Monty Python’s Terry Jones has hosted some interesting and entertaining shows about history in recent years. He’s explored ancient inventions, the history of Rome and even the history of sex. He always tries to make history fun. And since he’s such a great comedian, he certainly makes what could be a boring topic, where the number 1 came from, very enjoyable.
We definitely take the number 1 for granted. And I’m sure most of us have never even thought about where it originated and how it came to be the most important number.
Jones travels all around the world — Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, Africa — tracing the birth of numbers, counting, mathematics and measurement.
Here are a few things I learned from watching the show:
*There is an aboriginal tribe in Australia called the Walpri that don’t have any words for numbers in their language. I wonder if that makes life easier for them or harder. How many members of the tribe exist today? We’ll never know.
*Pythagoras believed that when you farted you lost part of your soul. He must have been either soulless or very bloated. Maybe he didn’t eat much fiber.
*Gottfried Leibniz came up with the idea of the binary system way back in the 17th century. He even had the idea for the computer way back then. He was the first guy to say that the only numbers we really need are 1 and 0. Sorry 2-9.
With the help of some silly 3-D animated numbers, Terry Jones takes us back in time to see how lines scratched into a bone and marks on a clay tablet evolved into the numbers we know today.
MAIN CAST:
Terry Jones
Total Seasons: 1 episode
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 1
In Production: 2005
Viewer Discretion: Suitable for the entire family
And speaking of pudding, that’s what the British call dessert. So, cake is pudding. Pie is pudding. Trifle is pudding. And I guess, pudding could be pudding.
sensitive man who cares more about the people involved in his cases rather than actually solving them. He’ll scratch away at a cold case when the victims feel the police have reached a dead end. No case is too small for Jackson. He’ll look for your lost cat or your sister who went missing 30 years ago.
Brodie is a troubled soul who not only deals with the demons in the present, but also demons from his past. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding his personal life. What happened to his sister when he was a boy? Why is he divorced? Why did he leave the police force?
Seinfeld was always called “a show about nothing.” Well, The Royle Family tops that. It’s not only about nothing, but the family rarely leaves their living room. At least the characters on Seinfeld actually left the apartment and went out and did things. The Royle Family barely gets up off the couch.
surprised when I then saw her on Waking the Dead, a serious drama! (See previous post). Barbara is always interested in what everyone had for dinner, or tea as it’s called. Have you had your tea? What did you have? She’s fascinated by what others have for their evening meal.
Jim, the lazy, grouchy king of the Royle Family, hardly ever leaves his throne in the living room (unless it’s to visit the other “throne” in the house). He gripes about the cost of everything from the phone bill (Who do we know in Aberdeen?) to loo roll. And I think he’s wearing the same shirt and jeans throughout the entire series.
to take care of the baby, so she’s looking for people to do it for her. Nobody is sure what she’ll be busy doing because Denise doesn’t have a job. She once said, “I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly had time to smoke.”
And then there’s poor Antony, the youngest Royle. He’s pretty much the only one who gets up off his butt, but only because he’s the one who has to do everything. Antony, answer the door. Antony, answer the phone. Antony, go buy cigarettes. Do the dishes. Make us a brew. Take out the bin. At least he’s able to get out of the house once in a while.
Two words: Gardening detectives. Yep, an unusual premise for sure. I must say, though, it does pair two things the British are known for: gardens and solving mysteries. Maybe that’s what they said in the pitch meeting for Rosemary & Thyme!
or diagnosing and curing sick gardens.
It is a silly premise really, gardeners who stumble into murder mysteries and help solve them, “weeding out wrongdoers” and “sowing the seeds of justice.” But it’s a lovely show to watch. The English gardens, which the country is so famous for, are beautiful.
History and mystery collide in this drama about a team of archeologists from fictional Wessex University who dig up artifacts dating back to the crusades, King Arthur’s reign, the time of slavery and World War I. Star Adrian Lester described it as “CSI meets Indiana Jones.”
name is Gregory Parton, nicknamed “Dolly.” Kind of corny. He’s the more experienced member of the team, but sometimes it seems like he’d rather be in the pub than at a dig site.
scholars did say the show wasn’t necessarily accurate.
Catherine Tate’s collection of ridiculous, eccentric characters has earned her six BAFTA nominations and two British Comedy Awards, including Best Comedy Newcomer in 2004 and Best TV Comedy Actress in 2006.
And boy, did these people drink! There were at least two types of alcohol served at each meal. Guess they needed to lift their spirits with spirits. It wasn’t like there was too much going on. Think of Jane Austen times.
Most of the British and US crime dramas I’ve seen center almost exclusively on the crime itself and rarely delve deep into the personal lives of the characters. Conviction is very different. It does examine the lives of the police officers in the Criminal Investigation Department and how they deal physically and emotionally with the day to day stresses of working in law enforcement.
Conviction definitely does keep you guessing. There’s a jaw-dropping dramatic twist in the first episode that will surely keep you watching until the series end. The acting is great, writing believable.
In 2005, for my 40th birthday, we took a trip to London. In addition to all the other great stuff to see and do in London, we were anxious to see if we could get a tour of the BBC. At the time, I had a great fondness for British TV and watched quite a few shows, but not as many as I do now. I guess now it’s an obsession. We found out that, yes, the BBC does offer tours of their facility. So, we booked one.
Then there was a wacky quiz program that the tour was involved in. I was forced to be a contestant. They showed clips of shows and we had to answer questions about them. No knowledge of the show was needed. Just an observant eye. What color was Nigel’s shirt in that scene? Stuff like that. I won. My prizes, a BBC coffee cup and pen. Woo hoo!
