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Town with Nicholas Crane; Love and Death in City Hall – TV review Town with Nicholas Crane; Love and Death in City Hall – TV review
(4 months later)
If you were thinking of giving up television for a week – I don't know, maybe for health reasons, or because you want to rediscover reading or sex or something – then this would be the week to do so. It's a bit desperate, there really is almost nothing of interest. It says something that the best I can come up with today is Town with Nicholas Crane (BBC2). Even the prosaic title isn't really getting me going. You? Sooo excited for Town with Nicholas Crane, can't wait. Oh my God, did you see Town with Nicholas Crane last night?If you were thinking of giving up television for a week – I don't know, maybe for health reasons, or because you want to rediscover reading or sex or something – then this would be the week to do so. It's a bit desperate, there really is almost nothing of interest. It says something that the best I can come up with today is Town with Nicholas Crane (BBC2). Even the prosaic title isn't really getting me going. You? Sooo excited for Town with Nicholas Crane, can't wait. Oh my God, did you see Town with Nicholas Crane last night?
He's the Coast dude, you know, Gortexed and relentlessly optimistic. Now he's left the band and is going solo. Crane unplugged. For this first one he's in Oban on the west coast of Scotland. Ha, west coast you see – you can take the man out of Coast … etc. And more evidence: here he is jumping off a rock into the sea – coasteering it's called apparently, not townteering anyway. There's no getting away from it, Town with Nicholas Crane is Coast with Nicholas Crane, only ever so slightly urbanised, the odd traffic light about the place. But next week he is in Saffron Walden in Essex, how will that work? Well it will just be Coast inland, obviously.He's the Coast dude, you know, Gortexed and relentlessly optimistic. Now he's left the band and is going solo. Crane unplugged. For this first one he's in Oban on the west coast of Scotland. Ha, west coast you see – you can take the man out of Coast … etc. And more evidence: here he is jumping off a rock into the sea – coasteering it's called apparently, not townteering anyway. There's no getting away from it, Town with Nicholas Crane is Coast with Nicholas Crane, only ever so slightly urbanised, the odd traffic light about the place. But next week he is in Saffron Walden in Essex, how will that work? Well it will just be Coast inland, obviously.
Anyway, we're in Oban for now. I went there once, on the way to one of those islands with the bad weather. That's the problem for Oban, says Nicholas, it's always been seen as a place to go through on the way somewhere, rather than somewhere to stop. It didn't immediately strike me as a place to stay long, or a place to get 60 minutes of prime-time television from, if I'm honest. I remember its own Colosseum overlooking the town, in a much better state of repair than the Roman one. And I was mugged. By seagulls. For my chips.Anyway, we're in Oban for now. I went there once, on the way to one of those islands with the bad weather. That's the problem for Oban, says Nicholas, it's always been seen as a place to go through on the way somewhere, rather than somewhere to stop. It didn't immediately strike me as a place to stay long, or a place to get 60 minutes of prime-time television from, if I'm honest. I remember its own Colosseum overlooking the town, in a much better state of repair than the Roman one. And I was mugged. By seagulls. For my chips.
Nicholas is a much better man than I am. Whereas I couldn't be arsed, he bounds up the hill to that folly, McCaig's Tower. And while some might look down on a rather dreary place on a grey day, he says it's a fantastic vantage point: "a great place to get a sense of the geography of the town". Being a geographer, a sense of geography is presumably very important to him. Geography! That's it, it's all a bit like a geography lesson, with Mr Crane the geography teacher, who's very nice, definitely one of my favourites, but it's still school.Nicholas is a much better man than I am. Whereas I couldn't be arsed, he bounds up the hill to that folly, McCaig's Tower. And while some might look down on a rather dreary place on a grey day, he says it's a fantastic vantage point: "a great place to get a sense of the geography of the town". Being a geographer, a sense of geography is presumably very important to him. Geography! That's it, it's all a bit like a geography lesson, with Mr Crane the geography teacher, who's very nice, definitely one of my favourites, but it's still school.
He goes sailing – Coast! – in the mist, accompanied by The Hebrides by Mendelssohn of course. It looks cold and wet. Mr Crane seems blissful. He finds joy where only a special kind of enthusiast would: in a gloomy castle; in the whisky distillery; on another boat to the granite quarry; at the granite quarry; delivering the post, with the rain-sodden sheep on the ferry on their way to be slaughtered, at the livestock market; in the ceilidh club, clapping along embarrassingly to a song with an untouched pint on the table in front.He goes sailing – Coast! – in the mist, accompanied by The Hebrides by Mendelssohn of course. It looks cold and wet. Mr Crane seems blissful. He finds joy where only a special kind of enthusiast would: in a gloomy castle; in the whisky distillery; on another boat to the granite quarry; at the granite quarry; delivering the post, with the rain-sodden sheep on the ferry on their way to be slaughtered, at the livestock market; in the ceilidh club, clapping along embarrassingly to a song with an untouched pint on the table in front.
"What a place this gateway between highlands and islands is," Mr Crane concludes, beaming. "If you hesitate here, it's very hard to leave. It's inspiring, it's beautiful, it's forward-looking. It's a little gem with a lot of soul.""What a place this gateway between highlands and islands is," Mr Crane concludes, beaming. "If you hesitate here, it's very hard to leave. It's inspiring, it's beautiful, it's forward-looking. It's a little gem with a lot of soul."
There's the bell, see you next week for Saffron Walden, Mr Crane. Quick, he forgot about homework. An evening off – shame there's nothing on TV.There's the bell, see you next week for Saffron Walden, Mr Crane. Quick, he forgot about homework. An evening off – shame there's nothing on TV.
Actually this is nice – Love and Death in City Hall (BBC4). A hospital is surely the building in which the most significant human events of all take place – birth, death, loss, life-changing surgery, etc. Certainly it's a rich seam for television, both drama and factual.Actually this is nice – Love and Death in City Hall (BBC4). A hospital is surely the building in which the most significant human events of all take place – birth, death, loss, life-changing surgery, etc. Certainly it's a rich seam for television, both drama and factual.
A register office, the setting for Guy King's touching observational film, is certainly a less obvious source. But here, too, we're dealing with birth and death, just less dramatically, and less immediately. It's where people go a few days after those things happen, when they've had time to think about their significance and can talk about them in a more considered way. Which they do, to Guy King, who is very good at gently probing people until they open up. Not just the visitors, but the staff as well.A register office, the setting for Guy King's touching observational film, is certainly a less obvious source. But here, too, we're dealing with birth and death, just less dramatically, and less immediately. It's where people go a few days after those things happen, when they've had time to think about their significance and can talk about them in a more considered way. Which they do, to Guy King, who is very good at gently probing people until they open up. Not just the visitors, but the staff as well.
And there are weddings, too, of course; you don't generally get them in hospitals. So what it lacks in high-octane drama, the register office gains in love. Oh, and they – register offices – don't get any more magnificent than Belfast's city hall.And there are weddings, too, of course; you don't generally get them in hospitals. So what it lacks in high-octane drama, the register office gains in love. Oh, and they – register offices – don't get any more magnificent than Belfast's city hall.
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