[Mark H.]

I enjoyed Andrew Marr's earlier series on post-war Britain and was very much looking forward to his new 'Making of Modern Britain', not least so that I could use extracts when teaching the early Twentieth Century at A-Level! Unfortunately, while watching the second episode I began to fear that he was succumbing to the familiar curse of the personality presenter and was lapsing into self-indulgence and self-parody, to the point where his manner became extremely distracting and frankly rather silly. My wife described the programme as 'awful'. I certainly felt that it paled by comparison with Huw Edwards' thoughtful recent documentaries on Lloyd George and Gladstone and Disraeli. Are we alone in feeling this?

[Dom_Giles]

I agree and I couldn't put it any better. Hugely disappointing.

[hvarcher]

I am probably in the minority here but I like him and the series is a godsend for GCSE Modern Britain 1890-1918. I like his quirkiness and enthusiasm and the kids seem to like it too. I have already cut the prog into bite sized chunks for insertion into next year's lessons to spice up my outdated power points! I admit it probably is too superficial for A level but I would think the series has been made to inform audiences who may never sit down to more serious documentaries about British history or politics so surely that's not a bad thing is it?

[Dafydd Humphreys]

hvarcher, on 06 November 2009 - 08:49 PM, said:

I am probably in the minority here but I like him and the series is a godsend for GCSE Modern Britain 1890-1918. I like his quirkiness and enthusiasm and the kids seem to like it too. I have already cut the prog into bite sized chunks for insertion into next year's lessons to spice up my outdated power points! I admit it probably is too superficial for A level but I would think the series has been made to inform audiences who may never sit down to more serious documentaries about British history or politics so surely that's not a bad thing is it?

I agree, the man is a posh Tory idiot who loves himself, but the editors have made a nice programme with some good footage.

[Lesley Ann]

Can't comment on the programme because I find him far to smug to watch and have therefore not watched any of his 'history' documentaries. Also his attitude towards history teachers makes me seethe!

[JohnP]

A historian he is not. After reading about some of his dalliances with libel law it only confirms what I've thought of him. Very irritating.I'd better leave it at that.

[Nick Dennis]

I think it works well for a GCSE course but as we do not teach things in chronological order, it may be too much for the students...

I did laugh as he spoke about the notes written by Churchill...where is Brendan Gleeson when you need him?

[Russel Tarr]

Yes, his "notes written by Churchill" moment was ludicrous. And, for the full-on cheese factor, let's once again end with a reference to Grey's "lights going out all over Europe" comment.

In terms of analysis of WHY Britain went to war it was hopeless. According to this, it was because Churchill bullied Lloyd George. Very stimulating....

[Gorbash]

Dafydd Humphreys, on 06 November 2009 - 11:52 PM, said:

I agree, the man is a posh Tory idiot who loves himself...

Ermmmm....hardly! His wife is an ex-Blair employee and he himself is unavowedly left wing; he doesn't exactly hide his political allegiance.

He is an idiot who loves himself though; and as well as pushing libel laws to the limits on occasion his 'super-injunction' that he took out last year to cover a very embarrassing incident in his private life (Cannot say what/who/after-effects of as said 'super-injunction' is still in place!) whilst he was preaching in the press for freedom of speech and the right of private individuals to know what people in the public eye get up to (or who in his case...!) proves just how hypocritical he can be.

Have tried to watch this series but feel quite frankly let down by it! Shame as it could have been a useful teaching tool.

[Chouan]

Did anybody see the bit about the bombardment of the NE Coast in 1914? Was it any good? It was the only bit I was interested in seeing, but I missed it.
Sorry everyone, I looked at it on iplayer, and what I was told was in it wasn't.

This post has been edited by Chouan: 11 November 2009 - 03:07 PM

[Dafydd Humphreys]

Gorbash, on 10 November 2009 - 08:14 PM, said:

Dafydd Humphreys, on 06 November 2009 - 11:52 PM, said:

I agree, the man is a posh Tory idiot who loves himself...

Ermmmm....hardly! His wife is an ex-Blair employee and he himself is unavowedly left wing; he doesn't exactly hide his political allegiance.

Did you see his 'Thatcher Revolution' piece in the first series? I'd hardly call that gushing tribute left wing at all! He was not too supportive of Arthur Scargill...

[Gorbash]

Dafydd Humphreys, on 11 November 2009 - 07:04 PM, said:

Did you see his 'Thatcher Revolution' piece in the first series? I'd hardly call that gushing tribute left wing at all! He was not too supportive of Arthur Scargill...

Lets be honest though; it isn't exactly easy TO be supportive of Scargill... The man is an idiot! (cue people ducking for cover...!) Defeating him was one of the best things that Thatcher did (just a shame that she destroyed the mining industry with him!). There is NO WAY that the leader of a trade union, any trade union in fact, should openly proclaim what he did; that he did not accept the results of 1983 general election and that he would bring the Conservative government down. As soon as he did that he signed his own death warrant and the death warrants of the coal mining industry who followed him (admittedly not all!).

Thatcher did what she had to do...eliminated a threat to parliamentary democracy and ensured that mob rule would no longer help determine who ran the country!

[Dafydd Humphreys]

Tory boy.

[JohnP]

Scargill has many faults, many, many faults.Standing up to Thatcher and trying to protect Miner's jobs and communities was not, however, one of them.This is so evident now when you look at the communities that lost out.

[Chouan]

Playing straight into her hands was a bit of a mistake though!