Sonoma Country Life

Go Behind the Scenes of 1950s BBC Newsroom in Brit-Style Mad Men Series 'The Hour'

Meet the press, Wednesdays at 10pm Pacific Time, as BBC America's stylish and highly promising new offering 'The Hour' takes us behind the scenes of one of its own newsrooms, circa 1950.

An aspiring team of broacast journalists decked out in slightly less flamboyant attire than their American Mad Men advertising peers are up to their news hound ears in a ground-breaking political news show, a passionate love triangle and unfolding murder mystery, to boot.

When it rains it pours, all the decent tv pickings at once, it seems, come September's longer nights. Though I will give a word of advice in recommendingt 'The Hour' - be sure to digitally record episodes so as not to endure extraordinarily dreary and overpopulated BBC America commercials.

 

Award Winning HBO Drama Boardwalk Empire Returns

Hear ye, hear ye. Season Two of  HBO's gritty, gloriously cast and costumed, lavish 1920s Prohibition era New Jersey drama Boardwalk Empire  finally makes its much-anticipated debut at 9pm on Sunday, September 25th, 2011.

Seriously, the only thing worth watching on the tele' in months, I've already instructed my junior in-home technical assistants to set the recording.

Steve Buscemi at Nucky, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Pitt and Michael Shannon return to star in this phenomenal period drama series that knocks the socks off any American-made competition this fall. The only thing that dares to compare is Season Two of British made, divinely juicy period drama series Downton Abbey, scheduled to start airing on PBS here in the States on January 8th, 2012.

Back for an 8th season is the inimitable, Cambridge educated Brit, Hugh Laurie as uber-eccentric rare disease specialist MD in House, airing with a no doubt enlightening post-imprisonment episode number 1 on October 3rd, on Fox. When it rains it pours.

 

Pit-Stop at Nene Valley Historic Steam Railway

How could we resist not stopping for a few minutes when driving through historic Wansford into Peterborough to visit the UK-based Italian contingency of the extended famiglia? 

For the delightfully tiny station at Wansford has starred in various guises of steam train glory in some staggering 150 films and tv dramas, over the years, including the likes of James Bond and Murder on the Orient Express.

The Nene Valley Railway is in fact, a standard gauge railway, running seven and a half scenic miles between Yarwell Junction and Peterborough, at Wansford, in Cambridgeshire, England, right beside the A1, the Old Great North Road.

The first railway to arrive in Peterborough came from Blisworth, via Northampton, Thrapston, Oundle and Wansford with the initial passenger train along the Nene Valley departing Peterborough at 7 o'clock on Monday 2nd of June, 1845. The Nene Valley railway of today operates on the eastern section of this line.

In 1972 British Rail had closed the line - officially putting 127 years of railroad history to an end. The line between Wansford and Orton Mere was officially re-opened by the Nene Valley Railway (formerly Peterborough Railway Society) after much to-do in 1977.

Today the station is also home to a famous little blue engine, named Thomas. On this particular Sunday pit-stop, several little boys were sat with mums and grandmas on platform benches, proudly bedecked in Thomas the Tank t-shirts, eating a sandwich lunch in the shade of the beloved engine, immortalized in the late 1940s by the Rev. W Audry, author of the internationally known books that are as popular as ever with young train fanatics of 2011 as they were post World War II.

The O-6-OT Engine number 1800 was built in 1947 by Hudswell Clarke and spent its entire working life with Peterborough-based British Sugar Corporation pushing loaded wagons of sugar beet. Peterborough Railway Society purchased the little steam engine when it was replaced by a diesel engine in 1973. Due for its regular 10-year overhaul in 2013, Thomas, as the engine became, much to the delight of international fans, many years back, needs a whopping $100,000 worth of work to his boiler and other important parts.

Know any railroad enthusiasts with deep pockets? Nene Valley Railway's Thomas Overhaul Fund would love a helping hand in its fundraising efforts.

 

 

A double Chubby-Chuck, a Chili-Barb, Two Orders of French fries and..It's Time to Rock Around Our Clock!

Bring on the sunshine, we've had plenty of rain this Spring and it's time to give the blue jeans, bobby socks, big skirts and pony tails an airing for this year's Rock Around Our Clock Salute to American Graffiti.

Hundreds of classic American car owners are busy spitting and polishing the chrome this week, in readiness for the big event that transforms historic downtown Petaluma to the happy days of the 1950s - captured for all time in George Lucas' 1972 coming of age movie, American Graffiti.

Rock n Roll Music, vendors and collectors cars from all over the country are coming to town for a weekend's worth of nostalgia. Organizers say that the best spot to watch the famous cruise will be along Petaluma Blvd, south of B Street all the way down to Boulevard Lanes (Bowling Alley), Saturday evening (May 21st, 2011) from 4pm to 9pm. Grab yourselves a chair, supper-t0-go from Mel's recreated Burger City right by McNear's Saloon, your portable radio (tuned to 88.1fm) and quite probably, jackets and a blanket. 

Click here for full schedule of events.

Back to Masterpiece Theater Sundays with a New Upstairs Downstairs

Absolute best bet for clearing the couch rapidly and entirely of teenage boys and Italian husbands should you have a few lounging around at your place on a regular Sunday evening, is to schedule a night-in with Masterpiece Theater (or HBO's current, moody melodrama, Mildred Pierce - for that matter).

For some reason the fellas in my house are not big fans of the great British (or American) period drama. Unlike me, who watches little else on television these days. And if there isn't a Downton Abbey or Any Human Heart episode to slap on the calendar in red, I'm happily largely tv-free.

Flicking through the New York Times this weekend I did a double-take at a review of the upcoming airing of the BBC's new Upstairs Downstairs, a three-part extravaganza starting this Sunday, April 10th.  Some 34-years ago, when I was just a youngster myself, the curtains closed at 165 Eaton Place, London home of the upper level Bellamy's of the most-loved, longest running Masterpiece Theater broadcast ever: "Upstairs, Downstairs".

Running some 55 episodes over 4 seasons in the U.S. the soap opera about the private lives and culture of the British upper-crust and the equally complex and colorful community living behind the scenes won seven Emmy Awards. Set during the First World War through the early 1930s, the series of 68 episodes, which ran in Britain from 1971 to 1975 was originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC.

The three-episode revival that takes viewers back to the same Edwardian townhouse - circa 1936 - some six fictional years after the first series ended.

Old house, new family. Lady Agnes and Sir Hallam Holland, a privileged and suitably posh young couple newly returned from diplomatic service in Washington. A sumptuous renovation of a "ghastly old mausoleum" makes for the sort of captivating, classic period drama sure to reel in a new generation of costume-piece watchers here in the States, as well as those who still fondly recall those Sunday nights in with the original cast.

The new three-part series raised the roof on viewing stats in the UK this past Christmas, with a reported sixth of the country's entire population tuning in.

 

 

Hollywood Royal Elizabeth Taylor Dies

BBC News captures the essence of the late Elizabeth Taylor . Born in England and raised in Los Angeles, Dame Elizabeth Taylor was the epitime of the 1950s Hollywood star and one of the last of the 'Golden Era'.  Taylor died today at 79.

Four Seasons Flick for the Anglophiles - Mike Leigh's Another Year

Despite near freezing temperatures due to theater heating system default, wrapped myself up in my scarf for a thoroughly engrossing two hour trip through the looking glass of British Writer/Director Mike Leigh's latest picture, Another Year.

Starring Jim Broadbent in a n0n-fantastical, though fabulous role as the grounded Tom and Ruth Sheen as his equally sensible, happy and compassionate wife and (somewhat suprisingly for movies these days), non-conflicted soul-mate, Another Year anchors itself around a 'Greener' London living while growing older graciously theme, with jaw-dropping performances by a motley crew of the sorts of colorful and alarming characters of considerably less ideal couplings.

Recommended for those who've enjoyed Leigh's distinctive offerings of the past, including Secrets and Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky. You might well want to move right into Tom and Gerri's (yes, really) cozy terraced home, pull up a chair at their kitchen table and pour yourself a nice, big glass of wine. A graceful, understated serving of a shared culture identifiable to anyone living a Western World middle-age and counting, regular sort of life (or not). 

Check with Summerfield Theater in Santa Rosa that the heating's back on before heading up for a viewing.

Stopped off at Rosso's on Montgomery for a spot of post-theater supper. Having enjoyed several visits in the past, I was a bit disappointed to say the least in the size of portion comparison to price. Not that we need to be shoveling in the salad, but dinner-price salad dishes the size of a side are a bit steep. Atmosphere, pizzas and service all good, but when Rosso's opens its much-talked about Petaluma location later this summer, small portions at high prices will undoubtedly raise more than a few eyebrows here in thrifty Rivertown. To compete with the likes of the Wild Goat, Cucina Paradiso and others in the neighborhood serving great traditional Italian fayre, Rosso's tiny specials, such as last night's strikingly sparse though delicious gnocchi, called for a far heavier server's hand to warrant the price.

 

Mildred Pierce HBO MiniSeries Stars Kate Winslet in Reimagining of 1930s Classic Novel

Keep your eye on HBO listings this March (2011) for a new five-part miniseries starring Oscar winning Kate Winslet in the title role of Mildred Pierce - a re-imagining of the 1941 classic novel of the same name by James M. Cain and set in Depression Era 1930s Los Angeles.

Joan Crawford starred in the previously best known (1945) adaptation of the novel, an epic story of a proud single mother struggling to make a living and maintain the respect of her teenage daughter.

Hard to imagine a more compelling reason to stay in and watch the box for five Sundays in March. Following hot on the heels of BBC America's currently running, excellent Any Human Heart, drama series addicts have little to complain about this season.

 

 

Top Pick for an Anglophile's February - Any Human Heart on Masterpiece Classics

Having picked my London-based sister Lindsey's brains on all potential upcoming candidates from recent British tv productions to American Masterpiece Theater, last December, I'm delighted to report that several of her predictions are hitting the screen this winter season.

Any Human Heart hits PBS this February 13, 20 & 27, 2011. Fellow Anglophiles, schedule the recording routine now!

Funnily enough, I'd grabbed a copy of the book by author William Boyd in WHSmiths at Heathrow Airport, along with the Sunday Times and an armload of Cadbury's chocolates just prior to my return journey from London to San Fran and had plucked it from a toppling pile of 'to-reads' just the other day. Already half way through, I'm thoroughly gripped and mosy happily entranced with Boyd's undeniably British prose. If I were to develop an award system, I'd grant Any Human Heart four cups of steaming hot tea (and a gin and tonic) out of four.

 

Top Movie Pick for the Third Day of Christmas - The King's Speech

Had your complete fill of Christmas specials, one more sugary take on the holiday family flick? Refreshing, top pick for serious movie-goers this end of the holiday season is the newly released The King's Speech.

An absolutely gorgeous rendition of a remarkable, true story behind the making of a king. Chronic stutterer, George VI, father of England's present long-reigning Queen Elizabeth II was stuck between a rock and a hard place to say the least after his errant brother Edward (David - to the Royal Family) fell hook, line and sinker for one Mrs. Wallis Simpson of Baltimore, two-time divorcee.

George (Bertie) reluctantly assumed the throne following his brother's infamous abdication (long before the scandals of grandson Charles and his Camilla). In order to get the better of his crippling speech impediment, the skills of an unorthodox self-trained Aussie speech therapist, Lionel Logue were a last, desperate resort for a monarch facing the onset of war.

Colin Firth is sublime as 'Bertie' and on-screen wife Helena Bonham Carter's reprieve from the sorts of  blood-curdling roles she's favored of late (Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd) was pure casting brilliance.

Geoffrey Rush as Logue gives Firth a run for his money in Golden Globe and no doubt Oscar nominations. The King's Speech is a delicious treat for English language lovers and period drama addicts.