MovieChat Forums > George Gently (2007) Discussion > call me pedantic but.....

call me pedantic but.....

posted 12 years ago by ib011f9545i
19 replies | jump to latest

As previously discussed here I like this serious but there has been a sliiping of quality in the latest series (anybody know why? different creative team?)
Anyway watching tonight's episode (THE LOST BABY") BACCHUS's father says he was proud when he (BACCHUS)"made detective" now I admit that that phrase is common in US set crime shows so might be in common British usage in 2012,but in 1968 in County Durham?

I bet nobody said "UNI" until fairly recently as well.

Like HEARTBEAT and other period tv dramas GEORGE GENTLY tries to look right but actually looks like what we think the period looked like,if you see what I mean.

If you actually look at archive photos of people and buildings you see that everyone in the 1960s(and any other period) did not dress in the way the most fashionable people did in the most fashionable and well of parts of the country.

I understand that the people who make period programmes have to over state things to get the period across but what is the point of giving someone a late 1960s middle class home and have characters use phrases that they would never have used?

Why not look at period news film and documentaries and see how people actually spoke?

I know its a drama and not a documentary.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] ib011f9545i 12 years ago

I don't think I am "ommiting regional dialects and colloquialisms".
I work with people from Newcastle,Durham and Berwick Upon Tweed every day and I love the accents and the words they use,but someone "making detective" is an Americanism from 1970s cop dramas.
If they had used some local phrase that was unusual I would have applauded it.
I work with members of the public from all over Britain and beyond every day and how people use english fascinates me.
It is interesting how words travel through our language and people might think I am being picky but it should not be that hard to get someone to look through the script before filming,why take care in using the right cars and clothes and ignore the words used.
In fact the clothes in last night's episode were odd,MARTIN SHAW had some sort of 1980s photographer's waistcoat on at one point while BACCHUS was wearing a bomber jacket like he was an undercover mod but he was not.

I understand that people use phrases in order to seem up to date but nobody in this show is trying to be hip so why not keep the language as period as possible?

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] ib011f9545i 12 years ago

PHOTOGRAPHER'S VEST,yes ok a angler's waistcoat but I was 8 in 1968 and I can't say I recall people wearing stuff like this till much later in my life.
Think it fair to say that people wore a much smaller range of clothing back then and they dressed much more formally.

As for UNI,I really think this is a fairly recent word,does it come from Australia? certainly I recall people saying their son was "IN COLLEGE or "AT COLLEGE" even although they were actually at a university.
I was a student 1987-1990 and I swear nobody said "uni"
I think of the JAM song,PRIVATE HELL,"think of Edward,still at college,you send him letters he does not acknowledge".

I still like GEORGE GENTLY but I feel that the stories are poorer and so are what they call production values.
I know these things don't matter much to many people and I would not want to spend millions on each episode but some productions like the newest BRIGHTON ROCK film do a good job of getting the look and feel right.

It would be great to hear what people who make this programme think of the views of its unhappy fans but I don't suppose we will.

[–] paulhar 12 years ago

'I was a student 1987-1990 and I swear nobody said "uni"'
I was at Uni from 1977-1981 and we all called it Uni. I don't remember anyone using college in place of Uni.... college meant college (ie technical college)
And what could they have used in place of "acknowledge" that rhymes with "uni"?

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] flowers_on_the_razorwire 12 years ago

That wasn't a photographer's waistcoat. It's an angler's vest. My dad had one like that in the seventies and they are still pretty much the same nowadays. Maybe a different material, but the model hasn't changed much over time.

[–] lawson14 11 years ago

I just want to briefly state that while at work one day, I happened to speak with someone on the phone calling all the way from the UK and they ended the call by saying, "Cheerio!" and I had to restrain myself from saying "Wheaties, to you too!" Just had to get that off my chest.

[–] SueBee55 12 years ago

Another small nitpick! The episode broadcast last night (The Lost Child) opened with a street of houses, most of which had uPVC windowws and doors. Now I'm sure someone will know better but I don't think this was yet in common use in 1968. The material used would have been painted wood.

[–] oakcourt 12 years ago

Well me too on this Sue although I've not noticed anything else I was only 5 in 1968 and we lived in a council flat but in this ep (Lost Child) I thought the kitchen looked too modern kept looking at it thinking this should be late 70's at least.

[–] ib011f9545i 12 years ago

it looked too modern to me too but they were meant to be a trendy couple,it is easy to be critical (see my previous posts!!!)but they have to make it look right by making it wrong,let me explain,I am watching the episode LOVE AND WAR on cable tv,if you looked at a photo of a real CND demo you would see that everybody was not dressed like a hippy but of course they have to live up to the cliche by having everybody dressed like extras from a SAINT episode.
One guy had a 1980s Italian army combat jacket,should have been an ex British or more likely an American army one but how much time and money should they devote to finding the right one?

[–] kducklin2 12 years ago

An eighties kitchen, in fact, just like the one in the black family's house in "Northern Soul". Ludicrous! Not even the most modern houses back in the late sixties had those types of fitted kitchens. And the modern wooden flooring? In those days it was carpet for comfort and warmth in the days before widespread central heating, unless you were living in some trendy Chelsea pad. Then there are all the modern light switches, door handles radiators - and don't get me started on the UPVC windows...

The recent episodes of "Gently"have exhibited some of the worst period detail in any series, ever, and surely detail spotting is one of the attractions of this type of show? One looks at "Downton", "Foyle", "Bletchley" and wonders how "Gently"'s designers can be so ignorant and/or careless. It's a shame, because the early episodes filmed in Dublin looked great.

"Duck, I says..."

[–] Helena727 9 years ago

An eighties kitchen, in fact, just like the one in the black family's house in "Northern Soul". Ludicrous! Not even the most modern houses back in the late sixties had those types of fitted kitchens. And the modern wooden flooring? In those days it was carpet for comfort and warmth in the days before widespread central heating ...

Not so.

My family's 1st house (built in 1955, suburb of a large US city) had that sort of kitchen, as does my family's second/current house (built in 1959, also suburb of a large US city, and still with its original kitchen).

In addition, wall-to-wall carpeting was, for many people, a new thing in the 1960s; before that, the norm was wood floors with rugs.

Much depends on where one lived and one's socioeconomic class (re: ideas of what was appropriate decor).

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

[–] Clemencedane 12 years ago

I've only just finished Season 4 (Netflix doesn't seem to have any episodes beyond that, unfortunately) and I agree on the language issue. At the same time I don't consider that part of "production values" or think it diminishes the show. I have been noticing these possible anachronisms since Season One. I occasionally hear what my instincts tell me is an anachronistic expression, but I'm so wrapped up in the stories that I don't stop and write them down.

But yes, this does occasionally bring me up short for a microsecond. It doesn't annoy me, but is rather more of a point of interest that I would like to investigate afterwards. Of course there have been times in my life when I thought a phrase used in a film or television series was too modern (or too American for a British show) only to find out that it's a much older expression than I realized or that it was once used in Britain and has gone out of use there so that we perceive it as American.

One example in George Gently that has made me wonder is "hissy fit." I have not yet looked up the vintage of this expression so I can't say here. There have been several others and I may go back and watch just to write them down. I can be a bit obsessive about language that way.

[–] Clemencedane 12 years ago

Ps. regarding "hissy fit" (which Bacchus has used more than once) I found this on Phrases.org.uk:

'Hissy fit' was little used outside of the USA until the late 20th century. More recently, it has gained currency elsewhere, primarily due to its use in the media when describing the antics of various high-profile celebrity divas

[–] Whatthecurtain? (33) 8 years ago

Used hissy fit in NZ in 1965

[–] YIMann 11 years ago

Why would Durham Constabulary investigate a dead body in Saltburn, which is in a different county (Blue for Bluebird)?

These minor anachronisms are fun to spot, and don't detract from what is a very good series

[–] YIMann 11 years ago

I enjoyed Gently Going Under very much, but was wondering why was it set in "Northumbria"? It's obviously supposed to be in Durham ("Durham General" hospital is mentioned), so I can only assume that either
- it was set in the kingdom of Northumbria prior to 954 AD, although I'm pretty sure they didn't have cars then
- the writers confused Northumbria with Northumberland, and then further compounded that mistake by confusing Northumberland with Durham
A few more authentic accents would have been welcome
Still good though

[–] slimone (7996) 8 years ago

I'm on Season 3 of this show and I really like it. I like Martin Shaw in Judge John Deed also. Glad I found these shows.