Bruce Parry

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Could I interrupt the pensioners' convention with a vote for Brucie? Nothing wrong with this format imho. If he wasn't making programmes about the native peoples of the arctic who would be?

I'll answer that after I finish this mug of Ovaltine and a nice oatmeal biscuit.
 
he will muck in more than Ray (did you see him get high with the shamen in south america? classic) and he's not over the top like Grylls.
 
I find the BBC's approach to factual programming more and more disheartening. In the old days an unseen narrator (or sometimes an expert in the relevant field) would lead us on a fact filled journey that gave the view an insight into how indigenous people lived. Crammed full of facts and observations in a way that was entertaining and factual. But we got NONE OF THAT. Just Parry talking shamanistic nonsense and running up a mountain (no explanation of how the other guy won) and staring thoughtfully at his new best friends. Pathetic.

I have some sympathy with this view. I was fine with the 'Shaman' bits, but the self-discovery thing was a bit tedious as I don't really care if he 'discovers' himself or not.

Why did these people have Russian names? How did vodka effect the populace and was it always the alcohol of choice? How did the locals deal with the mosquitoes that were obviously a problem for the reindeer? What did they use for fuel? What was the traditional clothing? Do they still practise the old crafts?

I was discussing the programme earlier with my father and we wondered the same things.
 
They were part of communist Russia therefore Russian names. Alcohol abuse is rife in the Arctic regions, Vodka would be very cheap out there.
 
Could I interrupt the pensioners' convention with a vote for Brucie? Nothing wrong with this format imho. If he wasn't making programmes about the native peoples of the arctic who would be?

I'd like to see Jacob Bronowski, but in light of his death several decades ago, couldn't we do what the BBC used to do and have an anonymous but highly skilled producer/director combo make it without a celebrity taking up half the air time with his thoughts and feelings? Perhaps a voiceover from Richard Burton.
 
he will muck in more than Ray (did you see him get high with the shamen in south america? classic) and he's not over the top like Grylls.

But do you want to see some celeb 'mucking in' as any of us could do, or do you want to find out more about the lives of these indigenous people? I prefer the latter, but fear I'm in a minority for some reason I've yet to fathom.
 
I like Bruce Parry. I think he is well-intentioned and makes good programmes about subject matter I'm interested in.

Having said that, I actually agree with you Darren about the shortage of information on the people shown in the Siberian programme. I too would have liked to have known more about traditional clothes and customs, lifestyles etc.

Unlike some of his other series, he seemed maybe to be covering too much ground in too short a space of time. We'll see how the other episodes measure up.
 
Bruce is a very good sport. Who else would try getting their penis turned "outside-in"?
I enjoyed his first arctic programme. The mossies would have eaten me alive and driven me insane!
 
enjoyed it too, never seen those people before and thought how much like eskimos or inuits they looked as opposed to typical russian of today guess ive missed out on that part of the world. Also of note was the parallels such as the instrument playing was like the digeridoo as already mentioned. Nice way of life they have and seem a very happy and friendly race. Would have liked a bit more of their day to day culture and the next episode looks great
 
Maybe its time for this Gent to re appear on the silver screen with something special.
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I thought Sunday's Arctic episode was particularly good, especially the time Brucie spent with the whale hunters. The shots of the polar bears and his encounter with a curious cub were great.
 

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