What program/film/documentary are you watching now?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: redcoat


I’ve just watched the Channel 5 documentary George V: The Tyrant King. I did not know very much about him before. The programme is currently available on the Channel 5 website:

https://www.my5.tv/george-v-the-tyrant-king

warspite1

Thanks for the tip. Just watched this. I thought it very interesting and fair. Tyrant King? Maybe a little harsh, but if the title gets people watching then that's no bad thing.

Difficult to judge without knowing all the facts at the time, but I have to say - even allowing for hindsight - his decision re Nicholas does seem very callous. Yes there is the argument that revolution was in the air and giving haven to a family that ruled Russia as an absolute monarch would have not necessarily gone down well with many, but even so.....

[redcoat]

warspite1

Thanks for the tip. Just watched this. I thought it very interesting and fair.

You are most welcome old bean.

warspite1

Tyrant King? Maybe a little harsh, but if the title gets people watching then that's no bad thing.

Indeed. I think the title was chosen to reel people in. Certainly got my attention. He was only a tyrant with his own family.

[RangerJoe]

Was he a tyrant or was he stern? I don't know if I can watch it where I am.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Was he a tyrant or was he stern? I don't know if I can watch it where I am.

warspite1

Difficult to know exactly. He was definitely a man with a short fuse. He was someone who didn't seem able to express his emotions and maybe that didn't help.

He clearly wasn't happy with how his son Edward turned out - probably reminded him too much of his own dad.

Like his son George VI, KGV wasn't originally to have been king and he seems unsuited temperamentally to it. Preferring solo pursuits rather than mixing, especially in large crowds.

All that said, it sounds like he made a pretty good king and appeared genuinely concerned for the people over whom he ruled. He was often at the front during WW1.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Was he a tyrant or was he stern? I don't know if I can watch it where I am.

warspite1

Difficult to know exactly. He was definitely a man with a short fuse. He was someone who didn't seem able to express his emotions and maybe that didn't help.

He clearly wasn't happy with how his son Edward turned out - probably reminded him too much of his own dad.

Like his son George VI, KGV wasn't originally to have been king and he seems unsuited temperamentally to it. Preferring solo pursuits rather than mixing, especially in large crowds.

All that said, it sounds like he made a pretty good king and appeared genuinely concerned for the people over whom he ruled. He was often at the front during WW1.

Would you say that George V allowed Haig to use his friendship for advantage?

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Was he a tyrant or was he stern? I don't know if I can watch it where I am.

warspite1

Difficult to know exactly. He was definitely a man with a short fuse. He was someone who didn't seem able to express his emotions and maybe that didn't help.

He clearly wasn't happy with how his son Edward turned out - probably reminded him too much of his own dad.

Like his son George VI, KGV wasn't originally to have been king and he seems unsuited temperamentally to it. Preferring solo pursuits rather than mixing, especially in large crowds.

All that said, it sounds like he made a pretty good king and appeared genuinely concerned for the people over whom he ruled. He was often at the front during WW1.

Yes, the "spare" does not always get the same attention/training as the presumed heir. At least when most people are not expected to die early.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Was he a tyrant or was he stern? I don't know if I can watch it where I am.

warspite1

Difficult to know exactly. He was definitely a man with a short fuse. He was someone who didn't seem able to express his emotions and maybe that didn't help.

He clearly wasn't happy with how his son Edward turned out - probably reminded him too much of his own dad.

Like his son George VI, KGV wasn't originally to have been king and he seems unsuited temperamentally to it. Preferring solo pursuits rather than mixing, especially in large crowds.

All that said, it sounds like he made a pretty good king and appeared genuinely concerned for the people over whom he ruled. He was often at the front during WW1.

Would you say that George V allowed Haig to use his friendship for advantage?

warspite1

Sorry I don't know enough about that specific topic to comment

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1


warspite1

Difficult to know exactly. He was definitely a man with a short fuse. He was someone who didn't seem able to express his emotions and maybe that didn't help.

He clearly wasn't happy with how his son Edward turned out - probably reminded him too much of his own dad.

Like his son George VI, KGV wasn't originally to have been king and he seems unsuited temperamentally to it. Preferring solo pursuits rather than mixing, especially in large crowds.

All that said, it sounds like he made a pretty good king and appeared genuinely concerned for the people over whom he ruled. He was often at the front during WW1.

Would you say that George V allowed Haig to use his friendship for advantage?

warspite1

Sorry I don't know enough about that specific topic to comment

Various books have alleged that Haig used his personal ties to influence George V against PM LLoyd George, who was trying to remove Haig (or at least curtail his authority). I'd have to get out the books to cite references.
Was it improper for Haig to influence the Crown?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch



Would you say that George V allowed Haig to use his friendship for advantage?

warspite1

Sorry I don't know enough about that specific topic to comment

Various books have alleged that Haig used his personal ties to influence George V against PM LLoyd George, who was trying to remove Haig (or at least curtail his authority). I'd have to get out the books to cite references.
Was it improper for Haig to influence the Crown?

warspite1

Was it improper? Well that's the way the world works isn't it? It's not what we know but who we know [;)] No reason he shouldn't try to use whatever connections he had as far as I can see - I mean so long as he doesn't get the compromising photos out while having the conversation..... [:D]

But ultimately, even if he did try and use his contacts with the king, KGV was a constitutional monarch and so his influence on the PM only stretched so far. Yes I am sure a PM wouldn't simply ignore the comments or suggestions of the king out of hand, but if he was clear in his own mind that the king was wrong, the king couldn't make him change his mind. That is my £0.02 GBP Sterling on the matter, but as I say, its not something I've read anything about.

[gamer78]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10243640/

1994

I have watched some Mexican politics in 5 episodes. Ejército Zapatista de Liberación and the assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994. Which was ok but no great depth.

[warspite1]

I just watched The Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany, a two-parter available on BBC iplayer.

If you get a chance then I would recommend this. As the title suggests, more and more home videos from the Nazi era are being discovered. Encouraged to shoot film of Germany's triumphs, this footage now tells the story of the rise and fall of the barbaric Nazi regime.

But Part 1 in particular is just so ball-breakingly sad.

Near the start of the film we see footage of this little boy and his family before the war - a happy family outing. They are Czech Jews - The Lederer family. At the end of Part 1 we learn their fate.....

[HunterICX]

Currently the main thing I'm watching & following is 'World War 2' Week by Week summary by the Timeghost channel on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1Aej ... YkZAELRhHQ

[redcoat]

ORIGINAL: HunterICX

Currently the main thing I'm watching & following is 'World War 2' Week by Week summary by the Timeghost channel on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1Aej ... YkZAELRhHQ

I'm following it too. It's very good.

[warspite1]

Just watched the last of the six-part series Chasing The Moon (BBC iPlayer)

An excellent series charting the race to land on the moon from Sputnik 1 to the last Apollo mission in 1972


Amazingly the Saturn rockets never had a single failure. All completed their missions (although Apollo 13 was a close run thing).


The tragic crew of Apollo 1 - Grisson, White, Cheffee


The crew of Apollo 11 Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin - The first and last being 2 of the 12 men to have walked on the moon. Collins is one of a further 12 men to have orbited the moon.

[johnnyy]

The Gentleman 2019 Guy Ritchie

Much enjoyed this Movie

[Zorch]

A sad note. French actor Michael Lonsdale has died at the age of 89. He had a long and interesting career, including English language films such as Munich, Ronin, and The Day of the Jackal. He will be remembered for his villain in Moonraker, the campiest of the Bond films.

[warspite1]

Washington Sky

A three part, six hour long documentary on George Washington. I'm halfway through and I have to say it's very well done. I wonder what would have happened if Howe had not allowed Washington, and the remains of his army, to slip through his fingers at Long Island?



I also watched a Channel 5 documentary on Nelson, Nelson: Britain's Great Naval Hero. Again, a very well done, easy to watch documentary.



I would thoroughly recommend both.

[RangerJoe]

Well, if you read about the weather when George Washington and his army slipped away, you would not find it so surprising. Long Island had very dense fog while New York City had nice weather. Some of George Washington's soldiers were or had been fisherman so they knew how to use the boats and did so quietly.

[Diddlysqu]

Currently watching the umbrella academy series, quite a good series.

[gamer78]

A Perfect Crime:
In April 1991, Detlev Rohwedder, the head of Treuhand, the East German Privatization and Restructuring Agency, was assassinated in Dusseldorf. This documentary details the strange evidence recovered.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12939836/

Suspects are Rote Armee Fraktion (Red army faction '3rd generation'), Stasi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi) and Federal Germany.