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Our Zoo.

 
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:50 pm    Post subject: Our Zoo. Reply with quote

Sometimes, within minutes of a drama starting you just know it's going to be to your taste..

This happened for me with this programme.

I'm a big fan of Lee Ingleby and he is the star of this true story about how Chester Zoo started. The little girl who plays one of his daughters (June) is a real find and has star written all over her.

Anne Reid is a cold fish which she plays to perfection ...

I hope the rest lives up to the first episode.

George Mottershead is a man who has lost his way. Haunted by memories of combat in the Great War, he now finds himself living with his wife and two daughters in his parents' cramped home above the family grocery store. While delivering goods by the docks one day, he spots an unwanted squirrel monkey and a camel about to be put down in the quarantine bay. George can't bear to let them suffer so takes them both home to his parents' backyard instead - much to the family's bewilderment.........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gv5yb
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Becky, I watched the second episode last night (on your recommendation Smile) and really enjoyed it. I was a little bemused by how the black bears were in the cave and why the male was trusted never to venture outside, even to look for food. I know he didn't want to leave his mate, but still ...

It is well-acted by both humans and animals!
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm glad you enjoyed it,Eileen.Smile

The whole bear story was very strange to say the least. Two black bears in a cave in England! (The view from the cave looked like Alderley Edge, a truly beautiful place that I visited a couple of years ago)

I was astonished that George went anywhere near them but it was said,I think, they had been hand reared by humans..... still..

How rude was that vicar riding into the stable area of George's property without permission??? Evil or Very Mad

I'm really enjoying seeing how Chester Zoo came about. I have been there but it was years ago ...perhaps time for another visit! Smile
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went to Chester Zoo in about 1985 but haven't been back since. I do remember enjoying the visit though.
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last night's episode made me feel quite stressed!
How can they expect to keep bears in with bed springs?
Would the post boy really venture into their cage to feed them, even to impress Muriel?
How can George possibly dig the bear pit on his own and why is the ground so soft and easy to work?
Was the male bear so spooked by the full moon that he broke out and left his poorly mate, although he wouldn't simply walk out of the cave in Episode 2 which he could have done at any time?
How can an exotic reptile be sitting on a table in the kitchen when I would have thought it should be in a vivarium?
How did they get all the birds into the drawers so quickly and without one flying out every time they popped another one in?
The monkey has been know to be destructive so why was Grandma's precious crockery not locked away securely?
Apart from the amusing splattered umbrella, there is no sign of animal droppings being found, cleared up, disinfected in the house etc.

Did all these things really happen? Am I just nit-picking?
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John W



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Warwickshire, UK

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not nit-picking, just exposing very poor production and screen-play. This is the sort of stuff millions fall for.

Bit like all those 1950s cowboy movies with not a trace of sh*t on the streets Razz
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ruddlescat



Joined: 16 Sep 2010
Posts: 18010
Location: Near Chester

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's just down the road from me so needless to say I don't go there often - but it is undoubtedly one of the best and most forward thinking zoos in the world and I would urge everyone to visit at least once in their lifetime Smile
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FleetingEileenM wrote:
Last night's episode made me feel quite stressed!
How can they expect to keep bears in with bed springs?
Would the post boy really venture into their cage to feed them, even to impress Muriel?
How can George possibly dig the bear pit on his own and why is the ground so soft and easy to work?
Was the male bear so spooked by the full moon that he broke out and left his poorly mate, although he wouldn't simply walk out of the cave in Episode 2 which he could have done at any time?
How can an exotic reptile be sitting on a table in the kitchen when I would have thought it should be in a vivarium?
How did they get all the birds into the drawers so quickly and without one flying out every time they popped another one in?
The monkey has been know to be destructive so why was Grandma's precious crockery not locked away securely?
Apart from the amusing splattered umbrella, there is no sign of animal droppings being found, cleared up, disinfected in the house etc.

Did all these things really happen? Am I just nit-picking?

I have forwarded your concerns to the relevant BBC department,Eileen... Wink

Seriously though it did make me wonder what was fact and what was made up, for dramatic purposes, in this absolutely delightful drama but I've decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

John W wrote:
Not nit-picking, just exposing very poor production and screen-play. This is the sort of stuff millions fall for.

Bit like all those 1950s cowboy movies with not a trace of sh*t on the streets Razz

Or thoroughly enjoy as how I would put it.
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will carry on watching it though. I'm enjoying the acting and the little girl who plays June is very good, as you said, Becky.
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Becky, I am well and truly into this now and am thoroughly enjoying it. Thanks for pointing it up at the beginning, although I never got to watch the first episode.
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're welcome,Eileen...Smile

The people who are opposing them are really horrible....I wonder if their relatives are watching this series because it doesn't show them in a good light at all.

All the family are rallying round now which is a little different to how it all started..

Here's the first episode from Youtube if you would like to catch up with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrcOaJYL-7U
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Ian Robinson
Site Admin


Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 3608
Location: Chorley, Lancashire

PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think all episodes are still on iPlayer too.

Being filmed in the NW, I keep spotting people I know. Like, actually know! One of the villagers is a former Chairman of the theatre I run - I didn't expect him to have a speaking part!
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FleetingEileenM



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 5784
Location: Hampshire

PostPosted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Becky and Ian, I will make time to watch it asap Smile.
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ian Robinson wrote:
I think all episodes are still on iPlayer too.

Being filmed in the NW, I keep spotting people I know. Like, actually know! One of the villagers is a former Chairman of the theatre I run - I didn't expect him to have a speaking part!

Must make it all the more interesting seeing people you know popping up! Smile

(I also live in the NW but haven't ,as yet, seen anyone I know. Wink )
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becky sharp



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 6845

PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2015 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heard on the local news tonight that June has died aged 88.

http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/daughter-chester-zoo-founder-george-9163093

R.I.P.

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