Intelligence

[arsenal]

Intelligence. A new 6 part comedy set in GCHQ. Starring David Schwimmer and written by Nick Mohammed. It's a glorious politically incorrect show that uses pathos, sarcasm, well meaning insult and that most risky of humour techniques...slapstick. Schwimmer shows what a skilled comedy actor he is. LOL in places and pause, rewind and watch again in others. Totally bingable.

[Jellybean]

Thanks for the heads up, arsenal. According to the trailer (shown below) it is being broadcast here in the UK on 21 February on Sky One. It looks promising.



David Schwimmer was great as Ross in the comedy show Friends, but he showed that he can also play serious roles when, in the 2001 TV mini-series Band of Brothers, he played Captain Herbert M Sobel. It is one of my all time favourite TV mini-series. I bought the DVDs of the series many years ago when I lived in Hua Hin.

Sobel is depicted as a very strict commander, who pushes the men to their limits in order to make his company the finest in the Battalion. Dick Winters attributes Sobel's overbearance and strictness with making Easy Company the success that it became.

While Sobel was a "fantastic trainer", his tactical abilities in the field were poor; he was good at taking orders, but was poor at map-reading and had a tendency to panic if an unforeseen situation occurred. He was also easily agitated by his soldiers. George Luz in particularly pretending to be Major Horton convinced Sobel to cut through a farm's fence, leading to the release of several head of cattle, frustrating his superiors. The result of his unsatisfactory combat and tactical ability caused the NCO's of Easy Company to lose confidence in Sobel's combat leadership, leading to his eventual transfer.

Source: https://wikiofbrothers.fandom.com/wi..._Herbert_Sobel

[arsenal]

Band of Brothers was one of my recommendations for lockdown along with its twin, The Pacific.

If you fancy an afternoon of WW II then Dunkirk and Darkest Hour are also a nice pairing. One from Churchill's view and one from the stranded men.

Still not sated and feel like going back a little further. War Horse and 1917 would marry together nicely. Both are inspiring, beautifully shot , don't pull punches and are wonderfully immersive pieces of film making. Finish with Peter Jackson's They Shall not Grow Old.

[goji]

Watching the Porridge film (again) was one of the highlights of my quarantine.

Some of the new Spitting Image sketches are also hilarious. Particularly the representation of Queen Elizabeth.

I have no intention of taking out a Sky subscription.

[StevieWonders]

Some of the new Spitting Image sketches are also hilarious. Particularly the representation of Queen Elizabeth.

Interestingly I was listening to a recent podcast where a historian described the latest two seasons of The Crown, particularly season 4, as reminiscent of, and no better than, Spitting Image. He did speak kindly of the episode about the Aberfan disaster.