red snow

Audible UK has the excellent "dogs of war" by Adrian Tchaikovsky for £1.99 today. Really well performed for those who are still wary of audiobooks with different voice actors for the POVS (each chapter is read by the actor who does that character not "switching actors for each voice")

Could be a platform issue.It's terrible through my TV and laptop. Always wants me signing in/updating profiles and seems really tricky to find anything live (I got mixed up with the early statement about catch-up vs live). I'll give it a go through my Xbox/PS in case it's more user friendly there as I'd like to be able to watch C4 if only for the news and F1. As it is livestream apps are more straight-forward. I think my Smart TV is showing age-related senility. For some reason I no longer have the option of subtitles (unless close-captioned) on Netflix. If I watch netflix on my laptop i get subtitles. Watch it on the TV - I either have to have close captioned subtitles for everything (which I find distracting when actors are speaking english) or none at all (which makes Narcos a challenge). The weird thing is it never used to be an issue via the tv.

I guess it will be out in January - in a heated tent. Looks like the BBC have been clever in the sense they had safety clauses to make the show toxic if it went to another channel (which is becoming apparent when you see what Clarkson can't do with his amazon Top Gear car show). It sounds even more like this was just bought so the BBC had one less hit if the buyers didn't even bother ensuring the presenters came with the concept. That or channel 4 re just a bit sloppy with this sort of thing. I'm still wondering why they bothered with F1 when within a few years they won't even be able to show full races - something I'm sure was part of the BBC's decision to drop it.

Hadn't thought of it that way. Spending 25 million in order to screw the BBC out of more and not really caring whether they'd turn a profit directly from the show. I guess they can make that back from ads if it remains popular but it depends on how familiar the concept will remain if presenters continue to bail. I suspect Mel and Sue have an existing contract with the BBC for other shows, etc so it's an easier decision for them. The "bakers" might not have as many opportunities outside presenting that type of show and may be hoping Channel 4 "sweeten" the deal by offerring them moire money to stay with the show. You can't have your cake and eat it

I don't watch the show but thought I'd throw in regarding how the BBC is in a crap position regarding holding onto shows and talent. I guess this is slightly different in that it wasn't an in-house production. It sucks for the BBC at the moment as they were hated when the 2008 economic crash occurred as they were suddenly the richest broadcaster in the UK because the amount of money they got was guaranteed while channels who make money from ads slumped. Now things have picked up, I'm sure they are at best on level pegging but with the changes are getting less than they used to. Not sure how wise a move it is for the makers of the show though. Losing the presenters and going to a channel with ads could cause a loss of viewers (it's weird how some people won't watch channel 4). Then there's the utterly useless C4 catch up player where I usually just don't bother if I miss the live broadcast. This is never an issue with BBC iplayer. Then there's the fact that reality shows tend to have a shelf-life. An "at work" assessment suggests enthusiasm peaked last year so it's maybe a wise move on the BBC's part and a wise move on the show owner's part. The loser may be Channel 4 making the outrageous bid. Guess it will be on Channel 5 in a few years time

There were some very strong scenes in the episode. Robb with Grey Wind's head choked me up more than the Red Wedding to be honest. And Joffrey is just amazing as the brat you love to hate - the way he emotes such genuine pleasure at the thought of others' suffering would have been lost without a better actor. The only scenes that fell flat for me were Jon and Ygritte, some of Bran's and Dany's final scene. It just felt at odds with the tone of the season to end on a "happy" note. That and the fact I thought Jar Jar Binks was about to address the khaleesi with the constant "mesas" :) "mesa thinks you should get your arse back to Westeros"

And here I was thinking they'd never top the "Red Wedding" in terms of shocking deaths. Clearly the show has characters the book has been deprived of :) I'm enjoying the Theon scenes but that's because I'm possibly strange in that I enjoy any scenes that aren't directly from the books.Otherwise it just feels like going through the motions.

That's quite a funny observation. I was hoping to see less horses after "luck"'s cancellation though! What I love about this show is that the ending was as close to a "happy" one as this show's going to get. And happy is "Theon burned two farm boys to death rather than the Stark kids"

Hodor? :)

I imagine availability may be more of an issue than cost but he defintitely has the range to be disarmingly menacing and could deliver the sarcasm well.

I was thinking Robert but the weight thing could be an issue - although a fat suit would allow him to do the flashbacks easily enough. There's probably better suited roles for him that I haven't given any thought too - it's just that he seems like a promising fit for the show given what I said previously. As for the TV thing. He played Cromwell in a 4 part civil-war drama on Channel4 in the UK, so I suspect he's not ruling out roles that are say a season long. The last film I remember him being in was the Punisher, which I suspect has lost a lot of the goodwill he got from "the wire". Sticking with ideas of British actors, I wonder if they could get a hold of Mark Warren for littlefinger? I think Eddie Izzard would have nailed the role 10 years ago but he may be too old for the part now.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but what are the chances of Dominic West turning up, as say Baratheon, now that we know they are going for an English cast and the director starred alongside him in the wire?