New Ray Mears TV series???

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Yup, me too. Being local to me i was hoping it would be a bit more in depth, guess i have to wait til it is on eden. Is it just me or does everything seem dumbed down these days?

I just watched it after getting home in the early hours. A very good show, well made and well presented.

Lots of stuff on TV and the media is dumbed down these days to match the shortened attention span of younger folk bought on by a poor education system and substance abuse.
 

Bigfoot

Settler
Jul 10, 2010
669
4
Scotland
Well that programme suffered from being cut down by half an hour. Dumb move by ITV and left me thinking 'is that it'.

In our STV area it was sandwiched between 2 episodes of Coronation Street. I'm no soap fan but I would imagine the Corrie regulars would have been scratching their heads at that! Does anyone actually do programming these days?

I thought RM's production was very well done, although as far as the "dumbing down" comments are concerned, I think he is just pitching the programme's level to the widest audience possible.
 

Thoth

Nomad
Aug 5, 2008
343
29
Hertford, Hertfordshire
I enjoyed the show and think that it is important to remember it is a general interest programme and not aimed at 'our niche'. The full length show will doubtless have the airspace to include a little more detail. We should keep it in mind that Ray learned his bushcraft in order to be able to spend more time outdoors observing and tracking wildlife. If programmes like this get more people outdoors, encourage them to take an interest in our countryside and value it then it is time and effort well spent.
 

ex-member Raikey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 4, 2010
2,971
3
i dont know if i was imagining it but his manner was reminicent of David Attenborough,

the low, quiet speech and his genuine exitement and obvious passion about being there,..

could have even been a subconcious thing on Ray's part as he's of the generation and i,m sure an admirer of David Attenboroughs work.

Did anyone else pick up on this ?
 

lucan

Nomad
Sep 6, 2010
379
1
East Yorks
Yeah i enjoyed it. I'm not a fan of the half hour episodes though, Its good to see him back on the box in something new, Looking forward to the rest of the series.
 

MSkiba

Settler
Aug 11, 2010
842
1
North West
Downloading now to take a look.

I got a feeling I will put it down and wait for the full hour show to be shown or for a dvd to be released.
 
Half an hour on prime time ITV.

That's all the clues you needed, right there, to know it would be light weight and trivial.

If all you wanted were pretty pictures of lovely animals and lovely countryside then you'd be better off going to the library and getting a book out full of pictures. Ditto for a bit of insight into the animals and their habitat - because there was none of it in Ray's latest offering. Again.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much detail he actually went in to. Many references to the signs he was following in his tracking and sharing his knowledge. Far more detailed than the last couple of series he's done. I'm not sure what you're expecting really. Should he be swinging from the trees and doing fire by friction yet again?

Also, I disagree. If all you wanted were pretty pictures of lovely animals and lovely countryside then you'd be better off watching a great TV programme rather than a book - Planet Earth by Attenborough, for example, which is simply exquisite.
 

sxmolloy

Full Member
Mar 22, 2006
1,432
20
46
lancashire, north west england
I enjoyed it, like I thought I would. OK it's more wildlife than Bushcraft but maybe that's what Ray Mears wants, not to be labelled as just a Bushcrafter. I will certainly watch the rest of the series and again when it's shown on Eden for the full hour.

What I did like was the fact that he moved away from a scene with his crew so a "wildlife camera man" had a chance to get the shots without the crew and all the rest that is needed for filming scaring away any wildlife. It showed an attitude of non-selfishness I M O .
 

Mojoracinguk

Nomad
Apr 14, 2010
496
0
Hereford
My recording set up failed....
Is it repeated on any of the ITV channels?????

I CAN'T WATCH IT ON LINE, so if you know of a repweat please hit me back ;)
Mojo
 

red dreads

Member
Nov 14, 2009
47
0
Eilean a Cheo
Yup ,thumbs up for this programme.

Mebbe not "bushy" enough for some,but a step in the right direction for ITV, ie away from the abysmal" lowest common denominator gack" featuring Jordan and her brain dead ilk.

Look forward to the rest of the series and the hour long version on Eden and /or dvd............. nice one again Mearsy
 

crazydave

Settler
Aug 25, 2006
858
1
54
Gloucester
well, I was so exited I completely forgot about it so looked it up on itvplayer - eventually found it with a fair bit of searching but havent watched it as its only 22mins and started with adverts which didnt bode well and made me switch off till I have time for it. no advertless torrents after a week so the fan community seems underwelmed as well.

just how long was it?

on the plus side his viewing figures werent too bad so it might become a regular thing for him. havent seen the xmas book on the shelves yet.
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
Enjoyed it - mainly because I always prefer the stuff Mr Mears does in this country because I can go out and have a go myself. And I live close to the FoD and go there often so it was nice to recognise bits of it.
 

backwoodsman

Nomad
Jan 22, 2007
325
0
48
lincolshire
very good tonight, he does really look happy, very animated and enthusiastic however, what was with blurring out the swazi name on his jacket?
 

Matt Weir

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 22, 2006
2,880
2
52
Tyldesley, Lancashire.
Quite a bit of the for and against regarding the series seems to be bushcraft versus wildlife. This seems an oxymoron as they are surely the same sides of the same coin? As far as I have seen, it is a wildlife orientated series which suits me yet in some ways harks back to Rays early programs like Tracks as he does what he does and camps out as part of it. OK he doesn't spend half of the program explaining exactly how he sets up camp but for the 'hardcore' does he really need to preach to the converted?
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,480
Stourton,UK
Swazi didn't pay him to wear it ? Or maybe (less cynically) its a prototype he's testing so they don't want to get people asking for it yet ?

NS

It's on ITV, if they don't pay for advertising, they get their logo brushed out. ITV do it in all programmes.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE