The burned fool's bandaged finger

[davywavy]

I watched the BBC's Survivors again on Tuesday; I know, I'm a sucker for punishment and all that but this episode was markedly better than last week - it had a fairly good script, some good actors, some interesting moral dilemmas, and far less of irritating bad actress to spoil the flow. What was most interesting about it from a personal perspective was that about five minutes in I realised that the episode had been filmed less than a couple of miles from where I grew up.

I dont' know if you've heard of the Earth Centre. It was an ill-fated late 1990's project to regenerate the former industrial heartland of South Yorkshire by building the world's first eco-friendly educational theme park.
Yes, it was just as stupid as it sounds.
It could have been done well, like the Eden Project, or they could have built a full-on Alton-Towers style eco-friendly theme park, perhaps with exciting rollercoasters based on the journey of a bran muffin through your digestive tract. Instead of any of that, they spent several hundred million pounds building something incredibly worthy and highly educational. Unsurprisingly, it went bankrupt less than three years after it opened. I walk past it often; it's on one of my usual walks when I'm back at my parents. The bridge upon which irritating bad actress was shot at (but, alas, not killed) is one I regularly walk over.

It's an odd, jarring experience seeing somewhere you know well on television, and it can lend the programme an entirely different perspective. For example, the I know the Earth Centre is just over the road from the town of Denaby, which is an absolute hellhole and one of the few places I can think of which would be improved by an outbreak of the Black Death. When the moral dilemma of the episode (should The Survivors kill some scavengers who were stealing from them) was revealed, my reaction to this was based upon local knowledge and I was gamely nodding and shouting "Shoot them! Shoot them!".
I rather hope that the series stays on local ground for me. I can suggest all kinds of locations they could use for shooting; I mean, the Earth Centre is within half a mile of one of South Yorkshire's other famous landmarks, which I think could be valuably used in the series:

Comments

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough the Earth Centre is used as an airsofting site now. Bio-degradeable bb's only, of course.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd noticed that - I wondered if I ought to tell you chaps.

[(Anonymous)]

That should read "hundreds of millions of pounds of your money, taxpayers."

H

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

It was lottery funded, so only stupid people paid for it.

[(Anonymous)]

I thought it received some EU regeneration money?

H

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Darnit, you appear to be correct.

[ddraiggwyrdd.livejournal.com]

Having failed to watch the 70s version or the 90s version and seeing the trailer had said actress I decided it would be better to give it a miss.
I'm hooked on "Little Dorrit". Read into that what you will.
BTW.
If you really want to waste time at work, we've started a play by message thread on UK Roleplayers."The Stout British Explorers Club" is towards the bottom end of the Forums page and is just the sort of wild, make it up as you go, nonsense that you excell at.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I don't want tot waste that much time at work; Lj is about all I hvae time for, I'm afraid.

Survivors this week was, as noted, better than expected - I watch very little TV because of the volume of crap, but this had some good ideas and acting in it.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

[(Anonymous)]

I like the fact that you can still make out on the BBC video how the bridge has been patched with plywood along one side, where ye local tykes hav pinched the original timber for their garden shed.

H

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I found that very funny.

[applez.livejournal.com]

Actually, that Earth Centre looks quite pretty from the photos...if that were in California, there'd be wine parties & Zen meditative conferences hosted there (=$). I don't imagine there's a similar monied interest in the area for such a facility.

[mrmmarc.livejournal.com]

"For example, the I know the Earth Centre is just over the road from the town of Denaby, which is an absolute hellhole and one of the few places I can think of which would be improved by an outbreak of the Black Death."

Denaby would only get better after the Black Death IF they decided that after the Black Death they would napalm the area.
And then bulldoze the remains.
And then lay seven feet of new soil over that.
And then concrete over it.

And then...MAYBE...