumbled time line. Someone did a partial family tree a couple of weeks ago, which might help:



https://twitter.com/spacedmonkey/status/1397979446540484612

mothman

I started listening again so I could document the timeline, only to then see that someone else had already done one. I'm halfway through but I tend to complete it regardless, it's really quite an achievement in terms of radio storytelling, I can't think of anything comparable.

mothman

idunnosomename and Pranet - a series rip is now available. If you haven't been able to get hold of one, DM me.

Pranet


mothman

NP. Good to know get-iPlayer is still out there in the wild, I've not used it in years!

Pranet

Still handy for the odd thing, especially as I don't use a smart phone so I can't listen via the site on the move. And occasionally there will be something on the tv I want to keep.

studpuppet

Finally got round to listening to all of them. Some thoughts:

1. It's not really radio-friendly, as it seems to require a complete re-listen. In the days before online availability you'd be completely screwed unless you'd fastidiously taped each episode.

2. I hope someone stitches the scenes together chronologically - I'd love it if it had been written so that chronologically they arrange into coherent 6 x 29 minute episodes that make a sense of their own.

3. For some reason it really reminds me of the IF game 'Curses' (the reaching back in time, and the familial connections, etc). It's the sort of thing that a young Finnemore might have played in his youth.

mattyc

Did anyone catch the recent special of JFSP? I did and it was quite good. I like Finnemore.

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: mattyc on July 04, 2023, 02:02:31 AMDid anyone catch the recent special of JFSP? I did and it was quite good. I like Finnemore.

Yes, and my thread about it mostly sank without trace: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=102906.0

mattyc

Oops, sorry JY, I didn't see that thread at the time. I only realised that there had been a special when I stumbled across it yesterday. I'm quite glad that there's another series due!

DrGreggles

Has the next series been recorded yet?
They've done a few live shows to test material before previous series.