Guy Martin Channel 4 v Blue Planet II BBC1 tonight 20:00hrs!

[themoudie]

So, did you watch and what did you think? 

My regards, Bill

[Steve Lake]

yup, AND ...cycling superheroes, price of success at 9pm bbc2, so its busy with the recorder, as SWMBO will want to watch howards end....

will report back later..

[timbo]

Looking forward to Guys program 

[timbo]

Loved it. But why weren't they allowed up Lincoln High Street. Rediculous! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot 

[Richard]

Something to do with First World War technology and big crowds.

You could crush a lot of people in that thing.

[timbo]

I think the police were worried about it losing traction and sliding down the hill 
I've seen a couple of tracked APCs lose traction in the snow and ice in the Hartz Mountains. They just turned into giant sleds, with the crew frantically trying to steer them on the tillers. Not a great feeling I would imagine 

[iansoady]

I'm afraid this is one Guy Martin programme I won't be watching. While there is no doubt his usual engineering talent on show, the 14-18 war was something best left to history in my view. It seems wrong to "celebrate" it....

I appreciate not everyone takes this view.

[CrazyFrog]

I'm afraid this is one Guy Martin programme I won't be watching. While there is no doubt his usual engineering talent on show, the 14-18 war was something best left to history in my view. It seems wrong to "celebrate" it....

I appreciate not everyone takes this view.

I can understand how you feel Ian. I have read loads about the second world war in my time inc. Liddell Hart's History and Chester Wilmot's Struggle For Europe, but though Liddell Hart's History of the World War (1914–1918) has sat on my shelves at home for at least 20 years, I've never been able to bring myself to read it.

[SteveC#222]

I think the police were worried about it losing traction and sliding down the hill 
I've seen a couple of tracked APCs lose traction in the snow and ice in the Hartz Mountains. They just turned into giant sleds, with the crew frantically trying to steer them on the tillers. Not a great feeling I would imagine 

The area they wanted to take it along is flat as a pancake ( no-one would even think about taking it near Steep Hill!).  The Police were worried as 11 November was a Saturday and traditionally the busiest Saturday of the year in Lincoln - shame really considering the history.

I was a bit disappointed with the programme - when they said 'Guy Martin makes a WW1 tank' I did think he was going to get a lot of help with such mammoth task, but he only really did a few bits of the actual build - Still a good programme though.

[Andy M]

A bit of a JCB advert, but I enjoyed it. Guy was on paternity leave for half of it.

Don't read the old histories (A J P Taylor etc.) as stand alone items. The "Lions led by Donkeys", railway timetable theory and Blackadder style everyone dies within a second of leaving the trench stuff have been proven to be highly doubtful. The writing was as much about the 1950's and 60's as 1914-18.  Dan Snow etc. are better. Tanks wise Band of Brigands by Christy Campbell is a good read.

Andy

[Moto63]

Didn't realise he'd become a dad.... got it recorded so gonna watch it on Thursday evening whilst the wife's out 😉😉🤘

[johnr]

i imagine that 30 or 40 tons of iron tank running on metal tracks with no rubber tread on them would hav done a lot of damage to all that fancy block paving and flagged footpath that theey wanted to drive it down, not to mention chewing the tarmac if it turned. sure it would have made good telly, but then the local council would probably hav to foot the bill for the repairs to thee surfaces that it chewed up.

[iansoady]

A bit of a JCB advert, but I enjoyed it. Guy was on paternity leave for half of it.

Don't read the old histories (A J P Taylor etc.) as stand alone items. The "Lions led by Donkeys", railway timetable theory and Blackadder style everyone dies within a second of leaving the trench stuff have been proven to be highly doubtful. The writing was as much about the 1950's and 60's as 1914-18.  Dan Snow etc. are better. Tanks wise Band of Brigands by Christy Campbell is a good read.

Andy

I wasn't using those as source material. My point was that millions of people were needlessly killed and maimed for no real purpose other than territorial and political ambition, and the results paved the way for the 2nd world war among many other things. Not something to celebrate in my book.

[timbo]

I get your point. Is Guys natural exuberance and enthusiasm suitable for a WWI programme. I think any TV programmes about WWI are a good thing, as it helps prevent these events being forgotten. Especially for younger people. I don't think that it glorifies war. I thought the recent series on Vietnam was particularly good, as it showed the futility of the US involvement right from the start. I certainly learnt a lot of background information that I wasn't aware of.

[Andy M]

I'm not sure they used the word celebration, but it they did it was probably meant in older sense of marking an event than the newer sense of being happy about it. Celebration and commemoration have the same original meaning and derivation.

All TV is natually light weight, limited on facts and big on happy encouraging titles. This was as much a programme showing laser cutting and what a bearing is. The information about the Battle of Cambrai amounted to the Tank battle going better than expected and the organisation not being ready to exploit it (the Cavalry BTW were very effective in 1918 and the Russian revolution, they were only an anachronism to the 1960's historians who didn't remember how many more farriers there were than mechanics). They barely mentioned the evolution from the Somme where they had the tools but no experience how to use them through to the hundred days to the Armistice where they had it working as well as it could without portable radios.

I would not describe the First World War as needless. The people at the time were certainly in favour of not having Prussian Generals running the world. They lived in awful conditions for sure, but got on with it, must have been somewhat used to it and were really making efforts to improve. The Second World War can be viewed as the continuation after the German revolutions of 1918 and 1933 in the same way as the French Revolutionary Wars lead into the Napoleonic Wars. The whole series leads Europe to stop short now we have the means to destroy ourselves and agreeing a balance again between France and Germany (Austria exists as the counter weight).

Would you get upset when they show Sharpe on the telly (bad acting and repeats accepted)? About 2 million died in that bit of human endevour. We are not a friendly species.

Andy