Broadcast Article on Ray Mears.

[Womble]

I would tend to agree with this. But, I suspect that too much concentration in Britain would bore a lot of the audience. The series makers are not doing this for us, the Bushcrafters, they are trying to make a programme that will appeal to a wider, populist, audience and get themselves high viewer ratings. Also I think that many of these programmes are make overseas because it is easier to find people who can show us Bushcraft in practice, and they have environments where this can be done much more easily than in the UK. I think part of the appeal of this series is that Ray is at last trying to take a close, serious, look at Bushcraft in the UK. I think he has found it difficult and has to take a more scientific approach this time since it has required a lot of research, and I suspect, guesswork,to give us a clearer picture of our Bushcraft past. I think its great!

Yep - I agree. These sorts of programmes are not aimed at us - we're "believers" already - but the casual viewer. It can't be too specific or fact-heavy, because that wouldn't make good TV.

 

[Mikey P]

Perhaps the book that accompanies the series (if it ever gets published) will have more of the detail and ID information that many of us want. As expounded above, I guess that the series has to be accessible enough for a wider audience but should still be detailed enough to please the enthusiasts.

I suppose they have to strike a balance - but that ends up becoming a compromise.

 

[Roy's Badger]

Agreed. The series just seems like an elaborate set-up to buy the latest products by Ray PLC. The series is slow, does not provide enough practical knowledge and is, ultimately and sadly, two 'anoraks' waxing lyrically about what might have been. 'You're eating it like a four year old' 'they might have done it like this' etc. Apologies to all the dudes getting angry out there- I have the greatest respect for Ray and have been very impressed by him on the occasions I have met him. Sadly, I think it is just a product of how Ray is big buisness for the BBC these days. The programme is over long and has a 'remixed' OU feel, with plenty of product placement (ie the professor who is top-to-toe bushcrafted up) and an obvious set up to buy the accompanying book (hence sparse practical info). Thoughts? As I said, I have great respect for Ray, but I think he needs to be careful in future projects- you can only trade on your name for so long...

 

[hiroo onoda]

I enjoyed Ray's programme and am looking forward to mimicking him down here in cornwall. First i will go to trago to get a squeezy salt dispenser. Then i shall dig up some sea kelp root to eat with it.

 

[scouser4life]

when is wild foods next on?

 

[Zammo]

when is wild foods next on?

Google is your friend:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=wild_food

 

[Tadpole]

IThen i shall dig up some sea kelp root to eat with it.

If by sea kelp you mean sea kale then it's best not to, sea kale is protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981) and must not be picked without permission from the landowner. it is illegal to harvest in the wild.

 

[Zodiak]

The programme description is "Ray Mears journeys back in time to find out what our Stone Age ancestors would have eaten." and so far it is doing exactly that.

I wouldn't have expected to see bits about forraging and I doubt the BBC would want to either, because as soon as sombody eats the wrong thing and gets guts ache "Claims Direct" will be banging on TV centre.