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New BBC series set onboard a British missile submarine

Whofan

By Whofan
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Chewbacca Very Obsessed Member

Chewbacca

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21 hours ago, JohnT said:

I was just pleased to see any Sea King still flying. I thought they were all out of service and is it a “warbird” I wonder

The last UK military Sea King flight was  in September 2018 when the last Mk 7 ASaCs were flown from Culdrose to HMS SULTAN in Gosport.  If you want to see some still flying, HeliOps operate a fleet of about 6 ex 771 Sqn Mk 5/6s out of the old Naval Air Station at Portland providing flying training for the German Navy.

 

The yellow Sea Kings were all RAF (22 or 202 Sqns) and I think the last one flown was 2016.

 

Although there is an intense rivalry between the Fleet Air Arm and the RAF, actually they both work very closely together and if an HDS (Helicopter Delivery Service) was needed to get someone out to a ship or submarine and the RAF were better placed to do it, they would pick up the task.  When the RN/RAF used to provide the SAR capability around the coasts, the sea areas to the west of Scotland were traditionally covered by 819 Sqn operating SK Mk 6 out of Prestwick (nearest RAF Sea Kings were Kinloss or Lossiemouth on the North East coast) but with the demise both of military SAR and the Sea King, I honestly don't know how the HDS capability is provided in the part of the world any more.

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Julien Blabber Mouth

Julien

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21 hours ago, darthspud said:

I particularly liked all the un-stowed equipment boxes along companion ways.

the fact the Police person kept refering to the XO as XO Prentice  and not by his rank, rather his title. 

Not XO on British subs, or never used to be that an American term.

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Julien Blabber Mouth

Julien

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3 minutes ago, darthspud said:

I always thought it was Number 1? 

but as i'm not a matelot , i'm no expert.

1st Lieutenant, Number one or even Jimmy as I remembers them. Though on the bigger trident boats there might be an XO as quite a few Americanisms carried over. 

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RobL Established Member

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BBC "prime time dramas" are all aimed at the bottle o'wine o'clock, mostly female, crowd, they aren't knowledgeable so they don't bother with stuff like accuracy.  This one is no different.  Particularly as it's made by the same producers that made Line Of Duty...

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Whofan Very Obsessed Member

Whofan

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2 hours ago, RobL said:

BBC "prime time dramas" are all aimed at the bottle o'wine o'clock, mostly female, crowd, they aren't knowledgeable so they don't bother with stuff like accuracy.  This one is no different.  Particularly as it's made by the same producers that made Line Of Duty...

That's a bit harsh on women who watch prime time dramas, and I doubt constitute the majority of the audience.

 

My wife - who is enjoying Vigil knowing that there are plot holes and accuracy issues - does not consider herself a bottle o'wine o'clock person and does like accuracy where it is needed.

 

And yes, we both like Line of Duty.

 

Had you said the vast majority of people don't know what the procedures are (police programmes fall down badly here, I'm always providing a running commentary on all the errors in procedure) which is why the needs of dramatic licence often override accurate depictions of procedure I wouldn't have quibbled.

 

Most here will be able to identify the plot holes, accuracy issues, and accept the they are there to allow the dramatic narrative to flow, without being so disparaging about the lay audience - especially women.

 

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RobL Established Member

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2 hours ago, Whofan said:

That's a bit harsh on women who watch prime time dramas, and I doubt constitute the majority of the audience.

 

 

 

How is it harsh?  Most people are not knowledgeable about these things.  I also doubt that you're correct on your assumption.  Especially as over the last ten years surveys and studies have shown that women are increasingly watching more TV than men.

 

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/media-centre/news/report-reveals-latest-uk-tv-watching-trends-NEWS35

https://www.statista.com/statistics/269943/daily-tv-viewing-time-in-the-uk-by-gender/

 

Women are also drinking more these days.  There's been plenty of reports and studies carried out and publicised about the "bottle o'wine after a long day at work" crowd.

 

The BBC are aiming these dramas at a specific demographic, and it's not teens, social animal twenty something's, alpha males, or those who like a bit of blockbuster action.  Just because you and yours enjoy them doesn't mean you are an exemplar of the viewership either.

 

I think it's quite fair to say that, despite a few outlying examples like yourself, these programmes are aimed at women who like to sit down with a bottle of wine of an evening and watch some "drama" that isn't concerned with any accuracy.  Given that women watch more TV than men, and women are drinking more than they used to.

 

Oh, and allowing the dramatic nature to flow?  Oh please...

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Whofan Very Obsessed Member

Whofan

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11 minutes ago, RobL said:

 

 

How is it harsh?  Most people are not knowledgeable about these things.  I also doubt that you're correct on your assumption.  Especially as over the last ten years surveys and studies have shown that women are increasingly watching more TV than men.

 

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/media-centre/news/report-reveals-latest-uk-tv-watching-trends-NEWS35

https://www.statista.com/statistics/269943/daily-tv-viewing-time-in-the-uk-by-gender/

 

Women are also drinking more these days.  There's been plenty of reports and studies carried out and publicised about the "bottle o'wine after a long day at work" crowd.

 

The BBC are aiming these dramas at a specific demographic, and it's not teens, social animal twenty something's, alpha males, or those who like a bit of blockbuster action.  Just because you and yours enjoy them doesn't mean you are an exemplar of the viewership either.

 

I think it's quite fair to say that, despite a few outlying examples like yourself, these programmes are aimed at women who like to sit down with a bottle of wine of an evening and watch some "drama" that isn't concerned with any accuracy.  Given that women watch more TV than men, and women are drinking more than they used to.

 

Oh, and allowing the dramatic nature to flow?  Oh please...

For a crime drama, or costume drama perhaps, but a crime drama set on board asumarine? All a bit boys toys for most women.

 

Also, it's a drama, not a documentary.

 

I did edit it t narrative flow, perhaps you didn't spot it.

 

I think it's fairly reasonable to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

 

 

 

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RobL Established Member

RobL

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52 minutes ago, Whofan said:

For a crime drama, or costume drama perhaps, but a crime drama set on board asumarine? All a bit boys toys for most women.

 

 

 

I think you're wrong on that assumption also.  It's just another crime drama.  You can take the sub out, wouldn't make a difference.  People don't go "oh it's set on a sub, I'm not watching that then!".  It's something that, like all of them these days, has a twisting (read intentionally convoluted) plot, fake tension, yada, yada, yada, and a well known female lead, that can be "discussed" at "the water cooler"or ad nauseam on BBC Breakfast...

 

It not being a documentary is rather irrelevant.

 

Nope, didn't see your edit, but that doesn't really change what is an attempt at making an excuse.

 

I tend to pay attention to trends in the media, especially the BBC's output, seeing as we pay a TV tax for it, so I tend to notice things about TV shows that perhaps you don't (don't get me started on ITV's propensity for "new" cookie cutter crime dramas almost every week).  So, indeed, lets agree to disagree. 

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Whitewolf Very Obsessed Member

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On 31/08/2021 at 09:10, JohnT said:

I was just pleased to see any Sea King still flying. I thought they were all out of service and is it a “warbird” I wonder

Sadly discovered that the scene where our police officer was flown out to Vigil and lowered aboad her, was in fact filmed firmly on the ground in a car park.....amazing what they can do nowadays.....

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Whofan Very Obsessed Member

Whofan

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4 hours ago, Whitewolf said:

Sadly discovered that the scene where our police officer was flown out to Vigil and lowered aboard her, was in fact filmed firmly on the ground in a car park.....amazing what they can do nowadays.....

 

And there was thinking Susanne Jones was bravely doing her own stunts.

 

Well, she was, but not quite the way I was thinking!!

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junglierating Very Obsessed Member

junglierating

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On 9/1/2021 at 11:02 AM, RobL said:

BBC "prime time dramas" are all aimed at the bottle o'wine o'clock, mostly female, crowd, they aren't knowledgeable so they don't bother with stuff like accuracy.  This one is no different.  Particularly as it's made by the same producers that made Line Of Duty...

Whilst I dont disagree with the crowd this is aimed at ,it definitely isnt the forum to use frankly sexist dialogue.

 

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Whitewolf Very Obsessed Member

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3 hours ago, Whofan said:

 

And there was thinking Susanne Jones was bravely doing her own stunts.

 

Well, she was, but not quite the way I was thinking!!

Suspended above a car apparently! Quite a fair amount of CGI involved. One of the CGI views of the fictitious base (based on Faslane) which pops up on a regular basis during the programme shows a Vanguard class alongside riding far too high in the water.

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Chewbacca Very Obsessed Member

Chewbacca

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On 01/09/2021 at 09:34, Julien said:

Not XO on British subs, or never used to be that an American term.

XO - Executive Officer - has been widely used in the Royal Navy certainly since i joined in the early 80s.

 

It differentiates the second in command function from the seamanship role (First Lieutenant) though in Frigates/Destroyers and below they are one the same person.  In the capital ships, the XO/Second in Command is also known as The Commander while the job of First Lieutenant is a full time Lieutenant Commander borne for seamanship and damage control duties. It is, however, a job title not a rank.

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Whofan Very Obsessed Member

Whofan

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All I'll say about the final episode tonight was that in my first comment I mentioned I thought Suranne Jones' character was in a torpedo tube - and I was right !

 

 

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AdrianMF Blabber Mouth

AdrianMF

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So is this worth a watch or not? I watched the first episode a couple of nights ago on iPlayer, and all I can find on t’web are reviews at 1 or 10 stars (pretty much). I’m guessing that the RN turn out to be not so bad (otherwise you wouldn’t start off by painting them bad from the get-go, no character journey) and it gets much more complicated.

 

So, to help you decide if I might like it or not, I’m not female, do drink wine, designed the MMI for the Vanguard class boats, did sit through lots of in-car inspections during the 1980s along the South Coast. And I’m not necessarily a demanding viewer*. I sat through “A Few Good Men” without throwing any shoes at the telly!

 

Regards,

Adrian


* this got autocorrected to “weiner” but I spotted it!

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Anthony Kesterton Obsessed Member

Anthony Kesterton

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I thought it was an interesting series with lots of plot twists.  Interesting to see the comments here about accuracy and how things might be a bit different in real life but then again, I would not expect to see anything too close to the reality on a TV programme.  The nice twist is seeing the detective operating on the submarine where most of the resources she might have when on land where unavailable.  

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John_W Very Obsessed Member

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Just finished watching this on IPlayer and not too bad if you suspend belief.

Notice that like "The Last Post" badges and emblems have been altered. The dolphins in the badges face the wrong way and no one wears the White Ensign, so presumably the navy didn't grant permission for their use.

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Whitewolf Very Obsessed Member

Whitewolf

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49 minutes ago, John_W said:

Just finished watching this on IPlayer and not too bad if you suspend belief.

Notice that like "The Last Post" badges and emblems have been altered. The dolphins in the badges face the wrong way and no one wears the White Ensign, so presumably the navy didn't grant permission for their use.

Presumably not lol, can't blame them!  The whole thing is set in TV drama fantasy land....  

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