Jump to content

Advice from tech-savvy Britons (A Suitable Boy in the US)


Gaston de Foix

Recommended Posts

So my all-time favorite novel, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth has been turned into a much hyped tv show of 6 episodes airing on BBC1 this Sunday (as it happens, my birthday). 

Sadly I am in the US and the show is not being released here for a number of months (if ever).  Netflix was planning to release it but has now cancelled.   I have plenty of family members in the UK (albeit not super-tech savvy ones) who are perfectly happy to record and send it to me.  

Here's my question to tech-savvy Britons: what's the most efficient way to do this?

The fruits of my enquiries so far:  

1. BBC Iplayer doesn't work in the US

2. Skygo is accessible throughout the EU but not in the US. 

3. You can record shows on Sky but not download them to a computer.

4.  You can't downloaded a recorded show onto a DVD from Sky. 

All thoughts, comments, advice much appreciated! I highly doubt this particular tv show will find its way to websites that pirate content and I would really like an ethical and legal solution if there is one to be had. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could try a UK-based VPN to access iPlayer. Though I don't think that's ethically or legally different from getting someone in the UK to record it for you or internet-based piracy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Leofric said:

FInd out which family member plans to watch it and set up a video conference and have them point the camera at their TV, or if they are watching it on their computer, have them share their screen.

Discord could work very well for this, their screen sharing system works great for socially distanced movie watching. 

I keep hearing about Acorn TV but a quick look doesn't show A Suitable Boy in the coming soon section, unfortunately. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Sadly I am in the US and the show is not being released here for a number of months (if ever).  Netflix was planning to release it but has now cancelled. 

Is that so?????? This is one of the novels I most enjoyed in the last few decades; I was looking forward to the series.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Is that so?????? This is one of the novels I most enjoyed in the last few decades; I was looking forward to the series.

 

They are being cagey.  It's possible they will release in a few months but definitely not in July/August.  Honestly, I would considered manufacturing a work-related excuse to be in the UK and crash with family if we were not in the middle of a pandemic.  

I'm glad to hear you like the novel too.  I have a suspicion that 6 episodes will be too short to do justice to the longest single volume novel in the English language.  Seth basically took what it means to be Indian and stuffed it into covers to produce the greatest work of Indian literature in English. 

But I'm reserving judgement for this and also waiting with bated breath for the much-delayed sequel, A Suitable Girl and the interlinking set of stories, Bridge of Leaves.  I just know they are going to be published on the same day WoW is. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, felice said:

You could try a UK-based VPN to access iPlayer. Though I don't think that's ethically or legally different from getting someone in the UK to record it for you or internet-based piracy.

Good suggestion, thanks.  I have heard of others using this workaround to access iPlayer.  It's not ethically wrong, in my view anyway, because I have paid and will pay again the license fee in the UK in the future.  

1 hour ago, Underfoot said:

Discord could work very well for this, their screen sharing system works great for socially distanced movie watching. 

I keep hearing about Acorn TV but a quick look doesn't show A Suitable Boy in the coming soon section, unfortunately. 

I will give this a try.  Seems an easier ask than having someone pointing their phone at their screen for an hour (although if all else fails, I am willing to do that too!). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It'll be on all the usual sites to get it in non conventional ways, tbh. Though I understand the reticence of not using those means.

Greatest work of Indian lit in English made me laugh though, but that is another discussion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Gaston de Foix said:

have a suspicion that 6 episodes will be too short to do justice to the longest single volume novel in the English language. 

You are surely right about this.  But some, judging from the bit I could see from the trailers, is better than none.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Raja said:

It'll be on all the usual sites to get it in non conventional ways, tbh. Though I understand the reticence of not using those means.

Having someone point a camera at the TV is piracy anyway. So it's :dunno:. Except the point a camera at the TV method will give you awful picture & sound quality to boot.

VPN is more legally grey depending on where you are. Would go that route myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Raja said:

Greatest work of Indian lit in English made me laugh though, but that is another discussion.

Do you really think the usual sites will carry this show? 

You have a competitor in mind? I mean this thread has really served its purpose now that I have three excellent solutions to the problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Impmk2 said:

Having someone point a camera at the TV is piracy anyway.

Yeah, that is fair.

6 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Do you really think the usual sites will carry this show?

Yeah. It might take a while to find, but most of those sites will carry it in some form. Streaming or torrents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm baffled that we're now well into the internet age and big companies and content-providers still haven't figured out that they're losing money by not making shows available at roughly the same time in different countries. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Mentat said:

Wouldn't this: https://www.britbox.com/home allow you to watch a BBC series from the US?

It has a 7 day free trial too, so it might not cost you any money if you want it solely for one specific series.

I was wondering about that - but does it show up-to-date programmes? I was under the impression there was a delay been things being broadcast on the main channels and getting to BritBox. And the reviews are less than stellar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Britbox is unlikely to get A Suitable Boy:

https://deadline.com/2020/07/netflix-swoops-for-global-rights-to-bbc-a-suitable-boy-1202986420/

So it will be coming to netflix in the not too distant future, presumably.

I have Britbox and it provides little new(er) content.  I love the two different Maigret series, the first with Michael Gambon (1992-ITV) and the more recent (2017-ITV) with Rowan Atkinson.  Despite the Simenon French source, these are both SO British, but in a good way.  They have all the really bad new Agatha Christie remakes.  I'm dumping it, having watched what I want to watch and nothing forthcoming that interests.  They're really big on some of the daily soaps and night talk / comedy shows. And the latest Midsomer Murders (definitely past its sell date now) and Vera seasons (close to sell date -- though the main actor still has some oomph yet, but the formula is getting pretty stretched).

Acorn TV for a while, I think, and then maybe BBC America.  I dunno.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have this same problem in the U.S. where it's impossible to get Gomorrah episodes (w/English subtitles) past the first few seasons.

Someone posted that it was somehow bottlenecked in H.Weinsteins legal problems or some nightmarish b.s.

Netflix is really declining imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Zorral said:

Britbox is unlikely to get A Suitable Boy:

https://deadline.com/2020/07/netflix-swoops-for-global-rights-to-bbc-a-suitable-boy-1202986420/

So it will be coming to netflix in the not too distant future, presumably.

Yes, everywhere outside the US and Canada.  It's funny because they were originally co-producing and dropped out for some reason and now are back bargaining for distribution rights. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/23/2020 at 5:48 PM, Underfoot said:

Discord could work very well for this, their screen sharing system works great for socially distanced movie watching. 

I keep hearing about Acorn TV but a quick look doesn't show A Suitable Boy in the coming soon section, unfortunately. 

I tried Discord's screen sharing system but it didn't load the livestream from SkyGo and instead got stuck buffering.  Can anyone recommend any alternatives to Discord for screen sharing? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...